And he shall be Vincentio of Pisa ; Luc. Were it not that my fellow schoolmaster Tra. That by degrees we mean to look into, Re-enter GREMIO. Ira. Curster than she? Why, 'tis impossible. Gra. Why, he's a devil, a devil, a very fiend. Tra. Why, she's a devil, a devil, the devil's dam. Gre. Tut! she's a lamb, a dove, a fool to him. I'll tell you, sir Lucentio; when the priest Should ask — if Katharine should be his wife, Ay, by gogs-wouns, quoth he; and swore so loud, That, all amazed, the priest let fall the book: And, as he stooped again to take it up, The mad-brained bridegroom took him such a cuff, That down fell priest and book, and book and priest. Now take them up, quoth he, if any list. Tra. What said the wench, when he arose again? swore, And seemed to ask him sops as he was drinking. TENSIO, GRUMIO, and Train. Bap. Is't possible you will away to-night? Pet. I must away to-day, before night come.- Tra. Let us entreat you stay till after dinner. Let me entreat you. Let me entreat you. Are you content to stay? Grumio, my horses. Gru. Ay, sir, they be ready; the oats have eaten the horses. Kath. Nay, then, Pet. Pet. 0, Kate, content thee; pr’ythee, be not angry. Kath. I will be angry. What hast thou to do? Father, be quiet; he shall stay my leisure. Gre. Ay, marry, sir; now it begins to work. Kath. Gentlemen, forward to the bridal dinner.- Pet. They shall go forward, Kate, at thy command. [Exeunt Pet., Kath., and Gru. groom wants Tra. Shall sweet Bianca practise how to bride it? [Exeunt. ACT IV. SCENE I. A Hall in Petruchio's Country- House. Enter GRUMIO. Gru. Fie, fie, on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all foul ways! Was ever man so beaten? Was ever man so rayed? Was ever man so weary? I am sent before to make a fire, and they are coming after to warm them. Now were not I a little pot, and soon hot, my very lips might freeze to my teeth, my tongue to the roof of my mouth, my heart in my belly, ere I should come by a fire to thaw me. -But I, with blowing the fire, shall warm myself; for, considering the weather, a taller man than I will take cold. Holla! hoa! Curtis ! Enter Curtis. Curt. Who is that calls so coldly. Gru. A piece of ice. If thou doubt it, thou mayst slide from my shoulder to my heel, with no greater run but my head and my neck. A fire, good Curtis. Curt. Is my master and his wife coming, Grumio? Gru. O, ay, Curtis, ay; and therefore fire, fire; cast on no water. Curt. Is she so hot a shrew as she's reported ? Gru. She was, good Curtis, before this frost; but thou knowest, winter tames man, woman, and beast; for it hath tamed my old master, and my new mistress, and myself, fellow Curtis. Curt. Away, thou three-inch fool! I am no beast ! Gru. Am I but three inches ? Why, thy horn is a foot, and so long am I, at the least. But wilt thou make a fire, or shall I complain on thee to our mistress, whose hand (she being now at hand) thou shalt soon feel, to thy cold comfort, for being slow in thy hot office ? Curt. I pr’ythee, good Grumio, 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 master and mistress are almost frozen to death. Curt. There's fire ready; and, therefore, good Grumio, the news? Gru. Why, Jack boy! ho boy! and as much news as thou wilt. Curt. Come, you are so full of cony-catching. Gru. Why, therefore, fire; for I have caught extreme cold. Where's the cook? Is supper ready, the house trimmed, rushes strewed, cobwebs swept; the serving-men in their new fustian, their white stockings, and every officer his wedding garment on? Be the jacks fair within, the jills fair without, the carpets laid, and every thing in order ? Curt. All ready; and therefore I pray thee, news. Gru. First, know, my horse is tired; my master and mistress fallen out. Curt. How? Gru. Out of their saddles into the dirt; and thereby hangs a tale. Curt. Let's ha't, good Grumio. [Striking him. Curt. This is to feel a tale, not to hear a tale. Gru. And therefore 'tis called a sensible tale; and this cuff was but to knock at your ear, and beseech listening. Now I begin. Imprimis, we came down a foul hill, my master riding behind my mistress ; Curt. Both on one horse ? Gru. Tell thou the tale.— But hadst thou not crossed me, thou should'st have heard how her horse fell, and she under her horse; thou shouldst have heard in how miry a place; how she was bemoiled; how he left her with the horse upon her; how he beat me because her horse stumbled: how she waded through the dirt to pluck him off me; how he swore; how she prayed—that never prayed before; how I cried; how the horses ran away; how her bridle was burst; how I lost my crupper; — with many things of worthy memory; which now shall die in oblivion, and thou return unexperienced to thy grave. Curt. By this reckoning, he is more shrew than she. Gru. Ay; and that thou and the proudest of you all shall find, when he comes home. But what talk I of this ? - Call forth Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter, Sugarsop, and the rest; let their heads be sleekly combed, their blue coats brushed, and their garters of an indifferent knit; let them curtsey with their left legs; and not presume to touch a hair of my master's horse-tail, till they kiss their hands. Are they all ready? Curt. They are. |