The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)

by William Shakespeare

  for the whole nation unanimously cried out

  hatred against him; and all their prayers and love

  were offered to Hereford, whom they loved

  and blessed and honoured, more than the king.

  But this is wandering from the point.

  I have come here from our princely general

  to hear your grievances; to tell you that his Grace

  will listen to you; and if

  you have justifiable demands

  they will be granted, anything

  that stops you behaving like enemies.

  MOWBRAY.

  But he hath forc'd us to compel this offer;

  And it proceeds from policy, not love.

  But he has been forced to make us this offer,

  and it is motivated by politics, not love.

  WESTMORELAND.

  Mowbray, you overween to take it so;

  This offer comes from mercy, not from fear:

  For, lo! within a ken our army lies,

  Upon mine honour, all too confident

  To give admittance to a thought of fear.

  Our battle is more full of names than yours,

  Our men more perfect in the use of arms,

  Our armour all as strong, our cause the best;

  Then reason will our hearts should be as good:

  Say you not then our offer is compell'd.

  Mowbray, you interpret that arrogantly;

  this offer comes from mercy, not from fear:

  look! Our army is within earshot,

  and I can swear that we are so confident

  that we don't even think of fear.

  We have more noble men on our side than yours,

  our men are better trained in arms,

  our armour is just as strong, our cause is better;

  so logically our hearts are just as good.

  Do not say that you have forced us to make this offer.

  MOWBRAY.

  Well, by my will we shall admit no parley.

  Well, I say that we will have no negotiations.

  WESTMORELAND.

  That argues but the shame of your offence:

  A rotten case abides no handling.

  All that indicates is how shameful your crimes are:

  a weak case cannot tolerate examination.

  HASTINGS.

  Hath the Prince John a full commission,

  In very ample virtue of his father,

  To hear and absolutely to determine

  Of what conditions we shall stand upon?

  Has Prince John got proper orders,

  with the full authority of his father,

  to listen and make the final decision

  about the conditions we insist upon?

  WESTMORELAND.

  That is intended in the general's name:

  I muse you make so slight a question.

  That's what the title of general means:

  I'm surprised that you even have to ask.

  ARCHBISHOP.

  Then take, my Lord of Westmoreland, this schedule,

  For this contains our general grievances:

  Each several article herein redress'd,

  All members of our cause, both here and hence,

  That are insinew'd to this action,

  Acquitted by a true substantial form

  And present execution of our wills

  To us and to our purposes confined,

  We come within our awful banks again

  And knit our powers to the arm of peace.

  Then, my Lord Westmorland, take this list,

  for it contains our general grievances:

  if each matter on the list is addressed,

  if all the members of our party, both here and elsewhere,

  who have committed to this action,

  are given full and guaranteed pardons

  and prompt satisfaction for all our demands

  we will retreat to our proper boundaries,

  only interfere in our own affairs,

  and we will support the cause of peace.

  WESTMORELAND.

  This will I show the general. Please you, lords,

  In sight of both our battles we may meet;

  And either end in peace, which God so frame!

  Or to the place of difference call the swords

  Which must decide it.

  I will show this to the general. If you please, Lords,

  we shall meet in sight of both of our armies;

  we shall either end in peace, which please God grant!

  Or we shall summon together these swords

  which must decide our differences.

  ARCHBISHOP.

  My lord, we will do so.

  My Lord, we will do so.

  [Exit Westmoreland.]

  MOWBRAY.

  There is a thing within my bosom tells me

  That no conditions of our peace can stand.

  The feeling within my heart tells me

  that they cannot uphold the conditions of our peace.

  HASTINGS.

  Fear you not that: if we can make our peace

  Upon such large terms and so absolute

  As our conditions shall consist upon,

  Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains.

  Don't worry about that: if we make peace

  on such generous terms and so watertight

  as our demands insist on

  our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains.

  MOWBRAY.

  Yea, but our valuation shall be such

  That every slight and false-derived cause,

  Yea, every idle, nice and wanton reason

  Shall to the king taste of this action;

  That, were our royal faiths martyrs in love,

  We shall be winnow'd with so rough a wind

  That even our corn shall seem as light as chaff

  And good from bad find no partition.

  Yes, but the value placed on us will be such

  that every insignificant or false cause,

  every useless and greedy reason,

  will make the King think of us;

  so if we were to die for the King

  we would still be attacked so roughly

  that the wheat will not be distinguished from the chaff

  and the good will not be separated from the bad.

  ARCHBISHOP.

  No, no, my lord. Note this; the king is weary

  Of dainty and such picking grievances:

  For he hath found to end one doubt by death

  Revives two greater in the heirs of life,

  And therefore will he wipe his tables clean

  And keep no tell-tale to his memory

  That may repeat and history his loss

  To new remembrance; for full well he knows

  He cannot so precisely weed this land

  As his misdoubts present occasion:

  His foes are so enrooted with his friends

  That, plucking to unfix an enemy,

  He doth unfasten so and shake a friend:

  So that this land, like an offensive wife

  That hath enraged him on to offer strokes,

  As he is striking, holds his infant up

  And hangs resolved correction in the arm

  That was uprear'd to execution.

  No, no, my lord. Think about this; the King is tired

  of entertaining these fussy suspicions:

  for he has discovered that killing one source of fear

  will create two more amongst their heirs,

  and so he will wipe the slate clean

  and banish anything from his memory

  that can bring the story of his loss

  back to mind; for he knows full well

  he can't completely clear the land of everything

  which gives cause for suspicion:

  his enemies and friends are so entwined

  that, trying to uproot an enemy,
/>   he uproots and harms a friend.

  So this land is like an offensive wife,

  who has angered him to the point of violence,

  and that, as he is striking, holds up his child,

  and thereby stops the arm

  that was drawn back to give out punishment.

  HASTINGS.

  Besides, the king hath wasted all his rods

  On late offenders, that he now doth lack

  The very instruments of chastisement:

  So that his power, like to a fangless lion,

  May offer, but not hold.

  Besides, the King has used up all his forces

  on punishing previous offenders, so that he now lacks

  the power he needs for punishment:

  so his power is like a toothless lion,

  which can threaten but cannot act.

  ARCHBISHOP.

  'Tis very true:

  And therefore be assured, my good lord marshal,

  If we do now make our atonement well,

  Our peace will, like a broken limb united,

  Grow stronger for the breaking.

  It's very true:

  and so rest assured, my good lord marshal,

  that if we now make a good reconciliation

  the peace will be like a broken limb reset,

  stronger because it was broken.

  MOWBRAY.

  Be it so.

  Here is return'd my Lord of Westmoreland.

  May it be so.

  My Lord of Westmorland has come back.

  [Re-enter Westmoreland.]

  WESTMORELAND.

  The prince is here at hand: pleaseth your lordship

  To meet his grace just distance 'tween our armies.

  The prince is nearby: would your lordship please come

  to meet his grace in between our armies.

  MOWBRAY.

  Your grace of York, in God's name then, set forward.

  Your grace of York then, go forward in the name of God.

  ARCHBISHOP.

  Before, and greet his grace: my lord, we come.

  Go on, and greet his grace: my Lord, we are coming.

  [Exeunt.]

  [Enter, from one side, Mowbray, attended; afterwards, the

  Archbishop, Hastings, and others; from the other side, Prince

  John of Lancaster, and Westmoreland; Officers, and others with

  them.]

  LANCASTER.

  You are well encounter'd here, my cousin Mowbray:

  Good day to you, gentle lord Archbishop;

  And so to you, Lord Hastings, and to all.

  My Lord of York, it better show'd with you

  When that your flock, assembled by the bell,

  Encircled you to hear with reverence

  Your exposition on the holy text

  Than now to see you here an iron man,

  Cheering a rout of rebels with your drum,

  Turning the word to sword and life to death.

  That man that sits within a monarch's heart,

  And ripens in the sunshine of his favour,

  Would he abuse the countenance of the king,

  Alack, what mischiefs might he set abroach

  In shadow of such greatness! With you, lord bishop,

  It is even so. Who hath not heard it spoken

  How deep you were within the books of God?

  To us the speaker in his parliament;

  To us the imagined voice of God himself;

  The very opener and intelligencer

  Between the grace, the sanctities of heaven

  And our dull workings. O, who shall believe

  But you misuse the reverence of your place,

  Employ the countenance and grace of heaven,

  As a false favourite doth his prince's name,

  In deeds dishonourable? You have ta'en up,

  Under the counterfeited zeal of God,

  The subjects of his substitute, my father,

  And both against the peace of heaven and him

  Have here up-swarm'd them.

  Good to see you here, my cousin Mowbray;

  good day to you, noble Lord Archbishop;

  and the same to you, Lord Hastings, and to all of you.

  My Lord, you looked better when

  your flock, called by the church bell,

  gathered round you to respectfully listen

  to your explanations of the Bible

  than to see you here now in armour,

  cheering on a rabble of rebels with your drum,

  exchanging the word for the sword, and life for death.

  If the man who is close to the heart of the monarch,

  and who prospers due to his position,

  if he abuses the King’s support,

  alas, what troubles he can start

  in the shadow of greatness! That is how it is with you,

  Lord Bishop. Who hasn't heard tell of

  how well you were in God's good graces,

  to us you were his representative on earth,

  we imagined you spoke with the voice of God himself,

  the interpreter and messenger

  between the grace of heaven

  and our dull thoughts. Oh, who can think anything

  but that you are abusing the holiness of your position,

  using the grace and favour of heaven

  as a false favourite uses the name of his prince,

  to do dishonourable deeds? You have raised a force,

  under the false pretence of faith in God,

  of the subjects of God's representative on earth, my father,

  and have set them on to rebel against

  both the peace of heaven and against him.

  ARCHBISHOP.

  Good my Lord of Lancaster,

  I am not here against your father's peace;

  But, as I told my Lord of Westmoreland,

  The time misorder'd doth, in common sense,

  Crowd us and crush us to this monstrous form

  To hold our safety up. I sent your grace

  The parcels and particulars of our grief,

  The which hath been with scorn shoved from the court,

  Whereon this Hydra son of war is born;

  Whose dangerous eyes may well be charm'd asleep

  With grant of our most just and right desires,

  And true obedience, of this madness cured,

  Stoop tamely to the foot of majesty.

  My good Lord of Lancaster,

  I am not here to disturb your father's peace;

  but, as I told my Lord of Westmorland,

  these chaotic times make us have to,

  as everyone can see, assume this terrible course of action

  in order to preserve ourselves. I sent your Grace

  a list of all our particular grievances,

  and it has been rejected with scorn by the court,

  and that is what has given birth to this terrible war,

  which can be ended at once

  by granting our most justified requests,

  and when this is all over we will obediently

  bow down to the foot of the King.

  MOWBRAY.

  If not, we ready are to try our fortunes

  To the last man.

  If they are not, we are ready to take our chances,

  down to the last man.

  HASTINGS.

  And though we here fall down,

  We have supplies to second our attempt:

  If they miscarry, theirs shall second them;

  And so success of mischief shall be born

  And heir from heir shall hold this quarrel up

  Whiles England shall have generation.

  And if we should fail here,

  we have reinforcements who will try again:

  if they fail, their descendants will try yet again;

  and so mischief will grow from mischief,

  and heir after heir will keep this quarrel g
oing

  as long as England has children.

  LANCASTER.

  You are too shallow, Hastings, much to shallow,

  To sound the bottom of the after-times.

  You are too shallow, Hastings, much too shallow,

  to know what will happen in the future.

  WESTMORELAND.

  Pleaseth your grace to answer them directly

  How far forth you do like their articles.

  If you please, your Grace, answer them directly

  concerning their grievances.

  LANCASTER.

  I like them all, and do allow them well,

  And swear here, by the honour of my blood,

  My father's purposes have been mistook,

  And some about him have too lavishly

  Wrested his meaning and authority.

  My lord, these griefs shall be with speed redress'd;

  Upon my soul, they shall. If this may please you,

  Discharge your powers unto their several counties,

  As we will ours; and here between the armies

  Let 's drink together friendly and embrace,

  That all their eyes may bear those tokens home

  Of our restored love and amity.

  I agree to them all, and say they are all right,

  and I swear here, on the honour of my blood,

  that my father's intentions have been misunderstood,

  and some of his followers have been interpreting

  his meaning and his power too widely.

  My Lord, these grievances shall be swiftly addressed;

  I swear on my soul, they shall. If this pleases you,

  disperse your forces back to their different counties,

  and we will do the same; and here between our armies

  let's toast each other and embrace,

  so that all of them can bear witness, and report it

  in their homes, to our renewed love and friendship.

  ARCHBISHOP.

  I take your princely word for these redresses.

  I take your word as a Prince that you will do this.

  LANCASTER.