ACT III.....SCENE J.

A Room in Baptista's House.
Enter LUCENTIO, HORTENSIO, and BIANCA.
Luc. Fiddler, forbear; you grow too forward, sir:
Have you so soon forgot the entertainment
Her sister Katharine welcom'd you withal?

Hor. But, wrangling pedant, this is
The patroness of heavenly harmony:
Then give me leave to have prerogative;
And when in musick we have spent an hour,
Your lecture shall have leisure for as much.

Luc. Preposterous ass! that never read so far
To know the cause why musick was ordain'd!
Was it not, to refresh the mind of man,
After his studies, or his usual pain?
Then give me leave to read philosophy,
And, while I pause, serve in your harmony.

Hor. Sirrah, I will not bear these braves of thine.

Bian. Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong, To strive for that which resteth in

my choice: I am no breeching scholar in the schools;

one that was called the Foole; as the Proverb saies, Like a Fool in a Play. At the Red Bull Play-house it did chance that the Clown or the Fool, being in the attireing house, was suddenly called upon the stage, for it was empty. He suddenly going, forgot his Fooles-cap. One of the players bad his boy take it, and put it on his head as he was speaking: No such matter, (saies the Boy) there's no manners nor wit in that, nor wisdom neither; and my master needs no cap, for he is known to be a Fool without it, as well as with it.” Steevens.

9 - this is -] Probably our author wrote this lady is, which completes the metre, wrangling being used as a trisyllable.

Malone. We should read, with Şir T. Hanmer:

But wrangling pedant, know this lady is. Ritson. 1-no breeching scholar -] i.e. no school-boy liable to corporal correction. So, in King Edward the Second, by Marlow, 1598:

" Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy." Again, in The Hog has lost his Pearl, 1614: “. he went to fetch whips, I think, and, not respecting my honour, he would have breech'd me."

I 'll not be tied to hours, por 'pointed times,
But learn my lessons as I please myself.
And, to cut off all strife, here sit we down:-
Take you your instrument, play you the whiles;
His lecture will be done, ere you have tun'd.
Hor. You 'll leave his lecture when I am in tune?

[To Bian.-Hor. retircs. Luc. That will be never;-tune your instrument. Bian. Where left we last?

Luc. Here, madam :-
Hac ibat Simois; hic est Sigeia tellus ;

Hic steterat Priami regia celsa senis.
Bian. Construe them.

Luc. Hac ibat, as I told you before,—Simois, I am Lucentio,—hic est, son unto Vincentio of Pisa.—Sigeia tellus, disguised thus to get your love ;-Hic steterat, and that Lucentio that comes a wooing,—Priami, is my man Tranio, regia, bearing my port,-celsa senis, that we might beguile the old pantaloon.

Hor. Madam my instrument's in tune. [Returning Bian. Let 's hear;

[Hor. plays. O fy! the treble jars.

Luc. Spit in the hole, man, and tune again.

Bian. Now let me see if I can construe it: Hac ibat Simois, I know you not; hic est Sigeia tellus, I trust you not;—Hic steterat Priami, take heed he hear us not; regia, presume not;-celsa senis, despair not.

Hor. Madam, 'tis now in tune.
Luc.

All but the base.
Hor. The base is right; 'tis the base knave that jars.
How fiery and forward our pedant is!
Now, for my life, the knave doth court my love:
Pedascule, 3 I 'll watch you better yet.

2

Again, in Amends for Ladies, 1618:

“If I had had a son of fourteen that had served me so, I would have breech'd him.” Steevens.

pantaloon.] The old cully in Italian farces. Fohnson. 3 Pedascule,] He should have said, Didascale, but thinking this too honourable, he coins the word Pedascule, in imitation of it, from pedant. Warburton.

I believe it is no coinage of Shakspeare's, it is more propable that it lay in his way, and he found it. Steevens.

4

6

Bian. In time I may believe, yet I mistrust.“

Luc. Mistrust it not; for, sure, Æacides Was Ajax,' _call'd so from his grandfather.

Bian. I must believe my master; else, I promise you, I should be arguing still upon that doubt: But let it rest.-Now, Licio, to you: Good masters, take it not unkindly, pray, That I have been thus pleasant with you both. Hor. You may go walk, [to Luc.] and give me leave

awhile;
My lessons make no musick in three parts.

Luc. Are you so formal, sir? well, I must wait,
And watch withal; for, but I be deceiv'd,?
Our fine musician groweth amorous.

[Aside.
Hor. Madam, before you touch the instrument,
To learn the order of my fingering,
I must begin with rudiments of art;
To teach you gamut in a briefer sort,
More pleasant, pithy, and effectual,
Than hath been taught by any of my trade:
And there it is in writing, fairly drawn.

Bian. Why, I am past my gamut long ago.
Hor. Yet read the gamut of Hortensio.
Bian. [reads] Gamut I am, the ground of all accord,

A re, to plead Hortensio's passion:
B mi, Bianca, take him for thy lord,

C faut, that loves with all affection :

4 In time I may believe, yet I mistrust.] This and the seven verses that follow, have in all the editions been stupidly shuffled and misplaced to wrong speakers; so that every word said was glaringly out of character. Theobald.

5 —- for, sure, Æacides &c.] This is only said to deceive Hortensio, who is supposed to listen. The pedigree of Ajax, however, is properly made out, and might have been taken from Golding's version of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book XIII:

The highest Jove of all “ Acknowledgeth this Æacus, and dooth his sonne him

call. “ Thus am I Ajax third from Jove.” Steevens. 6 Good masters,] Old copy-master. Corrected by Mr. Pope.

Malonc. but I be deceiod,] But bas here the signification of unless. Malone.

7

8

a

D sol re, one cliff, two notes have I;

E la mi, show pity, or I die.
Call you this-gamut? tut! I like it not:
Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice,
To change true rules for odd inventions. 8

Enter a Servant."
Serv. Mistress, your father prays you leave your

books, And help to dress your sister's chamber up; You know, to-morrow is the wedding-day. Eian. Farewel, sweet masters, both; I must be gone.

[Exeunt Bian. and Serv. Luc. 'Faith, mistress, then I have no cause to stay.

[Exit. Hor. But I have cause to pry into this pedant; Methinks, he looks as though he were in love:Yet if thy thoughts, Bianca, be so humble, To cast thy wand'ring eyes on every stale, Seize thee, that list: If once I find thee ranging, Hortensio will be quit with thee by changing.

[Exit.

SCENE II.

The same. Before Baptista's House. Enter BAPTISTA, GREMIO, TRANIO, KATHARINA,

BIANCA, LUCENTIO, and Attendants. Bap. Signior Lucentio, [to Tra.] this is the 'pointed

day That Katharine and Petruchio should be married,

8 To change true rules for odd inventions.] The old copy reads

-To charge true 'rules for old inventions : The former emendation was made by the editor of the second folio; the latter by Mr. Theobald. Old, however, may be right. I believe, an opposition was intended. As change was corrupted into charge, why might not true have been put instead of new? Perhaps the author wrote :

To change new rules for old inventions. i. e. to accept of new rules in exchange for old inventions.

Malone. 9 Enter a Servant.] The old copy reads-Enter a Messenger -who, at the beginning of his speech is called-Nicke. Ritson.

Meaning, I suppose, Nicholas Tooly. See Mr. Malone's His. torical Account of the English Stage. Steevens.

a

1

And yet we hear not of our son-in-law:
What will be said? what mockery will it be,
To want the bridegroom, when the priest attends
To speak the ceremonial rites of marriage?
What says Lucentio to this shame of ours?

Kath. No shame but mine: I must, forsooth, be forc'd
To give my hand, oppos'd against my heart,
Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen;
Who woo'd in haste, and means to wed at leisure.
I told you, I, he was a frantick fool,
Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behaviour:
And, to be noted for a merry man,
He 'll woo a thousand, 'point the day of marriage,
Make friends, invite, yes, and proclaim the banns;a
Yet never means to wed where he hath woo'd,
Now must the world point at poor Katharine,
And say,-Lo, there is mad Petruchio's wife,
If it would please him come and marry her.

Tra. Patience, good Katharine, and Baptista too; Upon my life, Petruchio means but well, Whatever fortune stays him from his word: Though he be blunt, I know him passing wise; Though he be merry, yet withal he's honest. Kath. 'Would Katharine had never seen him though!

[Exit, weeping, followed by Bian. and others. Bah. Go, girl; I cannot blame thee now to weep; For such an injury would vex a saint, 3 Much more a shrew of thy impatient humour.4

1-full of spleen;] That is full of humour, caprice, and inconstancy. Johnson. So, in The First Part of King Henry IV : “ A hare-brain’d Hotspur, govern’d by a spleen."

M. Mason. 2 Make friends, invite, yes, and proclaim the banns ;] Mr. Malone reads :

Make friends, invite them, &c. Steevens.

Them is not in the old copy. For this emendation I am answerable. The editor of the second folio, to supply the defect in the metre, reads, with less probability in my opinionMake friends, invite, yes, and proclaim, &e. Malone.

vex a saint,] The old copy redundantly reads--vex a very saint, Steevens.

of thy impatient humour.] Thy, which is not in the old copy, was inserted by the editor of the second folio. Malone.

3