The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 41
Why, so I did, but I don't require an answer.
Oh, let me finish my curse!
RICHARD.
'Tis done by me, and ends in-Margaret.
It's finished as far as I'm concerned, and it shall curse Margaret.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Thus have you breath'd your curse
against yourself.
So you have cursed yourself.
QUEEN MARGARET.
Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my
fortune!
Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider
Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about?
Fool, fool! thou whet'st a knife to kill thyself.
The day will come that thou shalt wish for me
To help thee curse this poisonous bunch-back'd toad.
Poor fake Queen, false copy of my destiny!
Why are you being kind to that hunchbacked spider
whose deadly web surrounds you?
Fool, fool! You are sharpening the knife which will kill you.
The day will come when you will want me
to help you curse this poisonous hunchbacked toad.
HASTINGS.
False-boding woman, end thy frantic curse,
Lest to thy harm thou move our patience.
False prophesying woman, stop your frantic cursing,
in case you provoke us to lose our temper.
QUEEN MARGARET.
Foul shame upon you! you have all
mov'd mine.
Foul shame on you! You have made me
lose mine.
RIVERS.
Were you well serv'd, you would be taught your
duty.
If you were well advised, you would learn your place.
QUEEN MARGARET.
To serve me well you all should do me
duty,
Teach me to be your queen and you my subjects.
O, serve me well, and teach yourselves that duty!
You should properly all serve me,
and teach me to be your Queen and learn to be my subjects.
Oh, serve me well, and learn to do that!
DORSET.
Dispute not with her; she is lunatic.
Don't argue with her; she's mad.
QUEEN MARGARET.
Peace, Master Marquis, you are malapert;
Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current.
O, that your young nobility could judge
What 'twere to lose it and be miserable!
They that stand high have many blasts to shake them,
And if they fall they dash themselves to pieces.
Peace, Master Marquis, you are impudent;
you have only just got your title, you hardly have authority.
I wish that with your new title you could understand
what it means to lose it and be miserable!
Those who have a high position are shaken by many events,
and if they fall they are smashed to pieces.
RICHARD.
Good counsel, marry; learn it, learn it, Marquis.
Good advice indeed; learn it, learn it, Marquis.
DORSET.
It touches you, my lord, as much as me.
It applies just as much to you, my lord, as me.
RICHARD.
Ay, and much more; but I was born so high,
Our aery buildeth in the cedar's top,
And dallies with the wind, and scorns the sun.
Yes, and more so; but I was so highborn
that our home is at the top of the cedar tree,
it plays with the wind, and ignores the sun.
QUEEN MARGARET.
And turns the sun to shade-alas! alas!
Witness my son, now in the shade of death,
Whose bright out-shining beams thy cloudy wrath
Hath in eternal darkness folded up.
Your aery buildeth in our aery's nest.
O God that seest it, do not suffer it;
As it is won with blood, lost be it so!
And covers up the sun–alas! Alas!
Look at my son, now in the shadow of death,
whose brightness has all been covered up
by the eternal darkness of your cloudy anger.
You have built your home in our nest.
Oh God who sees it, do not tolerate it;
as it was won through blood, may it be lost in the same way!
BUCKINGHAM.
Peace, peace, for shame, if not for charity!
Peace, peace, for shame, if not for kindness!
QUEEN MARGARET.
Urge neither charity nor shame to me.
Uncharitably with me have you dealt,
And shamefully my hopes by you are butcher'd.
My charity is outrage, life my shame;
And in that shame still live my sorrow's rage!
Don't tell me to be either kind or ashamed.
You have dealt with me unkindly,
and you have shamefully kills all my hopes.
My kindness is horror, my life is my shame;
and in that shame, my sorrow still rages.
BUCKINGHAM.
Have done, have done.
Enough, enough.
QUEEN MARGARET.
O princely Buckingham, I'll kiss thy
hand
In sign of league and amity with thee.
Now fair befall thee and thy noble house!
Thy garments are not spotted with our blood,
Nor thou within the compass of my curse.
Oh princely Buckingham, I shall kiss your hand
as a sign of alliance and friendship with you.
May good things come to you and your noble house!
Your clothes are not stained with my family's blood,
and you don't come within the remit of my curse.
BUCKINGHAM.
Nor no one here; for curses never pass
The lips of those that breathe them in the air.
Nor does anyone here; all curses ever do
are curse the one who utters them.
QUEEN MARGARET.
I will not think but they ascend the sky
And there awake God's gentle-sleeping peace.
O Buckingham, take heed of yonder dog!
Look when he fawns, he bites; and when he bites,
His venom tooth will rankle to the death:
Have not to do with him, beware of him;
Sin, death, and hell, have set their marks on him,
And all their ministers attend on him.
I believe that they will climb into the sky
and awake God from his peaceful sleep.
Oh Buckingham, look out for that dog there!
When he falls on you, he will bite you; and when he bites,
his poisonous teeth will give you a deadly infection:
have nothing to do with him, watch out for him;
sin, death, and hell, have all taken him for their own,
and all their ministers serve him.
RICHARD.
What doth she say, my Lord of Buckingham?
What is she saying, my Lord Buckingham?
BUCKINGHAM.
Nothing that I respect, my gracious lord.
Nothing I give any attention to, my gracious lord.
QUEEN MARGARET.
What, dost thou scorn me for my gentle
counsel,
And soothe the devil that I warn thee from?
O, but remember this another day,
When he shall split thy very heart with sorrow,
And say poor Margaret was a prophetess!
Live each of you the subjects to his hate,
And he to yours, and all of you to God's!
What, are you scorning my kind advice,
and soothing the devil I have warned you about?
Just remember this on another day,
when he will split your heart in two with sorrow,
and you
will say poor Margaret was a prophetess!
May each of you suffer from his fate,
and may he suffer yours, and may all of you suffer God's!
Exit
BUCKINGHAM.
My hair doth stand an end to hear her curses.
Her curses make my hair stand on end.
RIVERS.
And so doth mine. I muse why she's at liberty.
Mine too. I and wondering why she is free.
RICHARD.
I cannot blame her; by God's holy Mother,
She hath had too much wrong; and I repent
My part thereof that I have done to her.
I can't blame her; by God's holy mother,
too many bad things have happened to her; and I am sorry
for the part I have played in that.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
I never did her any to my knowledge.
As far as I know I never did her any wrong.
RICHARD.
Yet you have all the vantage of her wrong.
I was too hot to do somebody good
That is too cold in thinking of it now.
Marry, as for Clarence, he is well repaid;
He is frank'd up to fatting for his pains;
God pardon them that are the cause thereof!
But you have all the advantages from it.
I was too eager to help a certain person
who now is not at all eager to remember it.
Well, as for Clarence, he has been well paid;
he has been shut up in a pen to fatten for his trouble;
May God forgive those who are responsible!
RIVERS.
A virtuous and a Christian-like conclusion,
To pray for them that have done scathe to us!
A virtuous and Christian conclusion,
praying for those who have done us harm!
RICHARD.
So do I ever-[Aside]being well advis'd;
For had I curs'd now, I had curs'd myself.
I always do–[aside] it's the best thing;
for if I cursed those people, I would be cursing myself.
Enter CATESBY
CATESBY.
Madam, his Majesty doth call for you,
And for your Grace, and you, my gracious lords.
Madam, his Majesty is calling for you,
and for your grace, and you, my gracious lords.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Catesby, I come. Lords, will you go
with me?
Catesby, I'm coming. Lords, will you come
with me?
RIVERS.
We wait upon your Grace.
We will attend your Grace.
Exeunt all but RICHARD
RICHARD.
I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl.
The secret mischiefs that I set abroach
I lay unto the grievous charge of others.
Clarence, who I indeed have cast in darkness,
I do beweep to many simple gulls;
Namely, to Derby, Hastings, Buckingham;
And tell them 'tis the Queen and her allies
That stir the King against the Duke my brother.
Now they believe it, and withal whet me
To be reveng'd on Rivers, Dorset, Grey;
But then I sigh and, with a piece of Scripture,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil.
And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd old ends stol'n forth of holy writ,
And seem a saint when most I play the devil.
Enter two MURDERERS
But, soft, here come my executioners.
How now, my hardy stout resolved mates!
Are you now going to dispatch this thing?
I'm doing wrong, I'm starting the fight.
The secret mischiefs that I begin
I shall make sure others are blamed for.
Clarence, whom I have in fact thrown into the darkness,
I pretend to these simpletons I care for him;
particularly to Derby, Hastings, and Buckingham;
and I tell them that it is the Queen and her allies
who have stirred the king up against my brother the Duke.
Now they believe it, and so prepare my revenge
against Rivers, Dorset and Grey.
But then I sigh, and, quoting scripture,
tell them that God orders us to turn the other cheek:
and so I disguise my naked evil
with bits and pieces stolen from Holy Writ,
and seem to be a saint, when I am at my most devilish.
[Enter two murderers]
But, hush, here come my executioners.
Hello there, my hardy strong resolute mates!
Are you going to do this business?
FIRST MURDERER.
We are, my lord, and come to have the
warrant,
That we may be admitted where he is.
We are, my lord, and have come to get the warrant,
so that we can gain access to him.
RICHARD.
Well thought upon; I have it here about me.
[Gives the warrant]
When you have done, repair to Crosby Place.
But, sirs, be sudden in the execution,
Withal obdurate, do not hear him plead;
For Clarence is well-spoken, and perhaps
May move your hearts to pity, if you mark him.
Good thinking; I have it on me.
[Gives the warrant]
When you have finished, go to Crosby Place.
But, sirs, kill him quickly,
be hardhearted also, don't let him plead with you;
for Clarence speaks well, and might be able
to make you pity him, if you listen.
FIRST MURDERER.
Tut, tut, my lord, we will not stand to
prate;
Talkers are no good doers. Be assur'd
We go to use our hands and not our tongues.
Tut-tut, my lord, we will not stand around talking;
talkers are no good in action. I promise you
we are going to use our hands and not our tongues.
RICHARD.
Your eyes drop millstones when fools' eyes fall
tears.
I like you, lads; about your business straight;
Go, go, dispatch.
I can see you are not softhearted fools.
I like you, lads; go about your business at once;
go, go, hurry.
FIRST MURDERER.
We will, my noble lord.
We will, my noble Lord.
Exeunt
London. The Tower
Enter CLARENCE and KEEPER
KEEPER.
Why looks your Grace so heavily to-day?
Why is your Grace looking so miserable today?
CLARENCE.
O, I have pass'd a miserable night,
So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights,
That, as I am a Christian faithful man,
I would not spend another such a night
Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days-
So full of dismal terror was the time!
Oh, I have had a miserable night,
so full of terrible dreams, of ugly sights,
that, I swear by my faith as a Christian,
I wouldn't spend another night like it
even if it bought me a whole lifetime of happiness–
it was so miserable and terrifying!
KEEPER.
What was your dream, my lord? I pray you
tell me.
What did you dream, my lord? Please tell me.
CLARENCE.
Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower
And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy;
And in my company my brother Gloucester,
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches. Thence we lo
ok'd toward England,
And cited up a thousand heavy times,
During the wars of York and Lancaster,
That had befall'n us. As we pac'd along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought that Gloucester stumbled, and in falling
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
O Lord, methought what pain it was to drown,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears,
What sights of ugly death within my eyes!
Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wrecks,
A thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon,
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scatt'red in the bottom of the sea;
Some lay in dead men's skulls, and in the holes
Where eyes did once inhabit there were crept,
As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems,
That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep
And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatt'red by.
I thought I had escaped from the Tower,
and was on board ship crossing over to Burgundy;
I had my brother Gloucester with me,
who persuaded me to come from my cabin and walk
on the deck: from there we looked towards England,
and spoke of the thousand bad things that had happened
to us during the wars of York
and Lancaster. As we walked along
on the slippery deck,
I thought that Gloucester stumbled, and as he fell
he struck me (he was trying to save him) overboard,