g
children. Then the parents secured themselves to the same masts, and
hoped for safety.

The ship, however, suddenly struck a rock and was split in two, and
AEmilia, and the two children whom she had tied, floated away from
AEgeon and the other children. AEmilia and her charges were picked up by
some people of Epidamnum, but some fishermen of Corinth took the
babies from her by force, and she returned to Epidanmum alone, and very
miserable. Afterwards she settled in Ephesus, a famous town in Asia
Minor.

AEgeon and his charges were also saved; and, more fortunate than
AEmilia, he was able to return to Syracuse and keep them till they were
eighteen. His own child he called Antipholus, and the slavechild he
called Dromio; and, strangely enough, these were the names given to the
children who floated away from him.

At the age of eighteen the son who was with AEgeon grew restless with a
desire to find his brother. AEgeon let him depart with his servant, and
the young men are henceforth known as Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio
of Syracuse.

Let alone, AEgeon found his home too dreary to dwell in, and traveled
for five years. He did not, during his absence, learn all the news of
Syracuse, or he would never have gone to Ephesus.

As it was, his melancholy wandering ceased in that town, where he was
arrested almost as soon as he arrived. He then found that the Duke of
Syracuse had been acting in so tyrannical a manner to Ephesians unlucky
enough to fall into his hands, that the Government of Ephesus had
angrily passed a law which punished by death or a fine of a thousand
pounds any Syracusan who should come to Ephesus. AEgeon was brought
before Solinus, Duke of Ephesus, who told him that he must die or pay a
thousand pounds before the end of the day.

You will think there was fate in this when I tell you that the children
who were kidnaped by the fishermen of Corinth were now citizens of
Ephesus, whither they had been brought by Duke Menaphon, an uncle of
Duke Solinus. They will henceforth be called Antipholus of Ephesus and
Dromio of Ephesus.

Moreover, on the very day when AEgeon was arrested, Antipholus of
Syracuse landed in Ephesus and pretended that he came from Epidamnum in
order to avoid a penalty. He handed his money to his servant Dromio of
Syracuse, and bade him take it to the Centaur Inn and remain there till
he came.

In less than ten minutes he was met on the Mart by Dromio of Ephesus,
his brother's