QUOTES FROM THE BARD

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

Boys of art, I have deceived you both; I have directed you to wrong places

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:
Kinderen der wijsheid, ik heb u beiden bedrogen; ik heb u op verkeerde plaatsen besteld; en daar staat gij nu met heldenharten en heelshuids; en laat nu gebrande sek het einde zijn.

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:
Politick (or cunning)=Slim, schrander, doorsleepen
Subtle=Listig, loos, sneedig, spitsvindig
Proverb=Een spreuk, spreekwoord, byspreuk
Artful=Konstig, loos
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn

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

Whose villainous saffron would have made all the unbaked and doughy youth of a nation in his colour

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.5
SPEAKER: LAFEW
CONTEXT:
LAFEW
No, no, no, your son was misled with a snipped-taffeta
fellow there, whose villainous saffron would have
made all the unbaked and doughy youth of a nation in
his colour: your daughter-in-law had been alive at
this hour, and your son here at home, more advanced
by the king than by that red-tailed humble-bee I speak of.
COUNTESS
I would I had not known him; it was the death of the
most virtuous gentlewoman that ever nature had
praise for creating. If she had partaken of my
flesh, and cost me the dearest groans of a mother, I
could not have owed her a more rooted love.

DUTCH:
Neen, neen, neen; uw zoon werd daar ginds verleid
door een uitgesneden-taf-kerel, wiens ellendige saffraanstijfsel de geheele halfbakken en ongare jeugd van zijn volk met zijn kleur had kunnen gerieven

MORE:
Snipped- or snipt-taffeta was silk slashed to show another material underneath (ref to Parolles’ flashy costume).
Saffron=Used as a starch
Humble-bee=Bumble-bee
Compleat:
Saffron=Saffraan
Humble-bee=Hommel

Topics: deceit, influence, manipulation

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Puck
CONTEXT:
PUCK
Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover’s fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
OBERON
Stand aside. The noise they make
Will cause Demetrius to awake.
PUCK
Then will two at once woo one.
That must needs be sport alone.
And those things do best please me
That befall preposterously.

DUTCH:
God! hoe dwaas zijn toch die liên !

MORE:
Fond=Foolish
Pageant=Spectacle, show
Fee=Reward
Compleat:
Fond=Toegeeflyk, involgend, mal
Pageant=een Triomfhoog, triomfwagen; schijn
Fee=Loon

Topics: manipulation, love

And those things do best please me that befall preposterously

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Puck
CONTEXT:
OBERON
Stand aside. The noise they make
Will cause Demetrius to awake.
PUCK
Then will two at once woo one.
That must needs be sport alone.
And those things do best please me
That befall preposterously.
LYSANDER
Why should you think that I should woo in scorn?
Scorn and derision never come in tears.
Look, when I vow, I weep. And vows so born,
In their nativity all truth appears.
How can these things in me seem scorn to you,
Bearing the badge of faith to prove them true?

DUTCH:
Want dat is mijn grootste pret,
Als ik ‘t onderst boven zet.

MORE:
Alone=Unique
Befall=Happen
Preposterously=Perversely
Compleat:
Befall=Gebeuren, overkomen
Preposterously=Verkeerdelyk, het achterste voor

Topics: manipulation, love

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