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

by William Shakespeare

  And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,

  And frame my face to all occasions.

  I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall,

  I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk;

  I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,

  Deceive more slyly than Ulysses could,

  And like a Sinon take another Troy.

  I can add colours to the chameleon,

  Change shapes with Protheus for advantages,

  And set the murtherous Machiavel to school.

  Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?

  Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down.

  Yes, Edward will use women well.

  I wish he would shrivel up, marrow, bones and all,

  so that no offspring can come from his loins

  to block me from the golden time I'm looking forward to!

  And yet, even once the lustful Edward is out of the way

  there is Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward,

  and all their children yet unborn,

  to take their places before I can get there;

  a great block on my plans!

  Why, I'm just dreaming about being King

  like someone who stands on a cliff,

  and sees a far off shore where he wants to go,

  wishing his feet were in the same place as his eyes,

  and is angry at the sea that keeps him from there,

  saying that he would empty it to get where he wants to go.

  That's how I desire the crown, it's so far away,

  and I hate the reasons that keep me from it;

  so I say I will destroy the obstacles,

  imagining impossible things.

  I'm too greedy, I want too much,

  unless my strength and forces match my desire.

  Well, what if Richard cannot be king,

  what other pleasure can he have?

  I'll find heaven in a lady's lap,

  dress myself up in fine clothes,

  and enchant sweet ladies with my words and looks.

  What a miserable thought! And less likely to happen

  than for me to win twenty golden crowns.

  Why, love abandoned me in my mother's womb;

  and, so that I would never enjoy her,

  she bribed weak nature somehow

  to shrivel up my arm like a withered twig;

  to make a revolting hump on my back,

  where deformity mocks my body;

  to make my legs different sizes;

  to make me so imperfect that I

  am like Chaos, or a bear cub embryo,

  that looks nothing like the mother.

  So am I a man who will be loved?

  It's ridiculous to even think of such a thing!

  So, since this earth offers me no other pleasure

  than to rule, to order, to push about those

  who are better people than me,

  I shall take my pleasure by dreaming about the crown,

  and, throughout my life, I will think this world is hell

  until the misshapen body that carries this head

  is also carrying a glorious crown.

  And yet I don't know how to get the crown,

  for there are many people standing between me and my target,

  and I am like someone lost in a thorny wood,

  who tears at the thorns, and is torn by the thorns,

  looking for a path, and losing the path,

  not knowing how to find the clear spaces,

  but fighting desperately to find them,

  I am torturing myself to get the throne of England;

  and I will free myself from that torture,

  or cut my way out with a bloody axe.

  Why, I can smile, and while I'm smiling commit murder,

  and pretend to agree to things I hate,

  and wet my cheeks with fake tears,

  and make suitable expressions for all occasions.

  I shall drown more sailors than a mermaid,

  I'll kill more onlookers than a basilisk;

  I shall speak as cunningly as Nestor,

  be more slyly deceptive than Ulysses,

  and like Sinon I shall capture another Troy.

  I have more colours than a chameleon,

  I can assume more different shapes than Protheus,

  and I could teach trickery to Machiavelli.

  With all these advantages, can I not get the crown?

  Tut, if it were farther away, I would still get it.

  [Exit.]

  [Flourish. Enter LEWIS, the French King, and LADY BONA, attended:

  the King takes his state. Then enter QUEEN MARGARET, PRINCE

  EDWARD, and the EARL OF OXFORD; LEWIS rising as she enters.]

  KING LEWIS.

  Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret,

  Sit down with us; it ill befits thy state

  And birth that thou shouldst stand while Lewis doth sit.

  Fair Queen of England, good Margaret,

  sit down with me; your position and your

  ancestry make it wrong for you to stand while Louis sits.

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  No, mighty King of France; now Margaret

  Must strike her sail and learn a while to serve

  Where kings command. I was, I must confess,

  Great Albion's queen in former golden days;

  But now mischance hath trod my title down

  And with dishonour laid me on the ground,

  Where I must take like seat unto my fortune,

  And to my humble seat conform myself.

  No, great King of France; now Margaret

  must humble herself and learn to do

  what kings order. I was, I must admit,

  the Queen of great England in the golden days of the past;

  but now misfortune has stripped away my title

  and thrown me to the ground with dishonour,

  and so I must take a position which matches my fortune,

  and accept my humble place.

  KING LEWIS.

  Why, say, fair queen, whence springs this deep

  despair?

  Tell me, fair Queen, where does this great

  despair come from?

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears

  And stops my tongue, while heart is drown'd in cares.

  From a reason which fills my eyes with tears

  and stops me speaking, while my heart is suffocating with troubles.

  KING LEWIS.

  Whate'er it be, be thou still like thyself,

  And sit thee by our side; yield not thy neck

  [Seats her by him.]

  To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind

  Still ride in triumph over all mischance.

  Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief;

  It shall be eas'd if France can yield relief.

  Whatever it is, still be who you are,

  and sit by my side; don't let yourself

  become the slave of Fortune, let your indomitable

  mind triumph over all bad luck.

  Queen Margaret, openly tell me what grieves you;

  you shall be helped if there is anything I can do.

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  Those gracious words revive my drooping

  thoughts,

  And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak.

  Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis

  That Henry, sole possessor of my love,

  Is of a king become a banish'd man

  And forc'd to live in Scotland a forlorn,

  While proud ambitious Edward, Duke of York,

  Usurps the regal title and the seat

  Of England's true-anointed lawful king.

  This is the cause that I, poor Margaret,

  With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry's heir,

  Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid;
/>
  And if thou fail us, all our hope is done.

  Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help;

  Our people and our peers are both misled,

  Our treasure seiz'd, our soldiers put to flight,

  And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight.

  These kind words lift up my depressed thoughts,

  and give my silent sorrows permission to speak.

  So, noble Louis, you should know that

  Henry, the only man I love,

  has been changed from a king to an exile,

  forced to live abandoned in Scotland,

  while arrogant ambitious Edward, Duke of York,

  has stolen the royal title and the throne

  of England's rightful and lawful king.

  That's the reason that I, poor Margaret,

  with my son here, Prince Edward, Henry's heir,

  have come to ask for your just and legal help;

  if you don't help us, we have no hope.

  Scotland wants to help, but can't;

  our people and our peers are both led astray,

  our treasure has been seized, our soldiers routed,

  and, as you can see, we have been put in a terrible position.

  KING LEWIS.

  Renowned queen, with patience calm the storm

  While we bethink a means to break it off.

  Great queen, you must ride out the storm patiently

  while we think of a way to end it.

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe.

  The longer we wait, the stronger our enemy grows.

  KING LEWIS.

  The more I stay, the more I'll succour thee.

  The longer I wait, the more I'll be able to help you.

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow!--

  And see where comes the breeder of my sorrow.

  Oh, but true sorrow cannot wait!

  And here comes the one who's caused my sorrow.

  [Enter WARWICK, attended.]

  KING LEWIS.

  What's he approacheth boldly to our presence?

  Who is this who boldly comes into my presence?

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  Our Earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest friend.

  Our Earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest friend.

  KING LEWIS.

  Welcome, brave Warwick. What brings thee to France?

  Welcome, brave Warwick. What brings you to France?

  [He descends. Queen Margaret rises.]

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  Ay, now begins a second storm to rise,

  For this is he that moves both wind and tide.

  Now there's a second storm coming,

  for here is the one who causes them.

  WARWICK.

  From worthy Edward, king of Albion,

  My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend,

  I come, in kindness and unfeigned love,

  First, to do greetings to thy royal person;

  And then, to crave a league of amity;

  And lastly, to confirm that amity

  With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant

  That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister,

  To England's king in lawful marriage.

  I have come from good Edward, King of

  England, my lord and ruler and your sworn friend,

  with kindness and genuine love,

  firstly, to give you his greetings;

  and then, to ask for your friendship;

  and lastly to confirm that friendship

  with a marriage, if you will give permission

  for the good Lady Bona, your lovely sister,

  to be married to the King of England.

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  [Aside.] If that go forward, Henry's hope is

  done.

  If that happens, Henry has no hope.

  WARWICK.

  [To BONA.] And, gracious madam, in our king's behalf,

  I am commanded, with your leave and favour,

  Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue

  To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart,

  Where fame, late entering at his heedful ears,

  Hath plac'd thy beauty's image and thy virtue.

  And, gracious madam, on my king's behalf,

  I have been ordered, with your kind permission,

  to humbly kiss your hand, and to tell you

  how passionately my King feels about you,

  due to the reputation you have

  for goodness and for beauty.

  QUEEN MARGARET.

  King Lewis,--and Lady Bona,--hear me speak

  Before you answer Warwick. His demand

  Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,

  But from deceit, bred by necessity;

  For how can tyrants safely govern home

  Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?

  To prove him tyrant this reason may suffice,--

  That Henry liveth still; but were he dead,

  Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry's son.

  Look therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage

  Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour;

  For though usurpers sway the rule awhile,

  Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs.

  King Louis–and Lady Bona–listen to me

  before you answer Warwick. His demand

  does not come from any honest love of Edward's,

  but from deceit, and his own needs;

  how can tyrants safely rule their own countries

  unless they have great support from abroad?

  I can give you proof that he is a tyrant:

  Henry is still alive; but if he were dead,

  here is Prince Edward, the son of King Henry.

  So make sure, Louis, that this alliance and marriage

  does not dishonour you or put you in danger;

  usurpers can rule for a while,

  but heaven is just, and time corrects wrongs.

  WARWICK.

  Injurious Margaret!

  Slanderous Margaret!

  PRINCE.

  And why not queen?

  Why don't you call her queen?

  WARWICK.

  Because thy father Henry did usurp,

  And thou no more art prince than she is queen.

  Because your father Henry was a usurper,

  and you are no more a prince than she is a queen.

  OXFORD.

  Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt,

  Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain;

  And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth,

  Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest;

  And, after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth,

  Who by his prowess conquered all France.

  From these our Henry lineally descends.

  So Warwick rejects great John of Gaunt,

  who triumphed over most of Spain;

  and, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth,

  whose wisdom was equal to the wisest;

  and after that the wise prince, Henry the Fifth,

  who by his skill conquered all of France.

  Our Henry is a direct descendant of all these men.

  WARWICK.

  Oxford, how haps it in this smooth discourse,

  You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost

  All that which Henry the Fifth had gotten?

  Methinks these peers of France should smile at that.

  But for the rest, you tell a pedigree

  Of threescore and two years,--a silly time

  To make prescription for a kingdom's worth.

  Oxford, why is it that in this smooth speech

  you haven't told of how Henry the Sixth has lost

  everything which Henry the Fifth won?

  I think that would make these French peers smile.

 
; As for the rest of it, you're talking of a line

  that's lasted sixty-two years - no time at all

  to stake a claim to the ownership of a kingdom.

  OXFORD.

  Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege,

  Whom thou obeyedst thirty and six years,

  And not bewray thy treason with a blush?

  Why, Warwick, can you speak against your lord,

  whom you have obeyed for thirty-six years,

  without blushing at your treason?

  WARWICK.

  Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,

  Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?

  For shame, leave Henry, and call Edward king.

  How can Oxford, who always defended what was right,

  now try and defend deceit by giving it a pedigree?

  For shame, leave Henry and acknowledge Edward as king.

  OXFORD.

  Call him my king by whose injurious doom

  My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere,

  Was done to death? and more than so, my father,

  Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years,

  When nature brought him to the door of death?

  No, Warwick, no; while life upholds this arm,

  This arm upholds the house of Lancaster.

  Call the person whose vicious sentence

  meant my elder brother Lord Aubrey Vere

  was killed king? And even worse, my father,

  who was in the autumn of his years,

  approaching death in any case?

  No, Warwick, no; while this arm still has life in it,

  it will support the house of Lancaster.

  WARWICK.

  And I the house of York.

  And I will support the house of York.

  KING LEWIS.

  Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford,

  Vouchsafe at our request to stand aside

  While I use further conference with Warwick.

  Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford,

  please just stand aside

  while I talk further with Warwick.