The Taming of the Shrew (7 page)
Read The Taming of the Shrew Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
GRUMIO
Katherine the curst!
A title for a maid of all titles the worst.
HORTENSIO
Now shall my friend Petruchio do me
grace
125
,
And offer me disguised in sober robes
To old Baptista as a schoolmaster
Well
seen
128
in music, to instruct Bianca,
That so I may by this device at least
Have leave and leisure to
make love to
130
her
And unsuspected court her by herself.
Enter Gremio and Lucentio disguised
GRUMIO
Here’s no knavery!
132
See, to beguile the old folks, how
the young folks lay their heads together! Master, master, look
about you. Who goes there, ha?
HORTENSIO
Peace, Grumio, it is the rival of my love.
Petruchio, stand by a while.
They stand aside
GRUMIO
A
proper stripling
137
and an amorous!
Aside
GREMIO
O, very well, I have perused the
note
138
.
To Lucentio
Hark you, sir, I’ll have them very
fairly
139
bound —
All books of love, see that
at any hand
140
—
And see you
read no other lectures
141
to her.
You understand me. Over and beside
Signior Baptista’s
liberality
143
,
I’ll
mend it with a largesse
144
. Take your paper too,
Gives Lucentio the note
And let me have
them
145
very well perfumed,
For she is sweeter than perfume itself
To whom they go to. What will you read to her?
LUCENTIO
Whate’er I read to her, I’ll plead for you
As for my patron, stand you so assured,
As firmly as
yourself were still in place
150
—
Yea, and perhaps with more successful words
Than you, unless you were a scholar, sir.
GREMIO
O, this learning, what a thing it is!
GRUMIO
O, this
woodcock
154
, what an ass it is!
Aside
PETRUCHIO
Peace, sirrah!
HORTENSIO
Grumio, mum.— God save you, Signior Gremio.
GREMIO
And
you are well met
157
, Signior Hortensio.
Trow you
158
whither I am going? To Baptista Minola.
I promised to inquire carefully
About a schoolmaster for the fair Bianca,
And by good fortune I have lighted well
On this young man, for learning and behaviour
Fit for her turn
163
, well read in poetry
And other books, good ones, I warrant ye.
HORTENSIO
’Tis well. And I have met a gentleman
Hath promised me to
help me to
166
another,
A fine musician to instruct our mistress.
So shall I no whit be behind in duty
To fair Bianca, so beloved of me.
GREMIO
Beloved of me, and that my deeds shall prove.
GRUMIO
And that his
bags
171
shall prove.
Aside
HORTENSIO
Gremio, ’tis now no time to
vent
172
our love.
Listen to me, and if you speak
me fair
173
,
I’ll tell you news
indifferent good for either
174
.
Here is a gentleman whom by chance I met,
Upon
agreement from us to his liking
176
,
Will undertake to woo curst Katherine,
Yea, and to marry her, if her dowry please.
GREMIO
So said, so done, is well
179
.
Hortensio, have you told him all her faults?
PETRUCHIO
I know she is an irksome brawling scold:
If that be all, masters, I hear no harm.
GREMIO
No, say’st me so, friend?
What countryman?
183
PETRUCHIO
Born in Verona, old Antonio’s son.
My father dead, my fortune lives for me,
And I do hope good days and long to see.
GREMIO
O sir, such a life with such a wife were strange.
But if you have a
stomach
188
, to’t a’ God’s name.
You shall have me assisting you in all.
But will you woo this wild-cat?
PETRUCHIO
Will I live?
191
GRUMIO
Will he woo her? Ay, or I’ll hang her.
Aside?
PETRUCHIO
Why came I hither but to that intent?
Think you a little din can daunt mine ears?
Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
Have I not heard the sea, puffed up with winds,
Rage like an angry boar
chafèd
197
with sweat?
Have I not heard great
ordnance
198
in the field,
And heaven’s artillery thunder in the skies?
Have I not in a
pitchèd
200
battle heard
Loud
’larums
201
, neighing steeds, and trumpets’ clang?
And do you tell me of a woman’s tongue,
That gives not half so great a blow to hear
As will a
chestnut in a farmer’s fire
204
?
Tush, tush!
Fear
205
boys with bugs.
GRUMIO
For he fears none.
GREMIO
Hortensio, hark:
This gentleman is happily arrived,
My mind presumes, for his own good and yours.
HORTENSIO
I promised we would be contributors
And bear his
charge
211
of wooing whatsoe’er.
GREMIO
And so we will, provided that he win her.
GRUMIO
I would I were as sure of a good dinner.
Enter Tranio brave
[
disguised as Lucentio
]
and Biondello
TRANIO
Gentlemen, God save you. If I may be bold,
Tell me, I beseech you, which is the
readiest
215
way
To the house of Signior Baptista Minola?
BIONDELLO
He that has the two fair daughters, is’t he you mean?
TRANIO
Even he, Biondello.
GREMIO
Hark you, sir, you mean not her
to—
219
TRANIO
Perhaps, him and her, sir.
What have you to do?
220
PETRUCHIO
Not her that chides, sir, at any hand, I pray.
TRANIO
I love no
chiders
222
, sir. Biondello, let’s away.
LUCENTIO
Well
begun
223
, Tranio.
Aside
HORTENSIO
Sir, a word
ere
224
you go:
Are you a suitor to the maid you talk of, yea or no?
TRANIO
And if I be, sir, is it any offence?
GREMIO
No, if without more words you will get you hence.
TRANIO
Why, sir, I pray, are not the streets as free
For me as for you?
GREMIO
But so is not she.
TRANIO
For what reason, I beseech you?
GREMIO
For this reason, if you’ll know,
That she’s the
choice
233
love of Signior Gremio.
HORTENSIO
That she’s the chosen of Signior Hortensio.
TRANIO
Softly, my masters. If you be gentlemen,
Do me this right: hear me with patience.
Baptista is a noble gentleman,
To whom my father is not
all
238
unknown,
And were his daughter fairer than she is,
She may more suitors have, and me for one.
Fair
Leda’s daughter
241
had a thousand wooers,
Then well one more may fair Bianca have,
And so she shall. Lucentio shall make one,
Though
244
Paris came in hope to speed alone.
GREMIO
What, this gentleman will out-talk us all.
LUCENTIO
Sir, give him
head
246
. I know he’ll prove a jade.
PETRUCHIO
Hortensio, to what end are all these words?
HORTENSIO
Sir, let me be so bold as ask you,
Did you yet ever see Baptista’s daughter?
TRANIO
No, sir, but hear I do that he hath two:
The one as famous for a scolding tongue
As is the other for beauteous modesty.
PETRUCHIO
Sir, sir, the first’s for me,
let her go by
253
.
GREMIO
Yea, leave that labour to great
Hercules
254
,
And
let it be
255
more than Alcides’ twelve.
PETRUCHIO
Sir, understand you this of me, in
sooth
256
:
The youngest daughter whom you
hearken for
257
,
Her father keeps from all access of suitors,
And will not promise her to any man
Until the elder sister first be wed.
The younger then is free, and not before.
TRANIO
If it be so, sir, that you are the man
Must
stead
263
us all and me amongst the rest,
And if you break the ice and do this feat,
Achieve the elder, set the younger free
For our access,
whose hap
266
shall be to have her
Will not so graceless be to be ingrate
267
.
HORTENSIO
Sir, you say well, and well you do
conceive
268
.
And since you do profess to be a suitor,
You must, as we do,
gratify
270
this gentleman,
To whom we all
rest
271
generally beholding.
TRANIO
Sir, I shall not be slack, in sign whereof,
Please ye we may
contrive
273
this afternoon
And
quaff carouses
274
to our mistress’ health,
And do as
adversaries
275
do in law,
Strive
276
mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
GRUMIO
AND
BIONDELLO
O excellent
motion
277
! Fellows, let’s be gone.
HORTENSIO
The motion’s good indeed and be it so,
Petruchio, I shall be your
ben venuto
279
.
Exeunt
running scene 3
Enter Katherina and Bianca
Bianca’s hands tied
BIANCA
Good sister, wrong me not, nor wrong yourself,
To make a
bondmaid
2
and a slave of me.
That I disdain. But for these other
goods
3
,
Unbind
4
my hands, I’ll pull them off myself,
Yea, all my
raiment
5
, to my petticoat,
Or what you will command me will I do,
So well I know my duty to my elders.
KATE
Of all thy suitors here I charge thee tell
Whom thou lov’st best: see thou
dissemble
9
not.
BIANCA
Believe me, sister, of all the men alive
I never yet beheld that
special
11
face
Which I could fancy more than any other.
KATE
Minion
13
, thou liest. Is’t not Hortensio?
BIANCA
If you
affect
14
him, sister, here I swear
I’ll plead for you myself, but you shall have him.
KATE
O, then belike you fancy riches more:
You will have Gremio to keep you
fair
17
.
BIANCA
Is it for him you do
envy
18
me so?
Nay then you jest, and now I well perceive
You have but jested with me all this while.
I prithee sister Kate, untie my hands.
KATE
If that be jest, then all the rest was so.
Strikes her
Enter Baptista
BAPTISTA
Why, how now,
dame
23
? Whence grows this insolence?—
Bianca, stand aside. Poor girl, she weeps.
Go
ply thy needle
25
, meddle not with her.—
For shame, thou
hilding
26
of a devilish spirit,
Why dost thou wrong her that did ne’er wrong thee?
When did she
cross
28
thee with a bitter word?
KATE
Her silence
flouts
29
me, and I’ll be revenged.
Flies after Bianca
BAPTISTA
What, in my sight? Bianca, get thee in.
Exit
[
Bianca
]
KATE
What, will you not
suffer
31
me? Nay, now I see
She is your treasure, she must have a husband,
I must
dance barefoot on her wedding day
33
,
And for your love to her
lead apes in hell
34
.
Talk not to me. I will go sit and weep
Till I can find
occasion of
36
revenge.
[
Exit
]
BAPTISTA
Was ever gentleman thus grieved as I?
But who comes here?
Enter Gremio, Lucentio in the habit of a mean man, Petruchio with
[
Hortensio as a musician, and
]
Tranio, with his boy
[
Biondello
]
bearing a lute and books
GREMIO
Good morrow, neighbour Baptista.
BAPTISTA
Good morrow, neighbour Gremio.
God save you, gentlemen!
PETRUCHIO
And you, good sir. Pray, have you not a daughter
Called Katherina, fair and virtuous?
BAPTISTA
I have a daughter, sir, called Katherina.
GREMIO
You are too blunt.
Go to it orderly
45
.
PETRUCHIO
You wrong me, Signior Gremio,
give me leave
46
.—
I am a gentleman of Verona, sir,
To Baptista
That, hearing of her beauty and her
wit
48
,
Her affability and bashful modesty,
Her wondrous qualities and mild behaviour,
Am bold to show myself a
forward
51
guest
Within your house, to make mine eye the witness
Of that report which I so oft have heard.
And
for an entrance to my entertainment
54
,
I do present you with a man of mine,
Presents Hortensio
Cunning in music and the mathematics,
To instruct her fully in those
sciences
57
,
Whereof I know she is not ignorant.
Accept of
59
him, or else you do me wrong.
His name is
Litio
60
, born in Mantua.
BAPTISTA
You’re welcome, sir, and he, for your good sake.
But for my daughter Katherine, this I know,
She is not for your
turn
63
, the more my grief.
PETRUCHIO
I see you do not mean to part with her,
Or else you like not of my company.
BAPTISTA
Mistake me not, I speak but as I find.
Whence are you, sir? What may I call your name?
PETRUCHIO
Petruchio is my name, Antonio’s son,
A man well known throughout all Italy.
BAPTISTA
I know him well. You are welcome for his sake.
GREMIO
Saving
71
your tale, Petruchio, I pray,
Let us that are
poor petitioners
72
speak too:
Baccare
73
! You are marvellous forward.
PETRUCHIO
O, pardon me, Signior Gremio,
I would fain be doing
74
.
GREMIO
I doubt it not, sir. But you will curse your wooing.—
Neighbour, this is a gift very
grateful
76
, I am
To Baptista
sure of it. To express the
like
77
kindness, myself, that have been
more
kindly
78
beholding to you than any, freely give unto you
Presents Lucentio
this young scholar, that hath been long studying
at
Rheims
80
, as cunning in Greek, Latin, and other
languages, as the other in music and mathematics. His name
is
Cambio
82
. Pray, accept his service.
BAPTISTA
A thousand thanks, Signior Gremio.
Welcome, good Cambio.—
But, gentle sir, methinks you
walk like a stranger
85
.
To Tranio
May I be so bold to know the cause of your coming?
TRANIO
Pardon me, sir, the boldness is mine own,
That, being a stranger in this city here,
Do make myself a suitor to your daughter,
Unto Bianca, fair and virtuous.
Nor is your firm resolve unknown to me,
In the
preferment
92
of the eldest sister.
This liberty is all that I request,
That,
upon knowledge
94
of my parentage,
I may have welcome ’mongst the rest that woo,
And free access and favour as the rest.
And toward the education of your daughters
I here bestow a simple instrument,
Presents lute and books
And this small packet of Greek and Latin books:
If you accept them, then their worth is great.
BAPTISTA
Lucentio is your name?
101
Of whence, I pray?
TRANIO
Of Pisa, sir, son to Vincentio.
BAPTISTA
A
mighty
103
man of Pisa. By report
I know him well. You are very welcome, sir.—
To Hortensio and Lucentio
Take you the lute, and you the set of books,
You shall go see your pupils
presently
106
.—
Holla
107
, within!
Enter a Servant
Sirrah, lead these gentlemen
To my daughters, and tell them both
These are their tutors: bid them use them well.
[
Exit Servant, with Lucentio and Hortensio,
Biondello following
]
We will go walk a little in the
orchard
111
,
And then to
dinner
112
. You are passing welcome,
And so I pray you all to think yourselves.
PETRUCHIO
Signior Baptista, my business
asketh haste
114
,
And every day I cannot come to woo.
You knew my father well, and in him me,
Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,
Which I have bettered rather than decreased.
Then tell me, if I get your daughter’s love,
What dowry shall I have with her to wife?
BAPTISTA
After my death the one half of my lands,
And
in possession
122
twenty thousand crowns.
PETRUCHIO
And for that dowry I’ll
assure her of
Her widowhood
123
, be it that she survive me,
In all my lands and
leases
125
whatsoever.
Let
specialties
126
be therefore drawn between us,
That
covenants
127
may be kept on either hand.
BAPTISTA
Ay, when the
special
128
thing is well obtained,
That is, her love, for that is all in all.
PETRUCHIO
Why, that is nothing, for I tell you,
father
130
,
I am as peremptory as she proud-minded.
And where two raging fires meet together
They do consume the thing that feeds their fury.
Though little fire grows great with little wind,
Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all:
So I
136
to her and so she yields to me,
For I am rough and woo not like a babe.
BAPTISTA
Well mayst thou woo, and
happy be thy speed
138
!
But be thou armed for some unhappy words.
PETRUCHIO
Ay,
to the proof
140
, as mountains are for winds,
That shakes not, though they blow perpetually.
Enter Hortensio
[
disguised as Litio
]
, with his head broke
BAPTISTA
How now, my friend? Why dost thou look so pale?
HORTENSIO
For fear, I promise you, if I look pale.
BAPTISTA
What, will my daughter prove a good musician?
HORTENSIO
I think she’ll sooner
prove
145
a soldier.
Iron may
hold with
146
her, but never lutes.
BAPTISTA
Why, then thou canst not
break her to
147
the lute?
HORTENSIO
Why, no, for she hath
broke the lute to me
148
.
I did but tell her she mistook her
frets
149
,
And bowed her hand to teach her fingering,
When, with a most impatient devilish spirit,
‘Frets, call you these?’ quoth she, ‘I’ll
fume
152
with them.’
And with that word, she struck me on the head,
And through the instrument my
pate
154
made way,
And there I stood
amazèd
155
for a while,
As on a pillory
156
, looking through the lute,
While she did call me rascal
fiddler
157
And twangling
Jack
158
, with twenty such vile terms,
As had she
studied
159
to misuse me so.
PETRUCHIO
Now, by the world, it is a
lusty
160
wench.
I love her ten times more than e’er I did.
O, how I long to have some chat with her!
BAPTISTA
Well, go with me and be not so
discomfited
163
.
To Hortensio
Proceed
in practice
164
with my younger daughter,
She’s apt to learn and thankful for good turns.
Signior Petruchio, will you go with us,
Or shall I send my daughter Kate to you?
PETRUCHIO
I pray you do.
Exeunt all but Petruchio
I’ll
attend
168
her here,
And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
Say that she rail, why then I’ll tell her plain
She sings as sweetly as a nightingale:
Say that she frown, I’ll say she looks as
clear
172
As morning roses newly washed with dew:
Say she be mute and will not speak a word,
Then I’ll commend her volubility,
And say she uttereth
piercing
176
eloquence:
If she do bid me
pack
177
, I’ll give her thanks,
As though she bid me stay by her a week:
If she deny to wed, I’ll
crave
179
the day
When I shall ask the
banns
180
and when be married.
But here she comes, and now, Petruchio, speak.