QUOTES FROM THE BARD

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