Denied my house for his, me for his wife.

ANTIPHOLUS. Did you converse, sir, with this gentlewoman?

DROMIO. I, sir? I never saw her till this time. ANTIPHOLUS. Villain, thou liest; for even her very words

Didst thou deliver to me on the mart.

DROMIO. I never spake with her in all my life.
ANTIPHOLUS. How can she thus then call us by our

names,

Unless it be by inspiration?

What, was I married to her in my dreams?

Or sleep I now, and think I hear all this?

What error drives our eyes and ears amiss?

While Adriana had been scolding Antipholus, like the shrew she was, he had not failed to observe the sweet refined manner of her sister, who seemed to be, in very truth, a gentlewoman. So, in order to see more of Luciana, Antipholus decided to humor Adriana's mistake, and go home with her to dinner. Dromio was bidden to act as porter, and to permit no one to enter while the dinner was in progress. He, poor fellow, concluded that he was, somehow, transformed, so puzzling did he find the situation. He thought:

This is the fairy land; - O, spite of spites!

We talk with goblins, owls, and elvish sprites;

If we obey them not, this will ensue,

They'll suck our breath, or pinch us black and blue.

By the time dinner was well under way, the tardy husband of Adriana came home, and with him two

guests, business friends of his. His own Dromio followed at his heels, he having found his master at last, and delivered his mistress's message. He had also greatly mystified his master by declaring that he had met him a short time before, and that Antipholus had charged him with having had a thousand marks in gold from him, and had beaten him when he denied the charge.

Both master and man were astonished beyond measure when, on coming to the door of their own house, they were refused admittance by one who replied to the demand of Antipholus that he should tell who he was that was keeping him out of his own house:

The porter for this time, sir,
And my name is Dromio,

whereupon, the other Dromio protested:

O villain, thou hast stolen both mine office and my name;
The one ne'er got me credit, the other mickle blame.

They made so much disturbance with knocking and calling that Adriana came to see what it was all about. When her husband heard her voice, he expected that she would have the door opened at once, but, to his amazement, she refused to acknowledge his right to enter, saying that Antipholus was within, and that he must be an impostor. Then the true owner was about to beat the door down, but he was dissuaded from that by one of his guests, who urged him :

Have patience, sir; O let it not be so.
Herein you war against your reputation,

And draw within the compass of suspect
The unviolated honor of your wife.
Your long experience of her wisdom,
Her sober virtue, years, and modesty,

Plead on her part some cause to you unknown;
And doubt not, sir, but she will well excuse
Why at this time the doors are made against you.
Be ruled by me; depart in patience,

And let us to the Tiger all to dinner :
And, about evening, come yourself alone,
To know the reason of this strange restraint.
If by strong hand you offer to break in,
Now in the stirring passage of the day,
A vulgar comment will be made of it.

Antipholus acknowledged the wisdom of this advice, but he declared that he would make his wife sorry by giving another woman a gold necklace which he had purchased for her.

The Syracusan Antipholus, although enjoying the dinner, and still more the company of the gentle Luciana, felt that he had, unwittingly, become involved. in such a tangle, that he was anxious to extricate himself by leaving the city where everybody seemed to know him, while he knew nobody. So he left as soon as possible after dinner, bidding Dromio go to the harbor, and ascertain whether any ship were to sail that night.

ANTIPHOLUS. Go, hie thee presently —
And if the wind blow any way from shore,
I will not harbor in this town to-night.
If any bark put forth, come to the mart,
Where I will walk till thou return to me.

If every one knows us, and we know none,
'Tis time, I think, to trudge, pack, and be gone.
There's none but witches do inhabit here;
And therefore 'tis high time that I were hence.
She, that doth call me husband, even my soul
Doth for a wife abhor; but her fair sister,
Possessed with such a gentle sovereign grace,
Of such enchanting presence and discourse,
Hath almost made me traitor to myself:
But, lest myself be guilty to self-wrong,

I'll stop mine ears against the mermaid's song.

At this moment, Antipholus was accosted by the goldsmith, of whom his twin brother had ordered the necklace, and who was bringing the chain, as he had been instructed to do. He called:

Master Antipholus?

ANTIPHOLUS. Ay, that's my name.

GOLDSMITH. I know it well, sir. Lo, here is the chain. ANTIPHOLUS. What is your will that I shall do with this? GOLDSMITH. What please yourself, sir; I have made it for

you. ANTIPHOLUS.

GOLDSMITH.

Made it for me, sir! I bespoke it not.

Not once, or twice, but twenty times you have:

Go home with it, and please your wife withal;

And soon at supper-time I'll visit you,

And then receive my money for the chain.

ANTIPHOLUS. I pray you, sir, receive the money now,

For fear you ne'er see chain nor money more.

GOLDSMITH. You are a merry man, sir; fare you well.

As the goldsmith departs, Antipholus says to himself:

What I should think of this I cannot tell :
But this I think, there's no man is so vain
That would refuse so fair an offered chain.
I see, a man here needs not live by shifts,
When in the streets he meets such golden gifts.
I'll to the mart, and there for Dromio stay;
If any ship put out, then straight away.

The goldsmith's mistake in giving the chain to the wrong Antipholus cost him much trouble. He had depended upon the money for that chain for means wherewith to discharge a debt of his own. The merchant to whom he was indebted now demanded immediate payment, and threatened the goldsmith with arrest, if the money were not at once forthcoming. While they were discussing the matter, Antipholus of Ephesus came along. Then there were angry words on both sides, the goldsmith appealing to Antipholus to give him the money for the chain, and Antipholus denying that the necklace had been delivered.

Naturally, the goldsmith thought that this denial was a falsehood, since he was sure that he had given Antipholus the chain less than half an hour before. Antipholus, on his part, requested the goldsmith to take the chain to his house, deliver it to his wife, and get the money from her. The goldsmith replied:

Well, sir, I will

ANTIPHOLUS.

have you the chain about you?

An if I have not, sir, I hope you have; Or else you may return without your money.

GOLDSMITH.
ANTIPHOLUS.

Nay, come, I pray you, sir, give me the chain.
Why, give it to my wife, and fetch your money.