QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Your daughter’s chastity—there it begins.
He spake of her, as Dian had hot dreams,
And she alone were cold: whereat I, wretch,
Made scruple of his praise; and wager’d with him
Pieces of gold ‘gainst this which then he wore
Upon his honour’d finger, to attain
In suit the place of’s bed and win this ring
By hers and mine adultery. He, true knight,
No lesser of her honour confident
Than I did truly find her, stakes this ring;
And would so, had it been a carbuncle
Of Phoebus’ wheel, and might so safely, had it
Been all the worth of’s car. Away to Britain
Post I in this design: well may you, sir,
Remember me at court; where I was taught
Of your chaste daughter the wide difference
‘Twixt amorous and villanous. Being thus quench’d
Of hope, not longing, mine Italian brain
‘Gan in your duller Britain operate
Most vilely; for my vantage, excellent:
And, to be brief, my practice so prevail’d,
That I return’d with simular proof enough
To make the noble Leonatus mad,
By wounding his belief in her renown
With tokens thus, and thus; averring notes
Of chamber-hanging, pictures, this her bracelet,—
O cunning, how I got it!— nay, some marks
Of secret on her person, that he could not
But think her bond of chastity quite crack’d,
I having ta’en the forfeit. Whereupon—
Methinks, I see him now—

DUTCH:
In ‘t kort, mijn plan gelukte zoo, dat ik
Met schijnbewijzen wederkwam, genoeg
Om de’ eed’len Leonatus dol te maken

MORE:
Cold=Chaste
Made scruple=Disputed
In suit=Wooing
Post=Hasten
Design=Plan
For my vantage=To my advantage
Practice=Scheme
Simular=Simulated
Averring=Alleging
Compleat:
To scrupule=Zwaarigheid maaken
Design=Opzet, voorneemen, oogmerk, aanslag, toeleg, ontwerp
Vantage=Toegift, toemaat, overmaat, overwigt
Practice=(underhand dealing, intrigue, plot) Praktyk, bedekten handel, list
To averr=Verzeeren, staande houden, bewaarheden

Topics: deceit, evidence, reputation