Thy hounds shall make the welkin answer them, 1 Serv. Say, thou wilt course; thy greyhounds are as swift A's breathed stags; ay, fleeter than the roe. 2 Serv. Dost thou love pictures? We will fetch thee straight Adonis, painted by a running brook ; Which seem to move and wanton with her breath, Lord. We'll show thee Io, as she was a maid ; As lively painted as the deed was done. 3 Serv. Or, Daphne roaming through a thorny wood, Scratching her legs that one shall swear she bleeds; And at that sight shall sad Apollo weep, So workmanly the blood and tears are drawn. Than any woman in this waning age. 1 Serv. And, till the tears that she hath shed for thee, Like envious floods, o'erran her lovely face, She was the fairest creature in the world; And yet she is inferior to none. Sly. Am I a lord, and have I such a lady? And not a tinker, nor Christophero Sly.- 2 Serv. Will't please your mightiness to wash your hands? [Servants present a ewer, basin, and napkin O, how we joy to see your wit restored! O, that once more you knew but what you are! These fifteen years you have been in a dream; Or, when you waked, so waked as if you slept. Sly. These fifteen years! By my fay,' a goodly nap But did I never speak of all that time? 1 Serv. O, yes, my lord; but very idle words.For though you lay here in this goodly chamber, Yet would you say, ye were beaten out of door; And rail upon the hostess of the house; And say, you would present her at the leet,2 Because she brought stone jugs and no sealed quarts. Sometimes you would call out for Cicely Hacket. Sly. Ay, the woman's maid of the house. 3 Serv. Why, sir, you know no house, nor no such maid, Nor no such men as you have reckoned up,- And twenty more such names and men as these, Sly. Now, Lord be thanked for my good amends! Sly. I thank thee; thou shalt not lose by it. Enter the Page, as a Lady, with Attendants. Page. How fares my noble lord? Sly. Marry, I fare well; for here is cheer enough. Where is my wife? Page. Here, noble lord. husband? What is thy will with her? and will not call me My men should call me-lord; I am your goodman. Page. My husband and my lord, my lord and husband. I am your wife in all obedience. Sly. I know it well.-What must I call her? Lord. Madam. 1 A contraction of by my faith. 2 That is, at the court leet, where it was usual to present such matters, as appears from Kitchen on Courts:-" Also if tiplers sell by cups and dishes, or measures sealed or not sealed, is inquirable." 3 Blackstone proposes to read, "old John Naps o'the Green." The addition seems to have been a common one. Sly. Al'ce madam, or Joan madam ? Lord. Madam, and nothing else; so lords call ladies. Sly. Madam wife, they say that I have dreamed and slept Above some fifteen year and more. Page. Ay, and the time seems thirty unto me; Being all this time abandoned from your bed. Sly. 'Tis much.—Servants, leave me and her alone. Madam, undress you, and come now to bed. Page. Thrice noble lord, let me entreat of you Sly. Ay, it stands so, that I may hardly tarry so long. But I would be loath to fall into my dreams again; I will therefore tarry, in despite of the flesh and the blood. Enter a Servant. Serv. Your honor's players, hearing your amendment, Are come to play a pleasant comedy, For so your doctors hold it very meet; Seeing too much sadness hath congealed your blood, Therefore they thought it good you hear a play, Page. It is a kind of history. Sly. Well, we'll see't. Come, madam wife, sit by my side, and let the world slip; we shall ne'er be younger. [They sit down. 1 For comedy. ACT I. SCENE I. Padua A public Place. Enter LUCENTIO and TRANIO. Luc. Tranio, since-for the great desire I had Gave me my being, and my father first, Vincentio's son, brought up in Florence, 3 Will I apply, that treats of happiness 4 1 Ingenious and ingenuous were very commonly confounded by old writers. 2 i. e. to fulfil the expectations of his friends. 3 Apply for ply is frequently used by old writers. Thus Baret:-" with diligent endeavour to applie their studies." And in Turberville's Tragic Tales:- -"How she her wheele applyde." 4 Small piece of water. 5 Pardon me. Glad that you thus continue your resolve, As Ovid be an outcast quite abjured: Balke logic with acquaintance that you have, The mathematics, and the metaphysics, Fall to them as you find your stomach serves you ; In brief, sir, study what you most affect. Luc. Gramercies, Tranio, well dost thou advise. We could at once put us in readiness; Such friends as time in Padua shall beget. But stay awhile; What company is this? Tra. Master, some show, to welcome us to town. Enter BAPTISTA, KATHARINA, BIANCA, GREMIO, and·· Bap. Gentlemen, importune me no further, If either of you both love Katharina, Because I know you well, and love you well, Gre. To cart her rather; she's too rough for me.— There, there, Hortensio, will you any wife? 1 The old copy reads Aristotle's checks. Blackstone suggests that we should read ethics, and the sense seems to require it; it is therefore admitted into the text. 2 The modern editions read, «Talk logic, &c. The old copy reaas Balke, which Mr. Boswell suggests may be right, although the meaning of the word is now lost. |