ACT I.
[Scene I.]
Padua. [A public place.]
Enter Lucentio and his man [Tranio.]
Luc. Tranio, since for the great desire I had
To see fair Padua, nursery of arts,
I am arrived [for] fruitful Lombardy,
The pleasant garden of great Italy;
And by my father's love and leave am arm'd
With his good will and thy good company,
My trusty servant, well approved in all,
Here let us breathe and [haply] institute
A course of learning and [ingenious] studies.
Pisa renowned for grave citizens
Gave me my being and my father first,
A merchant of great traffic through the world,
[Vincentio, come] of the Bentivolii.
[Vincentio's] son [brought] up in Florence
It shall become to serve all hopes conceived,
To deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds:
And therefore, Tranio, for the time I study,
[Virtue] and that part of philosophy
Will I apply that treats of happiness
By virtue specially to be achieved.
Tell me thy mind; for I have Pisa left
And am to Padua come, as he that leaves
A shallow plash to plunge him in the deep
And with satiety seeks to quench his thirst.
25
Tra. [Mi perdonato,] gentle master mine,
I am in all affected as yourself;
Glad that you thus continue your resolve
To suck the sweets of [sweet] philosophy.
Only, good master, while we do admire
This virtue and this moral discipline,
Let's be no stoics nor no stocks, I pray;
Or so devote to Aristotle's [checks]
As [Ovid] be an outcast quite abjured:
[Balk] logic [with] acquaintance that you have
And practise rhetoric in your common talk;
Music and poesy use to quicken you;
The mathematics and the metaphysics,
Fall to them as [you find] your stomach [serves you;]
No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en:
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.
Luc. [Gramercies,] Tranio, well dost thou advise.
If, Biondello, [thou wert] come ashore,
We could at once put us in readiness,
And take a lodging fit to entertain
Such friends as time in Padua shall beget.
But stay a while: what company is this?
Tra. Master, some show to welcome us to town.
Enter Baptista, Katharina, Bianca, [Gremio,] and [Hortensio.] Lucentio and Tranio stand by.
Bap. [Gentlemen,] importune me [no] farther,
For how I firmly am resolved you know;
That is, not to bestow my youngest daughter
Before I have a husband for the elder:
If either of you both love Katharina,
Because I know you well and love you well,
Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure.
55
Gre. [Aside] To cart her rather: she's too rough for me.
There, there, Hortensio, will you any wife?
Kath. I pray you, sir, is it your [will]
To make a stale of me amongst [these] mates?
Hor. Mates, maid! how mean you that? no mates for [you,]
Unless you were of gentler, milder [mould.]
Kath. I'faith, sir, you shall never need to fear:
[I wis] it is not half way to her heart;
But if it were, doubt not her care [should] be
To comb your noddle with a three-legg'd stool
And paint your face and use you like a fool.
Hor. From all such devils, good Lord deliver [us!]
Gre. And me too, [good] Lord!
Tra. [Husht,] master! [here's] some good pastime toward:
That wench is stark mad or wonderful froward.
70
Luc. But in the other's silence do I see
Maid's mild behaviour and sobriety.
Tra. [Well] said, master; mum! and gaze your fill.
Bap. [Gentlemen,] that I may soon make good
What I have said, Bianca, get you in:
And let it not displease thee, good Bianca,
For I will love thee ne'er the less, my girl.
Kath. [A pretty] peat! it is best
Put finger in the eye, an she knew why.
80
Bian. Sister, content you in my discontent.
Sir, to your pleasure humbly I subscribe:
My books and instruments shall be my company,
On them to look and practise by myself.
Luc. Hark, Tranio! thou may'st hear Minerva speak.
85
Hor. Signior Baptista, will you be so strange?
Sorry am I that [our] good will effects
Bianca's grief.
Gre.Why will you mew her up,
Signior Baptista, for this fiend of hell,
And make her bear the penance of her tongue?
90
Bap. [Gentlemen, content ye;] I am resolved:
[Go in, Bianca:] [Exit Bianca.
And for I know she taketh most delight
In music, instruments and poetry,
Schoolmasters will I keep within my house,
Fit to instruct her youth. If you, Hortensio,
Or Signior Gremio, you, know any such,
Prefer them hither; for to cunning men
I will be very kind, and [liberal]
To mine own children in good bringing-up:
And so farewell. Katharina, you may stay;
For I have more to commune with Bianca. [Exit.
Kath. Why, [and] I trust I may go too, may I [not?]
What, shall I be appointed hours; as though, belike,
I knew not what to take, and what to leave, ha? [Exit.
105
Gre. You may go to the devil's dam: your gifts are so
good, [here's] none will hold you. [Their] love is not so great,
Hortensio, but we may blow our nails together, and fast it
fairly out: our cake's dough on both sides. Farewell:
yet, for the love I bear my sweet Bianca, if I can by any
means light on a fit man to teach her that wherein she
delights, I will wish him to her father.
Hor. So will I, Signior Gremio: but a word, I pray.
Though the nature of our quarrel [yet never] brooked [parle,]
know now, upon advice, it toucheth us both, that we may
yet again have access to our fair mistress, and be happy rivals
in Bianca's love, to labour and effect one thing specially.
Gre. What's that, I pray?
Hor. Marry, sir, to get a husband for her sister.
Gre. A husband! a devil.
120
Hor. I say, a husband.
Gre. I say, a devil. Thinkest thou, Hortensio, though
her father be very rich, [any] man is so very a fool to be
married to hell?
Hor. Tush, Gremio, though it pass your patience and
mine to endure her [loud] [alarums,] why, man, there be good
fellows in the world, an a man could light on them, would
take her with [all] faults, and money enough.
Gre.I cannot tell; but I had as lief take her dowry with
this condition, to be whipped at the high-cross every morning.
130
Hor. Faith, as you say, there's [small] choice in rotten
apples. [But come;] since this bar in law makes us friends,
it shall be so far forth friendly maintained till by helping
Baptista's eldest daughter to a husband we set his youngest
free for a husband, and then have to't afresh. Sweet Bianca!
Happy man be his 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. I pray, sir, tell me, is it possible
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 minimo.'
Luc. [Gramercies,] lad, go forward; this contents:
The rest will comfort, for thy [counsel's] sound.
160
Tra. Master, you look'd so longly on the maid,
Perhaps you mark'd not what's the pith of all.
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 [strond.]
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. Thus it 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] [will] not be annoy'd with suitors.
180
Luc. Ah, Tranio, what a cruel father's he!
But art thou not advised, 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.Master, for my hand,
Both our inventions meet and jump in one.
Luc. Tell me thine first.
Tra.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?
Luc. Basta; content thee, for I have it full.
We have not yet been seen in any house,
Nor can we be distinguish'd 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 [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.
205
[In brief, sir,] sith [it your pleasure is,]
And I am tied to be obedient;
For so your father charged 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.
Here comes the rogue.
Enter [Biondello.]
Sirrah, where have you been?
Bion. Where have I been! Nay, how now! where are
you? Master, [has] [my fellow] Tranio stolen your clothes?
Or you stolen his? or both? pray, what's the news?
220
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 [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.
230
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] [could] 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.
First 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?
245
Page. My lord, 'tis but begun.
Sly. 'Tis a very excellent piece of work, madam lady:
would ['twere] done! [They sit and mark.]
LINENOTES:
[Act i. Sc. i.] Pope. See note (1). Padua] Pope.
[A public place.] Capell. A street in Padua. Theobald.
[... Tranio.] Triano. F1 Q F2.
[3] [for] from Theobald. in Capell (Heath conj.).
[8] [haply] F1 Q. happly F2 F3 F4. happily Pope. happ'ly Capell.
[9] [ingenious] ingenuous Johnson conj.
[13] [Vincentio, come] Hanmer. Vincentio's come Ff Q. Vincentio's son come Malone conj. Vincentio comes Collier MS.
[14] [Vincentio's] Ff Q. Vincentio his Pope. Lucentio his Hanmer.
[brought] brough F1.
[18] [Virtue] To virtue Hanmer.
[25] [Mi perdonato] Me pardonato Ff. Me pardinato Q. Mi perdonate Capell (Heath conj.).
[28] [sweet] fair Anon. conj.
[32] [checks] Ff Q. ethicks Rann (Blackstone conj.). [See note (viii)].
[33] [Ovid] F3 F4. Ovid; F1 Q F2.
[34] [Balk] Talk Rowe. Chop Capell conj. Hack Anon. conj.
[with] with' Hunter conj.
[38] [you find] om. F4.
[serves you] serves Anon. conj.
[41] [Gramercies] Gramercy Hanmer.
[42] [thou wert] now were Dyce (Collier MS.). then were Delius conj.
[47] [... Gremio ...] ... Gremio a Pantelowne ... F1.
[... Hortensio ...] ... Hortentio sister to Bianca ... F1 Q.... H. a shuiter to B.... F2.... H. a suitor to B ... F3 F4.
[48] [Gentlemen] Gentlemen both Theobald.
[no] not Rowe (ed. 2).
[57] [will] will and pleasure Hanmer. gracious will Collier (Collier MS.). [See note (ix)].
[58] [these] F1 Q F2. those F3 F4.
[59] [As two lines in] Ff Q, ending that? ... you.
[60] [mould] mood Collier MS.
[62] [I wis] F4. I wis F1 Q F2 F3.
[63] [should] F1 Q F2. shall F3 F4.
[66] [us] me Hanmer.
[67] [ good] O good Hanmer.
[68] [Husht] F1 Q F2. Hush'd F3 F4. Hush Rowe (ed. 2).
[here's] F4. heres F1 Q F2 F3. here is Hanmer.
[72] [Peace, Tranio!] Peace! Anon. conj.
[73] [Well] Why, well Hanmer.
[74] [Gentlemen] Come, gentlemen Hanmer. Well, gentlemen Capell.
[78, 79] [A pretty] ... why] Printed as prose in Ff Q.
[86] [our] your Hanmer (ed. 2), a misprint.
[90] [Gentlemen, content ye] Content ye, gentlemen Hanmer.
[91] [Exit Bianca.] Theobald om. Ff Q.
[98] [liberal] liberal, Ff Q.
[102-104] [Printed in Ff Q as four lines, ending not?] ... though ... take, ... Ha; as prose by Pope; by Capell as three lines, ending not? ... belike, ... ha!
[102] [and] om. Rowe.
[106] [here's] here is F4.
[Their] F1 F2. There Q. Our F3 F4. Your Malone conj. There; Collier. This Collier MS. Her Bubier conj.
[113] [yet never] never yet Pope.
[parle] F1 Q F2. parlee F3 F4. parly Capell.
[122] [any] any a F2.
[125] [loud] lowd F1 Q. lewd F2 F3 F4.
[alarums] alarms Rowe.
[127] [all] all her F4.
[130] [small] a small Theobald.
[131] [But come] F1 Q. come F2 F3 F4.
[138] [his wooing] the wooing Rowe (ed. 2).
[thoroughly] F1 Q. throughly F2 F3 F4.
[140] [Exeunt ... ] Exeunt ambo. Manet Tranio and Lucentio. Ff Q.
[142] [of] F1 Q F2. on F3 F4.
[156] [have] F1 Q. om. F2 F3 F4. has Rowe (ed. 1). hath Rowe (ed. 2).
[touch'd] toyl'd Warburton.
[nought] F2 F3 F4. naught F1 Q.
[157] [captum] F2 F3 F4. captam F1 Q.
[158] [Gramercies] Gramercy Rowe.
[159] [counsel's] F2 F3 F4. counsels F1 Q.
[163] [Agenor had] Agenor's race Collier MS.
[165] [strond] F1 Q F2 F3. strand F4.
[168] [hardly] scarce Collier MS.
[endure] dure S. Walker conj.
[173] [pray] pray you Q.
[174] [wits] wit Rowe (ed. 2).
[175] [eldest] elder Q.
[176] [rid] rids Rowe.
[179] [she] he Singer conj.
[will] shall Rowe.
[182] [To get her] Together F2. To gather Long conj. MS.
[schoolmasters] masters Collier (Collier MS.).
[189] [part] port Anon. conj.
[200] [meaner] mean Capell.
[201] ['Tis] It is Hanmer, ending lines 200-205 at man ... so ... take ... comes ... first ... need.
[202] [take] and here take Hanmer. colour'd] F3 F4. Conlord F1 Q. Coulord F2. om. Hanmer.
[205] [So] And so, sir Hanmer.
[They exchange habits.] Theobald.
[206] [In brief, sir] In brief, good sir Pope; omitted by Capell. In brief then, sir Malone. Be brief then, sir. Collier MS.
[it your pleasure is] it is your pleasure thus Anon. conj.
[214] [to] t' Ff Q.
[215] [wounded] wond'ring Collier MS.
[216] [.. .Biondello.] ... Binodello. F2.
[218] [my fellow] om. Hanmer, who reads 217-219 as three lines, ending you? ... cloaths, ... news?
[has] F4. ha's F1 Q F2 F3.
[225] [ashore] a shore F1.
[226] [was] am F3 F4.
[229] [I, sir! ne'er] Ay, sir, ne'er Rowe. Ay, sir.—Ne'er Dyce conj.
[233-238] [Printed as prose] in Ff Q, as verse first by Capell.
[233] [could] would F3 F4.
[faith] 'faith Ff Q. i' faith Johnson.
[235, 236] [advise You use] ... companies] advise you, Use ... company Capell.
[238] [your] you F1 Q.
[239-241] [Printed as four lines] in Ff, ending go.... execute.... why.... weighty; first as prose by Pope.
[240] [among] 'mong F2.
[241] [The presenters above speak.] ... speakes. Ff Q.
[242-247] [Transferred by Pope to] the end of the Act.
[247] ['twere] it were Capell.
[They ... mark.] Ff Q. om. Pope.
[Scene] [II.]
Padua. [Before] Hortensio's house.
Enter Petruchio and his man 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 [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 villain]!
Enter Hortensio.
Hor. 20
How now! what's the matter? My old friend Grumio!
and my good friend Petruchio! How do you all at
Verona?
Pet. Signior Hortensio, come you to part the fray?
'[Con tutto] il core ben trovato,' may I say.
25
Hor. 'Alla nostra casa [ben] venuto, [molto] [honorato]
[signor] mio Petrucio.'
[Rise, Grumio], [rise]: we will compound this quarrel.
Gru. Nay, 'tis no matter, [sir], 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.
35
Pet. A senseless villain! Good Hortensio,
I bade the rascal knock upon your gate
And could not get him for my heart to do it.
Gru. [Knock] at the gate! O heavens! Spake you not
these words plain, 'Sirrah, knock me here, rap me here,
knock me well, and knock me soundly'? And come you
now with, 'knocking at the gate'?
Pet. Sirrah, be gone, or talk not, I advise you.
Hor. Petruchio, patience; I am Grumio's pledge:
Why, [this's] 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
Where small experience [grows. But in a few],
Signior Hortensio, thus it stands with me:
Antonio, my father, is deceased;
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
And so am come abroad to see the world.
Hor. Petruchio, shall I then come roundly to thee
And wish thee to a shrewd ill-favour'd wife?
[Thou'ldst] 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.
Pet. [Signior] Hortensio, 'twixt such friends as [we]
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 [Sibyl], and as curst and shrewd
As Socrates' [Xanthippe], or ,
She moves me 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.
75
Gru. Nay, look you, sir, he tells you flatly what his mind
is: why, give him gold enough and marry him to a puppet
or an aglet-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.
80
Hor. Petruchio, since we are stepp'd thus far in,
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 [faults] enough,
Is that she is [intolerable] 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.
90
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.
95
Hor. Her father [is] Baptista Minola,
An affable and courteous gentleman:
Her name is Katharina Minola,
Renown'd in Padua for her scolding tongue.
Pet. I know her father, though I know not her;
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.
Gru. I pray you, sir, let him go while the humour lasts.
[O'] my 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
he [begin] 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;
[And her] [withholds from me and other more],
Suitors to her and rivals in my love;
Supposing it a thing impossible,
[For] those defects I have before rehearsed,
That ever Katharina will be woo'd;
Therefore this order hath Baptista ta'en,
That none shall 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.
Hor. Now shall my friend Petruchio do me grace;
And offer me disguised 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].
[Gru.] Here's no knavery! See, to beguile the old
folks, how the young folks lay [their heads] together!
Enter Gremio, and Lucentio [disguised.]
135
[Master, master,] look about you: who goes there, [ha?]
Hor. Peace, Grumio! [it is] the rival of my love.
Gru. A proper stripling and an amorous!
Gre. O, very well; I have perused 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:
You understand me: over and beside
Signior Baptista's liberality,
I'll mend it with a largess. [Take your paper too],
And let me have them very well perfumed:
For she is sweeter than perfume itself
To whom they [go to]. 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 assured,
As firmly as yourself were still in place:
Yea, and perhaps with more successful words
Than you, unless you were a scholar, sir.
Gre. O this learning, what a thing it is!
155
Gru. O this woodcock, what an ass it is!
Pet. Peace, sirrah!
[Hor. Grumio, mum!] God save you, Signior Gremio.
[Gre.] [And you are] well met, Signior Hortensio.
[Trow you whither] I am going? To Baptista Minola.
I [promised] to inquire carefully
About a [schoolmaster] for [the fair] [Bianca:]
And by good fortune I have lighted well
On this young man, for learning and behaviour
Fit for her turn, well read in poetry
And other books, good ones, I warrant [ye].
Hor. 'Tis well; and I have met a gentleman
Hath promised 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 beloved of me.
Gre. Beloved of me; and that my [deeds] shall prove.
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.
180
Gre. So said, so done, is well.
Hortensio, have you told him all her faults?
Pet. I know she is an irksome brawling scold:
If that be all, masters, I hear no harm.
Gre. No, say'st me so, friend? [What] countryman?
185
Pet. Born in Verona, old [Antonio'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 [to't i'] 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.
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' clang]?
And do you tell me of a woman's tongue,
That gives not half so great a blow to [hear]
As will a chestnut in a farmer's fire?
Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs.
205
Gru.For he fears none.
Gre. Hortensio, hark:
This gentleman is happily arrived,
My mind presumes, for his own good and [ours].
Hor. I promised we would be contributors
And bear his charge of wooing, whatsoe'er.
Gre. And so we will, provided that he win her.
Gru. I would I were as sure of a good dinner.
[Enter] Tranio [brave,] and 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?
[Bion.] He that has the two fair daughters: [is't he] you
mean?
Gre. Hark you, sir; you mean not [her to]—
220
Tra. Perhaps, him and her, sir: what have you to do?
Pet. [Not] her that chides, sir, at any hand, I pray.
Tra. I love no chiders, sir. Biondello, let's away.
Luc. Well begun, Tranio.
Hor. Sir, a word ere you go;
Are you a suitor to the maid you talk of, yea or no?
Tra. [And if] I be, sir, is it any offence?
Gre. No; if without more words you will get you hence.
Tra. Why, sir, [I pray], are not the streets as free
For me as for you?
Gre. But so is not she.
230
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;
Then well one more may fair Bianca have:
And so she shall; Lucentio shall make one,
Though Paris came in hope to speed alone.
Gre. [What], this gentleman will out-talk us all!
245
Luc. [Sir, give] him head: I know he'll prove a jade.
Pet. Hortensio, to what end are all these words?
Hor. Sir, let me be so bold [as 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 is the other] 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.
255
Pet. Sir, understand you this of me in sooth:
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 elder] sister first be wed:
The 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;
[And if] you break the ice and do this [feat],
Achieve the elder, set the younger free
For our access, whose hap shall be to have her
Will not so graceless be to be ingrate.
Hor. Sir, you say well and well you do conceive;
And since you do profess to be a suitor,
You must, as we do, gratify this gentleman,
To whom we all rest generally [beholding].
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.] [Bion.] O excellent motion! Fellows, let's be gone.
Hor. The motion's good indeed and be it so,
Petruchio, [I shall] be your [ben venuto]. [Exeunt.
LINENOTES:
[Scene ii.] Capell. Act II. Scene
[1] [Rowe.] Scene v. Pope.
[Before] ... house.] Pope.
[2] [but of all] best of all Anon. conj.
[4] [his] the F3 F4.
[6-24] [Knock, sir!]... may I say] Placed in the margin as spurious by Pope.
[6] [knock?] knock, sir? Capell.
[7] [has] F4. ha's F1 Q F2 F3. That has Capell.
[rebused] rebsu'd Q. abused Tyrwhitt conj.
[16] [ring] wring Malone.
[17] [... wrings ...] ... rings ... Ff Q.
[18] [masters] Theobald. mistris Ff Q.
[19] [sirrah villain!] sirrah! villain! Theobald.
[24] [Con tutto ... trovato] Theobald. Contutti le core bene trobatto Ff Q (trovatto F2 F3 F4).
[25] [ben] F2 F3 F4. bene F1 Q.
[molto] Theobald. multo Ff Q.
[honorato] honorata F1 Q.
[26] [signor] Theobald. signior Ff Q.
[27-45] [Rise, Grumio ... Grumio] Put in the margin as spurious by Pope.
[27] [Grumio, rise] F1 Q F2. Grumio F3 F4.
[28] [sir] om. Rowe.
[he 'leges] Capell. he leges Ff Q. be leges Rann (Tyrwhitt conj.). he alledges Long conj. MS.
[32] [pip] Rowe (ed. 2). peepe F1 Q F2. peep F3 F4.
[out] mo Collier MS.
[32, 34] [Whom ... worst] Printed as prose in Ff Q, as verse first by Rowe (ed. 2).
[38-40] [Knock ... gate?] Capell prints as four lines, ending heavens! ... here, ... soundly? ... gate?
[44] [this's] this Ff Q. this is Rowe. this so Mason conj. this' Dyce (S. Walker conj.). this? Collier.
[48] [young men] F3 F4. yong men Q. yongmen F1 F2.
[50] [grows. But in a few,] grows; but in a few, Hanmer. grows but in a few. Ff Q. grows, but in a few. Theobald. grows but in a mew. Warburton.
[53] [have] must Rowe (ed. 2).
[54] [Haply] Malone. Happily Ff Q. Happly Rowe (ed. 2). Happ'ly Hanmer.
[59] [Thou'ldst] Thou'lt Hanmer.
[61] [thou'rt] Rowe. th' art Ff Q.
[63] [Signior] om. Q.
[we] us Rowe (ed. 2).
[64] [thou] you Rowe (ed. 2).
[66] [burden] guerdon Becket conj.
[dance] song Johnson conj.
[67] [Florentius'] Florentio's Hanmer conj.
[68] [Sibyl] Sibell F1 Q F2 F3 Sibel F4.
[69] [Xanthippe] Zentippe F1 Q. Zantippe F2 F3 F4. Xantippe Theobald.
[a worse] even worse Collier MS.
[71] [Affection's ... me] F1 Q. Affection's edge in time F2 F3 F4. Affection sieg'd in coin Warburton.
[as] is as F1.
[78] [as two and fifty] too as fifty Rann.
[79] [horses] houses Becket conj.
[85] [and that] as that Capell.
[faults] F1 Q. fault F2 F3 F4.
[86] [intolerable] intolerably Hanmer.
[87] [shrewd] shrow'd F1 Q. shrew'd F2 F3 F4.
[froward] forward Warburton.
[94] [is] om. Q.
[105] [O'] Rowe (ed. 2). A Ff Q.
[108] [begin] begins Q.
[his] her Anon. conj.
[rope-tricks] trope-tricks Theobald conj. rhetorick Hanmer. rhetoricks Capell. roop tricks Anon conj.
[113] [keep] Ff Q. house Rowe.
[116] [And her] Her he Rann.
[withholds from me and other more] Capell (Thirlby conj.). withholds from me. Other more F1 Q. with-holds he from me. Other more F2 F3 F4 (hee F2) with-holds he from me, and others more Theobald. with-holds he from me, and other more Hanmer.
[119] [For] From Hanmer.
[132] [herself] myself Capell.
[133] [Scene vi.] Pope.
[Gru.] Gru. [aside.] Dyce.
[134] [their heads] theirs head F2.
[... disguised.] Ff Q (after line 131). ... disguised, with books under his arm. Capell.
[135] [Master, master] Master Rowe.
[ha?] om. Q.
[136] [it is] 'tis Pope.
[137] [Petruchio, stand...] Petruchio, stand we by a little while Capell. Petruchio. Stand ... Edd. conj.
[a while] a whilt F2.
[140] [Hark you] Hark S. Walker conj.
[very] om. Anon. conj.
[145] [Take your paper too,] Take your papers too Pope. Take your papers Hanmer. Here, take your papers too Capell. [See note (x)].
[148] [go to] go Rowe.
[157] [Hor. Grumio, mum!] Hor. Grumio mum: F1 Q. Hor. Gru. mum: F2 F3 F4.
[158-167] [Printed as prose] by Pope.
[158] [And you are] And you're Steevens.
[158, 159] [And you.... Trow you whither] You ... trow you Whither Capell.
[158-161] [Malone prints] as five lines, ending Hortensio ... whither ... Minola ... about ... Bianca.
[160] [promised] promis'd him Capell.
[161] [schoolmaster] master Collier (Collier MS.).
[the fair] fair Steevens.
[165] [ye] you Steevens.
[167] [help me] Rowe. help one Ff Q.
[171] [deeds] deed Warburton.
[184] [What] pray, what Hanmer.
[185] [Antonio's] Rowe. Butonios F1 Q F2. Butonio's F3 F4.
[186] [father] father's Rowe.
[188] [O sir, such] Oh, such Hanmer. Sir, such Capell.
[189] [stomach, to't ... name:] stomach to't, ... name, Bubier conj.
[a stomach] stomacke Q.
[to't i'] Edd. too't a F1 Q F2 F3. to't a F4. to't o' Theobald.
[192] [er] om. Rann.
[194] [mine] my Rowe (ed. 2).
[197] [sweat] pursuit Theobald conj.
[201] [trumpets' clang] trumpets clangue Ff Q. trumpets' clangue Capell.
[203] [hear] th' ear Hanmer (Warburton).
[208] [ours] Theobald (Thirlby conj.). yours Ff Q.
[213] [Scene vii.] Pope.
[... brave,] ... bravely apparelled, Pope.
[you. If ... bold,] you, if ... bold. Edd. conj.
[213-215] [Printed as prose] by Pope.
[216] [Bion.] Gre. Capell (Tyrwhitt and Heath conj.).
[is't he] is't [aside to Tranio] he Malone.
[218] [Even he, Biondello.] Even he Biondello. Ff Q. Even he, sir. Capell. Even he. Biondello! Steevens (Tyrwhitt and Heath conj). Even he. Rann.
[219] [her to—] Ff Q. her too. Tyrwhitt conj. her to woo. Halliwell (Malone conj.).
[221] [Not] Nor Rowe (ed. 2).
[226] [And if] Ff. And Q. An if Hanmer.
[228] [I pray] Ff. I pray you Q.
[232] [That she's] She's Hanmer.
[233] [That she's] Ff. That she is Q. She is Hanmer.
[Signior] om. Hanmer.
[235] [with patience] Ff. patience Q.
[239] [suitors] sutore F2.
[244] [What,] What, what, Capell.
[245] [Sir, give] Ff. Give Q.
[247] [as ask you] F1 Q. as to ask you F2 F3 F4. as ask you this Capell.
[251] [As is the other] As the other is Pope.
[259] [the elder] the eldest Rowe (ed. 2). her elder Capell. [See note (xi)].
[262] [stead] Capell. steed Ff Q.
[263] [And if] An if Capell.
[feat] Rowe. seeke F1 Q F2. seek F3 F4.
[270] [beholding] beholden Rowe.
[272] [contrive] convive Theobald.
[273] [mistress'] mistress' (for mistresses') S. Walker conj.
[276] [Gru.] Gre. Ritson conj.
[Bion.] om. Capell.
[278] [I shall] I'll Capell.
[ben venuto] F2 F3 F4. been venuto F1 Q. [See note (xii)].