dole'! He that runs fastest, gets the ring. How say you, signior Gremio?

Gre. I am agreed: and 'would I had given him the best horse in Padua to begin his wooing, that would thoroughly woo her, wed her, and bed her, and rid the house of her. Come on.

[Exeunt GREMIO and HORTENSIO. Tra. [advancing.] I pray, sir, tell me,-Is it pos

sible

That love should of a sudden take such hold?

Luc. O Tranio, till I found it to be true,

I never thought it possible, or likely;
But see! while idly I stood looking on,
I found the effect of love in idleness:
And now in plainness do confess to thee,-
That art to me as secret, and as dear,
As Anna to the queen of Carthage was,-
Tranio, I burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio,
If I achieve not this young modest girl:
Counsel me, Tranio, for I know thou canst;
Assist me, Tranio, for I know thou wilt.

Tra. Master, it is no time to chide you now;
Affection is not rated' from the heart:

If love have touch'd you, nought remains but so,—
Redime te captum quam queas minimo3.

Luc. Gramercies, lad; go forward: this contents;
The rest will comfort, for thy counsel's sound.

Tra. Master, you look'd so longly' on the maid, Perhaps you mark'd not what's the pith of all.

Happy man be his dole!] A proverbial expression. Dole is any thing dealt out or distributed, though its original meaning was the provision given away at the doors of great men's houses. STEEVENS.

1 is not rated] Is not driven out by chiding.

2 Redime, &c.] Our author had this line from Lilly, which I mention, that it might not be brought as an argument for his learning. JOHNSON.

3

longly] i. e. longingly. I have met with no example of this adverb. STEEVENS.

Luc. O yes, I saw sweet beauty in her face,
Such as the daughter of Agenor had,

That made great Jove to humble him to her hand,
When with his knees he kiss'd the Cretan strand.

Tra. Saw you no more? mark'd you not, how her sister

Began to scold; and raise up such a storm,

That mortal ears might hardly endure the din ?
Luc. Tranio, I saw her coral lips to move,
And with her breath she did perfume the air;
Sacred, and sweet, was all I saw in her.

Tra. Nay, then, 'tis time to stir him from his trance. I pray, awake, sir; If you love the maid,

Bend thoughts and wits to achieve her.

stands:

Her eldest sister is so curst and shrewd,
That, till the father rid his hands of her,
Master, your love must live a maid at home;
And therefore has he closely mew'd her up,
Because she shall not be annoy'd with suitors.

Thus it

Luc. Ah, Tranio, what a cruel father's he!
But art thou not advis'd, he took some care
To get her cunning schoolmasters to instruct her?
Tra. Ay, marry, am I, sir; and now 'tis plotted.
Luc. I have it, Tranio.

Tra.

Both our inventions meet and jump in one.

Luc. Tell me thine first.

Tra.

Master, for my hand,

You will be schoolmaster,

And undertake the teaching of the maid:

That's your device.

Luc.

It is May it be done?

Tra. Not possible; For who shall bear your part,
And be in Padua here Vincentio's son ?

Keep house, and ply his book; welcome his friends;
Visit his countrymen, and banquet them?

4

daughter of Agenor -] Europa, for whose sake Jupiter transformed himself into a bull.

Luc. Basta'; content thee; for I have it full ‘.
We have not yet been seen in any house;
Nor can we be distinguished by our faces,
For man, or master: then it follows thus ;-
Thou shalt be master, Tranio, in my stead,
Keep house, and port', and servants, as I should:
I will some other be; some Florentine,
Some Neapolitan, or mean man of Pisa †.
"Tis hatch'd, and shall be so:-Tranio, at once
Uncase thee; take my coloured hat and cloak:
When Biondello comes, he waits on thee;
But I will charm him first to keep his tongue.
Tra. So had you need.

[They exchange habits. In brief then, sir, sith it your pleasure is,

And I am tied to be obedient;

(For so your father charg'd me at our parting;
Be serviceable to my son, quoth he,

Although, I think, 'twas in another sense,)
I am content to be Lucentio,

Because so well I love Lucentio.

Luc. Tranio, be so, because Lucentio loves :
And let me be a slave, to achieve that maid
Whose sudden sight hath thrall'd my wounded eye.

Enter BIONDELLO.

Here comes the rogue.-Sirrah, where have you

been?

Bion. Where have I been? Nay, how now, where are

you?

Master, has my fellow Tranio stol'n your clothes?
Or you stol'n his? or both? pray, what's the news?
Luc. Sirrah, come hither; 'tis no time to jest,

s Basta ;] i. e. 'tis enough; Italian and Spanish.

6 I have it full.] i. e. conceive our stratagem in its full extent, I have already planned the whole of it.

7 · port,] Port is figure, show, appearance. Mr. Malone reads, " meaner man of Pisa."

And therefore frame your manners to the time.
Your fellow Tranio here, to save my life,
Puts my apparel and my countenance on,
And I for my escape have put on his;
For in a quarrel, since I came ashore,

I kill'd a man, and fear I was descried.
Wait you on him, I charge you, as becomes,

While I make way from hence to save my life:
You understand me?

Bion.

I, sir? ne'er a whit.

Luc. And not a jot of Tranio in your mouth; Tranio is changed into Lucentio.

Bion. The better for him; 'Would I were so too!
Tra. So would I, faith, boy, to have the next wish

after,

That Lucentio indeed had Baptista's youngest daughter. But, sirrah,-not for my sake, but your master's,-I

advise

You use your manners discreetly in all kind of companies:

When I am alone, why, then I am Tranio ;

But in all places else, your master Lucentio.
Luc. Tranio, let's go :-

One thing more rests, that thyself execute;

To make one among these wooers: If thou ask me

why,

Sufficeth, my reasons are both good and weighty.

[Exeunt.

1 Serv. My lord, you nod; you do not mind the play. Sly. Yes, by saint Anne, do I. A good matter, surely; Comes there any more of it?

8

Page. My lord, 'tis but begun.

good and weighty.] The division for the second Act of this play is neither marked in the folio nor quarto editions. Shakspeare seems to have meant the first Act to conclude here, where the speeches of the Tinker are introduced; though they have been hitherto thrown to the end of the first Act, according to a modern and arbitrary regulation. STEEVENS.

Sly. 'Tis a very excellent piece of work, madam lady; Would 'twere done!

SCENE II.

The same. Before Hortensio's House.

Enter PETRUCHIO and GRUMIO.

Pet. Verona, for a while I take my leave,
To see my friends in Padua ; but, of all,
My best beloved and approved friend,
Hortensio; and, I trow, this is his house :—
Here, sirrah Grumio; knock, I say.

Gru. Knock, sir! whom should I knock? is there

any man has rebused your worship?

Pet. Villain, I say, knock me here soundly.

Gru. Knock you here, sir? why, sir, what am I, sir, that I should knock you here, sir?

Pet. Villain, I say, knock me at this gate,

And rap me well, or I'll knock your knave's pate.

Gru. My master is grown quarrelsome: I should knock you first,

And then I know after who comes by the worst.
Pet. Will it not be?

Faith, sirrah, an you'll not knock, I'll wring it';

I'll try how you can sol, fa, and sing it.

[He wrings GRUMIO by the ears. Gru. Help, masters, help! my master is mad.

Pet. Now, knock when I bid you: sirrah! villain!

Enter HORTENSIO.

Hor. How now? what's the matter?-My old friend Grumio! and my good friend Petruchio!

How do you all at Verona ?

9

wring it;] Here seems to be a quibble between ringing

at a door, and wringing a man's ears. STEEVENS.