And twenty caged nightingales do sing: Or wilt thou sleep? we'll have thee to a couch, On purpose trimm'd up for Semiramis. Say, thou wilt walk; we will bestrew the ground: soar Above the morning lark: Or wilt thou hunt? 1 Serv. Say, thou wilt course; thy greyhounds are as swift As breathed stags, ay, fleeter than the roe. 2 Serv. Dost thou love pictures? we will fetch thee straight Adonis, painted by a running brook: And Cytherea all in sedges hid; Which seem to move and wanton with her breath, Lord. We'll show thee Io, as she was a maid; 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. Lord. Thou art a lord, and nothing but a lord: Thou hast a lady far more beautiful Than any woman in this waning age. 1 Serv. And, till the tears that she hath shed for thee, Like envious floods, o'er-ran 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? I smell sweet savours, and I feel soft things:- And not a tinker, nor Christophero Sly.- 2 Serv. Will't please your mightiness to wash your hands? [Servants present an ewer, bason, and napkin. O, how we joy to see your wit restor❜d! O, that once more you knew but what you are! These fifteen years you have been in a dream; Or, when you wak'd, so wak'd 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," Because she brought stone jugs and no seal'd 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 reckon'd 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. 6 leet,] At the Court-leet, or courts of the manor. 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; What is thy will with her? Sly. Are you my wife, and will not call mehusband? 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? Sly. Al'ce madam, or Joan madam? Lord. Madam, and nothing else; so lords call ladies. Sly. Madam wife, they say that I have dream'd, and slept Above some fifteen year and more. Page. Ay, and the time seems thirty unto me; Being all this time abandon'd from your bed. Sly. 'Tis much;-Servants, leave me and her Madam, undress you, and come now to bed. Sly. Ay, it stands so, that I may hardly tarry so long. But I would be loth to fall into my dreams again; I will therefore tarry, in despite of the flesh and the blood. Enter a Servant. Serv. Your honour'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 congeal'd your blood, And melancholy is the nurse of frenzy, Therefore, they thought it good you hear a play, And frame your mind to mirth and merriment, Which bars a thousand harms, and lengthens life. Sly. Marry, I will; let them play it: Is not a commonty a Christmas gambol, or a tumblingtrick?7 Page. No, my good lord; it is more pleasing stuff. Sly. What, houshold stuff? Page. It is a kind of history. Sly. Well, we'll see't: Come, by my side, and let the world slip; younger. madam wife, sit we shall ne'er be [They sit down. 7 Is not a commonty a Christmas gambol, or a tumbling trick?] Thus the old copies; the modern ones read-It is not a commodity, &c. Commonty for comedy, &c. STEEVENS. In the old play the players themselves use the word commodity corruptly for a comedy. BLACKSTONE. ACT I. SCENE I. Padua. A public Place. Enter LUCENTIO and TRANIO. Luc. Tranio, since-for the great desire I had And, by my father's love and leave, am arm'd Gave me my being, and my father first, Vincentio his son, brought up in Florence, 8 ingenious] It was probably written ingenuous studies, but of this and a thousand such observations there is little certainty. In Cole's Dictionary, 1677, it is remarked—“ ingenuous and ingenious are too often confounded." 9 — to serve all hopes conceiv'd,] To fulfil the expectations of his friends. VOL. IV. D |