QUOTES FROM THE BARD

Speak, breathe, discuss; brief, short, quick, snap

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Host
CONTEXT:
HOST
What wouldst thou have, boor? what: thick-skin?
speak, breathe, discuss; brief, short, quick, snap.
SIMPLE
Marry, sir, I come to speak with Sir John Falstaff
from Master Slender.
HOST
There’s his chamber, his house, his castle, his
standing-bed and truckle-bed; ’tis painted about
with the story of the Prodigal, fresh and new. Go
knock and call; he’ll speak like an Anthropophaginian
unto thee: knock, I say.

DUTCH:
Waar naar toe, boer? wat wilt gij, dikhuid? Spreek,
geef geluid, deel mee, kort, bondig, vlug, snel!


MORE:
Discuss=Disclose
Truckle-bed=Low bed on castors that could be stored under a standing bed
Anthropophaginian=Cannibal
Compleat:
Discuss=Onderzoeken, uytpluyzen, naavorschen
Truckle-bed=Rol bed, uythaal bed

Burgersdijk notes:
Veldbed. Trucklebed, een laag bed, op rollen, dat onder het groote bed kon geborgen worden en meest voor een bediende bestemd was.

Topics: insult|clarity/precision|communication

Prithee, no more prattling; go. I’ll hold.

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Prithee, no more prattling; go. I’ll hold. This is
the third time; I hope good luck lies in odd
numbers. Away I go. They say there is divinity in
odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death.
Away!
MISTRESS QUICKLY
I’ll provide you a chain; and I’ll do what I can to
get you a pair of horns.
FALSTAFF
Away, I say; time wears: hold up your head, and mince.

DUTCH:
Kom, kom, geen praatjens meer; ga maar; ik houd
woord. Dit is de derde keer; ik hoop, dat oneven getallen
geluk brengen.

MORE:
Proverb: There is luck in odd numbers
Proverb: All things thrive at thrice
Proverb: The third time pays for all

Herne the Hunter supposedly had horns and shook a chain
Good luck lies in odd numbers
Divinity=Divination, divine power
Chance=Luck
Wears=Passes
Compleat:
Divinity=Godgeleerdheyd, Godheyd
Chance=Geval, voorval, kans

Topics: proverbs and idioms|fate/destiny

Thou art clerkly, thou art clerkly, Sir John

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Host
CONTEXT:
HOST
Thou art clerkly, thou art clerkly, Sir John. Was
there a wise woman with thee?
FALSTAFF
Ay, that there was, mine host; one that hath taught
me more wit than ever I learned before in my life;
and I paid nothing for it neither, but was paid for
my learning.

DUTCH:
Gij zijt een geleerde, gij zijt een geleerde, Sir John.
Was er daar een wijze vrouw bij u?

MORE:
Proverb: Bought wit is best

Clerkly=Learned
Was paid=Rewarded
Compleat:
Bought wit is best=Door schaade wordt men wys
Clerkship=Klerkschap, schryverschap
Rewarded=Beloond, vergolden

Topics: proverbs and idioms|learning/education

Away, I say; time wears: hold up your head, and mince

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Prithee, no more prattling; go. I’ll hold. This is
the third time; I hope good luck lies in odd
numbers. Away I go. They say there is divinity in
odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death.
Away!
MISTRESS QUICKLY
I’ll provide you a chain; and I’ll do what I can to
get you a pair of horns.
FALSTAFF
Away, I say; time wears: hold up your head, and mince.

DUTCH:
Ga heen, zeg ik; de tijd vervliegt; houd de kin op en
dribbel weg.

MORE:
Proverb: There is luck in odd numbers
Proverb: All things thrive at thrice
Proverb: The third time pays for all

Herne the Hunter supposedly had horns and shook a chain
Good luck lies in odd numbers
Divinity=Divination, divine power
Chance=Luck
Wears=Passes
Compleat:
Divinity=Godgeleerdheyd, Godheyd
Chance=Geval, voorval, kans

Topics: proverbs and idioms|fate/destiny

The devil take one party and his dam the other! And so they shall be both bestowed

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Now, whence come you?
MISTRESS QUICKLY
From the two parties, forsooth.
FALSTAFF
The devil take one party and his dam the other! and
so they shall be both bestowed. I have suffered more
for their sakes, more than the villainous inconstancy
of man’s disposition is able to bear.
MISTRESS QUICKLY
And have not they suffered? Yes, I warrant;
speciously one of them; Mistress Ford, good heart,
is beaten black and blue, that you cannot see a
white spot about her.

DUTCH:
De duivel haal’ de eene partij, en zijn moêr de andere!
dan zijn zij alle twee verzorgd

MORE:
Proverb: The devil and his dam

Dam=Wife
Villainous=Wretched
Disposition=Nature
Compleat:
Villainous=Snood, schelmachtig
Disposition=Gesteltenis, ordening, gesteldheyd, neyging

Topics: dispute|proverbs and idioms|fate/destiny

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