“ who is indeed of kin to Sancho Panza." We think, with a late elegant writer, " the character of Sly, and the remarks with which he accompanies the play, as good as the play itself."

It appears to have been one of Shakspeare's earliest productions, and is supposed by Malone to have been produced in 1594.

Characters in the Original Play of The Taming of a Shrew, entered on

the Stationers' Books in 1594, and printed in quarto in 1607.

A Lord, &c.
Sly.
A Tapster.
Page, Players, Huntsmen, &c.

Persons in the Induction.

ALPHONSUS, a Merchant of Athens.
JEROBEL, Duke of Cestus.
AURELIUS, his Son,
FERANDO,

Suitors to the Daughters of Alphonsus.
POLIDOR,
VALERIA, Servant to Aurelius,
SANDER, Servant to Ferando.
PHYLOTUS, a Merchant who personates the Duke.

Tailor, Haberdasher, and Servants to Ferando and Alphonsus.

SCENE, Athens; and sometimes Ferando's Country-House.
VOL. II.

57

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

A Lord.
CHRISTOPHER Sly, a drunken Tinker.
Hostess, Page, Players, Huntsmen, and

other Servants attending on the Lord.

Persons in the

Induction.

BAPTISTA, a rich Gentleman of Padua.
VINCENTIO, an old Gentleman of Pisa.
LUCENTIO, Son to Vincentio, in love with Bianca.
PETRUCHIO, a Gentleman of Verona, a Suitor to Kath-

arina. GREMIO,

Suitors to Bianca.
HORTENSIO,
TRANIO,
BIONDELLO,
GRUMIO,

Servants to Petruchio.
CURTIS,
PEDANT, an old fellow set up to personate Vincentio.

Servants to Lucentio.

KATHARINA, the Shrew, Daughters to Baptista.
BIANCA, her Sister,
Widow.

Tailor, Haberdasher, and Servants attending on Baptista

and Petruchio.

SCENE, sometimes in Padua; and sometimes in

Petruchio's House in the Country.

TAMING OF THE SHREW.

INDUCTION.

SCENE I. Before an Alehouse on a Heath.

Enter Hostess and Sly.
Sly. I'll pheese' you, in faith.
Host. A pair of stocks, you rogue !

Sly. Y'are a baggage; the Slies are no rogues: Look in the chronicles; we came in with Richard Conqueror. Therefore, paucas pallabris;2 let the world slide. Sessa! 3

Host. You will not pay for the glasses you have burst?

Sly. No, not a denier. Go by, says Jeronimy; Go to thy cold bed and warm thee.

Host. I know my remedy; I must go fetch_the third borough.

[Exit. Sly. Third, or fourth, or fifth borough, I'll answer him by law. I'll not budge an inch, boy; let him come, and kindly.

[Lies down on the ground, and falls asleep.

4

1 So again in Troilus and Cressida, Ajax says of Achilles : -"I'll pheese his pride." And in Ben Jonson's Alchemist :

“Come, will you quarrel? I'll feize you, sirrah." 2 Pocas palabras (Span.), few words. 3 Cessa (Ital.), be quiet.

4 This line and the scrap of Spanish is used in burlesque from an old play called Hieronymo, or the Spanish Tragedy. The old copy reads :*8. Jeronimy.” The emendation is Mason's.

5 An officer whose authority equals that of a constable.

Wind Horns. Enter a Lord from Hunting, with

Huntsmen and Servants.
Lord. Huntsman, I charge thee, tender well my

hounds :
Brach Merriman,—the poor cur is embossed,
And couple Clowder with the deep-mouthed brach.?
Saw'st thou not, boy, how Silver made it good
At the hedge corner, in the coldest fault ?
I would not lose the dog for twenty pound.
1 Hunt. Why, Belman is as good as he, my

lord;
He cried upon it at the merest loss,
And twice to-day picked out the dullest scent.
Trust

me,

I take him for the better dog.
Lord. Thou art a fool; if Echo were as fleet,
I would esteem him worth a dozen such.
But sup them well, and look unto them all;
To-morrow I intend to hunt again.

1 Hunt. I will, my lord.
Lord. What's here? one dead, or drunk ? See,

doth he breathe ?
2 Hunt. He breathes, my lord. Were he not

warmed with ale,
This were a bed but cold to sleep so soundly.
Lord. O monstrous beast! how like a swine he

lies!
Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image!
Sirs, I will practise on this drunken man.-
What think you if he were conveyed to bed,
Wrapped in sweet clothes, rings put upon his fingers,
A most delicious banquet by his bed,
And brave attendants near him when he wakes;
Would not the beggar then forget himself?

1 Hunt. Believe me, lord, I think he cannot choose.

1 “ Embossed," says Philips, in his World of Words, “is a term in hunting, when a deer is so hard chased that she foams at the mouth; it comes from the Spanish desembocar, and is metaphorically used for any kind of weariness."

2 Brach originally signified a particular species of dog used for the chase. It was a long-eared dog, hunting by the scent.

2 Hunt. It would seem strange unto him when he

waked. Lord. Even as a flattering dream, or worthless

fancy. Then take him up, and manage well the jest:

:Carry him gently to my fairest chamber, And hang it round with all my wanton pictures : Balm his foul head with warm distilled waters, And burn sweet wood to make the lodging sweet: Procure me music ready when he wakes, To make a dulcet and a heavenly sound : And if he chance to speak, be ready straight, And, with a low, submissive reverence, Say,—What is it your honor will command ? Let one attend him with a silver basin, Full of rose-water, and bestrewed with flowers; Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper ; And say,—Will't please your lordship cool your

hands? Some one be ready with a costly suit, And ask him what apparel he will wear; Another tell him of his hounds and horse, And that his lady mourns at his disease: Persuade him that he hath been lunatic. And, when he says he is—, say that he dreams, For he is nothing but a mighty lord. This do and do it kindly,' gentle sirs ; It will be pastime passing excellent, If it be husbanded with modesty.” 1 Hunt. My lord, I warrant you, we'll play our

part, As he shall think, by our true diligence, He is no less than what we say he is.

Lord. Take him up gently, and to bed with him; And each one to his office when he wakes.

[Some bear out Sly. A trumpet sounds. Sirrah, go see what trumpet 'tis that sounds:

[Exit Servant.