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“thereby hangs a tale”
Pun
Act 4,
Scene 1
Lines 42-44

An explanation of Grumio’s pun on “tale” in Act 4, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Grumio

First, know my horse is tired, my master and mistress fallen out.

Curtis

How?

Grumio

Out of their saddles, into the dirt, and thereby hangs a tale.

By Shakespeare’s time, this expression with a pun on tale/tail was already common. Given in response to a question, it means that there’s a long tale attached to the explanation, like a long tail attached to a horse. There’s a bit of extra wordplay here since Grumio’s tale involves horses.