The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 450
complaint they have against the king is none of his business,
let him call me a scoundrel for being so officious;
I don't care if anyone calls me that or
any other shame which goes with it. I will present them
to him: there might be something in it for me.
SCENE I. A room in LEONTES' palace.
Enter LEONTES, CLEOMENES, DION, PAULINA, and Servants
CLEOMENES
Sir, you have done enough, and have perform'd
A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make,
Which you have not redeem'd; indeed, paid down
More penitence than done trespass: at the last,
Do as the heavens have done, forget your evil;
With them forgive yourself.
Sir, you have done enough, and have done penance
like a saint: there is no wrong you could do
which you have not paid for; indeed, you have done
more penance than the sin required: in the end,
forget your evil as the gods have done;
forgive yourself as they have forgiven you.
LEONTES
Whilst I remember
Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them, and so still think of
The wrong I did myself; which was so much,
That heirless it hath made my kingdom and
Destroy'd the sweet'st companion that e'er man
Bred his hopes out of.
As long as I can remember
her and her goodness, I cannot forget
my evil in comparison, and so I still think of
the things I did wrong; they were so great,
that it has left my kingdom without an heir and
destroyed the sweetest companion that a man ever
took as his mate.
PAULINA
True, too true, my lord:
If, one by one, you wedded all the world,
Or from the all that are took something good,
To make a perfect woman, she you kill'd
Would be unparallel'd.
True, too true, my lord:
if you married every woman in the world individually:
or took some element from every good woman,
to make a perfect one, you still wouldn't get a match
for the one you killed.
LEONTES
I think so. Kill'd!
She I kill'd! I did so: but thou strikest me
Sorely, to say I did; it is as bitter
Upon thy tongue as in my thought: now, good now,
Say so but seldom.
I agree. Killed!
I killed her! I did: but you wound me
deeply, to say I did; it's as bitter
to hear you say it as it is for me to think it: in this time,
don't say it often.
CLEOMENES
Not at all, good lady:
You might have spoken a thousand things that would
Have done the time more benefit and graced
Your kindness better.
Don't say it at all, good lady:
there are a thousand things you could have said that would
have been more appropriate for the time and suited
your kindness better.
PAULINA
You are one of those
Would have him wed again.
You're one of the ones
who would like him to marry again.
DION
If you would not so,
You pity not the state, nor the remembrance
Of his most sovereign name; consider little
What dangers, by his highness' fail of issue,
May drop upon his kingdom and devour
Incertain lookers on. What were more holy
Than to rejoice the former queen is well?
What holier than, for royalty's repair,
For present comfort and for future good,
To bless the bed of majesty again
With a sweet fellow to't?
If you don't want him to,
you don't care about the country, or the continuation
of his royal line; think a little about
what dangers, through his highness having no heir,
may fall upon this kingdom, and destroy
those who need guidance. What could be more holy
than to rejoice that the former queen is in heaven?
What is holier than, to repair the royal line,
for current happiness and for good in the future,
to bless the royal bed again
with a sweet companion in it?
PAULINA
There is none worthy,
Respecting her that's gone. Besides, the gods
Will have fulfill'd their secret purposes;
For has not the divine Apollo said,
Is't not the tenor of his oracle,
That King Leontes shall not have an heir
Till his lost child be found? which that it shall,
Is all as monstrous to our human reason
As my Antigonus to break his grave
And come again to me; who, on my life,
Did perish with the infant. 'Tis your counsel
My lord should to the heavens be contrary,
Oppose against their wills.
To LEONTES
Care not for issue;
The crown will find an heir: great Alexander
Left his to the worthiest; so his successor
Was like to be the best.
There is nobody worthy of
filling the place of the one who's gone. Besides, the gods
will have their secret plans carried out;
hasn't the divine Apollo said,
wasn't that the message of his oracle,
that King Leontes will not have an heir
until his lost child is found? And the chances
of that happening are as ridiculous as thinking
that my Antigonus will break out of his grave
and come back to me; and I swear
he died with the child. Your advice is
that my lord should fight against the heavens,
and oppose their orders. [to Leontes] Don't worry about
an heir;
the crown will find one. Great Alexander
left his to the most deserving; so his successor
was likely to be the best choice.
LEONTES
Good Paulina,
Who hast the memory of Hermione,
I know, in honour– O, that ever I
Had squared me to thy counsel! then, even now,
I might have look'd upon my queen's full eyes,
Have taken treasure from her lips--
Good Paulina,
who keeps the memory of Hermione,
I know, in honour–Oh, how I wish
that I had followed your advice! Then, even now,
I might be looking at my queen's great eyes,
taking kisses from her lips–
PAULINA
And left them
More rich for what they yielded.
And leaving them
richer for what they had given.
LEONTES
Thou speak'st truth.
No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better used, would make her sainted spirit
Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,
Were we offenders now, appear soul-vex'd,
And begin, 'Why to me?'
You're saying the truth.
There is no such wife available; therefore I will have no wife: a worse one,
treated better, would make her blessed spirit
go back into her body, and on this stage,
if we were to become offenders, she would appear with her soul in torment,
asking, ‘Why do you insult me like this?’
PAULINA
<
br /> Had she such power,
She had just cause.
If she had the power to do it,
she would have a good reason.
LEONTES
She had; and would incense me
To murder her I married.
She would have; she would incite me
to murder the one I married.
PAULINA
I should so:
Were I the ghost that walk'd, I'ld bid you mark
Her eye, and tell me for what dull part in't
You chose her; then I'ld shriek, that even your ears
Should rift to hear me; and the words that follow'd
Should be 'Remember mine.'
I would
if I were the ghost that appeared, I'd tell you to look
in her eyes, and tell me what part of her dullness
made you choose her; and then I'd shriek, so that
your ears would split to hear me; and the words that followed
would be, ‘Remember mine.’
LEONTES
Stars, stars,
And all eyes else dead coals! Fear thou no wife;
I'll have no wife, Paulina.
They were like stars,
and all other eyes are like dead coals! Don't worry about a wife;
I'll have no wife, Paulina.
PAULINA
Will you swear
Never to marry but by my free leave?
Will you swear
that you will never marry except with my permission?
LEONTES
Never, Paulina; so be blest my spirit!
Never, Paulina; I swear to it on my soul's salvation!
PAULINA
Then, good my lords, bear witness to his oath.
Then, my good lords, witness his oath.
CLEOMENES
You tempt him over-much.
You are asking him too much.
PAULINA
Unless another,
As like Hermione as is her picture,
Affront his eye.
Unless another,
absolutely identical to Hermione,
comes to his eye.
CLEOMENES
Good madam,--
Good madam–
PAULINA
I have done.
Yet, if my lord will marry,--if you will, sir,
No remedy, but you will,--give me the office
To choose you a queen: she shall not be so young
As was your former; but she shall be such
As, walk'd your first queen's ghost,
it should take joy
To see her in your arms.
I'm finished.
But, if my lord wants to marry–if you must, sir,
if nothing else will do–give me the task
of choosing your queen: she won't be as young
as your previous one; but she will be such a type
that, if your first queen's ghost walked the earth
it would be happy
to see her in your arms.
LEONTES
My true Paulina,
We shall not marry till thou bid'st us.
My loyal Paulina,
I shall not marry until you tell me.
PAULINA
That
Shall be when your first queen's again in breath;
Never till then.
Enter a Gentleman
That
will be when your first queen breathes again;
never until then.
Gentleman
One that gives out himself Prince Florizel,
Son of Polixenes, with his princess, she
The fairest I have yet beheld, desires access
To your high presence.
Someone who announces himself as Prince Florizel,
son of Polixenes, with his princess, who is
the loveliest woman I have ever seen, wants access
to your royal presence.
LEONTES
What with him? he comes not
Like to his father's greatness: his approach,
So out of circumstance and sudden, tells us
'Tis not a visitation framed, but forced
By need and accident. What train?
What does he want? He has not come
in a way which matches his father's greatness:
coming so suddenly out of the blue like this tells me
this visit was not planned, but forced
through need and circumstance. What entourage has he brought?
Gentleman
But few,
And those but mean.
Only a few,
and those are lower class.
LEONTES
His princess, say you, with him?
You say his princess is with him?
Gentleman
Ay, the most peerless piece of earth, I think,
That e'er the sun shone bright on.
Yes, the most wonderful creature, I think,
that ever the sun shone brightly on.
PAULINA
O Hermione,
As every present time doth boast itself
Above a better gone, so must thy grave
Give way to what's seen now! Sir, you yourself
Have said and writ so, but your writing now
Is colder than that theme, 'She had not been,
Nor was not to be equall'd;'--thus your verse
Flow'd with her beauty once: 'tis shrewdly ebb'd,
To say you have seen a better.
Oh Hermione,
just as every era thinks that it is better
than the better one before, so now you are dead
you must give way to what can be seen now! Sir, you yourself
said and wrote about her, but your writing now
is as cold as her body, ‘She had never been,
and could never be, equalled;’–so your verse
was full of her beauty once: now it's emptied,
if you say you've found better.
Gentleman
Pardon, madam:
The one I have almost forgot,--your pardon,--
The other, when she has obtain'd your eye,
Will have your tongue too. This is a creature,
Would she begin a sect, might quench the zeal
Of all professors else, make proselytes
Of who she but bid follow.
I apologise, Madam:
the one I have almost forgotten–forgive me–
the other, once you have seen her,
you will sing her praises too. This is a creature,
who, if she began a religion, could crush the fervour
of all other believers, and make converts
of anyone she asked to follow her.
PAULINA
How! not women?
What? Not women?
Gentleman
Women will love her, that she is a woman
More worth than any man; men, that she is
The rarest of all women.
Women will love her for being a woman
worth more than any man; men will love her for being
the most unique of women.
LEONTES
Go, Cleomenes;
Yourself, assisted with your honour'd friends,
Bring them to our embracement. Still, 'tis strange
Exeunt CLEOMENES and others
He thus should steal upon us.
Go, Cleomenes;
with the help of your honoured friends
bring them to me for welcome. Still, it's strange
that he should creep in to me like this.
PAULINA
Had our prince,
Jewel of children, seen this hour, he had pair'd
Well with this lord: there was not full a month
Between their births.
If our prince,
the jewel of children, was alive now, he would have made
a good friend fo
r this lord: there was less than a month
between their births.
LEONTES
Prithee, no more; cease; thou know'st
He dies to me again when talk'd of: sure,
When I shall see this gentleman, thy speeches
Will bring me to consider that which may
Unfurnish me of reason. They are come.
Re-enter CLEOMENES and others, with FLORIZEL and PERDITA
Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince;
For she did print your royal father off,
Conceiving you: were I but twenty-one,
Your father's image is so hit in you,
His very air, that I should call you brother,
As I did him, and speak of something wildly
By us perform'd before. Most dearly welcome!
And your fair princess,--goddess!--O, alas!
I lost a couple, that 'twixt heaven and earth
Might thus have stood begetting wonder as
You, gracious couple, do: and then I lost--
All mine own folly--the society,
Amity too, of your brave father, whom,
Though bearing misery, I desire my life
Once more to look on him.
Please, no more; stop; you know
to hear him talked of makes him die again for me: I'm sure,
that when I see this gentleman, what you said
will start me thinking about things that
could drive me mad. Here they are.
Your mother was a very faithful wife, prince;
for when she conceived you she made a perfect
copy of your royal father. If I was just twenty-one,
you are so identical to your father
in every way that I would call you brother,
as I called him, and speak with excitement about things
we had done before. You are most warmly welcome!
And your lovely Princess,–Goddess!–Oh, alas!