QUOTES FROM THE BARD

You have made shift to run into ‘t, boots and spurs and all, like him that leaped into the custard

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
BERTRAM
I have writ my letters, casketed my treasure,
Given order for our horses; and to-night,
When I should take possession of the bride,
End ere I do begin.
LAFEW
A good traveller is something at the latter end of a
dinner; but one that lies three thirds and uses a
known truth to pass a thousand nothings with, should
be once heard and thrice beaten. God save you, captain.
BERTRAM
Is there any unkindness between my lord and you,
monsieur?
PAROLLES
I know not how I have deserved to run into my lord’s
displeasure.
LAFEW
You have made shift to run into ‘t, boots and spurs
and all, like him that leaped into the custard; and
out of it you’ll run again, rather than suffer
question for your residence.
BERTRAM
It may be you have mistaken him, my lord.
LAFEW
And shall do so ever, though I took him at ‘s
prayers. Fare you well, my lord; and believe this
of me, there can be no kernel in this light nut; the
soul of this man is his clothes. Trust him not in
matter of heavy consequence; I have kept of them
tame, and know their natures. Farewell, monsieur:
I have spoken better of you than you have or will to
deserve at my hand; but we must do good against evil.

DUTCH:
BERTRAM.
Bestaat er eenig misverstand tusschen dezen edelman
en u, monsieur?
PAROLLES
Ik weet niet, hoe ik het verdiend heb, de ongenade
van dezen heer te beloopen .
LAFEW
Gij hebt het er op toegelegd, om er in te loopen, gelaarsd,
gespoord en al, zooals de nar van den Lord-Mayor, die in de pastei sprong; en gij zult er wel eer weder uitspringen, dan verslag geven over uw verblijf er in.


MORE:
Proverb: A traveller may lie with authority
Proverb: Set good against evil (Do good for evil)

Made shift=Managed, contrived
Leaped into the custard=Reference to the custom at the Lord Mayor of London’s show, of a jester leaping into an enormous custard
Residence=Presence
Compleat:
To make a shift=Zich behelpen, zich redden

Topics: preparation, dispute, proverbs and idioms

I did think thee, for two ordinaries, to be a pretty wise fellow

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
LAFEW
I did think thee, for two ordinaries, to be a pretty wise fellow: thou didst make tolerable vent of thy travel; it might pass: yet the scarfs and the bannerets about thee did manifoldly dissuade me from believing thee a vessel of too great a burthen.
I have now found thee; when I lose thee again, I care not; yet art thou good for nothing but taking up, and that thou’rt scarce worth.
PAROLLES
Hadst thou not the privilege of antiquity upon thee
LAFEW
Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, lest thou
hasten thy trial; which if—Lord have mercy on thee
for a hen! So, my good window of lattice, fare thee
well: thy casement I need not open, for I look
through thee. Give me thy hand.
PAROLLES
My lord, you give me most egregious indignity.

DUTCH:
Ik hield u, nadat ik een paar maal met u aan een open tafel gezeten had, voor een redelijk verstandigen knaap; gij maaktet tamelijk veel ophef van uw reizen;
dit kon er mee door; maar die wimpels en vlaggen aan u weerhielden mij telkens, u voor een schip met al te
groote lading te houden.

MORE:
Proverb: As good (better) lost as (than) found

Ordinaries=Mealtimes
Tolerable vent=Reasonable account
Banneret=Little flag
Taking up=Contradict
Window of lattice=Transparent like a latticed window (punning on Lettice, used for ruffs and caps)
Casement=Part of a window that opens on a hinge
Egregious=Extraordinary, enormous
Indignity=Contemptuous injury, insult
Compleat:
Ordinary=Drooggastery, Gaarkeuken, Ordinaris
Vent=Lugt, togt, gerucht
To eat ant an ordinary=In een ordinaris eten
Take up=Berispen; bestraffen
Lattice=Een houten traali
Casement=Een kykvernstertje, een glaze venster dat men open doet
Egregious=Treffelyk, braaf, heerlyk
Indignity=Smaad

Topics: proverbs and idioms, wisdom, appearance, discovery, understanding

I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Clown
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
Come on, sir; I shall now put you to the height of
your breeding.
CLOWN
I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught:
I know my business is but to the court.
COUNTESS
To the court! why, what place make you special,
when you put off that with such contempt? But to the
court!
CLOWN
Truly, madam, if God have lent a man any manners, he
may easily put it off at court: he that cannot make
a leg, put off’s cap, kiss his hand and say nothing,
has neither leg, hands, lip, nor cap; and indeed
such a fellow, to say precisely, were not for the
court; but for me, I have an answer will serve all
men.

DUTCH:
Ik zal mij ten hoogste gevoed en diep geleerd betoonen. Ik weet, dat mijn zending maar naar het hof is .

MORE:
Proverb: Better fed than taught

Put you to=Make you show
Height=Extent
Compleat:
“He is better fed than taught”=Hy is beter vegoed dan onderwezen
Business=Bezigheid, werk, zaak

Topics: order/society, learning/education, proverbs and idioms, civility

Only sin and hellish obstinacy tie thy tongue, that truth should be suspected

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
Yes, Helen, you might be my daughter-in-law:
God shield you mean it not! daughter and mother
So strive upon your pulse. What, pale again?
My fear hath catched your fondness: now I see
The mystery of your loneliness, and find
Your salt tears’ head: now to all sense ’tis gross
You love my son; invention is ashamed,
Against the proclamation of thy passion,
To say thou dost not: therefore tell me true;
But tell me then, ’tis so ; for, look, thy cheeks
Confess it, th’ one to th’ other; and thine eyes
See it so grossly shown in thy behaviours,
That in their kind they speak it: only sin
And hellish obstinacy tie thy tongue,
That truth should be suspected. Speak, is ‘t so ?
If it be so, you have wound a goodly clew;
If it be not, forswear ‘t : howe’er, I charge thee,
As heaven shall work in me for thine avail,
To tell me truly.

DUTCH:
Slechts zonde
En wederspannige onwil boeit uw tong,
Dat die de waarheid heel’.

MORE:
Proverb: In being your own foe, you spin a fair thread
Proverb: You have spun a fine (fair) thread

Gross=Palpable
Grossly=Conspicuously
Clew=Ball of thread
Compleat:
Gross=Grof, plomp, onbebouwen
You grossly mistake my meaning=Gy vergist u grootelyks omtrent myn meening
Clew=Een kluwen (garen)

Topics: truth, deceit, love, appearance, proverbs and idioms

I have an answer will serve all men…
It is like a barber’s chair that fits all buttocks.

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
CLOWN
Truly, madam, if God have lent a man any manners, he may easily put it off at court: he that cannot make a leg, put off’s cap, kiss his hand, and say nothing, has neither leg, hands, lip, nor cap; and indeed such a fellow, to say precisely, were not for the court. But for me, I have an answer will serve all men.
COUNTESS
Marry, that’s a bountiful answer that fits all questions.
CLOWN
It is like a barber’s chair that fits all buttocks, the pin-buttock, the quatch-buttock, the brawnbuttock, or any buttock.

DUTCH:
COUNTESS
Nu voorwaar, dat is een rijk antwoord, dat voor alle vragen passend is.
CLOWN
Het is als een scheerdersstoel, die voor alle achterstevens passend is, voor de spitse, voor de platte, voor de ronde, kortom voor alle achterstevens.

MORE:
Proverb: As common a a barber’s chair

Make a leg=A bow, an obeisance made by drawing one leg backward
Lent=To bestow on, to endow with, to adorn, to arm with
Put off=Doff
Bountiful=Of rich contents, full of meaning
Quatch=Squat
Compleat:
To make a leg=Buigen
To put off one’s hat=Zyn hoed afneemen
Bountiful=Milddaadig, goedertieren

Topics: reply, reason, understanding, loyalty, proverbs and idioms

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