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1 Serv. My lord, you nod; you do not mind the

play.

Sly. Yes, by saint Anne, do I.

surely; Comes there any more of it?

Page. My lord, 'tis but begun.

A good matter,

Sly. 'Tis a very excellent piece of work, madam lady; Would't were done!

SCENE II.

The same. Before Hortensio's House.

Enter PETRUCHIO and 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 wring it;
I'll try how you can sol, fa, and sing it.

[He wrings GRUMIO by the ears.

the speeches of the Tinker are introduced; though they have been hitherto thrown to the end of the first Act, according to a modern and arbitrary regulation STEEVENS,

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wring it;] Here seems to be a quibble between ringing at a door, and wringing a man's ears. STEEVENS.

Gru. Help, masters, help! my master is mad.
Pet. Now, knock when I bid you: sirrah!

villain!

Enter HORTENSIO.

Hor. 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?

I

Con tutto il core bene trovato, may I say.

Hor. Alla nostra casa bene 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,

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 22 And come you now with-knocking at the gate?

1

Pet. Sirrah, be gone, or talk not, I advise you.

what he 'leges in Latin.] i. e. I suppose, what he alleges in Latin. STEEVENS.

2

:

·knock me soundly?] Shakspeare seems to design a ridicule on this clipped and ungrammatical phraseology; which yet he has introduced in Othello:

"I pray talk me of Cassio."

Hor. Petruchio, patience; I am Grumio's pledge: Why, this 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 further than at home,
Where small experience grows. But, in a few,
Signior Hortensio, thus it stands with me:-
Antonio, 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,
And so am come abroad to see the world.

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Hor. Petruchio, shall I then come roundly

thee,

And wish thee to a shrewd ill-favour'd wife?
Thoud'st 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.

to

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 burthen of my wooing dance,)* Be she as foul as was Florentius' love," As old as Sybil, and as curst and shrewd

3 IVhere small experience grows. But, in a few,] In a few, means the same as in short, in few words. JoHNSON.

4

(As wealth is burthen of my wooing dance,)] The burthen of a dance is an expression which I have never heard; the burthen of kis wooing song had been more proper. JOHNSON.

Be she as foul as was Florentius' love,] The allusion is to a story told by Gower in the first Book De Confessione Amantis. Florent is the name of a knight who had bound himself to marry a deformed hag, provided she taught him the solution of a riddle on which his life depended.

As Socrates' Xantippe, or a worse,

She moves me not, or not removes, at least,
Affection's edge in me; were she as rough
As are the swelling Adriatick 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 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.

Hor. Petruchio, since we have 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 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.

Pet. I know her father, though I know not her;

6aglet-baby;] i. e. a diminutive being, not exceeding in size the tag of a point. An aglet-baby was a small image or head cut on the tag of a point, or lace.

7 shrewd,] Here means, having the qualities of a shrew. The adjective is now used only in the sense of acute, intelligent.

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.

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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 rehears'd,)
That ever Katharina will be woo'd,
Therefore this order hath Baptista ta'en;2
That none shall have access unto Bianca,
Till Katharine the curst have got a husband.
Gru. Katherine the curst!

8

an he begin once, he'll rail in his rope-tricks.] Ropery or rope-tricks originally signified abusive language, without any determinate idea; such language as parrots are taught to speak.

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I

stand him—] i. e. withstand, resist him.

that she shall have no more eyes to see withal than a cat:] It may mean, that he shall swell up her eyes with blows, till she shall seem to peep with a contracted pupil, like a cat in the light. JOHNSON.

2 Therefore this order hath Baptista ta'en;] To take order is to take measures.

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