A Street.
 Enter MISTRESS PAGE, MISTRESS QUICKLY, and WILLIAM PAGE.

Mistress Page	Is he at Master Ford's already, thinkest thou?

Quickly	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	I'll be with her by and by: I'll but bring my young man 
	here to school. Look, where his master comes; 'tis a 
	playing-day, I see.

                          Enter SIR HUGH EVANS.

	How now, Sir Hugh, no school today?

Evans	No, Master Slender is let the boys leave to play.

Quickly	Blessing of his heart!

Mistress Page	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	Come hither, William. Hold up your head; come.

Mistress Page	Come on, sirrah, hold up your head. Answer your master, be 
	not afraid.

Evans	William, how many numbers is in nouns?

William	Two.

Quickly	Truly I thought there had been one number more, because 
	they say "Od's nouns".

Evans	Peace your tattlings! What is 'fair', William?

William	Pulcher.

Quickly	Polecats! There are fairer things than polecats, sure.

Evans	You are a very simplicity 'oman; I pray you, peace. - What 
	is lapis, William?

William	A stone.

Evans	And what is 'a stone', William?

William	A pebble.

Evans	No, it is lapis: I pray you remember in your prain.

William	Lapis.

Evans	That is a good William. What is he, William, that does 
	lend articles?

William	Articles are borrowed of the pronoun, and be thus 
	declined: singulariter nominativo, hic, haec, hoc.

Evans	Nominativo hig, hag, hog; pray you mark: genitivo, huius. 
	Well, what is your accusative case?

William	Accusativo, hinc.

Evans	I pray you have your remembrance, child: accusativo, hing, 
	hang, hog.

Quickly	'Hang-hog' is Latin for bacon, I warrant you.

Evans	Leave your prabbles, 'oman. - What is the focative case, 
	William?

William	O vocativo, O.

Evans	Remember, William: focative is caret.

Quickly	And that's a good root.

Evans	Oman, forbear.

Mistress Page	[To QUICKLY.] Peace!

Evans	What is your genitive case plural, William?

William	Genitive case?

Evans	Ay.

William	Genitive, horum, harum, horum.

Quickly	Vengeance of Jenny's case! Fie on her! Never name her, 
	child, if she be a whore.

Evans	For shame, 'oman!

Quickly	You do ill to teach the child such words. He teaches him 
	to hick and to hack, which they'll do fast enough of 
	themselves, and to call 'horum'. Fie upon you!

Evans	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	[To QUICKLY.] Prithee hold thy peace.

Evans	Show me now, William, some declensions of your pronouns.

William	Forsooth, I have forgot.

Evans	It is qui, quae, quod; if you forget your quis, your 
	quaes, and your quods, you must be preeches. Go your ways, 
	and play; go.

Mistress Page	He is a better scholar than I thought he was.

Evans	He is a good sprag memory. Farewell, Mistress Page.

Mistress Page	Adieu, good Sir Hugh.
												[Exit EVANS.
	Get you home, boy. Come, we stay too long.
												[Exeunt.
