The Taming of the Shrew Act 4, Scene 3 Translation

The Taming of the Shrew Translation Act 4, Scene 3

Also check out our detailed summary & analysis of this scene

Check out our summary & analysis of this scene

Original

Translation

Enter KATHERINE and GRUMIO

KATHERINE and GRUMIO enter.

GRUMIO

No, no, forsooth, I dare not for my life.

GRUMIO

No, no, I swear, I can't. He'd kill me.

KATHERINE

The more my wrong, the more his spite appears. What, did he marry me to famish me? Beggars that come unto my father’s door Upon entreaty have a present alms. If not, elsewhere they meet with charity. But I, who never knew how to entreat, Nor never needed that I should entreat, Am starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep, With oaths kept waking and with brawling fed. And that which spites me more than all these wants, He does it under name of perfect love, As who should say, if I should sleep or eat, 'Twere deadly sickness or else present death. I prithee, go and get me some repast, I care not what, so it be wholesome food.

KATHERINE

The more I suffer, the angrier he seems to get. What, did he marry me to starve me? Even beggars who come to my father's door get money when they ask for it. If not, they find charity elsewhere. But I, who never learned how to beg and never needed to beg, am starved for food and dizzy with lack of sleep, kept awake by curses and fed only with arguing. And what puzzles me more than all these troubles is that he does it all under the pretense of perfect love. He acts as if I would get sick and die right away if I were to sleep or eat. Please, go and get me some food. I don't care what it is, as long as it's filling.

GRUMIO

What say you to a neat’s foot?

GRUMIO

What do you say to an ox's foot?

KATHERINE

'Tis passing good. I prithee let me have it.

KATHERINE

It sounds excellent. Please let me have it.

GRUMIO

I fear it is too choleric a meat. How say you to a fat tripe finely broiled?

GRUMIO

I'm afraid that meat like that is choleric and will make you angry. What do you say to a fat cow stomach, well-broiled?

KATHERINE

I like it well. Good Grumio, fetch it me.

KATHERINE

I'd like that very much. Good Grumio, bring it to me.

GRUMIO

I cannot tell. I fear ’tis choleric. What say you to a piece of beef and mustard?

GRUMIO

I'm not sure. I'm afraid it's choleric too. What do you say to a piece of beef with mustard?

KATHERINE

A dish that I do love to feed upon.

KATHERINE

It's a dish I love to eat.

GRUMIO

Ay, but the mustard is too hot a little.

GRUMIO

Yes, but the mustard's a little too hot.

KATHERINE

Why then, the beef, and let the mustard rest.

KATHERINE

Why then, the beef, and leave the mustard off.

GRUMIO

Nay then, I will not. You shall have the mustardOr else you get no beef of Grumio.

GRUMIO

Certainly not, in that case. You'll have the mustard or else you'll get no beef from Grumio.

KATHERINE

Then both, or one, or anything thou wilt.

KATHERINE

Then both, or one, or anything you want.

GRUMIO

Why then, the mustard without the beef.

GRUMIO

Why then, the mustard without the beef.

KATHERINE

Go, get thee gone, thou false deluding slave, (Beats him) That feed’st me with the very name of meat. Sorrow on thee and all the pack of you That triumph thus upon my misery. Go, get thee gone, I say.

KATHERINE

Go, get out of here, you false, deceitful slave.

[She beats him] You feed me with only the names of meats. A curse on you and the whole pack of you who rejoice in my misery! Go, get out of here, I say.

Enter PETRUCHIO and HORTENSIO with meat

PETRUCHIO and HORTENSIO enter with a plate of meat.

PETRUCHIO

How fares my Kate? What, sweeting, all amort?

PETRUCHIO

How is my Kate doing? What, sweetheart, why so dejected?

HORTENSIO

Mistress, what cheer?

HORTENSIO

Mistress, how are you?

KATHERINE

Faith, as cold as can be.

KATHERINE

Indeed, I'm as bad as can be.

PETRUCHIO

Pluck up thy spirits. Look cheerfully upon me. Here love, thou seest how diligent I am, To dress thy meat myself and bring it thee. I am sure, sweet Kate, this kindness merits thanks. What, not a word? Nay, then thou lov’st it not And all my pains is sorted to no proof. Here, take away this dish.

PETRUCHIO

Cheer up. Give me a smile. Here, love, see how diligent I am—I've prepared your meat myself, and brought it to you. I am sure, sweet Kate, that this kindness deserves your thanks. What, not a word? Well, then I guess you don't like it, and all my work was for nothing. Here, take away this dish.

KATHERINE

I pray you, let it stand.

KATHERINE

Please, don't take it away.

PETRUCHIO

The poorest service is repaid with thanks,And so shall mine, before you touch the meat.

PETRUCHIO

Even the poorest service is repaid with thanks, and mine will be too, before you touch the meat.

KATHERINE

I thank you, sir.

KATHERINE

I thank you, sir.

HORTENSIO

Signior Petruchio, fie, you are to blame.Come, mistress Kate, I’ll bear you company.

HORTENSIO

Shame on you, Sir Petruchio, this is your fault. Come, mistress Kate, I'll join you.

PETRUCHIO

[aside to HORTENSIO ] Eat it up all, Hortensio, if thou lovest me.— Much good do it unto thy gentle heart. Kate, eat apace. And now, my honey love, Will we return unto thy father’s house And revel it as bravely as the best, With silken coats and caps and golden rings, With ruffs and cuffs and farthingales and things, With scarves and fans and double change of brav'ry, With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knav'ry. What, hast thou dined? The tailor stays thy leisure To deck thy body with his ruffling treasure.

PETRUCHIO

[So only HORTENSIO can hear] Do me a favor and eat it all up yourself, Hortensio.—May it do your gentle heart much good, Kate. Eat quickly. And now, my honey love, we will return to your father's house and party with the best of them, with silken coats and caps and golden rings, with ruffs and cuffs and petticoats and things, with scarves and fans and two sets of fine clothes, with amber bracelets, beads, and all such tricks. What, have you finished? The tailor is waiting to dress you in ruffled finery.

Enter TAILOR

A TAILOR enters.

Come, tailor, let us see these ornaments.Lay forth the gown.

Come, tailor, let's see what you have. Lay out the gown.

Enter HABERDASHER

A HATMAKER enters.

What news with you, sir?

What do you want, sir?

HABERDASHER

Here is the cap your Worship did bespeak.

HABERDASHER

Here is the cap your Worship asked for.

PETRUCHIO

Why, this was molded on a porringer! A velvet dish! Fie, fie, ’tis lewd and filthy! Why, ’tis a cockle or a walnut shell, A knack, a toy, a trick, a baby’s cap. Away with it! Come, let me have a bigger.

PETRUCHIO

Why, this must have been modeled on a porridge bowl! It's like a velvet dish! For shame, for shame, it's worthless and filthy! Why, it's like a cockleshell or a walnut shell, a knickknack, a trifle, a baby's cap. Take it away! Come, let me see a bigger one.

KATHERINE

I’ll have no bigger. This doth fit the time, And gentlewomen wear such caps as these.

KATHERINE

I don't want a bigger one. This one agrees with the present fashion, and all gentlewomen wear caps like this.

PETRUCHIO

When you are gentle, you shall have one too,And not till then.

PETRUCHIO

Well, when you are gentle you can have one too, and not before.

HORTENSIO

[aside] That will not be in haste.

HORTENSIO

[To himself] That won't be anytime soon.

KATHERINE

Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak, And speak I will. I am no child, no babe. Your betters have endured me say my mind, And if you cannot, best you stop your ears. My tongue will tell the anger of my heart Or else my heart, concealing it, will break, And, rather than it shall, I will be free Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.

KATHERINE

Why, sir, I trust that I'm allowed to speak, and speak I will. I am not a child or an infant. Better men than you have heard me speak my mind, and if you cannot endure it, then you'd better stop up your ears. My tongue must express the anger of my heart, or else my heart will burst from trying to contain it all. So I will speak as freely as I like, no matter what.

PETRUCHIO

Why, thou say’st true. It is a paltry cap,A custard-coffin, a bauble, a silken pie.I love thee well in that thou lik’st it not.

PETRUCHIO

Why, you're right. It is a puny little cap, a tart crust, a plaything, a silken pie. I love you more for not liking it.

KATHERINE

Love me or love me not, I like the cap, And it I will have, or I will have none.

KATHERINE

Whether you love me or love me not, I like the cap, and I will have it, or I'll have nothing.

Exit HABERDASHER

The HATMAKER exits.

PETRUCHIO

Thy gown? Why, ay. Come, tailor, let us see ’t. O mercy, God! What masking stuff is here? What’s this? A sleeve? 'Tis like a demi-cannon. What, up and down, carved like an apple tart? Here’s snip and nip and cut and slish and slash, Like to a censer in a barber’s shop. Why, what i' devil’s name, tailor, call’st thou this?

PETRUCHIO

Now, your gown? Why, yes. Come, tailor, let us see it. God have mercy! What is this costume? What's this, a sleeve? It's more like a cannon. What, you've carved it like an apple tart all over? A snip here and a nip there, a cut here and a slash there—it's like a sieve! What in the hell do you call this, tailor?

HORTENSIO

[aside] I see she’s like to have neither cap nor gown.

HORTENSIO

[To himself] I see that she's likely to have neither a cap nor a gown.

TAILOR

You bid me make it orderly and well, According to the fashion and the time.

TAILOR

You told me to make it properly and well, according to the current fashions.

PETRUCHIO

Marry, and did. But if you be remembered, I did not bid you mar it to the time. Go, hop me over every kennel home, For you shall hop without my custom, sir. I’ll none of it. Hence, make your best of it.

PETRUCHIO

Indeed I did. But if you remember, I didn't tell you to make it a mockery of the current fashions. Go on, hop on home, for you must hop without my money, sir. I want nothing to do with this. Get out of here, and do whatever you want with it.

KATHERINE

I never saw a better-fashioned gown,More quaint, more pleasing, nor more commendable.Belike you mean to make a puppet of me.

KATHERINE

I never saw a better-made gown, or one more elegant, pleasing, and praiseworthy. It seems like you're trying to make a plaything out of me.

PETRUCHIO

Why, true, he means to make a puppet of thee.

PETRUCHIO

Why, exactly! That tailor intends to make a plaything out of you.

TAILOR

She says your Worship means to make a puppet of her.

TAILOR

She says you, your Worship, intend to make a plaything out of her.

PETRUCHIO

O monstrous arrogance! Thou liest, thou thread, thou thimble, Thou yard, three-quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail! Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter cricket thou! Braved in mine own house with a skein of thread? Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant, Or I shall so be-mete thee with thy yard As thou shalt think on prating whilst thou liv’st! I tell thee, I, that thou hast marred her gown.

PETRUCHIO

Oh monstrous arrogance! You lie, you thread, you thimble, you puny measurement! You flea, you louse egg, you winter cricket! Defied in my own house by a spool of thread? Away with you, you rag, you fragment, you remnant, or I'll use your own yardstick against you until you think twice about talking again for the rest of your life! I tell you that you've ruined her gown.

TAILOR

Your Worship is deceived. The gown is made Just as my master had direction.Grumio gave order how it should be done.

TAILOR

Your Worship is deceived. The gown is made just as my master directed me to make it. Grumio gave the order for how it should be done.

GRUMIO

I gave him no order. I gave him the stuff.

GRUMIO

I gave him no order. I gave him the material.

TAILOR

But how did you desire it should be made?

TAILOR

But how did you want it to be made?

GRUMIO

Marry, sir, with needle and thread.

GRUMIO

Well, sir, with needle and thread.

TAILOR

But did you not request to have it cut?

TAILOR

But didn't you want to have it cut, too?

GRUMIO

Thou hast faced many things.

GRUMIO

You've faced many things, haven't you?

TAILOR

I have.

TAILOR

I have.

GRUMIO

Face not me. Thou hast braved many men; brave not me. Iwill neither be faced nor braved. I say unto thee, I bid thy master cut out the gown, but I did not bid him cut it to pieces. Ergo, thou liest.

GRUMIO

Well don't try to face off with me. You have braved many men, but don't try to brave me. I tell you, I asked your master to cut out the gown, but I didn't ask him to cut it to pieces. Therefore, you're a liar.

TAILOR

Why, here is the note of the fashion to testify.

TAILOR

Why, here is the order as evidence.

Holds up a paper

He holds up a paper.

PETRUCHIO

Read it.

PETRUCHIO

Read it.

GRUMIO

The note lies in ’s throat, if he say I said so.

GRUMIO

The note is a low note and a liar, if it says I said so.

TAILOR

[reads] “ Imprimis, a loose-bodied gown—”

TAILOR

[Reading] "First, a loose-bodied gown—"

GRUMIO

Master, if ever I said “loose-bodied gown,” sew me in the skirts of it, and beat me to death with a bottom of brown thread. I said “a gown.”

GRUMIO

Master, if I ever said "loose-bodied gown," you can sew me into the skirts of it and beat me to death with a ball of brown thread. I said "a gown."

PETRUCHIO

Proceed.

PETRUCHIO

Go on.

TAILOR

[reads] “With a small-compassed cape—”

TAILOR

[Reading] "With a flared half-circle cape—"

GRUMIO

I confess the cape.

GRUMIO

I admit to ordering the cape.

TAILOR

[reads] “With a trunk sleeve—”

TAILOR

[Reading] "With a large, wide sleeve—"

GRUMIO

I confess two sleeves.

GRUMIO

I admit to two sleeves.

TAILOR

[reads] “The sleeves curiously cut.”

TAILOR

[Reading] "The sleeves elaborately cut."

PETRUCHIO

Ay, there’s the villany.

PETRUCHIO

Ah, there's the problem.

GRUMIO

Error i' the bill, sir, error i' the bill! I commanded the sleeves should be cut out and sewed up again, and that I’ll prove upon thee, though thy little finger be armed in a thimble.

GRUMIO

Error in the bill, sir, error in the bill! I said that the sleeves should be cut out and sewed up again, and I'll prove it by defeating you in combat, even if your little finger is armed with a thimble.

TAILOR

This is true that I say: an I had thee in place where,thou shouldst know it.

TAILOR

What I say is the truth: and if I had you in the right place, I'd prove it to you.

GRUMIO

I am for thee straight. Take thou the bill, give me thymete- yard, and spare not me.

GRUMIO

I'm ready for you right now. You take the bill, give me the yardstick, and do your worst!

HORTENSIO

God-a-mercy, Grumio! Then he shall have no odds.

HORTENSIO

God have mercy, Grumio! Then he'll have no chance.

PETRUCHIO

Well, sir, in brief, the gown is not for me.

PETRUCHIO

Well, sir, in conclusion, the gown is not for me.

GRUMIO

You are i' the right, sir, ’tis for my mistress.

GRUMIO

You're right, sir. It's for my mistress.

PETRUCHIO

Go, take it up unto thy master’s use.

PETRUCHIO

Go, take it away and let your master use it however he wants.

GRUMIO

Villain, not for thy life! Take up my mistress' gown for thy master’s use!

GRUMIO

Villain, not on your life! Take off my mistress's gown for your master's use!

PETRUCHIO

Why, sir, what’s your conceit in that?

PETRUCHIO

Why, sir, what do you mean by that?

GRUMIO

O, sir, the conceit is deeper than you think for. Take up my mistress' gown to his master’s use! O, fie, fie, fie!

GRUMIO

Oh, sir, the meaning is deeper than you think. Take off my mistress's gown for his master's use! Oh, shameful, shameful, shameful!

PETRUCHIO

[aside] Hortensio, say thou wilt see the tailor paid. [To TAILOR] Go, take it hence. Begone, and say no more.

PETRUCHIO

[So only HORTENSIO can hear] Hortensio, tell the tailor that you'll make sure he gets paid.

[To TAILOR] Go, take it away. Be gone, and don't say anything more.

HORTENSIO

[aside to TAILOR ] Tailor, I’ll pay thee for thy gown tomorrow.Take no unkindness of his hasty words.Away, I say. Commend me to thy master.

HORTENSIO

[So only the TAILOR can hear] Tailor, I'll pay you for your gown tomorrow. Don't take his rudeness to heart. Go then, I say. Give my regards to your master.

Exit TAILOR

The TAILOR exits.

PETRUCHIO

Well, come, my Kate. We will unto your father’s Even in these honest mean habiliments. Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor, For ’tis the mind that makes the body rich, And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, So honor peereth in the meanest habit. What, is the jay more precious than the lark Because his feathers are more beautiful? Or is the adder better than the eel Because his painted skin contents the eye? Oh, no, good Kate. Neither art thou the worse For this poor furniture and mean array. If thou account’st it shame, lay it on me, And therefore frolic! We will hence forthwith To feast and sport us at thy father’s house. [To GRUMIO ] Go, call my men, and let us straight to him, And bring our horses unto Long Lane end. There will we mount, and thither walk on foot. Let’s see, I think ’tis now some seven o'clock, And well we may come there by dinnertime.

PETRUCHIO

Well, come on then, my Kate. We'll just go on to your father's house dressed in our plain, respectable clothes. Our purses will be proud and our clothes will be poor. It's the mind that makes the body rich, after all, and just as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, so honor can be seen through even the lowliest attire. What, is the jay more precious than the lark because his feathers are more beautiful? Or is the poisonous snake better than the eel because his patterned scales please the eye? Certainly not, good Kate. Therefore you aren't any less precious because of your poor clothes and lowly attire. If you consider it shameful, then lay the shame on me. So cheer up! We will go now to feast and party at your father's house.

[To GRUMIO] Go, call my men, and let's go right away. And bring our horses to the end of Long Lane. We'll walk there on foot and then mount up. Let's see, I think it's now about seven o'clock, so we might get there by lunchtime.

KATHERINE

I dare assure you, sir, ’tis almost two,And ’twill be supper time ere you come there.

KATHERINE

I dare say, sir, that it's almost two, and it will be dinnertime before we get there.

PETRUCHIO

It shall be seven ere I go to horse. Look what I speak, or do, or think to do, You are still crossing it. Sirs, let ’t alone. I will not go today, and ere I do It shall be what o'clock I say it is.

PETRUCHIO

It will be seven o'clock before I'll get on any horse. Whatever I say, or do, or think, you are still contradicting it. Sirs, never mind. I won't go today. I won't go until it is the time that I say it is.

HORTENSIO

[aside] Why, so this gallant will command the sun.

HORTENSIO

[To himself] Why, this gentleman wants to command even the sun.

Exeunt

They all exit.