SC. I.
ROMEO AND JULIET
91
| Mer. | The fee-simple! O simple! |
| Ben. | By my head, here come[C 2] the Capulets. |
| Mer. | By my heel, I care not. |
| Tyb. | Follow me close, for I will speak to them.40 Gentlemen, good den;[E 2] a word with one of you. |
| Mer. | And but one word with one of us?[C 3] couple it with something; make it a word and a blow. |
| Tyb. | You shall find me apt enough to that, sir, an[C 4] you will give me occasion.45 |
| Mer. | Could you not take some occasion without giving? |
| Tyb. | Mercutio, thou consort'st[E 3] with Romeo,—[C 5] |
| Mer. | Consort! what, dost thou make us minstrels?[E 4] an thou make minstrels of us, look to hear no-50 thing but discords: here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall make you dance. 'Zounds,[C 6][C 7] consort! |
- ↑ 37. Enter … ] Hanmer; Enter Tybalt, Petruchio, and others Q, F; transferred by many editors to follow line 38, by others to follow line 39.
- ↑ 38. come] F 2, Q 5; comes Q, F; comes a Capolet Q 1.
- ↑ 42. us?] F, us, Q.
- ↑ 44 and 50. an] Capell; and Q, F.
- ↑ 48. Romeo,—] Capell; Romeo. Q, F.
- ↑ 52. 'Zounds] Q, Come F.
- ↑ 52. 'Zounds] The F come was substituted in accordance with the statute against profanity.
- ↑ 37. Enter … ] The Petruchio of the stage-direction Q, F is probably the "young Petruchio" named by the Nurse to Juliet, I. v. 134.
- ↑ 41. good den] See I. ii. 57.
- ↑ 48. consort'st] "It is probable that the different senses of consort had two or even three different origins … But … the senses appear to have been considered as belonging to one word, and to have mutually influenced each other" (New Eng. Dict.). Thus Mercutio's play on the meanings to keep company and to combine in musical harmony falls in with what had actually happened in the history of the word.
- ↑ 49. minstrels] The word had associations not always of honour: "If any fencer, bearward, minstrel … tinker, pedlar, … have wandered abroad, he is declared a rogue, vagabond, and sturdy beggar. Lambard's Eirenarcha, ed. 1607, p. 436. In Much Ado, V. i. 129, Claudio plays on drawing (the sword) as we bid the minstrels draw (i.e. the bow).
