And twenty more such names and men as these, Which never were, nor no man ever saw. Sly. Now, Lord be thanked for my good amends! All. Amen. Sly. I thank thee; thou shalt not lose by it. Enter the Page, as a Lady, with Attendants. Sly. Marry, I fare well? for here is cheer enough. Where is my wife? Page. Here, noble lord; What is thy will with her? Sly. Are you my wife, and will not call me-— husband? My men should call me-lord; I am your goodman. Page. My husband and my lord, my lord and husband; I am your wife in all obedience. Sly. I know it well:-What must I call her? Lord. Madam. Sly. Al'ce madam, or Joan madam? Lord. Madam, and nothing else: so lords call ladies. Sly Madam wife, they say that I have dream'd and slept Above some fifteen year and more. Page. Ay, and the time seems thirty unto me; Being all this time abandon'd from your bed. Sly. 'Tis much;-Servants, leave me and her alone. Madam, undress you, and come now to bed. you In peril to incur your former malady, Sly. Ay, it stands so, that I may hardly tarry so long. But I would be loath to fall into my dreams again; I will therefore tarry, in despite of the flesh and the blood. Enter a Servant. Serv. Your honour's players, hearing your amendment, Are come to play a pleasant comedy, For so your doctors hold it very meet; Seeing too much sadness hath congeal'd your blood, 8 Page. It is a kind of history. Sly. Well, we'll see't: Come, madam wife, sit by my side, and let the world slip; we shall ne'er [They sit down. be younger. ACT I. SCENE I. Padua. A public Place. Enter LUCENTIO and TRANIO. Luc. Tranio, since for the great desire I had And, by my father's love and leave, am arm'd Gave me my being, and my father first, Vincentio's son, brought up in Florence, It shall become, to serve all hopes conceiv'd2, And am to Padua come: as he that leaves 1 Ingenious and ingenuous were very commonly confounded by old writers. 2 i. e. to fulfil the expectations of his friends. 3 Apply for ply is frequently used by old writers. Thus Baret: 'with diligent endeavour to applie their studies.' And in Turberville's Tragic Tales: How she her wheele applyde.' A shallow plash*, to plunge him in the deep, Balke logic with acquaintance that you have, 8 The mathematicks, and the metaphysicks, : Luc. Gramercies, Tranio, well dost thou advise. If, Biondello, thou wert come ashore, We could at once put us in readiness; Such friends as time in Padua shall beget. Tra. Master, some show, to welcome us to town. 5 Pardon me. 4 Small piece of water. 6 The old copy reads Aristotle's checks. Blackstone suggests that we should read ethicks, and the sense seems to require it, I have therefore admitted it into the text. 7 The modern editions read, Talk logic, &c.' The old copy reads Balke, which Mr. Boswell suggests may be right, although the meaning of the word is now lost. It seems used in the same sense as above by Spenser, F. Q. b. iii. c. 2. St. 12: 'Her list in stry full termes with him to balke.' It may signify belch logic with acquaintance, &c.' Cooper renders the Versus ructari of Horace-To bealke verses. 8 Animate. Enter BAPTISTA, KATHARINA, BIANCA, Gre- Bap. Gentlemen, importune me no further, If either of you both love Katharina, Because I know you well, and love you well, Kath. I pray you, sir, [To BAP.] is it your will for you, Unless you were of gentler, milder mould. Kath. I'faith, sir, you shall never need to fear; But if it were, doubt not her care should be Tra. Hush, master! here is some good pastime That wench is stark mad, or wonderful froward. 9 She means 'do you intend to make a strumpet of me among these companions?' But the expression seems to have a quibbling allusion to the chess term of stale-mate. So in Bacon's twelfth Essay: 'They stand like a stale at chess, where it is no mate, but yet the game cannot stir.' Shakspeare sometimes uses stale for a decoy, as in the second scene of the third act of this play. 10 Think. E |