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Their harness ftudded all with gold and pearl.
Doft thou love hawking? thou haft hawks will foar
Above the morning-lark. Or wilt thou hunt?
Thy hounds fhall make the welkin answer them,
And fetch fhrill echoes from the hollow earth.

1 Man. Say thou wilt course, thy greyhounds are as As breathed ftags; ay, fleeter than the roe. [fwift 2 Man. Doft thou love pictures? we will fetch thee Adonis, painted by a running brook; [ftraight And Cytherea all in fedges hid;

Which feem to move, and wanton with her breath,
Ev'n as the waving fedges play with wind.

Lord. We'll fhew thee Io, as fhe was a maid,
And how the was beguiled and furpris'd,
As lively painted as the dead was done.

3 Man. Or Daphne roaming through a thorny wood, Scratching her legs, that one fhall fwear the bleeds: And at that fight fhall fad Apollo weep:

So workmanly the blood and tears are drawn.

Lord. Thou art a Lord, and nothing but a Lord : Thou haft a Lady far more beautiful

Than any woman in this waining age.

1 Man. And till the tears that the hath fhed for thee, Like envious floods, o'er-run her lovely face, She was the fairest creature in the world,

And yet fhe is inferior to none.

Sly. Am I Lord, and have I such a Lady?
Or do I dream? or have I dreamed till now?
I do not fleep; I fee, I hear, I speak;
I fmell fweet favours, and I feel foft things.
Upon my life, I am a Lord indeed;

And not a tinker, nor Chriftophero Sly.
Well, bring our Lady hither to our fight,
And once again a pot o' th' smallest ale.

2 Man. Will't please your Mightiness to wash your
Oh, how we joy to fee your wits reftor'd! [hands?
Oh, that once more you knew but what you are !
These fifteen years you have been in a dream,
Or, when you wak'd, you wak'd as if you flept.
Sly. Thefe fifteen years! by my fay, a goodly nap:
But did I never speak of all that time?

1 Man. Oh, yes, my Lord, but very idle words.

For

For though you lay here in this goodly chamber,
Yet would you fay, ye were beaten out of door,
And rail'd upon the hostess of the house;

And fay, you would prefent her at the leet,
Becaufe fhe bought ftone-jugs, and no feal'd quarts."
Sometimes you would call out for Cicely Hacket.
Sly. Ay, the woman's maid of the house.

3 Man. Why, Sir, you know no house, nor no fuch
Nos no fuch men, as you have reckon'd up; [maid,
As Stephen Sly, and old John Naps of Greece,
And Peter Turf, and Henery Pimpernell,

And twenty more fuch names and men as these,
Which never were, nor no man ever faw.

Sly. Now Lord be thanked for my good amends !
All. Amen.

Sly. By th' mass, I think I am a Lord indeed. What is thy name?

Man. Sim, an't please your Honour.

Sly. Sim that's as much as to fay Simeon or Simon; put forth thy hand and fill the pot.

[The fervant givés hîm drink.

SCENE V. Enter Lady with attendants.

I thank thee ;

thou shalt not lofe by it.

Lady. How fares my Noble Lord?

Sly. Marry, I fare well; for here is cheer enough. Where's my wife?

Lady. Here, Noble Lord, what is thy will with her? Sly. Are you my wife, and will not call me husband ? My men fhould call me Lord, I am your good-man. Lady. My husband and my lord, my lord and hufI am your wife in all obedience. [band;

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Sly. I know it well: what muft I call her?
Lord. Madam.

Sly. Alce Madam, or Joan Madam?

Lord. Madam, and nothing elfe; fo Lords call Ladies. Sly. Come, fit down on my knee. Sim, drink to her. Madam wife, they fay that I have dream'd, and flept above fome fifteen years and more.

Lady. Ay, and the time seems thirty unto me, Being all this time abandon'd from your bed.

Sly. 'Tis much. Servants, leave me and her alone.—

Madam,

Madam, undrefs you, and come now to bed. Sim, drink to her.

Lady. Thrice-noble Lord, let me intreat of you
To pardon me yet for a night or two:
Or, if not fo, until the fun be fet;

For your phyficians have expressly charge'd,
In peril to incur your former malady,
That I fhould yet abfent me from your bed;
I hope this reafon ftands for my excufe.

Sly. Ay, it ftands fo, that I may hardly tarry fo long; but I would be loth to fall into my dream again. I will therefore tarry in defpight of the flesh and the blood.

SCENE VI. Enter a Messenger.

Meff. Your Honour's players, hearing your amend

ment,

Are come to play a pleasant comedy;

For fo your Doctors hold it very meet,

Seeing too much fadnefs hath congeal'd your blood;
And melancholy is the nurfe of frenzy.

Therefore they thought it good you hear a play,
And frame your mind to mirth and merriment;
Which bars a thoufand harms, and lengthens life.

Sly. Marry, I will; let them play; is it not a com modity? a Christmas gambol, or a tumbling trick? Lady. No, my good Lord, it is more pleasing stuff. Sly. What, houthold-ftuff?

Lady. It is a kind of hiftory..

Sly. Well, we'll fee't: come, Madam wife, fit by my fide, and let the world flip, we fhall ne'er be younger,

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208

The TAMING of the SHREW.

ACT I.

SCENE L

Luc.

A freet in Padua.

Flourish. Enter Lucentio and Tranio.

Ranio, fince for the great defire I had
To fee fair Padua, nursery of arts,
I am arriv'd from fruitful Lombardy,

The pleafant garden of great Italy :
And, by my father's love and leave, am arm'd
With his good-will, and thy good company:
Moft trufty fervant, well approv'd in all,
Here let us breathe, and haply inftitute
A courfe of learning, and ingenious ftudies.
Pifa, renowned for grave citizens,

Gave me my being; and my father first,
A merchant of great traffic through the world:
Vincentio's come of the Bentivolii,

Vincentio his fon, brought up in Florence,!
It fhall become to ferve all hopes conceiv'd,
To deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds:
And therefore, Tranio, for the time I ftudy,
To virtue and that part of philofophy
Will I apply, that treats of happinels.
By virtue fpecially to be atchiev'd.
Tell me my mind, for I have Pifa left,
And am to Padua come, as he that leaves
A fhallow plafh, to plunge him in the deep,
And with fatiety feeks to quench his thirst.

Tra. Me pardonato, gentle mafter mine,
I am in all affected as yourfelf:

Glad that you thus continue your refolve,
To fuck the fweets of fweet philofophy:
Only, good maiter, while we do admire
This virtue, and this meral difcipline,
Let's be no Stoics, nor no ftocks, I pray;
Or fo devote to Ariftotle's checks,

As

As Ovid be an outcaft quite abjur'd.

Talk logic with acquaintance that you have,
And practise rhetoric in your common talk;
Mufic and poefy ufe to quicken you;
The mathematics, and the metaphyfics,

Fall to them, as you find your stomach serves you.
No profit grows, where is no pleasure ta'en :
In brief, Sir, ftudy what you most affect.

Luc. Gramercies, Tranio, well dost thou advise;
If Biondello, thou wert come afhore,

We could at once put us in readiness ;
And take a lodging fit to entertain

Such friends, as time in Padua fhall beget.
But stay a while, what company is this?

Tra. Mafter, fome fhow to welcome us to town.

SCENE II.

Enter Baptifta, with Catharina and Bianca, Gremio and Hortenfio. Lucentio and Tranio ftand by.

Bap. Gentlemen both, importune me no farther, For how I firmly am refolv'd, you know; That is, not to bestow my youngest daughter, Before I have a husband for the elder:

If either of you both love Catharina,

Because I know you well, and love you well,
Leave fhall you have to court her at your pleasure.
Gre. To cart her rather.-She's too rough for me:
There, there, Hortenfio, will you any wife?
Cath. I pray you, Sir, is it your will

To make a stale of me amongst these mates?
Hor. Mates, maid, how mean you that? no mates
for you;

Unless you were of gentler, milder mould.

Cath. I'faith, Sir, you shall never need to fear,

I wis, it is not half way to her heart :

But if it were, doubt not, her care fhall be
To comb your noddle with a three-legg'd ftool,
And paint your face, and ufe you like a fool.

Hor. From all fuch devils, good Lord, deliver us.
Gre. And me top, good Lord.

Tra.

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