Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Act 4 - Scene 1
A public place.
Second Merchant : You know since Pentecost the sum is due,
[p]And since I have not much
importuned you;
[p]Nor now I had not, but that I am bound
[p]To
Persia, and want guilders for my voyage:
[p]Therefore make present
satisfaction,
[p]Or I'll attach you by this officer.
Angelo : Even just the sum that I do owe to you
[p]Is growing to me by
Antipholus,
[p]And in the instant that I met with you
[p]He had of me
a chain: at five o'clock
[p]I shall receive the money for the
same.
[p]Pleaseth you walk with me down to his house,
[p]I will
discharge my bond and thank you too.
[p][Enter ANTIPHOLUS of Ephesus
and DROMIO of Ephesus]
[p]from the courtezan's]
Officer : That labour may you save: see where he comes.
Antipholus of Ephesus : While I go to the goldsmith's house, go thou
[p]And buy a rope's end:
that will I bestow
[p]Among my wife and her confederates,
[p]For
locking me out of my doors by day.
[p]But, soft! I see the goldsmith.
Get thee gone;
[p]Buy thou a rope and bring it home to me.
Dromio of Ephesus : I buy a thousand pound a year: I buy a rope.
Antipholus of Ephesus : A man is well holp up that trusts to you:
[p]I promised your presence
and the chain;
[p]But neither chain nor goldsmith came to
me.
[p]Belike you thought our love would last too long,
[p]If it were
chain'd together, and therefore came not.
Angelo : Saving your merry humour, here's the note
[p]How much your chain
weighs to the utmost carat,
[p]The fineness of the gold and chargeful
fashion.
[p]Which doth amount to three odd ducats more
[p]Than I stand
debted to this gentleman:
[p]I pray you, see him presently
discharged,
[p]For he is bound to sea and stays but for it.
Antipholus of Ephesus : I am not furnish'd with the present money;
[p]Besides, I have some
business in the town.
[p]Good signior, take the stranger to my
house
[p]And with you take the chain and bid my wife
[p]Disburse the
sum on the receipt thereof:
[p]Perchance I will be there as soon as
you.
Angelo : Then you will bring the chain to her yourself?
Antipholus of Ephesus : No; bear it with you, lest I come not time enough.
Angelo : Well, sir, I will. Have you the chain about you?
Antipholus of Ephesus : An if I have not, sir, I hope you have;
[p]Or else you may return
without your money.
Angelo : Nay, come, I pray you, sir, give me the chain:
[p]Both wind and tide
stays for this gentleman,
[p]And I, to blame, have held him here too
long.
Antipholus of Ephesus : Good Lord! you use this dalliance to excuse
[p]Your breach of promise
to the Porpentine.
[p]I should have chid you for not bringing
it,
[p]But, like a shrew, you first begin to brawl.
Second Merchant : The hour steals on; I pray you, sir, dispatch.
Angelo : You hear how he importunes me;--the chain!
Antipholus of Ephesus : Why, give it to my wife and fetch your money.
Angelo : Come, come, you know I gave it you even now.
[p]Either send the chain
or send me by some token.
Antipholus of Ephesus : Fie, now you run this humour out of breath,
[p]where's the chain? I
pray you, let me see it.
Second Merchant : My business cannot brook this dalliance.
[p]Good sir, say whether
you'll answer me or no:
[p]If not, I'll leave him to the officer.
Antipholus of Ephesus : I answer you! what should I answer you?
Angelo : The money that you owe me for the chain.
Antipholus of Ephesus : I owe you none till I receive the chain.
Angelo : You know I gave it you half an hour since.
Antipholus of Ephesus : You gave me none: you wrong me much to say so.
Angelo : You wrong me more, sir, in denying it:
[p]Consider how it stands upon
my credit.
Second Merchant : Well, officer, arrest him at my suit.
Officer : I do; and charge you in the duke's name to obey me.
Angelo : This touches me in reputation.
[p]Either consent to pay this sum for
me
[p]Or I attach you by this officer.
Antipholus of Ephesus : Consent to pay thee that I never had!
[p]Arrest me, foolish fellow, if
thou darest.
Angelo : Here is thy fee; arrest him, officer,
[p]I would not spare my brother
in this case,
[p]If he should scorn me so apparently.
Officer : I do arrest you, sir: you hear the suit.
Antipholus of Ephesus : I do obey thee till I give thee bail.
[p]But, sirrah, you shall buy
this sport as dear
[p]As all the metal in your shop will answer.
Angelo : Sir, sir, I will have law in Ephesus,
[p]To your notorious shame; I
doubt it not.
Dromio of Syracuse : Master, there is a bark of Epidamnum
[p]That stays but till her owner
comes aboard,
[p]And then, sir, she bears away. Our fraughtage,
sir,
[p]I have convey'd aboard; and I have bought
[p]The oil, the
balsamum and aqua-vitae.
[p]The ship is in her trim; the merry
wind
[p]Blows fair from land: they stay for nought at all
[p]But for
their owner, master, and yourself.
Antipholus of Ephesus : How now! a madman! Why, thou peevish sheep,
[p]What ship of Epidamnum
stays for me?
Dromio of Syracuse : A ship you sent me to, to hire waftage.
Antipholus of Ephesus : Thou drunken slave, I sent thee for a rope;
[p]And told thee to what
purpose and what end.
Dromio of Syracuse : You sent me for a rope's end as soon:
[p]You sent me to the bay, sir,
for a bark.
Antipholus of Ephesus : I will debate this matter at more leisure
[p]And teach your ears to
list me with more heed.
[p]To Adriana, villain, hie thee
straight:
[p]Give her this key, and tell her, in the desk
[p]That's
cover'd o'er with Turkish tapestry,
[p]There is a purse of ducats; let
her send it:
[p]Tell her I am arrested in the street
[p]And that shall
bail me; hie thee, slave, be gone!
[p]On, officer, to prison till it
come.
[p][Exeunt Second Merchant, Angelo, Officer, and]
[p]Antipholus
of Ephesus]
Dromio of Syracuse : To Adriana! that is where we dined,
[p]Where Dowsabel did claim me for
her husband:
[p]She is too big, I hope, for me to compass.
[p]Thither
I must, although against my will,
[p]For servants must their masters'
minds fulfil.
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Next: Act 4 - Scene 2
