second interview with his neighbour Simo, who laughs at the notion of his house having been sold without himself being aware of it. It only remains for the deluded father to take vengeance on Tranio, and this he will set about at once. One favour he will ask of Simo—"Lend me a couple of stout slaves, and a good whip or two;"—and, thus provided, he goes in quest of the culprit.
Tranio discovers that all is lost except his spirit. That still keeps up: and he appears to have propped it with an extra cup or two. His soliloquy, in the hands of a good actor, would no doubt be effective. He has succeeded in getting the revellers out of the house before the angry father comes into it; but they have now lost all faith in him as an adviser, and what step he is to take next is by no means clear even to himself.
TRANIO (solus).
The man who loses heart when things go crooked,
In my opinion, he's not worth a rap—
What a "rap" means, now, blest if I can tell!
Well—when the master bid me fetch the young one—
Out of the country (laughs to himself), ha, ha! Well, I went—
Not into the country—to the garden-gate;
And brought out the whole lot of 'em—male and female.
When I had thus safely withdrawn my troops
Out of their state of siege, I called a council—
A council of war, you know—of my fellow-rascals;
And their very first vote was to turn me out of it.
So I called another council—of myself;
And I am doing—what I understand
