Gre. Went they not quickly, I fhould die with laughing. Tra. Of all mad matches, never was the like. Luc. Miftrefs, what's your opinion of your Sifter? Bian. That, being mad herself, she's madly mated. Gre. I warrant him, Petruchio is Kated. Bap. Neighbours and friends, tho' Bride and Bridegroom want For to fupply the places at the table; You know, there wants no junkets at the feaft; Tra. Shall fweet Bianca practise how to bride it? ACT IV. SCENE I. F Petruchio's Country House. Enter Grumio. GRUMIO. Y, fy on all tired jades, and all mad masters, and all foul ways! was ever man fo beaten? 3 was ever man fo ray'd? was ever man fo weary? I am fent before, to make a fire; and they are coming after, to warm them now were not 'l a little pot, and foon hot, my very lips might freeze to my teeth, my tongue to the roof of my mouth, my heart in my belly, ere I fhould come by a fire to thaw me; but I with blow 3 Was ever man fo ray'd?] That is, was ever man fo mark'd with lashes. ing ing the fire fhall warm myfelf; for, confidering the weather, a taller man than I will take cold: holla, hoa, Curtis ! Enter Curtis. Curt. Who is it that calls fo coldly? Gru. A piece of ice. If thou doubt it, thou may'ft flide from my fhoulder to my heel, with no greater a run but my head and my neck. A fire, good Curtis. Curt. Is my mafter and his wife coming, Grumio? Gru. Oh, ay, Curtis, ay; and therefore fire, fire; caft on no water. Curt. Is fhe fo hot a Shrew, as fhe's reported? 4 Gru. She was, good Curtis, before this froft; but thou know'ft, winter tames man, woman, and beast; for it hath tam'd my old mafter, and my new miflrefs, and thyfelf, fellow Curtis. Curt. Away, you three-inch'd fool; I am no beaft. 6 Gru. Am I but three inches? why, my horn is a foot, and fo long am I at the leaft. But wilt thou make a fire, or fhall I complain on thee to our mif 4 Gru. winter tames man, the fenfe of this alteration. woman, and beaft; for it hath WARBURTON. tam'd my old mafier, and my new 5 Away, you three-inch'd fool;] mifirefs, and my felf, fellow Cur-i. e. with a fcull three inches thick, a phrafe taken from the thicker fort of planks. tis. Curt. Away, you three inch'd fool; I am no beaft.] Why had Grumio called him one? to give his refentment any colour. We muft read as, without queftion, Shakespeare wrote, and THY feif, fellow Curtis. Why Grumio faid that winter had tamed Curtis was for his flownefs in fhewing Grumio to a good fire. Befides, all the joke confifts in WARBURTON. 6 Why thy born is a foot, and fo long am I at leaft.] Tho' all the copies agree in this reading, Mr. Theobald fays, yet he cannot find what horn Curtis had; there'fore he alters it to my horn. But the common reading is right, and the meaning is that he had made Curtis a cuckold. WARBURTON. tress, trefs, whofe hand,, fhe being now at hand, thou shalt foon feel to thy cold comfort, for being flow in thy hot office. Curt. I pr'ythee, good, Gremio, tell me, how goes the world? Gru. A cold world, Curtis, in every office but thine; and therefore, fire: do thy duty, and have thy duty; for my mafter and miftrefs are almoft frozen -to death. Curt. There's fire ready; and therefore; good Grumio, the news. 7 Gru. Why, Jack boy, ho boy, and as much news as thou wilt. Curt. Come, you are fo full of conycatching. Gru. Why therefore, fire: for I have caught extream cold. Where's the cook? is fupper ready, the houfe trimm'd, rufhes ftrew'd, cobwebs fwept, the fervingmen in their new fuftian, their white ftockings, and every officer his wedding garment on? be the Jacks fair within, the fills fair without, carpets laid, and every thing in order? 8 Curt. All ready: and therefore, I pray thee, what news? Gru. First, know my horfe is tired, my master and miftrefs fall'n out. Curt. How? Gru. Out of their faddles into the dirt; and thereby hangs a tale. Curt. Let's ha't, good Grumio. Gru. Lend thine ear. Curt. Here. Gru. There. [Strikes bim. Curt. Curt. This is to feel a tale, not to hear a tale. Gru. And therefore 'tis call'd a fenfible tale: and this cuff was but to knock at your ear, and beseech liftning. Now I begin: imprimis, we came down a foul hill, my mafter riding behind my mistress. Curt. Both on one horse? But hadft thou not Gru. Tell thou the tale. croft me, thou should'st have heard how her horse fell, and fhe under her horfe: thou fhould't have heard in how miry a place, how fhe was bemoil'd, how he left her with the horse upon her, how he beat me because her horse ftumbled, how fhe waded through the dirt to pluck him off me; how he fwore, how the pray'd that never pray'd before; how I cry'd; how the horses ran away; how her bridle was burft: how I loft my crupper; with many things of worthy memory, which now fhall die in oblivion, and thou return unexperienc'd to thy grave. Curt. By this reckoning he is more fhrew than fhe. Gru. Ay, and that you and the proudest of you all fhall find when he comes home. But what talk I of this? call forth Nathanael, Jofeph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter, Sugarfop, and the reft: let their heads be fleekly comb'd, their blue coats brush'd, and their garters of an indifferent knit; let them curt'fy with their left legs, and not prefume to touch a hair of my mafter's horfe tail, 'till they kifs their hands. Are they all ready? Curt They are. Gru. Call them forth. Curt. Do you hear, ho? you must meet my master to countenance my mistress. Gru. Why, the hath a face of her own. Curt. Who knows not that? Gru. Thou, it feems, that call'd for company to countenance her. Curt. I call them forth to credit her. Enter four or five Serving men. Gru. Why, fhe comes to borrow nothing of them. Jof. What, Grumio! Nich. Fellow Grumio! Nath. How now, old lad? Gru. Welcome, you; how now, you; what, you ; fellow, you; and thus much for greeting. Now, my fpruce companions, is all ready, and all things neat? Nath. All things are ready; how near is our mafter? Gru. E'en at hand, alighted by this; and therefore -cock's paffion, filence !I hear my be notmaster. SCENE II. Enter Petruchio and Kate. Pet. Where be thefe knaves? what, no man at door to hold my ftirrup, nor to take my horfe? where is Nathanael, Gregory, Philip? All Serv. Here, here, Sir? here, Sir. Pet. Here, Sir, here, Sir, here, Sir, here, Sir? You loggerheaded and unpolish'd grooms: What? no attendance? no regard? no duty? Where is the foolish knave I fent before? Gru. Here, Sir, as foolish as I was before. Pet. You peafant fwain, you whorefon, malt-horfe drudge, Did not I bid thee meet me in the park, And bring along these rascal knaves with thee? Gru. |
