Tra.

What is he, Biondello?
Bion. Master, a mercatantè, or a pedant*,
I know not what; but formal in apparel,
In gait and countenance surely like a father.
Luc. And what of him, Tranio ?

Tra. If he be credulous, and trust my tale,
I'll make him glad to seem Vincentio ;
And give assurance to Baptista Minola,
As if he were the right Vincentio.

Take in your love, and then let me alone.

[Exeunt LUCENTIO and BIANCA.

Enter a Pedant.

Ped. God save you, sir!

Tra. And you, sir! you are welcome. Travel you far on, or are you at the furthest?

this part of his plot. There Erostrato, the Biondello of Shakspeare, looks out for a person to gull by an idle story, judges from appearances that he has found him, and is not deceived:

:

At the foot of the hill I met a gentleman, and as methought by his habits and his looks he should be none of the wisest.' Again, 'this gentleman being, as I guessed at the first, a man of small sapientia.' And Dulippo (the Lucentio of Shakspeare), as soon as he spies him coming, exclaims, 'Is this he? go meet him: by my troth, HE LOOKS LIKE A GOOD SOUL, he that fisheth for him might be sure to catch a codshead.' Act ii. Sc. 1. 'These are the passages (says Mr. Gifford) which our great poet had in view; and these, I trust, are more than sufficient to explain why Biondello concludes at first sight, that this "ancient piece of formality" will serve his turn.' This is very true, and yet it is not necessary to change the reading of the old copy, which is undoubtedly correct, though the commentators could not explain it. An ancient angel then was neither more nor less than the good soul of Gascoigne; or as Cotgrave (often the best commentator on Shakspeare) explains it, ' AN OLD ANGEL, by metaphor, a fellow of th' old sound honest and worthie stamp,' un angelot gros escaille. One who, being honest himself, suspects no guile in others, and is therefore easily duped. I am quite of Mr. Nares's opinion, that enghle is only a different spelling of ingle, which is often used for a favourite, and originally meant one of the most detestable kind; we have no example adduced of it ever having been used for a gull.

·

4 i. e. a merchant or a schoolmaster.

Ped. Sir, at the furthest for a week or two:
But then up further; and as far as Rome;
And so to Tripoly, if God lend me life.
Tra. What countryman, I pray?

Ped.

Of Mantua.

Tra. Of Mantua, sir?-marry, God forbid! And come to Padua, careless of your life?

Ped. My life, sir! how, I pray? for that goes hard.
Tra. 'Tis death for any one in Mantua

To come to Padua: Know you not the cause?
Your ships are staid at Venice; and the duke
(For private quarrel 'twixt your duke and him)
Hath publish'd and proclaim'd it openly:
"Tis marvel; but that you're but newly come,
You might have heard it else proclaim'd about.
Ped. Alas, sir, it is worse for me than so;
For I have bills for money by exchange
From Florence, and must here deliver them.
Tra. Well, sir, to do you courtesy,

This will I do, and this will I advise you;-
First, tell me, have you ever been at Pisa?

Ped. Ay, sir, in Pisa have I often been;
Pisa, renowned for grave citizens.

Tra. Among them, know you one Vincentio? Ped. I know him not, but I have heard of him ; A merchant of incomparable wealth.

Tra. He is my father, sir; and, sooth to say, In countenance somewhat doth resemble you.

Bion. As much as an apple doth an oyster, and all one.

[Aside,

fortunes,

Tra. To save your life in this extremity,
This favour will I do you for his sake;
And think it not the worst of all your
That you are like to Sir Vincentio.
His name and credit shall you undertake,
And in my house you shall be friendly lodged ;-

Look, that you take

upon you as you

should;

You understand me, sir;-so shall you stay
Till you have done your business in the city:
If this be courtesy, sir, accept of it.

Ped. O, sir, I do; and will repute you ever
The patron of my life and liberty.

Tra. Then go with me, to make the matter good. This, by the way, I let you understand;My father is here look'd for every day, To pass assurance 5 of a dower in marriage "Twixt me and one Baptista's daughter here: In all these circumstances I'll instruct you: Go with me, sir, to clothe you as becomes you. [Exeunt.

SCENE III. A Room in Petruchio's House.

Enter KATHARINA and GRUMIO.

Gru. No, no; forsooth; I dare not, for my life. Kath. The more my wrong, the more his spite appears:

What, did he marry me to famish me?

Beggars, that come unto my father's door,
Upon entreaty, have a present alms;
If not, elsewhere they meet with charity:
But I,-who never knew how to entreat,-
Am starv'd for meat, giddy for lack of sleep:
With oaths kept waking, and with brawling fed:
And that which spites me more than all these wants,
He does it under name of perfect love;

As who should say,-if I should sleep, or eat,
"Twere deadly sickness, or else present death.-

5 i. e. to agree upon a settlement of dower; Dotem firmare. Deeds are by law-writers called the common assurances of the realm, because thereby each man's property is assured to him. So in a subsequent scene:-they are busied about a counterfeit

assurance.

1 pry'thee go, and get me some repast;
I care not what, so it be wholesome food.
Gru. What say you to a neat's foot!

Kath. 'Tis passing good; I pr'ythee let me have it, Gru. I fear, it is too cholerick a meat:How say you to a fat tripe, finely broil'd?

Kath. I like it well; good Grumio, fetch it me. Gru. I cannot tell; I fear, 'tis cholerick. What say you to a piece of beef, and mustard? Kath. A dish that I do love to feed upon.

Gru. Ay, but the mustard is too hot a little1. Kath. Why, then the beef, and let the mustard rest. Gru. Nay, then I will not; you shall have the mustard,

Or else you get no beef of Grumio.

slave,

Kath. Then both, or one, or any thing thou wilt. Gru. Why, then the mustard without the beef. Kath. Go, get thee gone, thou false deluding [Beats him, That feed'st me with the very name of meat; Sorrow on thee, and all the pack of you, That triumph thus upon my misery!

Go, get thee gone, I say.

Enter PETRUCHIO with a dish of meat; and
HORTENSIO.

Pet. How fares my Kate? What, sweeting, all amort??

This is agreeable to the doctrine of the times. In The Glasse of Humours, no date, p. 69, it is said, 'But note here, that the first diet is not only in avoiding superfluity of meats, and surfeits of drinks, but also in eschewing such as are obnoxious, and least agreeable with our happy temperate state; as for a cholerick man to abstain from all salt, scorched, dry meats, from mustard, and such like things as will aggravate his malignant humours. Petruchio before objects to the over

roasted mutton.

2 That is, all sunk and dispirited. This gallicism is frequent in many of the old plays.

Hor. Mistress, what cheer?

Kath.

'Faith, as cold as can be. Pet. Pluck up thy spirits, look cheerfully upon

me.

Here, love; thou see'st how diligent I am,

To dress thy meat myself, and bring it thee:

[Sets the dish on a table. I am sure, sweet Kate, this kindness merits thanks. What, not a word? Nay then, thou lov'st it not; And all my pains is sorted to no 'proof3:Here, take away this dish.

Kath.

Pray you, let it stand. Pet. The poorest service is repaid with thanks; And so shall mine, before you touch the meat. Kath. I thank

you, sir.

Hor. Signior Petruchio, fye! you are to blame! Come, mistress Kate, I'll bear you company. Pet. Eat it up all, Hortensio, if thou lov'st me.

[Aside.

Much good do it unto thy gentle heart!
Kate, eat apace:-And now, my honey love,
Will we return unto thy father's house;
And revel it as bravely as the best,

With silken coats, and caps, and golden rings,
With ruffs, and cuffs, and farthingales, and things;
With scarfs, and fans, and double change of bra-
very*,

With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knavery.

3 And all my labour has ended in nothing, or proved nothing,' says Johnson. This can hardly be right. Mr. Douce's suggestion, that it means 'all my labour is adapted to no approof,' is much better; indeed there can be no doubt that we should read 'proof with a mark of elision for approof; but sort is used in the sense of sorter, French, to issue, to terminate. It sorted not' is frequently used by writers of that period for, It did not end so, or It did not answer. Shakspeare uses sort for lot, chance, more than once.

4 Finery.