Now I’m not worried. You there, young sport! Your father
would be a fool to give you all his wealth and spend his declining
years as a guest in your house. It’s absurd. An old Italian
fox is never that generous, my boy.
Exit
He exits.
400
405
TRANIO
A vengeance on your crafty withered hide!
Yet I have faced it with a card of ten.
'Tis in my head to do my master good.
I see no reason but supposed Lucentio
Must get a father, called “supposed
Vincentio”—
And that’s a wonder. Fathers commonly
Do get their children. But in this case of wooing,
A child shall get a sire, if I fail not of my cunning.
TRANIO
Sneaky, dried-up old coot! We’ll see who gets the upper
hand! I’ve already bluffed pretty well—and
without even a face card. I have a mind to help my master. Clearly,
the fake Lucentio will have to produce a father—call him
“fake Vincentio”—and it will be
a miracle. Usually fathers produce children, not the other way
around. But in this case of wooing, a child shall father his own
father—if my wits don’t fail me.