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I do not like “But yet.” It does allay the good precedence

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Cleopatra
CONTEXT:
MESSENGER
Caesar and he are greater friends than ever.
CLEOPATRA
Make thee a fortune from me.
MESSENGER
But yet, madam—
CLEOPATRA
I do not like “But yet.” It does allay
The good precedence. Fie upon “But yet.”
“But yet” is as a jailer to bring forth
Some monstrous malefactor. Prithee, friend,
Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear,
The good and bad together. He’s friends with Caesar,
In state of health, thou say’st, and, thou say’st,
free.

DUTCH:
Wat is nu dit, „Maar toch”? Den goeden aanloop
Maakt dit te schande; weg met dit „Maar toch”!
„Maar toch” is als een kerkerknecht, die dieven
En moord’naars tot den beul voert.

MORE:
Allay=Dilute, cast a shadow over
Good precedence=The previous good news
Compleat:
To allay=Verligten, verzachten, maatigen, sussen, temperen
Precedence=Voorgang

Topics: news, communication, good and bad

Categories: Antony and Cleopatra, good and bad, news|

A man who is th’ abstract of all faults that all men follow

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Caesar
CONTEXT:
CAESAR
You may see, Lepidus, and henceforth know,
It is not Caesar’s natural vice to hate
Our great competitor. From Alexandria
This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes
The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike
Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy
More womanly than he; hardly gave audience, or
Vouchsafed to think he had partners. You shall find there
A man who is th’ abstract of all faults
That all men follow.
LEPIDUS
I must not think there are
Evils enough to darken all his goodness.
His faults in him seem as the spots of heaven,
More fiery by night’s blackness, hereditary
Rather than purchased, what he cannot change
Than what he chooses.

DUTCH:
CAESAR
(…) Hij is het kort begrip van ied’re boosheid,
Die eenig man ooit had.
LEPIDUS.
En toch verduistert
Het booze in hem niet alles wat hij goeds heeft;
Zijn feilen komen uit in hem, zooals
‘t Gesternte vuur’ger glanst door ‘t zwart der nacht,
Zijn eer hem aangeboren dan verkregen,
Veeleer geduld, dan met zijn wil hem eigen.

MORE:
Shelley’s Case (1579-81) had made the public familiar with the term “purchase” (acquisition by a title other than descent). The ‘Rule in Shelley’s Case’, which applied until 1925, concerned the distinction between estates acquired by inheritance or descent and those acquired by purchase. Hence Shakespeare’s use of the word ‘purchase’ to distinguish property or qualities not acquired by inheritance, such as here where Lepidus refers to faults that are ‘hereditary rather than purchased”.

Gave audience=Listened
Vouchsafe=Deign
Abstract=Summary, inventory
Spots of heaven=Stars
Compleat:
To give audience=Gehoor geeven, verleenen of vergunnen
To vouchsafe=Gewaardigen, vergunnen
Abstract=Uyttreksel, aftreksel, verkortsel

Topics: good and bad, integrity, excess, law/legal, flaw/fault, leadership

Categories: Antony and Cleopatra, excess, flaw/fault, good and bad, law/legal|

Bad is the world, and all will come to naught when such ill dealing must be seen in thought

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Scrivener
CONTEXT:
SCRIVENER
This is the indictment of the good Lord Hastings,
Which in a set hand fairly is engrossed,
That it may be today read o’er in Paul’s.
And mark how well the sequel hangs together:
Eleven hours I have spent to write it over,
For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me;
The precedent was full as long a-doing,
And yet within these five hours Hastings lived,
Untainted, unexamined, free, at liberty.
Here’s a good world the while. Who is so gross
That cannot see this palpable device?
Yet who so bold but says he sees it not?
Bad is the world, and all will come to naught
When such ill dealing must be seen in thought.

DUTCH:
Boos is de wereld ; alles gaat to grond,
Sluit vrees bij zulk een boosheid elk den mond.

MORE:
Fairly engrossed=Clearly written
Sequel=Chronology of events
Precedent=Original draft
Untainted=Not accused
Gross=Stupid
Palpable device=Obvious strategy
Seen in thought=Not spoken of
Compleat:
To engross=Te boek stellen, in’t net stellen
Precedent=Voorgaande, voorbeeld
Untainted=Gaaf, onbedurven, onbesmet
Gross=Grof, plomp, onbebouwen
Palpable=Tastelyk, tastbaar
Device=List; uytvindsel, gedichtsel

Topics: good and bad, trust, communication, honesty

Categories: communication, good and bad, honesty, Richard III|

Small herbs have grace; great weeds do grow apace

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Duke of York
CONTEXT:
DUCHESS
Why, my young cousin? It is good to grow.
YORK
Grandam, one night as we did sit at supper,
My uncle Rivers talked how I did grow
More than my brother: “Ay,” quoth my uncle Gloucester,
“Small herbs have grace; great weeds do grow apace.”
And since, methinks I would not grow so fast
Because sweet flowers are slow and weeds make haste.
DUCHESS
Good faith, good faith, the saying did not hold
In him that did object the same to thee!
He was the wretched’st thing when he was young,
So long a-growing and so leisurely,

DUTCH:
„Ja,” zeide oom Gloster toen,
,,Een klein gewas is eel, onkruid groeit veel .”
En sedert wenschte ik minder sterken groei;
Eel kruid komt laat, en onkruid snel in bloei .

MORE:
Proverb: An ill weed grows apace

Grace=Good properties
Since=Since then
Hold=Hold true
Compleat:
Grace=Genade, gunst, bevalligheyd, fraaigheyd, aardige zwier
Weed=Onkruyd
To hold=Houden, vatten; achten

Topics: time, proverbs and idioms, still in use, invented or popularised, good and bad, nature

Categories: good and bad, invented or popularised, Richard III, still in use, time|

And thus I clothe my naked villainy with old odd ends stolen out of holy writ; and seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Richard, Duke of Gloucester
CONTEXT:
RICHARD
I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl.
The secret mischiefs that I set abroach
I lay unto the grievous charge of others.
Clarence, whom I indeed have cast in darkness,
I do beweep to many simple gulls,
Namely, to Derby, Hastings, Buckingham,
And tell them ’tis the queen and her allies
That stir the king against the duke my brother.
Now they believe it and withal whet me
To be revenged on Rivers, Dorset, Grey;
But then I sigh and, with a piece of scripture,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil;
And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd old ends stolen out of Holy Writ,
And seem a saint when most I play the devil.

DUTCH:
En zoo bekleed ik steeds mijn naakte boosheid
Met dwaze vodden, uit de Schrift gekaapt,
En schijn een heil’ge, als ik echt duivelsch ben.

MORE:
Proverb: Some complain to prevent complaint

Brawl=Quarrel
Mischief=Wicked deed
Set abroach=Carried out (the harm I have done)
Lay unto the charge=Accuse
Simple gulls=Simpletons
Stir=Incite
Stout=Resolute
Compleat:
Brawl=Gekyf
To brawl=Kyven
Mischief=onheil, dwaad, ongeluk, ramp, verderf, heilloosheid
To set abroach=Een gat booren om uyt te tappen, een vat opsteeken. Ook Lucht of ruymte aan iets geven
To lay a thing to one’s charge=Iemand met iets beschuldigen, iets tot iemands laste brengen
Gull=Bedrieger
To stir=Beweegen, verroeren
Stout=Stout, koen, dapper, verwaand, lustig

Topics: good and bad, conscience, proverbs and idioms

Categories: good and bad, proverbs and idioms, Richard III|

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