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He gives me the proverbs and the no-verbs

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Host
CONTEXT:
HOST
Peace, I say! hear mine host of the Garter. Am I
politic? am I subtle? am I a Machiavel? Shall I
lose my doctor? no; he gives me the potions and the
motions. Shall I lose my parson, my priest, my Sir
Hugh? no; he gives me the proverbs and the
no-verbs. Give me thy hand, terrestrial; so. Give me
thy hand, celestial; so. Boys of art, I have
deceived you both; I have directed you to wrong
places: your hearts are mighty, your skins are
whole, and let burnt sack be the issue. Come, lay
their swords to pawn. Follow me, lads of peace;
follow, follow, follow.

DUTCH:
Zou ik mijn eerwaarde, mijn priester, mijn Sir Hugo kwijtraken? Neen, hij geeft mij de spreekwoorden en de nietwoorden.

MORE:
Garter=Name of the inn
Politic=Devious
Subtle=Crafty, treacherous
Proverbs=Parables
No-verbs=Interdictions
Terrestrial=Priest
Celestial=Doctor
Art=Learning
Burnt sack=Heated wine
Issue=Outcome
Compleat:
Subtle=Listig, loos, sneedig, spitsvindig
Politick (or cunning)=Slim, schrander, doorsleepen
Proverb=Een spreuk, spreekwoord, byspreuk
Artful=Konstig, loos
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn

Topics: betrayal|conspiracy|deceit|learning/education|manipulation

Categories: betrayal, deceit, learning/education, manipulation, The Merry Wives of Windsor|

We make trifles of terrors, ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
LAFEW
They say miracles are past; and we have our
philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless. Hence is it that
we make trifles of terrors, ensconcing ourselves
into seeming knowledge, when we should submit
ourselves to an unknown fear.
PAROLLES
Why, ’tis the rarest argument of wonder that hath
shot out in our latter times.

DUTCH:
Men zegt, dat de tijd der wonderen voorbij is; en wij hebben onder ons wijsgeerige koppen genoeg, die bovennatuurlijke en onverklaarbare dingen tot alledaagsche en gewone zaken maken.

MORE:
Modern=Common, everyday
Causeless=Without explanation
Supernatural=Not produced according to the laws of nature, miraculous:
Ensconcing=Sheltering
Unknown fear=Recognition of the inexplicable
Compleat:
Causeless=Zonder oorzaak
Seeming=Schynende
A man of great seeming piety=Een man van eene groote uitwendige vroomheid
Trifle=Kleinigheid

Topics: learning/education, caution, understanding, justification

Categories: All's Well That Ends Well, justification, learning/education, understanding|

Tedious and brief? That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
THESEUS
[Reads]“The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung
By an Athenian eunuch to the harp.”
We’ll none of that. That have I told my love,
In glory of my kinsman Hercules.
“The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,
Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.”
That is an old device, and it was played
When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.
“The thrice three Muses mourning for the death
Of learning, late deceased in beggary.”
That is some satire, keen and critical,
Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.
“A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe. Very tragical mirth.”
“Merry” and “tragical?” “Tedious” and “brief?”
That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?

DUTCH:
Een treurspel en een klucht? kort en gerekt?
Dat klinkt als gloeiend ijs en heete sneeuw.
Wie wijst mij de eenheid van die tweeheid aan?

MORE:
Proverb: He that lives with the muses shall die in the straw (Learning ever dies in beggary)

The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals=The murder of Orpheus
Device=Show
Thrice-three=Nine
Sorting with=Befitting
Compleat:
Bacchanals=’t Feest van Bacchus, een slempfeest
Tipsy=Verbuysd

Burgersdijk notes:
Hercules. Hercules was zelf de held in den strijd met de Kentauren. — De zanger van Thracië is Orpheus. Men heeft vermoed, dat De negen Muzen enz. zou doelen op een gedicht van Spenser, The Teares of the Muses (1591), waarin de Muzen achtereenvolgens optreden om over het verval en de geringschatting van kunsten en wetenschappen te klagen. Ht gedicht is echter elegisch en niet een streng bijtende satyre.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, language, clarity/precision, learning/education

Categories: A Midsummer Night's Dream, clarity/precision, learning/education, proverbs and idioms|

That is some satire, keen and critical

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
THESEUS
“The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung
By an Athenian eunuch to the harp.”
We’ll none of that. That have I told my love,
In glory of my kinsman Hercules.
“The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,
Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.”
That is an old device, and it was played
When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.
“The thrice three Muses mourning for the death
Of learning, late deceased in beggary.”
That is some satire, keen and critical,
Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.
“A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe. Very tragical mirth.”
“Merry” and “tragical?” “Tedious” and “brief?”
That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?

DUTCH:
Dat is een strenge, bijtende satyre,
Volstrekt niet passend op een bruiloftsfeest.

MORE:
Proverb: He that lives with the muses shall die in the straw (Learning ever dies in beggary)

The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals=The murder of Orpheus
Device=Show
Thrice-three=Nine
Sorting with=Befitting
Compleat:
Bacchanals=’t Feest van Bacchus, een slempfeest
Tipsy=Verbuysd

Topics: proverbs and idioms, language, clarity/precision, learning/education

Categories: A Midsummer Night's Dream, clarity/precision, learning/education, proverbs and idioms|

Have you the lion’s part written? Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am slow of study

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Snug the Joiner
CONTEXT:
SNUG
Have you the lion’s part written? Pray you, if it be,
give it me, for I am slow of study.
QUINCE
You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.
BOTTOM
Let me play the lion too. I will roar, that I will do
any man’s heart good to hear me. I will roar, that I
will make the duke say, “Let him roar again. Let him
roar again.”
QUINCE
An you should do it too terribly, you would fright the
duchess and the ladies, that they would shriek. And that
were enough to hang us all.

DUTCH:
Hebt ge de rol van den leeuw ook op papier? Och
toe, hebt ge ze, geef ze mij dan, want ik ben zoo hardleersch.

MORE:
Lion’s part=Lion’s share
Slow of study=Slow at learning (esp. a part)
Extempore=Improvised, off the cuff
Compleat:
Extempore=Voor de vuyst, opstaandevoet

Topics: learning/education, intellect, preparation

Categories: A Midsummer Night's Dream, learning/education, preparation|

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