I know him well: you are very welcome, Sir.
Take you the lute, and you the set of books:
You shall go see your pupils presently.
Holla, within there!
Enter a Servant.
Sirrah, lead these gentlemen
To my two daughters; and then tell them both,
These are their tutors: bid them use them well.
[Exit Servant, with HORTENSIO, LUCENTIO,
and BIONDELLO.
We will go walk a little in the orchard,
And then to dinner. You are passing welcome,
And so I pray you all to think yourselves.
PET. Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste,
And every day I cannot come to woo.
You knew my father well, and in him me,
Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,
Which I have better'd rather than decreas'd:
Then tell me if I get your daughter's love,
What dowry shall I have with her to wife?
BAP. After my death, the one half of my lands;
And in possession' twenty thousand crowns.
PET. And for that dowry I'll assure her of
Her widowhood, be it that she survive me,
In all my lands and leases whatsoever :
Let specialties3 be therefore drawn between us,
That covenants may be kept on either hand.
BAP. Ay; when the special thing is well obtain'd:
That is, her love; for that is all in all.
PET. Why, that is nothing; for I tell you,
I am as peremptory as she proud-minded;
And where two raging fires meet together,
They do consume the thing that feeds their fury:
Though little fire grows great with little wind,
Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all:
So I to her, and so she yields to me;
For I am rough, and woo not like a babe.
BAP. Well may'st thou woo, and happy be thy speed!
But be thou arm'd for some unhappy words.
1 'on the nail.' 2 sole part during the period of her viduity. * deeds ad hoc.
ACT II PET. Ay; to the proof; as mountains are for winds,
Sc. I
That shake not, though they blow perpetually.
Re-enter HORTENSIO, with his head broke.
BAP. How now, my Friend! why dost thou look so pale?
HOR. For fear, I promise you, if I look pale.
BAP. What, will my daughter prove a good musician?
HOR. I think she 'll sooner prove a soldier:
Iron may hold with her, but never lutes.
BAP. Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
HOR. Why, no; for she hath broke the lute to me.
I did but tell her she mistook her frets,1
And bow'd her hand to teach her fingering,
When, with a most impatient devilish spirit,
Frets call you these? quoth she; I'll fume with them:
And with that word she struck me on the head,
And through the instrument my pate made way;
And there I stood amazed for a while
As on a pillory, looking through the lute;
While she did call me rascal Fiddler
And twangling Jack, with twenty such vile terms,
As she had studied to misuse me so.
PET. Now, by the World, it is a lusty wench;
I love her ten times more than e'er I did:
O, how I long to have some chat with her!
BAP. Well, go with me, and be not so discomfited:
Proceed in practice with my younger daughter;
She's apt to learn, and thankful for good turns.
Signior Petruchio, will you go with us,
Or shall I send my daughter Kate to you?
PET. I pray you do; I will attend her here,
[Exeunt all but PETRUCHIO.
And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
Say that she rail; why, then I'll tell her plain
She sings as sweetly as a nightingale :
Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear
As morning roses newly wash'd with dew:
Say she be mute and will not speak a word;
Then I'll commend her volubility,
And say she uttereth piercing eloquence:
If she do bid me pack, I'll give her thanks
As though she bid me stay by her a week:
If she deny to wed, I'll crave the day
When I shall ask the banns, and when be married.
But here she comes; and now, Petruchio, speak.
Good morrow, Kate; for that's your name, I hear. Kath. Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing:
They call me Katharine that do talk of me.
PET. You lie, in faith; for you are call'd plain Kate,
And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst;
But, Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,
Kate of Kate-Hall, my super-dainty Kate,
For dainties are all Kates;1 and therefore, Kate,
Take this of me, Kate of my consolation:
Hearing thy mildness prais'd in every town,
Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded,2
Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs,
Myself am mov'd to woo thee for my wife.
KATH. Mov'd! in good time:3 let him that mov'd you hither
Remove you hence: I knew you at the first
KATH. Asses are made to bear, and so are you.
PET. Women are made to bear, and so are you.
KATH. No jade for such as you, if me you mean.
PET. Alas, good Kate, I will not burden thee!
For, knowing thee to be but young and light—
KATH. Too light for such a swain as you to catch ;
And yet as heavy as my weight should be.
PET. Should be! should buzz!
Well ta'en,' and like a buzzard.5
PET. O slow-wing'd turtle! shall a buzzard® take' thee?
1 cates cakes. 2 acclaimed. 3 à la bonne heure. 4 apprehended.
KATH. Ay; for1 a turtle; as she takes a buzzard.
PET. Come, come, you Wasp; i'faith, you are too angry.
KATH. If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
PET. My remedy is, then, to pluck it out.
KATH. Ay; if the fool could find it where it lies.
PET. Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting?
KATH. In his tongue.
PET. Whose tongue?
KATH. Your's, if you talk of tails: and so farewell.
PET. What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come
Good Kate; I am a gentleman.
PET. I swear I'll cuff you,
That I'll try. [striking him. if you strike again.
KATH. So may you lose your arms :
If you strike me, you are no gentleman;
And if no gentleman, why, then no arms.
PET. A herald, Kate? O, put me in thy books !2
KATH. What is your crest? a coxcomb ?3
PET. A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen.
KATH. No cock of mine; you crow too like a craven.
PET. Nay, come, Kate, come; you must not look so
KATH. It is my fashion when I see a crab.*
PET. Why, here's no crab; and therefore look not sour.
KATH. There is, there is.
PET. What, you mean my face?
KATH. Well aim'd of such a young one.
PET. Now, by Saint George, I am too young
KATH. Yet you are wither'd.
PET. Nay; hear you, Kate: in sooth, you 'scape not so.
KATH. I chafe you, if I tarry: let me go.
PET. No, not a whit: I find you passing gentle.
'Twas told me you were rough, and coy, and sullen,
And now I find Report a very liar;
1 = to be. 2 herald's registers. 3 trimming on a fool's cap. ✦ crab-apple.
For thou art pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous;
But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers:
Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will;
Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk;
But thou with mildness entertain'st thy wooers,
With gentle conference, soft and affable.
Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
O slanderous world! Kate, like the hazel-twig,
Is straight and slender; and as brown in hue
As hazel-nuts, and sweeter than the kernels.
O, let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt!
Kath. Go, Fool, and whom thou keep'st command.
PET. Did ever Dian so become a grove
As Kate this chamber with her princely gait?
O, be thou Dian, and let her be Kate;
And then let Kate be chaste, and Dian sportful!
KATH. Where did you study all this goodly speech?
PET. It is extempore, from my mother-wit.
KATH. A witty mother! witness else her son!
PET. Am I not wise?
Yes; and so keep you warm.
PET. Marry, so I mean, sweet Katharine, in thy bed:
And therefore, setting all this chat aside,
Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
That you shall be my wife; your dowry 'greed on;
And, will you, nill you, I will marry you.
Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn;
For by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,
Thy beauty, that doth make me like thee well,
Thou must be married to no man but me;
For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,
And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate1
Conformable, as other household Kates.
Here comes your father: never make denial;
I must and will have Katharine to my wife.
Re-enter BAPTISTA, GREMIO, and TRANIO. BAP. Now, Signior Petruchio, how speed you with My daughter?
|