Her. Tarry, Petruchio, I must go with thee; So shall I no whit be behind in duty
For in Baptista's keep my treasure is :
To fair Bianca, so belov'd of me.
He hath the jewel of my life in hold,
His youngest daughter, beautiful Bianca;
And her withholds from me, and other more,
Suitors to her, and rivals in my love:
Supposing it a thing impossible
(For those defects I have before rehears'd,)
That ever Katharina will be woo'd;
Therefore this order hath Baptista ta'en,
That none shall have access unto Bianca,
Till Katharine the curst have got a husband.
Gra. Katharine the curst!

Gre. Belov'd of me,-and that my deeds
shall prove.

Gru. Aside.] And that his bags shall prove. Hor. Gremio, 'tis now no time to vent our love :

A title for a maid, of all titles the worst.

Listen to me; and if you speak me fair,
I'll tell you news indifferent good for either.
Here is a gentleman, whom by chance I met,
Upon agreement from us to his liking,
Will undertake to woo curst Katharine,
Yea, and to marry her, if her dowry please.
Gre. So said, so done, is well :--

Hor. Now shall my friend Petruchio do me Hortensio, have you told him all her faults?

grace;

And offer me, disguis'd in sober robes,
To old Baptista as a schoolmaster
Well seen in music, to instruct Bianca;
That so I may, by this device, at least
Have leave and leisure to make love to her,
And, unsuspected, court her by herself.

Gra. Here's no knavery! See, to beguile the old folks, how the young folks lay their heads together!

Enter Gremio; with him Lucentio disguised, with books under his arm.

Master, master, look about you: who goes there? ha?

Hor. Peace, Grumio: 'tis the rival of my love.
Petruchio, stand by a while.

Gra. A proper stripling, and an amorous!
[They retire.
Gre. O, very well; I have perus'd the note.
Hark you, sir; I'll have them very fairly bound:
All books of love, see that at any hand;
And see you read no other letcures to her :
You understand me :-over and beside
Signior Baptista's liberality,

[too,

Il mend it with a largess :-take your papers
And let me have them very well perfum'd;
For she is sweeter than perfume itself,
To whom they go. What will you read to her?
Luc. Whate er I read to her, I'll plead for you,
As for my patron, (stand you so assurd,)
As firmly as yourself were still in place:
Yea, and perhaps with more successful words
Than you, unless you were a scholar, sir.

Gre. O this learning! what a thing it is!
Gru. O this woodcock! what an ass it is!
Pet. Peace, sirrah!

Hor. Grumio, mum !-God save you, signior
Gremio!
[sio. Trow you
Gre. And you are well met, signior Horten-
Whither I am going?-To Baptista Minola.
I promis'd to enquire carefully

About a schoolmaster for the fair Bianca :
And, by good fortune, I have lighted well
On this young man; for learning and behaviour
Fit for her turn; well read in poetry,
And other books,-good ones, I warrant ye.
Hor. 'Tis well : and I have met a gentleman
Hath promis'd me to help me to another,
A fine musician to instruct our mistress;

Pet. I know she is an irksome brawling

scold:

Will I live?

Pet.
Gru. Will he woo her? ay, or I'll hang her.
Pet. Why came I hither, but to that intent?
Think you a little din can daunt mine ears?
Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
Have I not heard the sea, puff d up with winds,
Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?
Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
Have I not in a pitched battle heard
Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets'
clang?

And do you tell me of a woman's tongue;
That gives not half so great a blow to hear,
As will a chestnut in a farmer's fire?
Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs.
Gru. [Aside.]

For he fears none.

Tra. Perhaps him and her, sir; what have To whom we all rest generally beholden.

She is your treasure, she must have a husband;
I must dance barefoot on her wedding-day,

Hor. Sir, you say well, and well you do And, for your love to her, lead apes in hell.

But who comes here?
Enter Gremio, with Lucentio in the habit of a
mean man; Petruchio, with Hortensio as a
Musician; and Tranio, with Biondello bear-
ing a lute and books.

Gre. Good-morrow, neighbour Baptista.
Bap. Good-morrow, neighbour Gremio.-
God save you, gentlemen!

may I be so bold to know the cause of your coming?

Tra. Pardon me, sir, the boldness is mine
own;

That, being a stranger in this city here,
Do make myself a suitor to your daughter,
Unto Bianca, fair and virtuous.
Nor is your firm resolve unknown to me,

Pet. And you, good sir. Pray, have you In the preferment of the eldest sister.
not a daughter

Call'd Katharina, fair and virtuous?

Bap. I have a daughter, sir, call'd Katha

rina.

Gre. You are too blunt: go to it orderly.
Pet. You wrong me, signior Gremio: give
me leave.

I am a gentleman of Verona, sir,

That, hearing of her beauty and her wit,
Her affability and bashful modesty,
Her wondrous qualities and mild behaviour,
Am bold to show myself a forward guest
Within your house, to make mine eye the
witness

Of that report which I so oft have heard.
And, for an entrance to my entertainment,
I do present you with a man of mine,

[Presenting Hortensio.
Cunning in music and the mathematics,
To instruct her fully in those sciences,
Whereof I know she is not ignorant :
Accept of him, or else you do me wrong:
His name is Licio, born in Mantua.

Bap. You're welcome, sir: and he, for your
good sake.

But for my daughter Katharine,—this I know,
She is not for your turn, the more my grief.
Pet. I see you do not mean to part with her,
Or else you like not of my company.

Bap. Mistake me not; I speak but as I find.
Whence are you, sir? what may I call your

name?

Pet. Petruchio is my name; Antonio's son,
A man well known throughout all Italy.
Bap. I know him well: you are welcome
for his sake.

Gre. Saving your tale, Petruchio, I pray,
Let us, that are poor petitioners, speak too;
Baccare! you are marvellous forward.

Pet. O, pardon me, signior Gremio; would fain be doing.

-

This liberty is all that I request, —
That, upon knowledge of my parentage,
I may have welcome mongst the rest that woo,
And free access and favour as the rest:
And, towards the education of your daughters,
I here bestow a simple instrument, [books:
And this small packet of Greek and Latin
If you accept them, then their worth is great.
Bap. Lucentio is your name, of whence, I
pray?

Tra. Of Pisa, sir: son to Vincentio.
Bap. A mighty man of Pisa; by report
I know him well: you are very welcome, sir.
[To Hor.] Take you the lute; [To Luc.] and
you the set of books;

You shall go see your pupils presently.-
Holla, within!

Enter a Servant
Sirrah, lead these gentlemen

To my daughters; and 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,— I│In all my lands and leases whatsoever :

Gre. I doubt it not, sir; but you will curse your wooing.

than any.

Let specialties be therefore drawn between us,
That covenants may be kept on either hand.

Bap. Ay, when the special thing is well
obtain'd,

Neighbour, this is a gift very grateful, I am
sure of it. To express the like kindness myself,
that have been more kindly beholden to you
freely give unto you this young
scholar, Presenting Lucentio,] that has been I am as peremptory as she proud-minded ;
long studying at Kheims; as cunning in Greek, And where two raging fires meet together,
Latin, and other languages, as the other in They do consume the thing that feeds their
music and mathematics: his name is Cambio ;|
pray accept his service.

That is, her love; for that is all in all.
Pet. Why, that is nothing; for I tell you,
father,

Bap. A thousand thanks, signior Gremio. Welcome, good Cambio.-[To Tranio.] But, gentle sir, methinks you walk like a stranger:

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.

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.

Pa. 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 sport-
ful!
[speech?
Kath. Where did you study all this goodly
Pet. It is extempore, from my mother-wit."
Kath. A witty mother! witless else her son.
Pet. Am I not wise?

Kath.
Yes; 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 con-

sented

Kath. Call you me daughter? now, I pro-
mise you,

You have show'd a tender fatherly regard,
To wish me wed to one half lunatic;
A mad-cap ruffian, and a swearing Jack,
That thinks with oaths to face the matter out.
Pet. Father, 'tis thus :-yourself and all the
world,

That talk'd of her, have talk'd amiss of her :
If she be curst, it is for policy,

For she's not froward, but modest as the dove;
She is not hot, but temperate as the morn;
For patience she will prove a second Grissel,
And Roman Lucrece for her chastity:
And to conclude,- —we have 'greed so well to-
gether

That upon Sunday is the wedding-day.

Kath. I'll see thee hang'd on Sunday first. Gre. Hark, Petruchio; she says she'll see thee hang'd first.

Tra. Is this your speeding? nay then, good night our part !

Pet. Be patient, gentlemen; I choose her
for myself:

If she and I be pleas'd, what's that to you?
Tis bargain'd 'twixt us twain, being alone,
That she shall still be curst in company.
I tell you, 'tis incredible to believe
How much she loves me : O, the kindest Kate!
She hung about my neck; and kiss on kiss
She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath,
That in a twink she won me to her love.
O, you are novices! 'tis a world to see,
How tame, when men and women are alone,
A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.
Give me thy hand, Kate: I will unto Venice,
To buy apparel 'gainst the wedding-day.
Provide the feast, father, and bid the guests;
I will be sure my Katharine shall be fine.
Bap. I know not what to say: but give me
your hands.

God send you joy, Petruchio! 'tis a match.
Gre. Tra. Amen, say we we will be wit-

nesses.

Pet. Father, and wife, and gentlemen, adieu; ['greed on; I will to Venice; Sunday comes apace :

That you shall be my wife; your dowry
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 Cat to a Kate
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.
Bup. Now, signior Petruchio, how speed
you with my daughter?
Pet. How but well, sir? how but well?
It were impossible I should speed amiss.
Bas. Why, how now, daughter Katharine!
in your dumps?

We will have rings, and things, and fine array ;
And, kiss me, Kate, we will be married o'
Sunday.

[Exeunt Petruchio and Katharina, severally.
Gre. Was ever match clapp'd up so sud-
denly?

Bap. Faith, gentlemen, now I play a mer-
chant'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