Sir, [to the Ped.]

This is the gentleman I told you of;
I pray you, stand good father to me now,
Give me Bianca for my patrimony.

Ped. Soft, son!—

Sir, by your leave; having come to Padua
To gather in some debts, my son Lucentio
Made me acquainted with a weighty cause
Of love between your daughter and himself:
And, for the good report I hear of you;
And for the love he beareth to your daughter,
And she to him,-to stay him not too long,
I am content, in a good father's care,

To have him match'd; and,-if you please to like
No worse than I, sir,-upon some agreement,
Me shall you find most ready and most willing
With one consent to have her so bestow'd;
For curious I cannot be with you,9

Signior Baptista, of whom I hear so well.

Bap. Sir, pardon me in what I have to say;—
Your plainness, and your shortness, please me well.
Right true it is, your son Lucentio here

Doth love my daughter, and she loveth him,
Or both dissemble deeply their affections:
And, therefore, if you say no more than this,
That like a father you will deal with him,
And pass my daughter a sufficient dower,1

The match is"fully"made, and all is done: happily

A

8 Me shall you find most ready and most willing-] The repeated word most, is not in the old copy, but was supplied by Sir T. Hanmer, to complete the measure. Steevens.

9 For curious I cannot be with you,] Curious is scrupulous. So, in Holinshed, p. 888: "The emperor obeying more compassion than the reason of things, was not curious to condescend to performe so good an office." Again, p. 890: " and was not curious to call him to eat with him at his table." Steevens.

1 And pass my daughter a sufficient dower,] To pass is, in this place, synonymous to assure or convey; as it sometimes occurs in the covenant of a purchase deed, that the granter has power to bargain, sel!, &c. "and thereby to pass and convey" the premises to the grantee. Ritson.

2 The match is fully made, and all is done:] The word-fully (to complete the verse) was inserted by Sir T. Hanmer, who

Your son shall have my daughter with consent.

Tru. I thank you, sir. Where then do you"know"best, hold We be affied;3 and such assurance ta'en,

As shall with either part's agreement stand?

Bap. Not in my house, Lucentio; for, you know, Pitchers have ears, and I have many servants:

Besides old Gremio is heark'ning still;

And, happily, we might be interrupted.

Tra. Then at my lodging, an it like you, sir:5
There doth my father lie; and there, this night,
We'll pass the business privately and well:
Send for your daughter by your servant here,
My boy shall fetch the scrivener presently.
The worst is this,-that, at so slender warning,
You're like to have a thin and slender pittance.
Bap. It likes me well:-Cambio, hie you home,
And bid Bianca make her ready straight;
And, if you will, tell what hath happened:
Lucentio's father is arriv'd in Padua,

And how she 's like to be Lucentio's wife.

Luc. I pray the gods she may, with all my heart!
Tra. Dally not with the gods, but get thee gone.7

might have justified his emendation by a foregoing passage in this comedy:

"Nathaniel's coat, sir, was not fully made." Steevens.

3 We be affied;] i. e. betrothed. So, in King Henry VI, P. II: "For daring to affy a mighty lord

"Unto the daughter of a worthless king." Steevens.

4 And, happily, we might be interrupted.] Thus the old copy. Mr. Pope reads:

And haply then we might be interrupted. Steevens.

Happily, in Shakspeare's time, signified accidentally, as well as fortunately. It is rather surprising, that an editor should be guilty of so gross a corruption of his author's language, for the sake of modernizing his orthography. Tyrwhitt.

5 — an it like you, sir:] The latter word, which is not in the old copy, was added by the editor of the second folio. Malone. 6 Luc. I pray &c.] In the old copy this line is by mistake given to Biondello. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

7 Dally not with the gods, but get thee gone.] Here the old copy adds-Enter Peter. Ritson.

tio

get thee gone.] It seems odd management to make Lucengo out here for nothing that appears, but that he may return

Signior Baptista, shall I lead the way?

Welcome! one mess is like to be your cheer:
Come, sir; we 'll better it in Pisa.

Bah.

Bion. Cambio.

Luc.

I follow you.

[Exeunt TRA. Ped. and Bar.

What say'st thou, Biondello?

Bion. You saw my master wink and laugh upon you?
Luc. Biondello, what of that?

Bion. 'Faith nothing; but he has left me here behind, to expound the meaning or moral of his signs and tokens.

Luc. I pray thee, moralize them.

Bion. Then thus. Baptista is safe, talking with the deceiving father of a deceitful son.

Luc. And what of him?

Bion. His daughter is to be brought by you to the supper.

Luc. And then?

Bion. The old priest at saint Luke's church is at your command at all hours.

while

Luc. And what of all this? Sic ms Bion. I cannot tell;"except'" they are busied about a counterfeit assurance: Take you assurance of her, cum privilegio ad imprimendum solùm:1 to the church;2-take the priest, clerk, and some sufficient honest witnesses: If this be not that you look for, I have no more to say, But, bid Bianca farewel for ever and a day. [Going.

again five lines lower. It would be better, I think, to suppose that he lingers upon the stage, till the rest are gone, in order to talk with Biondello in private. Tyrwhitt.

I have availed myself of the regulation proposed by Mr. Tyrwhitt.

Steevens.

8 — or moral-] i. e. the secret purpose. Malone.

9 I cannot tell; except-] The first folio reads expect. Malone. Except is the reading of the second folio. Expect, says Mr. Malone, means-wait the event. Steevens.

1 — cum privilegio ad imprimendum solùm:] It is scarce necessary to observe, that these are the words which commonly were put on books where an exclusive right had been granted to particular persons for printing them. Reed.

2 ― to the church;] i. e. go to the church, &c. Tyrwhitt.

Bion. I cannot tarry: I knew a wench married in an afternoon as she went to the garden for parsley to stuff a rabbit; and so may you, sir; and so adieu, sir. My master hath appointed me to go to saint Luke's, to bid the priest be ready to come against you come with your appendix.

[Exit.

Luc. I may, and will, if she be so contented:
She will be pleas'd, then wherefore should I doubt?
Hap what hap may, I'll roundly go about her;
It shall go hard, if Cambio go without her.

[Exit.3

3 Exit.] Here, in the original play, the Tinker speaks again, and the scene continues thus:

"Slie. Sim, must they be married now?

"Lord. I, my lord.

"Enter Ferando, and Kate, and Sander. "Slie. Looke, Sim, the foole is come againe now.

"Feran. Sirha, go fetch our horses forth; and bring them to the backe-gate presently.

"San. I wil, sir, I warrant you.

[Exit San.

"Feran. Come, Kate: the moone shines cleere to-night, methinkes.

"Kate. The moone; why husband you are deceiv'd; it is the

sun.

"Feran. Yet againe? come backe againe; it shall be the moone ere we come at your fathers.

"Kate. Why Ile say as you say; it is the moone.

"Feran. Iesus, save the glorious moone!

"Kate. Iesus, save the glorious moone!

"Feran. I am glad, Kate, your stomacke is come downe;

"I know it well thou knowst it is the sun,

"But I did trie to see if thou wouldst speake,

"And crosse me now as thou hast done before:

"And trust me, Kate, hadst thou not namde the moone, "We had gone backe againe as sure as death,

"But soft, who's this that 's coming here?

"Enter the Duke of Cestus alone.

"Duke. Thus al alone from Cestus am I come, "And left my princely court, and noble traine, "To come to Athens, and in this disguise "To see what course my son Aurelius takes. "But stay; here's some it may be travels thither: "Good sir, can you direct me the way to Athens?

[Feran. speaks to the old man. His speech is very partially and incorrectly quoted by Mr. Pope in p. 131. Steevens.

SCENE V.

A publick Road.

Enter PETRUCHIO, KATHARINA, and HORTENSIO.

Pet. Come on, o' God's name; once more toward our
father's.

Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon!
Kath. The moon! the sun; it is not moonlight now.
Pet. I say, it is the moon that shines so bright.
Kath. I know, it is the sun that shines so bright.
Pet. Now, by my mother's son, and that 's myself,
It shall be moon, or star, or what I list,

Or ere I journey to your father's house :— one Go"on," and fetch our horses back again.—

Evermore cross'd, and cross'd; nothing but cross'd!
Hor. Say as he says, or we shall never go.

Kath. Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please:
And if you please to call it a rush candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.
Pet. I say, it is the moon.

Kath.

I know it is.^

Pet. Nay, then you lie; it is the blessed sun.5
Kath. Then, God be bless'd, it is the blessed sun:-
But sun it is not, when you say it is not;

And the moon changes, even as your mind.

What you will have it nam'd, even that it is;

still And so it shall be"so," for Katharine.

4 I know it is.] The old copy redundantly reads-I know it is the moon. Steevens.

The humour of this scene bears a very striking resemblance to what Mons. Bernier tells us of the Mogul Omrahs, who continually bear in mind the Persian proverb: "If the King saith at noon-day it is night, you are to behold the moon and the stars.” History of The Mogul Empire, Vol. IV, p. 45. Douce.

5--- it is the blessed sun: :] For is the old copy has in. Corrected in the second folio. Malone.

6 And so it shall be so,] A modern editor very plausibly reads: And so it shall be, Sir. Malone.

Read:

And so it shall be still, for Katharine. Ritson.