The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 412
Oh, so much misfortune for me!
Swoons
“[JULIA faints]”
PROTEUS
Look to the boy.
Look at the boy.
VALENTINE
Why, boy! why, wag! how now! what's the matter?
Why, boy! Why did you faint, lad! What happened! What’s the matter?Look up; speak.
Look up at me; tell me what’s wrong.
JULIA
O good sir, my master charged me to deliver a ring
Oh good sir, my master ordered me to deliver a ringto Madam Silvia, which, out of my neglect, was never done.
To Madam Silvia, which I never did because I forgot.
PROTEUS
Where is that ring, boy?
Where is that ring, boy?
JULIA
Here 'tis; this is it.
It’s right here; this is it.
“[JULIA hands him her own ring]”
PROTEUS
How! let me see:
What! Let me see it:Why, this is the ring I gave to Julia.
Why, this sit he ring that I gave to Julia.
JULIA
O, cry you mercy, sir, I have mistook:
Oh, forgive me, sir, I was mistaken:This is the ring you sent to Silvia.
This is the ring you sent to Silvia.
“[JULIA hands him the other ring]”
PROTEUS
But how camest thou by this ring? At my depart
But how did you get this ring? When I leftI gave this unto Julia.
I gave this to Julia.
JULIA
And Julia herself did give it me;
And Julia herself have it to me;And Julia herself hath brought it hither.
And Julia herself sent me here.
PROTEUS
How! Julia!
What’s this! Julia!
JULIA
Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths,
Look on the woman who was the target of all your promises,And entertain'd 'em deeply in her heart.
And who held them deeply in her heart.How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root!
How often you have split the bottom of my heart with your lies!O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush!
Oh, Proteus, I hope my disguise makes you blush!Be thou ashamed that I have took upon me
Be ashamed that I took upon myselfSuch an immodest raiment, if shame live
Such inappropriate clothing for a woman, if it is in fact shamefulIn a disguise of love:
To take on a disguise for the sake of love:It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,
According to good manners, there is less shame Women to change their shapes than men their minds.
For a woman to change her appearance that for a man to change his mind.
PROTEUS
Than men their minds! 'tis true.
For a man to change his mind! It’s true.O heaven! were man
Oh, heaven! If man wereBut constant, he were perfect. That one error
Only faithful, he would be perfect. The one mistakeFills him with faults; makes him run through all the sins:
Fills him with bad traits; and makes him commit all the sins:Inconstancy falls off ere it begins.
Disloyalty ends before it begins.What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy
What do I see in Silvia’s face, that I don’t findMore fresh in Julia's with a constant eye?
More beautiful in Julia’s when my eyes are faithful?
VALENTINE
Come, come, a hand from either:
Come here, come here, each of you give me your hand:Let me be blest to make this happy close;
Let me bless this happy union;'Twere pity two such friends should be long foes.
It was such a shame that two such lover were enemies for so long.
PROTEUS
Bear witness, Heaven, I have my wish for ever.
Heaven bear witness, so that I may have my wish forever.
JULIA
And I mine.
And so that I may have mine.
Enter Outlaws, with DUKE and THURIO
Outlaws
A prize, a prize, a prize!
We’ve got a prize, a prize!
VALENTINE
Forbear, forbear, I say! it is my lord the duke.
Stop, stop it, I say! This is my lord the duke.Your grace is welcome to a man disgraced,
Your grace is welcomed here by a dishonored man,Banished Valentine.
The exile Valentine.
DUKE
Sir Valentine!
Sir Valentine!
THURIO
Yonder is Silvia; and Silvia's mine.
Silvia is over there; and Silvia is mine.
VALENTINE
Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy death;
Thurio, back off, or else get ready for your death;Come not within the measure of my wrath;
Don’t come within the reach of my anger;Do not name Silvia thine; if once again,
Do not call Silvia yours; if you do so again,Verona shall not hold thee. Here she stands;
Verona will not protect you. There she is;Take but possession of her with a touch:
If you try to take her from me with a touch:I dare thee but to breathe upon my love.
I dare you do so much as breathe on my love.
THURIO
Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I;
Sir Valentine, I don’t love her.I hold him but a fool that will endanger
I think a man is a fool if he will endangerHis body for a girl that loves him not:
His life for a girl who doesn’t love him:I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.
I’m not taking her, and so she is yours.
DUKE
The more degenerate and base art thou,
You’re all the more dishonorable and unworthy,To make such means for her as thou hast done
That you’ve gone through all the efforts for her that you haveAnd leave her on such slight conditions.
And you now give her up with such weak reasoning.Now, by the honour of my ancestry,
Now, by the honor of my royal birth,I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,
I will praise your character, Valentine,And think thee worthy of an empress' love:
And consider you worthy of an empress’ love:Know then, I here forget all former griefs,
Be aware that I will now forget all former offenses,Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again,
Cancel any grudges, and call you back home again,Plead a new state in thy unrivall'd merit,
And declare that things have changed now that you’ve show your peerless worth,To which I thus subscribe: Sir Valentine,
Which I will acknowledge this way: Sir Valentine,Thou art a gentleman and well derived;
You are a gentleman and of good birth;Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserved her.
Take Silvia’s hand in marriage, for you deserve her.
VALENTINE
I thank your grace; the gift hath made me happy.
Thank you, your grace; the gift makes me happy.I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,
I ask you now, for your daughter’s sake,To grant one boom that I shall ask of you.
To grant my one last favor that I will ask of you.
DUKE
I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be.
I will grant it, for you, whatever it may be.
VALENTINE
These banish'd men that I have kept withal
These banished men that I have lived withAre men endued with worthy qualities:
Are men who have great qualities: Forgive them what they have committed here
Forgive them for the crimes they have committed hereAnd let them be recall'd from their exile:
And let them come home from their exile:They are reformed, civil, full of good
They are reformed, civilized, and good enoughAnd fit for great employment, worthy lord.
And suitable for great
employment, worthy lord.
DUKE
Thou hast prevail'd; I pardon them and thee:
You have won; I forgive them and you:Dispose of them as thou know'st their deserts.
Make arrangements for them according to their value.Come, let us go: we will include all jars
Come on, let’s go: we will settle all disagreementsWith triumphs, mirth and rare solemnity.
With celebrations, joy and splendid festivities.
VALENTINE
And, as we walk along, I dare be bold
And, as we walk along, I will be brave enoughWith our discourse to make your grace to smile.
In your discussions to make your grace smile.What think you of this page, my lord?
What do you think of this page, my lord?
DUKE
I think the boy hath grace in him; he blushes.
I think the boy is charming; he blushes.
VALENTINE
I warrant you, my lord, more grace than boy.
I promise you, my lord, he has more charms than a boy.
DUKE
What mean you by that saying?
What do you mean by that?
VALENTINE
Please you, I'll tell you as we pass along,
If you’d like, I’ll tell you as we walk along,That you will wonder what hath fortuned.
So that you will marvel at what has happened.Come, Proteus; 'tis your penance but to hear
Come, Proteus; your punishment is only to hearThe story of your loves discovered:
The story of how you discovered your love:That done, our day of marriage shall be yours;
When that’s over, we will share our wedding day;One feast, one house, one mutual happiness.
One fest, one house, one shared happiness.
Exeunt
Hymen
Theseus
Hippolita
Bride to Theseus Emelia
Sister to Theseus [Emelia's Woman]
Nymphs
Three Queens
Three valiant Knights
Palamon, and Arcite
The two Noble Kinsmen, in love with fair Emelia [Valerius]
Perithous, [A Herald]
[A Gentleman]
[A Messenger]
[A Servant]
[Wooer]
[Keeper]
Jaylor
His Daughter, in love with Palamon [His brother]
[A Doctor]
[4] Countreymen
[2 Friends of the Jaylor]
[3 Knights]
[Nel, and other] Wenches
A Taborer, Gerrold
A Schoolmaster.
(Prologue)
Flourish.
New plays and maidenheads are near akin—
Much follow’d both, for both much money gi’n,
If they stand sound and well; and a good play
(Whose modest scenes blush on his marriage-day,
And shake to lose his honor) is like her
That after holy tie and first night’s stir,
Yet still is modesty, and still retains
More of the maid to sight than husband’s pains.
We pray our play may be so; for I am sure
It has a noble breeder and a pure,
A learned, and a poet never went
More famous yet ’twixt Po and silver Trent.
Chaucer (of all admir’d) the story gives;
There constant to eternity it lives.
If we let fall the nobleness of this,
And the first sound this child hear be a hiss,
How will it shake the bones of that good man,
And make him cry from under ground, “O, fan
From me the witless chaff of such a writer
That blasts my bays and my fam’d works makes lighter
Than Robin Hood!” This is the fear we bring;
For to say truth, it were an endless thing,
And too ambitious, to aspire to him,
Weak as we are, and almost breathless swim
In this deep water. Do but you hold out
Your helping hands, and we shall tack about
And something do to save us. You shall hear
Scenes, though below his art, may yet appear
Worth two hours’ travail. To his bones sweet sleep!
Content to you! If this play do not keep
A little dull time from us, we perceive
Our losses fall so thick we must needs leave.
New plays and virginity are very alike–
both much chased after, both given for a high price,
if they are genuine; and a good play
(whose modest scenes blush on its first time,
and shake at losing its honour) is like her
who after the marriage and the first night's activity,
remains modest and looks
more like a maid than one who's been with a husband.
We pray our play may be like this; for I am sure
it has a noble ancestor, pure,
learned, there was never a more famous poet
between the River Po and the silver Trent.
Chaucer, admired by everyone, wrote the plot;
and so it lives in eternity.
If we fall from this high standard,
and the first sound this child hears is a hiss,
how it will shake the bones of that good man,
and make him cry from underground, “Oh
separate me from the drivel of such a writer
who is destroying my fame and making my great works
seem lighter than Robin Hood!" This is what worries us;
to tell the truth, it would take forever,
and would be too ambitious, to hope to be like him,
weak as we are, we are almost breathless swimming
in this deep water. Just hold out
your helping hands, and we shall turn around
and try and save ourselves. You shall hear
scenes that, although not as great as his, might still
seem worth a couple of hours' watching. May he rest in peace!
May you be happy! If this play doesn't stave off
boredom for a while, we can see
we will suffer such losses that we must give up.
Flourish.
Athens. Before a temple.
(Hymen, Boy, Nymphs, Theseus, Hippolyta, Pirithous, Emilia, Artesius, Attendants, Three Queens)
Enter Hymen with a torch burning; a Boy, in a white robe, before, singing and strewing flow’rs; after Hymen, a Nymph, encompass’d in her tresses, bearing a wheaten garland; then Theseus, between two other Nymphs with wheaten chaplets an their heads; then Hippolyta, the bride, led by Pirithous, and another holding a garland over her head (her tresses likewise hanging; after her, Emilia, holding up her train; Artesius and Attendants.
BOY
Music. The Song by the Boy.
Roses, their sharp spines being gone,
Not royal in their smells alone,
But in their hue;
Maiden pinks, of odor faint,
Daisies smell-less, yet most quaint,
And sweet thyme true;
Primrose, first-born child of Ver,
Merry spring-time’s harbinger,
With her bells dim;
Oxlips in their cradles growing,
Marigolds on death-beds blowing,
Larks’-heels trim;
All dear Nature’s children sweet,
Lie ’fore bride and bridegroom’s feet.
Strew flowers.
Blessing their sense;
Not an angel of the air,
Bird melodious, or bird fair,
Is absent hence.
The crow, the sland’rous cuckoo, nor
The boding raven, nor chough hoar,
Nor chatt’ring pie,
May on our bridehouse perch or sing,
Or with them any discord bring,
But from it fly.
Roses, once their thorns are gone,
are not made royal only by their perfume,
but by their colour as well;
maiden pinks which smell little,
daisies which don't smell but are pretty,
and true sweet thyme;
primroses, first flower of spring,
signalling the happy start of springtime
with her muted bells;
oxlips growing in their cradles,
marigolds blowing over graves,
neat larks'-heels;
all of dear Nature's sweet children
are lying at the bride and bridegroom's feet.
They bless their senses;
not one angel of the air,
sweet singing or beautiful bird,
is missing.
The crow, the lying cuckoo,
the ominous raven, the cold cough,
nor the chattering magpie,
may not sit on the wedding house or sing
or bring any discord here,
they should fly away.
Enter three Queens, in black, with veils stain’d, with imperial crowns. The first Queen falls down at the foot of Theseus; the second falls down at the foot of Hippolyta; the third before Emilia.
FIRST QUEEN.
For pity’s sake and true gentility’s,
Hear and respect me.
For the sake of pity and nobility,
hear me and respect me.
SECOND QUEEN.
For your mother’s sake,
And as you wish your womb may thrive with fair ones,
Hear and respect me.
For the sake of your mother,
and your future hopes of beautiful children,
hear me and respect me.