me.”
“Speak freely, Syracusian, what thou wilt.”
“Is not your name, sir, call'd Antipholus? And is not that your bondman, Dromio?”
The local Dromio looks at the stranger with concern. “Within this hour I was his bondman sir, But he, I thank him, gnaw'd in two my cords: Now am I Dromio and his man unbound.”
“I am sure you both of you remember me.”
“Ourselves we do remember, sir, by you; For lately we were bound, as you are now You are not Dr. Pinch's patient, are you, sir?”
“Why look you strange on me? you know me well.”
Antipholus denies the knowledge. “I never saw you in my life till now.”
Aegeon cannot believe his own son would deny him so. “O, grief hath changed me since you saw me last, And careful hours with time's deformed hand have written strange defeatures in my face: But tell me yet, dost thou not know my voice?”
“Neither.”
“Dromio, nor thou?”
Dromio shakes his head, too. “No, trust me, sir, nor I.”
“I am sure thou dost.”
“Ay, sir, but I am sure I do not; and whatsoever a man denies, you are now bound to believe him.”
“Not know my voice! O time's extremity, Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poor tongue In seven short years, that here my only son Knows not my feeble key of untuned cares? Though now this grained face of mine be hid In sap-consuming winter's drizzled snow, And all the conduits of my blood froze up, Yet hath my night of life some memory, My wasting lamps some fading glimmer left, My dull deaf ears a little use to hear: All these old witnesses--I cannot err-- Tell me thou art my son Antipholus.”
Now Antipholus is angry with this stranger in front of him. “I never saw my father in my life.”
“But seven years since, in Syracusa, boy, Thou know'st we parted: but perhaps, my son, Thou shamest to acknowledge me in misery.”
“The duke and all that know me in the city Can witness with me that it is not so I ne'er saw Syracusa in my life.”
Duke Solinus interrupts, “I tell thee, Syracusian, twenty years Have I been patron to Antipholus, During which time he ne'er saw Syracusa: I see thy age and dangers make thee dote.”
Emelia returns with Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse. She addresses the Duke, “Most mighty duke, behold a man much wrong'd.”
Adriana gasps. “I see two husbands, or mine eyes deceive me.”
The Duke looks from one to the other. “One of these men is Genius to the other; And so of these. Which is the natural man, And which the spirit? who deciphers them?”
Dromio (of Syracuse) responds first. “I, sir, am Dromio; command him away.”
His twin, the local Dromio, responds, “I, sir, am Dromio; pray, let me stay.”
Antipholus (of Syracuse) spots his father. “Aegeon art thou not? or else his ghost?”
This Dromio now turns to the aged man, too. “O, my old master! who hath bound him here?”
Emelia also recognizes the bound merchant. “Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds And gain a husband by his liberty. Speak, old Aegeon, if thou be'st the man That hadst a wife once call'd Emilia That bore thee at a burden two fair sons: O, if thou be'st the same Aegeon, speak, And speak unto the same Emilia!”
Aegeon can hardly believe his eyes and ears. “If I dream not, thou art Emilia: “If thou art she, tell me where is that son That floated with thee on the fatal raft?”
“By men of Epidamnum he and I And the twin Dromio all were taken up; But by and by rude fishermen of Corinth By force took Dromio and my son from them And me they left with those of Epidamnum. What then became of them I cannot tell I to this fortune that you see me in.”
The Duke is beginning to make sense of what has been going on. “Why, here begins his morning story right; These two Antipholuses, these two so like, And these two Dromios, one in semblance,-- Besides her urging of her wreck at sea, These are the parents to these children, Which accidentally are met together. Antipholus, thou camest from Corinth first?”
Antipholus (of Syracuse) shakes his head. “No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse.”
“Stay, stand apart; I know not which is which.”
Antipholus (of Ephesus) steps forward. “I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.”
His servant happily responds, “And I with him.”
“Brought to this town by that most famous warrior, Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.”
Adriana looks at the two men who look so much like her husband. “Which of you two did dine with me to-day?”
Antipholus of Syracuse quickly answers her. “I, gentle mistress.”
“And are not you my husband?”
Her husband quickly answers for him, “No; I say nay to that.”
His brother smiles in agreement. “And so do I; yet did she call me so: And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here, Did call me brother.” Turning to Luciana, he continues, “What I told you then, I hope I shall have leisure to make good; If this be not a dream I see and hear.”
Angelo notices the chain on Antipholus of Syracuse. “That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.”
“I think it be, sir; I deny it not.”
Antipholus (of Ephesus) turns to Angelo. “And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.”
“I think I did, sir; I deny it not.”
Adriana is still trying to make sense of all that has been happening. “I sent you money, sir, to be your bail, By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.”
Dromio of Ephesus quickly denies it. “No, none by me.”
Antipholus of Syracuse explains, “This purse of ducats I received from you, And Dromio, my man, did bring them me. I see we still did meet each other's man, And I was ta'en for him, and he for me, And thereupon these errors are arose.”
Antipholus of Ephesus takes the purse and hands it to the Duke. “These ducats pawn I for my father here.”
Duke Solinus shakes his head. “It shall not need; thy father hath his life.”
The Courtesan turns to Antipholus of Ephesus. “Sir, I must have that diamond from you.”
“There, take it; and much thanks for my good cheer.”
Emelia turns to the Duke. “Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains To go with us into the abbey here And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes: And all that are assembled in this place, That by this sympathized one day's error Have suffer'd wrong, go keep us company, And we shall make full satisfaction. Thirty-three years have I but gone in travail Of you, my sons; and till this present hour My heavy burden ne'er delivered. The duke, my husband and my children both, And you the calendars of their nativity, Go to a gossips' feast and go with me; After so long grief, such festivity!”
“With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast.”
Most of the crowd goes in, leaving the two sets of twins looking at each other. Dromio of Syracuse turns to the man he supposes to be his master. “Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard?”
“Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou embark'd?”
“Your goods that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur.”
The other Antipholus (of Syracuse) interrupts, “He speaks to me. I am your master, Dromio: Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon: Embrace thy brother there; rejoice with him.”
Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus go in together.
Dromio (of Syracuse) looks at his twin. “There is a fat friend at your master's house, That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner: She now shall be my sister, not my wife.”
“Methinks you are my glass, and not my brother: I see by you I am a sweet-faced youth. Will you walk in to see their gossiping?”
“Not I, sir; you are my elder.”
“That's a question: how shall we try it?”
“We'll draw cuts for the senior: till then lead thou first.”
“Nay, then, thus: We came into the world like brother and brother; And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.”
About the author:
Catherine McGrew Jaime was born in the Panama Canal Zone the first time her father was stationed there. In the 50+ years since, she has traveled throughout North America and much of Western Europe.
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After high school, Catherine attended M.I.T. where she met her future husband, Daniel. When Daniel joined the Army, Catherine's travels continued. In fact, she fell in love with history during their 5 1/2 year stay in Wuerzburg, Germany and she wrote her first book during that time.
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Catherine has spent most of the last thirty years educating their twelve children, while also teaching classes for other homeschoolers -- classes from Shakespeare to Government to Economics and more. When she teaches, she strives to make history come alive for her students. She immerses them in each subject, including taking them on trips across the country to experience history where it happened.
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Some of her many trips have included following the Lewis and Clark Trail in 2005 with members of her family and volunteering at Jamestown during the four hundred year anniversary in 2007. On a trip back to Panama in 2008 she started her "Horsey and Friends" series, which she has continued during recent "school trips" to Washington, D.C., Virginia, and more.
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Da Vinci: His Life and His Legacy
Leonardo the Florentine (historic fiction)
Leonardo: Masterpieces in Milan (historic fiction)
A Brief History of New York City
Understanding the U.S. Constitution
Important Constitutional Documents
The Philadelphia Convention: A Play for Many Readers
Failure in Philadelphia (historic fiction)
The Philadelphia Convention: In Their Own Words
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