SOLINUS,
           Duke of Ephesus

    AEGEON,
           a merchant of Syracuse

    ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS twin brothers
           and sons to

  ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Aegion
              and Aemelia

    DROMIO OF EPHESUS twin brothers,
           and attendants on

    DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
           the two Antipholuses

    BALTHAZAR,
           a merchant

    ANGELO,
           a goldsmith

    FIRST MERCHANT,
           friend to Antipholus of Syracuse

    SECOND MERCHANT,
           to whom Angelo
            is a debtor

    PINCH,
           a schoolmaster

    AEMILIA,
           wife to AEgeon;
        an abbess at Ephesus

    ADRIANA,
           wife to Antipholus of Ephesus

    LUCIANA,
           her sister

    LUCE,
           servant to Adriana

   A COURTEZAN

    Gaoler,
           Officers,
         Attendants

   SCENE:

    Ephesus THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
 
  ACT I. SCENE 1

    A hall
           in the DUKE'S palace
          Enter the DUKE OF EPHESUS,
           AEGEON,
         the Merchant of Syracuse,
           GAOLER,
         OFFICERS,
           and other ATTENDANTS

    AEGEON.

    Proceed,
           Solinus,
         to procure my fall,
           And by the doom
            of death end
               woes and all.

    DUKE.

    Merchant of Syracuse,
           plead no more;
        I am not partial
              to infringe our laws.

    The enmity and discord
          which of late
              Sprung from the rancorous outrage
                   of your duke
                 To merchants,
           our well-dealing countrymen,
         Who,
           wanting guilders
              to redeem their lives,
         Have seal'd his rigorous statutes
               with their bloods,
           Excludes all pity
               from our threat'ning looks.

    For,
           since the mortal
               and intestine jars
         'Twixt thy seditious countrymen
               and us,
             It hath in solemn synods
                been decreed,
             Both by the Syracusians
                   and ourselves,
               To admit no traffic
                   to our adverse towns;
            Nay,
               more:
            if any born at Ephesus
                  Be seen
                       at any Syracusian marts
                           and fairs;
            Again,
               if any Syracusian born
                  Come to the bay
                       of Ephesus-he dies,
             His goods
                  confiscate to the Duke's dispose,
               Unless a thousand marks
                  be levied,
             To quit the penalty
                  and to ransom him.

    Thy substance,
           valued at the highest rate,
         Cannot amount
               unto a hundred marks;
        Therefore by law
             thou art condemn'd to die.

    AEGEON.

    Yet this my comfort:
        when your words are done,
           My woes end likewise
               with the evening sun.

    DUKE.

    Well,
           Syracusian,
         say in brief the cause
             Why thou departed'st
                   from thy native home,
           And for
             what cause
                 thou cam'st to Ephesus.

    AEGEON.

    A heavier task
        could not
              have been impos'd Than I
                  to speak my griefs unspeakable;
        Yet,
           that the world may witness
             that my end
                Was wrought by nature,
         not by vile offence,
           I'll utter
             what my sorrow
                gives me leave.

    In Syracuse was I born,
           and wed Unto a woman,
         happy but for me,
           And by me,
         had not our hap
            been bad.

    With her I liv'd
           in joy;
        our wealth increas'd
               By prosperous voyages I often
              made To Epidamnum;
        till my factor's death,
           And the great care
               of goods
             at random left,
         Drew me
               from kind
                 embracements
                    of my spouse:
        From whom my absence
            was not six months old,
           Before herself,
         almost at fainting
               under The pleasing punishment