Book Read Free

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

Page 413

by William Shakespeare


  THIRD QUEEN.

  Now for the love of him whom Jove hath mark’d

  The honor of your bed, and for the sake

  Of clear virginity, be advocate

  For us and our distresses! This good deed

  Shall raze you out o’ th’ book of trespasses

  All you are set down there.

  Now for the love of the one whom Jove has chosen

  to honour your bed, and in the name

  of pure virginity, speak out

  for us and our misfortunes! This good deed

  will wipe out all your sins.

  THESEUS

  Sad lady, rise.

  Sad lady, get up.

  HIPPOLYTA

  Stand up.

  Stand up.

  EMILIA

  No knees to me.

  What woman I may stead that is distress’d

  Does bind me to her.

  There's no need to kneel to me.

  If a woman is in trouble and needs my help

  I will not fail her.

  THESEUS

  What’s your request? Deliver you for all.

  What do you want to ask for? You speak for all of you.

  FIRST QUEEN.

  We are three queens, whose sovereigns fell before

  The wrath of cruel Creon; who endured

  The beaks of ravens, talents of the kites,

  And pecks of crows in the foul fields of Thebes.

  He will not suffer us to bum their bones,

  To urn their ashes, nor to take th’ offense

  Of mortal loathsomeness from the blest eye

  Of holy Phoebus, but infects the winds

  With stench of our slain lords. O, pity, Duke,

  Thou purger of the earth, draw thy fear’d sword

  That does good turns to th’ world; give us the bones

  Of our dead kings, that we may chapel them;

  And of thy boundless goodness take some note

  That for our crowned heads we have no roof,

  Save this which is the lion’s, and the bear’s,

  And vault to every thing!

  We are three queens, whose husbands were killed

  by the anger of cruel Creon; their bodies were torn

  by the beaks of ravens, the claws of kites,

  and the pecking of crows in the foul fields of Thebes.

  He won't let us cremate them,

  to put their ashes in an urn, or to take the horrible sight

  of rotting corpses away from the blessed sight

  of the holy sun, but lets the stench of our dead husbands

  reek through the air. Pity us, Duke,

  you who has cleaned the earth, draw your fearsome sword

  that does good deeds for the world; get the bones

  of our dead kings for us so we can have a proper funeral;

  and in your infinite goodness please note

  that we have no roof over our royal heads,

  apart from this sky which we share with

  the lion, the bear and everything!

  THESEUS

  Pray you kneel not;

  I was transported with your speech, and suffer’d

  Your knees to wrong themselves. I have heard the fortunes

  Of your dead lords, which gives me such lamenting

  As wakes my vengeance and revenge for ’em.

  King Capaneus was your lord. The day

  That he should marry you, at such a season

  As now it is with me, I met your groom

  By Mars’s altar. You were that time fair;

  Not Juno’s mantle fairer than your tresses,

  Nor in more bounty spread her. Your wheaten wreath

  Was then nor thresh’d nor blasted; Fortune at you

  Dimpled her cheek with smiles. Hercules our kinsman

  (Then weaker than your eyes) laid by his club;

  He tumbled down upon his Nemean hide,

  And swore his sinews thaw’d. O grief and time,

  Fearful consumers, you will all devour!

  Please don't kneel;

  I was absorbed in what you said, and wrongly allowed

  you to stay on your knees. I have heard about the fates

  of your dead husbands, and it makes me so sad

  that it inspires me to take revenge for them.

  Your husband was King Capaneus. On your

  wedding day, on the same occasion I am now

  enjoying, I met your groom at

  the altar of Mars. You were lovely at that time;

  Juno's cloak was not more lovely than your hair,

  nor more plentiful. Your golden locks

  hadn't been torn or windblown; Fortune

  smiled upon you. Our kinsman Hercules

  (who then had less power than your eyes) put down his club;

  he tumbled down on his Nemean hide,

  and swore he had become weak. Oh grief and time,

  with your terrible greed, you will devour everything!

  FIRST QUEEN.

  O, I hope some god,

  Some god hath put his mercy in your manhood,

  Whereto he’ll infuse pow’r, and press you forth

  Our undertaker.

  Oh, I hope some god

  has added mercy to your manly virtues,

  which he will make work and employ you

  to do this service for us.

  THESEUS

  O, no knees, none, widow!

  Unto the helmeted Bellona use them,

  And pray for me your soldier.

  Troubled I am.

  Oh, no kneeling, widow!

  Use your knees to pray to the goddess of war,

  and pray for me as your soldier.

  I am troubled.

  Turns away.

  SECOND QUEEN.

  Honored Hippolyta,

  Most dreaded Amazonian, that hast slain

  The scythe-tusk’d boar; that with thy arm, as strong

  As it is white, wast near to make the male

  To thy sex captive, but that this thy lord,

  Born to uphold creation in that honor

  First Nature styl’d it in, shrunk thee into

  The bound thou wast o’erflowing, at once subduing

  Thy force and thy affection; soldieress

  That equally canst poise sternness with pity,

  Whom now I know hast much more power on him

  Than ever he had on thee, who ow’st his strength,

  And his love too, who is a servant for

  The tenor of thy speech; dear glass of ladies,

  Bid him that we, whom flaming war doth scorch,

  Under the shadow of his sword may cool us;

  Require him he advance it o’er our heads;

  Speak’t in a woman’s key—like such a woman

  As any of us three; weep ere you fail;

  Lend us a knee;

  But touch the ground for us no longer time

  Than a dove’s motion when the head’s pluck’d off;

  Tell him, if he i’ th’ blood-siz’d field lay swoll’n,

  Showing the sun his teeth, grinning at the moon,

  What you would do.

  Respected Hippolyta,

  Most feared Amazonian, who has killed

  the sharp-tusked boar; you who almost,

  with your strong white arm, subdued

  the male sex, until your lord here,

  this perfect specimen

  of Nature, pushed your advances

  back, capturing your force and your love;

  as a soldier you can show both sternness and pity,

  and I now know you have much more power over him

  than he ever had over you, you have captured his force

  and his love too, he will do

  anything you say; dear perfect lady,

  tell him that we, burned by flaming war,

  want to be cooled in the shade of his sword;

  tell him to hold it over our heads;
/>   speak to him as a woman - a woman like any of us;

  weep before you admit defeat;

  kneel to him;

  but don't do so for longer

  than a dove keeps moving when its head is cut off;

  tell him what you would do if he lay rotting

  on a blood-soaked battlefield, turning into a skeleton

  beneath the open skies.

  HIPPOLYTA

  Poor lady, say no more:

  I had as lief trace this good action with you

  As that whereto I am going, and never yet

  Went I so willing way. My lord is taken

  Heart-deep with your distress. Let him consider.

  I’ll speak anon.

  Poor lady, say no more:

  I'm as happy to help you

  as I am to be married, and I was never

  happier about anything than that. My lord

  feels your distress deep in his heart. Let him think.

  I'll speak to him soon.

  THIRD QUEEN.

  O, my petition was

  Kneel to Emilia.

  Set down in ice, which by hot grief uncandied

  Melts into drops; so sorrow wanting form

  Is press’d with deeper matter.

  Oh, my request was

  written on ice, which was melted by

  bitter hot grief; so sorrow cannot show itself

  when faced with such a great evil.

  EMILIA

  Pray stand up,

  Your grief is written in your cheek.

  Please stand up,

  your grief is obvious from your face.

  THIRD QUEEN.

  O, woe,

  You cannot read it there. There, through my tears,

  Like wrinkled pebbles in a glassy stream,

  You may behold ’em. Lady, lady, alack!

  He that will all the treasure know o’ th’ earth

  Must know the centre too; he that will fish

  For my least minnow, let him lead his line

  To catch one at my heart. O, pardon me,

  Extremity, that sharpens sundry wits,

  Makes me a fool.

  Oh, you cannot

  see my sorrow there. You can see my cheeks under my tears

  like wrinkled pebbles in a watery stream.

  Alas, lady!

  Someone who wants the treasure of the earth must dig into it;

  if you want to know any part of my grief

  you have to look deep into my heart. Oh, pardon me,

  extreme suffering, that makes some people sharper,

  makes me a fool.

  EMILIA

  Pray you say nothing, pray you.

  Who cannot feel nor see the rain, being in’t,

  Knows neither wet nor dry. If that you were

  The ground-piece of some painter, I would buy you

  T’ instruct me ’gainst a capital grief indeed—

  Such heart-pierc’d demonstration! But alas,

  Being a natural sister of our sex,

  Your sorrow beats so ardently upon me

  That it shall make a counter-reflect ’gainst

  My brother’s heart, and warm it to some pity,

  Though it were made of stone. Pray have good comfort.

  Please, I beg you, say nothing.

  Someone who can't see or feel the rain,

  when they're in it,

  knows nothing. If you were

  a painting, I would buy you

  to keep as an example of the greatest sorrow-

  such a heartrending example! But alas,

  as all we women are sisters,

  your sorrow affects me so deeply

  that it will reflect off me into

  my brother's heart, and kindle pity there

  even if it were made of stone. Please be sure of that.

  THESEUS

  Forward to th’ temple. Leave not out a jot

  O’ th’ sacred ceremony.

  Onward to the temple. Don't leave out a word

  of the sacred ceremony.

  FIRST QUEEN.

  O, this celebration

  Will long last and be more costly than

  Your suppliants’ war! Remember that your fame

  Knolls in the ear o’ th’ world; what you do quickly

  Is not done rashly; your first thought is more

  Than others’ labored meditance; your premeditating

  More than their actions. But, O Jove, your actions,

  Soon as they move, as asprays do the fish,

  Subdue before they touch. Think, dear Duke, think

  What beds our slain kings have!

  Oh, this celebration

  will last a long time and cost more

  than the war we have been in! Remember that you

  are famous throughout the world; what you do quickly

  is not done hotheadedly; your initial thought is worth more

  than the long contemplation of others; your plans

  are worth more than their actions. But, by god,

  once you start moving your actions subdue men

  before they even begin, as the shadow of the osprey

  scares the fish. Think, dear Duke, think

  of where our dead kings are lying!

  SECOND QUEEN.

  What griefs our beds

  That our dear lords have none!

  How sad we are in our beds,

  knowing our dear lords have none!

  THIRD QUEEN.

  None fit for th’ dead:

  Those that with cords, knives, drams, precipitance,

  Weary of this world’s light, have to themselves

  Been death’s most horrid agents, humane grace

  Affords them dust and shadow.

  None that are fit for the dead:

  those who have brought death upon themselves,

  tired of living, in the most horrible ways,

  with hanging, stabbing, poison, leaping from heights,

  the kindness of humanity allows them a decent burial.

  FIRST QUEEN.

  But our lords

  Lie blist’ring ’fore the visitating sun,

  And were good kings when living.

  But our lords

  are lying burning under the hot sun,

  and they were good kings when they were alive.

  THESEUS

  It is true; and I will give you comfort

  To give your dead lords graves; the which to do

  Must make some work with Creon.

  It is true; and I will bring you peace

  by making sure your dead lords are buried;

  to do this I'll have to take on Creon.

  FIRST QUEEN.

  And that work presents itself to th’ doing:

  Now ’twill take form, the heats are gone tomorrow.

  Then, bootless toil must recompense itself

  With its own sweat; now he’s secure,

  Not dreams we stand before your puissance

  Wrinching our holy begging in our eyes

  To make petition clear.

  And the best chance of success is to do it now:

  strike while the iron's hot.

  Tomorrow, fruitless work will only

  bring sweat; at the moment he thinks he's safe,

  and doesn't dream we are standing before

  your majesty, weeping as we explain

  the holy task we want you to perform.

  SECOND QUEEN.

  Now you may take him

  Drunk with his victory.

  Now you could beat him,

  while he's drunk with celebrating victory.

  THIRD QUEEN.

  And his army full

  Of bread and sloth.

  And his army

  are stuffed and lazy.

  THESEUS

  Artesius, that best knowest

  How to draw out, fit to this enterprise,

  The prim’st for this proceeding, and the numberr />
  To carry such a business, forth and levy

  Our worthiest instruments, whilst we dispatch

  This grand act of our life, this daring deed

  Of fate in wedlock.

  Artesius, you know best

  how to choose the best men for this business,

  and what numbers we will need

  to carry it out; go out and raise

  our finest soldiers, while I finish

  this great act of my life, this brave

  act of committing to marriage.

  FIRST QUEEN.

  Dowagers, take hands,

  Let us be widows to our woes; delay

  Commends us to a famishing hope.

  Dowagers, join hands.

  Let us go on with our mourning;

  delay starves our hopes.

  ALL QUEENS.

  Farewell.

  Farewell.

  SECOND QUEEN.

  We come unseasonably; but when could grief

  Cull forth, as unpang’d judgment can, fitt’st time

  For best solicitation?

  We have come at a bad time, but how can grief

  choose, as emotionless judgement can, the best time

  to put itself forward?

  THESEUS

  Why, good ladies,

  This is a service, whereto I am going,

  Greater than any war; it more imports me

  Than all the actions that I have foregone,

  Or futurely can cope.

  Why, good ladies,

  the business I am undertaking now

  is greater than any war; it's more important to me

  than anything I've ever done,

  or will do.

  FIRST QUEEN.

  The more proclaiming

  Our suit shall be neglected. When her arms,

  Able to lock Jove from a synod, shall

  By warranting moonlight corslet thee—O, when

  Her twinning cherries shall their sweetness fall

  Upon thy tasteful lips, what wilt thou think

  Of rotten kings or blubber’d queens? What care

  For what thou feel’st not? What thou feel’st being able

  To make Mars spurn his drum. O, if thou couch

 

‹ Prev