QUOTES FROM THE BARD

I would we were all of one mind, and one mind good

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: First Jailer
CONTEXT:
MESSENGER
Knock off his manacles; bring your prisoner to the king.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Thou bring’st good news; I am called to be made free.
FIRST GAOLER
I’ll be hang’d then.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Thou shalt be then freer than a gaoler; no bolts for the dead.
FIRST JAILER
Unless a man would marry a gallows and beget
young gibbets, I never saw one so prone. Yet, on my
conscience, there are verier knaves desire to live,
for all he be a Roman; and there be some of them
too that die against their wills. So should I, if I
were one. I would we were all of one mind, and
one mind good. O, there were desolation of jailers
and gallowses! I speak against my present profit,
but my wish hath a preferment in ’t.

DUTCH:
Ik wenschte, dat wij allen eensgezind waren, en dan
goedgezind.


MORE:
Desolation=Destitution, solitariness
Prone=Eagerly inclined
Gibbet=Gallows
Preferment=Promotion
Very=Veritable, true, real. Verier=greater
Speak against my present profit=Arguing against my current gain
Compleat:
Prone=Geneigd
Gibbet=Een mik, halve galg
Preferment=Verhooging, voortrekking, bevordering tot Staat
Very (true or perfect)=Echt. Veriest=Grootste
He is the veriest rogue that ever lived=Hy is de grootste schurk die op twe beenen gaat

Topics: offence, good and bad, unity/collabouration, order/society

I speak against my present profit, but my wish hath a preferment in ’t

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: First Jailer
CONTEXT:
MESSENGER
Knock off his manacles; bring your prisoner to the king.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Thou bring’st good news; I am called to be made free.
FIRST GAOLER
I’ll be hang’d then.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Thou shalt be then freer than a gaoler; no bolts for the dead.
FIRST JAILER
Unless a man would marry a gallows and beget
young gibbets, I never saw one so prone. Yet, on my
conscience, there are verier knaves desire to live,
for all he be a Roman; and there be some of them
too that die against their wills. So should I, if I
were one. I would we were all of one mind, and
one mind good. O, there were desolation of jailers
and gallowses! I speak against my present profit,
but my wish hath a preferment in ’t.

DUTCH:
Ik spreek tegen mijn tegenwoordig voordeel, maar er ligt toch een wensch naar bevordering in.

MORE:
Desolation=Destitution, solitariness
Prone=Eagerly inclined
Gibbet=Gallows
Preferment=Promotion
Very=Veritable, true, real. Verier=greater
Speak against my present profit=Arguing against my current gain
Compleat:
Prone=Geneigd
Gibbet=Een mik, halve galg
Preferment=Verhooging, voortrekking, bevordering tot Staat
Very (true or perfect)=Echt. Veriest=Grootste
He is the veriest rogue that ever lived=Hy is de grootste schurk die op twe beenen gaat

Topics: offence, good and bad, unity/collabouration, order/society

Thy words, I grant, are bigger, for I wear not my dagger in my mouth

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Guiderius
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
Thou art a robber,
A lawbreaker, a villain. Yield thee, thief.
GUIDERIUS, [as Polydor]To who? To thee? What art thou? Have not I
An arm as big as thine? A heart as big?
Thy words, I grant, are bigger, for I wear not
My dagger in my mouth. Say what thou art,
Why I should yield to thee.
CLOTEN
Thou villain base,
Know’st me not by my clothes?

DUTCH:
Is niet mijn arm
Zoo sterk als de uwe, niet mijn hart zoo sterk?
In woorden kunt gij sterker zijn; ik draag
Mijn dolk niet in mijn mond.

MORE:
Proverb: The tailor makes the man

“My dagger is my mouth” ref. Solimon and Perseda, “I fight not with my tongue; this (pointing to sword) is my oratrix”
Base=Of low station, of mean account, i.e. base metal
Compleat:
A base fellow=Een slechte vent, oolyke boef
Base=Ondergeschikt

Topics: language, learning/education, order/society, status, appearance, proverbs and idioms

Though those that are betray’d do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor stands in worse case of woe

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Why, I must die;
And if I do not by thy hand, thou art
No servant of thy master’s. Against self-slaughter
There is a prohibition so divine
That cravens my weak hand. Come, here’s my heart.
Something’s afore’t. Soft, soft! we’ll no defence;
Obedient as the scabbard. What is here?
The scriptures of the loyal Leonatus,
All turn’d to heresy? Away, away,
Corrupters of my faith! you shall no more
Be stomachers to my heart. Thus may poor fools
Believe false teachers: though those that are betray’d
Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor
Stands in worse case of woe.
And thou, Posthumus, thou that didst set up
My disobedience ‘gainst the king my father
And make me put into contempt the suits
Of princely fellows, shalt hereafter find
It is no act of common passage, but
A strain of rareness: and I grieve myself
To think, when thou shalt be disedged by her
That now thou tirest on, how thy memory
Will then be pang’d by me. Prithee, dispatch:
The lamb entreats the butcher: where’s thy knife?
Thou art too slow to do thy master’s bidding,
When I desire it too.

DUTCH:
Van hier, van hier,
Die mijn geloof vervalscht hebt! Weg! niet langer
Dekt gij mij ‘t hart! O, arme dwazen schenken
Geloof aan valsche leeraars. Doch hoe diep
‘t Verraad ook de bedroog’nen griev’, toch treft
Hem, die verraadt, veel erger wee.

MORE:
Disedged=Blunted, with the edge taken off (Cf. Hamlet 3.2, “It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge”)
False teachers=Teachers of heresy
Stomacher=Ornamental covering for the breast worn by women
To tire=To prey or feed ravenously “upon”, rend prey to pieces
Pang=To afflict with great pain, to torment
Compleat:
To blunt=Stomp maaken, verstompen
A false prophet=Een valsch Propheet
A false (erroneous) opinion=Een dwaalend gevoelen

Topics: corruption, manipulation, betrayal, order/society, memory, consequences

Sir, the event is yet to name the winner

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Caius Lucius
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
My lords, you are appointed for that office;
The due of honour in no point omit.
So farewell, noble Lucius.
CAIUS LUCIUS
Your hand, my lord.
CLOTEN
Receive it friendly; but from this time forth
I wear it as your enemy.
CAIUS LUCIUS
Sir, the event
Is yet to name the winner: fare you well.
CYMBELINE
Leave not the worthy Lucius, good my lords,
Till he have cross’d the Severn. Happiness!
QUEEN
He goes hence frowning: but it honours us
That we have given him cause.

DUTCH:
De uitslag, heer,
Zal de’ overwinnaar kennen doen. Vaarwel!

MORE:
Office=Duty
Due of honour=Honour due
Event=Outcome
Compleat:
Office=Een Ampt, dienst
Event=Uytkomst, uytslag

Topics: order/society, duty, friendship, dispute

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