Induction Scene 2

Sly has woken up, and the nobleman’s servants carry out their master’s orders, persuading the tinker that he is indeed a noble lord who has at last recovered from a delusion. Two life-styles are contrasted as Sly tries to learn the language and conduct appropriate for his new identity. The staging of this scene has been much debated by critics, since the direction “Enter aloft” seems to demand an upper gallery (which was not unusual in the Elizabethan playhouse), but the large number of characters would be too many for an ordinary balcony. But the details are of importance only for a theatrical historian: it is enough to remember the possibilities of different acting levels, which a modern director can use as desired.
1	small ale: the weakest (and cheapest) beer. At the beginning of the scene Sly speaks in prose, and asks for “ale”: the courtly servingmen answer in verse# and offer him “sack”.
2	sack: dry white wine.
3	conserves: fruit preserved in sugar.
4	raiment: clothing.
5	Christophero: Sly attempts to assert himself with a Spanish version of his name.
7	conserves of beef: beef preserved in salt.
8	doublets: jackets, close-fitting tunics.
11	overleather: upper part of the shoe.
12	idle humour: foolish mood.
13	descent: noble birth.
14	esteem: reputation.
15	infus#aged: possessed.
16	would you: do you want to.
17	Burton heath: Barton-on-the-Heath, a village about 15 miles from Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon.
18	cardmaker: maker of “cards” — toothed instruments for combing wool, much needed in the wool-producing area around Stratford. transmutation: changing his job.
19	bear-herd: keeper of a performing bear.
20	alewife: woman who keeps an ale-house.
Wincot: The small hamlet of Wincot, in the parish of Quinton, was four miles south of Stratford# the daughter of Robert Hacket was baptized there in 1591.
22	on the score: in debt# alehouse debts were chalked up on a board for all to see.
sheer ale: just for ale.
score: mark.
23	Christendom: the Christian world.
bestraught: mad, out of my mind.
24	Here’s — : Sly is trying to offer proof of his identity, but he can find none.
28	As: as though.
30	ancient: former.
33	beck: nod.
34	Apollo: the classical god of music# the Servingmen are striving for a courtly effect.
37	lustful: enticing.
38	trimmed up: dressed up.
Semiramis: a legendary queen of Assyria, renowned for amorous encounters.
39	bestrew: spread rushes (probably) as a carpet.
40	trapped: caparisoned, draped in protective, decorative, coverings.
44	The Elizabethans prized their hounds for the musical sound of their baying when in pursuit of the quarry.
44	welkin: sky — a “poetic” word.
46	course: chase the hare, hunting by sight not scent.
47	breath#aged: strong-winded.
fleeter: faster.
roe: a small deer.
48	straight: immediately.
49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59	These paintings (the “wanton pictures” ordered by the Lord in Scene 1) illustrate some of the stories in Ovid’s
Metamorphoses. Adonis was a handsome human boy who was loved by Venus — Cytherea — the goddess of love# Shakespeare narrates this fable in his poem Venus and Adonis. The god Zeus fell in love with the virgin Io, and hid in a cloud to seduce her# afterwards she was turned into a heifer. Daphne tried to escape from the attentions of the god Apollo, and was changed into a laurel tree.
50	sedges: rushes.
55	lively: life-like.
as . . . done: as though the deed were just being done.
59	workmanly: skilfully.
60	nothing but: no less than.
61	a lady: The descriptions of these “wanton pictures”, with their “lively” representation of sexual encounters, leads up to the promise of a real “woman” for Sly.
62	this waning age: this modern world (with an allusion to the classical belief that the world was declining from the original Golden Age — which could be interpreted as the Bible’s Garden of Eden).
63	till: until, before.
64	envious: malicious.
o’errun: flowed over.
66	yet: even now.
67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74	Sly, persuaded that he is indeed a lord, begins to speak in verse — which Elizabethan dramatic decorum prescribed for the more noble characters. He speaks to himself as he tests his five senses (to prove that he is not dreaming), then addresses the servingmen grandly when he demands “our lady” — but betrays himself when he calls for “a pot o’th’smallest ale”.
76	joy: rejoice.
wit: sense.
78	fifteen: The servingman increases the Lord’s time.
80	fay: faith.
81	of: during.
82	idle: silly.
83	goodly: fine.
84	out of door: out of the house.
85	rail upon: shout about.
86	present . . . leet: take her to court (for giving short measure).
87	stone . . . quarts: The quart measures were officially stamped to guarantee capacity, but the earthenware jugs were unmarked — and commonly used by dishonest innkeepers.
88	Cicely Hacket: see note to Induction, 2, 20.
89	the . . . house: the landlady’s daughter.
91	reckoned up: referred to.
92	These might have been the names of real people — and a director could substitute the names of local personalities.
96	amends: improvement.
98	I thank thee: Sly acknowledges the drink he has been given.
thou . . . it: i.e. “I’ll pay you later.”
99	How fares: how is. The Page is enquiring about the “lord’s” health# but Sly in the next line makes a pun on “fare” = take nourishment.
100	cheer: nourishment.
103	goodman: The peasant’s word for “husband”.
105	in all obedience: In the old form of the Marriage Service, the woman promised to “love, honour, and obey” her husband.
112	abandoned: banished.
116	pardon: excuse.
118	expressly charged: especially ordered.
119	In peril: at the risk of.
122	it stands: Sly is aroused — and he forgets the formal verse in his sexual innuendoes.
hardly: with difficulty.
tarry: hold back, wait.
127	hold it very meet: think it is a very good idea.
128 	Elizabethan medical theory taught that melancholy caused a thickening of the blood, and this in its turn was the cause (“nurse”) of madness (“frenzy”).
131	frame: suit.
132	bars: prevents.
133	comonty: The word “comedy” is new to Sly.
134	gambol: game.
tumbling-trick: acrobatics.
136	household stuff: homely fun
history: story, narrative.
138	let . . . younger: i.e. let us enjoy ourselves.