I would like to see my retellings of classic literature used in schools, so I give permission to the country of Finland (and all other countries) to buy one copy of this eBook and give copies to all students forever. I also give permission to the state of Texas (and all other states) to buy one copy of this eBook and give copies to all students forever. I also give permission to all teachers to buy one copy of this eBook and give copies to all students forever.
Teachers need not actually teach my retellings. Teachers are welcome to give students copies of my eBooks as background material. For example, if they are teaching Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” teachers are welcome to give students copies of my “Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’: A Retelling in Prose” and tell students, “Here’s another ancient epic you may want to read in your spare time.”
This is an easy-to-read version of William Shakespeare’s comic play “The Comedy of Errors,” which revolves about the zany misunderstandings wrought by two sets of twins.
A sample:
“Is time running backward? I have never heard of that happening before.”
“Oh, yes, it does happen to hours. When an owe-er — someone who looks at all his debt and says ‘ow’ and so is an ow-er — who cannot pay his debts sees a police officer ahead of him, he runs back the way he came. And of course it is illegal to be a woman who is paid to cry ‘Oh! Oh! Oh!’ Therefore, when an oh-er or a ’ho-er sees a police officer in front of her, she runs back the way she came. Both are afraid of being arrested.”
“Time running back the way it came! As if Time were in debt! How foolishly you think!”
“Time is a bankrupt, and he owes more than he’s worth. We never have enough Time to accomplish what we want to accomplish in any season. Indeed, Time is a thief, too. Haven’t you heard men say that Time comes stealing on by night and day? If Time is a bankrupt and a thief, and a police sergeant appears in Time’s way, doesn’t Time have a reason to turn back like an owe-er or an ow-er or an oh-er or a ’ho-er every day?”
