William Shakespeare - The Complete Works/William Shakespeare - The Complete Works on CD-ROM.iso/library/text/shr/introa.txt

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THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

Appendix A

Christopher Sly
After Act 1, Scene 1 of The Taming of The Shrew, Shakespeare seems
to have forgotten about Christopher Sly and the trickster Lord. But a
dramatist completed the deception of the tinker in The Taming of A
Shrew, a play which seems to be an imitation of ShakespeareÆs. Here
the Lord is addressed as ôSimö ù Simon ù although it is possible
that this was the name of the actor who played the part. These are the
major episodes which complete the ôframeworkö.

1.    A Shrew, scene v ù after the marriage with Kate has been
arranged.

        Then Sly speaks
Sly        Sim, when will the fool come again?
Lord        HeÆll come again, my lord, anon.
Sly        GiÆs some more drink here. Zounds, whereÆs the tapster?
        Here, Sim, eat some of these things.
Lord        So I do, my lord.
Sly        Here, Sim: I drink to thee!
Lord        My lord, here comes the players again.
Sly        O brave! HereÆs two fine gentlewomen.

2.    A Shrew, scene xiv ù following the marriage of KateÆs two
sisters.

Sly        Sim, must they be married now?
Lord        Ay, my lord.
Sly        Look, Sim, the fool is come again now.

3.    A Shrew, scene xvi ù the imposters are condemned to prison,
and they run away ù compare, 5, 1, 98 s.d.

        Then Sly speaks
Sly        I say weÆll have no sending to prison.
Lord        My lord, this is but the play; theyÆre but in jest.
Sly        I tell thee Sim, weÆll have no sending to prison, thatÆs flat.
        Why, Sim, am I not Don Christo Vary? Therefore I say
they         shall not go to prison.
Lord        No more they shall, my lord; they be run away.
Sly        Are they run away, Sim? ThatÆs well. Then giÆs some more
        to drink, and let them play again.
        Sly drinks, and then falls asleep

4.    A Shrew, scene xvi ù between Act 5 scenes 1 and 2 of The
Shrew.

        Sly sleeps
Lord        WhoÆs within there? Come hither sirs; my lordÆs
        Asleep again; go, take him easily up,
        And put him in his own apparel again,
        And lay him in the place where we did find him
        Just underneath the alehouse side below.
        But see you wake him not in any case.
Boy        It shall be done, my lord. Come, help to bear him hence.

5.    A Shrew, scene xix ù an Epilogue to the main action.

Then enter two bearing Sly in his own apparel again, and leaves him
where they found him; and then goes out.
Then enter the Tapster
Tapster    Now that the darksome night is overpast,
And dawning day appears in crystal sky,
        Now must I haste abroad. But soft, whoÆs this?
        What, Sly! O wondrous, hath he lain here all night?
        IÆll wake him: I think heÆs starved by this,
        But that his belly was so stuffed with ale.
        What, how, Sly! Awake, for shame!
Sly        Sim, giÆs some more wine ù whatÆs all the players gone?
        Am I not a lord?
Tapster    A lord with a murrain! Come, art thou drunken still?
Sly        WhoÆs this? Tapster! O Lord, sirrah, I have had the bravest
        dream tonight that ever thou heardest in all thy life.
Tapster    Ay, marry, but you had best get you home, for your wife
        will curse you for dreaming here tonight.
Sly        Will she? I know now how to tame a shrew: I dreamed
        upon it all this night till now, and thou hast waked me out
of         the best dream that ever I had in my life. But IÆll to my
wife         presently, and tame her too, if she anger me.
Tapster    Nay, tarry Sly, for IÆll go home with thee, And hear the
rest         that thou hast dreamed tonight.
        Exeunt omnes


Appendix B


Manning a Hawk

In Act 4, Scene 1 Petruccio describes Katherine as a ôhaggardö ù a
wild hawk. Confiding in the audience, he describes the strategies he
will employ ôto man my haggard, To make her come and know her
keeperÆs callö (179û80). His methods would be familiar to his
Elizabethan audience ù and they are still in use today.
Gervase Markham, in Country Pursuits (1615), describes the standard
technique for training a wild hawk in order to make her ômeek and
loving to the manö:

All hawks generally are manned after one manner, that is to
say, by watching and keeping them from sleep, by a continual
carrying of them upon your fist, and by a most familiar
stroking and playing with them, with the wing of a dead fowl
or such like, and by often gazing and looking of them in the
face, with a loving and gentle countenance, and so making
them acquainted with the man.

In A Kestrel for a Knave, by Barry Hines (Michael Joseph, 1968),
Billy Casper describes the same process to his schoolmates. The
scene is a schoolroom in an industrial town in the north of England,
sometime in the middle of the twentieth century.
Mr Farthing rested his elbows on his desk and tapped his teeth with
his thumb nails, waiting for Billy to collect himself.

ôNow then, Billy, tell us about this hawk. Where did you get it
from?ö
ôFound it.ö
ôWhere?ö
ôIn tÆwood.ö
ôWhat had happened to it? Was it injured or something?ö
ôIt was a young Æun. It must have tumbled from a nest.ö
ôAnd how long have you had it?ö
ôSince last year.ö
ôAll that time? Where do you keep it?ö
ôIn a shed.ö
ôAnd what do you feed it on?ö
ôBeef. Mice. Birds.ö
ôIsnÆt it cruel though, keeping it in a shed all the time?
WouldnÆt it be happier flying free?ö
Billy looked at Mr Farthing for the first time since he had told
him to sit down.
ôI donÆt keep it in tÆshed all tÆtime. I fly it every day.ö
ôAnd doesnÆt it fly away? I thought hawks were wild birds.ö
ôÆCourse it donÆt fly away. IÆve trained it.ö
Billy looked round, as though daring anyone to challenge this
authority.
ôTrained it? I thought youÆd to be an expert to train hawks.ö
ôWell I did it.ö
ôWas it difficult?ö
ôÆCourse it was. YouÆve to be right . . . right patient wiÆ Æem
and take your time.ö
ôWell tell me how you did it then. IÆve never met a falconer
before, I suppose I must be in select company.ö
Billy hutched his chair up and leaned forward over his desk.
ôWell what you do is, you train Æem through their stomachs.
You can only do owt wiÆ Æem when theyÆre hungry, so you do
all your training at feeding times.
ôI started training Kes after IÆd had her about a fortnight, when
she was hard penned, that means her tail feathers and wing
feathers had gone hard at their bases. You have to use a torch at
night and keep inspecting Æem. ItÆs easy if youÆre quiet, you
just go up to her as sheÆs roosting, and spread her tail and
wings. If tÆfeathers are blue near tÆbottom oÆ tÆshaft, that means
thereÆs blood in Æem and theyÆre still soft, so theyÆre not ready
yet. When theyÆre white and hard then theyÆre ready, anÆ you
can start training her then.
ôKes waÆ as fat as a pig though at first. All young hawks are
when you first start to train Æem, and you canÆt do much wiÆ
Æem Ætil youÆve got their weight down. YouÆve to be ever so
careful though, you donÆt just starve Æem, you weigh Æem
before every meal and gradually cut their food down, Ætil you
go in one time anÆ sheÆs keen, anÆ thatÆs when you start getting
somewhere. I could tell wiÆ Kes, she jumped straight on my
glove as I held it towards her. So while she waÆ feeding I got
hold of her jesses anÆ . . .ö
ôHer what?ö
ôJesses.ö
ôJesses. How do you spell that?ö
Mr Farthing stood up and stepped back to the board.
ôEr, J-E-S-S-E-S.ö
As Billy enunciated each letter, Mr Farthing linked them
together on the blackboard.
ôJesses. And what are jesses, Billy?ö
ôTheyÆre little leather straps that you fasten round its legs as
soon as you get it. She wears these all tÆtime, and you get hold
of Æem when she sits on your glove. You push your swivel
through . . .ö
ôWhoa! Whoa!ö
Mr Farthing held up his hands as though Billy was galloping
towards him.
ôYouÆd better come out here and give us a demonstration.
WeÆre not all experts you know.ö
Billy stood up and walked out, taking up position at the side of
Mr FarthingÆs desk. Mr Farthing reared his chair on to its back
legs, swivelled it sideways on one leg, then lowered it on to all
fours facing Billy.
ôRight, off you go.ö
ôWell, when she stands on your fist, you pull her jesses down
between your fingers.ö
Billy held his left fist out and drew the jesses down between his
first and second fingers.
ôThen you get your swivel, like a swivel on a dog lead, press
both jesses together, and thread Æem through tÆtop ring of it.
TÆjesses have little slits in Æem near tÆbottom, like buttonholes
in braces, and when youÆve got tÆjesses through tÆtop ring oÆ
tÆswivel, you open these slits with your finger, and push
tÆbottom ring through, just like fastening a button.ö
With the swivel now attached to the jesses, Billy turned to Mr
Farthing.
ôDo you see?ö
ôYes, I see. Carry on.ö
ôWell when youÆve done that, you thread your leash, thatÆs a
leather thong, through tÆbottom ring oÆ tÆswivel . . .ö
Billy carefully threaded the leash, grabbed the loose end as it
penetrated the ring, and pulled it through.
ô. . . until it binds on tÆknot at tÆother end. Have you got that?ö
ôYes, I think so. Just let me get it right. The jesses round the
hawkÆs legs are attached to a swivel, which is then attached to a
lead . . .ö
ôA leash!ö
ôLeash, sorry. Then what?ö
ôYou wrap your leash round your fingers and tie it on to your
little finger.ö
ôSo that the hawk is now attached to your hand?ö
ôThatÆs right. Well, when youÆve reached this stage and itÆs
stepping on to your glove regular, and feeding all right and not
bating too much . . .ö
ôBating? WhatÆs that?ö
ôTrying to fly off; in a panic like.ö
ôHow do you spell it?ö
ôB-A-T-I-N-G.ö
ôCarry on.ö
ôWell, when youÆve reached this stage inside, you can try
feeding her outside and getting her used to other things. You
call this manning. That means taming, and youÆve got to have
her well manned before you can start training her right.ö
While Billy was talking, Mr Farthing reached out and slowly
printed on the board B A T I N G; watching Billy all the time
as though he was a hawk, and that any sudden movement, or
rasp of chalk would make him bate from the side of the desk.
ôYou take her out at night first and donÆt go near anybody. I
used to walk her round tÆfields at tÆback of our house at first,
then as she got less nervous I started to bring her out in today
and then take her near other folks, and dogs and cats and cars
and things. YouÆve to be ever so careful when youÆre outside
though, Æcos hawks are right nervous and theyÆve got fantastic
eyesight, and things are ten times worse for them than they are
for us. So youÆve to be right patient, anÆ all tÆtime youÆre
walking her youÆve to talk to her, all soft like, like you do to a
baby.ö
He paused for breath. Mr Farthing nodded him on before he
had time to become self-conscious.
ôWell, when youÆve manned her, you can start training her
right then. You can tell when sheÆs ready, Æcos she looks
forward to you cominÆ anÆ thereÆs no trouble gettinÆ her on to
your glove. Not like at first when sheÆs bating all tÆtime.
ôYou start inside first, makinÆ her jump on to your glove for
her meat. Only a little jump at first, then a bit further and so on;
and every time she comes youÆve to give her a scrap oÆ meat. A
reward like. When sheÆll come about a leash length straight
away, you can try her outside, off a fence post or summat like
that. You put her down, hold on to tÆend of your leash wiÆ your
right hand, and hold your glove out for her to fly to. This way
you can get a double leash length. After sheÆs done this, you
can take her leash off anÆ attach a creance in its place.ö
ôCreance?ö
Mr Farthing leaned over to the blackboard.
ôC-R-E-A-N-C-E ù itÆs a long line, I used a long nylon fishing
line wiÆ a clasp off a dog lead, tied to one end. Well, you clip
this to your swivel, pull your leash out, and put your hawk
down on a fence post. Then you walk away into tÆfield
unwindinÆ your creance, anÆ tÆhawk sits there waitinÆ for you to
stop anÆ hold your glove up. ItÆs so it canÆt fly away, you see.ö
ôYes I see. It all sounds very skilful and complicated, Billy.ö
ôIt donÆt sound half as bad as it is though. IÆve just telled you
in a couple oÆ minutes how to carry on, but it takes weeks to go
through all them stages. TheyÆre as stubborn as mules, hawks,
theyÆre right tempr . . . tempr . . .ö
ôTemperamental.ö
ôTemperamental. Sometimes sheÆd be all right, then next time
IÆd go in, sheÆd go mad, screaminÆ anÆ batinÆ as though sheÆd
never seen me before. YouÆd think youÆd learnt her summat,
anÆ put her away feelinÆ champion, then tÆnext time you went
you were back where you started. You just couldnÆt reckon it
up at all.ö
He looked down at Mr Farthing, eyes animated, cheeks flushed
under a wash of smeared tears and dirt.
ôYou make it sound very exciting though.ö
ôIt is, Sir. But most exciting thing waÆ when I flew her free first
time. You ought to have been there then. I waÆ frightened to
death.ö
Mr Farthing turned to the class, rotating his trunk without
moving his chair.
ôDo you want to hear about it?ö
Chorus: ôYes, Sir.ö
Mr Farthing smiled and turned back to Billy.
ôCarry on, Casper.ö
ôWell IÆd been flyinÆ it on tÆcreance for about a week, anÆ it
waÆ cominÆ back to me owt up to thirty, forty yards, anÆ it says
in tÆbooks that when itÆs cominÆ this far, straight away, itÆs
ready to fly loose. I darenÆt though. I kepÆ sayinÆ to missen, IÆll
just use tÆcreance today to make sure, then IÆll fly it free
tomorrow. But when tomorrow came I did tÆsmack same thing.
I did this for about four days anÆ I got right mad wiÆ missen
Æcos I knew IÆd have to do it sometime. So on tÆlast day I didnÆt
feed her up, just to make sure that sheÆd be sharp set next
morning. I hardly went to sleep that night, I waÆ thinking about
it that much.
ôIt waÆ on Friday night, anÆ when I got up next morning I
thought right, if she flies off, she flies off, anÆ it canÆt be
helped. So I went down to tÆshed. She waÆ dead keen anÆ all,
walking about on her shelf behind tÆbars, anÆ screaminÆ out
when she saw me cominÆ. So I took her out in tÆfield and tried
her on tÆcreance first time, anÆ she came like a rocket. So I
thought, right, this time.
ôI unclipped tÆcreance, took tÆswivel off anÆ let her hop on to
tÆfence post. There was nowt stoppinÆ her now, she waÆ just
standinÆ there wiÆ her jesses on. She could have took off anÆ
there waÆ nowt I could have done about it. I waÆ terrified. I
thought sheÆs forced to go, sheÆs forced to, sheÆll just fly anÆ
thatÆll be it. But she didnÆt. She just sat there looking round
while I backed off into tÆfield. I went right into tÆmiddle, then
held my glove up anÆ shouted her.ö
Billy held his left fist up and stared out of the window.
ôCome on, Kes! Come on then! Nowt happened at first, then,
just when I waÆ going to walk back to her, she came. You
ought to have seen her. Straight as a die, about a yard off
tÆfloor. AnÆ tÆspeed . . . She came like lightninÆ, head dead still,
anÆ her wings never made a sound, then wham! Straight up on
to tÆglove, claws out grabbinÆ for tÆmeat,ö simultaneously
demonstrating the last yard of her flight with his right hand,
gliding it towards, then slapping it down on his raised fist.
ôI waÆ that pleased I didnÆt know what to do wiÆ missen, so I
thought just to prove it, IÆll try her again, anÆ she came tÆsecond
time just as good. Well that was it. IÆd done it. IÆd trained her.ö

(This extract is published by kind permission of Michael Joseph Ltd,
cW 1968 by Barry Hines.)
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