CJTranslations - justice

QUOTES BY TOPIC

[W]ere he mealed with that
Which he corrects, then were he tyrannous

PLAY: Measure for Measure ACT/SCENE: 4.2 SPEAKER: Duke Vincentio CONTEXT: Not so, not so; his life is parallel’d
Even with the stroke and line of his great justice:
He doth with holy abstinence subdue
That in himself which he spurs on his power
To qualify in others: were he meal’d with that
Which he corrects, then were he tyrannous;
But this being so, he’s just. DUTCH: Doortrok ook hem de deesem,
Door hem gewraakt, dan waar’ hij tyranniek;
Maar nu is hij rechtvaardig. MORE: Schmidt:
Stroke=Line (as made with a pen)
Mealed=Sprinkled, tainted
Compleat:
Meal=Meel
Mealed=Tot poejer gemaakt Topics: justice, good and bad, honour, reputation, temptation, respect

And liberty plucks justice by the nose;
The baby beats the nurse, and quite athwart Goes all decorum.

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Duke Vincentio
CONTEXT:
We have strict statutes and most biting laws.
The needful bits and curbs to headstrong weeds,
Which for this nineteen years we have let slip;
Even like an o’ergrown lion in a cave,
That goes not out to prey. Now, as fond fathers,
Having bound up the threatening twigs of birch,
Only to stick it in their children’s sight
For terror, not to use, in time the rod
Becomes more mock’d than fear’d; so our decrees,
Dead to infliction, to themselves are dead;
And liberty plucks justice by the nose;
The baby beats the nurse, and quite athwart
Goes all decorum.

DUTCH:
Nu, gelijk
Een zwakke vader berkenrijsjes bindt,
Alleen om ‘t oog der kind’ren te verschrikken,
Niet voor gebruik, zoodat de roede dra
Meer spot dan vreeze wekt, zoo is de wet,
Die dood voor straf is, in zichzelf ook dood;
De vrijheid trekt alsdan gerechtigheid
Driest bij den neus; de zuig’ling slaat de min,
En alle ontzag is weg .

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)

Topics: law/legal, authority, value, respect, justice

But since correction lieth in those hands Which made the fault that we cannot correct

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: John of Gaunt
CONTEXT:
Alas, the part I had in Woodstock’s blood
Doth more solicit me than your exclaims,
To stir against the butchers of his life!
But since correction lieth in those hands
Which made the fault that we cannot correct,
Put we our quarrel to the will of heaven;
Who, when they see the hours ripe on earth,
Will rain hot vengeance on offenders’ heads.

DUTCH:
Doch wijl de straf in de eigen handen rust,
Die pleegden, wat wij zelf niet kunnen straffen,
Bevelen we onze zaak den hemel aan.

MORE:

Proverb: Vengeance belongs only to God

To solicit=Entreat, petition
Stir=Act
Put we our quarrel to=Put our dispute before, submit our dispute to
See the hours ripe=The time has come
Rain hot vengeance=Divine punishent (Genesis 19:24-5)
Correction=Punishment

Compleat:
Correction=Verbetering, tuchtiging, berisping
Ripe=Ryp
When things are ripe for action=Als het tyd is om aan ‘t werk te gaan
A design ripe for execution=Een ontwerp dat ryp is om ter uitvoer te brengen
Vengeance=Wraak

Topics: dispute, offence, resolution, justice, punishment, proverbs and idioms, time

Come; fear you not: good counsellors lack no clients

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Pompey
CONTEXT:
Come; fear you not: good counsellors lack no
clients: though you change your place, you need not
change your trade; I’ll be your tapster still.
Courage! there will be pity taken on you: you that
have worn your eyes almost out in the service, you
will be considered.

DUTCH:
Kom, wees zonder zorg; goede raadslui zijn nooit zonder
klanten.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Tapster=One who draws beer and serves the customers of an alehouse
Compleat:
Tapster=Een tapper, biertapper

Topics: lawyers, law/legal, justice, status

Condemn the fault and not the actor of it?

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Angelo
CONTEXT:
Condemn the fault and not the actor of it?
Why, every fault’s condemn’d ere it be done:
Mine were the very cipher of a function,
To fine the faults whose fine stands in record,
And let go by the actor.

DUTCH:
Hoe, ‘t misdrijf zjj veroordeeld, niet die ‘t pleegt?
Veroordeeld is, voor ‘t plegen reeds, elk misdrijf.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Condemn=1) To sentence, to doom; 2) To censure, blame, reprove
Compleat:
Condemn=Veroordeelen, verdoemen, verwyzen
To condemn one’s conduct=Iemands gedrag veroordeelen
To condemn without hearing=Onverhoord oordeelen

Topics: offence, punishment, law/legal, justice

Every subject’s duty is the king’s, but every subject’s soul is his own.

PLAY: King Henry V
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: King Henry
CONTEXT:
Now, if these men have defeated the law and outrun native punishment, though they can outstrip men, they have no wings to fly from God. War is His beadle, war is His vengeance, so that here men are punished for before-breach of the king’s laws in now the king’s quarrel. Where they feared the death, they have borne life away; and where they would be safe, they perish. Then, if they die unprovided, no more is the king guilty of their damnation than he was before guilty of those impieties for the which they are now visited. Every subject’s duty is the king’s, but every subject’s soul is his own. Therefore should every soldier in the wars do as every sick man in his bed: wash every mote out of his conscience.

DUTCH:
De dienst van iederen onderdaan is des konings, maar de ziel van iederen onderdaan is zijn eigene. Daarom moest ieder soldaat in den oorlog doen, wat ieder kranke in zijn bed doet: zijn geweten rein wasschen van ieder stofjen.

MORE:

Out-run=Escaped
Native punishment=Punishment in their own country
Unprovided=Not properly prepared
Before-breach=A breach committed in former times
Beadle=Official responsible for punishment, whipping

Compleat:
Unprovided=Onvoorien, onverzorgd.
To take one unprovided=Iemand verrassen
Beadle=Een gerechtsdienaar, boode, deurwaarder.
A beadle of beggars=Een verjaager van bedelaars, luizevanger

Topics: guilt, debt/obligation, punishment, justice, offence

Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure,
Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure.

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Duke
CONTEXT:
Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure;
Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure.

DUTCH:
Voor spoed wordt spoed vergolden, kwaad voor kwaad,
Gelijk steeds voor gelijk, en Maat voor Maat.

MORE:

Topics: law/legal, time, justice, value

He is justly served.
It is a poison tempered by himself.

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Laertes
CONTEXT:
He is justly served.
It is a poison tempered by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.
Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.

DUTCH:
Zijn verdiende loon. Hij heeft dat gif met eigen hand gemengd. /
Hij krijgt loon naar werk; Het is een gif, zelf door hem klaar gemaakt /
Hij kreeg verdiend zijn loon, Het is een giftdrank door hem zelf gemengd.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Justly= Conformably to justice, by right, equitably
Served=Treated
Tempered=prepared by himself

Topics: justice, death

How can they charitably dispose of anything, when blood is their argument?

PLAY: King Henry V
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Williams
CONTEXT:
I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle, for how can they charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it, who to disobey were against all proportion of subjection.

DUTCH:
Nu, en als die menschen niet goed sterven, dan ziet het er donker uit voor den koning, die hen er toe gebracht
heeft, daar toch ongehoorzaamheid aan hem tegen
alle regels van onderdanigheid zou strijden.

MORE:

CITED IN US LAW:
In Re Taxman Clothing Company, Ine., 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 1659, at 1 (Katz, J.).

Topics: cited in law, justification, merit, justice

However these disturbers of our peace buzz in the people’s ears, there nought hath passed, but even with law

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Saturninus
CONTEXT:
SATURNINUS
Why, lords, what wrongs are these! was ever seen
An emperor in Rome thus overborne,
Troubled, confronted thus; and, for the extent
Of equal justice, used in such contempt?
My lords, you know, as know the mightful gods,
However these disturbers of our peace
Buzz in the people’s ears, there nought hath passed,
But even with law, against the willful sons
Of old Andronicus. And what an if
His sorrows have so overwhelmed his wits,
Shall we be thus afflicted in his wreaks,
His fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness?
And now he writes to heaven for his redress:
See, here’s to Jove, and this to Mercury;
This to Apollo; this to the god of war;
Sweet scrolls to fly about the streets of Rome!
What’s this but libelling against the senate,
And blazoning our injustice every where?
A goodly humour, is it not, my lords?
As who would say, in Rome no justice were.
But if I live, his feigned ecstasies
Shall be no shelter to these outrages:
But he and his shall know that justice lives
In Saturninus’ health, whom, if she sleep,
He’ll so awake as she in fury shall
Cut off the proud’st conspirator that lives.

DUTCH:
Gij, heeren, weet, gelijk de groote goden,
Dat, — wat ook vredestoorders mogen blazen
In ‘t oor des volks, — er met de drieste zoons
Van de’ ouden Andronicus niets geschiedde,
Dan volgens wet en rech

MORE:
Overborne=Oppressed, overwhelmed, overruled
For the extent=In return for
Equal=Equitable
Even=In accordance
Wreaks=Vindictiveness
Humour=Disposition, caprice
Ecstasy=Madness
Compleat:
Overbear=Onderdrukken, overtreffen
He overbore him with blows=Hy kreeg hem onder met slagen
Humour (or disposition of the mind)=Humeur, gemoeds gesteldheid
To wreak one’s anger upon one=Zynen moed op iemand koelen
Extasy=Verrukking, opgetoogenheid, vertrekking van zinnen

Topics: status, respect, order/society, madness, justice

I never saw a fellow worse bestead,
Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
YORK
Lords, let him go. Please it your majesty,
This is the day appointed for the combat;
And ready are the appellant and defendant,
The armourer and his man, to enter the lists,
So please your highness to behold the fight.
QUEEN MARGARET
Ay, good my lord; for purposely therefore
Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried.
KING HENRY VI
O God’s name, see the lists and all things fit:
Here let them end it; and God defend the right!
YORK
I never saw a fellow worse bestead,
Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant,
The servant of this armourer, my lords.

DUTCH:
Nog nooit zag ik een knaap, zoo erg ontdaan,
Zoo angstig om te vechten, als de klager,
De dienaar van den wapensmid, mylords.

MORE:

Day appointed=Date scheduled
Lists=Enclosure designated for fights
Quarrel=Dispute
Bestead=(or bested) in a worse plight, worse prepared

Compleat:
To appoint (time and place)=Tijd en plaats bestemmen
Quarrel=Krakeel; twist
To bestead one=Iemand eenen goeden dienst doen

Topics: defence, law/legal, justice, dispute, preparation

I shall not want false witness to condemn me

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
Sharp Buckingham unburthens with his tongue
The envious load that lies upon his heart;
And dogged York, that reaches at the moon,
Whose overweening arm I have pluck’d back,
By false accuse doth level at my life:
And you, my sovereign lady, with the rest,
Causeless have laid disgraces on my head,
And with your best endeavour have stirr’d up
My liefest liege to be mine enemy:
Ay, all you have laid your heads together–
Myself had notice of your conventicles–
And all to make away my guiltless life.
I shall not want false witness to condemn me,
Nor store of treasons to augment my guilt;
The ancient proverb will be well effected:
‘A staff is quickly found to beat a dog.’

DUTCH:
Ja, ja, gij allen staakt uw hoofden saam, —
Ik kreeg bericht van uwe samenkomsten, —
Om naar mijn schuldloos leven mij te staan.
Het valsch getuignis, dat mij oordeelt, komt wel;
Door tal van listen groeit mijn schuld wel aan;
Bewaarheid zal het oude spreekwoord worden,
Dat, wie een hond wil slaan, den stok wel vindt.

MORE:

Proverb: A staff is quickly found to beat a dog. Other versions are “It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog”; or “It is easy to find a stone to throw at a dog”.

Unburthen=To unload, to free from a burden
Overween=Overreach, be arrogant or presumptuous
Accuse=Accusation
Level at=Aim at
Causeless=Groundless
Liefest=Dearest
Conventicles=Secret meetings, plotting
Want=Lack
Augment=Increase

Compleat:
Unburden=Ontlasten, ontheffen
Overween=Al te veel van zich zelven houden, zich vleijen
Overweening=Laatdunkendheid, verwaandheid, eigenliefde
Accusation=Beschuldiging, aanklaagingn, betichting, aantyging
Level at=Mikken, doelen, bestryken, beschieten
Causeless=Zonder oorzaak
Liefest=Liefst
Conventicle=Een kleine vergadering, doch wordt doorgaans genomen voor een sluipvergadering, or saamenrotting
Want=Gebrek, nood
Augment=Vermeerderen, vergrooten, toeneemen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, betrayal, justice, conspiracy

I then did use the person of your father; The image of his power lay then in me.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Chief Justice
CONTEXT:
I then did use the person of your father;
The image of his power lay then in me.
And in th’ administration of his law,
Whiles I was busy for the commonwealth,
Your Highness pleasèd to forget my place,
The majesty and power of law and justice,
The image of the King whom I presented,
And struck me in my very seat of judgment,
Whereon, as an offender to your father,
I gave bold way to my authority
And did commit you.

DUTCH:
Toen was ik plaatsvervanger van uw vader,
De drager, ‘t zichtbaar beeld van zijne macht.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Use the person of=acting for, in the place of, with the authority of
Place=position, rank
Presented=represented

Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)

Topics: authority, status, justice

I’ll be supposed upon a book, his face is the worst thing about him.

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Pompey
CONTEXT:
I’ll be supposed upon a book, his face is the worst thing about him. Good, then; if his face be the worst thing about him, how could Master Froth do the constable’s wife any harm? I would know that of your honour.

DUTCH:
Nu, ik wil op den bijbel afzweren, dat zijn gezicht het
slechtste is, dat aan hem te vinden is.

MORE:
Supposed = deposed (malapropism): I would swear on the Bible

Topics: justice, honesty, truth

If it be confessed, it is not redressed

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Shallow
CONTEXT:
SHALLOW
He hath wronged me, Master Page.
PAGE
Sir, he doth in some sort confess it.
SHALLOW
If it be confessed, it is not redress’d: is not that
so, Master Page? He hath wronged me; indeed he
hath, at a word, he hath, believe me: Robert
Shallow, esquire, saith, he is wronged.
PAGE
Here comes Sir John.
FALSTAFF
Now, Master Shallow, you’ll complain of me to the king?

DUTCH:
Bekend is nog niet geboet; is het zoo niet, mijnheer
Page? Hij heeft mij beleedigd; inderdaad, dat heeft
hij; — in een woord, dat heeft hij; — geloof mij; —
Robert Zielig, esquire, zegt, dat hij beleedigd is.

MORE:
Proverb: Confession of a fault is half amends

In some sort=To some extent
At a word=In short
Compleat:
In a word=In ‘t kort, in weynig woorden

Topics: proverbs and idioms, blame, justice, offence, punishment, secrecy

If little faults proceeding on distemper Shall not be winked at, how shall we stretch our eye When capital crimes, chewed, swallowed, and digested, Appear before us?

PLAY: King Henry V
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: King Henry
CONTEXT:
GREY
Sir, you show great mercy if you give him life
After the taste of much correction.
KING HENRY
Alas, your too much love and care of me
Are heavy orisons ‘gainst this poor wretch.
If little faults proceeding on distemper
Shall not be winked at, how shall we stretch our eye
When capital crimes, chewed, swallowed, and digested,
Appear before us? We’ll yet enlarge that man,
Though Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, in their dear care
And tender preservation of our person,
Would have him punished. And now to our French causes.
Who are the late commissioners?

DUTCH:
Indien men ‘t oog hij dronkenschaps-vergrijpen
Niet sluiten mag, hoe moet men ‘t openspalken,
Zoo hoogverraad, gekauwd, geslikt, verteerd,
Zich voor ons opdoet.

MORE:

Proverb: To wink at small faults
Proverb: He that corrects not small faults cannot control great ones
Proverb: To look through one’s ﬁngers

Correction=Punishment
Heavy orisons=Weighty pleas
Distemper=Illness, confusion (esp. drunkenness)
Stretch our eye=Open our eyes

Compleat:
Correction=Verbetering, tuchtiging, berisping
Orisons=Zekere geboden
Distemper: (disease)=Krankheid, ziekte, kwaal; (troubles of the state)=Wanorder in den Staat

Topics: proverbs and idioms, punishment, mercy, justice

If you do free your children from the sword, your children’s children quits it in your age

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: Richmond
CONTEXT:
RICHMOND
Why, then ’tis time to arm and give direction.
More than I have said, loving countrymen,
The leisure and enforcement of the time
Forbids to dwell upon. Yet remember this:
God and our good cause fight upon our side.
The prayers of holy saints and wrongèd souls,
Like high-reared bulwarks, stand before our faces.
Richard except, those whom we fight against
Had rather have us win than him they follow.
For what is he they follow? Truly, gentlemen,
A bloody tyrant and a homicide;
One raised in blood, and one in blood established;
One that made means to come by what he hath,
And slaughtered those that were the means to help him;
A base foul stone, made precious by the foil
Of England’s chair, where he is falsely set;
One that hath ever been God’s enemy.
Then if you fight against God’s enemy,
God will, in justice, ward you as his soldiers.
If you do sweat to put a tyrant down,
You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain.
If you do fight against your country’s foes,
Your country’s fat shall pay your pains the hire.
If you do fight in safeguard of your wives,
Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors.
If you do free your children from the sword,
Your children’s children quits it in your age.
Then, in the name of God and all these rights,
Advance your standards. Draw your willing swords.
For me, the ransom of my bold attempt
Shall be this cold corpse on the earth’s cold face;
But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt
The least of you shall share his part thereof.
Sound drums and trumpets boldly and cheerfully;
God and Saint George! Richmond and victory!

DUTCH:
Behoedt gij uwe kind’ren voor het zwaard,
Uw grijsheid loonen ‘t uwer kind’ren kind’ren .

MORE:
Bulwarks=Ramparts
Raised=Came to the throne
Ward=Protect
Fat=Surfeit
Thrive=Succeed
Compleat:
Bulwark=Bolwerk
To ward=Bewaaren, de wacht hebben, op de wacht zyn
To ward off=Afweeren
To thrive=Voorspoedig zyn, tyk worden, wel tieren, bedyen

Topics: leadership, fate/destiny, life, justice, manipulation

In the corrupted currents of this world
offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Polonius
CONTEXT:

In the corrupted currents of this world
offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice,
And oft ’tis seen the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law. But ’tis not so above.
There is no shuffling. There the action lies
In his true nature, and we ourselves compelled,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give in evidence. What then? What rests?
Try what repentance can. What can it not?
Yet what can it when one can not repent?
O wretched state! O bosom black as death!
O limèd soul that, struggling to be free,
Art more engaged! Help, angels. Make assay.
Bow, stubborn knees, and, heart with strings of steel,
Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe.
All may be well.

DUTCH:
In de verdorvenheid van deze wereld kan ’t recht door de vergulde hand der misdaad opzijgeschoven worden, en de wet
met bloedgeld worden omgekocht/
In den verdorven stroom der wereld kan Zonde’s vergulde hand het recht wegduwen; En vaak gezien werd, dat de schandprijs zelf Omkocht de wet. /
In ‘t boos gedwarrel dezer wereld schuive Der wandaad gulden hand het recht op zij; Gewis, de vrucht der misdaad koopt wel vaak De wetten om;/
In den verdorven loop van ‘s werelds taken Duwt misdaads gouden hand soms ‘t recht op zij En dikwijls ziet men, dat de booze buit De straffen afkoopt.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Currents=course
Gilded=supplied with money (here: stolen)
Shove=To push or drive by main force
Shuffle=To practise shifts, to play tricks
Compleat:
Gild=Schuld
To shuffle=Door malkanderen schieten, omwegen zoeken,
To shuffle off a business=Een zaak afschuiven
To shift or shuffle off a fault to another=De schuld op een ander werpen
To shuffle (to dodge)=Slinksche wegen inslaan, listen gebruiken, niet oprecht zyn

Topics: corruption, law/legal, justice

It seems not meet, nor wholesome to my place, to be producted as, if I stay, I shall

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
Farewell, for I must leave you.
It seems not meet, nor wholesome to my place,
To be producted as, if I stay, I shall
Against the Moor. For I do know the state
However this may gall him with some check
Cannot with safety cast him, for he’s embarked
With such loud reason to the Cyprus wars
Which even now stand in act that, for their souls,
Another of his fathom they have none
To lead their business. In which regard,
Though I do hate him as I do hell pains,
Yet for necessity of present life
I must show out a flag and sign of love,
Which is indeed but sign.
That you shall surely find him,
Lead to the Sagittary the raisèd search,
And there will I be with him. So farewell.

DUTCH:
Vaarwel; ‘k moet u verlaten.
Het geeft geen pas en kon mijn plaats mij kosten,
Zoo ‘k tegen — en dit moet toch als ik blijf,
Den Moor getuigde;

MORE:
Meet=Suitable
Wholesome=Profitable, salutary
Producted=Presented as a witness
Gall=Irritate
Check=Restraint
Cast=Dismiss
Stand in act=Are happening
Fathom=Calibre
Life=Livelihood
Sagittary=Centraur
Compleat:
Meet=Dienstig
Wholesom=Gezond, heylzaam, heelzaam
To produce=Voortbrengen, te voorschyn brengen
To gall (or vex)=Tergen, verbitteren
Check=Berispen, beteugelen, intoomen, verwyten
To cast=Werpen, smyten, gooijen, smakken; overslag maaken
Livelihood=’t Gene waarvan men zich geneert, de Broodwinning, leeftogt
Sagittary=De Schutter

Topics: justice, status

Let him look to his bond.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Shylock
CONTEXT:
SALERIO
There is more difference between thy flesh and hers
than between jet and ivory, more between your bloods
than there is between red wine and rhenish. But tell us,
do you hear whether Antonio have had any loss at sea or
no?
SHYLOCK
There I have another bad match!— a bankrupt, a prodigal
who dare scarce show his head on the Rialto, a beggar
that was used to come so smug upon the mart. Let him
look to his bond. He was wont to call me usurer; let him
look to his bond. He was wont to lend money for a
Christian courtesy; let him look to his bond.
SALERIO
Why, I am sure, if he forfeit thou wilt not take his flesh.
What’s that good for?

DUTCH:
Dat is ook al weer een kwade zaak voor me; een
bankroetier, een verkwister, die te nauwernood zijn gezicht
op den Rialto durft laten kijken; — een bedelaar,
die altijd als een groot heer op de markt kwam, — laat
hem denken aan zijn schuldbrief; hij noemde mij altoos
een woekeraar, — laat hem denken aan zijn schuldbrief;
hij leende altijd geld uit christelijke liefelijkheid , — laat
hem denken aan zijn schuldbrief!

MORE:
Match=bargain. Bad match=bad deal.
Rhenish (“Reinish, Rennish, Renish”)=Rhine wine
Bond=A deed by which one binds oneself to another to make a payment or fulfil a contract.
Usurer=lender of money who charges interest (which was thought disreputable in Shakespeare’s time)
Compleat:
Rhenish=Rinse (of Rhynse) wyn
Usurer=woekeraar
Enter into a bond=In een verband treeden, zich verbinden
To sute with (or agree)=Overeenkomen

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

Long sitting to determine poor men’s causes
Hath made me full of sickness and diseases.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Saye
CONTEXT:
SAYE
These cheeks are pale for watching for your good.
CADE
Give him a box o’ the ear and that will make ’em red again.
SAYE
Long sitting to determine poor men’s causes
Hath made me full of sickness and diseases.
CADE
Ye shall have a hempen caudle, then, and the help of hatchet.

DUTCH:
t Lang zitten in ‘t gerecht voor arme lieden
Bezwaarde mij met ziekte en meen’ge kwaal.

MORE:

Watching=Staying awake
Sitting=In a hearing
Box of the ear=Slap on the face
Caudle=Gruel (Hempen craudle was slang for the hangman’s noose)
Hatchet=Executioner’s axe

Compleat:
Watching=Waaking, bewaaking
A box on the ear=Een oorvyg
Caudle=Een kandeel
Hatchet=Een byl

Topics: justice, punishment

None can drive him from the envious plea of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Salerio
CONTEXT:
SALERIO
Not one, my lord.
Besides, it should appear that if he had
The present money to discharge the Jew,
He would not take it. Never did I know
A creature that did bear the shape of man
So keen and greedy to confound a man.
He plies the duke at morning and at night,
And doth impeach the freedom of the state
If they deny him justice. Twenty merchants,
The duke himself, and the magnificoes
Of greatest port have all persuaded with him.
But none can drive him from the envious plea
Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond.

DUTCH:
De Doge zelf, en de magnifico’s
Die ‘t meest vermogen, deden al hun best,
Maar geen weerhoudt hem van den boozen eisch
Van het verbeurde, ‘t recht en het kontrakt.

MORE:
Discharge=Pay
Keen=Eager
Confound=Destroy
Impeach=Reproach
Persuaded=Tried to convince
Port=Dignity, rank
Envious=Malicious
Magnifico=Venetian grandee
Compleat:
Discharge=Ontslag, oorlof, quytschelding, quitanci
To discharge=Onstlaan, lossen, quytschelden
Keen=Scherp, bits, doordringend
Impeach=Betichten, beschuldigen, aanklaagen
Port=Voorkomen, houding
Envious=Wangunstig

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

O, it is excellent To have a giant’s strength;
but it is tyrannous To use it like a giant.

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Isabella
CONTEXT:
ANGELO
I show it most of all when I show justice;
For then I pity those I do not know,
Which a dismiss’d offence would after gall;
And do him right that, answering one foul wrong,
Lives not to act another. Be satisfied;
Your brother dies to-morrow; be content.
ISABELLA
So you must be the first that gives this sentence,
And he, that suffer’s. O, it is excellent
To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant.

DUTCH:
Het is fantastisch om reuzenkracht te hebben, maar tiranniek het als een reus te gebruiken.

MORE:
CITED IN E&W LAW:
In a direct quotation or ‘borrowed eloquence’, one of the most vivid instances of quotation is Lord Justice Waite’s observation in Thomas v Thomas [1995] 2 FLR 668 on judicial power, noting that: “it is excellent to have a giant’s strength but tyrannous to use it like a giant”).
CITED IN US LAW:
Gardiner v. A.H. Robins Company, lnc., 747 F.2d 1180, 1194, n. 21 (8th Cir. 1984);
Davis v. Ohio Barge Line, Ine., 697 F.2d 549, 558 (3d Cir. 1982)(“Federal judges are the final arbiters of whether a case comes within our gigantic power and authority. But at all times we should heed the admonition of the Bard of Stratford-Avon: … );
People v. Fatone, 165 Cal. App.3d 1164, 1180, 211 Cal. Rptr. 288, 297 (1985);
Lewis v. Bill Robertson & Sons, Inc., 162 Cal. App. 3d 650,656, 208 Cal. Rptr. 699, 703 (1984).
Burgersdijk notes:
Reuzenkracht bezitten. In ‘t Engelsch: To have a giant ‘s strength. Hier werd door Sh. waarschijnlijk aan de Titanen gedacht, die den hemel bestormden, – zie Vroolijke Vrouwtjes van Windsor, II.1.81, – veeleer dan aan de reuzen uit ridderromans.

Topics: justice, cited in law, judgment, punishment, authority

O, when degree is shaked, which is the ladder to all high designs, then enterprise is sick!

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Ulysses
CONTEXT:
ULYSSES
(…) O, when degree is shaked,
Which is the ladder to all high designs,
Then enterprise is sick! How could communities,
Degrees in schools and brotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable shores,
The primogenitive and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels,
But by degree, stand in authentic place?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets
In mere oppugnancy: the bounded waters
Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores
And make a sop of all this solid globe:
Strength should be lord of imbecility,
And the rude son should strike his father dead:
Force should be right; or rather, right and wrong,
Between whose endless jar justice resides,
Should lose their names, and so should justice too.
Then every thing includes itself in power,
Power into will, will into appetite;
And appetite, an universal wolf,
So doubly seconded with will and power,
Must make perforce an universal prey,
And last eat up himself. Great Agamemnon,
This chaos, when degree is suffocate,
Follows the choking.
And this neglection of degree it is
That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose
It hath to climb. The general’s disdained
By him one step below, he by the next,
That next by him beneath; so every step,
Exampled by the first pace that is sick
Of his superior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and bloodless emulation:
And ’tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot,
Not her own sinews. To end a tale of length,
Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength.

DUTCH:
O, is de rang geschokt,
Die ladder is naar elk verheven doel,
Dan kwijnt elke onderneming.

MORE:
Design=A work in hand, enterprise, cause
Degrees in schools=Academic standing
Brotherhoods=Guilds
Dividable=Dividing
Laurels=Emblem of exellence
Oppugnancy=Opposition
Sop=Lump of bread soaked in wine
Imbecility=Feebleness (not of mind)
Rude=Violent
Jar=Dispute, conflict
Includes itself in=Is subsumed by
Bloodless=Pallid
Emulation=Envy, jealousy
On foot=Upright
Compleat:
Design=Opzet, voorneemen, oogmerk, aanslag, toeleg, ontwerp
Brotherhood=Broederschap
Crowned with a laurel=Met laurier bekranst, gelaurierd
To oppugne=Bestryden, bevechten, tegenstreeven
Oppugnation=Bestryding, bevechting
A wine sop=Een wynsopje
Imbecility=Zwaklykheid, zwakheid
Rude=Ruuw, groof, onbehouwen, plomp, onbeschaafd
Jar=Krakkeelen, twisten, harrewarren, oneens zyn, kyven
Emulation=Haayver, volgzucht, afgunst

Topics: status, order/society, nature, respect, justice

So befall my soul as this is false he burdens me withal

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Adriana
CONTEXT:
AEGEON
Unless the fear of death doth make me dote,
I see my son Antipholus and Dromio.
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Justice, sweet prince, against that woman there,
She whom thou gav’st to me to be my wife,
That hath abusèd and dishonoured me
Even in the strength and height of injury.
Beyond imagination is the wrong
That she this day hath shameless thrown on me.
DUKE
Discover how, and thou shalt find me just.
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
This day, great duke, she shut the doors upon me
While she with harlots feasted in my house.
DUKE
A grievous fault.—Say, woman, didst thou so?
ADRIANA
No, my good lord. Myself, he, and my sister
Today did dine together. So befall my soul
As this is false he burdens me withal.

DUTCH:
Neen, eed’le vorst; hijzelf, ik en mijn zuster,
Wij aten samen thuis. God straf mijn ziel,
Als hij mij daar niet gruwlijk valsch beticht.

MORE:
Dote=Lose a grip on reality
Shameless=Shamelessly
Thrown on=Laid against
Just=Fair
Grievous=Deserving censure, severe
Burden=Charge, accuse
Compleat:
To dote=Suffen, dutten, mymeren
Shamelesly=Schaamtelooslyk
Thrown=Geworpen, gesmeeten
Just (righteous)=Een rechtvaardige
Just=Effen, juist, net
Grievous=Moeijelyk, lastig, byster, gruwelyk
Burden=Last, pak, vracht

Topics: justice, honour, blame, truth, offence

Take but degree away, untune that string, and, hark, what discord follows!

DUTCH:
O neemt den rang slechts weg, ontspant die snaar,
En hoort, wat wanklank!

MORE:
Said to be one of President John Adams’ favourite quotes.

Observance=Respect to
Apply=Interpret
Reproof of chance=Reproach from events
Bauble=Insignificant
Boreas=North wind
Thetis=Sea goddess
Moist elements=Water and air
Perseus’ horse=Pegasus, the winged horse
Saucy=Impertinent
But even=Just
Toast=Piece of toast that was floated in wine
Knees=Knee timber, hard wood used for shipbuilding
Compleat:
Observance=Gedienstigheyd, eerbiedigheyd, opmerking, waarneeming
Apply=Toepassen
Reproof=Bestraffing, berisping
Bauble=Spulletje, grol
Saucy=Stout, onbeschaamd, baldaadig
The knees of a ship=De Knies of zystukken van een schip

Topics: status, order/society, nature, respect, justice

The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Dick the Butcher
CONTEXT:

CADE
Be brave, then; for your captain is brave, and vows
reformation. There shall be in England seven
halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hooped
pot; shall have ten hoops and I will make it felony
to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in
common; and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to
grass: and when I am king, as king I will be,—
ALL
God save your majesty!
CADE
I thank you, good people. There will be no money. Everyone
will eat and drink on me, and I will dress them all in one
uniform, so that they may get on like brothers and worship
me, their lord.
DICK
The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.
CADE
Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable
thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should
be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled
o’er, should undo a man? Some say the bee stings:
but I say, ’tis the bee’s wax; for I did but seal
once to a thing, and I was never mine own man
since. How now! who’s there?

DUTCH:
Als het eerste wat wij doen, willen wij alle advocaten
doodslaan.

MORE:

NYT: June 1990:
Shakespeare’s exact line ”The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” was stated by Dick the Butcher in ”Henry VI,” Part II, act IV, Scene II, Line 73. Dick the Butcher was a follower of the rebel Jack Cade, who thought that if he disturbed law and order, he could become king. Shakespeare meant it as a compliment to attorneys and judges who instill justice in society.

CITED IN E&W LAW: Miller, R (On the Application Of) v The College of Policing & Anor [2020] EWHC 225 (Admin) (14 February 2020)
CITED IN USE LAW;
Walters v. Nat’l Ass’n of Radiation Survivors, 473 U.S. 305 (U.S. 1985)
[The] statement (“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”) was spoken by a rebel, not a friend of liberty. … As a careful reading of that text will reveal, Shakespeare insightfully realized that disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government;
Williams v. First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Arlington, 651 F.2d 910, 926 (4th Cir. 1981);
First Wisconsin Mortgage Trust v. First Wisconsin Corporation, 571 F.2d 390, 399 (7th Cir. 1978); Wagoner v. Wagoner, 176 Cal. App.3d 936, 943, 222 Cal. Rptr. 479, 483 (1986); Glenbrook Road Association v. District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment, 605 A.2d 22 n.5 (D.C. 1992)(“In spite of the oft-quoted declaration by a follower of the outlaw Jack Cade that … we are not prepared to equate a reputable law school with a junk yard or with some other trade or industry ‘commonly known as objectionable and obnoxious.'”);
Thompson v. U.S., 546 A.2d 414 n.24 (D.C. 1988);
Greene v. Greene, 56 N.Y.2d 86, 96,436 N.E.2d 496,502,451 N.Y.S.2d 46 (1982);
People v. Hobson, 39 N.Y.2d 479, 485, 348 N.E.2d 894, 384 N.Y.S.2d 419, 42.3 (1976);
People v. Ryan, 204 Mise. 861,867, 124 N.Y.S.2d 690,696 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1953).

Three-looped=Ref to the hoops on a beer pot, often used as a measure
Small beer=Weak, diluted beer

Compleat:
Small beer=Dun bier

Topics: cited in law, , law/legal, misquoted, justice, evidence

The law I bear no malice for my death; ‘T has done, upon the premises, but justice

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Buckingham
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
All good people,
You that thus far have come to pity me,
Hear what I say, and then go home and lose me.
I have this day received a traitor’s judgment,
And by that name must die: yet, heaven bear witness,
And if I have a conscience, let it sink me,
Even as the axe falls, if I be not faithful!
The law I bear no malice for my death;
‘T has done, upon the premises, but justice:
But those that sought it I could wish more Christians:
Be what they will, I heartily forgive ’em:
Yet let ’em look they glory not in mischief,
Nor build their evils on the graves of great men;
For then my guiltless blood must cry against ’em.
For further life in this world I ne’er hope,
Nor will I sue, although the king have mercies
More than I dare make faults. You few that loved me,
And dare be bold to weep for Buckingham,
His noble friends and fellows, whom to leave
Is only bitter to him, only dying,
Go with me, like good angels, to my end;
And, as the long divorce of steel falls on me,
Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice,
And lift my soul to heaven. Lead on, o’ God’s name.

DUTCH:
k Draag om mijn dood mijn’ rechters geenen wrok toe,
Zij spraken recht naar wat hun waarheid scheen;

MORE:
Lose=Forget
Sink=Ruin
Premises=Evidence
Look=Guard against
Compleat:
Lose=Verliezen, quyt raaken
To sink=Zinken, te gronde gaan, verzinken
Premisses=Het voorgaande, ‘t voorgemelde, ‘t voorschreevene

Topics: pity, evidence, justice

The law shall bruise him

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: First Senator
CONTEXT:
FIRST SENATOR
My lord, you have my voice to it; the fault’s
Bloody; ’tis necessary he should die:
Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.
SECOND SENATOR
Most true; the law shall bruise him.
ALCIBIADES
Honour, health, and compassion to the senate!
FIRST SENATOR
Now, captain?

DUTCH:
t Is juist; de wet moet hem vergruiz’len.

MORE:
Proverb: Pardon makes offenders

Voice=Vote, support
Emboldens=Encourages
Bruise=Crush, destroy
Compleat:
Voice=Stem, recht van stemmen
To embolden (imbolden)=Verstouten, moed inspreeken, aanmoedigen
To bruise=Kneuzen, verpletteren, stooten, blutzen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, mercy, offence, justice

The laws are mine, not thine.
Who can arraign me for ’t?

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: Goneril
CONTEXT:
ALBANY
Shut your mouth, dame,
Or with this paper shall I stop it.—Hold, sir,
Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil.—
(to Goneril) Nay, no tearing, lady. I perceive you know it.
GONERIL
Say, if I do? The laws are mine, not thine.
Who can arraign me for ’t?

DUTCH:
En wat dan nog? Ik ben de wet, niet jij.
Wie klaagt mij daarvoor aan?/
En wat dan nog! Mij is de wet, niet u.
Wie heeft de macht mij aan to klagen?

MORE:
The sovereign could not be tried, having no equal
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
Schmidt:
Evil=Moral offence, crime
Arraign=To summon before a court of justice
Compleat:
Arraign=Voor ‘t recht ontbieden; voor ‘t recht daagen

Topics: law/legal, offence, justice, equality

The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Launcelot
CONTEXT:
LAUNCELOT
Yes, truly, for look you, the sins of the father are to
be laid upon the children. Therefore I promise ye I
fear you. I was always plain with you, and so now I
speak my agitation of the matter. Therefore be o’ good
cheer, for truly I think you are damned. There is but
one hope in it that can do you any good, and that is but
a kind of bastard hope neither.

DUTCH:
Ja, waarlijk! want ziet ge, de zonden des vaders worden
bezocht aan de kinderen; daarom, ik verzeker u, hen ik bang voor u.

MORE:

CITED IN US LAW:
Fogleman v. Mercy Hospital, Inc., 283 F.3d 561 (2002);
Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137, 183-84 (1987). In discussing the need for sentencing to “respond to the reasonable goals of punishment”, Justice White added in a footnote “Thy fathers’ sins, O Roman, thou, though guiltless, shall expiate”.
United States v. Auerbach, 745 F.2d 1157, 1160 (1984);
Miller v. CIR, T. C. Memo 1989-461 (1989): “With deference to Shakespeare, the fraud of the father is not the fraud of the son”;
Misenheimer v. Misenheimer, 312 N.C. 692, 698 (1985);
Adams v. Franco, 168 Misc.2d 399, 403 (N.Y., 1996).

Agitation=emotion, disturbance
Neither=Following a negative by way of enforcing it (i.e. for all that, yet)
Bastard (hope)=spurious, adulterate
Compleat:
Agitation=Schudding, beweeging, beroering
Bastard=Valsch. A bastard generosity=Een valsche édelmoedigheid

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

These days are dangerous.
Virtue is choked with foul ambition

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
Ah, gracious lord, these days are dangerous.
Virtue is choked with foul ambition,
And charity chased hence by rancor’s hand;
Foul subornation is predominant,
And equity exiled your Highness’ land.
I know their complot is to have my life;
And if my death might make this island happy
And prove the period of their tyranny,
I would expend it with all willingness.
But mine is made the prologue to their play;
For thousands more, that yet suspect no peril,
Will not conclude their plotted tragedy.

DUTCH:
0, beste heer, de tijden zijn gevaarlijk.
Door schandlijke eerzucht wordt de deugd verstikt,
Door hoozen wrok barmhartigheid verjaagd;

MORE:

Subornation=Instigation to perjury
Predominant=Prevalent, in the ascendant (astrolology)
Equity=Justice
Complot=Conspiracy

Compleat:
Subornation=Besteeking, een bestoken werk, omkooping
To suborn a witness=Eenen getuige opmaaken of omkoopen
Equity=Billijkheid
Complot=Saamenrotten
Predominant=’t Geene het hoogste gebied voert, opperheerschend, heerschappy voerend

Topics: virtue, ambition, envy, justice, conspiracy, plans/intentions

Thieves for their robbery have authority
When judges steal themselves

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Angelo
CONTEXT:
Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary
And pitch our evils there? O, fie, fie, fie!
What dost thou, or what art thou, Angelo?
Dost thou desire her foully for those things
That make her good? O, let her brother live!
Thieves for their robbery have authority
When judges steal themselves.

DUTCH:
De dief heeft volmacht voor zijn roof, indien
De rechter zelve steelt

MORE:
Schmidt:
Foully=Impurely
CITED IN US LAW:
Re. The definition of “theft”: Putnam v The Manitba, 104 F. 145 (SDNY 1900);

Topics: cited in law, offence, corruption, justice

Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour.

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: John of Gaunt
CONTEXT:
Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour.
You urged me as a judge; but I had rather
You would have bid me argue like a father.
O, had it been a stranger, not my child,
To smooth his fault I should have been more mild:
A partial slander sought I to avoid,
And in the sentence my own life destroy’d.
Alas, I look’d when some of you should say,
I was too strict to make mine own away;
But you gave leave to my unwilling tongue
Against my will to do myself this wrong.

DUTCH:
Wat zoet smaakt, is vaak moeilijk te verteren.

MORE:

Proverb: What is sweet in the mouth is oft sour (bitter) in the maw (stomach)

Urge=To press (here: for an opinion)
Partial slander=Accusation of bias, reproach of partiality
Strict=Severe, proceeding by exact rules

Compleat:
Partial=Eenzydig, partydig
Slander=Laster, lasterkladde

Topics: proverbs and idioms, judgment, justice, resolution, error

This petty brabble will undo us all

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Aaron
CONTEXT:
CHIRON
For that I am prepared and full resolved.
Foul-spoken coward, that thunder’st with thy tongue,
And with thy weapon nothing darest perform!
AARON
Away, I say!
Now, by the gods that warlike Goths adore,
This petty brabble will undo us all.
Why, lords, and think you not how dangerous
It is to jet upon a prince’s right?
What, is Lavinia then become so loose,
Or Bassianus so degenerate,
That for her love such quarrels may be broached
Without controlment, justice, or revenge?
Young lords, beware! and should the empress know
This discord’s ground, the music would not please.

DUTCH:
Daartoe ben ik bereid en vast besloten,
Gij laffe smaler, die uw tong laat dond’ren,
Maar met uw zwaard niets uit te voeren waagt.

MORE:
Resolved=Convinced, Fixed in a determination
Brabble=Quarrel
Jet=Encroach
Controlment=Check. Without controlment=Unchecked
Ground=Basis
Compleat:
To resolve (untie, decide, determine a hard question, difficulty etc.)=Oplossen, ontwarren, ontknoopten
To resolve (deliberation, decision)=Beraad, beslissing, uitsluitsel
Brabble=Krakkeel; To brabble=Krakkeelen, harrewarren
To jet=Uitstooten, uitwaards loopen

Burgersdijk notes:
Zoo de keizerin dien wanklank hoort.
In ‘t Engelsch: An should the empress know This discord’s ground; een woordspeling, die ook in K. Richard III voorkomt; ground beteekent zoowel „grond”, oorzaak”, als „muzikaal thema”; bovendien beteekent discord zoowel dissonant” als „tweedracht.”
Evenals hier vindt men de beide heteekenissen tegelijk bedoeld in Troilus en Cressida

Topics: dispute, rivalry, justice, revenge

Thoughts are no subjects; Intents but merely thoughts.

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Isabella
CONTEXT:
Most bounteous sir, Look, if it please you, on this man condemn’d,
As if my brother lived: I partly think
A due sincerity govern’d his deeds,
Till he did look on me: since it is so,
Let him not die. My brother had but justice,
In that he did the thing for which he died:
For Angelo,
His act did not o’ertake his bad intent,
And must be buried but as an intent
That perish’d by the way: thoughts are no subjects;
Intents but merely thoughts.

DUTCH:
Doch Angelo, hoe boos zijn doel ook ware,
Zijn daad bereikte ‘t niet; dus moet zijn daad,
Als een bedoeling, onderweg gestorven,
Begraven worden. Vrij toch zijn gedachten,
Bedoelingen gedachten.

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton):

Topics: law/legal, plans/intentions, justice, punishment

Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
Another thing to fall

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Angelo
CONTEXT:
Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
Another thing to fall. I not deny,
The jury, passing on the prisoner’s life,
May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try. What’s open made to justice,
That justice seizes: what know the laws
That thieves do pass on thieves? ’Tis very pregnant,
The jewel that we find, we stoop and take’t
Because we see it; but what we do not see
We tread upon, and never think of it.
You may not so extenuate his offence

DUTCH:
Iets anders is het, heer, verzocht te worden,
Iets anders is ‘t, te vallen.

MORE:
Onions:
Pregnant=Clear, obvious
Compleat:
The things was proved with many pregnant reasons=De zaak wierdt beweezen met veele krachtige redenen
It was a very pregnant token=’t Was een zeer klaar teken
Pregnantly spoken=Met naadruk gesprooken

Topics: temptation, offence, law/legal, justice

To offend and judge are distinct offices
And of opposèd natures.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 2.9
SPEAKER: Portia
CONTEXT:
ARRAGON
What’s here? The portrait of a blinking idiot
Presenting me a schedule! I will read it.—
How much unlike art thou to Portia!
How much unlike my hopes and my deservings!
“Who chooseth me shall have as much as he deserves”!
Did I deserve no more than a fool’s head?
Is that my prize? Are my deserts no better?
PORTIA
To offend and judge are distinct offices
And of opposèd natures.

DUTCH:
t Misdoen en ‘t vonnis slaan zijn steeds gescheiden;
Het een strijdt tegen ‘t ander.

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Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
Unlike my hopes and deservings=Not what I hoped for or deserve
Schedule=scroll
Fool’s head=Ass-head, fool
Distinct=Separate, different positions/functions
Compleat:
Buffle-head=Buffelskop, een plomperd, dom-oor
Desert=Verdienste, verdiende loon
Distinct=Onderscheyden, afzonderlyk, duydelyk
Opposed=Wéderstaand, tégenstrydig, Tegenstaaning

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength

DUTCH:
Wat aangroeit tot een koorts. ‘t Is deze koorts,
Die Troje staande houdt, niet eigen sterkte.
In ‘t kort gezegd, wat Troje leven doet,
Is onze zwakte, niet zijn kracht en moed.

Topics: status, order/society, nature, respect, justice

We have strict statutes and most biting laws.
The needful bits and curbs to headstrong weeds

DUTCH:
Wij hebben stipte wetten, strenge straffen,
Vereischte breidels voor halsstarr’ge paarden

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)

Topics: law/legal, authority, value, respect, justice

We were not born to sue, but to command.

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: King Richard
CONTEXT:
We were not born to sue, but to command;
Which since we cannot do to make you friends,
Be ready, as your lives shall answer it,
At Coventry, upon Saint Lambert’s day:
There shall your swords and lances arbitrate
The swelling difference of your settled hate:
Since we can not atone you, we shall see
Justice design the victor’s chivalry.
Lord marshal, command our officers at arms
Be ready to direct these home alarms.

DUTCH:
Niet smeeken, maar bevelen is mijn roeping.
Zoo staat, daar geen bevel u kan verzoenen,
Strijdvaardig, als u ‘t leven dierbaar is,
Te Coventry, op Sint Lambertusdag.
Daar zij door zwaard en lans de felle twist
Van uwen haat, die immer wast, beslist.
Daar vrede onmoog’lijk blijkt, spreke in ‘t gevecht
Des overwinnaars ridderschap nu recht.

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Saint Lambert’s Day. 17 September

Atone=Reconcile
Swelling difference=Growing dispute
Design=To mark out, demonstrate, show

Compleat:
Atone=Verzoenen, bevreedigen
Difference=Verschil
Swell=Oplopen

Topics: law/legal, conflict, justice, resolution

Well, time is the old justice that examines all such offenders, and let time try

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
By my troth, and in good earnest, and so God mend me,
and by all pretty oaths that are not dangerous, if you
break one jot of your promise or come one minute behind
your hour, I will think you the most pathetical
break-promise and the most hollow lover and the most
unworthy of her you call Rosalind that may be chosen out
of the gross band of the unfaithful. Therefore beware
my censure, and keep your promise.
ORLANDO
With no less religion than if thou wert indeed my
Rosalind.
So, adieu.
ROSALIND
Well, time is the old justice that examines all such
offenders, and let time try. Adieu.

DUTCH:
Nu, de Tijd is de oude rechter, die al zulke euveldaders
oordeelt; de Tijd moge uitspraak doen.

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Proverb: Time tries all things

So God mend me=A mild oath
Behind your hour=Late
Pathetical=Pathetic (wretched and deplorable)
Gross=Entire
Religion=Fidelity
Try=Test
Compleat:
Pathetical=Beweegelyk, hartroerend, zielroerend
Gross=Gros
Try=Beproeven

Topics: judgment, time, offence, justice, law/legal, proverbs and idioms

What know the laws That thieves do pass on thieves?

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Angelo
CONTEXT:
What’s open made to justice,
That justice seizes: what know the laws
That thieves do pass on thieves? ’Tis very pregnant,
The jewel that we find, we stoop and take’t
Because we see it; but what we do not see
We tread upon, and never think of it.

DUTCH:
Maar ‘t recht bestraft slechts wat den rechter blijkt

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton):

Topics: law/legal, fate/destiny, justice

Which is the wiser here? Justice or Iniquity?

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Escalus
CONTEXT:
ESCALUS
Which is the wiser here? Justice or Iniquity? Is
this true?
ELBOW
O thou caitiff! O thou varlet! O thou wicked
Hannibal! I respected with her before I was married
to her! If ever I was respected with her, or she
with me, let not your worship think me the poor
duke’s officer. Prove this, thou wicked Hannibal, or
I’ll have mine action of battery on thee.

DUTCH:
Wie is hier de snuggerste van de twee, de Gerechtigheid
of de Boosheid? – Is dit waar?

MORE:
See also
“Sparing justice feeds iniquity” (The Rape of Lucrece)
“Thus, like the formal Vice, Iniquity, I moralize two meanings in one word.” (Richard III, 3.1)
Justice and Iniquity (also called Vice) were common characters in medieval morality plays, with personifications of vices and virtues seeking to gain control of the ‘everyman’ main character.
Justice (personified as female)=equal distribution of right, conformity to the laws and the principles of equity, either as a quality or as a rule of acting
Vice (wickedness, buffoon, comic character).

Topics: law/legal, good and bad, justice, equality, order/society

Wrath-kindled gentlemen, be ruled by me. Let’s purge this choler without letting blood.

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: King Richard II
CONTEXT:
Wrath-kindled gentlemen, be ruled by me.
Let’s purge this choler without letting blood.
This we prescribe, though no physician.
Deep malice makes too deep incision.
Forget, forgive; conclude and be agreed;
Our doctors say this is no month to bleed.
Good uncle, let this end where it begun;
We’ll calm the Duke of Norfolk, you your son.

DUTCH:
Gramstorige edellieden, volgt mijn raad.
Verdrijft de galzucht zonder aderlating.
Ofschoon geen arts, schrijf ik u dit toch voor: —
Een diepe wrok snijdt al te diep, snijdt door, —
Vergeeft, vergeet, houdt op elkaar te haten;
Het is, zegt de arts, geen maand van aderlaten

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Proverb: Forgive and forget

Wrath-kindled=Furious
Be ruled=To prevail on, to persuade (used only passively)
Choler=Anger, bile
Purge=To cure, to restore to health
Month to bleed=Physicians would consult the almanac to determine best time for bloodletting

Compleat:
Wrath=Toorn, gramschap
Wrathfull=Toornig, vertoornd, vergramd, grimmig
Cholerick=Oploopend, haastig, toornig. To be in choler=Toornig zyn
Purge=Zuiveren, reinigen, den buik zuiveren, purgeeren
To purge (clear) one’s self of a crime=Zich van eene misdaad zuiveren
To bleed one=Iemand bloed aftappen, laaten; bloedlaating, bloeding

Topics: proverbs and idioms, anger, dispute, justice

You take my life when you do take the means whereby I live.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Shylock
CONTEXT:
DUKE
That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit,
I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.
For half thy wealth, it is Antonio’s.
The other half comes to the general state,
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.
PORTIA
Ay, for the state, not for Antonio.
SHYLOCK
Nay, take my life and all. Pardon not that.
You take my house when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house. You take my life
When you do take the means whereby I live.

DUTCH:
Gij neemt mijn huis, als gij den steun mij neemt,
Waar heel mijn huis op rust; gij neemt mijn leven,
Als gij de midd’len neemt, waar ik door leef.

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CITED IN US LAW:
Redevelopment Auth. of Philadelphia v. Lieberman, 461 Pa. 208, 336 A.2d 249 (1975). Re. The definition of “to take”: “When ‘property’ is viewed from the standpoint of the mental or abstract concept, the meaning of ‘to take’ is that expressed by Shakespeare, when, after the judgment of the court, the Merchant of Venice says: ‘You take my house when you take the prop/That doth sustain my house; you take my life/When you do take the means whereby I live.’The condemnee In this appeal expressed the same sentiments when testifying about his liquor licence.”

For=As to, as for
Humbleness=Humility
Drive=Reduce
Compleat:
Humbleness=Ootmoedigheyd, nederigheyd

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

Your bum is the greatest thing about you

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Escalus
CONTEXT:
Troth, and your bum is the greatest thing about you;
so that in the beastliest sense you are Pompey the
Great. Pompey, you are partly a bawd, Pompey,
howsoever you colour it in being a tapster, are you
not? come, tell me true: it shall be the better for you.

DUTCH:
Nu voorwaar, uw pof is het grootste wat er aan u te zien is, zoodat gij, in den grofsten zin, Pompejus de Groote zijt.

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Schmidt:
Bawd=Procurer (pimp)
Tapster=One who draws beer and serves the customers of an alehouse
Compleat:
Tapster=Een tapper, biertapper
Baud (or she-Bawd)=Een Hoerewaardin, koppelaarster
Bawd=Een Hoerewaard
Burgersdijk notes:
De pofbroeken werden in Sh .’s tjjd vaak zoo geweldig groot, met allerlei dingen opgevuld, dat er een
parlementsacte tegen werd uitgevaardigd. Eens bracht men, – zoo verhaalt Nath. Drake, – een overtreder dezer wet voor het gerecht, die uit zijn pofbroek (bum, i. e. great bum of Paris, cul de Paris) de volgende kleinigheden voor den dag haalde: een paar beddelakens, twee tafellakens, tien zakdoeken, vier hemden, een borstel, een spiegel, een kam, verscheidene slaapmutsen enz . Ook met zemelen vulden de modehelden hunne Fransche pofbroeken op. Eens kreeg zulk een fat bij het opstaan van zijn stoel door een splinter een scheur in zijn pofbroek en de zemelen begonnen er uit te loopen. De dames, die het dadelijk opmerkten, begonnen te lachen. De jonge mensch, die meende, dat men om zijne verhalen en invallen lachte, deed harteljk mede, maar hoe meer hij van lachen schudde, des te meer zemelen gaf de molen.

Topics: insult, truth, justice, appearance, deceit

Your virtue is to make him worthy whose offence subdues him and curse that justice did it

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Martius
CONTEXT:
He that will give good words to thee will flatter
Beneath abhorring. What would you have, you curs,
That like nor peace nor war? The one affrights you,
The other makes you proud. He that trusts to you,
Where he should find you lions, finds you hares;
Where foxes, geese: you are no surer, no,
Than is the coal of fire upon the ice,
Or hailstone in the sun. Your virtue is
To make him worthy whose offence subdues him
And curse that justice did it.
Who deserves greatness
Deserves your hate; and your affections are
A sick man’s appetite, who desires most that
Which would increase his evil. He that depends
Upon your favours swims with fins of lead
And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye! Trust Ye?
With every minute you do change a mind,
And call him noble that was now your hate,
Him vile that was your garland. What’s the matter,
That in these several places of the city
You cry against the noble senate, who,
Under the gods, keep you in awe, which else
Would feed on one another? What’s their seeking?

DUTCH:
Een vriend’lijk woord tot u waar’ laag gevlei,
Geen afschuw waard

MORE:
Virtue=Merit, what you excel in
Make worthy=Exalt, glorify
Proud=Full of self-esteem, haughty
Offence subdues=Ruined, disabled, tamed, crushed by their crime
Sure=Reliable, stable
Garland=Champion
Compleat:
Worthy=Waardig, eerwaardig, voortreffelyk, uytmuntend, deftig
Subdue=Onderbrengen
Virtue (efficacy, power, propriety)=Kracht, vermogen, hoedanigheid, eigenschap
Proud=Hovaardig, hoogmoedig, verwaand

Topics: flattery, trust, justice, merit, value