The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 322
Out of this silence yet I pick'd a welcome;
From their silence and awkwardness I still saw their intent to welcome me,
And in the modesty of fearful duty
And in their humbleness that made them afraid,
I read as much as from the rattling tongue
I saw just as much of a welcoming speech as I do from those who speak easily
Of saucy and audacious eloquence.
And give creative, loud, eloquent speeches.
Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity
Thus, someone who loves but still falters in their simple speech
In least speak most, to my capacity.
Means most to me and can say the most, even when saying the least.
Re-enter PHILOSTRATE
PHILOSTRATE
So please your grace, the Prologue is address'd.
If you are ready, my grace, the prologue is ready to be given.
THESEUS
Let him approach.
Let him start.
Flourish of trumpets
Enter QUINCE for the Prologue
Prologue
If we offend, it is with our good will.
If we offend you, know that we offend you out of our desire to.
That you should think, we come not to offend,
Or, in other words, we haven’t come to offend you,
But with good will. To show our simple skill,
But we came to bother you most with our good intentions. To show the talent of our performance
That is the true beginning of our end.
This is the beginning of our deaths.
Consider then we come but in despite.
Recognize that we are coming here in spite of.
We do not come as minding to contest you,
We do not come here to make you oppose you,
Our true intent is. All for your delight
Our true goal. For your happiness,
We are not here. That you should here repent you,
We didn’t come. That you should be forced to apologize,
The actors are at hand and by their show
The actors are ready to make you do that, and from the play
You shall know all that you are like to know.
You will find out everything you are meant to know.
THESEUS
This fellow doth not stand upon points.
This man doesn’t see the actual punctuation.
LYSANDER
He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt; he knows
He read the prologue like one riding an unbroken horse, not knowing
not the stop. A good moral, my lord: it is not
when to stop. A good lesson, my lord: just
enough to speak, but to speak true.
speaking is not good enough – it is also important to speak well, with good grammar.
HIPPOLYTA
Indeed he hath played on his prologue like a child
Yes, he spoke that prologue like a child
on a recorder; a sound, but not in government.
playin a recorder – all sounds with no coherence.
THESEUS
His speech, was like a tangled chain; nothing
His speech was like a knotted and tangled chain: nothing
impaired, but all disordered. Who is next?
was wrong with the actual speech, but the parts were all jumbled. Who is next?
Enter Pyramus and Thisbe, Wall, Moonshine, and Lion
Prologue (QUINCE)
Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show;
Gentlemen and ladies, you might be confused at this play,
But wonder on, till truth make all things plain.
But continue to think on it and everything will be clear.
This man is Pyramus, if you would know;
This man is Pyramus,
This beauteous lady Thisby is certain.
And this beautiful lady is Thisby.
This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth present
This man covered with cement and gravel is
Wall, that vile Wall which did these lovers sunder;
the Wall, the evil Wall which separated the lovers
And through Wall's chink, poor souls, they are content
who, through a small hole in the Wall, they had to
To whisper. At the which let no man wonder.
whisper. So that should clear up his part.
This man, with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn,
And this man, with the lantern, dog, and thornbush,
Presenteth Moonshine; for, if you will know,
Is playing the Moonshine – since, you know,
By moonshine did these lovers think no scorn
It was by the moon that these lovers without shame
To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo.
met at Ninus’ tomb, in order to court.
This grisly beast, which Lion hight by name,
This ugly animal, which we call a lion,
The trusty Thisby, coming first by night,
Saw Thisby, after she came to the tomb on the first night,
Did scare away, or rather did affright;
And scared her away, and frightened her severely.
And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall,
As she ran away, her cloak fell off
Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.
And the evil Lion chewed on it with an already bloody mouth.
Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth and tall,
Quickly after came Pyramus, a tall and handsome youth,
And finds his trusty Thisby's mantle slain:
Who saw Thisby’s cloak bloodied,
Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,
And, with his bloody, angry sword,
He bravely broach'd is boiling bloody breast;
He bravely thrust it into his chest.
And Thisby, tarrying in mulberry shade,
Thisby, hiding in the shade of a mulberry tree
His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest,
Saw this and took Pyramus’ dagger, and kill herself. For the rest of the story
Let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and lovers twain
I will let Lion, Moonshine, Wall, and the two lovers
At large discourse, while here they do remain.
Speak about it, since they are right here.
Exeunt Prologue, Thisbe, Lion, and Moonshine
THESEUS
I wonder if the lion be to speak.
I wonder if the lion will speak.
DEMETRIUS
No wonder, my lord: one lion may, when many asses do.
Why not? Why shouldn’t one lion speak when these donkeys have already.
Wall
In this same interlude it doth befall
At this time, it is worth repeating
That I, one Snout by name, present a wall;
That I am playing a wall (my real name is Snout).
And such a wall, as I would have you think,
The wall I am portraying, please believe,
That had in it a crannied hole or chink,
Has a hole in it
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby,
That the lovers Pyramus and Thisby
Did whisper often very secretly.
Whisper through secretly.
This loam, this rough-cast and this stone doth show
This stone and gravel all around me should make it clear
That I am that same wall; the truth is so:
That I am that wall, and truly,
And this the cranny is, right and sinister,
The hole is right here, each side of it,
Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.
And through it the lovers will whisper.
THESEUS
Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?
Can cement ever speak better?
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DEMETRIUS
It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard
It is the smartest room divider that I have ever heard
discourse, my lord.
converse, my lord.
Enter Pyramus
THESEUS
Pyramus draws near the wall: silence!
Pyramus is going near the wall, be quiet!
Pyramus
O grim-look'd night! O night with hue so black!
Oh night that looks so grim and black!
O night, which ever art when day is not!
Oh night, which is always there when the day is not!
O night, O night! alack, alack, alack,
Oh night, oh night! I am so sad, so sad,
I fear my Thisby's promise is forgot!
Because I am afraid Thisby forgot her promise!
And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,
And you, oh sweet and wonderful wall,
That stand'st between her father's ground and mine!
You stand between her father’s property and mine!
Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,
You, sweet and wonderful wall, dear wall,
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne!
Show me the hole that I can look through with my eye!
Wall holds up his fingers
Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this!
Thank you, kind wall. God protect you for this!
But what see I? No Thisby do I see.
But what do I see? Not Thisby.
O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss!
Oh evil wall, I cannot see my happiness through you!
Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!
Damn your stones for tricking me!
THESEUS
The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.
Since it is a speaking wall, it should reply to Pyramus with a curse.
Pyramus
No, in truth, sir, he should not. 'Deceiving me'
Not really, my lord, he shouldn’t because “Deceiving me”
is Thisby's cue: she is to enter now, and I am to
is the cue for Thisby to enter so that I can
spy her through the wall. You shall see, it will
see her through the wall. You’ll see, everything
fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.
will happen like I said. Here she comes.
Enter Thisbe
THISBE
O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,
Oh wall, you have heard my sad moans so often, blaming you
For parting my fair Pyramus and me!
For separating Pyramus and me!
My cherry lips have often kiss'd thy stones,
I have often kissed your stones with my lips as red as cherries,
Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.
Your stones, stuck together with cement.
PYRAMUS
I see a voice: now will I to the chink,
I see something, now I will go to the hole
To spy an I can hear my Thisby's face. Thisby!
And see if I can hear Thisby’s face. Thisby!
THRISBE
My love thou art, my love I think.
You are my love, I think.
PYRAMUS
Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace;
Think whatever you want, I am your love:
And, like Limander, am I trusty still.
Just as faithful as heroic Limander.
THISBE
And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill.
And I will be as faithful as Helen of Troy, until the Fates decide my death.
PYRAMUS
Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.
Not even Shafalus was as faithful to Procus.
THISBE
As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.
Yes, I am like Shafalus to Procrus to you too.
PYRAMUS
O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!
Oh kiss me through the hole of this evil wall!
THISBE
I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all.
I can only kiss the hole in the wall, I can’t get to your lips.
Pyramus
Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me straightway?
Then will you come meet me at Ninny’s tomb right now?
THISBE
'Tide life, 'tide death, I come without delay.
I will come at once, and neither life nor death can stop me.
Exeunt Pyramus and Thisbe
WALL
Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so;
Thus, I as Wall have finished my part,
And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.
And since I am done, Wall will leave as well.
Exit
THESEUS
Now is the mural down between the two neighbours.
And now the wall is down that separated the lovers.
DEMETRIUS
No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear
There’s nothing to do about it, lord, when walls will hear and speak
without warning.
without warning.
HIPPOLYTA
This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.
This is the silliest play I’ve ever heard.
THESEUS
The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst
The best plays are just illusions of reality, and so the worst
are no worse, if imagination amend them.
are not really worse – you just need imagination to fix them.
HIPPOLYTA
It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.
But it must be the audience’s imagination, instead of the performers.
THESEUS
If we imagine no worse of them than they of
If we imagine them as they think
themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here
of themselves, then they will look like the best of all men. Here
come two noble beasts in, a man and a lion.
come two very noble beasts: a man and a lion.
Enter Lion and Moonshine
LION
You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fear
Dear ladies, whose gentle hears might be afraid
The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,
Of the smallest mouse creeping along the floor,
May now perchance both quake and tremble here,
You might now be tremble with fear,
When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar.
After an angry lion roars.
Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am
Please know that I am really Snug the wood worker,
A lion-fell, nor else no lion's dam;
not really a fierce lion or a lioness.
For, if I should as lion come in strife
If I were a lion, and came angrily
Into this place, 'twere pity on my life.
To this place, I would be giving up my life.
THESEUS
A very gentle beast, of a good conscience.
What a kind beast, very caring for others.
DEMETRIUS
The very best at a beast, my lord, that e'er I saw.
The best actor I’ve ever seen portray a lion, my lord.
LYSANDER
This lion is a very fox for his valour.
This lion is as brave as a fox.
THESEUS
True; and a goose for his discretion.
And as wise as a goose.
DEMETRIUS
Not so, my lord; for his valour cannot carry his
No, my lord, because his courage doesn’t make him
discretion; and the fox carries the goose.
wiser – as would be suggested since a fox carries a goose.
THESEUS
His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour;
Well his wisdom certainly can’t carry his courage,
for the goose carries not the fox. It is well:
which makes sense, since the goose can’t carry the fox. Well,
leave it to his discretion, and let us listen to the moon.
we will leave the matter to his wisdom to resolve. I want to hear the moon.
MOONSHINE
This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;--
This lantern is the crescent moon above--
DEMETRIUS
He should have worn the horns on his head.
Then he should have worn horns on his head.
THESEUS
He is no crescent, and his horns are
This is no crescent moon, unless the horns
invisible within the circumference.
are invisible within the moon itself.
MOONSHINE
This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;
This lantern is the crescent moon above
Myself the man i' the moon do seem to be.
And I am the man in the moon.
THESEUS
This is the greatest error of all the rest: the man
They certainly made a mistake here: the actor
should be put into the lanthorn. How is it else the
should have been placed inside the lantern. How else would he be
man i' the moon?
the man in the moon?
DEMETRIUS
He dares not come there for the candle; for, you
He cannot go in there because of the candle;
see, it is already in snuff.
it is already charred and smoking.
HIPPOLYTA
I am aweary of this moon: would he would change!
I am tired of this moon and want it to change phases.
THESEUS
It appears, by his small light of discretion, that
It looks like, since he is not very bright,
he is in the wane; but yet, in courtesy, in all
he is waning, but we should be polite
reason, we must stay the time.
and see for certain.