Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Act 1 - Scene 1
A hall in DUKE SOLINUS’S palace.
Aegeon : Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall
[p]And by the doom of death end
woes and all.
Solinus : Merchant of Syracuse, plead no more;
[p]I am not partial to infringe
our laws:
[p]The enmity and discord which of late
[p]Sprung from the
rancorous outrage of your duke
[p]To merchants, our well-dealing
countrymen,
[p]Who wanting guilders to redeem their lives
[p]Have
seal'd his rigorous statutes with their bloods,
[p]Excludes all pity
from our threatening looks.
[p]For, since the mortal and intestine
jars
[p]'Twixt thy seditious countrymen and us,
[p]It hath in solemn
synods been decreed
[p]Both by the Syracusians and ourselves,
[p]To
admit no traffic to our adverse towns Nay, more,
[p]If any born at
Ephesus be seen
[p]At any Syracusian marts and fairs;
[p]Again: if any
Syracusian born
[p]Come to the bay of Ephesus, he dies,
[p]His goods
confiscate to the duke's dispose,
[p]Unless a thousand marks be
levied,
[p]To quit the penalty and to ransom him.
[p]Thy substance,
valued at the highest rate,
[p]Cannot amount unto a hundred
marks;
[p]Therefore by law thou art condemned to die.
Aegeon : Yet this my comfort: when your words are done,
[p]My woes end likewise
with the evening sun.
Solinus : Well, Syracusian, say in brief the cause
[p]Why thou departed'st from
thy native home
[p]And for what cause thou camest to Ephesus.
Aegeon : A heavier task could not have been imposed
[p]Than I to speak my
griefs unspeakable:
[p]Yet, that the world may witness that my
end
[p]Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence,
[p]I'll utter what
my sorrows give me leave.
[p]In Syracusa was I born, and wed
[p]Unto a
woman, happy but for me,
[p]And by me, had not our hap been
bad.
[p]With her I lived in joy; our wealth increased
[p]By prosperous
voyages I often made
[p]To Epidamnum; till my factor's death
[p]And
the great care of goods at random left
[p]Drew me from kind
embracements of my spouse:
[p]From whom my absence was not six months
old
[p]Before herself, almost at fainting under
[p]The pleasing
punishment that women bear,
[p]Had made provision for her following
me
[p]And soon and safe arrived where I was.
[p]There had she not been
long, but she became
[p]A joyful mother of two goodly sons;
[p]And,
which was strange, the one so like the other,
[p]As could not be
distinguish'd but by names.
[p]That very hour, and in the self-same
inn,
[p]A meaner woman was delivered
[p]Of such a burden, male twins,
both alike:
[p]Those,--for their parents were exceeding poor,--
[p]I
bought and brought up to attend my sons.
[p]My wife, not meanly proud
of two such boys,
[p]Made daily motions for our home
return:
[p]Unwilling I agreed. Alas! too soon,
[p]We came aboard.
[p]A
league from Epidamnum had we sail'd,
[p]Before the always wind-obeying
deep
[p]Gave any tragic instance of our harm:
[p]But longer did we not
retain much hope;
[p]For what obscured light the heavens did
grant
[p]Did but convey unto our fearful minds
[p]A doubtful warrant
of immediate death;
[p]Which though myself would gladly have
embraced,
[p]Yet the incessant weepings of my wife,
[p]Weeping before
for what she saw must come,
[p]And piteous plainings of the pretty
babes,
[p]That mourn'd for fashion, ignorant what to fear,
[p]Forced
me to seek delays for them and me.
[p]And this it was, for other means
was none:
[p]The sailors sought for safety by our boat,
[p]And left
the ship, then sinking-ripe, to us:
[p]My wife, more careful for the
latter-born,
[p]Had fasten'd him unto a small spare mast,
[p]Such as
seafaring men provide for storms;
[p]To him one of the other twins was
bound,
[p]Whilst I had been like heedful of the other:
[p]The children
thus disposed, my wife and I,
[p]Fixing our eyes on whom our care was
fix'd,
[p]Fasten'd ourselves at either end the mast;
[p]And floating
straight, obedient to the stream,
[p]Was carried towards Corinth, as
we thought.
[p]At length the sun, gazing upon the earth,
[p]Dispersed
those vapours that offended us;
[p]And by the benefit of his wished
light,
[p]The seas wax'd calm, and we discovered
[p]Two ships from far
making amain to us,
[p]Of Corinth that, of Epidaurus this:
[p]But ere
they came,--O, let me say no more!
[p]Gather the sequel by that went
before.
Solinus : Nay, forward, old man; do not break off so;
[p]For we may pity, though
not pardon thee.
Aegeon : O, had the gods done so, I had not now
[p]Worthily term'd them
merciless to us!
[p]For, ere the ships could meet by twice five
leagues,
[p]We were encounterd by a mighty rock;
[p]Which being
violently borne upon,
[p]Our helpful ship was splitted in the
midst;
[p]So that, in this unjust divorce of us,
[p]Fortune had left
to both of us alike
[p]What to delight in, what to sorrow for.
[p]Her
part, poor soul! seeming as burdened
[p]With lesser weight but not
with lesser woe,
[p]Was carried with more speed before the
wind;
[p]And in our sight they three were taken up
[p]By fishermen of
Corinth, as we thought.
[p]At length, another ship had seized on
us;
[p]And, knowing whom it was their hap to save,
[p]Gave healthful
welcome to their shipwreck'd guests;
[p]And would have reft the
fishers of their prey,
[p]Had not their bark been very slow of
sail;
[p]And therefore homeward did they bend their course.
[p]Thus
have you heard me sever'd from my bliss;
[p]That by misfortunes was my
life prolong'd,
[p]To tell sad stories of my own mishaps.
Solinus : And for the sake of them thou sorrowest for,
[p]Do me the favour to
dilate at full
[p]What hath befall'n of them and thee till now.
Aegeon : My youngest boy, and yet my eldest care,
[p]At eighteen years became
inquisitive
[p]After his brother: and importuned me
[p]That his
attendant--so his case was like,
[p]Reft of his brother, but retain'd
his name--
[p]Might bear him company in the quest of him:
[p]Whom
whilst I labour'd of a love to see,
[p]I hazarded the loss of whom I
loved.
[p]Five summers have I spent in furthest Greece,
[p]Roaming
clean through the bounds of Asia,
[p]And, coasting homeward, came to
Ephesus;
[p]Hopeless to find, yet loath to leave unsought
[p]Or that
or any place that harbours men.
[p]But here must end the story of my
life;
[p]And happy were I in my timely death,
[p]Could all my travels
warrant me they live.
Solinus : Hapless AEgeon, whom the fates have mark'd
[p]To bear the extremity of
dire mishap!
[p]Now, trust me, were it not against our
laws,
[p]Against my crown, my oath, my dignity,
[p]Which princes,
would they, may not disannul,
[p]My soul would sue as advocate for
thee.
[p]But, though thou art adjudged to the death
[p]And passed
sentence may not be recall'd
[p]But to our honour's great
disparagement,
[p]Yet I will favour thee in what I can.
[p]Therefore,
merchant, I'll limit thee this day
[p]To seek thy life by beneficial
help:
[p]Try all the friends thou hast in Ephesus;
[p]Beg thou, or
borrow, to make up the sum,
[p]And live; if no, then thou art doom'd
to die.
[p]Gaoler, take him to thy custody.
Gaoler : I will, my lord.
Aegeon : Hopeless and helpless doth AEgeon wend,
[p]But to procrastinate his
lifeless end.
Next: Act 1 - Scene 2
