I will some other be, some Florentine,
Some Neapolitan, or meaner man of Pisa.-
'Tis hatch'd, and shall be so:-Tranio, at once
Uncase thee; take my colour'd 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, sir, sith it your pleasure is,

And I am try'd 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.

10 Gru. Knock, sir! whom should I knock? is there any man has rebus'd' your worship?

Luc. Tranio, be so, because Lucentio loves: 15
And let me be a slave, to atchieve that maid [eye.]
Whose sudden sight hath thrall'd my wounded
Enter Biondello.
[been?

Here comes the rogue. Sirrah, where have you
Bion. Where have I been? Nay, how now, 20
where are you?

Master, has my fellow Tranio stol'n your cloaths?
Or you stol'n his? or both? pray, what's the news?
Luc. Sirrah, come hither; 'tis no time to jest,
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 am descry'd :
Wait you on him, I charge you, as becomes,
While I make way from hence to save my life:
You understand me?

Bion. Ay, sir, ne'er a whit.

25

130

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

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

One thing more rests, that thyself execute;

40

45

Pet. Villain, I say, knock me here soundly. [sir,
Gru. Knock you here, sir? why, sir, what am I,
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 ring it;
I'll try how you can sol, fa, and sing it.

[He wrings him by the ears.
Gru. Help, masters, help! my master is mad.
Pet. Now knock when I bid you: sirrah! viliain!
Enter Hortensio.
Hor. How now? what's the matter?-My old
friend Grumio! and my good friend Petruchio!-
How do you all at Verona ?
[fray?
Pet. Signior Hortensio, come you to part the
Con tutto il core ben trovato, may I say.

Hor. Alla nostra casa ben venuto,
Molto honorato signor mio Petruchio.
Rise, Grumio,rise; we will compound this quarrel.
Gru. Nay, 'tis no matter, what he 'leges' in
Latin.-If this be not a lawful cause for me to
leave his service,--Look you, sir,-he bid me
knock him, and rap him soundly, sir: Well, was
it fit for a servant to use his master so; being,
perhaps, (for aught I see) two-and-thirty,—a pip
out?

Whom, would to God, I had well knock'd at first,
Then had not Grumio come by the worst.
Pet. A senseless villain!-Good Hortensio,
bid the rascal knock upon your gate,
And could not get him for my heart to do it.

Gru. Knock at the gate?-O heavens!-[here,
Spake you not these wordsplain,--Sirrah,knock me
Rap me here,kock me well,and knock me soundly?

To make one among these wooers: If thou ask 50 And come you now with-knocking at the gate?

me why,

Sufficeth my reasons are both good and weighty.

[Exeunt.

1 Man. “My lord, you nod; you do not mind

the play."

[surely 55

Sly. "Yes, by saint Anne, do I. Agood matter, "Comes there any more of it?"

Page. My lord, 'tis but begun." [dam lady: Sly. ""Tis a very excellent piece of work, ma"Would it were done!"

Pet. Sirrah, be gone, or talk not, I advise you,
Hor. Petruchio, patience; I am Grumio's pledge;
Why, this is a heavy chance 'twixt him and you;
Your ancient, trusty, pleasant servant Grumio.
And tell me now, sweet friend,-what happy gale
Blows you to Padua here, from old Verona?
Pet. Such wind as scatters young men through
the world,

To seek their fortunes farther than at home,
50 Where small experience grows. But, in a few',

Perhaps we should read abused, Meaning, probably, what he alledges.

words,

S

That is, in a few

Signior

Signior Hortensio, thus it stands with me:-
Anthonio, my father, is deceas'd;
And I have thrust myself into this maze,
Haply to wive, and thrive, as best I may :
Crowns in my purse I have, and goods at home, 5
And so am come abroad to see the world. [thee,
Hor. Petruchio, shall I then come roundly to
And wish thee to a shrewd ill-favour'd wife?
Thou'dst thank me but a little for my counsel:
And yet I'll promise thee she shall be rich,
And very rich:-but thou'rt too much my friend,
And I'll not wish thee to her.
[we,

Pet. Signior Hortensio, 'twixt such friends as
Few words suffice: and, therefore, if thou know
One rich enough to be Petruchio's wife,
(As wealth is burden of my wooing dance)
Be she as foul as was Florentius' love',
As old as Sybil, and as curst and shrewd
As Socrates' Xantippe, or a worse,

The begins once, he'll rail in his rope-tricks'. I'll
tell you what, sir,-an she stand him but a little,
he will throw a figure in her face, and so disfigure
her with it, that she shall have no more eyes to see
withal than a cat: You know him not, sir.

Hor. Tarry, Petruchio, I must go with thee;
For in Baptista's keep my treasure is:
He hath the jewel of my life in hold,
His youngest daughter, beautiful Bianca;
10 And her withholds he from me, and other more
Suitors to her, and rivals in my love:
Supposing it a thing impossible,

(For those defects I have before rehears❜d) That ever Katharina will be woo'd, 15Therefore this order hath Baptista fa'en;That none should have access unto Bianca, Till Katharine the curst have got a husband. Gru. Katharine the curst!

A title for a maid, of all titles the worst.
20 Hor.Now shall my friend Petruchiodome grace;
And offer me, disguis'd in sober robes,
To old Baptista as a schoolmaster
Well seen in music, to instruct Bianca:
That so I may by this device, at least,
Have leave and leisure to make love to her,
And, unsuspected, court her by herself.
Enter Gremio, and Lucentio disguis'd, with
books under his arm.

She moves ine not, or not removes, at least,
Affection's edge in me, were she as rough
As are the swelling Adriatic seas :
I come to wive it wealthily in Padua ;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua.
Gru. Nay, look you, sir, he tells you flatly what 25
his mind is: Why, give him gold enough, and mar-
ry him to a puppet, or an anglet-baby: or an old
trot with ne'er a tooth in her head, though she have
as many diseases as two-and-fifty horses; why,
nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal.
Hor. Petruchio, since we have stept thus far
I will continue that I broach'd in jest.
I can, Petruchio, help thee to a wife
With wealth enough, and young, and beauteous:
Brought up, as best becomes a gentlewoman:
Her only fault (and that is fault enough)
Is, that she is intolerably curst,

And shrewd, and froward; so beyond all measure,
That, were my state far worser than it is,
I would not wed her for a mine of gold.
Pet. Hortensio, peace; thou know'st not gold's

effect:

Tell me her father's name, and 'tis enough;
For I will board her, though she chide as loud
As thunder, when the clouds in autumn crack.
Hor. Her father is Baptista Minola,
An affable and courteous gentleman :
Her name is Katharina Minola,
Renown'd in Padua for her scolding tongue ;[her
Pet. I know her father, though I know not
And he knew my deceased father well:-
I will not sleep, Hortensio, till I see her;
And therefore let me be thus bold with you,
To give you over at this first encounter,
Unless you will accompany me thither.

30

1351

Gru. Here's no knavery! See; to beguile the old folks, how the young folks lay their heads together! Master, master, look about you: Who goes there? ha!

Hor. Peace, Grumio; 'tis the rival of my love:-
Petruchio, stand by a while.

Gru. A proper stripling, and an amorous!
Gre. O, very well; I have perus'd the note."
Hark you, sir; I'll have them very fairly bound:
All books of love, see that at any hand";
And see you read no other lectures to her:
40 You understand me:-Over and beside
Signior Baptista's liberality,

[too,
I' mend it with a largess:-Take your papers
And let me have them very well perfum'd;
For she is sweeter than perfume itself,

45 To whom they go. What will you read to her?
Luc. Whate'er I read to her, I'll plead for you,
As for my patron, (stand you so assur❜d)
As firmly as yourself were still in place:
Yea, and (perhaps) with more successful words
50 Than you, unless you were a scholar, sir.
Gre. O this learning! what a thing it is!
Gru. O this woodcock! what an ass it is!
Pet. Peace, sirrah.
[Gremio!
Hor. Grumio, mum!-God save you, signior
Gre. And you are well met, signior Hortensio.
Trow you

(55

Whither I am going?-To Baptista Minola.
I promis'd to enquire carefully
About a schoolmaster for the fair Bianca:

Gru. I pray you, sir, let him go while the hu mour lasts. Omy word, an she knew him as well as I do, she would think scolding would do little good upon him: She may, perhaps, call him half a score knaves, or so: why, that's nothing; an[60]And, by good fortune, I have lighted well

This alludes to the story of a knight named Florent, who bound himself to marry a deformed hag, provided she taught him the solution of a riddle on which his life depended. The tag of a point. Probably meaning his rogue-tricks. i. e. custody. i. e. well versed in musick. i. e. at

all events.

On this young man ; for learning, and behaviour,
Fit for her turn; well read in poetry,
And other books-good ones, I warrant you.

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 shall I no whit be behind in duty
To fair Bianca, so belov'd of me.

[prove.

5

[Aside. 10

15

Gre. Belov'd of me,-and that my deeds shall
Gru. And that his bags shall 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 curst Katharine;
Yea, and to marry her, if her dowry please.
Gre. So said, so done, is well:-
Hortensio, have you told him all her faults?
Pet. I know she is an irksome, brawling scold; 20
If that be all, masters, I hear no harm. [man?

Gre. No, say'st me so, friend? What country-
Pet. Born in Verona, old Anthonio's son:
My father dead, my fortune lives for me;
And I do hope good days, and long to see.
Gre. O, sir, such a life, with such a wife, were
strange:

But, if you have a stomach, to't o' God's name;
You shall have me assisting you in all.
But will you woo this wild cat?

Pet. Will I live?

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

Aside.

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 sea, puff'd up with winds,
Rage like an angry boar, chafed with sweat?
Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
Have I not in a pitched battle heard
Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets'
And do you tell me of a woman's tongue;
That gives not half so great a blow to the ear,
As will a chesnut in a farmer's fire?
Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs'.

Gru. For he fears none.

Gre. Hortensio, hark!

[clang

[Aside.

This gentleman is happily arriv'd,
My mind presumes, for his own good, and ours.
Hor. I promis'd, we would be contributors,
And bear his charge of wooing, whatsoe'er. [her.
Gre. And so we will; provided, that he win
Gru. I would, I were as sure of a good dinner.

Gre. But so is not she.

Tra. For what reason, I beseech you?
Gre. For this reason, if you'll know,-
That she's the choice love of signior Gremio.
Hor. That she's the chosen of signior Hortensio.
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 suitors have, and me for one.
Fair Leda's daughter had a thousand wooers;
25 Then well one more may fair Bianca have:
And so she shall: Lucentio shall make one,
Though Paris came, in hope to spend alone.
Gre. What! this gentleman will out-talk us all.
Luc. Sir, give him head; I know he'll prove a
jade.

30

35

40

Pet. Hortensio, to what end are all these words?
Hor. Sir, let me be so bold as to ask you,
Did you yet ever see Baptista's daughter?
Tra. No, sir; but hear I do, that he hath two:
The one as famous for a scolding tongue,
As the other is for beauteous modesty.

Pet. Sir, sir, the first'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, insooth;-
The youngest daughter, whom you hearken for,
Her father keeps from all access of suitors;
And will not promise her to any man,
Until the eldest sister first be wed:

45 The

50

[Aside. 55

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

Gre. He that has the two fair daughters? is't 60 be you mean?

Íra. Even he. Biondello!

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

That is, bug-bears.

younger then is free, and not before.
Tra. If it be so, sir, that you are the man
Must stead us all, and me amongst the rest;
An if you break the ice, and do this feat,-
Atchieve the elder, set the younger free
For our access,-whose hap shall be to have her,
Will not so graceless be, to be ingrate. [ceive:
Hor. Sir, you say well, and well you do cou-
And since you do profess to be a suitor,
You must, as we do, gratify this gentleman,
To whom we all rest generally beholden.

Tra. Sir, I shall not be slack: in sign whereof,
Please ye we may contrive' this afternoon,
And quaff carouses to our mistress' health;
And do as adversaries do in law,-

Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
Gru. O excellent motion! Fellows, let's begone,
Hor. The motion's good, indeed, and be it so:--
Petruchio, I shall be your ben venuto. [Exeunt.

2 Contrive in this place means to spend, to wear out.
S 2

ACT

Pet. You wrong me, signior Gremio; give me
leave.-

I am a gentleman of Verona, sir,
That,-hearing of her beauty and her wit,

Bianca. GOOD sister, wrong me not, nor 5 Her affability, and bashful modesty,

Her wond'rous qualities and mild behaviour,—
Am bold to shew myself a forward guest
Within your house, to make mine eye the witness
Of that report which I so oft have heard.
10 And, for an entrance to my entertainment,

[Presenting Hortensio

I do present you with a man of mine,
Cunning in music and the mathematicks,
To instruct. her fully in those sciences, -
15 Whereof, I know, she is not ignorant:
Accept of him, or else you do me wrong;
His name is Licio, born in Mantua.

Bap. You're welcome, sir; and he for your
good sake:

But for my daughter Katharine, this I know,
She is not for your turn, the more my grief.

Pet. I see you do not mean to part with her;
Or else you like not of my company.

Bap. Mistake me not, I speak but as I find.
25 Whence are you, sir? what may I call your name!
Pet. Petruchio is my name; Anthonio's son,
A man well known throughout all Italy. [sake.
Bap. I know him well: you are welcome for his
Gre. Saving your tale, Petruchio, I pray,
Let us, that are poor petitioners, speak too:
Baccare! you are marvellous forward,

! Hilding, or kinderling, means a low wretch.

[both,

These gentlemen to my daughters; and tell them
These are their tutors; bid them use them well.

[Exit Servant with Hortensio and Lucentio.
We will go walk a little in the orchard,
And then to dinner: You are passing welcome,
And so I pray you all to think yourselves.

Pet. Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste,
And every day I cannot come to woo.
You knew my father well; and in him, me,
Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,
Which I have bettered rather than decreas'd:
Then tell me,-if I get your daughter's love,
What dowry shall I have with her to wife?
Bap. After my death, the one half of my lands;
And, in possession, twenty thousand crowns.

---

Pet. And, for that dowry, I'll assure her of
Her widowhood, be it that she survive me,-
In all my lands and leases whatsoever :
Let specialties be therefore drawn between us,
That covenants may be kept on either hand.

5

10

And twangling Jack; with twenty such vile
As she had studied to misuse me so.

Pet. Now, by the world, it is a lusty wench;

I love her ten times more than e'er I did.
Oh, how I long to have some chat with her!
Bap. Well, go with me, and be not so discom-
fited:
Proceed in practice with my younger daughter;
She's apt to learn, and thankful for good turns.-
Signior Petruchio, will you go with us;
Or shall Isend my daughter Kate to you?
Pct. I pray you do; I will attend her here,

[Ex. Baptista with Grem. Horten. and Tranio, And woo her with some spirit when she comes. Say, that she rail; why then I'll tell her plain, 20she sings as sweetly as a nightingale:

Say, that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear
As morning roses newly washed with dew:
Say she be mute and will not speak a word;
Then I'll commend her volubility,
And say she uttereth piercing eloquence:
If she do bid me pack, I'll give her thanks,
As though she bid me stay by her a week:
If she deny to wed, I'll crave the day [ried:-
When I shall ask the banns, and when be mar-
36 But here she comes; and now, Petruchio, speak.
Enter Katharine.

Good-morrow, Kate; for that's your name, I hear.
Kath. Well have you heard, but something
hard of hearing;

They call me -Katharine, that do talk of me.
Pet. You lye, in faith; for youare call'dplain Kate,
And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst;
But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,
Kate of Kate-hall, my super-dainty Kate,
40 For dainties are all cates: and therefore, Kate,
Take this of me, Kate of my consolation;—
Hearing thy mildness prais'd in every town,
Thy virtues spoke of and thy beauti s sounded,
Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs)

Bap. Ay, when the special thing is well ob-
That is,―her love; for that is all in all. [tained, 35
Pet. Why that is nothing; for I tell you, father,
I am as peremptory as she proud-minded;
And where two raging fires meet together,
They do consume the thing that meets their fury
Though little fire grows great with little wind,
Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all:
So I to her, and so she yields to me;
For I am rough, and woo not like a babe. [speed!
Bap. Well may'st thou woo, and happy be thy
But be thou arm'd for some unhappy words.
Pet. Ay, to the proof; as mountains are for winds,
That shake not, though they blow perpetually.

Re-enter Hortensio, with his head broke. Bap. How now, my friend why dost thou look so pale?

Hor. For fear, I promise you, if I look pale.
Bap. What, will my daughter prove a good mu-

sician?

45

150

Hor. I think, she'll sooner prove a soldier ;
Iron may hold with her, but never lutes. [lute: 55
Bap. Why, then thou canst not break her to the
Hor.Why,no; for she hath broke the lute to me.
I did but tell her, she mistook her frets 1,
And bow'd her hand to teach her fingering;
When, with a most impatient devilish spirit,
"Frets call you these?' quoth she; I'll fume
with them:"

And, with that word, she struck me on the head,

60

Myself am mov'd to woo thee for my wife.
Kath. Mov'd! in good time: let him that mov'd

you hither,

Remove you hence: I knew you at the first,
You were a moveable.

Pet. Why, what's a moveable?

Kath. A joint-stool.

Pet. Thou hast hit it: come, sit on me.
Kath. Asses are made to bear, and so are you.
Pet. Women are made to bear, and so are you.
Kath. Nosuch jade, sir, as you, if me you mean.
Pet. Alas, good Kate, I will not burden thee:
For knowing thee to be but young and light,→
Kath. Too light for such a swain as you to catch;
And yet as heavy as my weight should be.

Pet. Should be? should buz.
Kath. Well ta'en, and like a buzzard. [thee?
Pet. Oh, slow-wing'd turtle! shail abuzzard take
Kath. Ay, for a turtle; as he takes a buzzard.

A fret is that stop of a musical instrument which causes or regulates the vibration of a string.

Pet.