The Merry Wives of Windsor
Act IV, Scene 1
Windsor. A street.
- Enter Mistress Page, Mistress Quickly, William.
Mistress Page
1- Is he at Master Ford’s already, think’st thou?
Mistress Quickly
2 - 4- Sure he is by this—or will be presently. But truly he is
- very courageous mad about his throwing into the water.
- Mistress Ford desires you to come suddenly.
Mistress Page
5 - 8- I’ll be with her by and by; I’ll but bring my young man here
- to school.
- Enter Evans.
- Look where his master comes; ’tis a playing-day, I see. How
- now, Sir Hugh, no school today?
Evans
9- No; Master Slender is let the boys leave to play.
Mistress Quickly
10- Blessing of his heart!
Mistress Page
11 - 13- Sir Hugh, my husband says my son profits nothing in the
- world at his book. I pray you ask him some questions in his
- accidence.
Evans
14- Come hither, William; hold up your head; come.
Mistress Page
15 - 16- Come on, sirrah; hold up your head. Answer your master, be
- not afraid.
Evans
17- William, how many numbers is in nouns?
William
18- Two.
Mistress Quickly
19 - 20- Truly, I thought there had been one number more, because
- they say, “’Od’s nouns.”
Evans
21- Peace your tattlings! What is “fair,” William?
William
22- Pulcher.
Mistress Quickly
23- Poulcats? There are fairer things than poulcats sure.
Evans
24 - 25- You are a very simplicity oman; I pray you peace. What is
- lapis, William?
William
26- A stone.
Evans
27- And what is ‘a stone,’ William?
William
28- A pebble.
Evans
29- No; it is lapis. I pray you remember in your prain.
William
30- Lapis.
Evans
31 - 32- That is a good William. What is he, William, that does lend
- articles?
William
33 - 34- Articles are borrow’d of the pronoun, and be thus declin’d,
- Singulariter, nominativo, hic, haec, hoc.
Evans
35 - 36- Nominativo, hig, hag, hog; pray you mark; genitivo, hujus.
- Well, what is your accusative case?
Byam Shaw, 1901
William
37- Accusativo, hinc.
Evans
38 - 39- I pray you have your remembrance, child. Accusativo, hung,
- hang, hog.
Mistress Quickly
40- “Hang-hog” is Latin for bacon, I warrant you.
Evans
41 - 42- Leave your prabbles, oman. What is the focative case,
- William?
William
43- O—vocativo, O.
Evans
44- Remember, William, focative is caret.
Mistress Quickly
45- And that’s a good root.
Evans
46- Oman, forbear.
Mistress Page
47- Peace!
Evans
48- What is your genitive case plural, William?
William
49- Genitive case?
Evans
50- Ay.
William
51- Genitivo, horum, harum, horum.
Mistress Quickly
52 - 53- Vengeance of Jinny’s case! Fie on her! Never name her,
- child, if she be a whore.
Evans
54- For shame, oman.
Mistress Quickly
55 - 57- You do ill to teach the child such words. He teaches him to
- “hic” and to “hac,” which they’ll do fast enough of
- themselves, and to call “horum,”—fie upon you!
Evans
58 - 60- 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
61- Prithee hold thy peace.
Evans
62- Show me now, William, some declensions of your pronouns.
William
63- Forsooth, I have forgot.
Evans
64 - 66- It is qui, quae, quod: if you forget your qui’s, your
- quae’s, and your quod’s, you must be preeches. Go your ways
- and play, go.
Mistress Page
67- He is a better scholar than I thought he was.
Evans
68- He is a good sprag memory. Farewell, Mistress Page.
Mistress Page
69 - 70- Adieu, good Sir Hugh.
- Exit Evans.
- Get you home, boy. Come, we stay too long.
- Exeunt.
Come on, sirrah; hold up your head. Answer your master, be not afraid.
From: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Hugh Thomson, 1910