ow, Parmeno!
Is Pamphilus arriv'd?

PAR. He is.

SOSTRA. Thank Heav'n!
Oh, how my comfort is reviv'd by that!

PAR. And therefore I ne'er went into the house.
For if Philumena's complaints abate,
She'll tell him, face to face, the whole affair,
And what has pass'd between you to create
This difference.--But here he comes--how sad!

SCENE IV.

_Enter PAMPHILUS._

SOSTRA. My dear boy, Pamphilus!

PAM. My mother, save you! (_Disordered._)

SOSTRA. I'm glad to see you safe return'd--How does
Your wife!

PAM. A little better.

SOSTRA. Grant it, Heav'n!
--But why d'ye weep, and why are you so sad?

PAM. Nothing, good mother.

SOSTRA. What was all that bustle?
Tell me, did pain attack her suddenly?

PAM. It did.

SOSTRA. And what is her complaint?

PAM. A fever.

SOSTRA. What! a quotidian?

PAR. So they say.--But in,
Good mother, and I'll follow.

SOSTRA. Be it so. (_Exit._

PAM. Do you run, Parmeno, to meet the servants,
And give your help in bringing home the baggage.

PAR. As if they did not know the road!

PAM. Away! (_Exit PARMENO._

SCENE V.

_PAMPHILUS alone._

Which way shall I begin the wretched tale
Of my misfortunes, which have fall'n upon me
Thus unexpectedly? which even now
These very eyes have seen, these ears have heard?
And which, discover'd, drove me out o'doors.
Cover'd with deep confusion?--For but now
As I rush'd in, all anxious for my wife,
And thinking to have found her visited,
Alas! with a far different complaint;
Soon as her women saw me, at first sight
Struck and o'erjoy'd, they all exclaim'd, "He's come!"
And then as soon each countenance was chang'd,
That chance had brought me so unseasonably.
Meanwhile one of them ran before, to speak
Of my arrival. I, who long'd to see her,
Directly follow'd; and no sooner enter'd,
Than her disorder was, alas! too plain:
For neither had they leisure to disguise it,
Nor could she silence the loud cries of travail.
Soon as I saw it, "Oh shame, shame!" I cried,
And rush'd away in tears and agony,
O'erwhelm'd with horror at a stroke so grievous.
The mother follows me, and at the threshold
Falls on her knees before me all in tears.
This touch'd me to the soul. And certainly
'Tis in the very nature of our minds,
To rise and fall according to our fortunes.
Thus she address'd me.-- "Oh, my Pamphilus,
The cause of her removal from your house
You've now discover'd. To my virgin-daughter
Some unknown villain offer'd