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

by William Shakespeare

  ANGELO

  Did not I tell thee yea? hadst thou not order?

  Didn’t I already tell you yes? Don’y you have the order?Why dost thou ask again?

  Why do you ask again?

  PROVOST

  Lest I might be too rash:

  In case I might be too hasty:Under your good correction, I have seen,

  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I have seenWhen, after execution, judgment hath

  When, after an execution, a judge hasRepented o'er his doom.

  Regretted the sentence he gave.

  ANGELO

  Go to; let that be mine:

  Go on; let that be my worry:Do you your office, or give up your place,Do your job, or give it up,

  And you shall well be spared.

  And we will manage just as well without you.

  PROVOST

  I crave your honour's pardon.

  I’m very sorry, your honor.What shall be done, sir, with the groaning Juliet?

  What shall be done with Juliet, sir? She is laborShe's very near her hour.

  And very near to giving birth.

  ANGELO

  Dispose of her

  Make arrangments for herTo some more fitter place, and that with speed.

  To go to a more fit place for giving birth, and so quickly.

  Re-enter SERVANT

  SERVANT

  Here is the sister of the man condemn'd

  Here is the sister of the condemned manDesires access to you.

  She wishes to speak to you.

  ANGELO

  Hath he a sister?

  He has a sister?

  PROVOST

  Ay, my good lord; a very virtuous maid,Yes, my good lord; a very virtuous young lady,

  And to be shortly of a sisterhood,

  And about to become a nunIf not already.

  If she isn’t one already.

  ANGELO

  Well, let her be admitted.

  Well, let her come in.

  Exit SERVANT

  See you the fornicatress be removed:See you have the pregnant woman moved:

  Let have needful, but not lavish, means;

  Let her have what she needs, but nothing fancy;There shall be order for't.

  There will be authorization for it.

  Enter ISABELLA and LUCIO

  PROVOST

  God save your honour!

  Be well, your honor!

  ANGELO

  Stay a little while.

  Stay a little while.

  To ISABELLA

  You're welcome: what's your will?

  Welcome: what can I do for you?

  ISABELLA

  I am a woeful suitor to your honour,

  I wish I was not a petitioner to you, your honor,Please but your honour hear me.

  But please listen to what I have to say, your honor.

  ANGELO

  Well; what's your suit?

  Well: what are you here for?

  ISABELLA

  There is a vice that most I do abhor,

  There is an offence that I do hate,And most desire should meet the blow of justice;

  And very much wish that it should be punished;For which I would not plead, but that I must;

  For which I would not ask otherwise, except that I have to;For which I must not plead, but that I am

  For which I cannot ask, but that I amAt war 'twixt will and will not.

  Torn between wanting to and not wanting to.

  ANGELO

  Well; the matter?

  Well; what’s the reason?

  ISABELLA

  I have a brother is condemn'd to die:

  My brother is condemned to die:I do beseech you, let it be his fault,

  I implore you, let the offence be condemned,And not my brother.

  Instead of my brother.

  PROVOST

  [Aside] Heaven give thee moving graces!

  [Aside] God grant you persuasiveness!

  ANGELO

  Condemn the fault and not the actor of it?

  Condemn the offence and not the offender?Why, every fault's condemn'd ere it be done:

  Why, every offence is already condemned by it’s nature:Mine were the very cipher of a function,

  My role as judge is meaningless,To fine the faults whose fine stands in record,

  I punish the offences whose punishments are set down in the lawAnd let go by the actor.

  And let the offender go unpunished.

  ISABELLA

  O just but severe law!

  Oh law, you are right but harsh!I had a brother, then. Heaven keep your honour!

  I will no longer have a brother, then. May Heaven keep you, your honor!

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA] Give't not o'er so: to him

  [Aside to ISABELLA] Don’t give up so easily: go to himagain, entreat him;

  again, and plead with him;Kneel down before him, hang upon his gown:

  Kneel down before him, pull at his gown:You are too cold; if you should need a pin,

  You are too detached; if you need something,You could not with more tame a tongue desire it:

  You couldn’t ask for it in a more plan way:To him, I say!

  Go to him, I say!

  ISABELLA

  Must he needs die?

  Does he have to die?

  ANGELO

  Maiden, no remedy.

  Miss, there is no other way.

  ISABELLA

  Yes; I do think that you might pardon him,

  Yes, I think you could pardon him,And neither heaven nor man grieve at the mercy.

  And neither heaven nor man look down on such mercy.

  ANGELO

  I will not do't.

  I will not do it.

  ISABELLA

  But can you, if you would?

  But could you, if you wanted to?

  ANGELO

  Look, what I will not, that I cannot do.

  Look, I cannot do it if I don’t want to do it.

  ISABELLA

  But might you do't, and do the world no wrong,

  But you could do it, and do the world no wrongIf so your heart were touch'd with that remorse

  If your heart was touched with compassionA s mine is to him?

  As mine is for him?

  ANGELO

  He's sentenced; 'tis too late.

  He’s sentenced: it is too late.

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA] You are too cold.

  [Aside to ISABELLA] You are too detached.

  ISABELLA

  Too late? why, no; I, that do speak a word

  Too late? Why no; I, if I speak a wordMay call it back again. Well, believe this,

  May take it back again. Well, believe this,No ceremony that to great ones 'longs,

  No ceremony that belongs to great ones,Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword,

  Not the king’s crown, nor the sword of justiceThe marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe,

  The military officer’s command staff, nor the judge’s robeBecome them with one half so good a grace

  Suits them half as virtuouslyAs mercy does.

  As mercy does.If he had been as you and you as he,

  If he had been in your position and you in his,You would have slipt like him; but he, like you,

  You would have slipped up like him; but he, as you are,Would not have been so stern.

  Would not have been so stern.

  ANGELO

  Pray you, be gone.

  Please leave.

  ISABELLA

  I would to heaven I had your potency,

  I wish to God I had your power,And you were Isabel! should it then be thus?

  And you were Isabel! Should it be then the way it is?No; I would tell what 'twere to be a judge,

  No; I would show what it meant to be a judge,And what a prisoner.

  And what a prisoner.

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA]Ay, touch him; there's the vein.
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  Yes, touch him; that’s the way to go about it.

  ANGELO

  Your brother is a forfeit of the law,

  Your brother is subject to the law,And you but waste your words.

  And you are only wasting your words.

  ISABELLA

  Alas, alas!

  Dear me!Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once;

  Why, all the souls that ever existed were given up before the arrival of Christ,And He that might the vantage best have took

  And God, who had the best opportunity to comdemn them,Found out the remedy. How would you be,

  Found a better way. How would you be,If He, which is the top of judgment, should

  If God, who is the final judge, shouldBut judge you as you are? O, think on that;

  Judge you as you are? Oh, think about that;And mercy then will breathe within your lips,

  And you will find your mercy,Like man new made.

  Like man after salvation.

  ANGELO

  Be you content, fair maid;

  Calm down, young ladyIt is the law, not I condemn your brother:

  It is the law that sentences your brother, not me.Were he my kinsman, brother, or my son,

  Even if her were a member of my family, my brother, or my son,It should be thus with him: he must die tomorrow.

  It would still be the same for him: he will die tomorrow.

  ISABELLA

  To-morrow! O, that's sudden! Spare him, spare him!

  Tomorrow! Oh, that’s so soon! Spare him, spare him!He's not prepared for death. Even for our kitchens

  He’s not ready to die. Even in the kitchenWe kill the fowl of season: shall we serve heaven

  One kills the birds when they are ready: shall we serve heavenWith less respect than we do minister

  With less respect than we attendTo our gross selves? Good, good my lord, bethink you;

  To our mortal selves? My very good lord, please consider;Who is it that hath died for this offence?

  Who is it that dies for this offence?There's many have committed it.

  There are many people who have committed it.

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA] Ay, well said.

  [Aside to ISABELLA] Yes, well said.

  ANGELO

  The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept:

  The law hasn’t been dead, though it has been inactive:Those many had not dared to do that evil,

  The many who broke this law would not have dared to,If the first that did the edict infringe

  If the first one who did break the lawHad answer'd for his deed: now 'tis awake,

  Had been punished for it: now the law is in action,Takes note of what is done; and, like a prophet,

  It looks at what has been done; and, like a prophet,Looks in a glass, that shows what future evils,

  Looks in a crystal ball, that shows what future troubles,Either new, or by remissness new-conceived,

  Either new, or brought about by moral impurity only just thought of,And so in progress to be hatch'd and born,

  And therefore in progress to being planned and carried out,Are now to have no successive degrees,

  Are to have no further progress,But, ere they live, to end.

  And instead, before they live, are put to death.

  ISABELLA

  Yet show some pity.

  Yet show some pity.

  ANGELO

  I show it most of all when I show justice;

  I show pity most of all when I uphold the law;For then I pity those I do not know,

  For then I pity those I do not know,Which a dismiss'd offence would after gall;

  Who would be upset afterwards by an overlooked offence;And do him right that, answering one foul wrong,

  And do him right because, by responding to one bad deed,Lives not to act another. Be satisfied;

  He doesn’t live to commit another. Be satisfied;Your brother dies to-morrow; be content.

  Your brother dies tomorrow; be content.

  ISABELLA

  So you must be the first that gives this sentence,

  So you will be the frist to give this sentence,And he, that suffer's. O, it is excellent

  And he will be the first to suffer. Oh it is excellentTo have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous

  To have a brute’s strength; but it is tyrannyTo use it like a giant.

  To use it like a beast.

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA] That's well said.

  [Aside to ISABELLA] That was well said.

  ISABELLA

  Could great men thunder

  Could great men throw thunderboltsAs Jove himself does, Jove would ne'er be quiet,

  As the god Jove does, Jove would never be at peace,For every pelting, petty officer

  For every little thing, a petty officerWould use his heaven for thunder;

  Would use only this greatest weapon;

  Nothing but thunder! Merciful Heaven,

  Nothing less! Merciful God,Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt

  You would rather with your lightning boltSplit'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak

  Split the unbreakable and hardned oak treeThan the soft myrtle: but man, proud man,

  Than the delicate myrtle tree: but man, a proud man,Drest in a little brief authority,

  Given a little bit of authority,Most ignorant of what he's most assured,

  Absolutely unaware of what it is he’s been confident about,His glassy essence, like an angry ape,

  His unstable heart, like an angry ape,Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven

  Plays illusion tricks before high heavenAs make the angels weep; who, with our spleens,

  That make the angels weep; who if they could laugh like humansWould all themselves laugh mortal.

  Would all laugh to death.

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA] O, to him, to him, wench! He

  [Aside to ISABELLA] Oh, go to him, go to him, wench! Hewill relent;

  will give in;He's coming; I perceive 't.

  He’s coming round; I can tell.

  PROVOST

  [Aside] Pray heaven she win him!

  [Aside] Pray to God she wins him over!

  ISABELLA

  We cannot weigh our brother with ourself:

  We cannot judge others by the same standards as ourselves;Great men may jest with saints; 'tis wit in them,

  Great men may joke about saints; it is witty from them,But in the less foul profanation.

  But in lesser men it is blasphemy.

  LUCIO

  Thou'rt i' the right, girl; more o, that.

  You are right about that, girl; more of that.

  ISABELLA

  That in the captain's but a choleric word,

  What from the captain is only an angry word,Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy.

  From the soldier is downright profanity.

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA] Art avised o' that? more on 't.

  [Aside to ISABELLA] Are you aware of this? More about it.

  ANGELO

  Why do you put these sayings upon me?

  Why do you make me listen to these sayings?

  ISABELLA

  Because authority, though it err like others,

  Because authority, thought it makes mistakes like others,Hath yet a kind of medicine in itself,

  Still has a kind of healing power in itself,That skins the vice o' the top. Go to your bosom;That covers over wrong doings. Go to you chest;

  Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know

  Knock there, and ask you heart whether it could thinkThat's like my brother's fault: if it confess

  Like my brother’s did in his crime: if your heart confessesA natural guiltiness such as is his,

  A similar inherent tendency to that guilt,Let it not sound a thought upon your tongue

  Don’t declare the words from your mouthAgainst my brother's life.

  Against
my brother’s life.

  ANGELO

  [Aside] She speaks, and 'tis

  [Aside] She speaks, and it makesSuch sense, that my sense breeds with it. Fare you well.

  So much sense, that I am aroused by it. Good bye.

  ISABELLA

  Gentle my lord, turn back.

  My gentle lord, change your mind.

  ANGELO

  I will bethink me: come again tomorrow.

  I will think about it: come again tomorrow.

  ISABELLA

  Hark how I'll bribe you: good my lord, turn back.

  Listen to how I will bribe you: my good lord, change your mind.

  ANGELO

  How! bribe me?

  How! Bribe me?

  ISABELLA

  Ay, with such gifts that heaven shall share with you.

  Yes, with the kind of gifts that heaven with share with you.

  LUCIO

  [Aside to ISABELLA] You had marr'd all else.

  [Aside to ISABELLA] You would have made a mistake to offer anything else.

  ISABELLA

  Not with fond shekels of the tested gold,

  Not with foolish coins of tested gold,Or stones whose rates are either rich or poor

  Or the jewels whose value are either rich or poorAs fancy values them; but with true prayers

  As they are valued on a whim; but with constant prayersThat shall be up at heaven and enter there

  That shall go to heaven and enter thereEre sun-rise, prayers from preserved souls,

  Before the sunrise, prayers from the protected souls,From fasting maids whose minds are dedicate

  From the nuns whose minds are dedicatedTo nothing temporal.

  To nothing world.

  ANGELO

  Well; come to me to-morrow.

  Well; come to me tomorrow.

  LUCIO