—a gaping pig; By a gaping pig, Shakespeare, I believe,
meant a pig prepared for the table; for in that state is the epithet,
gaping, most applicable to this animal. So, in Fletcher's Elder
Brother—
"And they stand gaping like a roasted pig."
A passage in one of Nashe's pamphlets (which perhaps furnished our author with his instance), may serve to confirm the observation: "The causes conducting unto wrath are as diverse as the actions of a man's life. Some will take on like a madman, if they see a pig come to the table. Sotericus, the surgeon, was cholerick at the sight of sturgeon," &c. Pierce Pennylesse his Supplication to the Devil, 1592.—MALONE.
—question with the Jew.; To question is to converse.
Padua is the place of education for the civil law in Italy.