THE SUM
Enter a Messenger
Mess.News, my good lord, from Rome.
Antony. Grates me: the sum.
Cleo.Nay, hear them, Antony.
(Antony and Cleopatra, i, 1, 18)
The generally accepted interpretation of Antony's "the sum" is that he is ordering the messenger to sum up the news shortly. Impatient of interruption he exclaims that it "grates" upon him and then demands the news from Rome in a nutshell.
This is a misconception. Antony's words, "the sum," are in answer to Cleopatra's foregoing inquiry as to "how much" he loves her. She has been insisting upon an answer to that question, but just when Antony is beginning to expatiate upon that pleasant theme, the messenger arrives and interrupts him. Vexed at this untimely obtrusion he waves the messenger aside and at once resumes his reply to Cleopatra. "The sum———", he begins; but before he can tell her the amount of his love he is again interrupted, this time by her. The line should be printed with a dash after it to indicate that he has begun a sentence which is broken off.
At first blush it might seem that the usual interpretation of the passage is as good as the
