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

by William Shakespeare

  Understand your immaturity, your youth, and your temperament,

  Whether, if you yield not to your father's choice,

  So you can know, if you do not obey your father,

  You can endure the livery of a nun,

  If you can live the rest of your life as a nun.

  For aye to be in shady cloister mew'd,

  You would be caged in a dark convent

  To live a barren sister all your life,

  All your life, living as a nun, childless,

  Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.

  Chanting hymns to the cold moon, which like you is without child.

  Thrice-blessed they that master so their blood,

  Believe me, those that can quell their desires are blessed triple

  To undergo such maiden pilgrimage;

  For journeying through life as a nun is admirable –

  But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd,

  But on this earth, it is happier to be married, like a rose perfume,

  Than that which withering on the virgin thorn

  Rather than the rose that on the same stem

  Grows, lives and dies in single blessedness.

  Grows, lives, and dies, alone but chaste and blessed.

  HERMIA

  So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord,

  So I will likewise grow, live, and die alone, my lord

  Ere I will my virgin patent up

  Before I consent to losing my virginity

  Unto his lordship, whose unwished yoke

  To Demetrius, whose bond of marriage I do not wish

  My soul consents not to give sovereignty.

  And to whose authority my soul does not desire to bow.

  THESEUS

  Take time to pause; and, by the nest new moon--

  Take time and think about your decision until the new moon –

  The sealing-day betwixt my love and me,

  – which is when Hippolyta and I will marry

  For everlasting bond of fellowship--

  and be forever joined together –

  Upon that day either prepare to die

  And then you must be ready to die

  For disobedience to your father's will,

  For disobeying your father’s will,

  Or else to wed Demetrius, as he would;

  Or ready to wed Demetrius, as your father wishes,

  Or on Diana's altar to protest

  Or like the chaste Roman goddess Diana, commit

  For aye austerity and single life.

  Yourself to the nun’s vows of lifelong celibacy.

  DEMETRIUS

  Relent, sweet Hermia: and, Lysander, yield

  Change your mind, sweet Hermia! And Lysander, give up

  Thy crazed title to my certain right.

  Your claim to the woman I am due to marry.

  LYSANDER

  You have her father's love, Demetrius;

  Demetrius, you can have her father’s love

  Let me have Hermia's: do you marry him.

  And I can have Hermia’s – why don’t you marry him?

  EGEUS

  Scornful Lysander! true, he hath my love,

  Rude Lysander! Yes, I love Demetrius,

  And what is mine my love shall render him.

  And so I will give him what is mine:

  And she is mine, and all my right of her

  My daughter, and the right to marry her

  I do estate unto Demetrius.

  Is so allowed to Demetrius.

  LYSANDER

  I am, my lord, as well derived as he,

  You know, sir, I come from as good a family as he does,

  As well possess'd; my love is more than his;

  I am just as rich, and I love Hermia more.

  My fortunes every way as fairly rank'd,

  In everything I rank just as highly,

  If not with vantage, as Demetrius';

  If not higher, than Demetrius,

  And, which is more than all these boasts can be,

  And moreover, which should be what is most important,

  I am beloved of beauteous Hermia:

  Beautiful Hermia loves me in return:

  Why should not I then prosecute my right?

  Why should I not be able to marry her?

  Demetrius, I'll avouch it to his head,

  Demetrius, I promise this is true,

  Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,

  Wooed Nedar’s daughter, Helena,

  And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes,

  Until she fell for him, and she, poor girl, loves,

  Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,

  Loves deeply, almost to the point of obsession,

  Upon this spotted and inconstant man.

  This flawed and inconsistent man.

  THESEUS

  I must confess that I have heard so much,

  Admittedly, I have heard similar rumors

  And with Demetrius thought to have spoke thereof;

  And even considered speaking directly to Demetrius about them,

  But, being over-full of self-affairs,

  But, being so busy with my own obligations

  My mind did lose it. But, Demetrius, come;

  Forgot about it. Demetrius, come with me,

  And come, Egeus; you shall go with me,

  And you, Egeus, come with me as well:

  I have some private schooling for you both.

  I have some words in private to share with you both.

  For you, fair Hermia, look you arm yourself

  As for you, Hermia, prepare yourself

  To fit your fancies to your father's will;

  To do whatever your father’s will commands,

  Or else the law of Athens yields you up--

  Or else you must go before the Athenian Law –

  Which by no means we may extenuate--

  From which we cannot save you –

  To death, or to a vow of single life.

  And either die or become a nun.

  Come, my Hippolyta: what cheer, my love?

  Come, Hippolyta – how are you, my love?

  Demetrius and Egeus, go along:

  Demetrius and Egeus, come with us.

  I must employ you in some business

  I must as you about something

  Against our nuptial and confer with you

  Regarding my wedding, and speak with you

  Of something nearly that concerns yourselves.

  About something that concerns both of you.

  EGEUS

  With duty and desire we follow you.

  We follow in order to obey, and because we want to hear your words.

  Exeunt all but LYSANDER and HERMIA

  LYSANDER

  How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale?

  Oh Hermia, what is wrong? Why are you pale?

  How chance the roses there do fade so fast?

  How did the rosy redness of your cheeks fade away so quickly?

  HERMIA

  Belike for want of rain, which I could well

  Like roses, my cheeks need rain, which I could

  Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.

  Give them by crying a storm upon them.

  LYSANDER

  Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,

  Oh no! But listen: everything I have read,

  Could ever hear by tale or history,

  Either in fairy tale or true history,

  The course of true love never did run smooth;

  Says true love must always overcome problems:

  But, either it was different in blood,--

  Sometimes the problem is being from different classes--

  HERMIA

  O cross! too high to be enthrall'd to low.

  How horrible to be so wealthy and in love with someone so poor!

  LYSANDER

  Or else misgraffed in respect of years,--
r />   And sometimes there was a great age difference--

  HERMIA

  O spite! too old to be engaged to young.

  How awful to be so old and marrying someone so young!

  LYSANDER

  Or else it stood upon the choice of friends,--

  And sometimes the lovers’ friends were against the match--

  HERMIA

  O hell! to choose love by another's eyes.

  How hellish to have to love only whom someone else chose!

  LYSANDER

  Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,

  And sometimes, if the match was a good one,

  War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,

  War or death or illness attacked it

  Making it momentary as a sound,

  And ended it, as transient as a sound becoming silent,

  Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;

  As quick as a shadow disappearing, as short as a dream upon waking,

  Brief as the lightning in the collied night,

  As brief as a lightning strike in the black night sky

  That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,

  That at once shows the earth and the sky

  And ere a man hath power to say 'Behold!'

  And, before a man can say “Look!”

  The jaws of darkness do devour it up:

  Is gone into darkness, as if swallowed.

  So quick bright things come to confusion.

  Thus, good and bright things may quickly change.

  HERMIA

  If then true lovers have been ever cross'd,

  Then it seems that true lovers are so often troubled

  It stands as an edict in destiny:

  That fighting obstacles is their fate.

  Then let us teach our trial patience,

  So we should be patient in this trial

  Because it is a customary cross,

  Because it is just as normal of a problem

  As due to love as thoughts and dreams and sighs,

  For lovers as thoughts, dreams, sighs

  Wishes and tears, poor fancy's followers.

  Wishes, and tears – all things that accompany love.

  LYSANDER

  A good persuasion: therefore, hear me, Hermia.

  I agree, Hermia, now listen:

  I have a widow aunt, a dowager

  I have a widowed aunt

  Of great revenue, and she hath no child:

  Who is very wealthy and has no child for her inheritance.

  From Athens is her house remote seven leagues;

  She lives far from Athens

  And she respects me as her only son.

  And loves me like a son.

  There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee;

  We should thus, gentle Hermia, go there to wed,

  And to that place the sharp Athenian law

  Because that far away the Athenian Law

  Cannot pursue us. If thou lovest me then,

  Has no effect. So, if you love me,

  Steal forth thy father's house to-morrow night;

  Run away from your father’s house tomorrow night

  And in the wood, a league without the town,

  And go to the forest, a mile outside of town,

  Where I did meet thee once with Helena,

  To the place where I once met Helena

  To do observance to a morn of May,

  And watched the sunrise one May:

  There will I stay for thee.

  I will wait for you there.

  HERMIA

  My good Lysander!

  Oh good Lysander!

  I swear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow,

  I promise, by the bow of Cupid, messenger of Love,

  By his best arrow with the golden head,

  By his best arrow with a golden tip,

  By the simplicity of Venus' doves,

  By Venus’ doves which are simple and pure,

  By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves,

  By the fates that tie lovers together and gives them success,

  And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen,

  And by the fire that the Carthage queen burned herself in

  When the false Troyan under sail was seen,

  When her lover from Troy left by the sea,

  By all the vows that ever men have broke,

  By all the promises that men have broken

  In number more than ever women spoke,

  Which far outnumber the promises women made,

  In that same place thou hast appointed me,

  In the place that you have told me to go

  To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.

  Will I be, tomorrow, to see you.

  LYSANDER

  Keep promise, love. Look, here comes Helena.

  Keep your word, love. Look, here comes Helena.

  Enter HELENA

  HERMIA

  God speed fair Helena! whither away?

  Greetings beautiful Helena! Where are you going?

  HELENA

  Call you me fair? that fair again unsay.

  You call me beautiful? Well don’t:

  Demetrius loves your fair: O happy fair!

  Demetrius prefers your beauty – oh, that is the best beauty!

  Your eyes are lode-stars; and your tongue's sweet air

  Your eyes are like bright stars and your voice

  More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear,

  Is more pleasing than the songbird is to the shepherd

  When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear.

  In Springtime when the wheat is still green and the flower buds first appear.

  Sickness is catching: O, were favour so,

  I feel sick: if only a lover’s preference were like sickness,

  Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go;

  Then I could catch Demetrius’s favor from you, fair Helena, before I leave.

  My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye,

  Your voice would infect my ear and my eyes would become as yours,

  My tongue should catch your tongue's sweet melody.

  My voice as sweet and melodious as your voice.

  Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,

  Were everything in the world mine except Demetrius,

  The rest I'd give to be to you translated.

  I would give it to you just to be changed into you.

  O, teach me how you look, and with what art

  Teach me how you create your beauty and how

  You sway the motion of Demetrius' heart.

  You captured Demetrius’s eye and favor.

  HERMIA

  I frown upon him, yet he loves me still.

  I never smile at him, I only frown, but it has no effect: he loves me still.

  HELENA

  O that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!

  I wish I could teach my smiles how to be as alluring as your frowns!

  HERMIA

  I give him curses, yet he gives me love.

  I am rude to him and curse him, and he responds in love.

  HELENA

  O that my prayers could such affection move!

  I wish my prayers and well-wishing could be as powerful!

  HERMIA

  The more I hate, the more he follows me.

  I hate him more and more, and all it does is make him follow me more.

  HELENA

  The more I love, the more he hateth me.

  And the more I love him, the more he hates me.

  HERMIA

  His folly, Helena, is no fault of mine.

  I have done nothing to warrant his silly feelings for me.

  HELENA

  None, but your beauty: would that fault were mine!

  No, but your beauty has done enough: I wish I had that problem.

  HERMIA

  Take comfort: he no more shall see my face;

  D
on’t worry, he will not see me anymore

  Lysander and myself will fly this place.

  After Lysander and I run away.

  Before the time I did Lysander see,

  Before I met Lysander,

  Seem'd Athens as a paradise to me:

  Athens was my paradise:

  O, then, what graces in my love do dwell,

  But Lysander is so wonderful

  That he hath turn'd a heaven unto a hell!

  That in comparison this heaven is more like a hell!

  LYSANDER

  Helen, to you our minds we will unfold:

  Helen, we will tell you our secret:

  To-morrow night, when Phoebe doth behold

  Tomorrow night, when the moon looks down,

  Her silver visage in the watery glass,

  Like a silver eye, on a lake,

  Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass,

  Coloring each blade of grass silver,

  A time that lovers' flights doth still conceal,

  A time late at night that hides lovers’ plans from those asleep,

  Through Athens' gates have we devised to steal.

  We have planned to leave Athens.

  HERMIA

  And in the wood, where often you and I

  And in the forest where we used to

  Upon faint primrose-beds were wont to lie,

  Lie on the flower beds

  Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet,

  And talk about everything on our minds,

  There my Lysander and myself shall meet;

  That is where Lysander and I will meet.

  And thence from Athens turn away our eyes,

  From then, we will no longer look at Athens

  To seek new friends and stranger companies.

  And instead seek out new friends and communities.

  Farewell, sweet playfellow: pray thou for us;

  Goodbye my friend! Pray for us

  And good luck grant thee thy Demetrius!

  And we wish you good luck with Demetrius!

  Keep word, Lysander: we must starve our sight

  Be faithful, Lysander. Now we must not

  From lovers' food till morrow deep midnight.

  See each otehr until late tomorrow night.

  LYSANDER

  I will, my Hermia.

  Exit HERMIA

  Helena, adieu:

  Goodbye, Helena:

  As you on him, Demetrius dote on you!