CJTranslations - Cymbeline

QUOTES BY TOPIC

A book? O rare one!
Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment nobler than that it covers:

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Posthumus Leonatus
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Sleep, thou hast been a grandsire, and begot
A father to me; and thou hast created
A mother and two brothers: but, O scorn!
Gone! they went hence so soon as they were born:
And so I am awake. Poor wretches that depend
On greatness’ favour dream as I have done,
Wake and find nothing. But, alas, I swerve:
Many dream not to find, neither deserve,
And yet are steep’d in favours: so am I,
That have this golden chance and know not why.
What fairies haunt this ground? A book? O rare one!
Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment
Nobler than that it covers: let thy effects
So follow, to be most unlike our courtiers,
As good as promise.
When as a lion’s whelp shall, to himself unknown,
without seeking find, and be embraced by a piece of
tender air; and when from a stately cedar shall be
lopped branches, which, being dead many years,
shall after revive, be jointed to the old stock and
freshly grow; then shall Posthumus end his miseries,
Britain be fortunate and flourish in peace and plenty.’
‘Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen
Tongue and brain not; either both or nothing;
Or senseless speaking or a speaking such
As sense cannot untie. Be what it is,
The action of my life is like it, which
I’ll keep, if but for sympathy.

DUTCH:
Een boek? 0 kleinood!
0, wees niet als de wereld thans, een kleed,
Dat eed’ler is dan wat het dekt; uw inhoud
Blijke, ongelijk aan onze hovelingen,
Zoo goed als gij gelooft.

MORE:
Swerve=Go off course, go astray
Such stuff as madmen tongue=The nonsensical, irrational talk of madmen
Or=Either
Jointed=Grafted
Sympathy=Any conformity, correspondence, resemblance
Compleat:
Swerve=Afdwaaaien, afdoolen, afzwerven
Sympathy (natural agreement of things)=Natuurlyke overeenstemming of trek der dingen

Topics: madness, nature, language, reason

A contention in public, which may, without contradiction, suffer the report

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.5
SPEAKER: Frenchman
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
By your pardon, sir, I was then a young traveller;
rather shunned to go even with what I heard than in
my every action to be guided by others’ experiences:
but upon my mended judgment—if I offend not to say
it is mended—my quarrel was not altogether slight.
FRENCHMAN
‘Faith, yes, to be put to the arbitrement of swords,
and by such two that would by all likelihood have
confounded one the other, or have fallen both.
IACHIMO
Can we, with manners, ask what was the difference?
FRENCHMAN
Safely, I think: ’twas a contention in public,
which may, without contradiction, suffer the report.
It was much like an argument that fell out last
night, where each of us fell in praise of our
country mistresses; this gentleman at that time
vouching—and upon warrant of bloody
affirmation—his to be more fair, virtuous, wise,
chaste, constant-qualified and less attemptable
than any the rarest of our ladies in France.

DUTCH:
Volstrekt niet, naar ik meen; ‘t was een openlijke
woordentwist, die dus buiten tegenspraak ook verder
verteld mag worden

MORE:
Shunned=Refused
To go even=To accord
Mended=Improved
Arbitrement=Settlement
Confounded=Broken
Difference=Dispute
Contention in public=Public argument
Suffer=Allow
Attemptable=Easy
Compleat:
To shun=Vermyden, ontwyken, ontvlieden
To mend=Verbeteren, beteren’ verstellen, lappen
Arbitrable=Beslechtbaar, bemiddelbaar
Confound=Verwarren, verstooren, te schande maaken, verbysteren
Difference=Verschil, onderscheyd
Contention=Twist, krakkeel, geharrewar
Suffer=Toelaten

Topics: age/experience, wisdom, conflict

A goodly day not to keep house with such whose roof’s as low as ours!

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
A goodly day not to keep house with such
Whose roof’s as low as ours! Stoop, boys. This gate
Instructs you how t’ adore the heavens and bows you
To a morning’s holy office. The gates of monarchs
Are arched so high that giants may jet through
And keep their impious turbans on, without
Good morrow to the sun. Hail, thou fair heaven!
We house i’ th’ rock, yet use thee not so hardly
As prouder livers do.

DUTCH:
Een dag te schoon om thuis te blijven, onder
Een dak zoo laag als ‘t onze

MORE:
Keep the house=Stay home
Jet=Strut, swagger
Stoop=Bow down
Impious=Sinful, wicked (turbans: Giants were often depicted in romantic novels as turban-wearing Saracens)
Compleat:
To keep house=Huis houden; binnens huis blyven
To jet or jut=Uitstooten, uitwaards loopen
To stoop=Buigen, bokken of bukken
Impious=Ongodvruchtig, godloos

Topics: nature, life, equality, status, authority

A kind of conquest Caesar made here, but made not here his brag of “came, and saw, and overcame.”

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
There be many Caesars,
Ere such another Julius. Britain is
A world by itself; and we will nothing pay
For wearing our own noses.
QUEEN
That opportunity
Which then they had to take from ‘s, to resume
We have again. Remember, sir, my liege,
The kings your ancestors, together with
The natural bravery of your isle, which stands
As Neptune’s park, ribbed and paled in
With rocks unscalable and roaring waters,
With sands that will not bear your enemies’ boats,
But suck them up to the topmast. A kind of conquest
Caesar made here; but made not here his brag
Of ‘Came’ and ‘saw’ and ‘overcame: ‘ with shame—
That first that ever touch’d him—he was carried
From off our coast, twice beaten; and his shipping—
Poor ignorant baubles!— upon our terrible seas,
Like egg-shells moved upon their surges, crack’d
As easily ‘gainst our rocks: for joy whereof
The famed Cassibelan, who was once at point—
O giglot fortune!—to master Caesar’s sword,
Made Lud’s town with rejoicing fires bright
And Britons strut with courage.

DUTCH:
Caesar
Heeft, ja, ‘t veroverd, maar kon hier niet zwetsen
Van “kwam en zag en overwon”;

MORE:
Proverb: I came, saw, and overcame

Made not here his brag=His conquest didn’t live up to (wasn’t the basis for) the boast of “came, and saw, and overcame”
Lud’s town=London
Giglet (or giglot)=Wanton woman (See Hamlet 2.2 re. Fortune: “she is a strumpet”.)
Giglet fortune=Fickle, inconstant
Rejoicing fires=Bonfires
Compleat:
To brag=Pochen, roemen, opsnyen
Upon the point of doing=Op het punt staan van iets te doen
To strut=Prat daar heen treeden, treeden als een paauw

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, achievement, conflict

A thing more made of malice than of duty

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
Lucius hath wrote already to the emperor
How it goes here. It fits us therefore ripely
Our chariots and our horsemen be in readiness:
The powers that he already hath in Gallia
Will soon be drawn to head, from whence he moves
His war for Britain.
QUEEN
‘Tis not sleepy business;
But must be look’d to speedily and strongly.
CYMBELINE
Our expectation that it would be thus
Hath made us forward. But, my gentle queen,
Where is our daughter? She hath not appear’d
Before the Roman, nor to us hath tender’d
The duty of the day: she looks us like
A thing more made of malice than of duty:
We have noted it. Call her before us; for
We have been too slight in sufferance.
QUEEN
Royal sir,
Since the exile of Posthumus, most retired
Hath her life been; the cure whereof, my lord,
‘Tis time must do. Beseech your majesty,
Forbear sharp speeches to her: she’s a lady
So tender of rebukes that words are strokes
And strokes death to her.

DUTCH:
Ons dunkt, zij is
Uit boosheid meer dan volgzaamheid gevormd;
Dit hebben wij bespeurd. — Ga, roep haar hier;
Wij waren te toegevend.

MORE:
Ripely=Immediately
Drawn to head=Mobilised
Sleepy=Non-urgent
Forward=Prepared
Tender the duty of the day=Wish good morning
Slight=Easy-going
Sufferance=Tolerance
Compleat:
When things are ripe for action=Als het tijd is om aan ‘t werk te gaan
Forward=Voorbaarig, rypostig, voorlyk
To make slight=Iets klein achten
Sufferance=Verdraagzaamheid, toegeevendheid

Topics: conflict, preparation, duty, business

A worthy fellow, albeit he comes on angry purpose now

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
MESSENGER
So like you, sir, ambassadors from Rome;
The one is Caius Lucius.
CYMBELINE
A worthy fellow,
Albeit he comes on angry purpose now;
But that’s no fault of his: we must receive him
According to the honour of his sender;
And towards himself, his goodness forespent on us,
We must extend our notice. Our dear son,
When you have given good morning to your mistress,
Attend the queen and us; we shall have need
To employ you towards this Roman. Come, our queen.

DUTCH:
t Is een waardig man,
Al is ook toorn het doel van zijne komst;
Want zijn schuld is dit niet

MORE:
Goodness forespent=Good offices done/shown previously
Extend=Grant, give
Notice=Attention, regard
Compleat:
Extend=Uitstrekken
Notice=Acht nemen

Topics: value, status, blame, anger, merit

All solemn things should answer solemn accidents

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Guiderius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
My ingenious instrument!
Hark, Polydore, it sounds! But what occasion
Hath Cadwal now to give it motion? Hark!
GUIDERIUS
Is he at home?
BELARIUS
He went hence even now.
GUIDERIUS
What does he mean? since death of my dear’st mother
it did not speak before. All solemn things
Should answer solemn accidents. The matter?
Triumphs for nothing and lamenting toys
Is jollity for apes and grief for boys.
Is Cadwal mad?
BELARIUS
Look, here he comes,
And brings the dire occasion in his arms
Of what we blame him for.

DUTCH:
Wat meent hij? Sinds mijn lieve moeder stierf,
Klonk die muziek niet weer. Een plechtigheid
Vereischt een plechtige oorzaak.

MORE:
Ingenious=Of curious structure
Occasion=Cause
Answer=Correspond to
Accidents=Events
Lamenting toys=Crying over nothing
Dire=Dreadful
Compleat:
Ingenious=Zinryk, vernuftig, scherpzinnig, verstandig, geestig, aardig
Occasion=Gelegenheyd, voorval, oorzaak, nood
To answer to the purpose=Ter zaake antwoorden
Accident=Een toeval, quaal, aankleefsel
Dire=Wreed, yslyk, gruuwelyk

Topics: sorrow, justification, appearance, emotion and mood

All’s well, sir: take my power i’ the court for yours

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
All’s well, sir: take my power i’ the court
for yours.
IACHIMO
My humble thanks. I had almost forgot
To entreat your grace but in a small request,
And yet of moment to, for it concerns
Your lord; myself and other noble friends,
Are partners in the business.
IMOGEN
Pray, what is’t?
IACHIMO
Some dozen Romans of us and your lord—
The best feather of our wing—have mingled sums
To buy a present for the emperor
Which I, the factor for the rest, have done
In France: ’tis plate of rare device, and jewels
Of rich and exquisite form; their values great;
And I am something curious, being strange,
To have them in safe stowage: may it please you
To take them in protection?

DUTCH:
Het zij. — Mijn invloed hier is tot uw dienst.

MORE:
But in=In only
Of moment=Impoortant
Mingled sums=Collected money together
Something=Somewhat
Curious=Nervous
Strange=A stranger
Compleat:
Moment=gewicht, belang. Of great moment=Van groot gewicht.
Of no moment=Van geen belang
Mingled=Gemengd, gemengeld
Something=Iets; iet, wat
Curious=Aardig, keurlyk, keurig, nieuwsgierig, weetgierig, net, kurieus
Strange=Vreemd, misselyk, zeldzaam

Topics: status, authority, business

And with mine eyes I’ll drink the words you send, though ink be made of gall

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Posthumus
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
O, dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant
Can tickle where she wounds! My dearest husband,
I something fear my father’s wrath; but nothing—
Always reserved my holy duty—what
His rage can do on me: you must be gone;
And I shall here abide the hourly shot
Of angry eyes, not comforted to live,
But that there is this jewel in the world
That I may see again.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
My queen, my mistress!
O lady, weep no more, lest I give cause
To be suspected of more tenderness
Than doth become a man. I will remain
The loyal’st husband that did e’er plight troth.
My residence in Rome at one Philario’s,
Who to my father was a friend, to me
Known but by letter; thither write, my queen,
And with mine eyes I’ll drink the words you send,
Though ink be made of gall.

DUTCH:
k Neem mijn verblijf in Rome, bij Philario,
Een vriend mijns vaders, dien ikzelf alleen
Uit brieven ken; geliefde, schrijf mij daar;
Mijn oogen zullen uwe woorden drinken,
Al wordt ook inkt uit gal bereid.

MORE:
Tickle=Flatter
Something=Sometimes, to some extent
Hourly=Continually
Gall=Bile; any thing bitter and disagreeable; bitterness of mind, rancour
Gall=An ingredient in ink (iron gall ink)
Compleat:
Gall=Gal
To gall (or vex)=Tergen, verbitteren
Bitter as gall=Zo bitter als gal

Topics: sorrow, appearance, loyalty, language

As if I borrowed mine oaths of him and might not spend them at my pleasure

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
Was there ever man had such luck! when I kissed the
jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away! I had a
hundred pound on’t: and then a whoreson jackanapes
must take me up for swearing; as if I borrowed mine
oaths of him and might not spend them at my pleasure.
FIRST LORD
What got he by that? You have broke his pate with
your bowl.
SECOND LORD
If his wit had been like him that broke it,
it would have run all out.
CLOTEN
When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not for
any standers-by to curtail his oaths, ha?
SECOND LORD
No my lord; nor crop the ears of them.

DUTCH:
Ik had er honderd pond op staan;
en dan stuift me zoo’n hondsvot van een aap nog op,
omdat ik hem uitvloek; alsof ik m’n vloeken van hem
geborgd had, en ze niet kon uitgeven, zooals ikzelf verkies!

MORE:
Proverb: May we not do with our own what we list?

Pate=The head; used in contempt or in ridicule
Curtail=Curtal, having a docked tail (followed by ‘crop the ears’)
Upcast=A throw at the game of bowls
Take up=Rebuke
Kissed the jack … away=The jack being the small ball in bowls, the closest to the jack at the end of the game wins. If the bowl ends up close to it, it is ‘kissing the jack’ (a great advantage). Cloten’s bowl is then hit away by the ‘upcast’ (throw of an opponent).
Compleat:
Jack (in bowling)=Honk, in de klosbaan
To take one up sharply (check, reprimand)=Iemand scherpelyk berispen
Pate=De kop, het hoofd
He threatened to break his pate=Hy dreigde hem den kop in te slaan

Burgersdijk notes:
Had ooit een mensch zulk een geluk?
Cloten spreekt van het geluk, dat zijn tegenspeler gehad heeft.

Topics: language, civility, patience, proverbs and idioms

As small a drop of pity as a wren’s eye

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
(…) These flowers are like the pleasures of the world;
This bloody man, the care on’t. I hope I dream;
For so I thought I was a cave-keeper,
And cook to honest creatures: but ’tis not so;
‘Twas but a bolt of nothing, shot at nothing,
Which the brain makes of fumes: our very eyes
Are sometimes like our judgments, blind. Good faith,
I tremble stiff with fear: but if there be
Yet left in heaven as small a drop of pity
As a wren’s eye, fear’d gods, a part of it!
The dream’s here still: even when I wake, it is
Without me, as within me; not imagined, felt.
A headless man! The garments of Posthumus!
I know the shape of’s leg: this is his hand;
His foot Mercurial; his Martial thigh;
The brawns of Hercules: but his Jovial face
Murder in heaven?—How!—’Tis gone. Pisanio,
All curses madded Hecuba gave the Greeks,
And mine to boot, be darted on thee! Thou,
Conspired with that irregulous devil, Cloten,
Hast here cut off my lord. To write and read
Be henceforth treacherous! Damn’d Pisanio
Hath with his forged letters,—damn’d Pisanio—
From this most bravest vessel of the world
Struck the main-top! O Posthumus! alas,
Where is thy head? where’s that? Ay me!
where’s that?

DUTCH:
O, groote goden,
Is boven nog erbarming, slechts een drup,
Als ‘t oog der grasmusch, schenkt me een deel er van!

MORE:
A fume=A vapour, a delusion, phantasm, anything hindering the function of the brain, like a mist
Madded=Made mad (with revenge)
To boot=As well
Irregulous=Lawless
Main-top=Top of the mast
Compleat:
The glory of mortals is but a fume=De eerre der stervelingen is maar rook
To be in a fume=In een woede zyn

Topics: pity, imagination, madness, evidence

Be but duteous, and true preferment shall tender itself to thee

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
Bring this apparel to my chamber; that is the
second thing that I have commanded thee. The
third is that thou wilt be a voluntary mute to my design.
Be but duteous, and true preferment shall
tender itself to thee. My revenge is now at Milford.
Would I had wings to follow it! Come, and be true.
PISANIO
Thou bidd’st me to my loss, for true to thee
Were to prove false, which I will never be,
To him that is most true. To Milford go,
And find not her whom thou pursuest. Flow, flow,
You heavenly blessings, on her. This fool’s speed
Be crossed with slowness. Labour be his meed.

DUTCH:
Doe je plicht maar, en een goede bevordering zal van zelf volgen

MORE:
Proverb: He has his labour for his pains

Preferment=Preference given, precedence granted
Design=A work in hand, enterprise, cause
Compleat:
Preferment=Verhooging, voortrekking, bevordering tot Staat
Design=Opzet, voorneemen, oogmerk, aanslag, toeleg, ontwerp
He had labour for his pains=Hy had zyn moeite tot een belooning

Topics: proverbs and idioms, duty, plans/intentionsauathority, corruption, conspiracy

Before I entered here, I called, and thought to have begged or bought what I have took

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN, [as Fidele]Good masters, harm me not.
Before I entered here, I called, and thought
To have begged or bought what I have took. Good troth,
I have stol’n naught, nor would not, though I had found
Gold strewed i’ th’ floor. Here’s money for my meat.
I would have left it on the board so soon
As I had made my meal, and parted
With prayers for the provider.
GUIDERIUS [as Polydor]
Money, youth?
ARVIRAGUS [as Cadwal]All gold and silver rather turn to dirt,
As ’tis no better reckoned but of those
Who worship dirty gods.

DUTCH:
Doet, goede menschen, mij geen leed; ik riep,
Aleer ik binnentrad, en was van plan
Te vragen of te koopen, wat ik nu
Genomen heb.

MORE:
Thought to have:
I had thought (followed by the perf. inf.)=I intended, I supposed, I was going
Part=Depart, go away from
Reckon=To esteem, to think, to hold
Compleat:
He thought to serve me a base trick=Hy meende my een lelyke poets te speelen
To reckon (or esteem)=Achten, voorhouden
Dirty (base)=Vuil, laag

Topics: money, honesty, poverty and wealth

Boldness be my friend: arm me, audacity, from head to foot!

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Thanks, good sir:
You’re kindly welcome.
IACHIMO
All of her that is out of door most rich!
If she be furnish’d with a mind so rare,
She is alone the Arabian bird, and I
Have lost the wager. Boldness be my friend!
Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!
Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight;
Rather directly fly.
IMOGEN
‘He is one of the noblest note, to whose
kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon
him accordingly, as you value your trust—
Leonatus.’
So far I read aloud:
But even the very middle of my heart
Is warm’d by the rest, and takes it thankfully.
You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I
Have words to bid you, and shall find it so
In all that I can do.

DUTCH:
O, driestheid, wees mijn vriend,
En wapen, stoutheid, mij van top tot teen!
Of als de Parth, moet ik al vluchtend vechten,
Neen, vluchten en niets meer.

MORE:
Proverb: As rare as the Phoenix

Arabian bird=Phoenix (never is there more than one Phoenix in the world at one time)
Out of door=External, outward appearance
Value your trust=Value the charge entrusted to you. (Some editors have this as ‘truest’, making this the close of the letter.)
Reflect upon=Consider him
Compleat:
Boldness=Stoutheyd, koenheyd, vrymoedigheyd, onvertsaagheyd
Audacity=Stoutheyd
It would be well for every one to reflect upon himself=’t Zou wel zyn dat een yder zich zelven aanmerkte; ‘t was goed dat elk op zich zelven lette
To lay a wager=Wedden, een wedspel aan gaan
Wager of law=Aanbieding van te beedigen, dat men zynen eyscher niets schuldig is

Burgersdijk notes:
Uw getrouwsten Leonatus. Hier is de gissing van Mason gevolgd, die, éene letter e bijvoegende, leest your truest Leonatus. Imogeen loopt den brief haastig door en deelt dan aan Jachimo, die inmiddels bij zichzelf gesproken heeft, beleefd het slot, dat op hem betrekking heeft, mede. Wil men de lezing der folio-uitgave behouden: as you value your trust, dan moet men dit, veel minder eenvoudig, als eene soort van bezwering opvatten: „zoo waar gij uwe bezworen trouw in eere houdt” en aannemen, dat Imogeen uit het midden van den brief eenige woorden hardop leest, dan de lezing ten einde brengt en alleen de onderteekening weder uitspreekt.

Topics: appearance, intellect, value, trust, judgment, proverbs and idioms

But if I were as wise as honest, then my purpose would prove well

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
But to win time
To lose so bad employment; in the which
I have consider’d of a course. Good lady,
Hear me with patience.
IMOGEN
Talk thy tongue weary; speak
I have heard I am a strumpet; and mine ear
Therein false struck, can take no greater wound,
Nor tent to bottom that. But speak.
PISANIO
Then, madam,
I thought you would not back again.
IMOGEN
Most like;
Bringing me here to kill me.
PISANIO
Not so, neither:
But if I were as wise as honest, then
My purpose would prove well. It cannot be
But that my master is abused:
Some villain, ay, and singular in his art.
Hath done you both this cursed injury.

DUTCH:
Maar als ik even slim als eerlijk ben,
Dan slaagt mijn plan wellicht. Het is gewis,
Afschuwlijk werd mijn arme heer bedrogen.

MORE:
Talk thy tongue weary=Say as much as you like
Ear false struck=Hit by the slander
Tent=Probe for searching wounds
Bottom=Go deeper
Back again=Return
Purpose=Plan
Prove well=Succeed
Compleat:
To weary=Vermoeijen, moede maaken
Tent (for a wound)=Tentyzer
To bottom=Gronden, grondvesten
Purpose (design, resolution, project)=Voorneemen, besluit, ontwerp

Topics: communication, language, insult, offence

But that you shall not say I yield being silent, I would not speak

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Good morrow, sir. You lay out too much pains
For purchasing but trouble; the thanks I give
Is telling you that I am poor of thanks
And scarce can spare them.
CLOTEN
Still, I swear I love you.
IMOGEN
If you but said so, ’twere as deep with me:
If you swear still, your recompense is still
That I regard it not.
CLOTEN
This is no answer.
IMOGEN
But that you shall not say I yield being silent,
I would not speak. I pray you, spare me: ‘faith,
I shall unfold equal discourtesy
To your best kindness: one of your great knowing
Should learn, being taught, forbearance.
CLOTEN
To leave you in your madness, ’twere my sin:
I will not.
IMOGEN
Fools are not mad folks.

DUTCH:
Zoudt ge, als ik zweeg, niet denken, dat ik toegaf,
Dan sprak ik niet

MORE:
Proverb: Silence is (gives) consent

Deep=Weighty, serious
Equal discourtesy=Discourtesy equal to your kindness
Compleat:
Deep=Diepzinnig
Discourtesy=Onbeleefdheid, onheusheid
You have done me a great discourtesy=Gy hebt my daar mede een groote ondienst gedaan

Topics: promise, reply, perception, law/legal, proverbs and idioms

Caesar’s ambition, which swelled so much that it did almost stretch the sides o’ th’ world

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
You must know,
Till the injurious Romans did extort
This tribute from us, we were free. Caesar’s ambition,
Which swelled so much that it did almost stretch
The sides o’ th’ world, against all colour here
Did put the yoke upon ’s, which to shake off
Becomes a warlike people, whom we reckon
Ourselves to be.

DUTCH:
t Zij u bewust,
Wij waren , tot ons Rome met geweld
Tot cijns verplichtte, vrij; eerst Caesars eerzucht, —
Die zoo zich opblies, dat de wereld schier
Te klein haar werd

MORE:
Against all colour=Against any opposition, whatever the reason
Injurious=Detractory, hurting reputation, insulting
Tribute=Stated payment made in acknowledgment of submission, or as the price of peace, or by virtue of a treaty
Colour=Specious pretence, palliation, appearance of right
Compleat:
Injurious=Verongelykend, beledigend, smaadelyk, lasterlyk
Tribute=Tol, impost
Colour=Vaandel
Under colour of peace=Onder den schyn van vreede
Under colour of friendship=Onder den dekmantel van vriendschap

Topics: independence, free will, ambition, rights, equality

Defect of judgment is oft the cause of fear

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
I cannot tell. Long is it since I saw him,
But time hath nothing blurred those lines of favour
Which then he wore. The snatches in his voice
And burst of speaking were as his. I am absolute
’Twas very Cloten.
ARVIRAGUS
In this place we left them.
I wish my brother make good time with him,
You say he is so fell
BELARIUS
Being scarce made up,
I mean to man, he had not apprehension
Of roaring terrors; for defect of judgment
Is oft the cause of fear.
GUIDERIUS
This Cloten was a fool, an empty purse;
There was no money in ’t. Not Hercules
Could have knocked out his brains, for he had none.
Yet I not doing this, the fool had borne
My head as I do his.

DUTCH:
Nauw’lijks opgegroeid,
Ik meen, tot man, ontbrak hem elk begrip
Van iets gevaarlijks ; en gebrek aan oordeel
Wekt vaak vermetelheid. Daar is uw broeder.

MORE:
Scarce made up=Not fully developed, still and immature youth; or not ‘all there’
Lines of favour=Lines on the countenance
Snatches=Catches, seizures followed by a ‘burst of speaking’. (Irish ‘ganch’ meaning stammer)
Absolute=Positive, have no doubt
Roaring=Loud-tongued
Compleat:
Snatch=Een ruk, hap, beet
A snatch and away=Een mond vol en weg ‘er mee
To do a thing by girds and snatches=Ies met horten en stooten doen; met menigvuldige tusschenpoosingen verrigten
Absolute=Volslagen, volstrekt, volkomen, onafhangklyk, onverbonden
To roar=Uitbrullen

Burgersdijk notes:
Gebrek aan oordeel wekt vaak vermetelheid. Het oorspronkelijke is hier blijkbaar bedorven, de folio heeft: for defect of judgment is oft the cause of fear; Shakespeare moet ongeveer het tegendeel gezegd hebben, want de doldriestheid van Cloten wordt uit zijn gebrek aan oordeel verklaard.
Hanmer las daarom: is oft the arre of fear, en dienovereenkomstig is hier vertaald. Doch ook Theobald’s verbetering is zeer opmerkelijk: for the effect of judgment is oft the cause of fear; „want des oordeels werking is oorzaak vaak van vrees” ; de zin van beide verbeteringen is nagenoeg gelijk; de tegenstelling tusschen gevolg of werking en oorzaak pleit er misschien voor, dat Theobald de uitdrukking des dichters getroffen heeft.

Topics: language, memory, judgment, intellect, age/experience

Doubting things go ill often hurts more than to be sure they do

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.7
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
I pray you, sir,
Deliver with more openness your answers
To my demands. Why do you pity me?
IACHIMO
That others do—
I was about to say, enjoy your—but
It is an office of the gods to venge it,
Not mine to speak on ’t.
IMOGEN
You do seem to know
Something of me or what concerns me. Pray you,
Since doubting things go ill often hurts more
Than to be sure they do—for certainties
Either are past remedies, or, timely knowing,
The remedy then born—discover to me
What both you spur and stop.
IACHIMO
Had I this cheek
To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler’s soul
To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye,
Fixing it only here; should I, damn’d then,
Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
That mount the Capitol; join gripes with hands
Made hard with hourly falsehood—falsehood, as
With labour; then by-peeping in an eye
Base and unlustrous as the smoky light
That’s fed with stinking tallow; it were fit
That all the plagues of hell should at one time
Encounter such revolt.

DUTCH:
Vaak slaat de vrees voor rampen dieper wond
Dan zekerheid er van.

MORE:
Doubting=Suspecting, fearing
Past remedies=Beyond resolution, beyond our ability to resolve
Timely knowing, the remedy then born=If we know in time, we can devise a solution
What both you spur and stop=Urges on and at the same time holds back
Compleat:
To spur (on)=Aanspooren, noopen, aandryven
To spur a question=Een onverwagte, schielyke vraag doen
Timely=Tydig, gepast

Topics: uncertainty, concern , remedy

Every good servant does not all commands: no bond but to do just ones

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Posthumus
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Yea, bloody cloth, I’ll keep thee, for I wish’d
Thou shouldst be colour’d thus. You married ones,
If each of you should take this course, how many
Must murder wives much better than themselves
For wrying but a little! O Pisanio!
Every good servant does not all commands:
No bond but to do just ones. Gods! if you
Should have ta’en vengeance on my faults, I never
Had lived to put on this: so had you saved
The noble Imogen to repent, and struck
Me, wretch more worth your vengeance. But, alack,
You snatch some hence for little faults; that’s love,
To have them fall no more: you some permit
To second ills with ills, each elder worse,
And make them dread it, to the doers’ thrift.
But Imogen is your own: do your best wills,
And make me blest to obey! I am brought hither
Among the Italian gentry, and to fight
Against my lady’s kingdom: ’tis enough
That, Britain, I have kill’d thy mistress; peace!
I’ll give no wound to thee. Therefore, good heavens,
Hear patiently my purpose. I’ll disrobe me
Of these Italian weeds and suit myself
As does a Briton peasant. So I’ll fight
Against the part I come with; so I’ll die
For thee, O Imogen, even for whom my life
Is every breath a death. And thus, unknown,
Pitied nor hated, to the face of peril
Myself I’ll dedicate. Let me make men know
More valour in me than my habits show.
Gods, put the strength o’ th’ Leonati in me.
To shame the guise o’ th’ world, I will begin
The fashion: less without and more within.

DUTCH:
Een goede dienaar volgt niet elk bevel; Slechts aan ‘t gerechte is hij gehouden.

MORE:
Proverb: Yours to command in the way of honesty
Proverb: Appearances are deceitful

Just=Moral
Wrying=Swerving, deviating from the right course
Put on=Instigate
Weeds=Garment
Purpose=Something spoken of or to be done, matter, question, subject
Compleat:
Just (righteous)=Een rechtvaardige
Just=Effen, juist, net
Wry=Scheef, verdraaid
Weeds (habit or garment)=Kleederen, gewaad

Topics: proverbs and idioms, honesty, marriage, work, flaw/fault, appearance

Experience, O, thou disprovest report!

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
These are kind creatures. Gods, what lies I have heard!
Our courtiers say all’s savage but at court:
Experience, O, thou disprovest report!
The imperious seas breed monsters, for the dish
Poor tributary rivers as sweet fish.
I am sick still; heart-sick. Pisanio,
I’ll now taste of thy drug.
GUIDERIUS
I could not stir him:
He said he was gentle, but unfortunate;
Dishonestly afflicted, but yet honest.
ARVIRAGUS
Thus did he answer me: yet said, hereafter
I might know more.
BELARIUS
To the field, to the field!
We’ll leave you for this time: go in and rest.

DUTCH:
Wat zijn zij goed! 0 goden,
Wat liegt de wereld toch! Gij, hoov’ling, noemt,
Wat niet de hoflucht ademt, woest en ruw,
Hoe logenstraft thans ondervinding u !

MORE:
Imperious=Imperial
Poor=Small, minor
Sweet=Tasty
Stir=Persuade to talk
Gentle=High bred, noble
Dishonestly=In bad faith
Compleat:
Imperious=Heerschzuchtig
Poor=(mean, pitiful) Arm, elendig
To stir=Beweegen; verwekken
Gentle=Aardig, edelmoedig
Dishonestly=Oneerlyker wyze

Topics: status, truth, civility, sorrow, honesty

Flattering, hers; deceiving, hers; lust and rank thoughts, hers, hers; revenges, hers

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Posthumus Leonatus
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Is there no way for men to be but women
Must be half-workers? We are all bastards;
And that most venerable man which I
Did call my father, was I know not where
When I was stamp’d; some coiner with his tools
Made me a counterfeit: yet my mother seem’d
The Dian of that time so doth my wife
The nonpareil of this. O, vengeance, vengeance!
Me of my lawful pleasure she restrain’d
And pray’d me oft forbearance; did it with
A prudency so rosy the sweet view on’t
Might well have warm’d old Saturn; that I thought her
As chaste as unsunn’d snow. O, all the devils!
This yellow Iachimo, in an hour,—wast not?—
Or less,—at first?—perchance he spoke not, but,
Like a full-acorn’d boar, a German one,
Cried ‘O!’ and mounted; found no opposition
But what he look’d for should oppose and she
Should from encounter guard. Could I find out
The woman’s part in me! For there’s no motion
That tends to vice in man, but I affirm
It is the woman’s part: be it lying, note it,
The woman’s; flattering, hers; deceiving, hers;
Lust and rank thoughts, hers, hers; revenges, hers;
Ambitions, covetings, change of prides, disdain,
Nice longing, slanders, mutability,
All faults that may be named, nay, that hell knows,
Why, hers, in part or all; but rather, all;
For even to vice
They are not constant but are changing still
One vice, but of a minute old, for one
Not half so old as that. I’ll write against them,
Detest them, curse them: yet ’tis greater skill
In a true hate, to pray they have their will:
The very devils cannot plague them better.

DUTCH:
O, vond ik slechts
Wat vrouwlijk is in mij! want ied’re neiging
Tot ondeugd in den man, voorwaar, zij is
Zijn vrouwlijk erfdeel; liegen, ja, het is zoo,
Komt van de vrouw; van haar ‘t gevlei, ‘t bedriegen;
Onkuische lust, van haar; van haar, de wraakzucht;
Van haar de zucht naar grootheid, hoovaardij,
Inbeelding, dwaze lusten, lasterzucht,
Laatdunkendheid en wuftheid, alle kwaad,
Wat maar een naam heeft, wat de hel maar kent,
Van haar, gedeelt’lijk of geheel; of ja, geheel;

MORE:
May be named=That man can name (See Richard III, 1.2 “tongue may name”)
Motion=Impulse
Nice=Fastidious
Compleat:
Motion (instigation)=Aanporring, aandryving
To plague=Plaagen, quellen

Topics: honesty, truth, flattery, deceit, revenge

For certainties either are past remedies, or, timely knowing, the remedy then born

DUTCH:
Want kent men ze,
Dan kan ‘t te laat zijn, ja, maar tijdig weten
Brengt vaak nog redding aan.

Topics: uncertainty, concern , remedy, resolution

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
I thank you. Let’s withdraw;
And meet the time as it seeks us. We fear not
What can from Italy annoy us; but
We grieve at chances here. Away!
PISANIO
I heard no letter from my master since
I wrote him Imogen was slain. ’Tis strange.
Nor hear I from my mistress, who did promise
To yield me often tidings. Neither know I
What is betid to Cloten, but remain
Perplexed in all. The heavens still must work.
Wherein I am false I am honest; not true, to be true.
These present wars shall find I love my country,
Even to the note o’ th’ King, or I’ll fall in them.
All other doubts, by time let them be cleared.
Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.

DUTCH:
De tijd breng’ licht en helpe in mijnen nood;
‘t Geluk redt soms een onbestuurde boot.

MORE:
Tidings=News, intelligence
To betide=To happen, come to pass
Compleat:
Tidings=Tyding, boodschap
To betide=Aankomen, overkomen

Topics: fate/destiny, achievement

Frame yourself to orderly solicits, and be friended with aptness of the season

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
I have assailed her with music, but she vouchsafes no
notice.
CYMBELINE
The exile of her minion is too new;
She hath not yet forgot him: some more time
Must wear the print of his remembrance out,
And then she’s yours.
QUEEN
You are most bound to the king,
Who lets go by no vantages that may
Prefer you to his daughter. Frame yourself
To orderly solicits, and be friended
With aptness of the season; make denials
Increase your services; so seem as if
You were inspired to do those duties which
You tender to her; that you in all obey her,
Save when command to your dismission tends,
And therein you are senseless.

DUTCH:
Zorg, dat gij haar met ernst
Uw hulde brengt; maak u gelegenheid,
Den juisten tijd tot vriend;

MORE:
Vantages=Opportunities
Prefer=Commend
Frame=To mould, to fashion, to work into a certain shape
Orderly solicits=established (courtship) rituals
Be friended with=Favour
Aptness of the season=properly timed solicitation
Dismission=Rejection
Senseless=Insensitive, having no ear
Compleat:
Vantage=Toegift, toemaat, overmaat, overwigt
To prefer one=Iemand bevorderen
To frame=Een gestalte geeven, toestellen, maaken, ontwerpen, schikken, beraamen
Orderly=Geschiktlyk, geregeld, ordentlyk
Senseless=Gevoeleloos, ongevoelig, zinneloos

Topics: debt/obligation, duty, memory

He goes hence frowning: but it honours us that we have given him cause

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:
t Is met gefronst gelaat, dat hij vertrekt;
‘t Is onze schuld, maar ons tot eer.

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

Topics: order/society, duty, friendship, dispute

He hath a kind of honour sets him off, more than a mortal seeming

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
You make amends.
IACHIMO
He sits ‘mongst men like a descended god:
He hath a kind of honour sets him off,
More than a mortal seeming. Be not angry,
Most mighty princess, that I have adventured
To try your taking a false report; which hath
Honour’d with confirmation your great judgment
In the election of a sir so rare,
Which you know cannot err: the love I bear him
Made me to fan you thus, but the gods made you,
Unlike all others, chaffless. Pray, your pardon.
IMOGEN
All’s well, sir: take my power i’ the court
for yours.
IACHIMO
My humble thanks. I had almost forgot
To entreat your grace but in a small request,
And yet of moment to, for it concerns
Your lord; myself and other noble friends,
Are partners in the business.

DUTCH:
Bij troont bij and’re menschen als een god;
Hij heeft een waardigheid, die hem een meer
Dan menschlijk aanzien geeft.

MORE:
Sets him off=Shows him to advantage
Seeming=Appearance
Adventured=Ventured, dared
Try=Test
Taking=Reception
Election=Choice
Fan=Winnow (process of separating wheat from chaff)
But in=In only
Of moment=Important
Compleat:
To set off=Doen afsteeken, oppronken
Seeming=Schynende
Adventure=Avontuur, kans, hach; ‘t Gene men ter zee waagt
To try=Beproeven
Taking=Neeming, vatting
To eleect=Kiezen, verkiezen
To winnow corn with a fan=Koorn met eene wan uytwannen
Moment=gewicht, belang. Of great moment=Van groot gewicht.
Of no moment=Van geen belang

Topics: flattery, honour, anger, truth, status, authority

He that sleeps feels not the tooth-ache

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Firt Jailer
CONTEXT:
FIRST JAILER
Indeed, sir, he that sleeps feels not the
tooth-ache: but a man that were to sleep your
sleep, and a hangman to help him to bed, I think he
would change places with his officer; for, look you,
sir, you know not which way you shall go.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Yes, indeed do I, fellow.
FIRST JAILER
Your death has eyes in ‘s head then; I have not seen
him so pictured: you must either be directed by
some that take upon them to know, or do take upon
yourself that which I am sure you do not know, or
jump the after inquiry on your own peril: and how
you shall speed in your journey’s end, I think you’ll
never return to tell one.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
I tell thee, fellow, there are none want eyes to
direct them the way I am going, but such as wink and
will not use them.
FIRST JAILER
What an infinite mock is this, that a man should
have the best use of eyes to see the way of
blindness! I am sure hanging’s the way of winking.

DUTCH:
Inderdaad, vriend, wie slaapt voelt zijn kiespijn niet;
maar een man, die uwen slaap moet slapen, met den
beul om hem in bed te helpen, die zou, denk ik, wel
willen ruilen met zijn bedienaar; want ziet ge, vriend,
gij weet toch niet, waar ge heen gaat.

MORE:
Jump=Hazard, risk
Speed=Succeed
Wink=Close eyes
Compleat:
To speed=Voortspoeden, voorspoedig zyn, wel gelukken
Wink=Knikken, winken, blikken

Topics: death, punishment, risk

Her beauty and her brain go not together: she’s a good sign, but I have seen small reflection of her wit.

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: First Lord
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
I would they had not come between us.
SECOND LORD
So would I, till you had measured how long
a fool you were upon the ground.
CLOTEN
And that she should love this fellow and refuse me!
SECOND LORD
If it be a sin to make a true election, she
is damned.
FIRST LORD
Sir, as I told you always, her beauty and her brain
go not together: she’s a good sign, but I have seen
small reflection of her wit.
SECOND LORD
She shines not upon fools, lest the
reflection should hurt her.

DUTCH:
Zooals ik u altijd zeide, heer, haar verstand houdt
geen gelijken tred met haar schoonheid.

MORE:
Proverb: Beauty and folly are often matched together

In Shakespeare’s time beauty was seen as a signifier of virtue. See Thomas Hoby’s translation of the Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier (1561). Fourth Book: True beauty, the reflection of goodness.
Her beauty and her brain go not together=Her brain can’t match her beauty.
A good sign=Semblance. (Fig.: something of a deceptive semblance, not answering the promise)
Reflection=Shining back AND thoughtful consideration
Compleat:
Reflection=Terugkaatzing
Reflection=Overdenking, overpeinzing

Topics: appearance, intellect, perception, proverbs and idioms

His steel was in debt; it went o’ th’ backside the town

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Second Lord
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Have I
hurt him?
SECOND LORD
No, faith, not so much as his patience.
FIRST LORD
Hurt him? His body’s a passable carcass if he be not hurt.
It is a thoroughfare for steel if it be not hurt.
SECOND LORD
His steel was in debt; it went o’ th’ backside the town.
CLOTEN
The villain would not stand me.
SECOND LORD
No, but he fled forward still, toward your face.
FIRST LORD
Stand you? You have land enough of your
own, but he added to your having, gave you some
ground.

DUTCH:
Zijn staal bleef in gebreke te betalen; het liep achteraf straten om.

MORE:
Proverb: He dares not show his head (himself) for debt

Passable=Can be passed through, in this case referring to the pass of a rapier.
Stand=Resist
Not so much as=Not even
The backside of the town=Like a debtor hiding in the back alleys to avoid a creditor. Also (from “An Account of King James I’s Visit to Cambridge”), certain Jesuits were not suffered to come through Cambridge, but were “by the Sheriff carried over the backe side of the town to Cambridge castle.”
Compleat:
Thorough-fare=Een doorgang
Passable=Doorganklyk, inschikkelyk, middelmaatig, schappelyk
Money that is passable=Gangbaar geld
A passable hand=Een tamelyke hand
Stand (against or before)=Tegen houden, tegenstaan, verweeren

Burgersdijk notes:
Zijn staal bleef in gebreke te betalen; het liep achterafstraten om. Er staat woordelijk: „Zijn staal had schulden en liep de stad achterom,” evenals een schuldenaar, die zich niet vrij door de stad bewegen durft; Posthumus’ staal spaarde Cloten. — De meening zou ook kunnen zijn: Cloten’s staal trof Posthumus niet.

Topics: debt/obligation, reason, law/legal, proverbs and idioms

How creeps acquaintance?

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Ay, and the approbation of those that weep this
lamentable divorce under her colours are wonderfully
to extend him; be it but to fortify her judgment,
which else an easy battery might lay flat, for
taking a beggar without less quality. But how comes
it he is to sojourn with you? How creeps
acquaintance?
PHILARIO
His father and I were soldiers together; to whom I
have been often bound for no less than my life.
Here comes the Briton: let him be so entertained
amongst you as suits, with gentlemen of your
knowing, to a stranger of his quality.
I beseech you all, be better known to this
gentleman; whom I commend to you as a noble friend
of mine: how worthy he is I will leave to appear
hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.
FRENCHMAN
Sir, we have known together in Orleans.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Since when I have been debtor to you for courtesies,
which I will be ever to pay and yet pay still.

DUTCH:
Maar hoe komt het, dat hij bij u zijn intrek genomen heeft? Waar rankt zich deze bekendheid aan vast?

MORE:
Weep=Lament
Colours=Banner (on her behalf)
To extend him=Exaggerate his qualities
Be it but=Were it only
Easy=Light, slight
Battery=Assault
Without less=With no more
How creeps acquaintance=How did you get to know one another
Suits=Is fitting
Knowing=Knowlege, experience
Story him=Talk about him, sing his praises
Every to pay and yet pay still=Can never repay
Compleat:
To weep (lament)=Klaagen, jammeren
Colour=Een vaandel
Extend=Uitbreiden, wyder uitstrekken
Battery=Een schietschans, beukery, stormkat, battery
To creep=Kruipen, sluipen
To creep into one’s favour=Zich behendig in iemands gunste wikkelen
To story=Verhaalen, vertellen

Topics: marriage, wisdom, reputation, debt/obligation

How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature!

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
(…) How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature!
These boys know little they are sons to the king;
Nor Cymbeline dreams that they are alive.
They think they are mine; and though train’d
up thus meanly
I’ the cave wherein they bow, their thoughts do hit
The roofs of palaces, and nature prompts them
In simple and low things to prince it much
Beyond the trick of others. This Polydore,
The heir of Cymbeline and Britain, who
The king his father call’d Guiderius,— Jove!
When on my three-foot stool I sit and tell
The warlike feats I have done, his spirits fly out
Into my story: say ‘Thus, mine enemy fell,
And thus I set my foot on ‘s neck;’ even then
The princely blood flows in his cheek, he sweats,
Strains his young nerves and puts himself in posture
That acts my words. The younger brother, Cadwal,
Once Arviragus, in as like a figure,
Strikes life into my speech and shows much more
His own conceiving.— Hark, the game is roused!
O Cymbeline! heaven and my conscience knows
Thou didst unjustly banish me: whereon,
At three and two years old, I stole these babes;
Thinking to bar thee of succession, as
Thou reft’st me of my lands. Euriphile,
Thou wast their nurse; they took thee for their mother,
And every day do honour to her grave:
Myself, Belarius, that am Morgan call’d,
They take for natural father. The game is up.

DUTCH:
Hoe zwaar is ‘t, spranken der natuur te dooven!
Zij gissen niet, dat zij des konings zonen,

MORE:
Know little=Have no idea
Meanly=Humbly
Prince it=Act like a prince
Trick=Skill
Shows=Reveals
Conceiving=Thoughts
Compleat:
Meanly=Op een gierige, slechte wyze
Trick=Een looze trek, greep, gril

Topics: nature, learning/education, intellect

I am glad I was up so late, for that’s the reason I was up so early

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
SECOND LORD
Here comes the king.
CLOTEN
I am glad I was up so late; for that’s the reason I
was up so early: he cannot choose but take this
service I have done fatherly.
CLOTEN
Good morrow to your majesty and to my gracious mother.
CYMBELINE
Attend you here the door of our stern daughter?
Will she not forth?
CLOTEN
I have assailed her with music, but she vouchsafes no
notice.

DUTCH:
Ik ben blij, dat ik zoo laat op was; want dit is de
reden, dat ik zoo vroeg op was.

MORE:
Take=Accept
Service=Deed
Fatherly=As a father would
Attend=Wait
Compleat:
To attend=Opwachten, verzellen
Service=Dienstbaarheid

Topics: time, preparation

I am weak with toil, yet strong in appetite

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
You, Polydore, have proved best woodman and
Are master of the feast: Cadwal and I
Will play the cook and servant; ’tis our match:
The sweat of industry would dry and die,
But for the end it works to. Come; our stomachs
Will make what’s homely savoury: weariness
Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth
Finds the down pillow hard. Now peace be here,
Poor house, that keep’st thyself!
GUIDERIUS
I am thoroughly weary.
ARVIRAGUS
I am weak with toil, yet strong in appetite.
GUIDERIUS
There is cold meat i’ the cave; we’ll browse on that,
Whilst what we have kill’d be cook’d.

DUTCH:
k Ben duchtig moe.
– Ik nu voor arbeid zwak, voor eten sterk.

MORE:
Resty is an obsolete form of restive (Century Dictionary: “By transition through the sense ‘impatient under restraint,’ and partly by confusion with ‘restless,’ the word has taken in present use the additional sense ‘restless.'”)
Onions defines restive as inactive, inert and sluggish (rusty).
Schmidt explains resty sloth as “stiff with too much rest”, comparing “resty-stiff” in Edward III

Woodman=Hunter
Match=Compact
Compleat:
Wood-men=Oppassers in des Konings bosschaagie, boomsnoeijers
Match (bargain)=Koop, onderhandeling, overeenstemming
Restive/Resty (froward, stubborn)=Stug, koppig
A resty horse=Een paerd dat niet voort wil of zich niet wil laaten regeeren

Topics: money, honesty, poverty and wealth, work, satisfaction

I cannot delve him to the root

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: First Gentleman
CONTEXT:
FIRST GENTLEMAN
I cannot delve him to the root: his father
Was call’d Sicilius, who did join his honour
Against the Romans with Cassibelan,
But had his titles by Tenantius whom
He served with glory and admired success,
So gain’d the sur-addition Leonatus;
And had, besides this gentleman in question,
Two other sons, who in the wars o’ the time
Died with their swords in hand; for which their father,
Then old and fond of issue, took such sorrow
That he quit being, and his gentle lady,
Big of this gentleman our theme, deceased
As he was born. The king he takes the babe
To his protection, calls him Posthumus Leonatus,
Breeds him and makes him of his bed-chamber,
Puts to him all the learnings that his time
Could make him the receiver of; which he took,
As we do air, fast as ’twas minister’d,
And in’s spring became a harvest, lived in court—
Which rare it is to do—most praised, most loved,
A sample to the youngest, to the more mature
A glass that feated them, and to the graver
A child that guided dotards; to his mistress,
For whom he now is banish’d, her own price
Proclaims how she esteem’d him and his virtue;
By her election may be truly read
What kind of man he is.
SECOND GENTLEMAN
I honour him
Even out of your report. But, pray you, tell me,
Is she sole child to the king?

DUTCH:
TWEEDE EDELMAN
Wat is zijn naam en stam ?
EERSTE EDELMAN
Den wortel ken ik niet

MORE:
Delve him to the root=Trace back to the root of his family tree
Join=Ally
Sur-addition=Honorific title
Issue=Offspring
Quit being=Died
Learnings=Education
Sample=Example
Glass=Reflection
Feated them=Gave a model to follow
Dotard=Foolish old man
Out of your report=Based on what you say
Compleat:
To delve=Graaven, delven
To join=Saamenvoegen; vereenigen, voegen, vervoegen
Issue=Uytkomst, uytslag; afkomst, afkomeling
Learning=Geleerdheid
To do feats=Meesterstuken doen
Dotard=Suffer

Topics: relationship, learning/education, reputation

I do condemn mine ears that have so long attended thee

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Away! I do condemn mine ears that have
So long attended thee. If thou wert honourable,
Thou wouldst have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek’st,—as base as strange.
Thou wrong’st a gentleman, who is as far
From thy report as thou from honour, and
Solicit’st here a lady that disdains
Thee and the devil alike. What ho, Pisanio!
The king my father shall be made acquainted
Of thy assault: if he shall think it fit,
A saucy stranger in his court to mart
As in a Romish stew and to expound
His beastly mind to us, he hath a court
He little cares for and a daughter who
He not respects at all. What, ho, Pisanio!
IACHIMO
O happy Leonatus! I may say
The credit that thy lady hath of thee
Deserves thy trust, and thy most perfect goodness
Her assured credit. Blessed live you long!
A lady to the worthiest sir that ever
Country call’d his! and you his mistress, only
For the most worthiest fit! Give me your pardon.
I have spoke this, to know if your affiance
Were deeply rooted; and shall make your lord,
That which he is, new o’er: and he is one
The truest manner’d; such a holy witch
That he enchants societies into him;
Half all men’s hearts are his.
IMOGEN
You make amends.

DUTCH:
Van hier! — Mijn oor is schuldig, dat zoo lang
Geluisterd heeft! — Waart gij een man van eer,
Dan hadt ge uit lust tot deugd mij dit gemeld,
Niet met een doel, zoo snood en ongehoord.

MORE:
Saucy=Impudent
To mart=Do business
Stew=Brothel
Credit=Good opinion
Assured credit=Loyalty
Affiance=Faith
Societies=Groups
Compleat:
Saucy=Stout, onbeschaamd, baldaadig
Mart=Jaarmarkt
Stew, stew-house=Hoerhuys
Credit=Geloof, achting, aanzien, goede naam
Affiance=Vertrouwen, hoop
Society=Gezelschap, gemeenschap, gezelligheyd, genootschap, maatschap

Topics: anger, virtue, honour, plans/intentions, trust

I have outstood my time; which is material to the tender of our present

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Yes, I beseech; or I shall short my word
By lengthening my return. From Gallia
I cross’d the seas on purpose and on promise
To see your grace.
IMOGEN
I thank you for your pains:
But not away to-morrow!
IACHIMO
O, I must, madam:
Therefore I shall beseech you, if you please
To greet your lord with writing, do’t to-night:
I have outstood my time; which is material
To the tender of our present.
IMOGEN
I will write.
Send your trunk to me; it shall safe be kept,
And truly yielded you. You’re very welcome.

DUTCH:
En daarom, mocht gij wenschen uw gemaal
Te schrijven, doe het, bid ik, heden nog.
Mijn tijd is om; ‘t is van belang te zorgen,
Dat ons geschenk bijtijds er is.

MORE:
Gallia=Roman province, roughly equal to modern-day France
Short my word=Not keep my word
Outstood=Outstayed
Material=Relevant
Tender=Offering
Compleat:
To come or fall short=Te kort komen
He came short of his promise=Hy quam zyne belofte niet naa
Material=Stoffelyk, voornaam
The material cause=De stoffelyke of weezendlyke oorzaak
To tender=Aanbieden, van harte bezinnen, behartigen

Topics: promise, security

I return’d with simular proof enough to make the noble Leonatus mad

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Your daughter’s chastity—there it begins.
He spake of her, as Dian had hot dreams,
And she alone were cold: whereat I, wretch,
Made scruple of his praise; and wager’d with him
Pieces of gold ‘gainst this which then he wore
Upon his honour’d finger, to attain
In suit the place of’s bed and win this ring
By hers and mine adultery. He, true knight,
No lesser of her honour confident
Than I did truly find her, stakes this ring;
And would so, had it been a carbuncle
Of Phoebus’ wheel, and might so safely, had it
Been all the worth of’s car. Away to Britain
Post I in this design: well may you, sir,
Remember me at court; where I was taught
Of your chaste daughter the wide difference
‘Twixt amorous and villanous. Being thus quench’d
Of hope, not longing, mine Italian brain
‘Gan in your duller Britain operate
Most vilely; for my vantage, excellent:
And, to be brief, my practice so prevail’d,
That I return’d with simular proof enough
To make the noble Leonatus mad,
By wounding his belief in her renown
With tokens thus, and thus; averring notes
Of chamber-hanging, pictures, this her bracelet,—
O cunning, how I got it!— nay, some marks
Of secret on her person, that he could not
But think her bond of chastity quite crack’d,
I having ta’en the forfeit. Whereupon—
Methinks, I see him now—

DUTCH:
In ‘t kort, mijn plan gelukte zoo, dat ik
Met schijnbewijzen wederkwam, genoeg
Om de’ eed’len Leonatus dol te maken

MORE:
Cold=Chaste
Made scruple=Disputed
In suit=Wooing
Post=Hasten
Design=Plan
For my vantage=To my advantage
Practice=Scheme
Simular=Simulated
Averring=Alleging
Compleat:
To scrupule=Zwaarigheid maaken
Design=Opzet, voorneemen, oogmerk, aanslag, toeleg, ontwerp
Vantage=Toegift, toemaat, overmaat, overwigt
Practice=(underhand dealing, intrigue, plot) Praktyk, bedekten handel, list
To averr=Verzeeren, staande houden, bewaarheden

Topics: deceit, evidence, reputation

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

I stand on fire: come to the matter

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
I stand on fire:
Come to the matter.
IACHIMO
All too soon I shall,
Unless thou wouldst grieve quickly. This Posthumus,
Most like a noble lord in love and one
That had a royal lover, took his hint;
And, not dispraising whom we praised,—therein
He was as calm as virtue—he began
His mistress’ picture; which by his tongue being made,
And then a mind put in’t, either our brags
Were crack’d of kitchen-trolls, or his description
Proved us unspeaking sots.
CYMBELINE
Nay, nay, to the purpose.

DUTCH:
Ik sta op kolen, kom toch tot de zaak.

MORE:
Brags=Boasts
Cracked=Blustered
Of=About
Trolls=Maids
Unspeaking=Inarticulate
Sot=Fool
To the purpose=Get to the point
Compleat:
To brag=Pochen, roomen, opsnyen
To crack=Kraaken, barsten, splyten; pochen
Young trollop (serving maid)=Jong meisje, dat eerst begint te dienen
Sot (blockhead)=Zot, domkop

Topics: patience, sorow, truth

I will make one of her women lawyer to me, for I yet not understand the case myself

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
If she be up, I’ll speak with her; if not,
Let her lie still and dream.
By your leave, ho! I know her women are about her: what
If I do line one of their hands? ‘Tis gold
Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea, and makes
Diana’s rangers false themselves, yield up
Their deer to the stand o’ the stealer; and ’tis gold
Which makes the true man kill’d and saves the thief;
Nay, sometime hangs both thief and true man: what
Can it not do and undo? I will make
One of her women lawyer to me, for
I yet not understand the case myself.
By your leave.
LADY
Who’s there that knocks?
CLOTEN
A gentleman.
LADY
No more?
CLOTEN
Yes, and a gentlewoman’s son.
LADY
That’s more
Than some, whose tailors are as dear as yours,
Can justly boast of. What’s your lordship’s pleasure?

DUTCH:
Ik weet, zij heeft haar vrouwvolk bij zich. Wacht!
Vulde ik aan een de handen eens? Voor goud
Verkrijgt men toegang, dikwijls, ja; het maakt
Diana’s jagers zelfs ontrouw, zoodat
Zij ‘t wild den stroopers tegendrijven; goud
Brengt brave kerels om en redt den dief,
Maar soms ook brengt het beiden aan de galg.

MORE:
Proverb: If money go before all ways lie open
Proverb: To line one’s purse (coat, hand)

Line hands=Bribe
Diana’s rangers=Gamekeepers, nymphs vowed to chastity
False=1) (adjective) Betraying a trust; 2) (verb) falsify (see ‘falsing’ in Comedy of Errors, 2.2)
Stand=Hiding-place in the thickest brake, across which the deer were expected to pass”, Madden, Diary of Master William Silence
Lawyer to=Advocate for

Topics: poverty and wealth, corruption, honesty, lawyers, law/legal, understanding, proverbs and idioms

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

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

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

If one of mean affairs may plod it in a week, why may not I glide thither in a day?

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Who? thy lord? that is my lord, Leonatus!
O, learn’d indeed were that astronomer
That knew the stars as I his characters;
He’ld lay the future open. You good gods,
Let what is here contain’d relish of love,
Of my lord’s health, of his content, yet not
That we two are asunder; let that grieve him:
Some griefs are med’cinable; that is one of them,
For it doth physic love: of his content,
All but in that! Good wax, thy leave. Blest be
You bees that make these locks of counsel! Lovers
And men in dangerous bonds pray not alike:
Though forfeiters you cast in prison, yet
You clasp young Cupid’s tables. Good news, gods!
‘Justice, and your father’s wrath, should he take me
in his dominion, could not be so cruel to me, as
you, O the dearest of creatures, would even renew me
with your eyes. Take notice that I am in Cambria,
at Milford-Haven: what your own love will out of
this advise you, follow. So he wishes you all
happiness, that remains loyal to his vow, and your,
increasing in love,
Leonatus Posthumus.’
O, for a horse with wings! Hear’st thou, Pisanio?
He is at Milford-Haven: read, and tell me
How far ’tis thither. If one of mean affairs
May plod it in a week, why may not I
Glide thither in a day? Then, true Pisanio,—
Who long’st, like me, to see thy lord; who long’st,—
let me bate,-but not like me—yet long’st,
But in a fainter kind:—O, not like me;
For mine’s beyond beyond— say, and speak thick;
Love’s counsellor should fill the bores of hearing,
To the smothering of the sense—how far it is
To this same blessed Milford: and by the way
Tell me how Wales was made so happy as
To inherit such a haven: but first of all,
How we may steal from hence, and for the gap
That we shall make in time, from our hence-going
And our return, to excuse: but first, how get hence:
Why should excuse be born or e’er begot?
We’ll talk of that hereafter. Prithee, speak,
How many score of miles may we well ride
‘Twixt hour and hour?

DUTCH:
O! een bevleugeld paard! — Pisanio, hoor!
Hij is in Milfordshaven; lees, en zeg me
Hoe ver dat is. Als iemand zonder haast
Het afreist in een week, zou ik dan niet
In éénen dag er komen ?

MORE:
Mean affairs=Ordinary business
Bate=Deduct, abate (from what has been said)
Speak thick=Speak quickly, crowding one word on another (Also Henry IV Part 2)
Mine’s beyond beyond=Further than beyond
Bores of hearing=Ears
Compleat:
Mean=Het midden, de middelmaat; gering, slecht
To speak thick=Ras en verward spreeken
To bate=Verminderen, afkorten, afsyaan

Topics: business, status, haste

If you will make’t an action, call witness to’t

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
I am sprited with a fool.
Frighted, and anger’d worse: go bid my woman
Search for a jewel that too casually
Hath left mine arm: it was thy master’s: ‘shrew me,
If I would lose it for a revenue
Of any king’s in Europe. I do think
I saw’t this morning: confident I am
Last night ’twas on mine arm; I kiss’d it:
I hope it be not gone to tell my lord
That I kiss aught but he.
PISANIO
‘Twill not be lost.
IMOGEN
I hope so: go and search.
CLOTEN
You have abused me:
‘His meanest garment!’
IMOGEN
Ay, I said so, sir:
If you will make’t an action, call witness to’t.

DUTCH:
Ja, ja, ik heb ‘t gezegd.
Wilt gij me er om verklagen, roep getuigen.

MORE:
Spirited with=Haunted by
Shrew=Beshrew
Action=Lawsuit
Compleat:
Beshrew=Bekyven, vervloeken
Action=Een daad, handeling, rechtzaak, gevecht

Topics: anger, value, negligence, evidence

If you’ll be patient, I’ll no more be mad; that cures us both

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
As I am mad, I do:
If you’ll be patient, I’ll no more be mad;
That cures us both. I am much sorry, sir,
You put me to forget a lady’s manners,
By being so verbal: and learn now, for all,
That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce,
By the very truth of it, I care not for you,
And am so near the lack of charity—
To accuse myself—I hate you; which I had rather
You felt than make’t my boast.
CLOTEN
You sin against
Obedience, which you owe your father. For
The contract you pretend with that base wretch,
One bred of alms and foster’d with cold dishes,
With scraps o’ the court, it is no contract, none:
And though it be allow’d in meaner parties—
Yet who than he more mean?—to knit their souls,
On whom there is no more dependency
But brats and beggary, in self-figured knot;
Yet you are curb’d from that enlargement by
The consequence o’ the crown, and must not soil
The precious note of it with a base slave.
A hilding for a livery, a squire’s cloth,
A pantler, not so eminent.

DUTCH:
Ik doe het in mijn waanzin;
En die zal wijken, zijt gij slechts verstandig;
Dit doet ons beidegoed. Het is mij leed,
Dat gij mij dwingt, mijn vrouwenaard verlooch’nend,
Zoo sterk te spreken

MORE:
Put=Cause
Verbal=Talkative
Cold dishes=Leftovers
Dependency=People
Pretent=Claim
Beggary=Destitute people
Enlargement=Freedom
Consequence=Importance
Foil=Defile
Note=Renown
Compleat:
Verbal=Woordelyk, mondelyk; Verbality=Woordelykheid
Dependency=Afhangendheyd, afhanglykheyd, vertrouwen, steunsel, steun
To pretend to=Zich aanmaatigen, zich uitgeeven voor; voorwenden
Beggary=Bedelaary
Enlargement=Vergrooting, wyder uitbreiding; Meerder vryheid dan men te vooren had
Consequence=Belang

Topics: patience, anger, emotion and mood, civility, order/society

If’t be summer news, smile to’t before; if winterly, thou need’st but keep that countenance still

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Thou told’st me, when we came from horse, the place
Was near at hand: ne’er long’d my mother so
To see me first, as I have now. Pisanio! man!
Where is Posthumus? What is in thy mind,
That makes thee stare thus? Wherefore breaks that sigh
From the inward of thee? One, but painted thus,
Would be interpreted a thing perplex’d
Beyond self-explication: put thyself
Into a havior of less fear, ere wildness
Vanquish my staider senses. What’s the matter?
Why tender’st thou that paper to me, with
If’t be summer news,
Smile to’t before; if winterly, thou need’st
But keep that countenance still. My husband’s hand!
That drug-damned Italy hath out-craftied him,
And he’s at some hard point. Speak, man: thy tongue
May take off some extremity, which to read
Would be even mortal to me.

DUTCH:
Wat houdt ge mij, met ingehouden smart,
Dien brief voor? Brengt hij zomerzonneschijn,
Zoo glimlach; is het ijzig winternieuws,
Dan past die schrik.

MORE:
At some hard point=In a difficult situation
Take off some extremity=Soften the blow
Out-craftied=Outwitted with cunning (See als crafty-sick (feigning sickness), Henry IV Part 2)
Drug-damned=Detested for its drugs or poisons
Compleat:
Extremity=Uitspoorigheid; elende, jammerstaat
Crafty=Loos, listig, schalk, doortrapt, leep

Topics: life/experience, appearance, language

It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offence to

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Second Lord
CONTEXT:
SECOND LORD
It is not fit your lordship should undertake every
companion that you give offence to.
CLOTEN
No, I know that: but it is fit I should commit
offence to my inferiors.
SECOND LORD
Ay, it is fit for your lordship only.
CLOTEN
Why, so I say.
FIRST LORD
Did you hear of a stranger that’s come to court
to-night?
CLOTEN
A stranger, and I not know on’t!
SECOND LORD
He’s a strange fellow himself, and knows it not.
FIRST LORD
There’s an Italian come; and, ’tis thought, one of
Leonatus’ friends.

DUTCH:
Het gaat niet aan, dat uwe edelheid met Jan en alleman
gaat vechten, wien gij goed vindt te beleedigen.

MORE:
Undertake=Take on, fight
Companion=Fellow
Commit offence=Fight with
Compleat:
To undertake=Onderneemen, by der hand vatten
Companion=Medegezel, medegenoot, maat, makker

Topics: conflict, offence, status, order/society

Kneel not to me. The power that I have on you is to spare you; the malice towards you to forgive you

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
The forlorn soldier, that so nobly fought,
He would have well becomed this place, and graced
The thankings of a king.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
I am, sir,
The soldier that did company these three
In poor beseeming; ’twas a fitment for
The purpose I then follow’d. That I was he,
Speak, Iachimo: I had you down and might
Have made you finish.
IACHIMO
I am down again:
But now my heavy conscience sinks my knee,
As then your force did. Take that life, beseech you,
Which I so often owe: but your ring first;
And here the bracelet of the truest princess
That ever swore her faith.
POSTHUMUS
Kneel not to me.
The power that I have on you is to spare you;
The malice towards you to forgive you. Live
And deal with others better.
CYMBELINE
Nobly doomed.
We’ll learn our freeness of a son-in-law:
Pardon’s the word to all.

DUTCH:
Kniel niet voor mij;
De macht, die ‘k op u heb, is u te sparen,
En heel mijn wrok, u te vergeven. Leef,
Behandel and’ren beter.

MORE:
Proverb: To be able to harm and not to do it is noble

Doomed=Judged
Malice=Malignity, disposition to injure others
Freeness=Generosity
Compleat:
Doom=Vonnis, oordeel, verwyzing
To doom=Veroordelen, verwyzen, doemen
Doomed=Veroordeeld, verweezen.

Topics: life/experience, appearance, language, proverbs and idioms

Let him be so entertained amongst you as suits, with gentlemen of your knowing, to a stranger of his quality

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Philario
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Ay, and the approbation of those that weep this
lamentable divorce under her colours are wonderfully
to extend him; be it but to fortify her judgment,
which else an easy battery might lay flat, for
taking a beggar without less quality. But how comes
it he is to sojourn with you? How creeps
acquaintance?
PHILARIO
His father and I were soldiers together; to whom I
have been often bound for no less than my life.
Here comes the Briton: let him be so entertained
amongst you as suits, with gentlemen of your
knowing, to a stranger of his quality.
I beseech you all, be better known to this
gentleman; whom I commend to you as a noble friend
of mine: how worthy he is I will leave to appear
hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.
FRENCHMAN
Sir, we have known together in Orleans.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Since when I have been debtor to you for courtesies,
which I will be ever to pay and yet pay still.

DUTCH:
Daar komt onze Bril aan. Laat zijn ontvangst
door u zoo hoffelijk wezen, als een vreemdeling van zijn
rang recht heeft te verwachten van edellieden van uwen
stempel.

Topics: marriage, wisdom, reputation, debt/obligation

Let ordinance come as the gods foresay it

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
GUIDERIUS
Why, worthy father, what have we to lose
But that he swore to take, our lives? The law
Protects not us. Then why should we be tender
To let an arrogant piece of flesh threat us,
Play judge and executioner all himself,
For we do fear the law? What company
Discover you abroad?
BELARIUS
No single soul
Can we set eye on, but in all safe reason
He must have some attendants. Though his humour
Was nothing but mutation—ay, and that
From one bad thing to worse—not frenzy,
Not absolute madness could so far have raved
To bring him here alone. Although perhaps
It may be heard at court that such as we
Cave here, hunt here, are outlaws, and in time
May make some stronger head, the which he hearing—
As it is like him—might break out and swear
He’d fetch us in, yet is ’t not probable
To come alone, either he so undertaking
Or they so suffering. Then on good ground we fear,
If we do fear this body hath a tail
More perilous than the head.
ARVIRAGUS
Let ordinance
Come as the gods foresay it: howsoe’er,
My brother hath done well.

DUTCH:
Laat komen, wat
De wil der goden is; hoe ‘t zij, mijn broeder
Heeft wel gedaan.

MORE:
Proverb: To go from bad to worse

For (we do fear)=Because
Humour=Disposition
Mutation=Change (as an effect of inconsistency)
Stronger head=Gather strength
Fetch us in=Capture us
Tender=Delicate, in a physical and moral sense: easily impressed
Compleat:
Humour (or disposition of the mind)=Humeur, gemoeds gesteldheid
Mutation=Verandering, verwisseling
To draw to a head=Zich tot dragt zetten, de verhaaalde zaaken in een trekken
Tender=Teder, week, murw

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, law/legal, life, flaw/fault

Let proof speak

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Caius Lucius
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
Thou art welcome, Caius.
Thy Caesar knighted me; my youth I spent
Much under him; of him I gather’d honour;
Which he to seek of me again, perforce,
Behoves me keep at utterance. I am perfect
That the Pannonians and Dalmatians for
Their liberties are now in arms; a precedent
Which not to read would show the Britons cold:
So Caesar shall not find them.
CAIUS LUCIUS
Let proof speak.
CLOTEN
His majesty bids you welcome. Make
pastime with us a day or two, or longer: if
you seek us afterwards in other terms, you
shall find us in our salt-water girdle: if you
beat us out of it, it is yours; if you fall in
the adventure, our crows shall fare the better
for you; and there’s an end.

DUTCH:
De strijd besliss’.

MORE:
Utterance=Extremity (Fr. ‘outrance’), at any price
Perfect=Fully aware
Read=Follow, interpret
Show=Make appear
Proof=The outcome
Adventure=Attempt
Compleat:
Utter=Gansch, geheel, uiterst
To be perfect n a thing=Iets wel van buiten kennen; in wyn hoofd hebben
Adventure=Avontuur, kans, hach; ‘t Gene men ter zee waagt

Topics: order/society, status, honour, dispute, achievent, failure

More particulars must justify my knowledge

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
This is true;
And this you might have heard of here, by me,
Or by some other.
IACHIMO
More particulars
Must justify my knowledge.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
So they must,
Or do your honour injury.
IACHIMO
The chimney
Is south the chamber, and the chimney-piece
Chaste Dian bathing: never saw I figures
So likely to report themselves: the cutter
Was as another nature, dumb; outwent her,
Motion and breath left out.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
This is a thing
Which you might from relation likewise reap,
Being, as it is, much spoke of.

DUTCH:
Meer bijzonderheden
Doen zien, hoe ik dit weet.

MORE:
Justify=Confirm, support
Chimney=Fireplace
Report=Give an account, represent
Cutter=Sculptor, carver
Relation=Report
Compleat:
To justify=Rehtvaardigen, rechtvaardigmaaken, verdeedigen, billyken
To report=Verhaalen, vertellen
Stone cutter=Steenhouwer
Relation (account)=Verhaal, vertelling

Topics: justification

Must I repent? I cannot do it better than in gyves, desired more than constrained

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Posthumus
CONTEXT:
JAILER
You shall not now be stol’n; you have locks upon you.
So graze as you find pasture
SECOND JAILER
Ay, or a stomach
POSTHUMUS
Most welcome, bondage! for thou art a way,
think, to liberty: yet am I better
Than one that’s sick o’ the gout; since he had rather
Groan so in perpetuity than be cured
By the sure physician, death, who is the key
To unbar these locks. My conscience, thou art fetter’d
More than my shanks and wrists: you good gods, give me
The penitent instrument to pick that bolt,
Then, free for ever! Is’t enough I am sorry?
So children temporal fathers do appease;
Gods are more full of mercy. Must I repent?
I cannot do it better than in gyves,
Desired more than constrain’d: to satisfy,
If of my freedom ’tis the main part, take
No stricter render of me than my all.
I know you are more clement than vile men,
Who of their broken debtors take a third,
A sixth, a tenth, letting them thrive again
On their abatement: that’s not my desire:
For Imogen’s dear life take mine; and though
‘Tis not so dear, yet ’tis a life; you coin’d it:
‘Tween man and man they weigh not every stamp;
Though light, take pieces for the figure’s sake:
You rather mine, being yours: and so, great powers,
If you will take this audit, take this life,
And cancel these cold bonds. O Imogen!
I’ll speak to thee in silence.

DUTCH:
Verlangt gij
Berouw? toon ik dit meer ooit dan in keet’nen,
Gewenscht, niet opgedrongen

MORE:
You shall not now be stolen=Alluding to the custom of puting a lock on a horse’s leg when it is put out to pasture (Johnson)
Penitent instrument=A means of freeing conscience of its guilt (Rolfe)
Groan=To utter a mournful voice in pain or sorrow
Temporal=Pertaining to this life or this world, not spiritual, not eternal
Gyves=fetters
Render=A surrender, a giving up
Stricter=More rigorous
Stamp=Coin with the sovereign’s head impressed
Though light, take pieces…=It was common practice for forgers lighten the weight of coins in order to conserve material.
Take this audit=Accept this settlement of accounts
Clement=Disposed to kindness, mild
Compleat:
Gyves=Boeijen, kluisters
Constrained=Bedwongen, gedrongen, gepraamd
Strict=Gestreng
Clement=Goedertieren, zachtzinnig
Audit=Het nazien der Rekeningen
Penitent=Boetvaardig, berouw toonend
Temporal (secular, not spiritual)=Waereldlyk

Burgersdijk notes:
“Nu steelt u niemand, met dat blok aan ‘t been; Graas nu zoover gij weide hebt”. Zooals men wel een paard in de weide met een ketting en slot bevestigt opdat het niet gestolen worde of wegloope.

Topics: regret, guilt, remedy, death, conscience

My conscience, thou art fettered more than my shanks and wrists: you good gods, give me the penitent instrument to pick that bolt

DUTCH:
Mijn geweten,
Gij draagt meer kluisters dan mijn pols en enkels;
O, goden, moog’ mijn boete ‘t werktuig zijn,
Die kluisters te oop nen; dan, voor eeuwig Vrij!

Topics: regret, guilt, remedy, conscience, debt/obligation

No further with your din express impatience, lest you stir up mine

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Jupiter
CONTEXT:
JUPITER
No more, you petty spirits of region low,
Offend our hearing; hush! How dare you ghosts
Accuse the thunderer, whose bolt, you know,
Sky-planted batters all rebelling coasts?
Poor shadows of Elysium, hence, and rest
Upon your never-withering banks of flowers:
Be not with mortal accidents opprest;
No care of yours it is; you know ’tis ours.
Whom best I love I cross; to make my gift,
The more delay’d, delighted. Be content;
Your low-laid son our godhead will uplift:
His comforts thrive, his trials well are spent.
Our Jovial star reign’d at his birth, and in
Our temple was he married. Rise, and fade.
He shall be lord of lady Imogen,
And happier much by his affliction made.
This tablet lay upon his breast, wherein
Our pleasure his full fortune doth confine:
And so, away: no further with your din
Express impatience, lest you stir up mine.
Mount, eagle, to my palace crystalline.

DUTCH:
Gaat nu, en ducht mijn toorn, vervangt gij niet
Uw ongeduld door passende eerbetooning. —
Stijg, aad’laar, op naar mijn kristallen woning.

MORE:
Shadows=Ghosts
Elysium=Heaven
Accidents=Events
Jovial star=Jupiter
Tablet=Inscription
Compleat:
Shadow=Schim
Accident=Een toeval, quaal, aankleefsel
Jovial=Ref to Jove, or Jupiter
Tblet=Zakboekje

Topics: language, insult, blame, marriage

Nor i’ the judgment, for idiots in this case of favour would be wisely definite

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
‘He is one of the noblest note, to whose
kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon
him accordingly, as you value your trust—
Leonatus.’
So far I read aloud:
But even the very middle of my heart
Is warm’d by the rest, and takes it thankfully.
You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I
Have words to bid you, and shall find it so
In all that I can do.
IACHIMO
Thanks, fairest lady.
What, are men mad? Hath nature given them eyes
To see this vaulted arch, and the rich crop
Of sea and land, which can distinguish ‘twixt
The fiery orbs above and the twinn’d stones
Upon the number’d beach? and can we not
Partition make with spectacles so precious
‘Twixt fair and foul?
IMOGEN
What makes your admiration?
IACHIMO
It cannot be i’ the eye, for apes and monkeys
‘Twixt two such shes would chatter this way and
Contemn with mows the other; nor i’ the judgment,
For idiots in this case of favour would
Be wisely definite; nor i’ the appetite;
Sluttery to such neat excellence opposed
Should make desire vomit emptiness,
Not so allured to feed.

DUTCH:
t Ligt niet aan ‘t oog: toon aap of baviaan
Twee zulke vrouwen; hierheen zal hij lachen,
Naar de and’re grijnzend schreeuwen; niet aan ‘t oordeel:
Een idioot zou bij deez’ schoonheidskeur
Scherpzinnig zijn en wijs;

MORE:
Reflect=Consider
Orbs=Stars
Identical=Twinned
Unnumbered=Innumerable
Spectacles so precious=Eyes
Partition make=Draw distinction
Compleat:
To reflect=Overpeinzen, overwegen
Orb=Een kloot, rond, hemelkring
Partition=Een verdeeling, middelschot

Topics: reputation, trust, nature, intellect

Nor the time nor place will serve our long interrogatories

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
When shall I hear all through?
This fierce abridgement
Hath to it circumstantial branches which
Distinction should be rich in. Where, how lived you?
And when came you to serve our Roman captive?
How parted with your brothers ? How first met them?
Why fled you from the court? And whither? These,
And your three motives to the battle, with
I know not how much more, should be demanded,
And all the other by-dependences
From chance to chance; but nor the time nor place
Will serve our long interrogatories. See,
Posthumus anchors upon Imogen;
And she, like harmless lightning, throws her eye
On him, her brothers, me, her master, hitting
Each object with a joy; the counterchange
Is severally in all. Let’s quit this ground,
And smoke the temple with our sacrifices.
Thou art my brother, so we’ll hold thee ever.

DUTCH:
Ja meer, veel meer nog heb ik na te vragen,
En al wat daarmee samenhangt te volgen,
En stap voor stap. Doch ‘t is nu tijd noch plaats
Voor zulk een onderzoekend vragen.

MORE:
Fierce=Savagely cut (abstract)
Abridgement=Summary, abstract
Circumstantial branches which distinction should be rich in=Providing ample narrative for consideration of parts and details
Your three motives=The motives of you three
By-dependences=Side issues
Interrogatories [Intergatories]=Examination, question
Chance to chance=Describing every event
Counterchange=Reciprocation
Severally=Every one in his particular way and manner
Smoke=Perfume with smoke
Compleat:
Fierce=Heftig, vel, vinnig; wreed; trots
Abridgement=Een verkortsel
Circumstantial=Omstandig
To circumstantiate=Met omstandigheden beschryven
Dependance, dependency=Afhangendheid, afhanglykheid, vertrouwen, steunsel, steun
Interrogatory=Ondervraagende; een ondervraaging, vraagstuk
Chance=Geval, voorval, kans
Counter-change=Ruilen
Severally=Verscheidenlyk

Topics: intellect, nature, justification, reason, reply

Now for the counsel of my son and queen! I am amazed with matter

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
FIRST LORD
So please your majesty,
The Roman legions, all from Gallia drawn,
Are landed on your coast, with a supply
Of Roman gentlemen, by the senate sent.
CYMBELINE
Now for the counsel of my son and queen!
I am amazed with matter.
FIRST LORD
Good my liege,
Your preparation can affront no less
Than what you hear of: come more, for more you’re ready:
The want is but to put those powers in motion
That long to move.
CYMBELINE
I thank you. Let’s withdraw;
And meet the time as it seeks us. We fear not
What can from Italy annoy us; but
We grieve at chances here. Away!

DUTCH:
O, nu den raad mijns zoons en mijner gade! —
Ik duizel van mijn zorgen.

MORE:
Now for=If only I had
Counsel=Advice
Amazed=Overwhelmed
Matter=Information
Affront=Stand up to
The want is but=All that is needed
Annoy=Harm
Chances=Events
Compleat:
Counsel=Raad, onderrechting
Amazed=Ontzet, verbaasd, ontsteld
Matter=Stof
To affront=Hoonen, beschimpen; trotseeren
To annoy=Beschaadigen, quetsen, beleedigne, afbreuk doen

Topics: advice, relationship, conflict, preparation

O, blessèd, that I might not! I chose an eagle and did avoid a puttock

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
O, blessèd that I might not! I chose an eagle
And did avoid a puttock.
CYMBELINE
Thou took’st a beggar, wouldst have made my throne
A seat for baseness.
IMOGEN
No, I rather added
A lustre to it.
CYMBELINE
O thou vile one!
IMOGEN
Sir,
It is your fault that I have loved Posthumus.
You bred him as my playfellow, and he is
A man worth any woman, overbuys me
Almost the sum he pays.

DUTCH:
Wèl mij, ik wachtte niet; ik koos een aad’laar,
En meed een gier.

MORE:
Puttock=Kite, not a hawk worthy of training (a kite, buzzard or marsh harrier)
Overbuys=I am worth but a small fraction of what he gives for me
Baseness=Vileness, meanness
Take=Marry (take in marriage)
Compleat:
Puttock (buzzard)=Een buizard, zekere roofvogel
Baseness=Laagheid, lafhartigheid

Topics: marriage, value, order/society, status, love

O, this life is nobler than attending for a check, richer than doing nothing for a bauble

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
Now for our mountain sport: up to yond hill;
Your legs are young; I’ll tread these flats. Consider,
When you above perceive me like a crow,
That it is place which lessens and sets off;
And you may then revolve what tales I have told you
Of courts, of princes, of the tricks in war:
This service is not service, so being done,
But being so allow’d: to apprehend thus,
Draws us a profit from all things we see;
And often, to our comfort, shall we find
The sharded beetle in a safer hold
Than is the full-wing’d eagle. O, this life
Is nobler than attending for a cheque,
Richer than doing nothing for a bauble,
Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk:
Such gain the cap of him that makes ’em fine,
Yet keeps his book uncross’d: no life to ours.
GUIDERIUS
Out of your proof you speak. We poor unfledged
Have never winged from view o’ th’ nest, nor know not
What air ’s from home. Haply this life is best
If quiet life be best, sweeter to you
That have a sharper known, well corresponding
With your stiff age; but unto us it is
A cell of ignorance, travelling a-bed,
A prison for a debtor that not dares
To stride a limit.

DUTCH:
O, dit leven
Is eed’ler dan als hoveling te dienen,
Waarvoor verwijten vaak het loon zijn;

MORE:
Attending=Dancing attendance
Check=Rebuke
Sharded=Having scaly wings
Gain the cap=Have someone (in this case, the tailor) doff their cap to them
Book uncrossed=Debts not struck out
Proof=Experience
Haply=Perhaps
Compleat:
Attendance=Opwachting, oppassing, behartiging; Een stoet van oppasssers, hofgezin, dienstbooden
To dance attendance=Lang te vergeefsch wagten
To cross out=Doorstreepen, doorhaalen
Proof (mark or testimony)=Getuigenis
Haply=Misschien

Topics: age/experience, life, evidence, debt/obligation, authority

Or senseless speaking or a speaking such as sense cannot untie

DUTCH:
t Is nog een droom, of wel het zinn’loos kallen
Van hersenlooze onnooz’len; dit of niets;
Of zinnelooze taal, of taal waarvan
‘t Verstand den zin niet vat

MORE:
Swerve=Go off course, go astray
Such stuff as madmen tongue=The nonsensical, irrational talk of madmen
Or=Either
Jointed=Grafted
Sympathy=Any conformity, correspondence, resemblance
Compleat:
Swerve=Afdwaaaien, afdoolen, afzwerven
Sympathy (natural agreement of things)=Natuurlyke overeenstemming of trek der dingen

Topics: madness, nature, language, reason

Out of your proof you speak

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Guiderius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
Now for our mountain sport: up to yond hill;
Your legs are young; I’ll tread these flats. Consider,
When you above perceive me like a crow,
That it is place which lessens and sets off;
And you may then revolve what tales I have told you
Of courts, of princes, of the tricks in war:
This service is not service, so being done,
But being so allow’d: to apprehend thus,
Draws us a profit from all things we see;
And often, to our comfort, shall we find
The sharded beetle in a safer hold
Than is the full-wing’d eagle. O, this life
Is nobler than attending for a cheque,
Richer than doing nothing for a bauble,
Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk:
Such gain the cap of him that makes ’em fine,
Yet keeps his book uncross’d: no life to ours.
GUIDERIUS
Out of your proof you speak: we, poor unfledged,
Have never wing’d from view o’ the nest, nor know not
What air’s from home. Haply this life is best,
If quiet life be best; sweeter to you
That have a sharper known; well corresponding
With your stiff age: but unto us it is
A cell of ignorance; travelling a-bed;
A prison for a debtor, that not dares
To stride a limit.

DUTCH:
Gij spreekt uit uw ervaring; maar wij, armen,
Wij vlogen nooit van ‘t nest nog weg, en weten
Volstrekt nog niet, hoe elders wel de lucht is.

Topics: age/experience, life, evidence, debt/obligation, authority, perception

Pardon’s the word to all

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
The forlorn soldier, that so nobly fought,
He would have well becomed this place, and graced
The thankings of a king.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
I am, sir,
The soldier that did company these three
In poor beseeming; ’twas a fitment for
The purpose I then follow’d. That I was he,
Speak, Iachimo: I had you down and might
Have made you finish.
IACHIMO
[Kneeling] I am down again:
But now my heavy conscience sinks my knee,
As then your force did. Take that life, beseech you,
Which I so often owe: but your ring first;
And here the bracelet of the truest princess
That ever swore her faith.
POSTHUMUS
Kneel not to me.
The power that I have on you is to spare you;
The malice towards you to forgive you. Live
And deal with others better.
CYMBELINE
Nobly doomed.
We’ll learn our freeness of a son-in-law:
Pardon’s the word to all.

DUTCH:
Mijn schoonzoon doet mij zien, wat edel is;
Vergiffenis voor allen!

MORE:
Proverb: To be able to harm and not to do it is noble

Doomed=Judged
Malice=Malignity, disposition to injure others
Freeness=Generosity
Compleat:
Doom=Vonnis, oordeel, verwyzing
To doom=Veroordelen, verwyzen, doemen
Doomed=Veroordeeld, verweezen.

Topics: life/experience, appearance, language, proverbs and idioms

Plenty and peace breeds cowards; hardness ever of hardiness is mother

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
I see a man’s life is a tedious one:
I have tired myself, and for two nights together
Have made the ground my bed. I should be sick,
But that my resolution helps me. Milford,
When from the mountain-top Pisanio show’d thee,
Thou wast within a ken: O Jove! I think
Foundations fly the wretched; such, I mean,
Where they should be relieved. Two beggars told me
I could not miss my way. Will poor folks lie,
That have afflictions on them, knowing ’tis
A punishment or trial? Yes. No wonder,
When rich ones scarce tell true. To lapse in fullness
Is sorer than to lie for need, and falsehood
Is worse in kings than beggars. My dear lord,
Thou art one o’ th’ false ones. Now I think on thee,
My hunger’s gone; but even before, I was
At point to sink for food. But what is this?
Here is a path to ’t. ’Tis some savage hold.
I were best not call; I dare not call. Yet famine,
Ere clean it o’erthrow nature, makes it valiant.
Plenty and peace breeds cowards; hardness ever
Of hardiness is mother.—Ho! Who’s here?
If anything that’s civil, speak; if savage,
Take or lend. Ho!—No answer? Then I’ll enter.
Best draw my sword; an if mine enemy
But fear the sword like me, he’ll scarcely look on ’t.

DUTCH:
Ja, weelde en vreê kweekt lafaards; ‘t hardste lot
Verhardt en staalt ons steeds

MORE:
Proverb: Afflictions are sent us by God for our good (Will poor folks lie…)

Trial=Test of virtue
To lapse in fullness=Fall from truth in a state of prosperity
Even before=Just before
Hardiness=Bravery
Compleat:
Trial (temptation)=Beproeving
Even=Even. Just now=Zo even
Hardiness=Onvertzaagdheid, stoutheid, koenheid
Hardiness of constitution=Hardheid van gesteltenis

Topics: adversity, proverbs and idioms, poverty and wealth, honesty

Purse and brain, both empty

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: First Jailer
CONTEXT:
FIRST JAILER
A heavy reckoning for you, sir. But the comfort
is, you shall be called to no more payments, fear
no more tavern bills, which are often the sadness
of parting as the procuring of mirth. You come in
faint for want of meat, depart reeling with too
much drink; sorry that you have paid too much,
and sorry that you are paid too much; purse and
brain both empty; the brain the heavier for being
too light; the purse too light, being drawn of heaviness:
of this contradiction you shall now be
quit. O, the charity of a penny cord! It sums up
thousands in a trice: you have no true debitor and
creditor but it; of what’s past, is, and to come,
the discharge: your neck, sir, is pen, book and
counters; so the acquittance follows.

DUTCH:
Hoofd en beurs
beide leeg, het hoofd des te zwaarder, naarmate het
lichter is, de beurs des te opgeruimder, naarmate zij
meer zwaarte verloren heeft.

MORE:
Proverb: A heavy purse makes a light heart
Proverb: In a trice

Heavier=Sleepier with drink
Drawn=Emptied
Drawn of heaviness=Lighter, being emptied of coins
Paid too much=Punished by excess drinking
To quit=To set at liberty, to free, to deliver
Acquittance=Receipt in full
Compleat:
To quit (dispense with, excluse)=Bevryden, verschoonen, ontslaan
I quit you from it=Ik ontsla ‘er u van
Forbearance is no acquittance=Uitstellen is geen quytschelden

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, intellect, excess, money, debt/obligation

Puts to him all the learnings that his time could make him the receiver of

DUTCH:
Hij voedt hem op, benoemt hem tot zijn page,
En laat hem alles leeren, wat zijn leeftijd
Bevatten kan; en hij, als wij de lucht,
Nam ‘t op, zoodra ‘t gereikt werd;

Topics: relationship, learning/education, reputation

Rather shunned to go even with what I heard than in my every action to be guided by others’ experiences

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Posthumus Leonatus
CONTEXT:
FRENCHMAN
Sir, you o’er-rate my poor kindness: I was glad I
did atone my countryman and you; it had been pity
you should have been put together with so mortal a
purpose as then each bore, upon importance of so
slight and trivial a nature.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
By your pardon, sir, I was then a young traveller;
rather shunned to go even with what I heard than in
my every action to be guided by others’ experiences:
but upon my mended judgment—if I offend not to say
it is mended—my quarrel was not altogether slight.
FRENCHMAN
‘Faith, yes, to be put to the arbitrement of swords,
and by such two that would by all likelihood have
confounded one the other, or have fallen both.
IACHIMO
Can we, with manners, ask what was the difference?

DUTCH:
Met uw verlof, heer, toen ik die reis deed, was ik
wel is waar nog jong, en ik vermeed eer mee te gaan
met wat mij gezegd werd, dan dat ik mij van stap tot
stap had laten leiden door de ondervinding van anderen;
doch ook naar mijn rijper oordeel, — als het niet aanmatigend
is, het nu rijper te noemen, — was mijn geschil
geenszins zoo onbeteekenend.

MORE:
Atone=Reconcile
Put together=Set against each other
Mortal=Deadly
Importance=Affairs
Shunned=Refused
To go even=To accord
Mended=Improved
Arbitrement=Settlement
Confounded=Broken
Difference=Dispute
Compleat:
Atone=Verzoeen, bevreedigen
To shun=Vermyden, ontwyken, ontvlieden
To mend=Verbeteren, beteren’ verstellen, lappen
Arbitrable=Beslechtbaar, bemiddelbaar
Confound=Verwarren, verstooren, te schande maaken, verbysteren
Difference=Verschil, onderscheyd

Topics: conflict, age/experience, resolution

She hath despised me rejoicingly, and I’ll be merry in my revenge

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
Meet thee at Milford-Haven!—I forgot to ask him one
thing; I’ll remember’t anon:—even there, thou
villain Posthumus, will I kill thee. I would these
garments were come. She said upon a time—the
bitterness of it I now belch from my heart—that she
held the very garment of Posthumus in more respect
than my noble and natural person together with the
adornment of my qualities. With that suit upon my
back, will I ravish her: first kill him, and in her
eyes; there shall she see my valour, which will then
be a torment to her contempt. He on the ground, my
speech of insultment ended on his dead body, and
when my lust hath dined,—which, as I say, to vex
her I will execute in the clothes that she so
praised,—to the court I’ll knock her back, foot
her home again. She hath despised me rejoicingly,
and I’ll be merry in my revenge.
Be those the garments?

DUTCH:
Zij heeft er genot in gevonden
mij te verachten, en ik wil mij vroolijk maken
door mijn wraak.

MORE:
Were come=Had arrived
Insultment=Contemptuous triumph
Knock=Beat
Foot=Kick
Compleat:
Insultation=Schamperheid
Knock=Slag, klop, klap

Topics: dispute, respect, regret, punishment, insult, revenge

Since I received command to do this business I have not slept one wink

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
O gracious lady,
Since I received command to do this business
I have not slept one wink.
IMOGEN
Do’t, and to bed then.
PISANIO
I’ll wake mine eye-balls blind first.
IMOGEN
Wherefore then
Didst undertake it? Why hast thou abused
So many miles with a pretence? this place?
Mine action and thine own? our horses’ labour?
The time inviting thee? the perturb’d court,
For my being absent? whereunto I never
Purpose return. Why hast thou gone so far,
To be unbent when thou hast ta’en thy stand,
The elected deer before thee?
PISANIO
But to win time
To lose so bad employment; in the which
I have consider’d of a course. Good lady,
Hear me with patience.

DUTCH:
O, eed’le vrouw,
Sinds ik bevel ontving dit werk te doen,
Sloot ik geen oog.

MORE:
Modern usage: I haven’t slept a wink (not coined by Shakespeare. First recorded use in 14th century)
Wake mine eye-balls blind=Stay awake until I’m blind
Purpose=Intend to
Unbent=Bow not taut
Stand=Position
Elected=Selected (prey)
Compleat:
The ball of the eye=De oogappel
Purpose (design, resolution, project)=Voorneemen, besluit, ontwerp
Unbent=Ontspannen, geslaakt

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, authority, work, status, duty, debt/obligation

Sir, my circumstances, being so near the truth as I will make them, must first induce you to believe.

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS
If you can make ’t apparent
That you have tasted her in bed, my hand
And ring is yours. If not, the foul opinion
You had of her pure honour gains or loses
Your sword or mine, or masterless leave both
To who shall find them.
IACHIMO
Sir, my circumstances,
Being so near the truth as I will make them,
Must first induce you to believe; whose strength
I will confirm with oath, which I doubt not
You’ll give me leave to spare when you shall find
You need it not.

DUTCH:
t Bericht, dat ik omstandig geven zal,
En dat den stempel van zijn waarheid draagt,
Zal tot geloof u dwingen

MORE:
Question=Hold debate
Circumstances=Details, particulars, incidental proofs
Compleat:
Circumstance=Omstandigheid
A fact set out in all its circumstances=Een geval in alle zyne omstandigheden verhaalen

Topics: truth, honesty, manipulation, language

Sir, the event is yet to name the winner

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

So man and man should be; but clay and clay differs in dignity

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
You are not well: remain here in the cave;
We’ll come to you after hunting.
ARVIRAGUS
Brother, stay here.
Are we not brothers?
IMOGEN
So man and man should be;
But clay and clay differs in dignity,
Whose dust is both alike. I am very sick.
GUIDERIUS
Go you to hunting; I’ll abide with him.
IMOGEN
So sick I am not, yet I am not well;
But not so citizen a wanton as
To seem to die ere sick: so please you, leave me;
Stick to your journal course: the breach of custom
Is breach of all. I am ill, but your being by me
Cannot amend me; society is no comfort
To one not sociable: I am not very sick,
Since I can reason of it. Pray you, trust me here:
I’ll rob none but myself; and let me die,
Stealing so poorly.

DUTCH:
Menschen moesten ‘t zijn;
Maar stof en stof verschillen wel in rang,
Hoezeer hun asch gelijk zij.

MORE:
Proverb: All are of the same dust

Journal course=Daily routine
Citizen a wanton=City-bred (soft) “wanton” spoilt child or indulged and self-indulgent youth
Reason=Speak of it
Compleat:
We are but dust and ashes=Wy zyn niet dan stof en asch
Journal=Dag-register, dag-verhaal
Wanton=Onrein, vuil, ontuchtig
To grow wanton with too much prosperity=In voorspoed weeldrig worden

Topics: wellbeing, emotion and mood, custom, life, status, proverbs and idioms

So your brace of unprizable estimations, the one is but frail and the other casual

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Either your unparagoned mistress is dead, or she’s
outprized by a trifle.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
You are mistaken: the one may be sold, or given, if
there were wealth enough for the purchase, or merit
for the gift: the other is not a thing for sale,
and only the gift of the gods.
IACHIMO
Which the gods have given you?
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Which, by their graces, I will keep.
IACHIMO
You may wear her in title yours: but, you know,
strange fowl light upon neighbouring ponds. Your
ring may be stolen too: so your brace of unprizable
estimations; the one is but frail and the other
casual; a cunning thief, or a that way accomplished
courtier, would hazard the winning both of first and
last.

DUTCH:
Ook uw ring kan u gestolen worden;
en zoo is van uwe twee onwaardeerbare schatten de een
slechts zwak, de ander verliesbaar; een geslepen dief of
een in dit opzicht uitgeleerd hoveling kunnen het wagen
u zoowel den een’ als den anderen te ontfutselen.

MORE:
In title=As in title to an estate
So=In such a manner, thus
Unprizable=Invaluable, inestimable
Casual=Accidental, by chance
Frail=Weak, in a physical as well as moral sense
Hazard=To venture, to risk, take a bet on
Compleat:
Title=Recht, eisch
He has no good title to it=Hy heeft geen goed recht daar toe
Title=Papieren, geschriften om zyn recht to bewyzen
Hazard=Waagen, aventuuren, in de waagschaal stellen
Casual=Gevallig, toevallig
Frail=Bros

Topics: loyalty, betrayal, value, risk

Society is no comfort to one not sociable

DUTCH:
Gezelschap helpt niet wie niet gezellig is;

MORE:
Proverb: All are of the same dust

Topics: wellbeing, emotion and mood, custom, life, status, proverbs and idioms

Some villain, ay, and singular in his art, hath done you both this cursed injury

DUTCH:
Een fielt, ja wel een uitgeleerde schurk,
Heeft u en hem deez’ helschen streek gespeeld.

Topics: communication, language, insult, offence

Speak, or thy silence on the instant is thy condemnation and thy death

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
Alas, my lord,
How can she be with him? When was she missed?
He is in Rome.
CLOTEN
Where is she, sir? Come nearer;
No further halting: satisfy me home
What is become of her.
PISANIO
O, my all-worthy lord!
CLOTEN
All-worthy villain!
Discover where thy mistress is at once,
At the next word: no more of ‘worthy lord!’
Speak, or thy silence on the instant is
Thy condemnation and thy death.
PISANIO
Then, sir,
This paper is the history of my knowledge
Touching her flight.

DUTCH:
Maar spreek, want oogenblikk’lijk is uw zwijgen
Uw vonnis en uw dood.

MORE:
Halting=Hesitation, prevarication
Home=Fully
Discover=Reveal
Compleat:
Halting=Hinking, stilhouding, hinkende
Home-reason, home-argument=Een overtuigende drang-reden
To discover=Ontdekken, bespeuren, aan ‘t licht brengen

Topics: flattery, truth

Stick to your journal course: the breach of custom is breach of all

DUTCH:
Gaat uw gewonen gang; wordt die gestoord,
Licht wordt de mensch ook zelf verstoord.

MORE:
Proverb: All are of the same dust

Topics: wellbeing, emotion and mood, custom, life, status, proverbs and idioms

Such precious deeds in one that promises nought but beggary and poor looks

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
Stand by my side, you whom the gods have made
Preservers of my throne. Woe is my heart
That the poor soldier that so richly fought,
Whose rags shamed gilded arms, whose naked breast
Stepp’d before targes of proof, cannot be found:
He shall be happy that can find him, if
Our grace can make him so.
BELARIUS
I never saw
Such noble fury in so poor a thing;
Such precious deeds in one that promises nought
But beggary and poor looks.
CYMBELINE
No tidings of him?
PISANIO
He hath been search’d among the dead and living,
But no trace of him.

DUTCH:
Ik zag nooit
Zoo eed’le drift in zulk een armen dos,
Zoo wond’re daán van een, bij wien ellende
En nooddruft scheen te wonen.

MORE:
Naked=Bare, unprotected
Targes=Shields
Grace=Favour
Searched=Sought
Compleat:
Naked (disarmed)=Ongewapend, weerloos
Target=Een ouderwetse schild
Grace=Gunst, bevalligheid

Topics: courage, poverty and wealth

Talk thy tongue weary

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
But to win time
To lose so bad employment; in the which
I have consider’d of a course. Good lady,
Hear me with patience.
IMOGEN
Talk thy tongue weary; speak
I have heard I am a strumpet; and mine ear
Therein false struck, can take no greater wound,
Nor tent to bottom that. But speak.
PISANIO
Then, madam,
I thought you would not back again.
IMOGEN
Most like;
Bringing me here to kill me.
PISANIO
Not so, neither:
But if I were as wise as honest, then
My purpose would prove well. It cannot be
But that my master is abused:
Some villain, ay, and singular in his art.
Hath done you both this cursed injury.

DUTCH:
Spreek, spreek u moede;
Ik hoorde, ik ben een eerloos wijf; mijn oor
Kan, na die valschheid, toch niets ergers lijden;
Onpeilbaar is de wond die ik ontving.

Topics: communication, language, insult, offence

That an invisible instinct should frame them to royalty unlearned, honour untaught, civility not seen from other

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
O thou goddess,
Thou divine Nature, thou thyself thou blazon’st
In these two princely boys! They are as gentle
As zephyrs blowing below the violet,
Not wagging his sweet head; and yet as rough,
Their royal blood enchafed, as the rud’st wind
That by the top doth take the mountain pine
And make him stoop to th’ vale. ’Tis wonder
That an invisible instinct should frame them
To royalty unlearned, honour untaught,
Civility not seen from other, valour
That wildly grows in them but yields a crop
As if it had been sowed. Yet still it’s strange
What Cloten’s being here to us portends,
Or what his death will bring us.

DUTCH:
t Is wonderbaar,
Hoe een verborgen aandrift hun verleent
Een vorstenwaardigheid, hun nooit getoond,
Een zucht naar eer, nooit bij hen opgewekt,
Wellevendheid, van niemand afgezien,
Een dapperheid, die, wild, van zelf, ontkiemd,
Toch rijk’lijk vruchten geeft, als ware zij
Zorgvuldig aangekweekt!

MORE:
Proverb: He must stoop that has a low door

Unlearned=Not learned, not acquired by instruction
Enchafed=Excited, heated
Wonder=wonderful
Compleat:
Unlearned=Ongeleerd, ontleerd
He is apt to chafe=Hy is zeer oploopend
To chafe=Verhitten, tot toorn ontsteeken, verhit zyn van gramschap, woeden
In a chafe=Hy brandt van toorn

Topics: age/experience life, nature, proverbs and idioms

That is, what villainy soe’er I bid thee do to perform it directly and truly

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
It is Posthumus’ hand, I know ’t. Sirrah, if
thou wouldst not be a villain, but do me true service,
undergo those employments wherein I should
have cause to use thee with a serious industry—
that is, what villainy soe’er I bid thee do to perform
it directly and truly—I would think thee an honest
man. Thou shouldst neither want my means for thy
relief nor my voice for thy preferment.
PISANIO
Well, my good lord.
CLOTEN
Wilt thou serve me? For since patiently and
constantly thou hast stuck to the bare fortune of
that beggar Posthumus, thou canst not in the
course of gratitude but be a diligent follower of
mine. Wilt thou serve me?

DUTCH:
Kerel, als gij eens geen schurk wilt wezen, maar mij trouw
dienen, en dus met ernstigen ijver alle werkzaamheden
verrichten, waarvoor ik reden heb u te gebruiken, — ik
bedoel, iedere schurkerij, die ik u opdraag, terstond en
eerlijk wilt uitvoeren, — dan zou ik u voor een braven
kerel houden; en dan kunt gij rekenen op mijn geld
voor uw onderhoud en op mijn voorspraak voor uw bevordering.

MORE:
Undergo=Undertake
Bare=Poor
Preferment=Preference given, precedence granted
Compleat:
Undergo=Ondergaan, doorgaan
Bare (of money)=Geldeloos
Preferment=Verhooging, voortrekking, bevordering tot Staat

Topics: corruption, conspiracy, offence, work, duty

That such a crafty devil as is his mother should yield the world this ass!

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Second Lord
CONTEXT:
SECOND LORD
You are a fool granted; therefore your
issues, being foolish, do not derogate.
be foolish, it won’t lower people’s
opinions any further.
CLOTEN
Come, I’ll go see this Italian: what I have lost
to-day at bowls I’ll win to-night of him. Come, go.
SECOND LORD
I’ll attend your lordship.
That such a crafty devil as is his mother
Should yield the world this ass! A woman that
Bears all down with her brain, and this her son
Cannot take two from twenty, for his heart,
And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess,
Thou divine Imogen, what thou endur’st,
Betwixt a father by thy step-dame governed,
A mother hourly coining plots, a wooer
More hateful than the foul expulsion is
Of thy dear husband, than that horrid act
Of the divorce he’d make! The heavens hold firm
The walls of thy dear honour, keep unshaked
That temple, thy fair mind, that thou mayst stand
T’ enjoy thy banished lord and this great land.

DUTCH:
Dat zulk een sluwe duivelin, zijn moeder,
Der wereld zulk een ezel schonk! Een vrouw,
Die met haar slimheid alles dwingt; en hij
Trekt, schoon ‘t den hals hem kostte, twee van twintig
Niet af, en houdt er achttien

MORE:
Crafty=Cunning, devious
To coin=To fabricate, in a good as well as bad sense: “coining plots”
Step-dame=Stepmother
Expulsion=A driving away, banishment
Stand=To remain upright, not to fall, not to be lost, not to perish
Compleat:
Crafty=Loos, listig, schalk, doortrapt, leep
To coin (new words)=Smeeden, verzinnen
Expulsion=Uitdryving, verdryving

Topics: marriage, intellect, relationship, plans/intentions

The art o’ the court as hard to leave as keep; whose top to climb is certain falling, or so slippery that the fear’s as bad as falling

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
How you speak!
Did you but know the city’s usuries
And felt them knowingly; the art o’ the court
As hard to leave as keep; whose top to climb
Is certain falling, or so slippery that
The fear’s as bad as falling; the toil o’ the war,
A pain that only seems to seek out danger
I’ the name of fame and honour; which dies i’ the search,
And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph
As record of fair act; nay, many times,
Doth ill deserve by doing well; what’s worse,
Must court’sy at the censure:— O boys, this story
The world may read in me: my body’s mark’d
With Roman swords, and my report was once
First with the best of note: Cymbeline loved me,
And when a soldier was the theme, my name
Was not far off: then was I as a tree
Whose boughs did bend with fruit: but in one night,
A storm or robbery, call it what you will,
Shook down my mellow hangings, nay, my leaves,
And left me bare to weather.

DUTCH:
Welk een oordeel!
O, kendet gij der steden woekerzucht,
En voeldet gij die zelf; de kuiperijen
Van ‘t hof, zoo moeilijk na te laten en
Zoo moeilijk vol te houden, waar ‘t beklimmen
Des hoogsten tops een wisse val is, of
De weg daarheen zoo glibb’rig.

MORE:
Proverb: He that never climbed never fell

Pain=Labour (which perishes without achieving fame and honour)
Usury=The practice of taking interest for money
Compleat:
Usury=Woeker
To lend upon usury=Op rente leenen
I shall pay you with usury=Ik zal het met woeker betaalen
To take pains=Moeite doen, arbeid aanwenden
No pains, no gains=Geen winst zonder moeite

Topics: age/experience, proverbs and idioms, still in use

The cloyed will, that satiate yet unsatisfied desire, that tub both fill’d and running

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
The cloyed will,
That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, that tub
Both fill’d and running, ravening first the lamb
Longs after for the garbage.
IMOGEN
What, dear sir,
Thus raps you? Are you well?
IACHIMO
Thanks, madam; well.
Beseech you, sir, desire
My man’s abode where I did leave him: he
Is strange and peevish.
Please, sir, go find my servant where I left him. He’s strange
and grumpy.
IMOGEN
Continues well my lord? His health, beseech you?
IACHIMO
Well, madam.
IMOGEN
Is he disposed to mirth? I hope he is.
IACHIMO
Exceeding pleasant; none a stranger there
So merry and so gamesome: he is call’d
The Briton reveller.

DUTCH:
Die ruim voldane lust,
Verzadigde begeerte, nooit verzaad, —
Dat bodemlooze, steeds gevulde vat,

MORE:
Cloyed=Satiated
Will=Desire
Garbage=Filth
Raps=Preoccupies
Desire=Ask
Peevish=Irritable
Stranger=Foreigner
Compleat:
To cloy=Verkroppen, overlaaden
To cloy with words=Met woorden overlaaden
Garbage=Ingewand, afval
Rapt=Opgetoogen, versteld, verrukt
To desire=Gebieden
Peevish=Kribbig, gemelyk

Topics: satisfaction, emotion and mood

The ruin speaks that sometime it was a worthy building

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Caius Lucius
CONTEXT:
CAIUS LUCIUS
Dream often so,
And never false. Soft, ho! what trunk is here
Without his top? The ruin speaks that sometime
It was a worthy building. How! a page!
Or dead, or sleeping on him? But dead rather;
For nature doth abhor to make his bed
With the defunct, or sleep upon the dead.
Let’s see the boy’s face.
CAPTAIN
He’s alive, my lord.
CAIUS LUCIUS
He’ll then instruct us of this body. Young one,
Inform us of thy fortunes, for it seems
They crave to be demanded. Who is this
Thou makest thy bloody pillow? Or who was he
That, otherwise than noble nature did,
Hath alter’d that good picture? What’s thy interest
In this sad wreck? How came it? Who is it?
What art thou?
IMOGEN
I am nothing: or if not,
Nothing to be were better. This was my master,
A very valiant Briton and a good,
That here by mountaineers lies slain. Alas!
There is no more such masters: I may wander
From east to occident, cry out for service,
Try many, all good, serve truly, never
Find such another master.
CAIUS LUCIUS
‘Lack, good youth!
Thou movest no less with thy complaining than
Thy master in bleeding: say his name, good friend.
IMOGEN
Richard du Champ.
If I do lie and do
No harm by it, though the gods hear, I hope
They’ll pardon it.—Say you, sir?

DUTCH:
Doch, welk een stam is dit ,
Van top beroofd? De puinhoop toont, dat dit
Een trotsch gebouw geweest is.

MORE:
Sometime=Once upon a time
Worthy=Grand
Defunct=Dead
Otherwise=Differently
Wreck=Ruin
Occident=West
Service=Employment
Compleat:
Somewhile=Te eeniger tyd
Worthy=Waardig, eerwaardig, voortreffelyk, uytmuntend, deftig
Defunct=Overleeden
To wreck or go to wrack=Verlooren gaan, te gronde gaan
Occident=Het westen
Service=Dienstbaarheid

Topics: nature, death, honour, virtue, work, loyalty

The sweat of industry would dry and die but for the end it works to

DUTCH:
Het loon verzoet den arbeid; zonder dat
Zou ‘t vuur allicht verdooven

Topics: contract, work, satisfaction

The time is troublesome

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
Sir, my life is yours;
I humbly set it at your will; but, for my mistress,
I nothing know where she remains, why gone,
Nor when she purposes return. Beseech your highness,
Hold me your loyal servant.
FIRST LORD
Good my liege,
The day that she was missing he was here:
I dare be bound he’s true and shall perform
All parts of his subjection loyally. For Cloten,
There wants no diligence in seeking him,
And will, no doubt, be found.
CYMBELINE
The time is troublesome.
We’ll slip you for a season; but our jealousy
Does yet depend.

DUTCH:
t Is een tijd van onrust. —
Ge ontsnapt voor ditmaal; doch mijn argwaan houdt
U steeds in ‘t oog.

MORE:
Purposes=Intends to
Hold=Consider
Subjection=Actions as a subject
Troublesome=Dire
Slip you=Leave you alone
Jealousy=Suspicion
Does yet depend=Hasn’t yet gone
Compleat:
To purpose=Voorneemen, voorhebben
To hold=Houden, vatten
Subjection=Onderwerping, onderdaanigheyd
Jealousy=Achterdocht, argwaan

Topics: work, loyalty, honesty

Then on good ground we fear, if we do fear this body hath a tail more perilous than the head

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
GUIDERIUS
Why, worthy father, what have we to lose
But that he swore to take, our lives? The law
Protects not us. Then why should we be tender
To let an arrogant piece of flesh threat us,
Play judge and executioner all himself,
For we do fear the law? What company
Discover you abroad?
BELARIUS
No single soul
Can we set eye on, but in all safe reason
He must have some attendants. Though his humour
Was nothing but mutation—ay, and that
From one bad thing to worse—not frenzy,
Not absolute madness could so far have raved
To bring him here alone. Although perhaps
It may be heard at court that such as we
Cave here, hunt here, are outlaws, and in time
May make some stronger head, the which he
hearing—
As it is like him—might break out and swear
He’d fetch us in, yet is ’t not probable
To come alone, either he so undertaking
Or they so suffering. Then on good ground we fear,
If we do fear this body hath a tail
More perilous than the head.
ARVIRAGUS
Let ordinance
Come as the gods foresay it: howsoe’er,
My brother hath done well.

DUTCH:
k Vrees met grond,
Dat deze romp nog wel een nasleep heeft,
Gevaarlijker dan ‘t hoofd.

MORE:
Proverb: To go from bad to worse

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, law/legal, life, flaw/fault

These three, three thousand confident, in act as many

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: Posthumus Leonatus
CONTEXT:
(…) These three,
Three thousand confident, in act as many—
For three performers are the file when all
The rest do nothing—with this word ‘Stand, stand,’
Accommodated by the place, more charming
With their own nobleness, which could have turn’d
A distaff to a lance, gilded pale looks,
Part shame, part spirit renew’d; that some,
turn’d coward
But by example—O, a sin in war,
Damn’d in the first beginners!—gan to look
The way that they did, and to grin like lions
Upon the pikes o’ the hunters. Then began
A stop i’ the chaser, a retire, anon
A rout, confusion thick; forthwith they fly
Chickens, the way which they stoop’d eagles; slaves,
The strides they victors made: and now our cowards,
Like fragments in hard voyages, became
The life o’ the need: having found the backdoor open
Of the unguarded hearts, heavens, how they wound!
Some slain before; some dying; some their friends
O’er borne i’ the former wave: ten, chased by one,
Are now each one the slaughter-man of twenty:
Those that would die or ere resist are grown
The mortal bugs o’ the field

DUTCH:
Deez’ drie,
Door moed drieduizend en door daden ook, —
Als de and’ren niets doen, dan zijn drie, die hand’len,
Een leger,

MORE:
Three thousand confident=With the confidence of three thousand
File=Army
Accommodated=Assisted
More charming=Charmed, fascinated
Distaff=Stick for spinning wool
Gilded=Coloured
By example=In imitation
Gan=Began
Fragments=Scraps of food
Life o’ the need=Sustenance at a time of dire need
Before=Earlier
Or ere=Before they would
Compleat:
A file of soldiers=Een gelid of ry soldaaten
To accommodate=Verschaffen, geryven, schikken, voegen
To charm=Bezweeren, bekooren, beleezen, betoveren
Distaff=Een spinrok, spinrokken
Gilded=Verguld

Topics: perception, justification, conflict, courage

Think us no churls, nor measure our good minds by this rude place we live in

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
Prithee, fair youth,
Think us no churls, nor measure our good minds
By this rude place we live in. Well encounter’d!
‘Tis almost night: you shall have better cheer
Ere you depart: and thanks to stay and eat it.
Boys, bid him welcome.
GUIDERIUS
Were you a woman, youth,
I should woo hard but be your groom. In honesty,
I bid for you as I’d buy.
ARVIRAGUS
I’ll make’t my comfort
He is a man; I’ll love him as my brother:
And such a welcome as I’d give to him
After long absence, such is yours: most welcome!
Be sprightly, for you fall ‘mongst friends.

DUTCH:
Acht ons geen lomperds; schat ons zacht gemoed
Niet naar de woeste woning

MORE:
Churl=Peasant, rude and ill-bred fellow
To measure=To judge
Sprightly=Lively, in good spirits
Compleat:
Churl=Een plompe boer; een vrek
Churlish=Woest, boersch, onbeschoft
To measure a thing by one’s own profit=Een zaak schatten naar het voordeel dat men ‘er van trekt
To measure other peoples corn by one’s own bushel=Een ander by zich zelven afmeeten
Sprightly=Wakker, levendig, vol moeds, vol vuurs

Topics: civility, order/society, appearance, value, judgment, poverty and wealth

This Cloten was a fool, an empty purse; there was no money in ’t

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Giuderius
CONTEXT:
GUIDERIUS
This Cloten was a fool, an empty purse;
There was no money in ’t. Not Hercules
Could have knocked out his brains, for he had none.
Yet I not doing this, the fool had borne
My head as I do his.
BELARIUS
What hast thou done?
GUIDERIUS
I am perfect what: cut off one Cloten’s head,
Son to the Queen, after his own report,
Who called me traitor mountaineer, and swore
With his own single hand he’d take us in,
Displace our heads where, thank the gods, they grow,
And set them on Lud’s Town.

DUTCH:
Deez’ Cloten was een gek, een leêge beurs,
Geen geld er in; geen Hercules kon hem
De hersens inslaan

MORE:
Take in=Subdue
I am perfect, what=I am well-informed, well assured, certain what
Lud’s Town=London
Compleat:
To be perfect in a thing=Iets wel van buiten kennen, in zyn hoofd hebben.

Topics: insult, intellect

This fool’s speed be crossed with slowness. labour be his meed

DUTCH:
Daal, ‘s hemels zegen, daal
Op haar, en worde dezen dwaas zijn spoed
Door tegenspoed gestremd, met leed begroet!

MORE:
Proverb: He has his labour for his pains

Topics: proverbs and idioms, duty, plans/intentionsauathority, corruption, conspiracy

This is, sir, a doubt in such a time nothing becoming you, nor satisfying us

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Guiderius
CONTEXT:
GUIDERIUS
This is, sir, a doubt
In such a time nothing becoming you,
Nor satisfying us.
ARVIRAGUS
It is not likely
That when they hear the Roman horses neigh,
Behold their quarter’d fires, have both their eyes
And ears so cloy’d importantly as now,
That they will waste their time upon our note,
To know from whence we are.
BELARIUS
O, I am known
Of many in the army: many years,
Though Cloten then but young, you see, not wore him
From my remembrance. And, besides, the king
Hath not deserved my service nor your loves;
Who find in my exile the want of breeding,
The certainty of this hard life; aye hopeless
To have the courtesy your cradle promised,
But to be still hot summer’s tanlings and
The shrinking slaves of winter.
GUIDERIUS
Than be so
Better to cease to be. Pray, sir, to the army:
I and my brother are not known; yourself
So out of thought, and thereto so o’ergrown,
Cannot be question’d.

DUTCH:
Zie, dit is een zorg,
Die u in dezen tijd voorwaar niet past,
En ons ook niet bevredigt.

MORE:
Doubt=Apprehension
Quartered files=Military formations
Cloyed importantly=Filled/clogged with important business
Our note=Noticing us
Wore=Erased
Breeding=Upbringing, education
Cradle=Lineage
Tanling=Child tanned by the sun
Compleat:
To quarter=Vierendeelen, wyken, inneemen, huysvesten, legeren, inquartieren
To cloy=Verkroppen, overlaaden
Breeding=Voortteeling, aanfokking, opvoeding

Topics: conflict, reputation

This will witness outwardly, as strongly as the conscience does within

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
The crickets sing, and man’s o’er-labour’d sense
Repairs itself by rest. Our Tarquin thus
Did softly press the rushes, ere he waken’d
The chastity he wounded. Cytherea,
How bravely thou becomest thy bed, fresh lily,
And whiter than the sheets! That I might touch!
But kiss; one kiss! Rubies unparagon’d,
How dearly they do’t! ‘Tis her breathing that
Perfumes the chamber thus: the flame o’ the taper
Bows toward her, and would under-peep her lids,
To see the enclosed lights, now canopied
Under these windows, white and azure laced
With blue of heaven’s own tinct. But my design,
To note the chamber: I will write all down:
Such and such pictures; there the window; such
The adornment of her bed; the arras; figures,
Why, such and such; and the contents o’ the story.
Ah, but some natural notes about her body,
Above ten thousand meaner moveables
Would testify, to enrich mine inventory.
O sleep, thou ape of death, lie dull upon her!
And be her sense but as a monument,
Thus in a chapel lying! Come off, come off:
As slippery as the Gordian knot was hard!
‘Tis mine; and this will witness outwardly,
As strongly as the conscience does within,
To the madding of her lord. On her left breast
A mole cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops
I’ the bottom of a cowslip: here’s a voucher,
Stronger than ever law could make: this secret
Will force him think I have pick’d the lock and ta’en
The treasure of her honour. No more. To what end?
Why should I write this down, that’s riveted,
Screw’d to my memory? She hath been reading late
The tale of Tereus; here the leaf’s turn’d down
Where Philomel gave up. I have enough:
To the trunk again, and shut the spring of it.
Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning
May bare the raven’s eye! I lodge in fear;
Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here.

DUTCH:
t Glipt los; geen Gordiaansche knoop voorwaar!
‘t Is mijn! ‘k Zal dit getuig’nis laten geven,
En overtuiging wekken in zijn borst,
Dat haar gemaal er dol van wordt.

MORE:
Underpeep=Peep out from under
Unparagoned=Without equal
Lights=Eyes
Windows=Eyelids
Tinct=Colour
Design=Plan
Arras=Tapestry
Meaner=Less important
Ape=Imitator
Dull=Heavily
Gordian knot=A ‘difficult’ knot which Alexander the Great cut through with a sword
Voucher=Evidence
Tereus=In Greek mythology, raped Philomel and cut out her tongue. She got her revenge on him and was turned into a nightingale by the gods
Compleat:
Paragon=Iets zonder weergaa
Tinct (teint)=Verf
Design=Opzet, voorneemen, oogmerk, aanslag, toeleg, ontwerp
Cloth of Arras=Tapissery
Mean=Gering, slecht
Voucher=1) (he that vouches one at law): eisscher
Voucher=2) (authentick deed, to prove an allegation): Echt bewys, om eene aanhaaling to bevestigen

Topics: nature, conscience

Those that I reverence, those I fear – the wise; at fools I laugh, not fear them

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Guiderius
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
Thou injurious thief,
Hear but my name, and tremble.
GUIDERIUS
What’s thy name?
CLOTEN
Cloten, thou villain.
GUIDERIUS
Cloten, thou double villain, be thy name,
I cannot tremble at it: were it Toad, or Adder, Spider,
‘Twould move me sooner.
CLOTEN
To thy further fear,
Nay, to thy mere confusion, thou shalt know
I am son to the queen.
GUIDERIUS
I am sorry for ‘t; not seeming
So worthy as thy birth.
CLOTEN
Art not afeard?
GUIDERIUS
Those that I reverence, those I fear – the wise;
At fools I laugh, not fear them.

DUTCH:
Ik vrees, die ik eerbiedig: wijze mannen;
Een nar belach ik slechts.

MORE:
Injurious=Insulting
Mere=Total
Confusion=Ruin
Compleat:
Injurious=Verongelykend, beledigend, smaadelyk, lasterlyk
Mere (meer)=Louter, enkel
Confusion (ruin)=Verwoesting, bederf, ruine

Topics: insult, ruin, reputation

Thou shouldst neither want my means for thy relief nor my voice for thy preferment

DUTCH:
Kerel, als gij eens geen schurk wilt wezen, maar mij trouw dienen, en dus met ernstigen ijver alle werkzaamheden verrichten, waarvoor ik reden heb u te gebruiken, — ik bedoel, iedere schurkerij, die ik u opdraag, terstond en eerlijk wilt uitvoeren, — dan zou ik u voor een braven kerel houden; en dan kunt gij rekenen op mijn geld voor uw onderhoud en op mijn voorspraak voor uw bevordering.

Topics: corruption, conspiracy, offence, work, duty

Thou’lt torture me to leave unspoken that which, to be spoke, would torture thee

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Thou’lt torture me to leave unspoken that
Which, to be spoke, would torture thee.
CYMBELINE
How! me?
IACHIMO
I am glad to be constrain’d to utter that
Which torments me to conceal. By villainy
I got this ring: ’twas Leonatus’ jewel;
Whom thou didst banish; and—which more may grieve thee,
As it doth me—a nobler sir ne’er lived
‘Twixt sky and ground. Wilt thou hear more, my lord?
CYMBELINE
All that belongs to this.
IACHIMO
That paragon, thy daughter,—
For whom my heart drops blood, and my false spirits
Quail to remember—Give me leave; I faint.

DUTCH:
Gij wilt mij folt’ren, als ik dat verzwijg,
Wat, als ik sprak, u folt’ren zou.

MORE:
Constrained=Forced
Quail=Shrink, cringe
Compleat:
Constrained=Bedwongen, gedrongen, gepraamd
To quail=Weerhouden, beteugelen; saamenrunnen, verflaauwen

Topics: language, secrecy, honesty

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

Thy tongue may take off some extremity, which to read would be even mortal to me

DUTCH:
Spreek, man; laat toch uw tong
Het ergste mij verzachten, dat bij ‘t lezen
Zelfs doodlijk wezen kon.

Topics: life/experience, appearance, language

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

Till the diminution of space had pointed him sharp as my needle

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
No, madam; for so long
As he could make me with this eye or ear
Distinguish him from others, he did keep
The deck, with glove, or hat, or handkerchief,
Still waving, as the fits and stirs of ‘s mind
Could best express how slow his soul sail’d on,
How swift his ship.
IMOGEN
Thou shouldst have made him
As little as a crow, or less, ere left
To after-eye him.
PISANIO
Madam, so I did.
IMOGEN
I would have broke mine eye-strings; crack’d them, but
To look upon him, till the diminution
Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle,
Nay, follow’d him, till he had melted from
The smallness of a gnat to air, and then
Have turn’d mine eye and wept. But, good Pisanio,
When shall we hear from him?

DUTCH:
Ik had mij de oogen uit het hoofd gestaard
Om hem te zien, tot de afstand hem zoo scherp
Gelijk mijn naald gespitst had;

MORE:
Keep=Keep to, stay on
As=As if
After-eye=Keep watching
Eye-strings=Eye muscles
Diminution of space=He was so far away (as to almost have disappeared)
Compleat:
Diminution=Vermindering, afneeming, verkleining

Topics: loyalty, love

Tis slander, whose edge is sharper than the sword

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
Please you, read;
And you shall find me, wretched man, a thing
The most disdain’d of fortune.
IMOGEN
[Reads] ‘Thy mistress, Pisanio, hath played the
strumpet in my bed; the testimonies whereof lie
bleeding in me. I speak not out of weak surmises,
but from proof as strong as my grief and as certain
as I expect my revenge. That part thou, Pisanio,
must act for me, if thy faith be not tainted with
the breach of hers. Let thine own hands take away
her life: I shall give thee opportunity at
Milford-Haven. She hath my letter for the purpose
where, if thou fear to strike and to make me certain
it is done, thou art the pandar to her dishonour and
equally to me disloyal.’
PISANIO
What shall I need to draw my sword? the paper
Hath cut her throat already. No, ’tis slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath
Rides on the posting winds and doth belie
All corners of the world: kings, queens and states,
Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave
This viperous slander enters. What cheer, madam?

DUTCH:
Wat is hier zwaard van noode ? Reeds de brief
Heeft haar de keel doorpriemd. — Neen, neen, ‘t is laster;
Diens vlijm is scherper dan het zwaard; zijn tand
Is giftiger dan ‘t giftigst Nijlgebroed.

MORE:
Slander is sharper than the sword (see Winter’s Tale, 2.3, and Measure for Measure, 3.2)
Worms=Serpents
Outvenom=Is more venomous than
Posting=Swift, fleet
Belie=Misrepresent
Compleat:
Slander=Laster, lasterkladde
In post-haste=Met groote spoed, te post
Belie (Bely)=Beliegen; lasteren
His actions bely his words=Zyn bedryf logenstraft zyne woorden; hy spreekt zich zelf tegen door zyn gedrag

Topics: language, law/legal, abuse, truth

To apprehend thus, draws us a profit from all things we see

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
Now for our mountain sport: up to yond hill;
Your legs are young; I’ll tread these flats. Consider,
When you above perceive me like a crow,
That it is place which lessens and sets off;
And you may then revolve what tales I have told you
Of courts, of princes, of the tricks in war:
This service is not service, so being done,
But being so allow’d: to apprehend thus,
Draws us a profit from all things we see;
And often, to our comfort, shall we find
The sharded beetle in a safer hold
Than is the full-wing’d eagle. O, this life
Is nobler than attending for a cheque,
Richer than doing nothing for a bauble,
Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk:
Such gain the cap of him that makes ’em fine,
Yet keeps his book uncross’d: no life to ours.
GUIDERIUS
Out of your proof you speak. We poor unfledged
Have never winged from view o’ th’ nest, nor know not
What air ’s from home. Haply this life is best
If quiet life be best, sweeter to you
That have a sharper known, well corresponding
With your stiff age; but unto us it is
A cell of ignorance, traveling abed,
A prison for a debtor that not dares
To stride a limit.

DUTCH:
Daar is een dienst geen dienst, wijl hij gedaan,
Maar wijl hij zoo beschouwd wordt. Zoo te wikken,
Trekt ons gewin uit alles wat wij zien;

Topics: age/experience, life, evidence, debt/obligation, authority, perception

To lapse in fullness is sorer than to lie for need, and falsehood is worse in kings than beggars

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Two beggars told me
I could not miss my way. Will poor folks lie,
That have afflictions on them, knowing ’tis
A punishment or trial? Yes. No wonder,
When rich ones scarce tell true. To lapse in fullness
Is sorer than to lie for need, and falsehood
Is worse in kings than beggars. My dear lord,
Thou art one o’ th’ false ones. Now I think on thee,
My hunger’s gone; but even before, I was
At point to sink for food. But what is this?
Here is a path to ’t. ’Tis some savage hold.
I were best not call; I dare not call. Yet famine,
Ere clean it o’erthrow nature, makes it valiant.
Plenty and peace breeds cowards; hardness ever
Of hardiness is mother.—Ho! Who’s here?
If anything that’s civil, speak; if savage,
Take or lend. Ho!—No answer? Then I’ll enter.
Best draw my sword; an if mine enemy
But fear the sword like me, he’ll scarcely look on ’t.

DUTCH:
Liegen zij,
Die armoe, nooddruft lijden, ‘t weten, dat
De ellende een straf of een beproeving is?
Ach ja, geen wonder; want de rijken zelfs
Verdraaien meest de waarheid; en in weelde
Te struik’len is veel erger kwaad, dan slechts
Uit nood te liegen; valschheid is in vorsten
Veel boozer dan in beed’laars

MORE:
Proverb: Afflictions are sent us by God for our good (Will poor folks lie…)

Topics: integrity, honesty, status, proverbs and idioms,

To shame the guise o’ th’ world, I will begin the fashion: less without and more within

DUTCH:
Men zie meer heldenmoed
Van mij, dan mijn gewaad vermoeden doet.
Schenkt, goden, mij de kracht der Leonaten!
O, schaam u, wereld! thans wil ik beginnen,
Deez’ dracht: van buiten arm en rijk van binnen.

MORE:
Proverb: Yours to command in the way of honesty
Proverb: Appearances are deceitful

Topics: proverbs and idioms, honesty, marriage, work, flaw/fault, appearance

To write and read be henceforth treacherous!

DUTCH:
Gij, met dien bandeloozen duivel Cloten,
Gij hebt mijn gá vermoord! O, lezen, schrijven,
Zij voortaan hoogverraad! — Pisanio, bloedhond! —
Gij hebt met valschen brief,

Topics: pity, imagination, madness, evidence

Twere good you leaned unto his sentence with what patience your wisdom may inform you

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
QUEEN
No, be assured you shall not find me, daughter,
After the slander of most stepmothers,
Evil-eyed unto you: you’re my prisoner, but
Your jailer shall deliver you the keys
That lock up your restraint. For you, Posthumus,
So soon as I can win the offended king,
I will be known your advocate: marry, yet
The fire of rage is in him, and ’twere good
You lean’d unto his sentence with what patience
Your wisdom may inform you.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Please your highness,
I will from hence to-day.
QUEEN
You know the peril.
I’ll fetch a turn about the garden, pitying
The pangs of barr’d affections, though the king
Hath charged you should not speak together.

DUTCH:
Doch gij weet,
Thans vlamt zijn toorn te fel; en ‘t ware goed,
Voor ‘t vonnis u te buigen, zoo gedwee,
Als uw verstand u raden moet.

MORE:
After=According to
Evil-eyed=Malevolent
Win=Win over
Lean unto=Accept
Compleat:
After=Volgens
To look with an evil eye=Met nydige oogen aanzien
He leans to that opinion=Hij helt naar dat gevoelen

Topics: plans/intentions, patience, love

We have the advantage of the ground; the lane is guarded: nothing routs us but the villainy of our fears

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
The heaviness and guilt within my bosom
Takes off my manhood: I have belied a lady,
The princess of this country, and the air on’t
Revengingly enfeebles me; or could this carl,
A very drudge of nature’s, have subdued me
In my profession? Knighthoods and honours, borne
As I wear mine, are titles but of scorn.
If that thy gentry, Britain, go before
This lout as he exceeds our lords, the odds
Is that we scarce are men and you are gods.
BELARIUS
Stand, stand! We have the advantage of the ground;
The lane is guarded: nothing routs us but
The villainy of our fears.
ARVIRAGUS
Stand, stand, and fight!

DUTCH:
Staat, staat! Wij hebben ‘t voordeel van ‘t terrein;
De pas is ons; ‘t is niets dan lage vrees,
Die ons verslaat.

MORE:
Belied=Slandered
On ‘t=Of it
Carl=Peasant
Scorn=Contempt
Go before=Surpass
Rout=Defeat
Compleat:
Bely=Beliegen
Carle=Een forse vent, een ruuwe gast; bestevaar
Scorn=Versmaading, verachting, bespotting
Rout (defeat)=Nederlaag

Topics: sadness, guilt, truth, status

We will have these things set down by lawful counsel, and straight away for Britain, lest the bargain should catch cold and starve

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.5
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS
I embrace these conditions. Let us have
articles betwixt us. Only thus far you shall answer:
if you make your voyage upon her and give me directly
to understand you have prevailed, I am no
further your enemy; she is not worth our debate.
If she remain unseduced, you not making it appear
otherwise, for your ill opinion and th’ assault you
have made to her chastity, you shall answer me
with your sword.
IACHIMO
Your hand; a covenant.
We will have these things set down by lawful counsel,
and straight away for Britain, lest the bargain
should catch cold and starve. I will fetch my gold
and have our two wagers recorded.

DUTCH:
Uwe hand; ‘t is afgesproken. Wij zullen dit alles in
wettelijken vorm laten opschrijven; en dan fluks naar
Brittannië, opdat de onderneming niet verkleumt en
sterft;

MORE:
Debate=Quarrel
Starve=Sterve (perish from the cold)
Make your voyage=Press home your advantage (vauntage, vantage) (Collier)
Compleat:
Debate=Twist, verschil, krakkeel
Vantage=Toegift, toemaat, overmaat, overwigt
To starve with hunger or cold=Van honger of koude sterven
To lay a wager=Wedden, een wedspel aan gaan
Wager of law=Aanbieding van te beedigen, dat men zynen eyscher niets schuldig is

Topics: delay, urgency, contract

Weariness can snore upon the flint when resty sloth finds the down pillow hard

DUTCH:
Komt, de honger
Kruide ons eenvoudig maal; vermoeidheid snurkt
Gerust op harde rots, en loome luiheid
Vindt donzen bedden hard.

Topics: contract, work, satisfaction

What a strange infection is fall’n into thy ear! What false Italian, as poisonous-tongued as handed, hath prevail’d on thy too ready hearing?

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
How? of adultery? Wherefore write you not
What monster’s her accuser? Leonatus,
O master! what a strange infection
Is fall’n into thy ear! What false Italian,
As poisonous-tongued as handed, hath prevail’d
On thy too ready hearing? Disloyal! No:
She’s punish’d for her truth, and undergoes,
More goddess-like than wife-like, such assaults
As would take in some virtue. O my master!
Thy mind to her is now as low as were
Thy fortunes. How! that I should murder her?
Upon the love and truth and vows which I
Have made to thy command? I, her? her blood?
If it be so to do good service, never
Let me be counted serviceable. How look I,
That I should seem to lack humanity
so much as this fact comes to?
‘Do’t: the letter that I have sent her, by her own command
Shall give thee opportunity.’ O damn’d paper!
Black as the ink that’s on thee! Senseless bauble,
Art thou a feodary for this act, and look’st
So virgin-like without? Lo, here she comes.
I am ignorant in what I am commanded.

DUTCH:
Leonatus!
O, meester! Met wat vreemd vergif werd u
Het oor besmet?

MORE:
Tongued as handed=In words as in deed
Truth=Loyalty
Too ready hearing=Gullibility
Take in=Subdue
To her=Compared to hers
Fact=Offence
Feodary or fedary=Accomplice
I am ignorant in=I will pretend not to know
Compleat:
Fact=Daad, feyt
Feodary=(or feudary and feudatary): Dat noemde men een Amptenaar van een Hof, Court of wards genaamt, die een Register hield van de Leenen des Konings
Ignorant=Onweetend, onkundig, onbewust

Topics: gullibility

What shalt thou expect, to be depender on a thing that leans

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.5
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
QUEEN
Weeps she still, say’st thou? Dost thou think in time
She will not quench and let instructions enter
Where folly now possesses? Do thou work:
When thou shalt bring me word she loves my son,
I’ll tell thee on the instant thou art then
As great as is thy master, greater, for
His fortunes all lie speechless and his name
Is at last gasp: return he cannot, nor
Continue where he is: to shift his being
Is to exchange one misery with another,
And every day that comes comes to decay
A day’s work in him. What shalt thou expect,
To be depender on a thing that leans,
Who cannot be new built, nor has no friends,
So much as but to prop him?
Thou takest up
Thou know’st not what; but take it for thy labour:
It is a thing I made, which hath the king
Five times redeem’d from death: I do not know
What is more cordial. Nay, I prethee, take it;
It is an earnest of a further good
That I mean to thee. Tell thy mistress how
The case stands with her; do’t as from thyself.
Think what a chance thou changest on, but think
Thou hast thy mistress still, to boot, my son,
Who shall take notice of thee: I’ll move the king
To any shape of thy preferment such
As thou’lt desire; and then myself, I chiefly,
That set thee on to this desert, am bound
To load thy merit richly. Call my women:
Think on my words.
A sly and constant knave,
Not to be shaked; the agent for his master
And the remembrancer of her to hold
The hand-fast to her lord. I have given him that
Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her
Of liegers for her sweet, and which she after,
Except she bend her humour, shall be assured
To taste of too.
So, so: well done, well done:
The violets, cowslips, and the primroses,
Bear to my closet. Fare thee well, Pisanio;
Think on my words.

DUTCH:
Want zijn geluk ligt spraak’loos neer, zijn naam
Is stervende. Hij kan niet wederkeeren,
Niet blijven waar hij is.

MORE:
Quench=Grow cool, lose zeal
Shift his being=Relocate, change abode
Leans=Inclining, about to fall
Prop=Support, prop up
Compleat:
Quench=Blusschen, uytblusschen, lesschen, dempen
To lean=Leunen, leenen, steunen
Prop=Een stut, steun. To prop=Ondersteunen, stutten

Topics: sorrow, intellect, remedy, fate/fortune, achievement

What’s thy interest in this sad wreck? How came it? Who is it? What art thou?

DUTCH:
En wat is uw verlies
Bij deze droeve schipbreuk? Hoe gebeurde ‘t?
Wie is hij? Wie zijt gij?

Topics: nature, death, honour, virtue, work, loyalty

When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not for any standers-by to curtail his oaths

DUTCH:
Als een man van rang verkiest te vloeken, behoeft
niemand het hart te hebben zijn vloeken te kortstaarten;
hè?

MORE:
Proverb: May we not do with our own what we list?

Burgersdijk notes:
Had ooit een mensch zulk een geluk?
Cloten spreekt van het geluk, dat zijn tegenspeler gehad heeft.

Topics: language, civility, patience, proverbs and idioms

When shall I hear all through? This fierce abridgement hath to it circumstantial branches which distinction should be rich in

DUTCH:
O, wond’re neiging!
Wanneer verneem ik alles nog? Deez’ schets,
Zoo haastig, duidt het overrijke takwerk
Nauw aan, dat ik nog volgen, kennen moet.
Waar leefdet gij, en hoe?

Topics: intellect, nature, justification, reason, reply

Where air comes out, air comes in

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: First Lord
CONTEXT:
FIRST LORD
Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt; the
violence of action hath made you reek as a
sacrifice: where air comes out, air comes in:
there’s none abroad so wholesome as that you vent.
CLOTEN
If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Have I hurt him?
SECOND LORD
No, ‘faith; not so much as his patience.
FIRST LORD
Hurt him! his body’s a passable carcass, if he be
not hurt: it is a thoroughfare for steel, if it be not hurt.
SECOND LORD
His steel was in debt; it went o’ the backside the town.

DUTCH:
Ik zou u toch raden, prins, van linnen te wisselen; de
heftigheid van het gevecht heeft gemaakt, dat gij dampt
als een brandoffer; waar lucht uitgaat, komt lucht in,
en die daarbuiten is niet zoo gezond als die gij van u geeft.

MORE:
Proverb: He dares not show his head (himself) for debt

Shift=Change
Reek=Stink
Wholesome=Salubrious
Vent=Give off
Passable=Can be passed through, in this case referring to the pass of a rapier.
Stand=Resist
Not so much as=Not even
The backside of the town=Like a debtor hiding in the back alleys to avoid a creditor. Also (from “An Account of King James I’s Visit to Cambridge”), certain Jesuits were not suffered to come through Cambridge, but were “by the Sheriff carried over the backe side of the town to Cambridge castle.”
Compleat:
Thorough-fare=Een doorgang
Passable=Doorganklyk, inschikkelyk, middelmaatig, schappelyk
Money that is passable=Gangbaar geld
A passable hand=Een tamelyke hand
Stand (against or before)=Tegen houden, tegenstaan, verweeren

Topics: proverbs and idioms, debt/obligation

Why hast thou gone so far, to be unbent when thou hast ta’en thy stand, the elected deer before thee?

DUTCH:
Waarom
Ontspant ge uw boog, nu ‘t uitgekozen wild
Juist binnenscheuts is?

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, authority, work, status, duty, debt/obligation

Why should I write this down, that’s riveted, screw’d to my memory?

DUTCH:
Genoeg! Behoef ik meer?
Waartoe dit schrijven, dat in mijn gedacht’nis
Geschroefd, geklonken is?

Topics: nature, conscience

Why, one that rode to’s execution, man, could never go so slow

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Why, one that rode to’s execution, man,
Could never go so slow: I have heard of riding wagers,
Where horses have been nimbler than the sands
That run i’ the clock’s behalf. But this is foolery:
Go bid my woman feign a sickness; say
She’ll home to her father: and provide me presently
A riding-suit, no costlier than would fit
A franklin’s housewife.
PISANIO
Madam, you’re best consider.
IMOGEN
I see before me, man: nor here, nor here,
Nor what ensues, but have a fog in them,
That I cannot look through. Away, I prithee;
Do as I bid thee: there’s no more to say,
Accessible is none but Milford way.

DUTCH:
Wat zegt ge? een man, die ter gerechtsplaats reed,
Kon zoo niet kruipen; ‘k weet van weddingschappen,
Waarbij het paard de vlugheid van het zand
In ‘t uurglas overtrof.

MORE:
One that rode=A person riding
Sands that run in the clock’s behalf=Sands in an hourglass
Presently=Immediately
Franklin=Yeoman, minor landowner
You’re best=You had better
Compleat:
Presently=Terstond, opstaandevoet
Frank-ferm=Land of leengoederen die ontheft zyn van het leen recht
Frank-tenement=Vrij bezit
Frank-law=’t Voorrecht van de gemeene wet des lands

Topics: caution, plans/intentions, understanding

Will make known to their approvers they are people such that mend upon the world

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Posthumus Leonatus
CONTEXT:
PHILARIO
What means do you make to him?
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Not any, but abide the change of time,
Quake in the present winter’s state and wish
That warmer days would come: in these sear’d hopes,
I barely gratify your love; they failing,
I must die much your debtor.
PHILARIO
Your very goodness and your company
O’erpays all I can do. By this, your king
Hath heard of great Augustus: Caius Lucius
Will do’s commission throughly: and I think
He’ll grant the tribute, send the arrearages,
Or look upon our Romans, whose remembrance
Is yet fresh in their grief.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
I do believe,
Statist though I am none, nor like to be,
That this will prove a war; and you shall hear
The legions now in Gallia sooner landed
In our not-fearing Britain than have tidings
Of any penny tribute paid. Our countrymen
Are men more order’d than when Julius Caesar
Smiled at their lack of skill, but found their courage
Worthy his frowning at: their discipline,
Now mingled with their courages, will make known
To their approvers they are people such
That mend upon the world.

DUTCH:
Hun krijgstucht,
Nu met hun moed vereend, zal wie hen aanvalt
Doen kennen, dat zij mannen zijn, voor wie
Ervaring voordeel was.

MORE:
Means=Approaches, contact
Conceive=Think
Seared=Withered, failing
Gratify=Repay
Arrearages=Overdue payments
Look upon=Face
Statist=Politician
Ordered=Organised
Compleat:
Means=Middelen
Conceive=Bevatten, begrypen, beseffen, zich inbeelden
To sear=Schroeijen, branden, verzengen
To gratify=Begunstigen, believen, iets te gevallen doen, involgen
Arrearage=Achterstallige schuld
Disordered=In wanorde gebragt, in de war gebragt

Topics: life, nature, advice

Wilt thou undo the worth thou art unpaid for, by tasting of our wrath?

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
CYMBELINE
Why, old soldier,
Wilt thou undo the worth thou art unpaid for,
By tasting of our wrath? How of descent
As good as we?
ARVIRAGUS
In that he spake too far.
CYMBELINE
And thou shalt die for’t.
BELARIUS
We will die all three:
But I will prove that two on’s are as good
As I have given out him. My sons, I must,
For mine own part, unfold a dangerous speech,
Though, haply, well for you.
ARVIRAGUS
Your danger’s ours.
GUIDERIUS
And our good his.

DUTCH:
Wat, oude krijger,
Wilt gij uw loon, nog onbetaald, verbeuren
Door onzen toorn te wekken? Hoe! in afkomst
Aan ons gelijk?

MORE:
On ‘s=Of us
Given out him=Said he is
Haply=Perhaps
Compleat:
To give out=(Report, pretend): Voorwenden, uitstrooijen
Haply=Misschien

Topics: reputation, status, equality

Would I had put my estate and my neighbour’s on the approbation of what I have spoke!

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
I dare thereupon pawn the moiety of my estate to
your ring; which, in my opinion, o’ervalues it
something: but I make my wager rather against your
confidence than her reputation: and, to bar your
offence herein too, I durst attempt it against any
lady in the world.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
You are a great deal abused in too bold a
persuasion; and I doubt not you sustain what you’re
worthy of by your attempt.
IACHIMO
What’s that?
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
A repulse: though your attempt, as you call it,
deserve more; a punishment too.
PHILARIO
Gentlemen, enough of this: it came in too suddenly;
let it die as it was born, and, I pray you, be
better acquainted.
IACHIMO
Would I had put my estate and my neighbour’s on the
approbation of what I have spoke!

DUTCH:
Ik wilde, dat ik om mijn geheel vermogen, en om dat
van mijn buurman er bij, gewed had, dat ik waar kan
maken, wat ik gezegd heb.

MORE:
Moeity=Half share
Something=To some extent, somewhat
Bar your offence=Not to offend you
Abused=Deceived
Persuasion=Opinion
Sustain=Obtain
Worthy of=Deserve
Put on=Wagered
Compleat:
Moeity=De helft
To abuse=Misbruiken, mishandelen, kwaalyk bejegenen, beledigen, verongelyken, schelden
Persuasion=Overreeding, overtuiging, overstemming, aanraading, wysmaaking
Worthy=Waardig, eerwaardig, voortreffelyk, uytmuntend, deftig

Topics: value, risk, resolution, evidence

You are a fool granted; therefore your issues, being foolish, do not derogate

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
Leonatus! a banished rascal; and he’s another,
whatsoever he be. Who told you of this stranger?
FIRST LORD
One of your lordship’s pages.
CLOTEN
Is it fit I went to look upon him? is there no
derogation in’t?
SECOND LORD
You cannot derogate, my lord.
CLOTEN
Not easily, I think.
SECOND LORD
You are a fool granted; therefore your
issues, being foolish, do not derogate.

DUTCH:
Zou het staan, als ik eens naar hem toeging om een kijkjen van hem te nemen? Zou dat niet beneden mijn waardigheid wezen?

MORE:
Derogation=Disparagement
Derogate=Do anything derogatory to rank, lower opinion
Issues=What proceeds from you, your acts (with a play on issues to mean offspring)
Compleat:
Derogate=Onttrekken, verkorten, verminderen, benadeelen
To derogate from one’s credit=Iemands achting verkorten
To derogate from one’s self=Zich zelfs benadeelen

Topics: reputation, status, order/society

You look on me: what wreck discern you in me deserves your pity?

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Not he: but yet heaven’s bounty towards him might
Be used more thankfully. In himself, ’tis much;
In you, which I account his beyond all talents,
Whilst I am bound to wonder, I am bound
To pity too.
IMOGEN
What do you pity, sir?
IACHIMO
Two creatures heartily.
IMOGEN
Am I one, sir?
You look on me: what wreck discern you in me
Deserves your pity?
IACHIMO
Lamentable! What,
To hide me from the radiant sun and solace
I’ the dungeon by a snuff?
IMOGEN
I pray you, sir,
Deliver with more openness your answers
To my demands. Why do you pity me?

DUTCH:
Ben ik er een van, heer?
Gij ziet mij aan; wat deerniswaarde ellend
Ontdekt ge in mij?

MORE:
Talents=Price (coins)
Wreck=Disaster
Solace=Consolation
Snuff=A dying candle
Compleat:
Talent=Een talent; pond
Wreck (wrack)=Verlooren gaan; te gronde gaan
Solace=Troost, vertroosting, vermaaak
To snuff out a candle=Een kaars uitsnuiten

Topics: pity

You must forget to be a woman; change command into obedience, fear and niceness … into a waggish courage

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Where then
Hath Britain all the sun that shines? Day, night,
Are they not but in Britain? I’ the world’s volume
Our Britain seems as of it, but not in ‘t;
In a great pool a swan’s nest: prithee, think
There’s livers out of Britain.
PISANIO
I am most glad
You think of other place. The ambassador,
Lucius the Roman, comes to Milford-Haven
To-morrow: now, if you could wear a mind
Dark as your fortune is, and but disguise
That which, to appear itself, must not yet be
But by self-danger, you should tread a course
Pretty and full of view; yea, haply, near
The residence of Posthumus; so nigh at least
That though his actions were not visible, yet
Report should render him hourly to your ear
As truly as he moves.
IMOGEN
O, for such means!
Though peril to my modesty, not death on’t,
I would adventure.
PISANIO
Well, then, here’s the point:
You must forget to be a woman; change
Command into obedience, fear and niceness—
The handmaids of all women, or, more truly,
Woman it pretty self—into a waggish courage,
Ready in gibes, quick-answered, saucy, and
As quarrellous as the weasel. Nay, you must
Forget that rarest treasure of your cheek,
Exposing it—but O, the harder heart!
Alack, no remedy—to the greedy touch
Of common-kissing Titan, and forget
Your laboursome and dainty trims, wherein
You made great Juno angry.
IMOGEN
Nay, be brief
I see into thy end, and am almost
A man already.

DUTCH:
Vergeet, dat gij een vrouw zijt; ruil ‘t gebieden.
Voor dienstbaarheid, de schuchterheid en kieschheid, —
Der vrouwen gezellinnen, ja veeleer,
Haar lieflijk wezen zelf, — voor dart’len moed;
Wees spotziek, onbeschaamd, vlug met de tong,
En twistziek als een wezel;

MORE:
Niceness=Delicacy, daintiness, coyness
Quarrellous as the weasel. Weasels were kept for killing vermin. Cf. Henry IV Part 1: “A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen as you are tossed with.”
Laboursome=Elabourate, requiring much pains and industry (also laboursome petition, Hamlet)
Common-kissing=Kissing anybody and anything
Trims=Ornamental dress
Compleat:
To gibe=Boerten, gekscheeren
Quarrelsome=Krakeelachtig, twistig, twistgierig, kyfachtig
Laboursom=Lastig, verdrdietig, verveelend
Niceness=Viezigheid, keurigheid

Burgersdijk notes:
Den fellen straler van omhoog. In het oorspronkelijke wordt gesproken van the greedg touch of common-kissing Titan. De zonnegod wordt meermalen Titan genoemd.

Topics: appearance, intellect, independence, language, reply

You speak of him when he was less furnished than now he is with that which makes him both without and within

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Philario
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Believe it, sir, I have seen him in Britain: he was
then of a crescent note, expected to prove so worthy
as since he hath been allowed the name of; but I
could then have looked on him without the help of
admiration, though the catalogue of his endowments
had been tabled by his side and I to peruse him by
items.
PHILARIO
You speak of him when he was less furnished than now
he is with that which makes him both without and
within.
FRENCHMAN
I have seen him in France: we had very many there
could behold the sun with as firm eyes as he.
IACHIMO
This matter of marrying his king’s daughter, wherein
he must be weighed rather by her value than his own,
words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the matter.
FRENCHMAN
And then his banishment.

DUTCH:
Gij spreekt van hem uit den tijd, toen hij veel minder,
dan tegenwoordig het geval is, toegerust was met alles,
wat hem volkomen maakt, zoowel uit- als inwendig.

MORE:
Crescent note=Growing reputation
Though=Even if
Endowments=Qualities
Tabled=Listed
By items=Separately
Furnished=Skilled
Without and within=Inside and out
Behold=Look into
Weighed=Assessed
Words him=Makes him appear
Matter=Reality
Compleat:
Crescent=Wassende (maan)
Endowmenet=Begiftiging, begaavingg, begaafdheid
To table=Een lijst maaken
Furnished=Verzorgd, voorzien, gestoffeerd
To behold=Aanschouwen, zien, aanzien; ziet, let wel
To weigh=Weegen, overweegen

Topics: reputation, status, age/experience

Your pleasure was my mere offence

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Belarius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
So sure as you your father’s. I, old Morgan,
Am that Belarius whom you sometime banish’d:
Your pleasure was my mere offence, my punishment
Itself, and all my treason; that I suffer’d
Was all the harm I did. These gentle princes—
For such and so they are—these twenty years
Have I train’d up: those arts they have as I
Could put into them; my breeding was, sir, as
Your highness knows. Their nurse, Euriphile,
Whom for the theft I wedded, stole these children
Upon my banishment: I moved her to’t,
Having received the punishment before,
For that which I did then: beaten for loyalty
Excited me to treason: their dear loss,
The more of you ’twas felt, the more it shaped
Unto my end of stealing them. But, gracious sir,
Here are your sons again; and I must lose
Two of the sweet’st companions in the world.
The benediction of these covering heavens
Fall on their heads like dew! for they are worthy
To inlay heaven with stars.
CYMBELINE
Thou weep’st, and speak’st.
The service that you three have done is more
Unlike than this thou tell’st. I lost my children:
If these be they, I know not how to wish
A pair of worthier sons.

DUTCH:
Uw machtspreuk was mijn heel vergrijp, mijn straf,
En heel mijn hoogverraad; mijn onrecht was
Onrecht te lijden

MORE:
Pleasure=Amusement
Mere offence=Only wrongdoing
Gentle=Noble
Arts=Skills
Moved=Persuaded
Excited=Incited
Unlike=Unlikely
Compleat:
Pleasure=Vermaak, vermaakelykheid, verlustiging, pleizier, welbehaagen
Mere (meer)=Louter, enkel
Gentle=Aardig, edelmoedig
Art=Behendigheid
Moved=Bewoogen, verroerd, ontroerd

Topics: offence, punishment, vanity, betrayal