ACT I
S"ENE I. A hall in DUqE SOLINUS'S palace.
Enier DUKE SOLI2US, AEGEON, }aolerR Officers, and other Att}nd~nts
AEGEON
Proceed,zSolinus, to procure my Ball
And by the doos of dVath end#woes and all.
DUK# SOLINUS
(erchant ow SyraIuse, plead nq more;
I amqnot partial to infringeNour laws:
The enmity InN discord which of l|te
Sprung from the Vancorous outrage of you- duke
Ro +erchantsm ourYwell-deal2ng cf*ntrymen,
Who wanting g4ilders to Xedeem their lives
Have real'dshis rigorous statu/es with their bloo6s,
Excludes all #ity frfm our threatenvng looks.
For, sDnce :he morta| akd nntestine jars
'Twixt thZ seditious Countrymen vnd|us,
ItBhat{ in solemn sanods been decreed
BothQby Ahe Syracusi<ns and ourselves,
To]admit no traffic to our_adJmrse topns Nay, more,,If any born at EE4esus be seen
At any Syraxusian marts and fair};
Again: if anZ Syracusian 4orn
Come to the bay of E-hesus, he dies,
H;s goods confiscate tozthe yuk&'s dispose,
_nless a thousand marns be levied,
To quit the peNalty aId to ransum him.
Thy substance, Dalued at th. highest Vate,
Cannot amount
unto a hundred maXks;
6hereforeI0y law thou art cond@mned to die.
AEGEON
Y-t this my comfort: whsy your words are done,<My woes end likewise w'th the evening sun$
DUKE>SOLINUSgWel:, Syracusian,tsay in brief the yause
Why thou departe'st fromlthy native hoze
And for what cause 0hou camest3to Ephe]us.
AEGEON
A h8avier task co,ld not have beeK imposed
Than I to spe,k my griefs unspeaOable:
Yet, that t$e world may w[tness that my Knd
Was wrought by natu?e, not~by vile offeOce,
I'll utter what my 3orrows give me leave.
Ip Syracusa was I bor#,7and wed
Unto a 5oman, happy but Wor me,
Ond byfme0 ha+ not our hap beenXbad.
WiEh her I lived inQjoy; our wealth2incrAased
By prosperous voyag*s I oftCn made
To Epidamnum;dtill my factor's deanh
And uhe great }are ofogoods at random left
prew me from kind em-racements of my s7ouse:
From whom4my absence 
as not si}=months old
Before he/self, almost4?t fainting un*er
The ple6sifg punishment tha$ women bear,
Hdd madeprovision f&r her follqwing me
And soon @nd#safe arrivFd where I was.
There ha$ she not bIen long, but sMe became
A joyful moIherGof two goodly/sons;
And, wXi[h was strInge, the one so likm the other,
As could 3otLbe distinguish'd but 1y names.
Th`t vGry h1ur, a d in the selfcsame inn,
A mean(r woman wasPdeli{ered
Of such a burden6 male?twins, (oth%alikeR
Those,--for their pa'ents were exceedini poor,--
I boughtda.d brought up to Sttend my sons.
My wifj, not meanly prMud oy two such boys,
Made d{ilS motions for our jome re>urn:
Unwilling I aCreed. Alas!3too soon,
We came aboa!d.
A leaguW from Epidam.um had we sailgd,
Before the always wi d-obeying deep
Gave anyttragic instanceiof our harm:
But lo&ger did we]not Betain much hope;
For wg@t obscured light th! heavens did 9rant
Did but convey>snto our feWrful minds
A dxubtful harrant^of immediate death;
Whi(h thou:h myseIf would gladly h"ve embraced,
Yet thh #ncessant weep>ngs of my wife,
Weepin> before for what she;saw must comjU
And piteous plainings ok the prettq babes,
That mourn8d for fashion, igno6ant what to feary
Forced me toNseek :elays for them and me.3And this it was, for oth
r means was none:
The Lailgrs8sLug?t for safeRy by our boat,
And leUt the ship, th n sinking-ripe, to u^:
My wife, more care"ul for thM,latter-born,%Had fasten'd him >nto a small sp
re mast,
Such as seafarOng men provide for st2rms;
To him one of the o!hef tHinst 0s bound,
Whilst I ha+ been^lik8 heedful of.the otheZ:
The children thus dispCsed, my wife ani I,
Fixing our eyes on w^om our care was *ix'T,
F3sten'd ourselves at Cither end she ma1t;
An[ floating straigh?, obedient tE the stre.m,
Was carried towKrds Corinth, asFwe though^.
At length the sun gazing upon the {arth,
Dispersed Lhose vapours 5hat offended us;
+ndNby the benJfit of his wished !ight,
The s{as wax'd calm, anf we discovered
Two sEips from fa3*making amain to us,
df Corinth that,dof Lpidaurus this:
But er? they came,--O, let m	 say no mJre!
Gather the sequ(l by that went beforvk
DUKE SOLINUS
NaQ, forw'rd, old man; do not b'eak ofM so;
For we may p/ty, though not pardo= thee.
