QUOTES FROM THE BARD

For we may pity though not pardon thee

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors ACT/SCENE: 1.1 SPEAKER: Duke CONTEXT: DUKE
Nay, forward, old man. Do not break off so,
For we may pity though not pardon thee.
AEGEON
O, had the gods done so, I had not now
Worthily termed them merciless to us.
For, ere the ships could meet by twice five leagues,
We were encountered by a mighty rock,
Which being violently borne upon,
Our helpful ship was splitted in the midst;
So that, in this unjust divorce of us,
Fortune had left to both of us alike
What to delight in, what to sorrow for.
Her part, poor soul, seeming as burdenèd
With lesser weight, but not with lesser woe,
Was carried with more speed before the wind,
And in our sight they three were taken up
By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought.
At length, another ship had seized on us
And, knowing whom it was their hap to save,
Gave healthful welcome to their shipwracked guests,
And would have reft the fishers of their prey
Had not their bark been very slow of sail;
And therefore homeward did they bend their course.
Thus have you heard me severed from my bliss;
That by misfortunes was my life prolonged
To tell sad stories of my own mishaps. DUTCH: Neen, oude, breek niet af; want mededoogen
Mag ik u schenken, schoon genade niet..
MORE: Worthily=Deservedly, justly
Helpful ship=Mast, which was helpful when the ship was “sinking-ripe”
In the midst=Down the middle
Twice five leagues=Thirty miles
Hap=Luck
Reft=Bereft, deprived
Prey=Those rescued
Bark=Ship
Compleat:
Worthily=Waardiglyk
Helpful=Behulpelyk
Midst=Het middenst, midden
Hap=Het luk, geval, toeval
Bereft=Beroofd
Bark=Scheepje Topics: pity, mercy, judgment, fate/destiny, life

That by misfortunes was my life prolonged to tell sad stories of my own mishaps

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Duke
CONTEXT:
DUKE
Nay, forward, old man. Do not break off so,
For we may pity though not pardon thee.
AEGEON
O, had the gods done so, I had not now
Worthily termed them merciless to us.
For, ere the ships could meet by twice five leagues,
We were encountered by a mighty rock,
Which being violently borne upon,
Our helpful ship was splitted in the midst;
So that, in this unjust divorce of us,
Fortune had left to both of us alike
What to delight in, what to sorrow for.
Her part, poor soul, seeming as burdenèd
With lesser weight, but not with lesser woe,
Was carried with more speed before the wind,
And in our sight they three were taken up
By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought.
At length, another ship had seized on us
And, knowing whom it was their hap to save,
Gave healthful welcome to their shipwracked guests,
And would have reft the fishers of their prey
Had not their bark been very slow of sail;
And therefore homeward did they bend their course.
Thus have you heard me severed from my bliss;
That by misfortunes was my life prolonged
To tell sad stories of my own mishaps.

DUTCH:
Neen, oude, breek niet af; want mededoogen
Mag ik u schenken, schoon genade niet..

MORE:
Worthily=Deservedly, justly
Helpful ship=Mast, which was helpful when the ship was “sinking-ripe”
In the midst=Down the middle
Twice five leagues=Thirty miles
Hap=Luck
Reft=Bereft, deprived
Prey=Those rescued
Bark=Ship
Compleat:
Worthily=Waardiglyk
Helpful=Behulpelyk
Midst=Het middenst, midden
Hap=Het luk, geval, toeval
Bereft=Beroofd
Bark=Scheepje

Topics: pity, mercy, judgment, fate/destiny, life

There is three umpires in this matter, as I understand

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Sir Hugh Evans
CONTEXT:
SLENDER
Where’s Simple, my man? Can you tell, cousin?
SIR HUGH EVANS
Peace, I pray you. Now let us understand. There is
three umpires in this matter, as I understand; that
is, Master Page, fidelicet Master Page; and there is
myself, fidelicet myself; and the three party is,
lastly and finally, mine host of the Garter.
PAGE
We three, to hear it and end it between them.
SIR HUGH EVANS
Fery goot: I will make a prief of it in my notebook;
and we will afterwards ork upon the cause with
as great discreetly as we can.

DUTCH:
Frede, pit ik u. Laten wij tot een verstand komen;
daar is drie scheidensrechters in deze zaak, als ik mij
wel fersta;

MORE:
Mine host=The owner of a tavern
Umpire=Arbitrator
Fidelicit=Namely
Garter=Name of the inn
Prief=Brief, summary
Cause=Case
Compleat:
Host=Een waerd, herbergier
Brief=Een kort schrift, brevet

Topics: dispute, resolution, judgment

If he do not … offer to betray you and deliver all the intelligence in his power against you

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Second Lord
CONTEXT:
FIRST LORD
It were fit you knew him; lest, reposing too far in
his virtue, which he hath not, he might at some
great and trusty business in a main danger fail you.
BERTRAM
I would I knew in what particular action to try him.
FIRST LORD
None better than to let him fetch off his drum,
which you hear him so confidently undertake to do.
SECOND LORD
I, with a troop of Florentines, will suddenly
surprise him; such I will have, whom I am sure he
knows not from the enemy: we will bind and hoodwink
him so, that he shall suppose no other but that he
is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries, when
we bring him to our own tents. Be but your lordship
present at his examination: if he do not, for the
promise of his life and in the highest compulsion of
base fear, offer to betray you and deliver all the
intelligence in his power against you, and that with
the divine forfeit of his soul upon oath, never
trust my judgment in any thing.

DUTCH:
Dat uwe edelheid dan bij zijn verhoor tegenwoordig zij;
zoo hij dan niet, als hem het leven geschonken wordt,
en onder den sterksten aandrang van lage vrees, zich
bereid verklaart u te verraden en al de inlichtingen, die
hij in zijn bezit heeft, tegen u te geven, en wel terwijl
hij zijn ziel en zaligheid bij eede op het spel zet, behoeft
gij mij nimmermeer in iets ter wereld te vertrouwen.

MORE:
Fit=Suitable
Trusty=Requiring trust
Fetch off=Bring back
Surprise=Capture
Hoodwink=Blindfold
Leaguer=Camp (from Dutch ‘leger’)
Intelligence=Information
Compleat:
To fit=Passen, pas maaken, gereedmaaken, voegen
To fetch off=Afhaalen
Surprise=Overval, verrassing, overyling, ontsteltenis, onverwacht voorval
To hoodwink=Blinddoeken, blindhokken, verblinden
Leaguer=Leger
Intelligence=Kundschap, verstandhouding

Topics: trust, perception, caution, betrayal, judgment, evidence

To what metal this counterfeit lump of ore will be melted

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: First Lord
CONTEXT:
SECOND LORD
I, with a troop of Florentines, will suddenly
surprise him; such I will have, whom I am sure he
knows not from the enemy: we will bind and hoodwink
him so, that he shall suppose no other but that he
is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries, when
we bring him to our own tents. Be but your lordship
present at his examination: if he do not, for the
promise of his life and in the highest compulsion of
base fear, offer to betray you and deliver all the
intelligence in his power against you, and that with
the divine forfeit of his soul upon oath, never
trust my judgment in any thing.
FIRST LORD
O, for the love of laughter, let him fetch his drum;
he says he has a stratagem for’t: when your
lordship sees the bottom of his success in’t, and to
what metal this counterfeit lump of ore will be
melted, if you give him not John Drum’s
entertainment, your inclining cannot be removed.
Here he comes.

DUTCH:
Als uwe edelheid den uitslag doorziet en opmerkt, tot
welk metaal die valsche goudklomp smelt, en hem dan niet
een roffel geeft, dat hij nooit terugkomt, dan is uwe liefde
voor hem inderdaad niet uit te roeien.

MORE:
Proverb: Jack (John) Drum’s entertainment

Surprise=Capture
Hoodwink=Blindfold
Leaguer=Camp (from Dutch ‘leger’)
Intelligence=Information
John Drum’s entertainment=To be thrown out
Compleat:
Surprise=Overval, verrassing, overyling, ontsteltenis, onverwacht voorval
To hoodwink=Blinddoeken, blindhokken, verblinden
Leaguer=Leger
Intelligence=Kundschap, verstandhouding

Topics: trust, perception, caution, betrayal, judgment, evidence, proverbs and idioms

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