The Works of Shakspeare

SCENE 4.]

TAMING OF THE SHREW.

Pet. When you are gentle, you shall have one too,
And not till then.
Hor. That will not be in haste. (Aside.)
Kath. Why, sir, I trust, I may have leave to
speak;

;

And speak I will; I am no child, no babe :
Your betters have endur'd me say my mind
And, if you cannot, best you stop your ears.
My tongue will tell the anger of my heart;
Or else my heart, concealing it, will break:
And, rather than it shall, I will be free
Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.
Pet. Why, thou say'st true; it is a paltry cap,
A custard-coffin, a bauble, a silken pie:
I love thee well, in that thou lik'st it not.

Kath. Love me, or love me not, I like the cap;
And it I will have, or I will have none.

Pet. Thy gown? why, ay;-Come, tailor, let us

see't.

O mercy, God! what masking stuff is here?
What's this? a sleeve? 'tis like a demi-cannon:
What! up and down, carv'd like an apple-tart?
Here's snip, and nip, and cut, and slish, and slash,
Like to a censer in a barber's shop:-

Why, what o'devil's name, tailor, call'st thou this?
Hor. I see, she's like to have neither cap nor
gown. (Aside.)

Tai. You bid me make it orderly and well,
According to the fashion, and the time.

Pet. Marry, and did; but if you be remember'd,
I did not bid you mar it to the time.
Go, hop me over every kennel home,
For you shall hop without my custom, sir:
I'll none of it; hence, make your best of it.

Kath. I never saw a better-fashion'd gown,
More quaint, more pleasing, nor more commendable:
Belike, you mean to make a puppet of me.
Pet. Why, true; he means to make a puppet of

thee.

Tai. She says, your worship means to make a
puppet of her.

Pet. O monstrous arrogance! thou liest, thou
[thread,
Thou thimble,
Thou yard, three-quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail,
Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter cricket thou:-
Brav'd in mine own house with a skein of thread!
Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant;
Or I shall so be-mete thee with thy yard,
As thou shalt think on prating whilst thou liv'st!
I tell thee, I, that thou hast marr'd her gown.
Tai. Your worship is deceiv'd; the gown is made
Just as my master had direction:
Grumio gave order how it should be done.

Gru. I gave him no order, I gave him the stuff.
Tai. But how did you desire it should be made?
Gru. Marry, sir, with needle and thread.
Tai. But did you not request to have it cut?
Gru. Thou hast faced many things.
Tai. I have.

Gru. Face not me: thou hast braved many men;
brave not me; I will neither be faced nor braved.
I say unto thee,-I bid thy master cut out the
gown; but I did not bid him cut it to pieces: ergo,
[testify.
thou liest.
Tai. Why, here is the note of the fashion to
[said so.
Pet. Read it.
Gru. The note lies in his throat, if he say I
Tai. Imprimis, a loose-bodied gown:

Gru. Master, if ever I said loose-bodied gown, sew me in the skirts of it, and beat me to death with a bottom of brown thread: I said a gown. Pet. Proceed.

Tai, With a small compassed cape;

Gru. I confess the cape.

Tai. With a trunk sleeve ;

Gru. I confess two sleeves.

Tai. The sleeves curiously cut.

Pet. Ay, there's the villainy.

Gru. Error i'the bill, sir; error i'the bill. I com

manded the sleeves should be cut out, and sewed up
again; and that I'll prove upon thee, though thy
little finger be armed in a thimble.

Tai. This is true, that I say; an I had thee in
place where, thou should'st know it.

Gru. I am for thee straight: take thou the bill, give me thy mete-yard, and spare not me.

Hor. God-a-mercy, Grumio! then he shall have
no odds.

Pet. Well, sir, in brief, the gown is not for me.
Gru. You are i'the right, sir; 'tis for my mistress.
Pet. Go, take it up unto thy master's use.
Gru. Villain, not for thy life: Take up my mis-
tress' gown for thy master's use!

Pet. Why, sir, what's your conceit in that?
Gru.O,sir, the conceit is deeper than you think for:
Take up my mistress' gown to his master's use!
O, fy, fy, fy!

Pet. Hortensio, say thou wilt see the tailor
paid :-(Aside.)

Go take it hence; begone, and say no more.
Hor. Tailor, I'll pay thee for thy gown to-morrow.
Take no unkindness of his hasty words:
Away, I say; commend me to thy master.

[Exit Tailor.

Pet. Well, come, my Kate; we will unto your
father's,

Even in these honest mean habiliments;
Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor:
For 'tis the mind that makes the body rich;
And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds,
So honour peereth in the meanest habit.
What, is the jay more precious than the lark,
Because his feathers are more beautiful?
Or is the adder better than the eel,
Because his painted skin contents the eye?
O, no, good Kate; neither art thou the worse
For this poor furniture, and mean array.
If thou account'st it shame, lay it on me:
And therefore, frolic; we will hence forthwith,
To feast and sport us at thy father's house.
Go, call my men, and let us straight to him;
And bring our horses unto Long-lane end,
There will we mount, and thither walk on foot.-
Let's see; I think, 'tis now some seven o'clock,
And well we may come there by dinner-time.

Kath. I dare assure you, sir, 'tis almost two;
And 'twill be supper-time, ere you come there.
Pet. It shall be seven, ere I go to horse:
Look, what I speak, or do, or think to do,
You are still crossing it.-Sirs, let't alone:
I will not go to-day; and ere I do,
It shall be what o'clock I say it is.

Hor. Why, so! this gallant will command the
[Exeunt.

sun.

SCENE IV.-Padua. Before Baptista's House.
Enter TRANIO, and the Pedant dressed like VIN-
CENTIO.

Tra. Sir, this is the house; Please it you, that
I call?

Ped. Ay, what else? and, but I be deceived,
Signior Baptista may remember me,
Near twenty years ago, in Genoa, where
We were lodgers at the Pegasus.
"Tis well;
And hold your own, in any case, with such
Austerity as 'longeth to a father.

Tra.

Enter BIONDello.

Ped. I warrant you: But,sir,here comes your boy; "Twere good, he were school'd.

Tra. Fear you not him.-Sirrah, Biondello, Now do your duty throughly, I advise you; Imagine 'twere the right Vincentio.

Bion. Tut! fear not me.

Tra. But hast thou done thy errand to Baptista? Bion. I told him, that your father was at Venice; And that you look'd for him this day in Padua.

Tra. Thou'rt a tall fellow; hold thee, that to drink. Here comes Baptista:-set your countenance,sir.Enter BAPTISTA and LUCENTIO. Signior Baptista, you are happily met :--Sir, (To the Pedant.) This is the gentleman I told you of; I pray you, stand good father to me now, Give me Bianca for my patrimony.

Ped. Soft, son!

Sir, by your leave; having come to Padua
To gather in some debts, my son Lucentio
Made me acquainted with a weighty cause
Of love between your daughter and himself:
And, for the good report I hear of you;
And for the love he beareth to your daughter,
And she to him,-to stay him not too long,
I am content, in a good father's care,

To have him match'd: and,-if you pleas'd to like
No worse than I, sir,-upon some agreement,
Me shall you find most ready and most willing
With one consent to have her so bestowed;
For curious I cannot be with you,
Signior Baptista, of whom I hear so well.

Bap. Sir, pardon me in what I have to say ;-
Your plainness, and your shortness, please me well.
Right true it is, your son Lucentio here
Doth love my daughter, and she loveth him,
Or both dissemble deeply their affections:
And, therefore, if you say no more than this,
That like a father you will deal with him,
And pass my daughter a sufficient dower,
'The match is fully made, and all is done:
Your son shall have my daughter with consent.
Tra. I thank you, sir. Where then do you know
We be affied; and such assurance ta'en, [best,
As shall with either part's agreement stand?
Bap. Not in my house, Lucentio; for you know,
Pitchers have ears, and I have many servants :
Besides, old Gremio is heark'ning still;
And, happily, we might be interrupted.

Tra. Then at my lodging, an it like you, sir: There doth my father lie; and there, this night, We'll pass the business privately and well: Send for your daughter by your servant here, My boy shall fetch the scrivener presently. The worst is this,-that, at so slender warning, You're like to have a thin and slender pittance. Bap. It likes me well :-Cambio, hie you home, And bid Bianca make her ready straight; And, if you will, tell what hath happened: Lucentio's father is arriv'd in Padua, And how she's like to be Lucentio's wife. Luc. I pray the gods she may, with all my heart! Tra. Dally not with the gods, but get thee gone. Signior Baptista, shall I lead the way? Welcome! one mess is like to be your cheer: Come, sir; we'll better it in Pisa.

Bap.

I follow you. [Exeunt Tranio, Pedant, and Baptista.

Bion. Cambio.Luc. What say'st thou, Biondello? Bion. You saw my master wink and laugh upon Luc. Biondello, what of that? [you? Bion. 'Faith, nothing; but he has left me here behind, to expound the meaning or moral of his signs and tokens.

Luc. I pray thee, moralize them.

honest witnesses:

church;-take the priest, clerk, and some sufficient [say, If this be not that you look for, I have no more to But, bid Bianca farewell for ever and a day.(Going.) Luc. Hear'st thou, Biondello?

Bion. I cannot tarry: I knew a wench married in an afternoon as she went to the garden for parsley to stuff a rabbit; and so may you, sir; and so adieu, sir. My master hath appointed me to go to Saint Luke's to bid the priest be ready to come, against you come with your appendix. [Exit.

Luc. I may, and will, if she be so contented:
She will be pleas'd, then wherefore should I doubt?
Hap what hap may, I'll roundly go about her;
It shall go hard, if Cambio go without her. [Exit.
SCENE V.-A public Road.

Enter PETRUCHIO, KATHARINA, and HORTENSIO.
Pet. Come on, o'God's name; once more to-
ward our father's.
[moon!
Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the
Kath. The moon! the sun; it is not mooulight now.
Pet. I say, it is the moon that shines so bright.
Kath. I know, it is the sun that shines so bright.
Pet. Now, by my mother's son, and that's myself,
It shall be moon, or star, or what I list,
Or ere I journey to your father's house :-
Go on, and fetch our horses back again.-
Evermore cross'd, and cross'd, nothing but cross'd!
Hor. Say as he says, or we shall never go.
Kath. Forward, pray, since we have come so
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please: [far,
And if you please to call it a rush candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.

I know it is.

Pet. I say, it is the moon. Kath. Pet. Nay, then you lie; it is the blessed sun. Kath.Then God be bless'd, it is the blessed sun:But sun it is not, when you say it is not; And the moon changes, even as your mind. What you will have it nam'd, even that it is; And so it shall be so, for Katharine.

Hor. Petruchio, go thy ways; the field is won. Pet. Well, forward, forward: thus the bowl should run,

And not unluckily against the bias.-
But soft; what company is coming here?

Enter VINCENTIO, in a travelling dress. Good-morrow, gentle mistress: Where away?(To Vincentio.)

Tell me, sweet Kate, and tell me truly too,
Hast thou beheld a fresher gentlewoman?
Such war of white and red within her cheeks!
What stars do spangle heaven with such beauty,
As those two eyes become that heavenly face?-
Fair lovely maid, once more good-day to thee :-
Sweet Kate, embrace her for her beauty's sake.
Hor. 'A will make the man mad, to make a
woman of him.

Kath. Young budding virgin, fair, and fresh, and sweet,

Whither away; or where is thy abode ?
Happy the parents of so fair a child;
Happier the man, whom favourable stars
Allot thee for his lovely bed-fellow !
Pet. Why, how now, Kate!
mad:

hope thou art not

Bion. Then thus. Baptista is safe, talking with This is a man, old, wrinkled, faded, wither'd; the deceiving father of a deceitful son. Luc. And what of him?

Bion. His daughter is to be brought by you to Luc. And then?--[the supper. Bion. The old priest at Saint Luke's church is at your command at all hours.

Luc. And what of all this?

Bion. I cannot tell; except they are busied about a counterfeit assurance: Take you assurance of her, cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum: to the

And not a maiden, as thou say'st he is.
Kath. Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes,
That have been so bedazzled with the sun,
That every thing I look on seemeth green:
Now I perceive, thou art a reverend father;
Pardon, I pray thee, for my mad mistaking.
Pet. Do, good old grandsire; and withal, make
known

Which way thou travellest: if along with us,
We shall be joyful of thy company.

Lucentio, gentle sir. Pet. Happily met; the happier for thy son. And now by law, as well as reverend age, I may entitle thee-my loving father; The sister to my wife, this gentlewoman, Thy son by this hath married: Wonder not, Nor be not griev'd; she is of good esteem, Her dowry wealthy, and of worthy birth; Beside, so qualified as may beseem

The

spouse of any noble gentleman. Let me embrace with old Vincentio: And wander we to see thy honest son, Who will of thy arrival be full joyous.

Vin. But is this true? or is it else your pleasure, Like pleasant travellers, to break a jest Upon the company you overtake?

Hor. I do assure thee, father, so it is.

Pet. Come, go along, and see the truth hereof; For our first merriment hath made thee jealous.

[Exeunt Petruchio, Katharina, and Vincentio. Hor. Well, Petruchio, this hath put me in heart. Have to my widow; and if she be forward, Then hast thou taught Hortensio to be untoward.

ACT V.

[Exit.

SCENE I.-Padua. Before Lucentio's House. Enter, on one side, BIONDELLO, LUCENTIO, and BIANCA: GREMIO walking on the other side. Bion. Softly and swiftly, sir; for the priest is ready.

Luc. I fly, Biondello: but they may chance to need thee at home, therefore leave us.

Bion. Nay, faith, I'll see the church o' your back; and then come back to my master as soon as I can. [Exeunt Lucentio, Bianca, and Biondello. Gre. I marvel, Cambio comes not all this while. Enter PETRUCHIO, KATHARINA, VINCENTIO, and Attendants.

Pet. Sir, here's the door, this is Lucentio's house, My father's bears more toward the market-place; Thither must I, and here I leave you, sir.

Vin. You shall not choose but drink before

Enter Pedant above, at a window.

Ped. What's he, that knocks as he would beat down the gate?

Vin. Is signior Lucentio within, sir? Ped. He's within, sir, but not to be spoken withal.

Vin. What if a man bring him a hundred pound or two, to make merry withal?

Ped. Keep your hundred pounds to yourself; he shall need none, so long as I live.

Pet. Nay, I told you, your son was beloved in Padua.-Do you hear, sir?-to leave frivolous circumstances,-I pray you, tell signior Lucentio, that his father is come from Pisa, and is here at the door to speak with him.

Ped. Thou liest; his father is come from Pisa, and here looking out at the window.

Vin. Art thou his father?

Ped. Ay, sir; so his mother says, if I may believe her.

Bion. I have seen them in the church together; God send 'em good shipping!-But who is here? mine old master, Vincentio? now we are undone, and brought to nothing.

Vin. Come hither, crack-hemp.

(Seeing Biondello.) Bion. I hope, I may choose, sir. Vin. Come hither, you rogue: What, have you forget me?

Bion. Forgot you? no, sir: I could not forget you, for I never saw you before in all my life.

Vin. What, you notorious villain, didst thou never see thy master's father, Vincentio ?

Bion. What, my old, worshipful old master? yes, marry, sir; see where he looks out of the window. Vin. Is't so, indeed? (Beats Biondello.) Bion. Help, help, help! here's a madman will murder me. [Exit. Ped. Help, son! help, signior Baptista! [Exit from the window. Pet. Pr'ythee, Kate, let's stand aside, and see the end of this controversy. (They retire.)

Re-enter Pedant below; BAPTISTA, TRANIO, and Servants.

Tra. Sir, what are you, that offer to beat my

servant?

Vin. What am I, sir? nay, what are you, sir?O immortal gods! O fine villain! A silken doublet! a velvet hose! a scarlet cloak! and a copatain hat! -O, I am undone! I am undone! while I play the good husband at home, my son and my servant spend all at the university.

Tra. How now! what's the matter?
Bap. What, is the man lunatic?

Tra. Sir, you seem a sober ancient gentleman by your habit, but your words show you a madman: Why, sir, what concerns it you, if I wear pearl and gold? I thank my good father, I am able to main

tain it.

in Bergamo. Vin. Thy father? O, villain! he is a sail-maker

Bap. You mistake, sir; you mistake, sir: Pray, what do you think is his name?

Vin. His name! as if I knew not his name: I have brought him up ever since he was three years old, and his name is-Tranio.

Ped. Away, away, mad ass! his name is Lucentio; and he is mine only son, and heir to the lands of me, signior Vincentio.

Vin. Lucentio! O, he hath murdered his master!-Lay hold on him, I charge you, in the duke's name:-O, my son, my son!-tell me, thou villain, where is my son Lucentio ?

Tra. Call forth an officer: (Enter one with an Officer.) carry this mad knave to the gaol :-Father Baptista, I charge you see, that he be forthcoming. Vin. Carry me to the gaol!

Gre. Stay, officer; he shall not go to prison. Bap. Talk not, signior Gremio; I say, he shall go to prison.

Gre. Take heed, signior Baptista, lest you be coney-catched in this business; I dare swear, this is the right Vincentio.

[Lucentio.

Ped. Swear, if thou darest. Gre. Nay, I dare not swear it. Tra. Then thou wert best say, that I am not Gre. Yes, I know thee to be signior Lucentio. Bap. Away with the dotard; to the gaol with him. Vin. Thus strangers may be haled and abus'd:O monstrous villain!

Right son unto the right Vincentio;
That have by marriage made thy daughter mine,
While counterfeit supposes blear'd thine eyne.

Gre. Here's packing, with a witness, to deceive us all!

Vin. Where is that damned villain, Tranio, That fac'd and brav'd me in this matter so?

Bap. Why, tell me, is not this my Cambio? Bian. Cambio is chang'd into Lucentio. Luc. Love wrought these miracles. Bianca's love Made me exchange my state with Tranio, While he did bear my countenance in the town; And happily I have arriv'd at last Unto the wished haven of my bliss:What Tranio did, myself enforc'd him to; Then pardon him, sweet father, for my sake.

Vin. I'll slit the villain's nose, that would have sent me to the gaol.

Bap. But do you hear, sir? (To Lucentio.) Have you married my daughter without asking my good-will? [go to: Vin. Fear not, Baptista; we will content you, But I will in to be revenged for this villainy.

[Exit. Bap. And I, to sound the depth of this knavery: [Exit. Luc. Look not pale, Bianca; thy father will not frown. [Exeunt Luc. and Bian. Gre. My cake is dough: But I'll in among the rest; Out of hope of all, but my share of the feast. [Exit.

PETRUCHIO and KATHARINA advance.
Kath. Husband, let's follow, to see the end of
this ado.

Pet. First kiss me, Kate, and we will.
Kath. What, in the midst of the street?
Pet. What, art thou ashamed of me?
Kath. No, sir; God forbid :-but ashamed to kiss.
Pet. Why, then let's home again :-Come, sir-
rah, let's away.

Kath. Nay, I will give thee a kiss: now pray thee, love, stay.

Pet. Is not this well?-Come, my sweet Kate; Better once than never, for never too late. [Exeunt.

SCENE II. A Room in Lucentio's House.

A Banquet set out. Enter BAPTISTA, VINCENTIO, GREMIO, the Pedant, LUCENTIO, BIANCA, PETRUCHIO, KATHARINA, HORTENSIO, and Widow. TRANIO, BIONDELLO, GRUMIO, and others, attending.

Luc. At last, though long, our jarring notes agree: And time it is, when raging war is done, To smile at 'scapes and perils overblown.My fair Bianca, bid my father welcome, While I with self-same kindness welcome thine :Brother Petruchio,-sister Katharina,— And thou, Hortensio, with thy loving widow,Feast with the best, and welcome to my house; My banquet is to close our stomachs up, After our great good cheer: Pray you, sit down; For now we sit to chat, as well as eat.

(They sit at table.) Pet. Nothing but sit and sit, and eat and eat! Bap. Padua affords this kindness, son Petruchio. Pet. Padua affords nothing but what is kind. Hor. For both our sakes, I would that word were true.

[round.

[that?

Wid. Then never trust me, if I be afeard. Pet. You are sensible, and yet you miss my sense; I mean, Hortensio is afeard of you. Wid. He, that is giddy, thinks the world turns Pet. Roundly replied. Kath. Mistress, how mean you that? Wid. Thus I conceive by him. Pet. Conceives by me!-How likes Hortensio Hor. My widow says, thus she conceives her tale. Pet. Very well mended: Kiss him for that, good widow. [round:Kath. He, that is giddy, thinks the world turns pray you, tell me what you meant by that. Wid. Your husband, being troubled with a shrew, Measures my husband's sorrow by his woe: And now you know my meaning. Kath. A very mean meaning.

Wid.

Right, I mean you. Kath. And I am mean, indeed, respecting you. Pet. To her, Kate!

Hor. To her, widow!

Pet. A hundred marks, my Kate does put her
Hor. That's my office.

[down. Pet. Spoke like an officer:-Ha' to thee, lad. (Drinks to Hortensio.) Bap. How likes Gremio these quick-witted folks? Gre. Believe me, sir, they butt together well. Bian. Head, and butt? an hasty-witted body Would say, your head and butt were head and horn. Vin. Ay, mistress bride, hath that awaken'd you? Bian. Ay, but not frighted me; therefore I'll sleep again. [begun, Pet. Nay, that you shall not; since you have Have at you for a bitter jest or two. And then pursue me as you draw your bow:Bian. Am I your bird? I mean to shift my bush,

You are welcome all.

[Exeunt Bianca, Katharina, and Widow. Pet. She hath prevented me.-Here, signior This bird you aim'd at, though you hit her not; Tranio,

Therefore, a health to all, that shot and miss'd. Tra. O, sir, Lucentio slipp'd me like his grey

hound,

Which runs himself, and catches for his master.
Pet. A good swift simile, but something currish.
Tra. 'Tis well, sir, that you hunted for yourself;
'Tis thought, your deer does hold you at a bay.
Bap. O ho, Petruchio, Tranio hits you now.
Luc. I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio.
Hor. Confess, confess, hath he not hit you here?
Pet. 'A has a little gall'd me, I confess;
And as the jest did glance away from me,
'Tis ten to one it maim'd you two outright.

surance,

Bap. Now, in good sadness, son Petruchio, I think thou hast the veriest shrew of all. Pet. Well, I say-no: and therefore, for asLet's each one send unto his wife; And he, whose wife is most obedient To come at first, when he doth send for her, Shall win the wager, which we will propose. Hor. Content-what is the wager? Luc.

Pet. Twenty crowns!

Twenty crowns.

I'll venture so much on my hawk, or hound, But twenty times so much upon my wife. Luc. A hundred, then.

Hor.

Pet.

Content.

Hor. Who shall begin? Luc. That will I.-Ġo,

A match; 'tis done.

[Exit.

Biondello, bid your mistress come to me.
Bion. I go.

Bap. Son, I will be your half, Bianca comes.
Luc. I'll have no halves: I'll bear it all myself.

Re-enter BIONDELLO.

Pet. Now, for my life, Hortensio fears his widow.. How now! what news?

Bion. Sir, my mistress sends you word That she is busy, and she cannot come. Pet. How! she is busy, and she cannot come ! Is that an answer?

Gre.

Ay, and a kind one too: Pray God, sir, your wife send you not a worse. Pet. I hope, better.

Pet.

Hor. Sirrah, Biondello, go, and entreat my wife
To come to me forthwith. [Exit Biondello.
O, ho entreat her!
Nay, then she must needs come.
Hor.
I am afraid; sir,
Do what you can, yours will not be entreated.
Re-enter BIONDELLO.

Now, where's my wife?
[hand;
Bion. She says, you have some goodly jest in
She will not come; she bids you come to her.
Pet. Worse and worse; she will not come! O
Intolerable, not to be endur'd!
[vile,
Sirrah, Grumio, go to your mistress;
Say, I command her come to me. [Exit Grumio.
Hor. I know her answer.

Swinge me them soundly forth unto their husbands;
Away, I say, and bring them hither straight.
[Exit Katharina.
Luc. Here is a wonder, if you talk of a wonder.
Hor. And so it is; I wonder what it bodes.
Pet. Marry, peace it bodes, and love, and quiet
An awful rule, and right supremacy; [life,
And, to be short, what not, that's sweet and happy.
Bap. Now fair befal thee, good Petruchio!
The wager thou hast won, and I will add
Unto their losses twenty thousand crowns;
Another dowry to another daughter,
For she is chang'd as she had never been.

Pet. Nay, I will win my wager better yet;
And show more sign of her obedience,
Her new-built virtue and obedience.

Re-enter KATHARINA, with BIANCA and Widow. See, where she comes: and brings your froward wives

As prisoners to her womanly persuasion.-
Katharine, that cap of yours becomes you not;
Off with that bauble, throw it under foot.

(Katharina pulls off her cap, and throws it down.) Wid. Lord, let me never have a cause to sigh, Till I be brought to such a silly pass!

Bian. Fy! what a foolish duty call you this? Luc. I would your duty were as foolish too : The wisdom of your duty, fair Bianca, Hath cost me an hundred crowns since supper time.

Bian. The more fool you, for laying on my duty. Pet. Katharine, I charge thee, tell these headstrong women, What duty they do owe their lords and husbands.

Wil. Come, come, you're mocking; we will have no telling.

Pet. Come on, I say; and first begin with her. Wid. She shall not.

Pet. I say, she shall;-and first begin with her. Kath. Fy, fy! unknit that threat ning unkind brow;

And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor :
It blots thy beauty, as frosts bite the meads;
Confounds thy fame, as whirlwinds shake fair
buds;

And in no sense is meet, or amiable.

A woman mov'd, is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And, while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip, or touch one drop of it.
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
And for thy maintenance: commits his body
To painful labour, both by sea and land;
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
While thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands,
But love, fair looks, and true obedience ;-
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such, a woman oweth to her husband:
And when she's froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she, but a foul contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?—
I am asham'd that women are so simple
To offer war, where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and
sway,
Where they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world;
But that our soft conditions, and our hearts,
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great; my reason, haply, more,
To bandy word for word, and frown for frown:
But now, I see, our lances are but straws;
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,-
That seeming to be most, which we least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot;
And place your hands below your husband's foot:
In token of which duty if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.

Pet. Why, there's a wench!-Come on, and kiss me, Kate.

[ha't. Luc. Well, go thy ways, old lad; for thou shalt Vin. 'Tis a good hearing, when children are

toward.

Luc. But a harsh hearing, when women are froward.

Pet. Come, Kate, we'll to bed :

We three are married, but you two are sped. 'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white! [To Lucentio.

And, being a winner, God give you good night! [Exeunt Petruchio and Kath. Hor. Now go thy ways, thou hast tam'd a curs't shrew.

Luc. "Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tam'd so. [Exeunt.

« Vorige Doorgaan »

Boeken

The Works of Shakspeare: From the Text of Johnson, Steevens, and Reed