QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Ulysses
CONTEXT:
ULYSSES
The great Achilles, whom opinion crowns
The sinew and the forehand of our host,
Having his ear full of his airy fame,
Grows dainty of his worth, and in his tent
Lies mocking our designs: with him Patroclus
Upon a lazy bed the livelong day
Breaks scurril jests;
And with ridiculous and awkward action,
Which, slanderer, he imitation calls,
He pageants us. Sometime, great Agamemnon,
Thy topless deputation he puts on,
And, like a strutting player, whose conceit
Lies in his hamstring, and doth think it rich
To hear the wooden dialogue and sound
‘Twixt his stretched footing and the scaffoldage,—
Such to-be-pitied and o’er-wrested seeming
He acts thy greatness in: and when he speaks,
‘Tis like a chime a-mending; with terms unsquared,
Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon dropped
Would seem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff
The large Achilles, on his pressed bed lolling,
From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause;
Cries ‘Excellent! ’tis Agamemnon just.
Now play me Nestor; hem, and stroke thy beard,
As he being drest to some oration.’
That’s done, as near as the extremest ends
Of parallels, as like as Vulcan and his wife:
Yet god Achilles still cries ‘Excellent!
‘Tis Nestor right. Now play him me, Patroclus,
Arming to answer in a night alarm.’
And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age
Must be the scene of mirth; to cough and spit,
And, with a palsy-fumbling on his gorget,
Shake in and out the rivet: and at this sport
Sir Valour dies; cries ‘O, enough, Patroclus;
Or give me ribs of steel! I shall split all
In pleasure of my spleen.’ And in this fashion,
All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes,
Severals and generals of grace exact,
Achievements, plots, orders, preventions,
Excitements to the field, or speech for truce,
Success or loss, what is or is not, serves
As stuff for these two to make paradoxes.

DUTCH:
En dan, dan worden ouderdoms-gebreken
Het voorwerp van hun spot; hij hoest en spuwt,
En schuift met jichtig treuz’len aan den halskraag
Stift uit stift in;

MORE:
Opinion=Consensus
Sinew=Muscle
Airy=Insubstantial
Dainty=Picky
Scurrile=Scurillous
Pageant=Mimic
Topless=Without a leader
Conceit=conception, idea, image in the mind
Wooden=Plodding
Stretched footing=Long strides
Scaffoldage=Stage
Unsquared=Unbecoming
Fusty=Stale
Just=Precisely
Palsy=Trembling
Gorget=Armour to protect the throat
Paradox=Absurdity
Compleat:
Opinon=Goeddunken, meening, gevoelen, waan
Sinew=Zenuw, zeen
Airy=Luchtig, luchthartig
Dainty=Lekker, raar, uytgeleezen
Scurrilous=Guytachtig, fieltachtig
Pageant=Een Triomfhoog, triomfwagen; schijn
Conceit=Waan, bevatting, opvatting, meening
Squared=Gepast
Fusty=Muffig, muf, vermuft
Palsy=Beroerdheid, geraaktheid, popelsy
Gorget=Een Kroplap, borstlap; Ringkraag
Paradox=Een wonderspreuk, een vreemde reden die tegen ‘t gemeen gevoelen schynt aan te loopen

Topics: negligence, pride, age/experience, respect