The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 17
Whoever said it, it is true, my lord.
LEWIS.
Keep good quarter and good care to-night;
The day shall not be up so soon as I
To try the fair adventure of to-morrow.
Keep a careful guard tonight;
the sun will not have risen before
I start my plans for tomorrow.
Exeunt
An open place wear Swinstead Abbey
Enter the BASTARD and HUBERT, severally
HUBERT.
Who's there? Speak, ho! speak quickly, or I shoot.
Who's there? Speak out! Speak quickly, or I'll shoot.
BASTARD.
A friend. What art thou?
A friend. Who are you?
HUBERT.
Of the part of England.
On the side of England.
BASTARD.
Whither dost thou go?
Where are you going?
HUBERT.
What's that to thee? Why may I not demand
Of thine affairs as well as thou of mine?
What business is that of yours? Why can't I ask
what you're doing the same way you're asking me?
BASTARD.
Hubert, I think.
You are Hubert, I think.
HUBERT.
Thou hast a perfect thought.
I will upon all hazards well believe
Thou art my friend that know'st my tongue so well.
Who art thou?
You think right.
I would bet anything
that you must be my friend if you know my voice so well.
Who are you?
BASTARD.
Who thou wilt. And if thou please,
Thou mayst befriend me so much as to think
I come one way of the Plantagenets.
Whoever you want me to be. And if you want,
you can be friendly enough to me to think
that on one side I am descended from the Plantagenets.
HUBERT.
Unkind remembrance! thou and eyeless night
Have done me shame. Brave soldier, pardon me
That any accent breaking from thy tongue
Should scape the true acquaintance of mine ear.
Useless memory! You and the blind night
have embarrassed me. Brave soldier, excuse me
for not recognising your voice.
BASTARD.
Come, come; sans compliment, what news abroad?
Come, come; forget the formalities, what's the news?
HUBERT.
Why, here walk I in the black brow of night
To find you out.
Why, I have been walking through the dark night
looking for you.
BASTARD.
Brief, then; and what's the news?
You've done it, then; and what's the news?
HUBERT.
O, my sweet sir, news fitting to the night,
Black, fearful, comfortless, and horrible.
Oh, my sweet sir, news which is suitable for the night,
Black, fearful, comfortless and horrible.
BASTARD.
Show me the very wound of this ill news;
I am no woman, I'll not swoon at it.
Tell me the results of this bad news;
I'm not a woman, it won't make me faint.
HUBERT.
The King, I fear, is poison'd by a monk;
I left him almost speechless and broke out
To acquaint you with this evil, that you might
The better arm you to the sudden time
Than if you had at leisure known of this.
I'm afraid that the King has been poisoned by a monk;
I left him almost unable to speak and escaped
to tell you of this evil, so that you might
be more prepared to deal with the emergency
than if you had found out later.
BASTARD.
How did he take it; who did taste to him?
Why did he eat it; who was his food taster?
HUBERT.
A monk, I tell you; a resolved villain,
Whose bowels suddenly burst out. The King
Yet speaks, and peradventure may recover.
A monk, I'm telling you; a complete villain,
whose bowels suddenly exploded. The King
is still speaking, and there's a chance he may recover.
BASTARD.
Who didst thou leave to tend his Majesty?
Who did you leave looking after his Majesty?
HUBERT.
Why, know you not? The lords are all come back,
And brought Prince Henry in their company;
At whose request the King hath pardon'd them,
And they are all about his Majesty.
Why, haven't you heard? The lords have all come back,
and brought Prince Henry with them;
at his request the King has pardoned them,
and they are all with his Majesty.
BASTARD.
Withhold thine indignation, mighty heaven,
And tempt us not to bear above our power!
I'll tell thee, Hubert, half my power this night,
Passing these flats, are taken by the tide-
These Lincoln Washes have devoured them;
Myself, well-mounted, hardly have escap'd.
Away, before! conduct me to the King;
I doubt he will be dead or ere I come.
Hold back your anger, mighty heaven,
and do not tempt us to do more than we are capable of!
I tell you, Hubert, half of my forces tonight,
walking over these marshes, have been washed away by the tide–
these Lincoln marshes have swallowed them;
I, on a good horse, only just escaped.
Lead the way! Take me to the king;
I'm afraid that he'll be dead before I get there.
Exeunt
The orchard at Swinstead Abbey
Enter PRINCE HENRY, SALISBURY, and BIGOT
PRINCE HENRY.
It is too late; the life of all his blood
Is touch'd corruptibly, and his pure brain.
Which some suppose the soul's frail dwelling-house,
Doth by the idle comments that it makes
Foretell the ending of mortality.
It's too late; all of his lifeblood
has been corrupted, as well as his pure brain,
which some imagine is where the soul lives,
which shows by the strange comments that it makes
that it is about to die.
Enter PEMBROKE
PEMBROKE.
His Highness yet doth speak, and holds belief
That, being brought into the open air,
It would allay the burning quality
Of that fell poison which assaileth him.
His Highness is still speaking, and believes
that if he was brought into the open air
it would soften the burning
of the evil poison which is attacking him.
PRINCE HENRY.
Let him be brought into the orchard here.
Doth he still rage?
Bring him out into the orchard here.
Is he still raving?
Exit BIGOT
PEMBROKE.
He is more patient
Than when you left him; even now he sung.
He's calmer
than when you left him; just now he sung.
PRINCE HENRY.
O vanity of sickness! Fierce extremes
In their continuance will not feel themselves.
Death, having prey'd upon the outward parts,
Leaves them invisible, and his siege is now
Against the mind, the which he pricks and wounds
With many legions of strange fantasies,
Which, in their throng and press to that last hold,
>
Confound themselves. 'Tis strange that death should sing.
I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan
Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death,
And from the organ-pipe of frailty sings
His soul and body to their lasting rest.
The deceitfulness of sickness! When you reach
these outer limits you do not know you're there.
Death, having triumphed over the outer shell,
disappears from it and he now attacks
the mind, which he pricks and wounds
with great throngs of strange fantasies,
which, as they press forward on that last defence,
destroy themselves. It's strange that death should sing.
I am the cygnet of this pale faint swan
who sings a sad hymn for his own death
and with his weak voice sings
his soul and body to their eternal rest.
SALISBURY.
Be of good comfort, Prince; for you are born
To set a form upon that indigest
Which he hath left so shapeless and so rude.
Console yourself, Prince; for you were born
to bring order to this chaos
which he has left so formless and rough.
Re-enter BIGOT and attendants, who bring in
KING JOHN in a chair
KING JOHN.
Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room;
It would not out at windows nor at doors.
There is so hot a summer in my bosom
That all my bowels crumble up to dust.
I am a scribbled form drawn with a pen
Upon a parchment, and against this fire
Do I shrink up.
Ah, that's better, now my soul has elbow room;
it can't get out of windows or doors.
There is such a hot summer in my heart
that my bowels crumble into dust.
I am a scribbled picture drawn with a pen
on a parchment, and this fire
shrivels me up.
PRINCE HENRY.
How fares your Majesty?
How is your Majesty?
KING JOHN.
Poison'd-ill-fare! Dead, forsook, cast off;
And none of you will bid the winter come
To thrust his icy fingers in my maw,
Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course
Through my burn'd bosom, nor entreat the north
To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips
And comfort me with cold. I do not ask you much;
I beg cold comfort; and you are so strait
And so ingrateful you deny me that.
Poisoned–bad food! Dead, forsaken, lost;
and none of you will ask the winter to come
and push his icy fingers into my mouth,
or let the rivers of my kingdom run through
my burning heart, nor ask the North
to send his harsh winds to kiss my parched lips
and comfort me with the cold. I'm not asking much from you;
I'm asking for cold comfort; and you are so ungenerous
and so ungrateful that you won't let me have it.
PRINCE HENRY.
O that there were some virtue in my tears,
That might relieve you!
I wish that my tears had some power
to give you relief!
KING JOHN.
The salt in them is hot.
Within me is a hell; and there the poison
Is as a fiend confin'd to tyrannize
On unreprievable condemned blood.
The salt in them is hot.
There is a hell inside me; and the poison
is a devil put in there to attack
the unsaveable condemned blood.
Enter the BASTARD
BASTARD.
O, I am scalded with my violent motion
And spleen of speed to see your Majesty!
Oh, I am boiling with the rush I have had
to charge here to see your Majesty!
KING JOHN.
O cousin, thou art come to set mine eye!
The tackle of my heart is crack'd and burnt,
And all the shrouds wherewith my life should sail
Are turned to one thread, one little hair;
My heart hath one poor string to stay it by,
Which holds but till thy news be uttered;
And then all this thou seest is but a clod
And module of confounded royalty.
Oh cousin, you have come in time to close my eyes!
The ropes of my heart are cracked and burnt,
and all the sails that should drive my life
are hanging by one thread, a tiny hair;
my heart has only one weak string left,
which is holding out only until I can hear your news;
and then what you see will just be a lump of earth,
a counterfeit of destroyed royalty.
BASTARD.
The Dauphin is preparing hitherward,
Where God He knows how we shall answer him;
For in a night the best part of my pow'r,
As I upon advantage did remove,
Were in the Washes all unwarily
Devoured by the unexpected flood.
The Dauphin is coming this way,
and only God knows how we will repel him;
in the night I lost the best part of my forces,
which I was taking the opportunity to move,
and in the Washes they were taken by surprise,
swept away by an unexpected flood.
[The KING dies]
SALISBURY.
You breathe these dead news in as dead an ear.
My liege! my lord! But now a king-now thus.
You are telling this fatal news to a dead man.
My lord!My lord!Just now he was a king, now this.
PRINCE HENRY.
Even so must I run on, and even so stop.
What surety of the world, what hope, what stay,
When this was now a king, and now is clay?
That is how I must carry on, and how I will end.
what guarantee is there in the world, what hope, what support,
when this was once a king, and is now clay?
BASTARD.
Art thou gone so? I do but stay behind
To do the office for thee of revenge,
And then my soul shall wait on thee to heaven,
As it on earth hath been thy servant still.
Now, now, you stars that move in your right spheres,
Where be your pow'rs? Show now your mended faiths,
And instantly return with me again
To push destruction and perpetual shame
Out of the weak door of our fainting land.
Straight let us seek, or straight we shall be sought;
The Dauphin rages at our very heels.
Have you gone?I am only remaining
to take revenge on your behalf,
and then my soul shall be your servant in heaven
as it still is on earth.
Now, you stars that are moving in your correct orbits,
where are your powers? Show me how you have returned to your loyalties,
and come back with me at once
to throw destruction and eternal shame
out of the weak door of our shrinking country.
Let us go hunting at once, or we shall be hunted;
the Dauphin is charging up behind us.
SALISBURY.
It seems you know not, then, so much as we:
The Cardinal Pandulph is within at rest,
Who half an hour since came from the Dauphin,
And brings from him such offers of our peace
As we with honour and respect may take,
With purpose presently to leave this war.
It seems that you don't know what we do
:
Cardinal Pandulph is resting inside,
he came from the Dauphin half an hour ago,
and brings offers of peace from him
that we can accept honourably,
and will let us stop this war at once.
BASTARD.
He will the rather do it when he sees
Ourselves well sinewed to our defence.
He will be more agreeable to peace terms
when he sees us strongly prepared for our defence.
SALISBURY.
Nay, 'tis in a manner done already;
For many carriages he hath dispatch'd
To the sea-side, and put his cause and quarrel
To the disposing of the Cardinal;
With whom yourself, myself, and other lords,
If you think meet, this afternoon will post
To consummate this business happily.
No, it's almost done already;
he has sent many carriages down
to the coast, and left his negotiations
in the hands of the cardinal;
you and I and other lords,
if you agree, will meet with him this afternoon
to bring about a happy ending to this business.
BASTARD.
Let it be so. And you, my noble Prince,
With other princes that may best be spar'd,
Shall wait upon your father's funeral.
I agree.And you, my noble Prince,
with the other princes who can best be spared,
will attend to the funeral of your father.
PRINCE HENRY.