Bout. To see the widow.
Con. The weaker you; you are forbid a widow,
And 'tis the first thing you will fall into.
Me thinks a young clear-skinn'd country gentlewoman,
That never saw baboons, lions, or courtiers,
Might prove a handsome wife; or what do you say
To a citizen's daughter, that never was in love
With a player, that never learnt to dance,
That never dwelt near any inn-of-court—
Might not she in time prove an honest wife?
Faith, take a maid, and leave the widow, master:
Of all meats I love not a gaping oyster.
Bout. God speed your works, fair maids.
Adr. You much mistake:
'Tis no work.
Bout. What then?
Adr. A preparation
To a work, sir.
Bout. What work, sweet ladies?
Adr. Why, to a marriage; that's a work, I think.
Bout. How? a preparation to a marriage?
Of whom, kind maids, of whom?
Adr. And why kind maids?
I hope you have had no kindness at our hand
To make you say so: but, sir, understand
That Sir Oliver Small-shanks, the noble knight,
And Mistress Taffata, the rich widow,
Must this day be coupled, conjoined,
Married, espoused, wedded, contracted.
Or, as the Puritan says, put together;
And so, sir, to the shifting of our clean smocks
We leave you.