Obrázky stránek
PDF
ePub

Tra. Gremio, 'tis known, my father hath no less | I am no breeching scholar in the schools;
Than three great argosies; besides two galliasses,'
And twelve tight galleys: these I will assure her,
And twice as much, whate'er thou offer'st next.
Gre. Nay, I have offer'd all, I have no more;
And she can have no more than all I have ;-
If you like me, she shall have me and mine.

Tra. Why, then the maid is mine from all the
world,

By your firm promise; Gremio is out-vied.

Bap. I must confess, your offer is the best;
And, let your father make her the assurance,
She is your own; else, you must pardon me:
If you should die before him, where's her dower?
Tra. That's but a cavil; he is old, I young.
Gre. And may not young men die, as well as old?
Bap. Well, gentlemen,

I am thus resolv'd:-On Sunday next, you know,
My daughter Katharine is to be married:
Now, on the Sunday following, shall Bianca,
Be bride to you, if you make this assuarance;
If not, to Signior Gremio:

And so I take my leave, and thank you both.

[Exit.

Gre. Adieu, good neighbour.-Now, I fear thee not;

I'll not be tied to hours, nor 'pointed times,
But learn my lessons as I please myself.
And, to cut off all strife, here sit we down:-
Take you your instrument, play you the whiles;
His lecture will be done ere you have tun'd.
Hor. You'll leave his lecture when I am in tune?
[To BIANCA.-HORTENSIO retires.
Luc. That will be never!-tune your instrument.
Bian, Where left we last?

Luc. Here, madam:

Hac ibat Simois; hic est Sigeia tellus ;
Hic steterat Priami regia celsa senis.

Bian. Construe them.

Luc. Hac ibat, as I told you before,-Simeis, I am Lucentio,-hic est, son unto Vincentio of Pisa, -Sigeia tellus, disguised thus to get your love;Hic steterat, and that Lucentio that comes a wooing, Priami, is my man Tranio,-regia, bearing my port, -celsa senis, that we might beguile the old panta

loon.

Hor. Madam, my instrument's in tune.

Bian, Let's hear.-
O fye! the treble jars.

[Returning. [HORTENSIO plays.

Luc. Spit in the hole, man, and tune again. Sirrah, young gamester, your father were a fool Bian. Now let me see if I can construe it: Hac To give thee all, and, in his waning age, ibat Simois, I know you not ;-hic est Sigeia tellus, Set foot under thy table: Tut! a toy! I trust you not;-Hic steterat Priami, take heed he An old Italian fox is not so kind, my boy. [Exit. hear us not ;-regia, presume not;-celsa senis, desTra. A vengeance on your crafty wither'd hide! pair not. Yet I have faced it with a card of ten.' 'Tis in my head to do my master good:I see no reason, but suppos'd Lucentio Must get a father, call'd-suppos'd Vincentio ; And that's a wonder: fathers, commonly, Do get their children; but, in this case of wooing, A child shall get a sire, if I fail not of my cunning. [Exit.4

ACT III.

-

SCENE I. A Room in Baptista's House. Enter
LUCENTIO, HORTENSIO, and BIANCA.

Luc. Fiddler, forbear; you grow too forward, sir:
Have you so soon forgot the entertainment
Her sister Katharine welcom'd you withal?
Hor. But, wrangling pedant, this is
The patroness of heavenly harmony:
Then give me leave to have prerogative;
And when in music we have spent an hour,
Your lecture shall have leisure for as much.

Luc. Preposterous ass! that never read so far
To know the cause why music was ordain'd!
Was it not to refresh the mind of man,
After his studies, or his usual pain?
Then give me leave to read philosophy,
And, while I pause, serve in your harmony.
Hor. Sirrah, I will not bear these braves of thine.
Bian. Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong,
To strive for that which resteth in my choice:

1 A galiass, galeazza, Ital. was a great or double galley. The masts were three, and the number of seats for rowers thirty-two.

2 The origin of this term is also from gaming. When one man vied upon another, he was said to be outvied.

3 This phrase, which often occurs in old writers, was most probably derived from some game at cards, wherein the standing boldly upon a ten was often successful. To face it meant, as it still does, to bully, to attack by impudence of face. Whether a card of ten was properly a cooling card has not yet been ascertained, but they are united in the following passage from Lyly's Euphues. And all lovers, he only excepted, are cooled with a card of ten.'

4 After this Mr. Pope introduced the following speeches of the presenters as they are called; from the old play

:

Slie. When will the fool come again?*

This probably alludes to the custom of filling up the vacancy of the stage between the Acts by the appearance of a fool on the stage. Unless Sly meant Sander the servant to Ferando in the old piece, which seems likely from a subsequent passage.

Hor. Madam, 'tis now in tune.
Luc.

All but the base.
Hor. The base is right; 'tis the base knave that

jars.

How fiery and forward our pedant is!
Now, for my life, the knave doth court my love:
Pedascule, I'll watch you better yet.

Bian. In time I may believe, yet I mistrust.
Luc. Mistrust it not; for sure, acides
Was Ajax, call'd so from his grandfather.
Bian. I must believe my master; else, I promise
you,

I should be arguing still upon that doubt:
But let it rest. Now, Licio, to you :-
Good masters, take it not unkindly, pray,
That I have been thus pleasant with you both.
Hor. You may go walk [to LUCENTIO,] and give
me leave awhile;

My lessons make no music in three parts.
Luc. Are you so formal, sir? well, I must wait,
And watch withal; for, but I be deceiv'd,
Our fine musician groweth amorous.

[Aside.

Hor. Madam, before you touch the instrument,
To learn the order of my fingering,
I must begin with rudiments of art:
To teach you gamut in a briefer sort,
Than hath been taught by any of my trade:
More pleasant, pithy, and effectual,
And there it is in writing, fairly drawn.

Bian. Why, I am past my gamut long ago.
Hor. Yet read the gamut of Hortensio.
Bian. [Reads.] Gamut I am, the ground of all
accord.

Sim. Anon, my lord.

Slie. Give some more drink here; where's the tapster?
Here, Sim, eat some of these things.
Sim. I do, my lord.

Slie. Here, Sim, I drink to thee.
5 No schoolboy, liable to be whipt.

6 This species of humour, in which Latin is transla-
ted into English of a perfectly different meaning, is to be
found in two plays of Middleton, The Witch, and The
Chaste Maid of Cheapside; and in other writers.
7 Pedant.

8 This is only said to deceive Hortensio, who is supposed to be listening. The pedigree of Ajax, however, is properly made out, and might have been taken frem Golding's Version of Ovid's Metamorphoses, book xiii.' or, it may be added, from any historical and poetical dictionary, such as is appended to Cooper's Latin Dictionary, and others of that time.

9 But is here used in its exceptive sense of be-out, without. Vide Note on the Tempest, Act iii. Sc. 1.

A re, to plead Hortensio's passion;
B mi, Bianca, take him for thy lord,

C faut, that loves with all affection;
D sol re, one cliff, two notes have I;
E la mi, show pity, or I die.
Call you this-gamut? tut! I like it not :
Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice,1
To change true rules for odd inventions.

Enter a Servant.

Serv. Mistress, your father prays you leave your
books,

And help to dress your sister's chamber up;
You know, to-morrow is the wedding-day.
Bian. Farewell, sweet masters both; I must be
gone. [Exeunt BIANCA and Servant.
Luc. 'Faith, mistress, then I have no cause to
stay.
[Exit.
Hor. But I have cause to pry into this pedant;
Methinks, he looks as though he were in love:-
Yet if thy thoughts, Bianca, be so humble,
To cast thy wand'ring eyes on every stale,2
Seize thee that list: If once I find thee ranging,
Hortensio will be quit with thee by changing.

[Exit.
SCENE II. The same. Before Baptista's House.
Enter BAPTISTA, GREMIO, TRANIO, KATHA-
RINA, BIANCA, LUCENTIO, and Attendants.
Bap. Signior Lucentio, [to TRANIO,] this is the
'pointed day,

That Katharine and Petruchio should be married,
And yet we hear not of our son-in-law:
What will be said? what mockery will it be,
To want the bridegroom, when the priest attends
To speak the ceremonial rites of marriage?
What says Lucentio to this shame of ours?

Bap. Is he come ?

Bion. Why, no, sir.
Bap. What then?
Bion. He is coming.

Bap. When will he be here?

Bion. When he stands where I am, and sees you there.

Tra. But, say, what :-To thine old news.

Bion. Why, Petruchio is coming, in a new hat and an old jerkin; a pair of old breeches, thrice turned; a pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta'en out of the town armory, with a broken hilt and chapeless; with two broken points: His horse hipped with an old mothy saddle, the stirrups of no kindred: besides, possessed with the glanders, and like to mose in the chine; troubled with the lampas, infected with the fashions, full of windgalls, sped with spavins, raied with the yellows, past cure of the fives, stark spoiled with the staggers, begnawn with the bots; swayed in the back, and shoulder-shotten; ne'er legged before; and with a half-checked bit, and a head-stall of sheep's leather; which, being restrained to keep him from stumbling, hath been often burst, and now repaired with knots: one girt six times pieced, and a woman's crupper of velure, which hath two letters for her name, fairly set down in studs, and here and there pieced with packthread.

Bap. Who comes with him?

Bion. O sir, his lackey, for all the world caparisoned like the horse; with a linen stock1o on one leg, and a kersey boot-hose on the other, gartered with a red and blue list: an old hat, and The humour of forty fancies," pricked in't for a feather: a monster, a very monster in apparel; and not like a

Kath. No shame but mine: I must, forsooth, be christian footboy, or a gentleman's lackey.

forc'd

To give my hand, oppos'd against my heart,

Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen ;3

Who woo'd in haste, and means to wed at leisure.
I told you, I, he was a frantic fool,

Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behaviour:

And, to be noted for a merry man,

He'll woo a thousand, 'point the day of marriage,
Make friends invite them, and proclaim the banns;4
Yet never means to wed where he hath woo'd.
Now must the world point at poor Katharine,
And say,-Lo, there is mad Petruchio's wife,
If it would please him come and marry her.

Tra. Patience, good Katharine, and Baptista too;
Upon my life, Petruchio means but well,
Whatever fortune stays him from his word;
Though he be blunt, I know him passing wise;
Though he be merry, yet withal he's honest.
Kath. 'Would, Katharine had never seen him
though!

[Exit, weeping, followed by BIANCA and others.
Bap. Go, girl; I cannot blame thee now to weep;
For such an injury would vex a very saint,
Much more a shrew of thy impatient humour.
Enter BIONDello.

Bio. Master, master! news, old news,' and such news as you never heard of!

Bap. Is it new and old too? how may that be? Bion. Why, is it not news to hear of Petruchio's coming?

Tra. "Tis some odd humour pricks him to this fashion!

Yet oftentimes he goes but mean apparell'd.

Bap. I am glad he is come, howsoever he comes.
Bion. Why, sir, he comes not.

Bap. Didst thou not say, he comes?
Bion. Who? that Petruchio came?
Bap. Ay, that Petruchio came.

Bion. No, sir; I say, his horse comes with him on his back.

Bap. Why, that's all one.

Bion. Nay, by Saint Jamy, I hold you a penny, A horse and a man is more than one, and yet not

[blocks in formation]

6 Lest the reader should imagine that a sword with 1 The equivocal use of the word nice by our ances. two broken points is here meant, he should know that tors has caused some confusion among the commenta-points were tagged laces used in fastening different tors; from Baret it appears to have been synonymous, parts of the dress: two broken points would therefore with tender, delicate, ffeminate. add to the slovenly appearance of Petruchio.

2 A sale was a decoy or bait; originally the form of a bird was set up to allure a hawk or other bird of prey, and hence used for any object of allurement. Stale here may, however, only mean every common object, as stule was applied to common women.

3 Humour, caprice, inconstancy.

4 Them is not in the old copy, it was supplied by Malone: the second folio reads-yes.

5 Old news. These words were added by Rowe, and necessarily, as appears by the reply of Baptista. Old, in the sense of abundant, as, 'old turning the key,' &c. occurs elsewhere in Shakspeare.

7 i. e. the farcy, called fashions in the west of England.

8 Vives; a distemper in horses, little differing from the strangles. 10 Stocking.

9 Velvet. 11 Warburton's supposition, that Shakspeare ridicules some popular cheap book of this title, by making Petruchio prick it up in his footboy's hat instead of a feather, has been well supported by Steevens; he observes that a penny book, containing forty short poems, would, properly managed, furnish no unapt plume of feathers for the hat of a humourist's servant.'

Bap. Why sir, you know, this is your wedding-|The mad-brain'd bridegroom took him such a cuff, That down fell priest and book, and book and priest: Now take them up, quoth he, if any list.

day:

First were we sad, fearing you would not come;
Now sadder, that you come so unprovided.
Fye! doff this habit, shame to your estate,
An eye-sore to our solemn festival.

Tra. And tell us, what occasion of import
Hath all so long detain'd you from your wife,
And sent you hither so unlike yourself?

Pet. Tedious it were to tell, and harsh to hear:
Sufficeth, I am come to keep my word,
Though in some part enforced to disgress;1
Which, at more leisure, I will so excuse
As you shall well be satisfied withal.

But, where is Kate? I stay too long from her;
The morning wears, 'tis time we were at church.
Tra. See not your bride in these unreverent robes;
Go to my chamber, put on clothes of mine.

Pet. Not I, believe me; thus I'll visit her.
Bap. But thus, I trust, you will not marry her.
Pet. Good sooth, even thus; therefore have done
with words;

To me she's married, not unto my clothes:
Could I repair what she will wear in me,
As I can change these poor accoutrements,
'Twere well for Kate, and better for myself.
But what a fool am I to chat with you,
When I should bid good-morrow to my bride,
And seal the title with a lovely kiss?
[Exeunt PET. GRU. and BION.
Tra. He hath some meaning in his mad attire:
We will persuade him, be it possible,
To put on better ere he go to church.

Bap. I'll after him, and see the event of this.

[Exit.
Tra. But, sir, to her love concerneth us to add
Her father's liking; which to bring to pass,
As I before imparted to your worship,
I am to get a man,-whate'er he be,

It skills not much; we'll fit him to our turn,-
And he shall be Vincentio of Pisa;
And make assurance, here in Padua,
Of greater sums than I have promised,
So shall you quietly enjoy your hope,
And marry sweet Bianca with consent.

Luc. Were it not that my fellow schoolmaster
Doth watch Bianca's steps so narrowly,
'Twere good, methinks, to steal our marriage;
Which once perform'd, let all the world say-no,
I'll keep mine own, despite of all the world.

Tra. That by degrees we mean to look into,
And watch our vantage in this business:
We'll overreach the greybeard, Gremio,
The narrow-prying father, Minola;
The quaint musician, amerous Licio;
All for my master's sake, Lucentio.-
Re-enter GREMIO.

Signior Gremio! came you from the church?
Gre. As willingly as e'er I came from school.
Tra. And is the bride and bridegroom coming
home?

Gre. A bridegroom, say you? 'tis a groom, in-
deed,

A grumoling groom, and that the girl shall find.
Tra. Curster than she? why, 'tis impossible.
Gre. Why, he's a devil, a devil, a very fiend.
Tra. Why, she's a devil, a devil, the devil's dam.
Gre. Tut! she's a lamb, a dove, a fool to him.
I'll tell you, Sir Lucentio: When the priest
Should ask-if Katharine should be his wife,
Ay, by gogs-wouns, quoth he; and swore so loud,
That, all amaz'd, the priest let fall the book:
And, as he stoop'd again to take it up,

1 i. e. to deviate from my promise.

Tra. What said the wench, when he arose again?
Gre. Trembled and shook; for why, he stamp'd
and swore,

As if the vicar meant to cozen him.
But after many ceremonies done,

He calls for wine:-A health, quoth he; as if
He had been aboard carousing to his mates
After a storm:-Quaff'd off the muscadel,
And threw the sops all in the sexton's face;
Having no other reason,-

But that his beard grew thin and hungerly,
And seem'd to ask him sops as he was drinking.
This done, he took the bride about the neck;
And kiss'd her lips with such a clamourous smack,
That, at the parting, all the church did echo.
I, seeing this, came thence for very shame;
And after me, I know, the rout is coming:
Such a mad marriage never was before;
Hark, hark! I hear the minstrels play.
Enter PETRUCHIO, KATHARINA, BIANCA, BAP-
TISTA, HORTENSIO, GRUMIO, and Train.
Pet. Gentlemen and friends, I thank you for your
pains:

2 The old copy reads, But, sir, love concerneth us to add, Her father's liking. The emendation is Mr. Tyrwhitt's. The nominative case to the verb concerneth is here understood.

3 It matters not much,' it is of no importance. 4 Quaint had formerly a more favorable meaning than strange, awkward, fantastical, and was used in commendation, as neat, elegant, dainty, dexterous.

[Music

I know you think to dine with me to-day,
And have prepared great store of wedding cheer;
But so it is, my haste doth call me hence,
And therefore here I mean to take my leave.

Bap. Is't possible, you will away to-night?
Pet. I must away to-day, before night come:-
Make it no wonder; if you knew my business,
You would entreat me rather go than stay.
And, honest company, I thank you all,
That have beheld me give away myself
To this most patient, sweet, and virtuous wife:
Dine with my father, drink a health to me;
For I must hence, and farewell to you all.
Tra. Let us entreat you stay till after dinner.
Pet. It may not be.

Gre.

Pet. It cannot be. Kath.

Pet. I am content.

Kath.

Let me entreat you.

Let me entreat you.

Are you content to stay?

Pet. I am content you shall entreat me stay, But yet not stay, entreat me how you can. Kath. Now, if you love me, stay.

Pet. Grumio, my horses. Gru. Ay, sir, they be ready; the oats have eaten the horses.

Kath. Nay, then,

Do what thou canst, I will not go to-day;
No, nor to-morrow, nor till I please myself.
The door is open, sir, there lies your way,
You may be jogging whiles your boots are green;
For me, I'll not be gone, till I please myself;—
"Tis like you'll prove a jolly surly groom,
That take it on you at the first so roundly.

Pet. O, Kate, content thee; pr'ythee be not angry. Kath. I will be angry; What hast thou to do? Father, be quiet; he shall stay my leisure.

Gre. Ay, marry, sir; now it begins to work. Kath. Gentlemen, forward to the bridal dinner :I see a woman may be made a fool, If she had not a spirit to resist.

Pet. They shall go forward, Kate, at thy com-
mand:

Obey the bride, you that attend on her:
Go to the feast, revel and domineer,
Carouse full measure to her maidenhead,
Be mad and merry, or go hang yourselves;

5 The custom of having wine and sops distributed immediately after the marriage ceremony in the church is very ancient. It existed even among our Gothic an cestors, and is mentioned in the ordinances of the house hold of Henry VII. For the marriage of a Princess:Then pottes of Ipocrice to be ready, and to bee put into cupps with soppe, and to be borne to the estates, and to take a soppe and drinke.'

6 That is bluster or swagger.

But for my bonny Kate, she must with me.
Nay, look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret ;
I will be master of what is mine own:
She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
My household-stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing;
And here she stands, touch her whoever dare;
I'll bring my action on the proudest he
That stops my way in Padua.-Grumio,
Draw forth thy weapon, we're beset with thieves;
Rescue thy mistress, if thou be a man:-
Fear not, sweet wench, they shall not touch thee,
Kate;

I'll buckler thee against a million.

[Exeunt PET. KATH. and GRU. Bap. Nay, let them go, a couple of quiet ones! Gre. Went they not quickly, I should die with laughing.

Tra. Of all mad matches, never was the like!
Luc. Mistress, what's your opinion of your sister?
Bian. That, being mad herself, she's madly mated.
Gre. I warrant him, Petruchio is Kated.
Bap. Neighbours and friends, though bride and
bridegroom wants

For to supply the places at the table,
You know there wants no junkets' at the feast.-
Lucentio, you shall supply the bridegroom's place,
And let Bianca take her sister's room.

Tra. Shall sweet Bianca practise how to bride it?
Bap. She shall, Lucentio.-Come, gentlemen,
let's go.
[Exeunt.

[blocks in formation]

mistress, whose hand (she being now at hand) thou shalt soon feel, to thy cold comfort, for being slow in thy hot office.

Curt. I pr'ythee, good Grumio, tell me, How goes the world?

Gru. A cold world, Curtis, in every office but thine; and, therefore, fire: Do thy duty, and have thy duty; for my master and mistress are almost frozen to death.

Curt. There's fire ready: And, therefore, good Grumio, the news?

Gru. Why, Jack boy! ho boy!" and as much news as thou wilt.

Curt. Come, you are so full of conycatching: Gru. Why, therefore, fire; for I have caught extreme cold. 'Where's the cook? is supper ready, the house trimmed, rushes strewed, cobwebs swept; the serving-men in their new fustian, their white stockings, and every officer his wedding garment on? Be the jacks fair within, the jills fair without, the carpets laid, and every thing in order?

Curt. All ready; and therefore I pray thee, news. Gru. First, know, my horse is tired; my master and mistress fallen out.

[blocks in formation]

Curt. This is to feel a tale, not to hear a tale. Gru. And therefore 'tis called a sensible tale and listening. Now I begin: Imprimis, we came down this cuff was but to knock at your ear, and beseech a foul hill, my master riding behind my mistress Cur. Both on one horse?

Gru. What's that to thee?
Curt. Why, a horse.

Gru. Fye, fye on all tired jades! on all mad masters! and all foul ways! Was ever man so beaten; was ever man so rayed ?2 was ever man so weary? I am sent before to make a fire, and they are com- Gru. Tell thou the tale:— -But hadst thou not ing after to warm them. Now, were not I a little crossed me, thou shouldst have heard how her horse pot, and soon hot,3 my very lips might freeze to my fell, and she under her horse; thou should'st have teeth, my tongue to the roof of my mouth, my heart heard, in how miry a place: how she was bemoiled;1o in my belly, ere I should come by a fire to thaw how he left her with the horse upon her; how he me:-But I, with blowing the fire, shall warm my-beat me because her horse stumbled; how she waded self; for, considering the weather, a taller man than I will take cold. Holla! hoa! Curtis!

[blocks in formation]

Curt. Is she so hot a shrew as she's reported? Gru. She was, good Curtis, before this frost : but thou know'st, winter tames man, woman, and beast: for it hath tamed my old master, and my new mistress, and myself,' fellow Curtis.

Curt. Away, thou three-inch fool! I am no beast. Gru. Am I but three inches? why, thy horn is a foot; and so long am I, at the least. But wilt thou make a fire, or shall I complain on thee to our 2 Bewrayed, dirty. 3 A little pot soon hot, is a common proverb. 4 There is an old popular catch of three parts in these words :

1 Delicacies.

Scotland burneth, Scotland burneth, Fire, fire;Fire, fire,

Cast on some more water.'

5 Grumio calls himself a beast, and Curtis one also by inference in calling him fellow this would not have been noticed but that one of the commentators once thought it necessary to alter myself in Grumio's speech to thyself. Grumio's sentence is proverbial:

Wedding, and ill-wintering tame both man and beast.' 6 Curtis contemptuously alludes to Grumio's diminutive size; and he in return calls Curtis a cuckold.

7 This is the beginning of an old round in three parts, the music is given in the Variorum Shakspeare. S It is probable that a quibble was intended. Jack and jill signify two drinking vessels as well as men and maid-servants.

through the dirt to pluck him off me; how he swore; how she prayed that never prayed before; how I cried; how the horses ran away, how her bridle was burst;11 how I lost my crupper;-with many things and thou return unexperienced to thy grave. of worthy memory; which now shall die in oblivion,

Curt. By this reckoning, he is more shrew than she.12

all shall find, when he comes home. But what talk Gru. Ay; and that thou and the proudest of you I of this ?-call forth Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter, Sugarsop, and the rest; let their heads be sleekly combed, their blue coats13 brushed, and their garters of an indifferent14 knit: let them curtsey with their left legs; and not presume to touch a hair of my master's horse-tail, till they kiss Are they all ready?

their hands.

Curt. They are.
Gru. Call them forth.

Curt. Do you hear, ho! you must meet my master, to countenance my mistress.

Gru. Why, she hath a face of her own.

9 The carpets were laid over the tables. The floors, as appears from the present passage and others, were strewed with rushes.

10 i. e. bedraggled, bemired.

11 Broken.

12 The term shrew was anciently applied to either sex, as appears from Chaucer's Testam. of Love, fol. 300, Ed. Speght. 1599.

13 Blue coats were the usual habits of servants. Hence a blue-bottle was sometimes used as a term of reproach for a servant.

14 Of an indifferent knit is tolerably knit, pretty good in quality. Hamlet says, 'I am myself indifferent ho nest,' i. e. tolerably honest. The reader, who will be at the pains to refer to the Variorum Shakspeare, may be amused with the discordant blunders of the most emi nent commentators about this simple expression.

Curt. Who knows not that?

Gru. Thou, it seems; that callest for company to countenance her.

Curt. I call them forth to credit her.

Gru. Why, she comes to borrow nothing of them.
Enter several Servants.

Nath. Welcome home, Grumio.
Phil. How now, Grumio?
Jos. What, Grumio!
Nich. Fellow Grumio!
Nath. How now, old lad?

Gru. Welcome, you;-how now, you; what, you; -fellow, you;—and thus much for greeting. Now, my spruce companions, is all ready, and all things

neat?

Nath. All things is ready: How near is our master?

Gru. E'en at hand, alighted by this; and therefore be not-Cock's passion, silence!- -I hear my master.

Enter PETRUCHIO and KATHARINA.

Pet. Where be these knaves? What, no man at
door,

To hold my stirrup, nor to take my horse!
Where is Nathaniel, Gregory, Philip ?-

All Serv. Here, here, sir; here, sir.

Pet. Here, sir! here, sir! here, sir! here, You logger-headed and unpolish'd grooms!" What, no attendance? no regard? no duty? Where is the foolish knave I sent before?"

[blocks in formation]

Who brought it? 1.

What dogs are these!-Where is the rascal cook?
Pet. 'Tis burnt; and so is all the meat:
How durst you, villains, bring it from the dresser,
And serve it thus to me that love it not?
There, take it to you, trenchers, cups, and all:
You heedless joltheads, and unmanner'd slaves!
[Throws the meat, &c. about the stage.
What, do you grumble? I'll be with you straight.

Kath. I pray you, husband, be not so disquiet;
The meat was well, if you were so contented.
Pet. I tell thee, Kate, 'twas burnt and dried away;
And I expressly am forbid to touch it,
For it engenders choler, planteth anger;
And better 'twere that both of us did fast,-
Since, of ourselves, ourselves are choleric,-
sir!-Than feed it with such over-roasted flesh.

Gru. Here, sir; as foolish as I was before.
Pet. You peasant swain! you whoreson, malt-
horse drudge!

Did I not bid thee meet me in the park,
And bring along these rascal knaves with thee?

Gru. Nathaniel's coat, sir, was not fully made,
And Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'd i'the heel;
There was no link2 to colour Peter's hat,
And Walter's dagger was not come from sheathing:
There were none fine, but Adam, Ralph, and Gre-

gory;

The rest were ragged, old, and beggarly;
Yet, as they are, here are they come to meet you.
Pet. Go, rascals, go, and fetch my supper in.-
"[Exeunt some of the Servants.
Where is the life that late I led ?-3
[Sings.
Where are those- -Sit down, Kate, and welcome.
Soud, soud, soud, soud !4

Re-enter Servants, with supper.
Why, when, I say?-Nay, good, sweet Kate, be

merry.

[Sings.

Off with my boots, you rogues, you villains; When?
It was the friar of orders grey,"
As he forth walked on his way :-
Out, out, you rogue! you pluck my foot awry:
Take that, and mend the plucking off the other.
[Strikes him.
Be merry, Kate :-Some water, here; what, ho!
Where's my spaniel Troilus?-Sirrah, get you hence,
And bid my cousin Ferdinand come hither :-
[Exit Servant.
One, Kate, that you must kiss, and be acquainted
with.--

Where are my slippers?-Shall I have some water?
[A bason is presented to him.

1 The false concord here was no doubt intentional, it suits well with the character.

Be patient; to-morrow it shall be mended,
And, for this night, we'll fast for company :-
Come, I will bring thee to thy bridal chamber.
[Exeunt PET. KATH. and CURT.
Nath. [Advancing.] Peter, didst ever see the like?
Peter. He kills her in her own humour.
Re-enter CURTIS.

Gru. Where is he?

Curt. In her chamber,

Making a sermon of continency to her:
And rails, and swears, and rates; that she, poor soul,
Knows not which way to stand, to look, to speak;
And sits as one new-risen from a dream.
Away, away! for he is coming hither.

[Exeunt

Re-enter PETRUCHIO.
Pet. Thus have I politicly begun my reign,
And 'tis my hope to end successfully:
My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty;
And, till she stoop, she must not be full-gorged,"
For then she never looks upon her lure.
Another way I have to man my haggard,"
To make her come, and know her keeper's call,
That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites
That bate,1° and beat, and will not be obedient.
She eat no meat to-day, nor none shall eat;
Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not;
As with the meat, some undeserved fault
I'll find about the making of the bed;
And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster,
This way the coverlet, another way the sheets:-
Ay, and amid this hurly, I intend

That all is done in reverend care of her;
And, in conclusion, she shall watch all night:
And, if she chance to nod, I'll rail and brawl,
And with the clamour keep her still awake.
This is a way to kill a wife with kindness;
And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humour.
He that knows better how to tame a shrew,
Now let him speak; 'tis charity to shew.

[Erit.

6 It was the custom in ancient times to wash the 2 Green, in his Mihil Mumchance, says, 'This cozen-hands immediately before dinner and supper, and afterage is used likewise in selling old hats found upon dunghills, instead of newe, blackt over with the smoake of an olde link.

3 This ballad was well suited to Petruchio, as appears by the answer in A Handeful of Pleasant Delites, 1584; which is called 'Dame Beautie's replie to the lover late at libertie, and now complaineth him to be her captive,' entituled Where is the life that late I led?"

4 A word coined by Shakspeare to express the noise made by a person heated and fatigued.

5 Dr. Percy has constructed his beautiful ballad, The Friar of Orders Gray,' from the various fragments and hints dispersed through Shakspeare's plays, with a few supplemental stanzas.

wards. As our ancestors cat with their fingers, we can. not wonder at such repeated ablutions.

7 Shakspeare delights in allusions to Falconry; the following allegory comprises most of its terms. Ahawk full fed was untractable, and refused the lure.

8 The lure was a thing stuffed to look like the game the hawk was to pursue; its use was to tempt him back

after he had flown.

9 A haggard is a wild hawk, to man her is to tame her. To watch or wake a hawk was one part of the process of taming.

10 To bate is to flutter the wings as preparing for flight; batter l'ale, Italian.

11 Intend is used for pretend.

« PředchozíPokračovat »