{378}
_Much Ado about Nothing_, Act IV. Sc. 1., p 72.:
"Myself would on the _hazard_ of reproaches
Strike at thy life."
When fathers kill their children, they run the risk not merely of being
reproached, but of being hanged; but this reading is a mere
sophistication by some one who did not understand the true reading,
_rearward_. Leonato threatens to take his daughter's life _after having_
reproached her.
_Taming of the Shrew_, p. 145.:
"O, yes, I saw sweet beauty in her face,
Such as the daughter of _Agenor's race_," &c.
"The daughter of Agenor's race" for "the daughter of Agenor" is awkward,
but there is a far more decisive objection to this alteration. To
compare the beauty of Bianca with the beauty of Europa is a legitimate
comparison; but to compare the beauty of Bianca with Europa herself, is
of course inadmissible. Here is another corruption introduced in order
to produce rhyming couplet; restore the old reading, "the daughter of
Agenor _had_."
_The Winter's Tale_, Act IV. Sc. 2., p. 191.:
"If, &c., let me be _enrolled_, and any name put in the book of
virtue."
We have here an abortive attempt to correct the nonsensical reading of
the old copies, _unrolled_; but if _enrolled_ itself makes sense, it
does so only by introducing tautology. Besides, it leads us away from
what I believe to be the true reading, _unrogued_.
_King John_, Act V. Sc. 7., p. 212.:
"Death, having prey'd upon the outward parts,
Leaves them _unvisited_; and his siege is now
Against the mind."
How could death prey upon the king's outward parts without visiting
them? Perhaps, however, we have here only a corruption of a genuine
text. Query, "_ill_-visited."
_Troilus and Cressida_, Act I. Sc. 3., p. 331.:
"And, with an accent tun'd in self-same key,
Replies to chiding fortune."
This, which is also Hanmer's reading, certainly makes sense. Pope read
_returns_. The old copies have _retires_. I believe Shakspeare wrote
"_Rechides_ to chiding fortune." This puzzled the compositor, who gave
the nearest common word without regard to the sense.
_Troilus and Cressida_, Act V. Sc. 1., p. 342.--The disgusting speeches
of Thersites are scarcely worth correcting, much less dwelling upon; but
there can be little doubt that we should read "male _harlot_" for "male
_varlet_;" and "preposterous _discoverers_" (not discolourers) for
"preposterous discoveries."
_Coriolanus_, Act V. Sc. 5., p. 364.:
"I... holp to reap the fame
Which he did _ear_ all his."
To _ear_ is to _plough_. Aufidius complains that he had a share in the
harvest, while Coriolanus took all the ploughing to himself. We have
only, however, to transpose _reap_ and _ear_, and this nonsense is at
once converted into excellent sense. The old corrector blindly copied
the blunder of a corrupt, but not sophisticated, manuscript. This has
occurred elsewhere in this collection.
_Antony and Cleopatra_, Act I. Sc. 5., p. 467.:
"And soberly did mount an _arm-girt_ steed."
This reading was also conjectured by Hanmer. The folios read
_arme-gaunt_. This appears to me a mere misprint for _rampaunt_, but
whether _rampaunt_ was Shakspeare's word, or a transcriber's
sophistication for _ramping_, is more than I can undertake to determine.
I believe, however, that one of them is the true reading. At one period
to _ramp_ and to _prance_ seem to have been synonymous. Spenser makes
the horses of night "fiercely _ramp_," and Surrey exhibits a _prancing_
lion.
This communication is, I am afraid, already too long for "N. & Q.;" I
will therefore only add my opinion, that, though the old corrector has
reported many bad readings, they are far outnumbered by the good ones in
the collection.