QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Ford
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Of what quality was your love, then?
FORD
Like a fair house built on another man’s ground; so that I have lost my edifice by mistaking the place where I erected it.
FALSTAFF
To what purpose have you unfolded this to me?
FORD
When I have told you that, I have told you all.
Some say, that though she appear honest to me, yet in
other places she enlargeth her mirth so far that
there is shrewd construction made of her. Now, Sir
John, here is the heart of my purpose: you are a
gentleman of excellent breeding, admirable
discourse, of great admittance, authentic in your
place and person, generally allowed for your many
war-like, court-like, and learned preparations.

DUTCH:
Zij geleek een schoon huis, op eens andermans grond
gebouwd; zoodat ik mijn gebouw verspeelde, door een
verkeerd erf te kiezen om het te stichten.

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
There was a Latin maxim to the effect that if a man built a house using his own materials on another man’s land, has become the property of the owner of the plot. This legal consequence of an innocent mistake was a hot topic for the public and taken up by dramatists of the time. Shakespeare approached it differently by not using the Latin maxim but alluding to it only in ordinary language.

Proverb: Who builds upon another’s ground loses both mortar and stones

Honest=Faithful
Shrewd construction=Suspicion
Great admittance=Admitted to elevated social circles
Authentic=Creditable
Preparations=Accomplishments
Compleat:
Shrewd=Loos, doortrapt, sneedig, vinnig, fel
Construction=Uytlegging, Zamenstelling
Admittance=Toelaating, inwilliging
Authentick, authentical=Eygen-geloofwaardig, goedgekeurd, achtbaar, geloofwaardig
Preparation=Toerusting, voorbereyding, voorbereydsel

Topics: law/legal|proverbs and idioms|honesty|status|learning/education|reputation