Induction

This technique for opening a play was often used in the 16th and early 17th centuries — although Shakespeare never again attempts it, and even seems to lose interest here after he has started off the main action of The Shrew.

Scene 1

Christopher Sly quarrels with the Hostess who is throwing him out of the tavern. He falls into a drunken sleep, and is discovered by a nobleman who is on his way home from hunting, discussing the day’s sport and the performance of his hounds. The Lord decides to play a trick on Sly when he wakes# and so the drunkard is carried to the Lord’s house. When a company of actors arrives, the Lord involves them in his plan.
1	feeze: fight, frighten.
2	pair of stocks: The Hostess threatens to punish Sly by locking him in the stocks, where he would be confined by the ankles and exposed to public ridicule.
4	Chronicles: history books.
we . . . Conqueror: Sly boasts of his family’s history — but he has got the phrase wrong, mistaking the Christian name and assuming that “Conqueror” is a family name.
5	paucus palabras: less of your talking# Sly uses a phrase made famous in a play, The Spanish Tragedy, by one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Thomas Kyd.
let . . . slide: why worry.
Sessa: give over
6	burst: broken.
7	not a denier: not a penny (a “denier” was the smallest French coin).
Go by, Saint Jeronimy: Sly again recalls a popular catchphrase from The Spanish Tragedy, whose hero (in Sly’s mind confused with Saint Jerome) warns himself “Hieronimo beware# go by, go by”.
9	headborough: constable# the Hostess uses a Warwickshire term.
12	boy: A term of general contempt.
12, 13	and kindly: and welcome.
13s.d.	from hunting: The Lord has probably been hunting hares (compare the mention of “the hedge corner” at line 18)# the men — huntsmen and servingmen — would be on foot, with the hounds leashed in couples.
14	charge: order.
tender well: take good care of.
15	Breathe Merriman: let Merriman (the name of a hound) have a rest.
embossed: foaming at the mouth, quite exhausted.
16	couple: leash.
deep-mouthed brach: bitch with a deep voice (presumably, also, experienced# young hounds were leashed with older ones for training purposes).
17	made it good: picked up the scent.
18	in the coldest fault: at the worst break.
21	cried upon it: gave tongue (i.e. to show that he had found the scent).
the merest loss: when it was completely lost .
22	dullest: faintest.
24	fleet: fast.
33	Shakespeare often refers to sleep as the image, or likeness, of death# compare Macbeth, “Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit” (2, 3, 77).
34	practise: play a practical joke.
36	sweet: scented.
37	banquet: In Elizabethan times, this was not a full meal but a selection of sweet dishes with fruit and wine.
38	brave: well-dressed.
39	forget himself: i.e. forget that he is a beggar.
40	choose: do anything else.
45	wanton pictures: The Lord probably means tapestry wall-hangings, depicting amorous scenes.
46	Balm: bathe
distilled waters: e.g. rose-water, made from distilled rose petals.
47	sweet wood: e.g. juniper, or pine-cones.
49	dulcet: melodious.
50	chance: happens.
straight: immediately.
51	reverence: bow.
55	diaper: towel.
64	kindly: convincingly.
65	passing: extremely.
66	husbanded: taken care of.
with modesty: properly, without overdoing things.
71	office: appointed task.
75	An’t: if it.
80	So please: if it pleases.
86	Soto: No extant play of this period has a character named Soto, but it is possible that a play now lost was revised by John Fletcher about 1620 with the title Women Pleased.
88	in happy time: just at the right time.
89	The rather: because.
90	cunning: skill.
92	modesties: self-control.
93	over-eyeing of: staring at.
94	yet . . . play: he has never seen a play before.
95	break . . . passion: start laughing.
99	veriest: greatest.
antic: eccentric.
100	buttery: pantry, store-room.
102	want: lack.
affords: can offer.
104	suits: respects (with a pun on “clothes”).
107	as he will: if he wants to.
108	bear: conduct.
110	accomplish#aged: performed.
112	low tongue: soft voice.
lowly courtesy: humble curtsy.
115	make known: demonstrate.
116	embracements: embraces.
117	with . . . tears: The boy is to bend his head and cry.
120	esteemed him: thought himself to be.
123	commanded tears: tears on command.
124	do well . . . shift: be effective for that job.
125	close conveyed: secretly carried.
126	in despite: notwithstanding the natural desire (to laugh).
128	Anon: soon.
129	usurp: imitate.
132	stay: restrain.
133	simple: poor, foolish.
134	haply: perhaps.
135	abate: control.
spleen: mood# the spleen was thought to be the seat of all emotions.