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A kind of conquest Caesar made here, but made not here his brag of “came, and saw, and overcame.”

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
There be many Caesars,
Ere such another Julius. Britain is
A world by itself; and we will nothing pay
For wearing our own noses.
QUEEN
That opportunity
Which then they had to take from ‘s, to resume
We have again. Remember, sir, my liege,
The kings your ancestors, together with
The natural bravery of your isle, which stands
As Neptune’s park, ribbed and paled in
With rocks unscalable and roaring waters,
With sands that will not bear your enemies’ boats,
But suck them up to the topmast. A kind of conquest
Caesar made here; but made not here his brag
Of ‘Came’ and ‘saw’ and ‘overcame: ‘ with shame—
That first that ever touch’d him—he was carried
From off our coast, twice beaten; and his shipping—
Poor ignorant baubles!— upon our terrible seas,
Like egg-shells moved upon their surges, crack’d
As easily ‘gainst our rocks: for joy whereof
The famed Cassibelan, who was once at point—
O giglot fortune!—to master Caesar’s sword,
Made Lud’s town with rejoicing fires bright
And Britons strut with courage.

DUTCH:
Caesar
Heeft, ja, ‘t veroverd, maar kon hier niet zwetsen
Van “kwam en zag en overwon”;

MORE:
Proverb: I came, saw, and overcame

Made not here his brag=His conquest didn’t live up to (wasn’t the basis for) the boast of “came, and saw, and overcame”
Lud’s town=London
Giglet (or giglot)=Wanton woman (See Hamlet 2.2 re. Fortune: “she is a strumpet”.)
Giglet fortune=Fickle, inconstant
Rejoicing fires=Bonfires
Compleat:
To brag=Pochen, roemen, opsnyen
Upon the point of doing=Op het punt staan van iets te doen
To strut=Prat daar heen treeden, treeden als een paauw

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, achievement, conflict

Categories: achievement, conflict, Cymbeline, proverbs and idioms|

What shalt thou expect, to be depender on a thing that leans

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.5
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
QUEEN
Weeps she still, say’st thou? Dost thou think in time
She will not quench and let instructions enter
Where folly now possesses? Do thou work:
When thou shalt bring me word she loves my son,
I’ll tell thee on the instant thou art then
As great as is thy master, greater, for
His fortunes all lie speechless and his name
Is at last gasp: return he cannot, nor
Continue where he is: to shift his being
Is to exchange one misery with another,
And every day that comes comes to decay
A day’s work in him. What shalt thou expect,
To be depender on a thing that leans,
Who cannot be new built, nor has no friends,
So much as but to prop him?
Thou takest up
Thou know’st not what; but take it for thy labour:
It is a thing I made, which hath the king
Five times redeem’d from death: I do not know
What is more cordial. Nay, I prethee, take it;
It is an earnest of a further good
That I mean to thee. Tell thy mistress how
The case stands with her; do’t as from thyself.
Think what a chance thou changest on, but think
Thou hast thy mistress still, to boot, my son,
Who shall take notice of thee: I’ll move the king
To any shape of thy preferment such
As thou’lt desire; and then myself, I chiefly,
That set thee on to this desert, am bound
To load thy merit richly. Call my women:
Think on my words.
A sly and constant knave,
Not to be shaked; the agent for his master
And the remembrancer of her to hold
The hand-fast to her lord. I have given him that
Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her
Of liegers for her sweet, and which she after,
Except she bend her humour, shall be assured
To taste of too.
So, so: well done, well done:
The violets, cowslips, and the primroses,
Bear to my closet. Fare thee well, Pisanio;
Think on my words.

DUTCH:
Want zijn geluk ligt spraak’loos neer, zijn naam
Is stervende. Hij kan niet wederkeeren,
Niet blijven waar hij is.

MORE:
Quench=Grow cool, lose zeal
Shift his being=Relocate, change abode
Leans=Inclining, about to fall
Prop=Support, prop up
Compleat:
Quench=Blusschen, uytblusschen, lesschen, dempen
To lean=Leunen, leenen, steunen
Prop=Een stut, steun. To prop=Ondersteunen, stutten

Topics: sorrow, intellect, remedy, fate/fortune, achievement

Categories: achievement, Cymbeline, fate/fortune, remedy, sorrow|

I minded him how royal ’twas to pardon when it was less expected

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Cominius
CONTEXT:
MENENIUS
Why, so: you have made good work!
A pair of tribunes that have rack’d for Rome,
To make coals cheap,—a noble memory!
COMINIUS
I minded him how royal ’twas to pardon
When it was less expected: he replied,
It was a bare petition of a state
To one whom they had punish’d.
MENENIUS
Very well: Could he say less?
COMINIUS
I offer’d to awaken his regard
For’s private friends: his answer to me was,
He could not stay to pick them in a pile
Of noisome musty chaff: he said ’twas folly,
For one poor grain or two, to leave unburnt,
And still to nose the offence.

DUTCH:
Ik stelde in ‘t licht, hoe koninklijk vergift nis
Zou wezen, onverwacht verleend; dit noemde
Hij recht armzalig smeeken van een staat
Tot een, nog onlangs door dien staat bestraft

MORE:
Rack=Stretch, strain, make huge effort
Make coals cheap=Burning Rome will make coal plentiful
A noble memory=A great way to be remembered
The less expected (the pardon), the more royal it is to give it
A bare petition=Unsubstantiated plea, without justification or excuse for the pardon
Nose the offence=Smell the offending material
Compleat:
Racked=Gerekt, gepynigd; gezuiverd
Bare=Bloot, naakt, kaal
Petition=Verzoek, smeekschrift, request

Topics: achievement, friendship, value

Categories: achievement, Coriolanus, value|

If I should tell thee o’er this thy day’s work, thou’ldst not believe thy deeds

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 1.9
SPEAKER: Cominius
CONTEXT:
COMINIUS
If I should tell thee o’er this thy day’s work,
Thou’ldst not believe thy deeds: but I’ll report it
Where senators shall mingle tears with smiles,
Where great patricians shall attend and shrug,
I’ the end admire, where ladies shall be frighted,
And, gladly quaked, hear more; where the dull tribunes,
That, with the fusty plebeians, hate thine honours,
Shall say against their hearts ‘We thank the gods
Our Rome hath such a soldier.’
Yet camest thou to a morsel of this feast,
Having fully dined before.

DUTCH:
Verhaalde ik u, wat gij op heden deedt,
Gelooven zoudt ge uw daden niet. Ik meld het,
Waar Senatoren lachend tranen storten,
Patriciërs luist’ren zullen, eerst de schouders
Optrekkend, maar in ‘t eind bewond’rend.

MORE:
Against their hearts=Unwillingly
Gladly quaked=Enjoy being frightened, thrown into grateful trepidation
Fusty=Smelling of mould
Compleat:
Fusty=Muffig, muf, vermuft.
To have a fusty smell=Een vunze lucht hebben

Topics: achievement, courage, respect

Categories: achievement, Coriolanus, respect|

Twere a concealment worse than a theft, no less than a traducement to hide your doings

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 1.9
SPEAKER: Cominius
CONTEXT:
COMINIUS
You shall not be
The grave of your deserving; Rome must know
The value of her own: ’twere a concealment
Worse than a theft, no less than a traducement,
To hide your doings; and to silence that,
Which, to the spire and top of praises vouch’d,
Would seem but modest: therefore, I beseech you
In sign of what you are, not to reward
What you have done—before our army hear me.
MARTIUS
I have some wounds upon me, and they smart
To hear themselves remember’d.

DUTCH:
Gij moogt het graf
Niet zijn van uw verdienste; Rome wete,
Wat het in u bezit; het waar’ verraad,
‘t Ware erger dan een diefstal, te verhelen,
Wat gij volbracht hebt; dat te zwijgen, wat,
Door welken lof ook hemelhoog verheven,
Toch nog bescheiden klinkt

MORE:
Be the grave of=Bury, swallow up as in a grave
Traducement=Censure, obloquy
Vouch=Maintain, assert
Compleat:
Traduce=Kwaadspreeken, lasteren; (accuse) beschuldigen
To vouch=Staande houden, bewyzen, verzekeren

Topics: merit, flattery, value, achievement

Categories: achievement, Coriolanus, merit, value|

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