Chapter 26 first act

Hall in the Duke's Court, Scene 1 Enter the DUKE, YGIN, THE JAILER, THE BARRIER, AND THEIR ACCESSORS. Iqin Solenas, give me the death sentence quickly, so that after I die, I will be free from all troubles! Merchant of the Duke of Syracuse, you don't need to say much.I have no power to change our laws.Lately your duke has hated the well-behaved merchants who come to us, because they cannot pay ransom, so they have been slaughtered indiscriminately; this cruel and violent hostility has made us unable to bear it any longer.Since the quarrel between you rebellious nations and us, you and I have each enacted solemn laws forbidding all intercourse between the two peoples; appear in the marketplace, or a Syracusan set foot in the port of Ephesus, the man shall be put to death, and all his money and goods shall be confiscated, to be dealt with by the duke of that place, unless he can pay a thousand marks, In order to redeem life.Your property is estimated to be no more than a hundred marks at most, so according to the law, you must be executed.

Yiqin waits for your order, and I will go to the execution ground with a smile on my face. From then on, my hatred and sorrow will disappear, and I will follow the setting sun in the west! Good Lord, Syracuse, tell us briefly why you left your country and came to Ephesus. Yiqin asked me to express my unspeakable sorrow, which was really the biggest problem; but in order to let the world know that my death was completely God's will, not because of any crime committed, I held back my sorrow and told my life experience. Let's talk about it.I was born in Syracuse, and there I took a wife who, if it were not for me, would have been very happy, and I could have made her happy too, but my fate was unfortunate.At the beginning, our husband and wife loved each other and enjoyed the happiness of the world; I often went to Epidannon to do business, and I made a lot of money each time, so my family was very prosperous; but later, my agent in Epidannon People died suddenly, and many of my goods over there were left unattended, so I had to leave the tender arms of my wife to preside over everything.My wife packed her bags and came to me within six months of my departure; she was then pregnant, and soon became the mother of two lovely children.Strange to say, the two children were born exactly the same and could not be distinguished at all.At the time of their birth, in the same inn, a woman from a poor family gave birth to two identical twins. I saw that they were poor and helpless, so I paid for the children and brought them up. , to serve my two sons.My wife gave birth to these two children and loved them very much, urging me every day to make a plan to return home. Although I was reluctant, I finally agreed to her.well!What an unlucky day we got on board!The boat was three miles from Epidannon, and the sea was still calm, and there was no sign of a storm; but then the sky grew worse and worse, and our hopes were completely lost, and the faint light that happened to be revealed in the sky shone on us. In the restless heart, it seems that we only tell us that death is imminent.Although I am not afraid of death myself, my wife is crying because I am afraid of the inevitable doom, and my two lovely children are crying with their mother, although they don't know what will happen to them. In such a miserable situation, I had to try to save their lives and my own.At that time all the sailors on board had jumped out of the boat and went their separate ways, and we were alone in this sinking ship; we had no other choice but to follow the example of sailors in stormy weather, My wife, being more fond of her younger son, tied him to a smaller mast, and tied one of the other twins together, and I tied the older one in the same way. , and then each of us, husband and wife, tied ourselves to the other end of the mast, each took care of a pair of children, and then let our boat drift with the current, heading for what we thought was Corinth.Then the sun came out and swept away the haze and mist in front of us, and the sea gradually calmed down. We just saw two ships coming towards us in the distance, one from Corinth and the other from Epidaurus comes; but they're not near--oh, I can't go on, let you guess what happens next!

Duke No, go on, old man, without interruption.Although we cannot forgive you, we can have mercy on you. Yiqin!If the gods could have pitied me then, I would not resent their inhumanity now!When our ship was thirty miles away from the incoming ship, we encountered a huge rock on the way, and when we hit head-on, the ship was smashed, and our husband, wife and children were mercilessly washed away ; Fate has thus arranged that each of us leaves one half of his consolation, and mourns the other half lost.My poor wife, because her one mast, though loaded with equal pain, was less heavy, was blown far away quickly, and I saw the three of them rescued, probably, by fishermen of Corinth. Woke up.Later, another boat rescued us. After they knew who they rescued, they treated us very well. They planned to catch up with the fishing boat and take my beloved wife and children back, but it was a pity that their The boat was going too slowly, so in the end it had to turn around and head home.This is how I was abandoned by happiness, and left my wretched body to tell the story of my own misery.

Duke For the sake of those whom you grieve and miss, tell me what has happened to your sons and yourself since. When Yiqin was eighteen years old, my elder son kept asking me about the whereabouts of his mother and brother, and asked me to allow him to take his servant boy out to look for it. The boy servant also had a missing brother with the same name as him.Because I miss my wife and children whose lives are uncertain, I let my only beloved son stay away from my knees, and until now I don't know where he is hiding.For five years I have searched for them all over Greece, as far as the borders of Asia, and I did not want to miss a single inhabited place, though I knew it was hopeless.This time, after buying and returning, I arrived in the territory of Ephesus; but my life will come to an end here, and if my journey of thousands of miles can assure me that they are still alive, I will die without complaint.

Duke Unlucky Yigen, fate has doomed you to suffer the greatest misery in the world!Believe me, I would have pleaded not guilty for you were it not for the inviolability of our laws, and the inviolability of my own position and oath.Now you have been sentenced to death, and I can't take it back, but I am willing to help you with my strength; so, merchant, I limit you to try to find someone who can rescue you today and redeem your life for you.If you have any relatives and friends in Ephesus, you might as well beg them one by one, whether begging or borrowing money, and they will let you go back alive if you can’t raise the amount. I had no choice but to put you to death.Jailer, take him down to guard.

The jailer is, my lord. Even if Yiqin left this remnant of life for a few more hours, where would there be a benefactor to redeem his life in this vast sea of ​​people! (same below.) second market Enter Antipholus the Great, Dromio the Great, and First Merchant. First Merchant Therefore tell people that you are from Epidannon, lest your goods be confiscated.Just today, a Syracuse businessman was arrested for entering illegally; he could not pay the ransom, and according to the local law, he must be executed before the sun went down.This is the money you entrusted me to keep. Great Antipholus Dromio, take this money and deposit it in the centaur inn where we stopped, and wait there for my return, don't go away.Now it's less than an hour before I leave for dinner, let me stroll in the street first, visit the market here, and then go back to the hotel to sleep, because I'm very tired after traveling so much.you go.

Grand Dromio If it were anyone else, they would be eager for you to say this!With so much money in their pockets, they'd be willing to walk away. (Down.) The boy Antipholus the Great is honest in his work. Sometimes I feel depressed, and he often tells me some jokes to cheer me up.Would you like to walk with me and have dinner at my hotel together? First Merchant I beg your pardon, some merchants have invited me to them, and I hope to make some business with them, so I cannot accompany you.At five o'clock, please meet me in the market, and I can stay with you until the evening.Now I have to go.

Great Antipholus So see you later, and I'll walk around the city. First Merchant wants you to have a good time. (Down.) Great Antipholus He told me to have a good time, and my heart will never have a good day.I came to this world like a drop of water, looking for my companions in the vast sea, but I failed to do so. Return home. Enter Little Dromio. Great Antipholus, isn't this the guy whose birth date is exactly the same as mine?how?How did you come back so soon? Little Dromio is back so soon!I have come too late!The chicken is burnt, the meat is burnt, the clock has struck twelve, and my wife has slapped me in the face.She rages because the meat is cold; the meat is cold because you won't come home; you won't come home because you ain't hungry; Pray for hunger.

Great Antipholus stop talking nonsense, let me ask you, where did you take the money I gave you? Little Dromio, the sixpence?I took it last Wednesday to buy reins for my wife.The money was in the saddle shop and I didn't keep it. Great Antipholus I have no mind to joke with you.Just answer me, where is the money?Foreigner, how dare you throw away so much money casually? Monsieur Dromio, if you want to tell a joke, please save it at dinner.My wife told me to ask you to go back quickly. If you don't go back, my head will be in trouble again.I hope your stomach is like mine, it can replace the clock, it will cry when the time comes, and you will come back by yourself without calling you.

Great Antipholus Come on, Dromio, this is not the time for jesting; save these words for happier occasions.What about the money I gave you to guard? Little Dromio Did you give me money for custody?Sir, when will you give me any money? Big Antipholus dog, don't be stupid, what are you doing with my money? Little Monsieur Dromio, all I know is that I have been ordered to come to the market to invite you back to your shop for dinner. Your wife and aunt are waiting for you. Serious Antipholus Answer me honestly, where have you put your money?If you don't speak out, I'll smash your head; who told you to play poor with me when I had no intention of bickering?What about the thousand marks you took from me?

Little Dromio You punched me on the head, and my wife punched me on the shoulder, but none of you ever gave me half a penny.If I returned the reward you gave me, I'm afraid you would not bear it in silence like I do. Mrs. Great Antipholus!What a lady you have! Little Dromio is your uncle's wife, who is the proprietress of the Phoenix store; she has not eaten till now, waiting for you to go back to eat.Please go back quickly. Great Antipholus!I said that you are not allowed to mess around, do you still dare to be so presumptuous and rude in front of me?I hit you dog head! (Hits Little Dromio.) Little Dromio, what do you mean?For the sake of God, please take back your hand, or I will pull up my ass and run away. (Down.) That dog, Antipholus, must have been tricked and lost all my money.They say that there are many liars in this place, some can play blindfolding tricks, some can confuse people's hearts with demons, and some can use spells to hurt people's bodies. , Set traps everywhere.If this happens, I'd better leave as soon as possible.I'm going to the Centaur Inn to question this servant, I'm afraid my money is gone. (Down.)