The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 3: Books for ChildrenLamb, Charles
General
The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 3: Books for Children
Lamb, Charles
Children's poetry; Children's stories
Ægeon seeing his son, concluded this was the son who had left him to
go in search of his mother and his brother; and he felt secure that
this dear son would readily pay the money demanded for his ransom.
He therefore spoke to Antipholis in words of fatherly affection,
with joyful hope that he should now be released. But to the utter
astonishment of Ægeon, his son denied all knowledge of him, as well he
might, for this Antipholis had never seen his father since they were
separated in the storm in his infancy; but while the poor old Ægeon
was in vain endeavouring to make his son acknowledge him, thinking
surely that either his griefs and the anxieties he had suffered had so
strangely altered him that his son did not know him, or else that he
was ashamed to acknowledge his father in his misery; in the midst of
this perplexity, the lady abbess and the other Antipholis and Dromio
came out, and the wondering Adriana saw two husbands and two Dromios
standing before her.
And now these riddling errors, which had so perplexed them all, were
clearly made out. When the duke saw the two Antipholises and the two
Dromios both so exactly alike, he at once conjectured aright of these
seeming mysteries, for he remembered the story Ægeon had told him in
the morning; and he said, these men must be the two sons of Ægeon and
their twin slaves.
But now an unlooked-for joy indeed completed the history of Ægeon;
and the tale he had in the morning told in sorrow, and under sentence
of death, before the setting sun went down was brought to a happy
conclusion, for the venerable lady abbess made herself known to be the
long-lost wife of Ægeon, and the fond mother of the two Antipholises.
When the fishermen took the eldest Antipholis and Dromio away from
her, she entered a nunnery, and by her wise and virtuous conduct she
was at length made lady abbess of this convent, and in discharging
the rites of hospitality to an unhappy stranger she had unknowingly
protected her own son.
Joyful congratulations and affectionate greetings between these long
separated parents and their children, made them for a while forget
that Ægeon was yet under sentence of death; but when they were become
a little calm, Antipholis of Ephesus offered the duke the ransom-money
for his father's life; but the duke freely pardoned Ægeon, and would
not take the money. And the duke went with the abbess and her newly
found husband and children into the convent, to hear this happy family
discourse at leisure of the blessed ending of their adverse fortunes.
And the two Dromios' humble joy must not be forgotten; they had
their congratulations and greetings too, and each Dromio pleasantly
complimented his brother on his good looks, being well pleased to see
his own person (as in a glass) shew so handsome in his brother.
Adriana had so well profited by the good counsel of her mother-in-law,
that she never after cherished unjust suspicions, or was jealous of
her husband.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account