PERSONS REPRESENTED. A Lord. CHRISTOPHER SLY, a drunken tinker.) Hostess, Page, Players, Huntsmen, and persons in the other servants attending on the Lord.. BAPTISTA, a rich gentleman of Padua. VINCENTIO, an old gentleman of Pisa. Induction. LUCENTIO, son to Vincentio, in love with Bianca. PETRUCHIO, a gentleman of Verona, a suitor to Katharina. GREMIO, HORTENSIO,J } suitors to Bianca. GRUMIO, CURTIS, PEDANT, an old fellow set up to personate Vincentio. 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 TAMING OF THE SHREW. INDUCTION. SCENE I.-Before an Alehouse on a Heath. 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, let the world slide: Sessa! Host. You will not pay for the glasses you have burst ?c Sly. No, not a denier: Go by, says Jeronimy ;Go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.d Host. I know my remedy, I must go fetch the thirdborough. e [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. Wind Horns. Enter a Lord from hunting, with Lord. Huntsman, I charge thee, tender well my hounds: pheese-] i. e. Chastise, beat, humble; the word is still in use in the west of England.-GIFFORD'S Ben Jonson, vol. iv. p. 189. b · paucas pallabris;] Sly, as an ignorant fellow, is purposely made to aim at languages out of his knowledge, and knock the words out of joint. The Spaniards say, pocas pallabras, i. e. few words: as they do likewise, cessa, i. e. be quiet.-THEOBALD. you have burst?] To burst and to break were anciently synonymous. 1 d Go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.] These words are used by Edgar in King Lear; they appear to have been taken from Kyd's play of Hieronymo, as it originally was acted. It was altered by Ben Jonson, and by him this line was perhaps omitted; as it no longer has a place in that tragedy. e the thirdborough.] The office of thirdborough is the same with that of constable, except in places where there are both, in which case the former is little more than the constable's assistant.-RITSON Brach Merriman,-the poor cur is emboss'd,f 1 Hun. Why, Belman is as good as he, my lord; He cried upon it at the merest loss, And twice to-day pick'd out the dullest scent: Lord. Thou art a fool; if Echo were as fleet, 1 Hun. I will, my lord. Lord. What's here? one dead, or drunk? See, doth he breathe? 2 Hun. He breathes, my lord: Were he not warm'd with ale, This were a bed but cold to sleep so soundly. Lord. O monstrous beast! how like a swine he lies! And brave attendants near him when he wakes, 1 Hun. Believe me, lord, I think he cannot choose. 2 Hun. It would seem strange unto him when he wak'd. 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 : To make a dulcet and a heavenly sound; f Brach Merriman,—the poor cur is emboss'd,] Brach is a lurcher, or a beagle, or any dog of a fine scent, from the German bract, a scenting dog.—Emboss'd is applied to a deer or any other animal when fatigued and foaming at the mouth. |