Gre. Tra. Amen, say we; we will be witnesses. Pet. Father, and wife, and gentlemen, adieu; I will to Venice, Sunday comes apace:We will have rings, and things, and fine array; And kiss me, Kate, we will be married o' Sunday. [Exeunt PET. and KATH. severally. Gre. Was ever match clapp'd up so suddenly? Bap. Faith, gentlemen, now I play a merchant's part,

And venture madly on a desperate mart.

Tra. "Twas a commodity lay fretting by you: "Twill bring you gain, or perish on the seas. Bap. The gain I seek is-quiet in the match. Gre. No doubt, but he hath got a quiet catch. But now, Baptista, to your younger daughter;Now is the day we long have looked for; I am your neighbour, and was suitor first.

Tra. And I am one, that love Bianca more Than words can witness, or your thoughts can guess. Gre. Youngling! thou canst not love so dear as I. Tra. Grey-beard! thy love doth freeze.

Gre. But thine doth fry. Skipper, stand back; 'tis age that nourisheth.

Tra. But youth, in ladies' eyes that flourisheth. Bap. Content you, gentlemen; I'll compound this strife:

"Tis deeds must win the prize; and he, of both, That can assure my daughter greatest dower, Shall have Bianca's love

Say, Signior Gremio, what can you assure her?

Gre. First, as you know, my house within the city Is richly furnished with plate and gold; Basons, and ewers, to lave her dainty hands; My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry:

In ivory coffers I have stuff'd my crowns;

In cypress chests my arras, counterpoints 22,
Costly apparel, tents 23, and canopies.
Fine linen, Turkey cushions boss'd with pearl,
Valance of Venice gold in needle-work,
Pewter 24 and brass, and all things that belong
To house, or housekeeping: then, at my farm,
I have a hundred milch-kine to the pail,
Six score fat oxen standing in my stalls,
And all things answerable to this portion.
Myself am struck in years, I must confess;
And, if I die to-morrow, this is hers,
If, whilst I live, she will be only mine.

Tra. That, only, came well in.- -Sir, list to me:
I am my father's heir, and only son:
If I may have your daughter to my wife,
I'll leave her houses three or four as good,
Within rich Pisa walls, as any one
Old Signior Gremio has in Padua;

Besides two thousand ducats by the year,
Of fruitful land, all which shall be her jointure.—
What, have I pinch'd you, Signior Gremio?

Gre. Two thousand ducats by the year, of land! My land amounts not to so much in all:

22 Coverings for beds; now called counterpanes. Anciently composed of patch-work, and so contrived that every pane or partition of them was contrasted with a different colour. Hence the change of the last syllable to pane. From Baret it appears that both terms were then in use.

23 Tents were hangings, tentes, French, probably so named from the tenters upon which they were hung, tenture de tapisserie signified a suit of hangings. The following passage shows that a canopy was sometimes a tester, 'a canopy properly that hangeth aboute beddes to keepe away gnattes, sometimes a tent or pavilion, some have used it for a testorne to hange over a bed.'— Baret in voce.

24 Pewter was considered as such costly furniture, that we find in the Northumberland household book vessels of pewter were hired by the year.

That she shall have; besides an argosy 25
That now is lying in Marseilles' road :-
What, have I chok'd you with an argosy?

Tra. Gremio, 'tis known, my father hath no less Than three great argosies; besides two galliasses 26, And twelve tight galleys: these I will assure her, And twice as much, whate'er thou offer'st next. Gre. Nay, I have offer'd all, I have no more; And she can have no more than all I have;

If

you like me, she shall have me and mine. Tra. Why, then the maid is mine from all the world, By your firm promise; Gremio is out-vied 27.

Bap. I must confess, your offer is the best; And, let your father make her the assurance, She is your own; else, you must pardon me: If you should die before him, where's her dower? Tra. That's but a cavil; he is old, I young. Gre. And may not young men die, as well as old? Bap. Well, gentlemen,

I am thus resolv'd:-On Sunday next, you know,
My daughter Katharine is to be married:

Now, on the Sunday following, shall Bianca
Be bride to you, if you make this assurance;
If not, to Signior Gremio:

And so I take my leave, and thank you

both. [Exit. Gre. Adieu, good neighbour.-Now I fear thee

not;

Sirrah, young gamester, your father were a fool
To give thee all, and, in his waning age,

Set foot under thy table: Tut! a toy!

An old Italian fox is not so kind, my boy. [Exit.

25 A large vessel either for merchandise or war.

26 A galiass, galeazza, Ital. was a great or double galley. The masts were three, and the number of seats for rowers thirty-two. 27 The origin of this term is also from gaming. When one man vied upon another, he was said to be outvied.

VOL. III.

M M

Tra. A vengeance on your crafty wither'd hide! Yet I have faced it with a card of ten 28. 'Tis in my head to do my master good:I see no reason, but suppos'd Lucentio Must get a father, call'd-suppós'd Vincentio; And that's a wonder: fathers, commonly,

Do get their children; but, in this case of wooing, A child shall get a sire, if I fail not of my cunning.

[Exit 29.

ACT III.

SCENE I. A Room in Baptista's House. Enter LUCENTIO, HORTENSIO, and BIANCA. Luc. Fiddler, forbear; you grow too forward, sir: Have you so soon forgot the entertainment Her sister Katharine welcom'd you withal?

28 This phrase, which often occurs in old writers, was most probably derived from some game at cards, wherein the standing boldly upon a ten was often successful. To face it meant, as it still does, to bully, to attack by impudence of face. Whether a card of ten was properly a cooling card has not yet been ascertained, but they are united in the following passage from Lyly's Euphues. And all lovers, he only excepted, are cooled with a card of ten.'

29 After this Mr. Pope introduced the following speeches of the presenters as they are called; from the old play :

Slie. When will the fool come again* ?

Sim. Anon, my lord.

Slie. Gives some more drink here; where's the tapster? Here, Sim, eat some of these things.

Sim. I do, my lord.

Slie. Here, Sim, I drink to thee.

This probably alludes to a custom of filling up the vacancy of the stage between the Acts by the appearance of the fool on the stage. Unless Sly meant Sander the servant to Ferando in the old piece, which seems likely from a subsequent passage.

Hor. But, wrangling pedant, this is
The patroness of heavenly harmony:
Then give me leave to have prerogative;
And when in musick we have spent an hour,
Your lecture shall have leisure for as much.

Luc. Preposterous ass! that never read so far
To know the cause why musick was ordain'd!
Was it not to refresh the mind of man,
After his studies, or his usual pain?
Then give me leave to read philosophy,
And, while I pause, serve in your harmony.

Hor. Sirrah, I will not bear these braves of thine.
Bian. Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong,
To strive for that which resteth in my choice:
I am no breeching scholar1 in the schools;
I'll not be tied to hours, nor 'pointed times,
But learn my lessons as I please myself.
And, to cut off all strife, here sit we down:-
Take you your instrument, play you the whiles;
His lecture will be done ere you have tun'd.
Hor. You'll leave his lecture when I am in tune?
[TO BIANCA.-HORTENSIO retires.
instrument.

Luc. That will be never!-tune
Bian. Where left we last?

Luc. Here, madam :

your

Hac ibat Simois; hic est Sigeia tellus;
Hic steterat Priami regia celsa senis.

Bian. Construe them.

Luc. Hac ibat, as I told you before2,-Simois, I am Lucentio,-hic est, son unto Vincentio of Pisa,-Sigeia tellus, disguised thus to get your love;-Hic steterat, and that Lucentio that comes

1 No schoolboy, liable to be whipt.

2 This species of humour, in which Latin is translated into English of a perfectly different meaning, is to be found in two plays of Middleton, The Witch, and The Chaste Maid of Cheapside; and in other writers.