The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare Read Free Book Online Page B

some
    questions in his accidence 13 .
    EVANS     Come hither, William. Hold up your head. Come.
    MISTRESS PAGE     Come on, sirrah, hold up your head. Answer
    your master, be not afraid.
    EVANS     William, how many numbers is in nouns?
    WILLIAM PAGE      Two 18 .
    MISTRESS QUICKLY     Truly, I thought there had been one number
    more, because they say, ‘Od’s nouns’ 20 .
    EVANS      Peace your tattlings! 21 What is ‘fair’, William?
    WILLIAM PAGE     
Pulcher
.
    MISTRESS QUICKLY      Polecats 23 ? There are fairer things than polecats,
    sure.
    EVANS     You are a very simplicity ’oman. I pray you peace.
    What is
lapis
, William?
    WILLIAM PAGE     A stone.
    EVANS     And what is ‘a stone’, William?
    WILLIAM PAGE     A pebble.
    EVANS     No, it is
lapis
. I pray you, remember in your prain.
    WILLIAM PAGE     
Lapis
.
    EVANS     That is a good William. What is he, William, that
    does lend articles 33 ?
    WILLIAM PAGE      Articles are borrowed of the pronoun 34 , and be
    thus declined:
    Singulariter
36
, nominativo, hic, haec, hoc
.
    EVANS     
Nominativo, hig, hag, hog
, pray you mark: genitivo
37 ,
    huius
. Well, what is your accusative case?
    WILLIAM PAGE     
Accusativo,
hinc
39 —
    Faltering
    EVANS     I pray you, have your remembrance, child,
accusativo
,
    hing, hang, hog
41 .
    MISTRESS QUICKLY      ‘Hang-hog’ 42 is Latin for bacon, I warrant you.
    EVANS     Leave your prabbles , ’oman. What is the focative 43
    case 44 , William?
    WILLIAM PAGE     O, —
vocativo
, O 45 .
    EVANS     Remember, William, focative is caret
46 .
    MISTRESS QUICKLY     And that’s a good root.
    EVANS     ’Oman, forbear.
    MISTRESS PAGE     Peace!
    EVANS     What is your genitive case plural, William?
    WILLIAM PAGE     Genitive case?
    EVANS     Ay.
    WILLIAM PAGE     Genitive: horum , harum
53
, horum
.
    MISTRESS QUICKLY      Vengeance of Ginny’s case 54 , fie on her! Never
    name her, child, if she be a whore.
    EVANS     For shame, ’oman.
    MISTRESS QUICKLY     You do ill to teach the child such words: he
    teaches him to hick and to hack 58 , which they’ll do fast enough
    of themselves, and to call ‘horum’ — fie upon you!
    EVANS     ’Oman, art thou lunatics? Hast thou no
    understandings for thy cases and the numbers of the
    genders? Thou art as foolish Christian creatures as I would
    desires.
    MISTRESS PAGE     Prithee, hold thy peace.
    To Mistress Quickly
    EVANS     Show me now, William, some declensions 65 of your
    pronouns.
    WILLIAM PAGE     Forsooth, I have forgot.
    EVANS     It is
qui, quae, quod
. If you forget your
quies
, your
    quaes
, and your
quods
, you must be preeches 69 . Go your ways,
    and play, go.
    MISTRESS PAGE     He is a better scholar than I thought he was.
    EVANS     He is a good sprag 72 memory. Farewell, Mistress Page.
    MISTRESS PAGE     Adieu, good Sir Hugh.
    [
Exit Evans
]
    Get you home, boy. Come, we stay too long.
    Exeunt
Act 4 Scene 2
    running scene 14
    Enter Falstaff [and] Mistress Ford
    The basket is brought out
    FALSTAFF     Mistress Ford, your sorrow hath eaten up my
    sufferance . I see you are obsequious 2 in your love, and I
    profess requital to a hair’s breadth, not only, Mistress Ford,
    in the simple office of love, but in all the accoutrement 4 ,
    complement and ceremony of it. But are you sure of 5 your
    husband now?
    MISTRESS FORD     He’s a-birding, sweet Sir John.
    MISTRESS PAGE     What, ho, gossip 8 Ford! What, ho!
    Within
    MISTRESS FORD     Step into th’chamber, Sir John.
    [
Exit Falstaff
]
    [
Enter Mistress Page
]
    MISTRESS PAGE     How now, sweetheart, who’s at home besides
    yourself?
    MISTRESS FORD     Why, none but mine own people 12 .
    MISTRESS PAGE     Indeed?
    MISTRESS FORD     No, certainly.— Speak louder.
    Whispers to her
    MISTRESS PAGE     Truly, I am