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burst 10; how I lost my crupper;-with many things of worthy memory; which now shall die in oblivion, and thou return unexperienced to thy grave.

Curt. By this reckoning, he is more shrew than she 11

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Gru. Ay; and that thou and the proudest of you all shall find, when he comes home. But what talk I of this?-call forth Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter, Sugarsop, and the rest; let their heads be sleekly combed, their blue coats 12 brushed, and their garters of an indifferent 13 knit: let them curtsey with their left legs; and not presume to touch a hair of my master's horse-tail, till they kiss their hands. Are they all ready?

ter,

Curt. They are.

Gru. Call them forth.

Curt. Do you hear, ho! you

to countenance my mistress.

must meet my mas

Gru. Why, she hath a face of her own.

Curt. Who knows not that?

Gru. Thou, it seems; that callest for company to countenance her.

Curt. I call them forth to credit her.

Gru. Why, she comes to borrow nothing of them.

10 Broken.

11 The term shrew was anciently applied to either sex, as appears from Chaucer's Testam. of Love, fo. 300, Ed. Speght. 1598.

Hence a

12 Blue coats were the usual habits of servants. blue-bottle was sometimes used as a term of reproach for a servant. A serving-man in Jonson's Case is Altered says: 'Ever since I was of the blue order.

13 Of an indifferent knit is tolerably knit, pretty good in quality. Hamlet says, I am myself indifferent honest,' i. e. tolerably honest. The reader, who will be at the pains to refer to the Variorum Shakspeare, may be amused with the discordant blunders of the most eminent commentators about this simple expression.

Enter several Servants.

Nath. Welcome home, Grumio.

Phil. How now, Grumio?

Jos. What, Grumio!

Nich. Fellow Grumio!
Nath. How now, old lad?

Gru. Welcome, you;-how now, you; what, you; -fellow, you;-and thus much for greeting. Now, my spruce companions, is all ready, and all things neat?

Nath. All things is ready 14: How near is our master?

Gru. E'en at hand, alighted by this; and therefore be not-Cock's passion, silence!- -I hear my master.

Enter PETRUCHIO and KATHARINA.

Pet. Where be these knaves? What, no man at door,

To hold my stirrup, nor to take my horse!
Where is Nathaniel, Gregory, Philip

All Serv. Here, here, sir; here, sir.

Pet. Here, sir! here, sir! here, sir! here, sir!You logger-headed and unpolish'd grooms! What, no attendance? no regard? no duty?— Where is the foolish knave I sent before?

Gru. Here, sir; as foolish as I was before. Pet. You peasant swain! you whoreson malthorse drudge!

Did I not bid thee meet me in the park,

And bring along these rascal knaves with thee? Gru. Nathaniel's coat, sir, was not fully made, And Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'd i'the heel;

14 The false concord here was no doubt intentional, it suits well with the character.

There was no link 15 to colour Peter's hat,

And Walter's dagger was not come from sheathing: There were none fine, but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory;

The rest were ragged, old, and beggarly;

Yet, as they are, here are they come to meet you. Pet. Go, rascals, go, and fetch my supper in.[Exeunt some of the Servants.

Where is the life that late I led

16

[Sings. Where are those- -Sit down, Kate, and welcome. Soud, soud, soud, soud 17!

Re-enter Servants, with supper.

Why,when, I say?-Nay,good sweet Kate, be merry.
Off with my boots, you rogues, you villains; When?
It was the friar of orders grey 18, [Sings.
As he forth walked on his way:—

Out, out, you rogue! you pluck my foot awry:
Take that, and mend the plucking off the other.-
[Strikes him.
Be merry, Kate:-Some water, here; what, ho!
Where's my spaniel Troilus?-Sirrah, get you hence,
And bid my cousin Ferdinand come hither:-

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[Exit Servant.

15 Green, in his Mihil Mumchance, says, 'This cozenage is used likewise in selling old hats found upon dunghills, instead of newe, blackt over with the smoake of an olde link.

16 This ballad was well suited to Petruchio, as appears by the answer in A Handeful of Pleasant Delites, 1584; which is called 'Dame Beautie's replie to the lover late at libertie, and now complaineth him to be her captive,' intituled Where is the life that late I led?'

17 A word coined by Shakspeare to express the noise made by a person heated and fatigued.

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18 Dr. Percy has constructed his beautiful ballad, The Friar of Orders Gray,' from the various fragments and hints dispersed through Shakspeare's plays, with a few supplemental stanzas.

One, Kate, that you must kiss, and be acquainted

with.

Where are my slippers?-Shall I have some water? [A bason is presented to him.

Come, Kate, and wash 19, and welcome heartily.— [Servant lets the ewer fall.

You whoreson villain! will you let it fall?

[Strikes him. Kath. Patience, I pray you; 'twas a fault unwilling.

Pet. A whoreson, beetleheaded, flap-ear'd knave! Come, Kate, sit down; I know you have a stomach. Will you give thanks, sweet Kate; or else shall I ?What is this? Mutton?

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Pet. 'Tis burnt; and so is all the meat:

What dogs are these!-Where is the rascal cook?
How durst you, villains, bring it from the dresser,
And serve it thus to me that love it not?
There, take it to you, trenchers, cups, and all:

[Throws the meat, &c. about the stage. You heedless joltheads, and unmanner'd slaves! What, do you grumble? I'll be with you straight. Kath. I pray you, husband, be not so disquiet; The meat was well, if you were so contented.

Pet. I tell thee, Kate, 'twas burnt and dried away; And I expressly am forbid to touch it, For it engenders choler, planteth anger; And better 'twere that both of us did fast,Since, of ourselves, ourselves are cholerick,

19 It was the custom in ancient times to wash the hands immediately before dinner and supper, and afterwards. As our ancestors eat with their fingers, we cannot wonder at such repeated ablutions.

Than feed it with such over-roasted flesh.
Be patient; to-morrow it shall be mended,
And, for this night, we'll fast for company :-
Come, I will bring thee to thy bridal chamber.

[Exeunt PET. KATH. and Curt. Nath. [Advancing.] Peter, didst ever see the like? Peter. He kills her in her own humour.

Re-enter CURTIS.

Gru. Where is he?

Curt. In her chamber;

Making a sermon of continency to her:

And rails, and swears, and rates; that she, poor soul, Knows not which way to stand, to look, to speak; And sits as one new-risen from a dream.

Away, away! for he is coming hither.

Re-enter PETRUCHIO.

21

[Exeunt.

Pet. Thus have I politickly begun my reign, And 'tis my hope to end successfully: My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty; And, till she stoop, she must not be full-gorg❜d 20, For then she never looks upon her lure 21. Another way I have to man my haggard 22, To make her come, and know her keeper's call, That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites That bate 23, and beat, and will not be obedient.

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20 Shakspeare delights in allusions to Falconry, the following allegory comprises most of its terms. A hawk full fed was untractable, and refused the lure. In Watson's Sonnets, 47:

'No lure will cause her stoop, she bears full gorge.'

21 The lure was a thing stuffed to look like the game the hawk was to pursue; its use was to tempt him back after he had flown. 22 A haggard is a wild hawk, to man her is to tame her. To watch or wake a hawk was one part of the process of taming. 23 To bate is to flutter the wings as preparing for flight; batter l'ale, Italian.

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