Kath. Minion, thou liest; Is't not Hortensio ? Bian. If you affect him, sister, here I swear, I'll plead for you myself, but you shall have him. Kath. O then, belike, you fancy riches more; You will have Gremio to keep you fair.

Bian. Is it for him you do envy me so?
Nay, then you jest; and now I well perceive,
You have but jested with me all this while :
I pr'ythee, sister Kate, untie my hands.

Kath. If that be jest, then all the rest was so.

Enter BAPTISTA.

[Strikes her.

Bap. Why, how now, dame! whence

insolence?

grows this

Bianca, stand aside:-poor girl! she weeps:-
Go ply thy needle; meddle not with her.-

For shame, thou hilding3 of a devilish spirit,
Why dost thou wrong her that did ne'er wrong thee?
When did she cross thee with a bitter word?

Kath. Her silence flouts me, and I'll be reveng'd.

[Flies after BIANCA.

Bap. What, in my sight!-Bianca, get thee in. [Exit BIANCA. Kath. Will you not suffer me? Nay, now I see She is your treasure, she must have a husband; I must dance barefoot on her wedding-day, And, for your love to her, lead apes in hell".

2 Love.

3 A hilding signified a base low wretch: it is applied to Katharina for the coarseness of her behaviour.

4 The origin of this very old proverbial phrase is not known. Steevens suggests that it might have been considered an act of posthumous retribution for women who refused to bear children, to be condemned to the care of apes in leading strings after death.

Talk not to me; I will go sit and weep,
Till I can find occasion of revenge.

[Exit KATHARINA. Bap. Was ever gentleman thus griev'd as I? But who comes here?

a

Enter GREMIO, with LUCENTIO in the habit of mean man; PETRUCHIO, with HORTENSIO as a Musician; and TRANIO, with BIONDEllo bearing a Lute and Books.

Gre. Good-morrow, neighbour Baptista.

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

Pet. And you, good sir! Pray, have you not a daughter

Call'd Katharina, fair and virtuous?

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

eye

Her wondrous qualities, and mild behaviour,-
Am bold to show myself a forward guest
Within your house, to make mine 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 musick, and the mathematicks,
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; I would fain be doing.

Gre. I doubt it not, sir; but you

wooing.

will curse your

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 than any, I freely give unto you this young scholar [presenting LUCENTIO], that hath been long studying at Rheims; as cunning in Greek, Latin, and other languages, as the other in musick and mathematicks: his name is Cambio; pray, accept his service.

Bap. A thousand thanks, Signior Gremio: welcome, good Cambio.-But, gentle sir [to TRANIO], methinks you walk like a stranger; May I be so bold to know the cause of your coming?

5 A cant word meaning go back, in allusion to a proverbial saying,' Backare, quoth Mortimer to his sow.' Probably made in ridicule of some ignorant fellow who affected a knowledge of Latin without having it, and produced his Latinized English instead.

VOL. III.

LL

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,
In the preferment of the eldest sister:
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 toward the education of your daughters,
I here bestow a simple instrument,

And this small packet of Greek and Latin books":
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 well7: you are very welcome, sir.Take you [to HOR.] the lute, and you [to LUC.] the set of books,

You shall go see your pupils presently.

Holla, within!

Sirrah, lead

Enter a Servant.

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,

6 In the reign of Elizabeth the young ladies of quality were usually instructed in the learned languages, if any pains were bestowed upon their minds at all. The queen herself, Lady Jane Grey, and her sisters, &c. are trite instances.

7 This must be understood as meaning, I know well who he is. So, before, Baptista says the same of Petruchio's father, who is supposed to have died before the commencement of the play. ·

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?

lands:

Bap. After my death, the one half of my
And, in possession, twenty thousand crowns.
Pet. And for that dowry, I'll assure her of3
Her widowhood,—be it that she survive me,-
In all
my lands and leases whatsoever:
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, This is, her love; for that is all in all.

Pet. Why, that is nothing: for I tell you, father, 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 mayst thou woo, and happy be thy speed!

But be thou arm'd for some unhappy words.

Pet. Ay, to the proof; as mountains are for winds, That shake not, though they blow perpetually.

8 Perhaps we should read on her widowhood.' On and of are not unfrequently confounded by the printers of the old copy.