Hor. 'Tis well and I have met a gentleman,
Hath promis'd me to help me to another,
A fine musician to instruct our mistress;
So fhall I no whit be behind in duty

To fair Bianca, fo belov'd of me.

Gre. Belov'd of me,-and that my deeds fhall
Gru. And that his bags fhall prove.

prove.

Hor. Gremio, 'tis now no time to vent our love:

Listen to me, and, if you speak me fair,

I'll tell you news indifferent good for either.
Here is a gentleman, whom by chance I met,
Upon agreement from us to his liking,
Will undertake to woo curft Katharine;
Yea, and to marry her, if her dowry please.
Gre. So faid, fo done, is well:-
Hortenfio, have you told him all her faults?

Pet. I know, fhe is an irksome brawling fcold;

If that be all, mafters, I hear no harm.

[Afide.

Gre. No, fay'st me fo, friend? What countryman?

Pet. Born in Verona, old Antonio's fon:

My father dead, my fortune lives for me;

And I do hope good days, and long, to fee.

Gre. Oh, fir, fuch a life, with fuch a wife, were strange:

But, if you have a stomach, to't o'God's name;

You shall have me aflifting you in all,

But will you woo this wild cat?

Pet. Will I live?

Gru. Will he woo her? ay, I'll hang her.

Pet. Why came I hither, but to that intent?
Think, you a little din can daunt mine ears?
Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
Have I not heard the fea, puff'd up with winds,
Rage like an angry boar, chafed with sweat?
Have I not heard great ordinance in the field,

[Afide.

And

And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
Have I not in a pitched battle heard

Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?
And do you tell me of a woman's tongue;

That gives not half fo great a blow to the ear,

As will a chefnut in a farmer's fire?

Tufh, tufh! fear boys with bugs.
Gru. For he fears none.
Gre. Hortenfio, hark!

This gentleman is happily arriv'd,

My mind prefumes, for his own good, and ours.
Hor. I promis'd, we would be contributors,
And bear his charge of wooing, whatsoe'er.

[Afide.

Gre. And fo we will; provided, that he win her.
Gru. I would, I were as fure of a good dinner. [Afide.

To them Tranio bravely apparell'd, and Biondello.
Tra. Gentlemen, God fave you! If I may be bold,
Tell me, I beseech you, which is the readiest way
To the house of fignior Baptista Minola?

Gre. He that has the two fair daughters? is't he you mean?

Tra. Even he.

Gre. Hark you, fir; You mean not her to

Tra. Perhaps, him and her, fir; What have you to do?
Pet. Not her that chides, fir, at any hand, I pray.
Tra. I love no chiders, fir: Biondello, let's away.
Luc. Well begun, Tranio.

Hor. Sir, a word ere you go ;—

[Afide.

Are you a fuitor to the maid you talk of, yea, or no? Tra. An if I be, fir, is it any offence?

* fear boys with bugs.]-terrify boys with bug-bears. "For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all."

HENRY VI, Part 3, A&t V, S. 2. K. Edw.

Gre.

Gre. No; if, without more words, you will get you

hence.

Tra. Why, fir, I pray, are not the streets as free For me, as for you?

Gre. But fo is not the.

Tra. For what reafon, I beseech you?

Gre. For this reason, if you'll know,-
That she's the choice love of fignior Gremio.

Hor. That she's the chofen of fignior Hortenfio.
Tra. Softly, my masters! if you be gentlemen,
Do me this right,-hear me with patience.
Baptista is a noble gentleman,

To whom my father is not all unknown ;
And, were his daughter fairer than she is,
She may more fuitors have, and me for one.
Fair Leda's daughter had a thousand wooers;
Then well one more may fair Bianca have:
And fo fhe fhall; Lucentio fhall make one,
Though Paris came, in hope to fpeed alone.

Gre. What! this gentleman will out-talk us all.
Luc. Sir, give him head; I know, he'll prove a jade.
Pet. Hortenfio, to what end are all these words ?
Hor. Sir, let me be fo bold as to ask you,

Did you yet ever fee Baptifta's daughter?

Tra. No, fir; but hear I do, that he hath two:
The one as famous for a fcolding tongue,
As the other is for beauteous modefty.

Pet. Sir, fir, the firft's for me; let her go by.
Gre. Yea, leave that labour to great Hercules;
And let it be more than Alcides' twelve.

Pet. Sir, understand you this of me, infooth ;The youngest daughter, whom you hearken for, Her father keeps from all accefs of suitors;

Helen.

And

And will not promise her to any man,
Until the eldest sister first be wed:
The younger then is free, and not before.

Tra. If it be fo, fir, that you are the man
Muft ftead us all, and me amongst the reft;
An if you break the ice, and do this feat,-
Atchieve the elder, fet the younger free
For our accefs,-whose hap fhall be to have her,
Will not fo graceless be, to be ingrate.

Hor. Sir, you fay well, and well you do conceive:

And fince you do profefs to be a fuitor,

You must, as we do, gratify this gentleman,

To whom we all rest generally beholden.

Tra. Sir, I fhall not be flack: in fign whereof,
Please ye we may contrive this afternoon,
And quaff carouses to our mistress' health
And do as adverfaries do in law,-
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.

Gre. O excellent motion! Fellows, let's begone.
Hor. The motion's good indeed, and be it fo;-
Petruchio, I fhall be your ben venuto.

[Exeunt.

ACT II. SCENE I.

Baptifta's House in Padua.

Enter Katharina and Bianca.

Bian. Good fifter, wrong me not, nor wrong yourself,

To make a bondmaid and a flave of me;

That I difdain: but for thefe other gawds,

contrive]-spend it together in forming our fchemes-on-vive, feast, banquet together.

Unbind my hands, I'll pull them off myself,
Yea, all my raiment, to my petticoat;
Or, what you will command me, will I do,
So well I know my duty to my elders.

Kath. Of all thy fuitors, here I charge thee, tell
Whom thou lov'ft beft: fee thou diffemble not.
Bian. Believe me, fifter, of all the men alive,
I never yet beheld that special face
Which I could fancy more than any other.

Kath. Minion, thou ly'ft; Is't not Hortenfio?
Bian. If you affect him, fifter, here I fwear,
I'll plead for you myself, but you shall have him.
Kath. Oh then, belike, you fancy riches more;
You will have Gremio to keep you " fair.

Bian. Is it for him you do envy me fo?
Nay, then you jeft; and now I well perceive,
You have but jested with me all this while:
I pr'ythee, fifter Kate, untie my hands.

Kath. If that be jest,

then all the rest was so.

Enter Baptifta.

[Strikes ber.

Bap. Why, how now, dame! whence grows this info

lence ?

Bianca, ftand afide ;-poor girl! fhe weeps:

Go ply thy needle; meddle not with her.

For fhame, thou hilding of a devilish spirit,

Why doft thou wrong her that did ne'er wrong thee?
When did the cross thee with a bitter word?

Kath. Her filence flouts me, and I'll be reveng'd.
[Flies after Bianca.

nfair.]-in finery.

• thou bilding of a devilish spirit,]—thou vileft of termagants, thou most outrageous vixen.

P flouts]-infults.

Bap.