Enter SLENDER. Slen. Whoa, ho ho, father Page! Page. Son, how now! how now, son! have you patched? dis 171 Slen. Dispatched! I'll make the best in Gloucestershire know on't; would I were hanged, la, else! Page. Of what, son? Slen. I came yonder at Eton to marry Mistress Anne Page, and she's a great lubberly boy. If it had not been i' the church, I would have swinged him, or he should have swinged me. If I did not think it had been Anne Page, would I might never stir!-and 'tis a postmaster's boy. Page. Upon my life, then, you took the wrong. Slen. What need you tell me that? I think so, when I took a boy for a girl. If I had been married to him, for all he was in woman's apparel, I would not have had him. 180 Page. Why, this is your own folly. Did not I tell you how you should know my daughter by her garments? 185 Slen. I went to her in white, and cried 'mum,' and she cried 'budget,' as Anne and I had appointed; and yet it was not Anne, but a postmaster's boy. Mrs Page. Good George, be not angry: I knew of your purpose; turned my daughter into green; and, indeed, she is now with the doctor at the deanery, and there married. 192 169 SCENE VI. Pope. Enter Slender.] Enter Slender, Whoa] What Rowe. 170 how now! how now] How now Q3. 174 what, son?] what sonne? F1Q3. 177 the] 't F2. 186 white] Pope. greene Ff Q3. 188 After this line Theobaid inserts from (QQ2): Eva. Jeshu! Master Slender, cannot you see but marry boys? Page. O, I am vext at Heart. What shall I do? 190 into green] Rowe (ed. 2). into white Ff. in white Q3. Enter CAIUS. Caius. Vere is Mistress Page? By gar, I am cozened: I ha' married un garçon, a boy; un paysan, by gar, a boy; it is not Anne Page: by gar, I am cozened. 195 Mrs Page. Why, did you take her in green? Caius. Ay, by gar, and 'tis a boy by gar, I'll raise all Windsor. [Exit. Ford. This is strange. Who hath got the right Anne? Page. My heart misgives me :-here me-here comes Master Fenton. 201 Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE. How now, Master Fenton ! Anne. Pardon, good father! good my mother, pardon! Page. Now, mistress, how chance you went not with Master Slender? 205 Mrs Page. Why went you not with master doctor, maid? Fent. You do amaze her: hear the truth of it. 210 197 by gar] Capell. bee gar F,Q3. be gar FF3F4. by gar] Capell. be gar Ff Q3. 203 [Kneeles. Collier MS. 214 title] guile Collier, ed. 2 (Collier MS.). wile Dyce (ed. 2). will Since therein she doth evitate and shun A thousand irreligious cursed hours, Which forced marriage would have brought upon her. In love the heavens themselves do guide the state; 215 220 Fal. I am glad, though you have ta'en a special stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath glanced. Page. Well, what remedy? Fenton, heaven give thee joy! What cannot be eschew'd must be embraced. Fal. When night-dogs run, all sorts of deer are chased. Mrs Page. Well, I will muse no further. Fenton, Heaven give you many, many merry days! Ford. 223, 224 Well...embraced.] As in Rowe (ed. 2). Prose in Ff Q3. 224 After this line Pope, followed by Theobald, inserts from (Q1Q2) : Evans [aside to Fenton] I will hold your word; Mistress Ford. Master 226 230 [Exeunt. (Theobald adds also) dance and eat plums at your wedding. 225 When...chased] Prose in F,FF3 230 Let it be so. Sir John,] Let it be so (Sir Iohn:) Ff Q3. NOTES. NOTE I. 1. 1. 41. Master Page is called 'George' in three places, 11. 1. 133 and 141, and v. 5. 189, but we have left the text of the Folios uncorrected, as the mistake may have been Shakespeare's own. It is however possible that a transcriber or printer may have mistaken 'Geo.' for 'Tho.' In 1. 3. 91, 92, on the other hand, we have not hesitated to correct the reading of the Folio, substituting 'Page' for 'Ford,' and 'Ford' for 'Page,' because, as the early Quartos have the names right, it seems likely that the blunder was not due to Shakespeare. NOTE II. 3 1. 1. 49. Here again, as in line 40, F.F.F, read 'good,' FQ, 'goot,' but we have not thought it necessary to do more than give a specimen of such variations. Capell, in order to make Dr Caius's broken English consistent with itself, corrects it throughout and substitutes 'de' for 'the,' 'vill' for 'will,' and so forth. As a general rule, we have silently followed the first Folio. NOTE III. 1. 1. 114. With regard to this and other passages which Pope, Theobald, Malone, &c. have inserted from the early Quartos, our rule has been to introduce, between brackets, such, and such only, as seemed to be absolutely essential to the understanding of the text, taking care to give in the note all those which we have rejected. |