The Taming Of The Shrew

1 Enter Katherina and Bianca.
2 BIANCA.
3 Good sister, wrong me not, nor wrong yourself,
4 To make a bondmaid and a slave of me;
5 That I disdain; but for these other gawds,
6 Unbind my hands, I’ll pull them off myself,
7 Yea, all my raiment, to my petticoat;
8 Or what you will command me will I do,
9 So well I know my duty to my elders.
10 KATHERINA.
11 Of all thy suitors here I charge thee tell
12 Whom thou lov’st best: see thou dissemble not.
13 BIANCA.
14 Believe me, sister, of all the men alive
15 I never yet beheld that special face
16 Which I could fancy more than any other.
17 KATHERINA.
18 Minion, thou liest. Is’t not Hortensio?
19 BIANCA.
20 If you affect him, sister, here I swear
21 I’ll plead for you myself but you shall have him.
22 KATHERINA.
23 O! then, belike, you fancy riches more:
24 You will have Gremio to keep you fair.
25 BIANCA.
26 Is it for him you do envy me so?
27 Nay, then you jest; and now I well perceive
28 You have but jested with me all this while:
29 I prithee, sister Kate, untie my hands.
30 KATHERINA.
31 If that be jest, then all the rest was so.
32 [_Strikes her._]
33 Enter Baptista.
34 BAPTISTA.
35 Why, how now, dame! Whence grows this insolence?
36 Bianca, stand aside. Poor girl! she weeps.
37 Go ply thy needle; meddle not with her.
38 For shame, thou hilding of a devilish spirit,
39 Why dost thou wrong her that did ne’er wrong thee?
40 When did she cross thee with a bitter word?
41 KATHERINA.
42 Her silence flouts me, and I’ll be reveng’d.
43 [_Flies after Bianca._]
44 BAPTISTA.
45 What! in my sight? Bianca, get thee in.
46 [_Exit Bianca._]
47 KATHERINA.
48 What! will you not suffer me? Nay, now I see
49 She is your treasure, she must have a husband;
50 I must dance bare-foot on her wedding-day,
51 And, for your love to her, lead apes in hell.
52 Talk not to me: I will go sit and weep
53 Till I can find occasion of revenge.
54 [_Exit._]
55 BAPTISTA.
56 Was ever gentleman thus griev’d as I?
57 But who comes here?
58 Enter Gremio, with Lucentio in the habit of a mean man; Petruchio, with
59 Hortensio as a musician; and Tranio, with Biondello bearing a lute and
60 books.
61 GREMIO.
62 Good morrow, neighbour Baptista.
63 BAPTISTA.
64 Good morrow, neighbour Gremio. God save you, gentlemen!
65 PETRUCHIO.
66 And you, good sir! Pray, have you not a daughter
67 Call’d Katherina, fair and virtuous?
68 BAPTISTA.
69 I have a daughter, sir, call’d Katherina.
70 GREMIO.
71 You are too blunt: go to it orderly.
72 PETRUCHIO.
73 You wrong me, Signior Gremio: give me leave.
74 I am a gentleman of Verona, sir,
75 That, hearing of her beauty and her wit,
76 Her affability and bashful modesty,
77 Her wondrous qualities and mild behaviour,
78 Am bold to show myself a forward guest
79 Within your house, to make mine eye the witness
80 Of that report which I so oft have heard.
81 And, for an entrance to my entertainment,
82 I do present you with a man of mine,
83 [_Presenting Hortensio._]
84 Cunning in music and the mathematics,
85 To instruct her fully in those sciences,
86 Whereof I know she is not ignorant.
87 Accept of him, or else you do me wrong:
88 His name is Licio, born in Mantua.
89 BAPTISTA.
90 Y’are welcome, sir, and he for your good sake;
91 But for my daughter Katherine, this I know,
92 She is not for your turn, the more my grief.
93 PETRUCHIO.
94 I see you do not mean to part with her;
95 Or else you like not of my company.
96 BAPTISTA.
97 Mistake me not; I speak but as I find.
98 Whence are you, sir? What may I call your name?
99 PETRUCHIO.
100 Petruchio is my name, Antonio’s son;
101 A man well known throughout all Italy.
102 BAPTISTA.
103 I know him well: you are welcome for his sake.
104 GREMIO.
105 Saving your tale, Petruchio, I pray,
106 Let us, that are poor petitioners, speak too.
107 Backare! you are marvellous forward.
108 PETRUCHIO.
109 O, pardon me, Signior Gremio; I would fain be doing.
110 GREMIO.
111 I doubt it not, sir; but you will curse your wooing. Neighbour, this is
112 a gift very grateful, I am sure of it. To express the like kindness,
113 myself, that have been more kindly beholding to you than any, freely
114 give unto you this young scholar,
115 [_Presenting Lucentio._]
116 that has been long studying at Rheims; as cunning in Greek, Latin, and
117 other languages, as the other in music and mathematics. His name is
118 Cambio; pray accept his service.
119 BAPTISTA.
120 A thousand thanks, Signior Gremio; welcome, good Cambio. [_To Tranio._]
121 But, gentle sir, methinks you walk like a stranger. May I be so bold to
122 know the cause of your coming?
123 TRANIO.
124 Pardon me, sir, the boldness is mine own,
125 That, being a stranger in this city here,
126 Do make myself a suitor to your daughter,
127 Unto Bianca, fair and virtuous.
128 Nor is your firm resolve unknown to me,
129 In the preferment of the eldest sister.
130 This liberty is all that I request,
131 That, upon knowledge of my parentage,
132 I may have welcome ’mongst the rest that woo,
133 And free access and favour as the rest:
134 And, toward the education of your daughters,
135 I here bestow a simple instrument,
136 And this small packet of Greek and Latin books:
137 If you accept them, then their worth is great.
138 BAPTISTA.
139 Lucentio is your name, of whence, I pray?
140 TRANIO.
141 Of Pisa, sir; son to Vincentio.
142 BAPTISTA.
143 A mighty man of Pisa: by report
144 I know him well: you are very welcome, sir.
145 [_To Hortensio_.] Take you the lute,
146 [_To Lucentio_.] and you the set of books;
147 You shall go see your pupils presently.
148 Holla, within!
149 Enter a Servant.
150 Sirrah, lead these gentlemen
151 To my daughters, and tell them both
152 These are their tutors: bid them use them well.
153 [_Exeunt Servant with Hortensio, Lucentio and Biondello._]
154 We will go walk a little in the orchard,
155 And then to dinner. You are passing welcome,
156 And so I pray you all to think yourselves.
157 PETRUCHIO.
158 Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste,
159 And every day I cannot come to woo.
160 You knew my father well, and in him me,
161 Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,
162 Which I have bettered rather than decreas’d:
163 Then tell me, if I get your daughter’s love,
164 What dowry shall I have with her to wife?
165 BAPTISTA.
166 After my death, the one half of my lands,
167 And in possession twenty thousand crowns.
168 PETRUCHIO.
169 And, for that dowry, I’ll assure her of
170 Her widowhood, be it that she survive me,
171 In all my lands and leases whatsoever.
172 Let specialities be therefore drawn between us,
173 That covenants may be kept on either hand.
174 BAPTISTA.
175 Ay, when the special thing is well obtain’d,
176 That is, her love; for that is all in all.
177 PETRUCHIO.
178 Why, that is nothing; for I tell you, father,
179 I am as peremptory as she proud-minded;
180 And where two raging fires meet together,
181 They do consume the thing that feeds their fury:
182 Though little fire grows great with little wind,
183 Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all;
184 So I to her, and so she yields to me;
185 For I am rough and woo not like a babe.
186 BAPTISTA.
187 Well mayst thou woo, and happy be thy speed!
188 But be thou arm’d for some unhappy words.
189 PETRUCHIO.
190 Ay, to the proof, as mountains are for winds,
191 That shake not though they blow perpetually.
192 Re-enter Hortensio, with his head broke.
193 BAPTISTA.
194 How now, my friend! Why dost thou look so pale?
195 HORTENSIO.
196 For fear, I promise you, if I look pale.
197 BAPTISTA.
198 What, will my daughter prove a good musician?
199 HORTENSIO.
200 I think she’ll sooner prove a soldier:
201 Iron may hold with her, but never lutes.
202 BAPTISTA.
203 Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
204 HORTENSIO.
205 Why, no; for she hath broke the lute to me.
206 I did but tell her she mistook her frets,
207 And bow’d her hand to teach her fingering;
208 When, with a most impatient devilish spirit,
209 ‘Frets, call you these?’ quoth she ‘I’ll fume with them’;
210 And with that word she struck me on the head,
211 And through the instrument my pate made way;
212 And there I stood amazed for a while,
213 As on a pillory, looking through the lute;
214 While she did call me rascal fiddler,
215 And twangling Jack, with twenty such vile terms,
216 As had she studied to misuse me so.
217 PETRUCHIO.
218 Now, by the world, it is a lusty wench!
219 I love her ten times more than e’er I did:
220 O! how I long to have some chat with her!
221 BAPTISTA.
222 [_To Hortensio_.] Well, go with me, and be not so discomfited;
223 Proceed in practice with my younger daughter;
224 She’s apt to learn, and thankful for good turns.
225 Signior Petruchio, will you go with us,
226 Or shall I send my daughter Kate to you?
227 PETRUCHIO.
228 I pray you do.
229 [_Exeunt Baptista, Gremio, Tranio and Hortensio._]
230 I will attend her here,
231 And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
232 Say that she rail; why, then I’ll tell her plain
233 She sings as sweetly as a nightingale:
234 Say that she frown; I’ll say she looks as clear
235 As morning roses newly wash’d with dew:
236 Say she be mute, and will not speak a word;
237 Then I’ll commend her volubility,
238 And say she uttereth piercing eloquence:
239 If she do bid me pack, I’ll give her thanks,
240 As though she bid me stay by her a week:
241 If she deny to wed, I’ll crave the day
242 When I shall ask the banns, and when be married.
243 But here she comes; and now, Petruchio, speak.
244 Enter Katherina.
245 Good morrow, Kate; for that’s your name, I hear.
246 KATHERINA.
247 Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing:
248 They call me Katherine that do talk of me.
249 PETRUCHIO.
250 You lie, in faith, for you are call’d plain Kate,
251 And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst;
252 But, Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,
253 Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate,
254 For dainties are all Kates, and therefore, Kate,
255 Take this of me, Kate of my consolation;
256 Hearing thy mildness prais’d in every town,
257 Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded,—
258 Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs,—
259 Myself am mov’d to woo thee for my wife.
260 KATHERINA.
261 Mov’d! in good time: let him that mov’d you hither
262 Remove you hence. I knew you at the first,
263 You were a moveable.
264 PETRUCHIO.
265 Why, what’s a moveable?
266 KATHERINA.
267 A joint-stool.
268 PETRUCHIO.
269 Thou hast hit it: come, sit on me.
270 KATHERINA.
271 Asses are made to bear, and so are you.
272 PETRUCHIO.
273 Women are made to bear, and so are you.
274 KATHERINA.
275 No such jade as bear you, if me you mean.
276 PETRUCHIO.
277 Alas! good Kate, I will not burden thee;
278 For, knowing thee to be but young and light,—
279 KATHERINA.
280 Too light for such a swain as you to catch;
281 And yet as heavy as my weight should be.
282 PETRUCHIO.
283 Should be! should buz!
284 KATHERINA.
285 Well ta’en, and like a buzzard.
286 PETRUCHIO.
287 O, slow-wing’d turtle! shall a buzzard take thee?
288 KATHERINA.
289 Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard.
290 PETRUCHIO.
291 Come, come, you wasp; i’ faith, you are too angry.
292 KATHERINA.
293 If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
294 PETRUCHIO.
295 My remedy is then to pluck it out.
296 KATHERINA.
297 Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.
298 PETRUCHIO.
299 Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting?
300 In his tail.
301 KATHERINA.
302 In his tongue.
303 PETRUCHIO.
304 Whose tongue?
305 KATHERINA.
306 Yours, if you talk of tales; and so farewell.
307 PETRUCHIO.
308 What! with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again,
309 Good Kate; I am a gentleman.
310 KATHERINA.
311 That I’ll try.
312 [_Striking him._]
313 PETRUCHIO.
314 I swear I’ll cuff you if you strike again.
315 KATHERINA.
316 So may you lose your arms:
317 If you strike me, you are no gentleman;
318 And if no gentleman, why then no arms.
319 PETRUCHIO.
320 A herald, Kate? O! put me in thy books.
321 KATHERINA.
322 What is your crest? a coxcomb?
323 PETRUCHIO.
324 A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen.
325 KATHERINA.
326 No cock of mine; you crow too like a craven.
327 PETRUCHIO.
328 Nay, come, Kate, come; you must not look so sour.
329 KATHERINA.
330 It is my fashion when I see a crab.
331 PETRUCHIO.
332 Why, here’s no crab, and therefore look not sour.
333 KATHERINA.
334 There is, there is.
335 PETRUCHIO.
336 Then show it me.
337 KATHERINA.
338 Had I a glass I would.
339 PETRUCHIO.
340 What, you mean my face?
341 KATHERINA.
342 Well aim’d of such a young one.
343 PETRUCHIO.
344 Now, by Saint George, I am too young for you.
345 KATHERINA.
346 Yet you are wither’d.
347 PETRUCHIO.
348 ’Tis with cares.
349 KATHERINA.
350 I care not.
351 PETRUCHIO.
352 Nay, hear you, Kate: in sooth, you ’scape not so.
353 KATHERINA.
354 I chafe you, if I tarry; let me go.
355 PETRUCHIO.
356 No, not a whit; I find you passing gentle.
357 ’Twas told me you were rough, and coy, and sullen,
358 And now I find report a very liar;
359 For thou art pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous,
360 But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers.
361 Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
362 Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will,
363 Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk;
364 But thou with mildness entertain’st thy wooers;
365 With gentle conference, soft and affable.
366 Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
367 O sland’rous world! Kate like the hazel-twig
368 Is straight and slender, and as brown in hue
369 As hazel-nuts, and sweeter than the kernels.
370 O! let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt.
371 KATHERINA.
372 Go, fool, and whom thou keep’st command.
373 PETRUCHIO.
374 Did ever Dian so become a grove
375 As Kate this chamber with her princely gait?
376 O! be thou Dian, and let her be Kate,
377 And then let Kate be chaste, and Dian sportful!
378 KATHERINA.
379 Where did you study all this goodly speech?
380 PETRUCHIO.
381 It is extempore, from my mother-wit.
382 KATHERINA.
383 A witty mother! witless else her son.
384 PETRUCHIO.
385 Am I not wise?
386 KATHERINA.
387 Yes; keep you warm.
388 PETRUCHIO.
389 Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed;
390 And therefore, setting all this chat aside,
391 Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
392 That you shall be my wife your dowry ’greed on;
393 And will you, nill you, I will marry you.
394 Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn;
395 For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,—
396 Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well,—
397 Thou must be married to no man but me;
398 For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,
399 And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate
400 Conformable as other household Kates.
401 Re-enter Baptista, Gremio and Tranio.
402 Here comes your father. Never make denial;
403 I must and will have Katherine to my wife.
404 BAPTISTA.
405 Now, Signior Petruchio, how speed you with my daughter?
406 PETRUCHIO.
407 How but well, sir? how but well?
408 It were impossible I should speed amiss.
409 BAPTISTA.
410 Why, how now, daughter Katherine, in your dumps?
411 KATHERINA.
412 Call you me daughter? Now I promise you
413 You have show’d a tender fatherly regard
414 To wish me wed to one half lunatic,
415 A mad-cap ruffian and a swearing Jack,
416 That thinks with oaths to face the matter out.
417 PETRUCHIO.
418 Father, ’tis thus: yourself and all the world
419 That talk’d of her have talk’d amiss of her:
420 If she be curst, it is for policy,
421 For she’s not froward, but modest as the dove;
422 She is not hot, but temperate as the morn;
423 For patience she will prove a second Grissel,
424 And Roman Lucrece for her chastity;
425 And to conclude, we have ’greed so well together
426 That upon Sunday is the wedding-day.
427 KATHERINA.
428 I’ll see thee hang’d on Sunday first.
429 GREMIO.
430 Hark, Petruchio; she says she’ll see thee hang’d first.
431 TRANIO.
432 Is this your speeding? Nay, then good-night our part!
433 PETRUCHIO.
434 Be patient, gentlemen. I choose her for myself;
435 If she and I be pleas’d, what’s that to you?
436 ’Tis bargain’d ’twixt us twain, being alone,
437 That she shall still be curst in company.
438 I tell you, ’tis incredible to believe
439 How much she loves me: O! the kindest Kate
440 She hung about my neck, and kiss on kiss
441 She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath,
442 That in a twink she won me to her love.
443 O! you are novices: ’tis a world to see,
444 How tame, when men and women are alone,
445 A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.
446 Give me thy hand, Kate; I will unto Venice,
447 To buy apparel ’gainst the wedding-day.
448 Provide the feast, father, and bid the guests;
449 I will be sure my Katherine shall be fine.
450 BAPTISTA.
451 I know not what to say; but give me your hands.
452 God send you joy, Petruchio! ’Tis a match.
453 GREMIO, TRANIO.
454 Amen, say we; we will be witnesses.
455 PETRUCHIO.
456 Father, and wife, and gentlemen, adieu.
457 I will to Venice; Sunday comes apace;
458 We will have rings and things, and fine array;
459 And kiss me, Kate; we will be married o’ Sunday.
460 [_Exeunt Petruchio and Katherina, severally._]
461 GREMIO.
462 Was ever match clapp’d up so suddenly?
463 BAPTISTA.
464 Faith, gentlemen, now I play a merchant’s part,
465 And venture madly on a desperate mart.
466 TRANIO.
467 ’Twas a commodity lay fretting by you;
468 ’Twill bring you gain, or perish on the seas.
469 BAPTISTA.
470 The gain I seek is, quiet in the match.
471 GREMIO.
472 No doubt but he hath got a quiet catch.
473 But now, Baptista, to your younger daughter:
474 Now is the day we long have looked for;
475 I am your neighbour, and was suitor first.
476 TRANIO.
477 And I am one that love Bianca more
478 Than words can witness or your thoughts can guess.
479 GREMIO.
480 Youngling, thou canst not love so dear as I.
481 TRANIO.
482 Greybeard, thy love doth freeze.
483 GREMIO.
484 But thine doth fry.
485 Skipper, stand back; ’tis age that nourisheth.
486 TRANIO.
487 But youth in ladies’ eyes that flourisheth.
488 BAPTISTA.
489 Content you, gentlemen; I’ll compound this strife:
490 ’Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both
491 That can assure my daughter greatest dower
492 Shall have my Bianca’s love.
493 Say, Signior Gremio, what can you assure her?
494 GREMIO.
495 First, as you know, my house within the city
496 Is richly furnished with plate and gold:
497 Basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands;
498 My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry;
499 In ivory coffers I have stuff’d my crowns;
500 In cypress chests my arras counterpoints,
501 Costly apparel, tents, and canopies,
502 Fine linen, Turkey cushions boss’d with pearl,
503 Valance of Venice gold in needlework;
504 Pewter and brass, and all things that belong
505 To house or housekeeping: then, at my farm
506 I have a hundred milch-kine to the pail,
507 Six score fat oxen standing in my stalls,
508 And all things answerable to this portion.
509 Myself am struck in years, I must confess;
510 And if I die tomorrow this is hers,
511 If whilst I live she will be only mine.
512 TRANIO.
513 That ‘only’ came well in. Sir, list to me:
514 I am my father’s heir and only son;
515 If I may have your daughter to my wife,
516 I’ll leave her houses three or four as good
517 Within rich Pisa’s walls as anyone
518 Old Signior Gremio has in Padua;
519 Besides two thousand ducats by the year
520 Of fruitful land, all which shall be her jointure.
521 What, have I pinch’d you, Signior Gremio?
522 GREMIO.
523 Two thousand ducats by the year of land!
524 My land amounts not to so much in all:
525 That she shall have, besides an argosy
526 That now is lying in Marseilles’ road.
527 What, have I chok’d you with an argosy?
528 TRANIO.
529 Gremio, ’tis known my father hath no less
530 Than three great argosies, besides two galliasses,
531 And twelve tight galleys; these I will assure her,
532 And twice as much, whate’er thou offer’st next.
533 GREMIO.
534 Nay, I have offer’d all; I have no more;
535 And she can have no more than all I have;
536 If you like me, she shall have me and mine.
537 TRANIO.
538 Why, then the maid is mine from all the world,
539 By your firm promise; Gremio is out-vied.
540 BAPTISTA.
541 I must confess your offer is the best;
542 And let your father make her the assurance,
543 She is your own; else, you must pardon me;
544 If you should die before him, where’s her dower?
545 TRANIO.
546 That’s but a cavil; he is old, I young.
547 GREMIO.
548 And may not young men die as well as old?
549 BAPTISTA.
550 Well, gentlemen,
551 I am thus resolv’d. On Sunday next, you know,
552 My daughter Katherine is to be married;
553 Now, on the Sunday following, shall Bianca
554 Be bride to you, if you make this assurance;
555 If not, to Signior Gremio.
556 And so I take my leave, and thank you both.
557 GREMIO.
558 Adieu, good neighbour.
559 [_Exit Baptista._]
560 Now, I fear thee not:
561 Sirrah young gamester, your father were a fool
562 To give thee all, and in his waning age
563 Set foot under thy table. Tut! a toy!
564 An old Italian fox is not so kind, my boy.
565 [_Exit._]
566 TRANIO.
567 A vengeance on your crafty wither’d hide!
568 Yet I have fac’d it with a card of ten.
569 ’Tis in my head to do my master good:
570 I see no reason but suppos’d Lucentio
571 Must get a father, call’d suppos’d Vincentio;
572 And that’s a wonder: fathers commonly
573 Do get their children; but in this case of wooing
574 A child shall get a sire, if I fail not of my cunning.
575 [_Exit._]