The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 350
Did you start off so young? Were you a tart at
five or seven?
MARINA
Earlier too, sir, if now I be one.
Earlier than that, sir, if that's what I am now.
LYSIMACHUS
Why, the house you dwell in proclaims you to be a
creature of sale.
Why, the house you live in advertises you as a
creature who can be bought.
MARINA
Do you know this house to be a place of such resort,
and will come into 't? I hear say you are of
honourable parts, and are the governor of this place.
So you know that this house is that sort of place,
and you want to come inside? I've heard tell that you are
an honourable man, and are the governor of this place.
LYSIMACHUS
Why, hath your principal made known unto you who I am?
Why, has your boss told you who I am?
MARINA
Who is my principal?
Who's my boss?
LYSIMACHUS
Why, your herb-woman; she that sets seeds and roots
of shame and iniquity. O, you have heard something
of my power, and so stand aloof for more serious
wooing. But I protest to thee, pretty one, my
authority shall not see thee, or else look friendly
upon thee. Come, bring me to some private place:
come, come.
Why, that gardener; the one that puts down the seeds and roots
of shame and disgrace. I see, you have heard about
my power, and so you're being standoffish, hoping for
a better proposal. But I must tell you, pretty one, I can't
see you in an official capacity, or otherwise be friendly
to you. Come on, take me somewhere private:
come on, come on.
MARINA
If you were born to honour, show it now;
If put upon you, make the judgment good
That thought you worthy of it.
If you have any natural honour, show it now;
if you have any honour that's been given to you,
justify the faith of those who thought you were worth it.
LYSIMACHUS
How's this? how's this? Some more; be sage.
What's this? What's this? Say some more; be wise.
MARINA
For me,
That am a maid, though most ungentle fortune
Have placed me in this sty, where, since I came,
Diseases have been sold dearer than physic,
O, that the gods
Would set me free from this unhallow'd place,
Though they did change me to the meanest bird
That flies i' the purer air!
I'll say for me,
that I am a virgin, although the cruellest fate
has put me in this pigsty, where, since I arrived,
people get diseases, paying a higher price than they would for medicine,
oh, I wish the gods
would set me free from this unholy place,
even if it meant changing into the most insignificant bird
that flies through the purer air!
LYSIMACHUS
I did not think
Thou couldst have spoke so well; ne'er dream'd thou couldst.
Had I brought hither a corrupted mind,
Thy speech had alter'd it. Hold, here's gold for thee:
Persever in that clear way thou goest,
And the gods strengthen thee!
I didn't think
that you would be able to speak so well; I never dreamt that you could.
If I came here with a perverted mind,
your speech has changed it. Wait, here's money for you:
keep on the straight path you're travelling,
and may the gods give you strength!
MARINA
The good gods preserve you!
May be good gods preserve you!
LYSIMACHUS
For me, be you thoughten
That I came with no ill intent; for to me
The very doors and windows savour vilely.
Fare thee well. Thou art a piece of virtue, and
I doubt not but thy training hath been noble.
Hold, here's more gold for thee.
A curse upon him, die he like a thief,
That robs thee of thy goodness! If thou dost
Hear from me, it shall be for thy good.
Re-enter BOULT
For me, be assured
that I came with no bad intent; for me
the actual doors and windows revolt me.
Goodbye. You are an exemplar of virtue, and
I cannot doubt that you have been well brought up.
Wait, here is more gold for you.
A curse on the one who robs you of your goodness,
may he die like a thief! If you
hear from me, it will be for your benefit.
BOULT
I beseech your honour, one piece for me.
I beg your honour, a coin for me.
LYSIMACHUS
Avaunt, thou damned door-keeper!
Your house, but for this virgin that doth prop it,
Would sink and overwhelm you. Away!
Exit
Get out, you dammed doorkeeper!
Your house would sink into the mud and drown you,
if it wasn't for this virgin holding it up. Get lost!
BOULT
How's this? We must take another course with you.
If your peevish chastity, which is not worth a
breakfast in the cheapest country under the cope,
shall undo a whole household, let me be gelded like
a spaniel. Come your ways.
What's this? We must do something else with you.
If your sullen chastity, which is worth less than the
price of a breakfast in the cheapest country in the world,
is going to be allowed to bring down the whole household,
let me be castrated like a spaniel. Come along.
MARINA
Whither would you have me?
What are you going to do to me?
BOULT
I must have your maidenhead taken off, or the common
hangman shall execute it. Come your ways. We'll
have no more gentlemen driven away. Come your ways, I say.
Re-enter Bawd
I'm going to have your virginity, or the public
hangman can have it. Come along. We'll
have no more gentlemen driven away. Come along, I say.
Bawd
How now! what's the matter?
What's all this! What's the matter?
BOULT
Worse and worse, mistress; she has here spoken holy
words to the Lord Lysimachus.
It gets worse and worse, mistress; she's been speaking holy
words to the Lord Lysimachus.
Bawd
O abominable!
That's terrible!
BOULT
She makes our profession as it were to stink afore
the face of the gods.
She makes our profession look as if it stinks
to high heaven.
Bawd
Marry, hang her up for ever!
Well, hang her up forever!
BOULT
The nobleman would have dealt with her like a
nobleman, and she sent him away as cold as a
snowball; saying his prayers too.
The nobleman would have treated her like a
nobleman does, and she sent him away as cold as a
snowball; saying his prayers as well.
Bawd
Boult, take her away; use her at thy pleasure:
crack the glass of her virginity, and make the rest malleable.
Boult,
take her away; have your way with her:
tear through her virginity, and make her obedient.
BOULT
An if she were a thornier piece of ground than she
is, she shall be ploughed.
I shall plough her, even if she was a rougher
field than she is.
MARINA
Hark, hark, you gods!
Listen, listen, you gods!
Bawd
She conjures: away with her! Would she had never
come within my doors! Marry, hang you! She's born
to undo us. Will you not go the way of women-kind?
Marry, come up, my dish of chastity with rosemary and bays!
Exit
She summons: take her away! I wish she had never
darkened my doors! Well, hang you! She was born
to be our downfall. Why can't you do what other women do?
Away you go, you prissy piece of virtue!
BOULT
Come, mistress; come your ways with me.
Come, mistress; come along with me.
MARINA
Whither wilt thou have me?
What are you going to do with me?
BOULT
To take from you the jewel you hold so dear.
To take away the jewel that you find so precious.
MARINA
Prithee, tell me one thing first.
Please, tell me one thing first.
BOULT
Come now, your one thing.
Come on then, your one thing.
MARINA
What canst thou wish thine enemy to be?
What would you like the devil to be?
BOULT
Why, I could wish him to be my master, or rather, my mistress.
Well, I would like him to be my master, or rather, my mistress.
MARINA
Neither of these are so bad as thou art,
Since they do better thee in their command.
Thou hold'st a place, for which the pained'st fiend
Of hell would not in reputation change:
Thou art the damned doorkeeper to every
Coistrel that comes inquiring for his Tib;
To the choleric fisting of every rogue
Thy ear is liable; thy food is such
As hath been belch'd on by infected lungs.
Neither of those are so bad as you are,
since at least they are in charge.
You have a position which the most tortured daemon
of hell would not trade you for;
you are the dammed door opener for every
scoundrel that comes looking for a strumpet;
any scumbag who fancies it can box
your ears; your food is stuff
which has been belched on with infected lungs.
BOULT
What would you have me do? go to the wars, would
you? where a man may serve seven years for the loss
of a leg, and have not money enough in the end to
buy him a wooden one?
What you want me to do? Do you think I should
go to the wars? Where a man can serve seven years,
lose his leg, and not have enough money at the end of it all
to buy a wooden one?
MARINA
Do any thing but this thou doest. Empty
Old receptacles, or common shores, of filth;
Serve by indenture to the common hangman:
Any of these ways are yet better than this;
For what thou professest, a baboon, could he speak,
Would own a name too dear. O, that the gods
Would safely deliver me from this place!
Here, here's gold for thee.
If that thy master would gain by thee,
Proclaim that I can sing, weave, sew, and dance,
With other virtues, which I'll keep from boast:
And I will undertake all these to teach.
I doubt not but this populous city will
Yield many scholars.
Do anything but what you're doing now. Empty
chamber pots, or clean the common sewers;
become an apprentice to the common hangman:
any of those things are better than doing this;
what you do for a job, a baboon, if he could speak,
would say it was beneath his dignity. Oh, I wish the gods
would get me safely away from this place!
Here, here's gold for you.
If your master wants to make a profit from me,
advertise that I can sing, weave, sew and dance,
with other accomplishments, which I won't boast about;
and I will agree to teach all of this.
I don't doubt that this crowded city will
provide many students.
BOULT
But can you teach all this you speak of?
But can you teach all these things you mention?
MARINA
Prove that I cannot, take me home again,
And prostitute me to the basest groom
That doth frequent your house.
If it's shown that I cannot, bring me back here,
and sell me to the lowest groom
who comes to your house.
BOULT
Well, I will see what I can do for thee: if I can
place thee, I will.
Well, I will see what I can do for you: if I can
find you a place, I will.
MARINA
But amongst honest women.
But amongst honest women.
BOULT
'Faith, my acquaintance lies little amongst them.
But since my master and mistress have bought you,
there's no going but by their consent: therefore I
will make them acquainted with your purpose, and I
doubt not but I shall find them tractable enough.
Come, I'll do for thee what I can; come your ways.
Exeunt
By God, I don't know many of them.
But since my master and mistress have bought you,
you can't go without their agreement: so I
will tell them what you want to do, and I
am sure that they will be agreeable enough.
Come on, I'll do what I can for you; come along with me.
A close pavilion on deck, with a curtain before it; PERICLES
within it, reclined on a couch. A barge lying
beside the Tyrian vessel.
Enter GOWER
GOWER
Marina thus the brothel 'scapes, and chances
Into an honest house, our story says.
She sings like one immortal, and she dances
As goddess-like to her admired lays;
Deep clerks she dumbs; and with her needle composes
Nature's own shape, of bud, bird, branch, or berry,
That even her art sisters the natural roses;
Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry:
That pupils lacks she none of noble race,
Who pour their bounty on her; and her gain
She gives the cursed bawd. Here we her place;
And to her father turn our thoughts again,
Where we left him, on the sea. We there him lost;
Whence, driven before the winds, he is arrived
Here where his daughter dwells; and on this coast
Suppose him now at anchor. The city strived
God Neptune's annual feast to keep: from whence
Lysimachus our Tyrian ship espies,
His banners sable, trimm'd with rich expense;
And to him in his barge with fervor hies.
In your supposing once more put your sight
Of heavy Pericles; think this his bark:
Where what is done in action, more, if might,
Shall be discover'd; please you, sit and hark.
Exit
And so, o
ur story says that Marina escapes
the brothel and comes into an honest house.
She sings like a goddess, and she dances
just as divinely to her lovely songs.
She does complex embroidery, and with her needle
constructs nature's own shapes, buds, birds, branches or berries,
that through her skill are the sisters of the natural roses;
her silken thread is the twin of the glossy cherry:
she has plenty of pupils from the nobility,
who heap their riches upon her; and she gives
her profits to the cursed brothel keeper. We'll leave her there
and turn our thoughts back to her father, where we left him on the sea.
Driven by the winds, he has arrived
at the place where his daughter lives; now imagine
that he has anchored off this coast. The city was celebrating
the annual feast of Neptune; during it
Lysimachus saw the Tyrian ship,
with its black banners, with rich trimmings;
and he rushes there eagerly in his barge.
Now imagine once again unhappy Pericles,
and think this stage is his ship,
where the action will show us what happened,
and more may be revealed; please sit and listen.
Enter two Sailors, one belonging to the Tyrian vessel, the other to the barge; to them HELICANUS
Tyrian Sailor
[To the Sailor of Mytilene] Where is lord Helicanus?
he can resolve you.
O, here he is.
Sir, there's a barge put off from Mytilene,