Luc.
At last, tho' long, our jarring Notes agree,
And time it is when raging War is done,
To smile at 'Scapes and Perils over-blown.
My fair Bianca, bid my Father welcome,
While I with self-same Kindness welcome thine;
Brother Petruchio, Sister Katharine,
And thou Hortensio with thy loving Widow;
Feast with the best, and welcome to my House,
My Banquet is to close our Stomachs up
After our great good Cheer: Pray you sit down,
For now we sit to chat as well as eat.

Pet.
Nothing but sit and sit, and eat and eat!

Bap.
Padua affords this Kindness, Son Petruchio.

Pet.
Padua affords nothing but what is kind.

Hor.
For both our Sakes I would that Word were true.

Pet.
Now for my Life Hortensio fears his Widow.

Hor.
Then never trust me if I be afeard.

Pet.
You are very sensible, and yet you miss my Sense:
I mean Hortensio is afeard of you.

Wid.
He that is giddy thinks the World turns round.

Pet.
Roundly replied.

Kath.
Mistress, how mean you that?

Wid.
Thus I conceive by him.

Pet.
Conceives by me, how likes Hortensio that?

Hor.
My Widow says, thus she conceives her Tale.

Pet.
Very well mended, kiss him for that, good Widow.

Kath.
He that is giddy thinks the World turns round—
I pray you tell me what you meant by that.

Wid.
Your Husband being troubled with a Shrew,
Measure's my Husband's Sorrow by his Woe;
And now you know my Meaning.

Kath.
A very mean Meaning.

Wid.
Right, I mean you.

Kath.
And I am mean indeed, respecting you.

Pet.
To her, Kate.

Hor.
To her, Widow.

Pet.
A hundred Marks, my Kate do put her down.

Hor.
That's my Office.

Pet.
Spoke like an Officer; ha, to thee Lad. [Drinks to Hortensio.

Bap.
How likes Gremio these quick-witted Folks?

Gre.
Believe me, Sir, they butt together well.

Bian.
Head, and but, an hasty-witted Body
Would say, your Head and But were Head and Horn.

Vin.
Ay, Mistress Bride, hath that awaken'd you?

Bian.
Ay, but not frighted me, therefore I'll sleep again.

Pet.
Nay, that you shall not since you have begun:
Have at you for a better Jest or two.

Bian.
Am I your Bird, I mean to shift my Bush,
And then pursue me as you draw your Bow.
You are welcome all [Exit Bianca, Kath. and Widow

Pet.
She hath prevented me. Here Signior Tranio,
This Bird you aim'd at, tho' you hit it not,
Therefore a Health to all that shot and miss'd.

Tra.
Oh, Sir, Lucentio slipt me like his Gray-hound,
Which runs himself, and catches for his Master.

Pet.
A good swift Simile, but something currish.

Tra.
'Tis well, Sir, that you hunted for your self:
'Tis thought your Deer does hold you at a Bay.

Bap.
Oh, oh Petruchio, Tranio hits you now.

Luc.
I thank thee for that Gird, good Tranio.

Hor.
Confess, confess, hath he not hit you here?

Pet.
He has a little gall'd me, I confess;
And as the Jest did glance away from me,
'Tis ten to one it maim'd you two outright.

Bap.
Now in good Sadness, Son Petruchio,
I think thou hast the veriest Shrew of all.

Pet.
Well, I say no; and therefore for Assurance,
Let's each one send unto his Wife,
And he whose Wife is most obedient,

To come at first when he doth send for her,
Shall win the Wager which we will propose.

Hor.
Content, what's the Wager?

Luc.
Twenty Crowns.

Pet.
Twenty Crowns!
I'll venture so much on my Hawk or Hound,
But twenty times so much upon my Wife.

Luc.
A hundred then.

Hor.
Content.

Pet.
A match, 'tis done.

Hor.
Who shall begin?

Luc.
That will I.
Go, Biondello, bid your Mistress come to me.

Bion.
I go. [Exit.

Bap.
Son, I'll be your half, Bianca comes.

Luc.
I'll have no halves: I'll bear it all my self. Enter Biondello.
How now, what News?

Bion.
Sir, my Mistress sends you Word
That she is busie, and cannot come.

Pet.

How? she's busie, and cannot come: Is that an Answer?

Gre.
Ay, and a kind one too:
Pray God, Sir, your Wife send you not a worse.

Pet.

I hope better.

Hor.

Sirrah Biondello, go and intreat my Wife to come to me forthwith.

Pet.
Oh ho! intreat her! nay then she must needs come.

Hor.
I am afraid, Sir, do what you can, Enter Biondello.
Yours will not be entreated: Now, where's my Wife?

Bion.
She says you have some goodly Jest in Hand,
She will not come: She bids you come to her.

Pet.
Worse and worse, she will not come!
Oh vild, intolerable, not to be indur'd:
Sirrah Grumio, go to your Mistress,
Say I command her to come to me. [Exit. Gru.

Hor.
I know her Answer.

Pet.
What?

Hor.
She will not.

Pet.
The fouler Fortune mine, and there's an end. Enter Katharina.

Bap.
Now, by my Hollidam, here comes Katharine.

Kath.
What is your Will, Sir, that you send for me?

Pet.
Where is your Sister, and Hortensio's Wife?

Kath.
They sit conferring by the Parlour Fire.

Pet.
Go, fetch them hither; if they deny to come,
Swinge me them soundly forth unto their Husbands:
Away, I say, and bring them hither straight. [Exit Kath.

Luc.
Here is a Wonder, if you talk of a Wonder.

Hor.
And so it is: I wonder what it boads.

Pet.
Marry, Peace it boads, and Love, and quiet Life,
An awful Rule and right Supremacy:
And to be short, what not, that's sweet and happy.

Bap.
Now fair befall thee, good Petruchio;
The Wager thou hast won, and I will add
Unto their Losses twenty thousand Crowns,
Another Dowry to another Daughter,
For she is chang'd as she had never been.

Pet.
Nay, I will win my Wager better yet,
And show more Sign of her Obedience,
Her new-built Virtue and Obedience. Enter Katharina, Bianca and Widow.
See where she comes, and brings your froward Wives
As Prisoners to her womanly Persuasion:
Katharine, that Cap of yours becomes you not,
Off with that Bauble, and throw it underfoot. [She pulls off her Cap and throws it down.

Wid.
Lord, let me never have a Cause to sigh,
'Till I be brought to such a silly pass.

Bian.
Fie, what a foolish Duty call you this?

Luc.
I would your Duty were as foolish too:
The Wisdom of your Duty, fair Bianca,
Hath cost me an hundred Crowns since Supper-time.

Bian.
The more Fool you for laying on my Duty.

Pet.

Katharine, I charge thee tell these headstrong Women, what Duty they owe to their Lords and Husbands.

Wid.

Come, come, you're mocking; we will have no telling.

Pet.

Come on, I say, and first begin with her.

Wid.

She shall not.

Pet.
I say she shall, and first begin with her.

Kath.
Fie, fie, unknit that threatning unkind Brow,
And dart not scornful Glances from those Eyes,
To wound thy Lord, thy King, thy Governor.
It blots thy Beauty, as Frosts bite the Meads,
Confounds thy Fame, as Whirlwinds shake fair Buds,
And in no Sense is meet or amiable.
A Woman mov'd is like a Fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill seeming, thick, bereft of Beauty;
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will dain to sip, or touch one Drop of it.
Thy Husband is thy Lord, thy Life, thy Keeper,
Thy Head, thy Soveraign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy Maintenance: Commits his Body
To painful Labour, both by Sea and Land;
To watch the Night in Storms, the Day in Cold,
Whil'st thou ly'st warm at home, secure and safe,
And craves no other Tribute at thy Hands,
But Love, fair Looks, and true Obedience;
Too little Payment for so great a Debt.
Such Duty as the Subject owes the Prince,
Even such a Woman oweth to her Husband:
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sower,
And not obedient to his honest Will;
What is she but a foul contending Rebel,
And graceless Traitor to her loving Lord?
I am asham'd that Women are so simple,
To offer War where they should kneel for Peace,
Or seek for Rule, Supremacy, and Sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our Bodies soft, and weak, and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the World,
But that our soft Conditions, and our Hearts,
Should well agree with our external Parts?
Come, come, you'ar froward and unable Worms,
My Mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My Heart is great, my Reason haply more,
To bandy Word for Word, and Frown for Frown;
But now I see our Launces are but Straws,

Our Strength is weak, our Weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most, which we indeed least are:
Then vale your Stomachs, for it is no Boot,
And place your Hands below your Husband's Foot:
In token of which Duty, if he please,
My Hand is ready, may it do him Ease.

Pet.
Why, there's a Wench: Come on, and kiss me Kate.

Luc.
Well, go thy ways, old Lad, for thou shalt ha't.

Vin.
'Tis a good Hearing when Children are toward.

Luc.
But a harsh Hearing when Women are froward.

Pet.
Come, Kate, we'll to Bed,
We two are married, but you two are sped.
'Twas I won the Wager, tho' you hit the White,
And being a Winner, God give you good Night. [Exit Petruchio and Kath.

Hor.
Now go thy Ways, thou hast tam'd a curst Shrew.

Luc.
'Tis a Wonder, by your leave, she will be tam'd so. [Exeunt.

ALL's WELL THAT ENDS WELL. A COMEDY.