CJTranslations - Henry IV, Part 1

QUOTES BY TOPIC

A plague of sighing and grief! It blows a man up like a bladder.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1 ACT/SCENE: 2.4 SPEAKER: Falstaff CONTEXT: My own knee? When I was about thy years, Hal, I was not an eagle’s talon in the waist. I could have crept into any alderman’s thumb-ring. A plague of sighing and grief! It blows a man up like a bladder. DUTCH: My own knees? When I was your age, Hal, my waist was as skinny as an eagle’s talon; I could have crawled through a councilman’s thumb ring. But damn all that sighing and sadness! It blows a man up like a balloon. MORE: Schmidt:
Thumb-ring, a ring worn on the thumb as was the custom of grave personages Topics: appearance, age/experience, excess

A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen As you are toss’d with.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Lady Percy
CONTEXT:
Out, you mad-headed ape!
A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen
As you are tossed with. In faith,
I’ll know your business, Harry, that I will.
I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir
About his title, and hath sent for you
To line his enterprise;

DUTCH:
Och kom, wat apenfratsen!
Een wezel zelfs heeft zooveel grillen niet,
Als die ù plagen. Op mijn woord, ik wil
Uw plannen weten, Hendrik; ja, ik wil ’t.

MORE:
The spleen was viewed as a a source of passion and emotion, both positive and negative.
See Cymbeline 3.4: “As quarrelous as the weasel”.
Schmidt:
Toss (metaphorically)=To throw up and down, to cause to rise and fall, to move to and fro.
To line=To fill on the inside; used for money (financial aid, support)
Enterprise= Attempt, undertaking
Compleat:
Spleen=De milt
Spleen (Spite, hatred or grudge)=Spyt, haat, wrak
Enterprise=Onderneemen, onderwinden, bestaan, aanvangen

Topics: conspiracy, plans/intentions, insult, , suspicion, discovery

All of one nature, of one substance bred.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
Those opposèd eyes,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close of civil butchery
Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,
March all one way and be no more opposed
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies

DUTCH:
Van één natuur, uit ééne stof verwekt,
Zich pas in ’t stormen en de woeste worstling
Der burgerslachting op elkander stortten,
Zij zullen nu, eendrachtig, saamgeschaard,
Denzelfden weg gaan, langer niet in twist
Met landgenooten, magen en verbond’nen

MORE:

CITED IN US LAW:
Re. the definition of “substance”: Adam v shall be County Commission, 415 So.2d 1066, 1072 (Ala. 1982)
Schmidt:
Intestine=Domestic, coming to pass between people of the same nation. Ff intestine, Qq rightly intestate
Furious close=hostile meeting, grapple, fighting hand to hand
Compleat:
Furiously=Woedende, raazende, uitzinnig, doldriftig
Compleat:
An intestine war=Een inlandsche oorlog

Topics: cited in law, conflict, friendship

And all the courses of my life do show I am not in the roll of common men.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Glendower
CONTEXT:
Cousin, of many men
I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave
To tell you once again that at my birth
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields.
These signs have marked me extraordinary,
And all the courses of my life do show
I am not in the roll of common men.

DUTCH:
En heel de loop mijns levens toont, dat ik
Niet op de rol sta der gewone menschen.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Clamorous=vociferous, loud
Crossings=Contradictions
Onions:
Rolls=list, register (fig.)

Topics: fate/destiny, status, order/society

And I beseech you, let not his report Come current for an accusation.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good tall fellow had destroyed
So cowardly, and but for these vile guns
He would himself have been a soldier.
This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord,
I answered indirectly, as I said,
And I beseech you, let not his report
Come current for an accusation
Betwixt my love and your high Majesty.

DUTCH:
En ik bezweer u, dat, wat hij bericht,
Nooit als een aanklacht tusschen mijne liefde
En uwe hooge majesteit zich dring’!

MORE:
Schmidt:
Bald=Void of reason, unfounded
Unjointed=incoherent
Tall=stout, sturdy, lusty, spirited
Indirectly=Not in a straight course, by second hand, not in express terms
Current= generally received, of full value, sterling, having currency (Come current as=have currency, be accepted as)
Compleat:
Current. The current of most writers=Het algemeen gevoelen van de meeste Schryvers.

Topics: loyalty, merit, evidence, value, perception, judgment

And left me in reputeless banishment, A fellow of no mark nor likelihood.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
God pardon thee. Yet let me wonder, Harry,
At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost,
Which by thy younger brother is supplied,
And art almost an alien to the hearts
Of all the court and princes of my blood.
The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruined, and the soul of every man
Prophetically doth forethink thy fall.
Had I so lavish of my presence been,
So common-hackneyed in the eyes of men,
So stale and cheap to vulgar company,
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,
Had still kept loyal to possession
And left me in reputeless banishment,
A fellow of no mark nor likelihood.

DUTCH:
Had mij een roemloos balling laten blijven,
Als een, die niets was, niets verwachten liet.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Hold a wing quite from=flight contrary to, away from (possibly borrowed from falconry language)
Hope and expectation of thy time=the promise of youth
Forethink= Anticipate
Common-hackneyed, vulgarized
Vulgar company=mixing with common people
Opinion=Public opinion
Reputeless=Obscure, inglorious
Mark=Notice taken, observance, note
Likelihood=Probability, chance
Possession=Opinion had still kept loyal (to the actual occupant/possessor of the crown)

Topics: reputation, punishment, dignity, failure, respect

And our indentures tripartite are drawn, Which being sealèd interchangeably—

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Mortimer
CONTEXT:
And our indentures tripartite are drawn,
Which being sealèd interchangeably—
A business that this night may execute—
Tomorrow, cousin Percy, you and I
And my good Lord of Worcester will set forth
To meet your father and the Scottish power,
As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.

DUTCH:
Drievoudig zijn de stukken opgemaakt; En,hebhen wij die wederzijds bezegeld, Wat heden avond nog gebeuren kan, Dan trekken wij, neef Percy, gij en ik, Alsook mylord van Worcester, morgen op, Om uwen vader en het Schotsche leger Te Shrewsbury, naar afspraak, aan te treffen

MORE:
Indenture=Contract
The contracts were drawn up in triplicate but on a single piece of parchment which were then separated with a jagged cut so that only the original three contracts could be fitted together, to detect any attempts at forgery. Each contract carried three wax seals, with each signatory impressing his own seal (often with a ring) on the wax of all three copies.

Topics: contract, law/legal

And that would set my teeth nothing an edge.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
GLENDOWER
I can speak English, lord, as well as you,
For I was trained up in the English court,
Where being but young I framèd to the harp
Many an English ditty lovely well
And gave the tongue a helpful ornament—
A virtue that was never seen in you
HOTSPUR
Marry,
And I am glad of it with all my heart:
I had rather be a kitten and cry “mew”
Than one of these same meter balladmongers.
I had rather hear a brazen can’stick turned,
Or a dry wheel grate on the axletree,
And that would set my teeth nothing an edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry.
Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag.

DUTCH:
k Wil liever koop’ren luchters hooren draaien,
Of ongesmeerde wagenraadren knarsen;
Daar klemde ik zoo mijn tanden niet van saâm,
Als van die lisp’lend zoete poëzie;
Die is me, als ’t draven van een stijven knol.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Can’stick=candlestick
Axle-tree=Piece of timber on which the wheel turns
Mincing=Affectation
Virtue= Accomplishment
Compleat:
Mincing=Een trappelende gang

Topics: proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised, still in use, skill/talent, achievement, learning/education

And the stony-hearted villains know it well enough.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
An ’twere not as good a deed as drink to turn true man and to leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me, and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough. A plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another!

DUTCH:
Tien ellen oneffen grond te voet zijn voor mij zes dozijn mijlen en meer, en die booswichten met steenen harten weten dat maar al te goed. Naar den duivel er mee, als dieven onder elkaar niet eerlijk kunnen zijn.

MORE:
Phrase ‘stony-hearted’ first recorded in 1569 in Underdown’s translation of the Æthiopian History of Heliodorus: “There is no man so stoany harted, but he shal be made to yeelde with our flatteringe allurmente”.
Schmidt:
Veriest=most veritable
Varlet=A a servant to a knight; A term of reproach; knave, rascal
Compleat:
Stony heart=Een steene hart, verhard hart
Varlet=Een schobbejak. Varlet (valet)=knegt

Topics: invented or popularised, virtue, good and bad

Diseas—d nature oftentimes breaks forth In strange eruptions;

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
Diseas—d nature oftentimes breaks forth
In strange eruptions; oft the teeming earth
Is with a kind of colic pinched and vexed
By the imprisoning of unruly wind
Within her womb, which, for enlargement striving,
Shakes the old beldam earth and topples down
Steeples and moss-grown towers.

DUTCH:
Niet zelden breekt een ziekte der natuur
In dolle krampen uit; de zwangere aard
Wordt vaak, als door koliek gekweld, genepen;

MORE:
Beldam=old woman
Teeming=Fruitful

Topics: nature, life, consequence

Do thou amend thy face, and I’ll amend my life.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
BARDOLPH
Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you must needs be out of all compass, out of all reasonable compass, Sir John.
FALSTAFF
Do thou amend thy face, and I’ll amend my life. Thou art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in the poop, but ’tis in the nose of thee. Thou art the knight of the burning lamp.

DUTCH:
Verbeter gij uw gezicht, en ik wil mijn leven beteren.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Compass=Extent in general, limit (“lived well and in good c.; and now I live out of all c.”)
Poop=The hindmost part of a ship.
Compleat:
To keep within compass=Iemand in den band (in bedwang) houden
To keep within compass=Zynen plicht betrachten
To draw a thing within a narrow compass=Iets in een klein begrip besluiten

Topics: insult, appearance, excess

Fie upon this quiet life! I want work.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
I am not yet of Percy’s mind, the Hotspur of the north, he that kills me some six or seven dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife “Fie upon this quiet life! I want work.”

DUTCH:
Ik ben nog niet gestemd als Percy, de Heetspoor van het noorden, die je zijn zes of zeven dozijn Schotten voor zijn ontbijt ombrengt, zijn handen wascht en tot zijn vrouw zegt: “Foei, wat een stil leventje! ik verlang naar werk.”

MORE:
Mind=disposition

Topics: work, ambition, satisfaction

For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, so youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it wears.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Peace, good pint-pot. Peace, good tickle-brain.— Harry, I do not only marvel where thou spendest thy time, but also how thou art accompanied. For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, so youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it wears.

DUTCH:
Al waren er gronden zoo overvloedig als bramen, van mij zou niemand een grond door dwang vernemen, van mij niet.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Tickle-brain=A species of strong liquor
Marvel=To find something strange, to wonder
Burgersdijk notes:
De naam Spraakwater is in het Engelsch Ticklebrain, de naam van een likeur.

Topics: life, age/experience, excess, integrity, identity, respect

Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Nay, that’s past praying for. I have peppered two of them. Two I am sure I have paid, two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse. Thou knowest my old ward. Here I lay, and thus I bore my point.

DUTCH:
Ik zal je wat zeggen, Hein;—als ik je iets voorlieg, spuw me dan in het gezicht, noem mij een paard. Je kent mijn oude parade: zoo lag ik, en zoo hield ik mijn kling.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Buckram=Coarse linen stiffened with glue
Pepper=To serve out, to finish, to make an end of
Ward=Guard made in fencing, posture of defence
Compleat:
Buckram=Gewascht doek, trilje
Forswear (or renounce)=afzweeren
To ward off a blow=Eenen slag afweeren
Burgersdijk:
Buckram=Stijflinnen

Topics: honesty, truth, promise

Hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent garters!

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent garters! If I be ta’en, I’ll peach for this. An I have not ballads made on you all and sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison—when a jest is so forward, and afoot too! I hate it

DUTCH:
Nu dan, hang je zelven op aan je eigen vermoedelijke-troonopvolgers-kousebanden! Als zij mij krijgen, verklik ik alles.

MORE:
Proverb:
He may go hang himself in his own garters
Schmidt:
Peach=Impeach, accuse, denounce
Appeach=Beschuldigen, bedraagen

Topics: proverbs and idioms

He will give the devil his due.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
POINS
Good morrow, sweet Hal.—What says Monsieur Remorse? What says Sir John Sack-and-Sugar? Jack, how agrees the devil and thee about thy soul that thou soldest him on Good Friday last for a cup of Madeira and a cold capon’s leg?
PRINCE HAL
Sir John stands to his word. The devil shall have his bargain, for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs. He will give the devil his due.

DUTCH:
Sir John houdt zijn woord; den duivel zal zijn recht geworden, want hij heeft nog nooit een spreekwoord gebroken; hij geeft zelfs den duivel het zijne.

MORE:
The proverb ‘Give the devil his due’ (1589) is generally an acknowledgement that something or somebody bad has a redeeming feature or has done something worthwhile.
Schmidt:
Stand to=To side with, to assist, to support; to maintain, to guard, to be firm in the cause of
Breaker=Transgressor
Compleat:
We must give the devil his due=Men moet den duivel niet erger afmaalen dan hy is.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use

How long is’t ago, Jack, since thou sawest thine own knee?

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
Here comes lean Jack. Here comes bare-bone.—How now, my sweet creature of bombast? How long is ’t ago, Jack, since thou sawest thine own knee?

DUTCH:
Daar komt schrale Hans, daar komt Klapperbeen.—Nu, mijn allerliefste watten popje! hoe lang is het geleden, Hans, dat je je eigen knie gezien hebt?

MORE:
Cotgrave: “Cottoner. To bumbast, stuff with cotton”.
Schmidt:
Lean=Wanting flesh, meager, thin
Bare-bone=Lean skinny person
Bombast=Cotton used to stuff out garments
Compleat:
Bombast=Bombazyne of kattoene voering; fustian
Bombast=Hoogdraavende wartaal, ydel gezwets
To bumbast=Met bombazyn voeren
Bumbast: Bombazyn als ook Brommende woorden

Topics: insult, language, appearance

I am bewitched with the rogue’s company.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
I am bewitched with the rogue’s company. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, I’ll be hanged.

DUTCH:
Ik heb nu sinds twee en twintig jaren ieder dag en uur zijn gezelschap afgezworen, en toch ben ik nog altijd met het gezelschap van dien schoft behekst. Als die schurk me geen drankjes heeft ingegeven, dat ik van hem houden moet, laat ik mij hangen; het kan niet anders, ik heb drankjes ingekregen.

MORE:
I’ll be hanged=I’ll be damned (if…)

Topics: relationship, temptation

I fear thou art another counterfeit.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Douglas
CONTEXT:
I fear thou art another counterfeit,
And yet, in faith, thou bear’st thee like a king.
But mine I am sure thou art, whoe’er thou be,
And thus I win thee.

DUTCH:
Ik vrees, dat gij ook weer een namaak zijt,
Schoon gij, voorwaar, u voordoet als een koning;
Doch wie gij zijt, mijn zijt gij, dit bezweer ik;
En zoo maak ik u mijn.

MORE:
Counterfeit=Deceitful imitation

Topics: deceit, conflict, insult, suspicion

I had rather live With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far, Than feed on cates and have him talk to me.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
But marked him not a word. O, he is as tedious
As a tired horse, a railing wife,
Worse than a smoky house: I had rather live
With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far,
Than feed on cates and have him talk to me.

DUTCH:
O veel, veel liever zou ik
Op kaas en knoflook zitten, in een molen,
Dan wildbraad eten en zijn praatjens hooren
In eenig lustslot van de christenheid

MORE:
Proverb: A smoky chimney and a scolding wife are two bad companions.
Cates=delicacies

Topics: insult, civility

I know them to be as true-bred cowards as ever turned back.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Poins
CONTEXT:
I know them to be as true-bred cowards as ever turned back; and for the third, if he fight longer than he sees reason, I’ll forswear arms. The virtue of this jest will be the incomprehensible lies that this same fat rogue will tell us when we meet at supper: how thirty at least he fought with, what wards, what blows, what extremities he endured; and in the reproof of this lies the jest.

DUTCH:
t Mocht wat; twee van hen ken ik voor zoo volbloedlafaards,
als er ooit de hielen gelicht hebben; en de derde, als hij langer vecht dan hij raadzaam acht, wil ik nooit meer een zwaard ter hand nemen

MORE:
Schmidt:
Forswear=To refuse or renounce upon oath, to swear that one will have nothing to do with a person or thing
Jest=Any thing ludicrous and amusing uttered or done
Ward=Guard made in fencing, posture of defence
Compleat:
Forswear (or renounce)=afzweeren
To ward off a blow=Eenen slag afweeren

Topics: courage, honesty, truth

I would I could Quit all offences with as clear excuse.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
So please your Majesty, I would I could
Quit all offences with as clear excuse
As well as I am doubtless I can purge
Myself of many I am charged withal.
Yet such extenuation let me beg
As, in reproof of many tales devised,
Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear,
By smiling pickthanks and base newsmongers,
I may for some things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty wandered and irregular,
Find pardon on my true submission.

DUTCH:
Veroorloof, uwe hoogheid! ‘k Wenschte, dat ik
Van iedre smet mij zoo bevrijden kon,
Als ik mij buiten twijfel rein kan wasschen
Van meen’ge zonde, mij te last gelegd;

MORE:
I am doubtless=I doubt not
Quit=acquit, clear oneself
Purge=clear
Charged withal=Accused of now
Extenuation= Considerations, allowance
Devised= Invented, made up
Smiling pickthanks=Flatterers who think flattery will earn the King’s gratitude
True submission= Confession
Newsmongers=Gossips
Compleat:
Purge=Zuyveren, reynigen

Topics: nlame, innocence, reputation, mercy, judgment

I’ll give thrice so much land To any well-deserving friend.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
I do not care. I’ll give thrice so much land
To any well-deserving friend;
But in the way of bargain, mark you me,
I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.
Are the indentures drawn? Shall we be gone?

DUTCH:
t Is me onverschillig; driemaal zooveel land
Geef ik den eersten, besten, trouwen vriend;
Maar geldt het een verdrag of koop, let wel,
Dan twist ik om het tiende van een haar.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Cavil=To quarrel, to find fault (the phrase “splitting hairs” was recorded in the 1652 OED and would mean one who is very persistent, stubborn)
Well-deserving=Full of merit, worthy (deserving)
Indentures=Contracts
Compleat:
Cavil=Haairkloovery, woordentwist
To cavil=Knibbelen, kibbelen, haairklooven, woordvitten, bedillen, schimpen
Indenture=Een verdragsbrief [zo genoemd] om dat men daar van twee al-eens luidende kopyen maakt, en die met tanden of hoeken van malkanderen snydt.
CITED IN US LAW:
United States v. Jones, 176 F.2d 278, 289-90 (9th Cir. 1949)(Yankwich, J.) (In a government contract dispute: “To use Hotspur’ s phrasing, the Government was not ‘in the way of bargain’ caviling ‘on the ninth part of a hair.’ …”

Topics: cited in law, contract, merit, dispute

If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
What, upon compulsion? Zounds, an I were at the strappado or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on compulsion? If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.

DUTCH:
Al waren er gronden zoo overvloedig als bramen, van mij zou niemand een grond door dwang vernemen, van mij niet.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Compulsion=forced applied, constraint
Strappado=A species of torture, usually a military punishment, in which a person was drawn up by his arms tied behind his back, and then suddenly let down with a jerk. The result was usually to dislocate the shoulder blade.
Compleat:
Compulsion=Dwang, drang
Burgersdijk notes:
Aan de wipgalg. In ‘t Engelsch: at the strappado. Bij deze pijniging trok men het slachtoffer met een koord, dat over een katrol liep, omhoog, liet het tot halfweg vallen en hield het dan op met een ruk, zoo, dat de schouders ontwricht waren.

Topics: reason, justification, free will, independence, authority, punishment

If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
But to say I know more harm in him than in myself were to say more than I know. That he is old, the more the pity, his white hairs do witness it. But that he is, saving your reverence, a whoremaster, that I utterly deny. If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked. If to be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damned. If to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh’s lean kine are to be loved. No, my good lord, banish Peto, banish Bardolph, banish Poins, but for sweet Jack Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff, valiant Jack Falstaff, and therefore more valiant being, as he is, old Jack Falstaff,
Banish not him thy Harry’s company,
Banish not him thy Harry’s company.
Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.

DUTCH:
Als sek met suiker boos is, dan sta God de zondaars bij! Als oud en vroolijk zijn zonde is, dan is menig oude waard, dien ik ken, verdoemd; als vet te zijn hatenswaardig is, dan zijn Pharao’s magere koeien beminnelijk.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Sack=The generic name of Spanish and Canary wines
Kine=Cow (Pharaoh’s lean kine: a sign that times of starvation are ahead (Genesis 41))
Host=Innkeeper
Saving your reverence=With respect (used before an impolite remark)
Compleat:
Kine=Koeien
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn
Host=een Waerd, herbergier
Burgersdijk:
In de wijnhuizen kregen de gasten hij den wijn een zakjen suiker. Men mag er uit vermoeden, dat of de wijn of die hem dronk vaak niet al te best van smaak was.

Topics: life, age/experience, excess, offence

If to be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damned.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Sack=The generic name of Spanish and Canary wines
Kine=Cow
Compleat:
Kine=Koeien
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn

Topics: life, age/experience, excess, offence

In faith, he is a worthy gentleman, Exceedingly well read and profited In strange concealments.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Mortimer
CONTEXT:
In faith, he is a worthy gentleman,
Exceedingly well read and profited
In strange concealments, valiant as a lion,
And as wondrous affable, and as bountiful
As mines of India.

DUTCH:
Hij is, geloof me, een waardig edelman,
Van veel belezenheid en door-ervaren
In diepe kunsten,

MORE:
Schmidt:
Worthy=Deserving praise, excellent (implying all the shades of meaning between simple approval and the highest veneration)
Profited=proficient
Concealments=Keeping secrets
Compleat:
A worthy man (man of worth)=Een waardig man
A worthy (virtuous or principled) man=Een man van goede grondbeginzelen
Concealment=Verberging, bedekking, geheimhouding, verzwyging

Topics: value, status, order/society, learning/education

Instinct is a great matter.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules, but beware instinct. The lion will not touch the true Prince. Instinct is a great matter. I was now a coward on instinct.

DUTCH:
Instinct is een groote zaak; ik was lafaard uit instinct.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Beware=listen to, to take heed
Instinct=Natural impulse, knowledge not acquired by experience, but inborn

Topics: nature, courage

It lends a luster and more great opinion, A larger dare, to our great enterprise.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
You strain too far.
I rather of his absence make this use:
It lends a luster and more great opinion,
A larger dare, to our great enterprise
Than if the Earl were here, for men must think
If we without his help can make a head
To push against a kingdom, with his help
We shall o’erturn it topsy-turvy down.
Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.

DUTCH:
Gij gaat te ver;
Ik zie voor ons eer voordeel in zijn afzijn:
‘t Leent hoog’ren luister en een groot’ren roem
En meerdre koenheid aan ons groote werk,
Dan zoo de graaf hier was.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Strain=Effort of thought (as if by violent stretching of the mind); to extend, to stretch (you go too far in your apprehensions).
Lustre=Brightness, splendour
Dare=Boldness

Topics: plans/intentions, ambition, hope/optimism, reputation, perception

My lord, he speaks most vilely of you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Mistress Quickly
CONTEXT:
So I told him, my lord; and I said I heard your grace say so: and, my lord, he speaks most vilely of you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is; and said he would cudgel you.

DUTCH:
My lord, he speaks most vilely of you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is

MORE:
Defined as using obscene, abusive, opporobrious language. First used by Shakespeare, though there are previous recordings of foul-spoken and foul-tongued.
Schmidt:
Vilely (O. Edd. vildly or vildely; vilely only in Henry IV)=Meanly, basely, shamefully
Foul-mouthed=Speaking ill of others, given to calumny and detraction
Compleat:
Vilely=Op een verachtelyke wyze
Foul-mouthed=Vuil van mond, die een vuilen bek heeft in ‘t spreeken.

Topics: language, insult, reputation

Never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit. Thou art essentially made, without seeming so.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit. Thou art essentially made, without seeming so.
PRINCE HENRY
And thou a natural coward without instinct.
FALSTAFF
I deny your major. If you will deny the Sheriff, so; if not, let him enter. If I become not a cart as well as another man, a plague on my bringing up. I hope I shall as soon be strangled with a halter as another.
PRINCE HENRY
Go, hide thee behind the arras. The rest walk up above.—
Now, my masters, for a true face and good conscience.

DUTCH:
Noem een echt goudstuk nooit een valsche munt; gij zijt in waarheid dol, al schijnt gij het niet.

MORE:
Essentially made=Truly royal
Major=The main part of your argument; the first proposition of a syllogism
Cart=hanging cart that carries criminals to execution
Become not=Do not look as good as
Bringing up=Upbringing
Compleat:
To bring up=Opbrengen, opvoeden
A Bringer up of children=Een Opbrenger van kinderen
Burgersdijk notes:
Uw gevolg wijs ik af. In ‘t Engelsch staat: „Ik ontken uw major”. Major is de hoofdstelling van een syllogisme; het woord is gebezigd om tusschen major of mayor en het volgende sheriff een tegenstelling te zoeken.
Verberg u achter het wandtapijt. De tapijten werden wel is waar niet zelden aan haken tegen den muur, maar dikwijls ook op eenigen afstand er van opgehangen, zoodat men er zich zeer wel achter kon verbergen.

Topics: deceit, value, appearance, courage, conscience

None of these mad mustachio purple-hued malt-worms…

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Gadshill
CONTEXT:
I am joined with no foot-land-rakers, no long-staff sixpenny strikers, none of these mad mustachio purple-hued malt-worms, but with nobility and tranquillity, burgomasters and great oneyers, such as can hold in, such as will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than drink, and drink sooner than pray, and yet, zounds, I lie, for they pray continually to their saint the commonwealth, or rather not pray to her but prey on her, for they ride up and down on her and make her their boots.

DUTCH:
Ik sluit mij niet aan bij land-loopers te voet, niet bij knuppeldragende schellingafzetters, niet bij dolle moutwurmen met purperroode bierknevels: maar bij adel en renteniers; bij burgemeesters en groote hansen; bij mannen, die hun stand ophouden, die eer zullen toeslaan dan spreken, eer spreken dan drinken, en eer drinken dan bidden; doch neen, hier lieg ik; want zij roepen telkens hun heilige aan: ‘s lands welvaren; of liever zij roepen het niet aan, maar houden het aan, en het varen in dat schuitjen is hun bestaan

MORE:
Malt-worms=Tipplers of ale
Foot-land-raker=Pedestrian vagabond (Schmidt); footpad (Onions)
Boot=Booty from plundering
Burgersdijk:
Zij roepen het niet aan, maar houden het aan. In ‘t Engelsch: not pray to her, but prey on her. Daarop volgt weder een woordspeling met boots, dat buit en laarzen beteekent, en dan met liquored, dat smeereis (van laarzen) en dronken maken beteekenen kan. Varenzaad, waarvan daarna gesproken wordt, is nagenoeg onzichtbaar en wordt als middel vermeld, waarmee iemand, die het bij zich draagt, zich onzichtbaar kan maken. Maar het moet alsdan op St. Jans-avond en op het oogenblik van de geboorte des heiligen ingezameld zijn.

Topics: insult, excess

Now could thou and I rob the thieves and go merrily to London, it would be argument for a week, laughter for a month, and a good jest forever.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
TRAVELERS
O, we are undone, both we and ours forever!
FALSTAFF
Hang, you gorbellied knaves! Are you undone? No, you fat chuffs. I would your store were here. On, bacons, on! What, you knaves, young men must live. You are grandjurors, are you? We’ll jure you, faith.
PRINCE HAL
The thieves have bound the true men. Now could thou and I rob the thieves and go merrily to London, it would be argument for a week, laughter for a month, and a good jest forever.

DUTCH:
Het zou een onderwerp zijn voor een week, gelach voor een maand en een goede mop voor altijd./
De dieven hebben de eerlijke lui gebonden. Als wij tweeën nu de dieven konden berooven en lustig naar Londen trekken, zou dat stof tot onderhoud geven voor een week, gelach voor een maand, en een prachtige grap voor altoos.

MORE:
Grandjurors: Only men of some wealth and social standing would be entitled to serve on a grand jury.
Schmidt:
Bound=Confined, limited
True men=Honest men
Compleat:
A bound=Een grens, landperk

Topics: age/experience, memory, perception

Sblood, you starveling, you elfskin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stockfish!

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Sblood, you starveling, you elfskin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stockfish! O, for breath to utter what is like thee! You tailor’s-yard, you sheath, you bowcase, you vile standing tuck—

DUTCH:
Stilgezwegen, jij hongerlijder, jij aalshuid, jij gedroogde kalfstong, jij bullepees, jij stokvisch,—O, had ik maar adem genoeg om te zeggen, waar je op gelijkt!—jij snijdersel, jij degenscheê, jij boogfoedraal, jij erbarmelijk, rechtopstaand rapier,

MORE:
Schmidt:
Starveling=A hunger-starved and extremely lean person
Neat=horned cattle
Tuck=Rapier
Compleat:
Starveling=Een uitgehongerde, een die zeer mager en niet dan vel en been is
Neat=Een rund, varre (os of koe)

Topics: insult

Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art, A good mouth-filling oath

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
Not yours, in good sooth! Heart, you swear like a comfit-maker’s wife! “Not you, in good sooth,” and “as true as I live,” and “as God shall mend me,” and “as sure as day”—
And givest such sarcenet surety for thy oaths
As if thou never walk’st further than Finsbury.Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art,
A good mouth-filling oath, and leave “in sooth,”
And such protest of pepper-gingerbread,
To velvet-guards and Sunday citizens.

DUTCH:
En geeft zoo taffen eedwaarborg, als waart gij
Nooit verder weg geweest dan Finsbury
Zweer als een edelvrouw, zooals gij zijt,
Een vollen eed, die klinkt,—en laat “In ernst”
En zulke peperkoekbetuigingen
Aan fulpgalons en zondagsburgers over.

MORE:
Onions:
Velvet-guards=Guards with velvet-trimmed clothes (trimmings of velvet being a city fashion at the time)
Mouth-filling=Robust
Protest=Oath, protestation
Burgersdijk notes:
En geeft zoo taffen eedwaarborg, als waart gij Nooit verder weg geweest dan Finsbury. Heetspoor kan die makke betuigingen niet lijden, zooals welgestelde burgervrouwtjens, die, het gewaad met fluweel omboord, hare zondagswandeling naar Finsbury richtten, gaarne gebruiken. Zijne vrouw moest ze aan de vrouwen van zijdehandelaars, — vandaar taffen eedwaarborg, — en peperkoekverkopers overlaten. Finsbury lag toen nog buiten de poorten van Londen en was een gewoon doel van de op Zondag wandelende burgers.

Topics: language, civility, order/society, fashion/trends

That men of your nobility and power Did gage them both in an unjust behalf.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
O, pardon me that I descend so low
To show the line and the predicament
Wherein you range under this subtle King.
Shall it for shame be spoken in these days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility and power
Did gage them both in an unjust behalf
(As both of you, God pardon it, have done)
To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,
And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke?
And shall it in more shame be further spoken
That you are fooled, discarded, and shook off
By him for whom these shames you underwent?

DUTCH:
Moet men, o schande, in deze tijden zeggen,
Of in kronieken voor de toekomst boeken,
Dat mannen van uw adel, uwe macht,
Zich beiden voor een slechte zaak verpandden

MORE:
Canker’ blossom (or canker rose) was a dog rose or wild rose. Also used to refer to something that would destroy, infect or decay.
Schmidt:
Gage=To engage, to bind
Predicament=Category
Behalf=Affair, cause
Onions:
Range=Occupy a position
Compleat=
To canker=Inkankeren, ineeten
Predicament=Zegwoord, alles dat van iets kan gezegd worden

Topics: cause, deception, blame

The better part of valour is discretion

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Counterfeit? I lie. I am no counterfeit. To die is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying when a man thereby liveth is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed. The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life. Zounds, I am afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead. How if he should counterfeit too and rise? By my faith, I am afraid he would prove the better counterfeit.

DUTCH:
Het beste deel van moed is voorzichtigheid./ Het betere deel van de dapperheid is voorzichtigheid.

MORE:
Frequently misquoted, or rearranged, as “Discretion is the better part of valour”.

Topics: misquoted, proverbs and idioms, risk, courage, caution

The purpose you undertake is dangerous.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
The purpose you undertake is dangerous. Why, that’s certain. ‘Tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. The purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you have named uncertain, the time itself unsorted, and your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.

DUTCH:
De onderneming, die gij op touw zet, is gevaarlijk; de vrienden, die gij noemt, zijn onzeker; de tijd zelf is slecht gekozen en geheel uw plan te licht voor het tegenwicht van zulk een grooten wederstand.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Purpose=That which a person intends to do, design, plan, project
Compleat:
Nettle=Netel, brandnetel
To nettle=Branden of steeken als netelen, quellen, ontrusten, onthutselen, plaagen

Topics: purpose, courage, plans/intentions, risk

The time of life is short: to spend that shortness basely were too long.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
O gentlemen, the time of life is short!
To spend that shortness basely were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial’s point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour
An if we live, we live to tread on kings;
If die, brave death, when princes die with us.
Now, for our consciences, the arms are fair
When the intent of bearing them is just.

DUTCH:
De tijd van leven is kort: die korte tijd laag bij de gronds doorbrengen zou te lang zijn

MORE:
Dial’s point=Hand of a sun-dial
Tread on=Bring about the downfall of
Compleat:
Dial, sun-dial=Zonnewyzer.

Topics: life, nature, time, hope/optimism, conscience, merit, value

Then art thou damned for keeping thy word with the devil.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Poins
CONTEXT:
PRINCE HAL
Sir John stands to his word. The devil shall have his bargain, for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs. He will give the devil his due.
POINS
(to FALSTAFF )Then art thou damned for keeping thy word with the devil.

DUTCH:
Dan zijt gij vervloekt, omdat gij den duivel uw woord houdt.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use

Then with the losers let it sympathize, For nothing can seem foul to those that win.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
PRINCE HENRY
The southern wind
Doth play the trumpet to his purposes,
And by his hollow whistling in the leaves
Foretells a tempest and a blust’ring day.
KING
Then with the losers let it sympathize,
For nothing can seem foul to those that win.

DUTCH:
Zoo uite hij zijn leed aan wie ‘t verliezen,
Want aan wie winnen dunkt geen weder slecht.

MORE:
Play trumpet to=Announce, proclaim
Compleat:
To proclaim by sound of trumpet=Met trompetten geschal afkondigen.

Topics: life, nature, conflict, hope/optimism

There lives not three good men unhanged in England, and one of them is fat and grows old.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
You rogue, here’s lime in this sack too.—There is nothing but roguery to be found in villanous man, yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime in it. A villanous coward! Go thy ways, old Jack. Die when thou wilt. If manhood, good manhood, be not forgot upon the face of the earth, then am I a shotten herring. There lives not three good men unhanged in England, and one of them is fat and grows old, God help the while. A bad world, I say. I would I were a weaver. I could sing psalms, or anything. A plague of all cowards, I say still.

DUTCH:
In heel England leven geen drie echte mannen, die niet gehangen zijn, en een van hen is vet en wordt oud.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Manhood=Qualities becoming a man, bravery, fortitude, honour
Shotten=Having spent the roe
Weaver=Weavers were generally Protestant religious exiles from the Low Countries who would sing their psalms at work.
Compleat:
Manhood=Manlykheid, dapperheid, manbaarheid, manbaare staat, menschheid
A shotten herring=Een haring die zyn kuit geschooten heeft
He looks like a shotten herring (or pitifully)=Hy ziet er uit als een kalf dat niet voort wil.
Burgersdijk notes
Daar is nu ook kalk in deze sek.
Er werd kalk gedaan in de Spaansche wijnen om ze duurzamer te maken; bij Sh.’s tijdgenooten vindt men meermalen klachten over deze bijmenging.
Ik wenschte, dat ik een wever was.
De wevers stonden in dien tijd in den reuk van vroomheid; velen van hen waren Calvinistische vluchtelingen uit de Nederlanden, en zongen psalmen bij hun werk.

Topics: honour, courage, honesty

There’s neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
There’s neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou cam’st not of the blood royal, if thou darest not stand for ten shillings.

DUTCH:
Er is in u geen eerlijkheid, geen manhaftigheid, noch goede kameraadschap, en gij zijt ook niet van koninklijken bloede, als gij het hart niet hebt, een paar kronen in den zak te steken.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Fellowship=Companionableness, a spirit and disposition as they ought to be among comrades
Darest, durst=to have courage, to be bold enough, to venture
Compleat:
You durst not do it=Gy durft het niet doen.

Topics: insult, honesty, friendship, courage

These lies are like their father that begets them, gross as a mountain, open, palpable.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
But as the devil would have it, three misbegotten knaves in Kendal green came at my back, and let drive at me, for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst not see thy hand.
PRINCE HENRY
These lies are like their father that begets them, gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou claybrained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou whoreson, obscene, greasy tallow- catch—
FALSTAFF
What, art thou mad? Art thou mad? Is not the truth the truth?

DUTCH:
Die leugens zijn even als de vader, die hen verwekt, groot en breed als een berg, in het oog vallend, tastbaar. Zeg eens, gij onthersende rolpens, gij knoestkoppige dwaas, gij afschuwelijk, glibberig, smerig talkvat.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Misbegotten=Of a bad origin
Kendal=Place in Westmoreland, famous for its clothing trade
Claybrained=Stupid, Cf. Clodpole, clotpole
Tallow-catch, reading of O. Edd. in H4A II; supposed by some to be tallow-ketch, i. e. a vessel filled with tallow; by others tallow-keech, i. e. fat rolled up in a round lump.
Compleat:
Clothead or clot-pated fellow=Een Plompaard, botterik

Topics: deceit, truth, insult

This is the deadly spite that angers me: My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mortimer
CONTEXT:
WORCESTER
In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame,
And, since your coming hither, have done enough
To put him quite beside his patience.
You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault.
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood—
And that’s the dearest grace it renders you—
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain,
The least of which, haunting a nobleman,
Loseth men’s hearts and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.
HOTSPUR
Well, I am schooled. Good manners be your speed!
Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
MORTIMER
This is the deadly spite that angers me:
My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.

DUTCH:
Dit is voor mij een dood’lijk grievend leed:
Mijn vrouw verstaat geen Engelsch, ik geen Welsch.

MORE:
Wilful-blame=Blameable on purpose, on principle; indulging faults, though conscious that they are faults. (Arden: blameworthy in the obstinacy or rashness of your behaviour. (…) Others explain as “
wilfully blameworthy” or “wilfully to blame,” comparing “wilful-negligent” in Winter’s Tale, i. ii. 255,)
Haunting=Affecting
Blood=Mettle, spirit
Want of government=Lack of self-control
Opinion= Conceit
Boiling them of commendation=Making them lose respect
I am schooled=I have learned my lesson
Compleat:
Commendation=Pryzing, aanpryzing, aanbeveling
Opinion=Waan
A man of government=Een gemaatigt Man
He hath not the government of his tongue=Hy kan zyn tong niet beteugelen

Topics: learning/education, civility, order/society, respect, language, blame

Thou art so fat-witted with drinking of old sack.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
Thou art so fat-witted with drinking of old sack and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon benches in the afternoon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day?

DUTCH:

Gij zijt zoo vet van brein geworden van het oude-sekdrinken, het kamizool-losknoopen na het avondeten, en het slapen op banken na den middag, dat gij verleerd hebt, werkelijk te vragen naar wat gij werkelijk weten wilt. Wat duivel hebt gij met den tijd van den dag te maken?

MORE:
Schmidt:
Fat-witted=Heavy-witted, stupid

Topics: insult, excess, intellect, time

Thou didst well, for wisdom cries out in the streets and no man regards it.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:

PRINCE HENRY
Thou didst well, for wisdom cries out in the streets and no man regards it.
FALSTAFF
O, thou hast damnable iteration, and art indeed able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal, God forgive thee for it. Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing, and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give it over. By the Lord, an I do not, I am a villain. I’ll be damned for never a king’s son in Christendom.

DUTCH:
Gij deedt wel; want de wijsheid verheft hare stem op de straten, en niemand slaat acht op haar.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Damnable=Odious, detestable
Iteration=Allegation, quotation
An I do not=If I do not
Compleat:
Damnable=Verfoeijelyk, verdoemelyk
Arden
See Overbury, Characters, A Button-Maker of Amsterdam: “though most of the
wicked (as he calls them) be there.” And Overbury, Characters, A Button-Maker
of Amsterdam: ‘he cries out, ‘Tis impossible for any man to be damn’d that lives in his Religion.”
“Wisdom cries out in the streets” refers to Proverbs 1:20 (King James):
“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets”

Topics: wisdom, truth, , proverbs and idioms

Thou hast the most unsavoury similes.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
PRINCE HENRY
What sayest thou to a hare, or the melancholy of Moorditch?
FALSTAFF
Thou hast the most unsavoury similes, and art indeed the most comparative, rascaliest, sweet young Prince. But, Hal, I prithee trouble me no more with vanity. I would to God thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought. An old lord of the council rated me the other day in the street about you, sir, but I marked him not, and yet he talked very wisely, but I regarded him not, and yet he talked wisely, and in the street, too.

DUTCH:
Gij hebt de onsmakelijkste vergelijkingen ter wereld,
en zijt inderdaad de vergelijkendste, spitsboefachtigste,
aardigste jonge prins.

MORE:
Eating rabbit was believed to cause depression
Onions:
Moorditch=stagnant ditch outside city walls draining the swampy ground of Moorfields
Schmidt:
Unsavoury (metaphorically)=Displeasing
Comparative=Quick at comparisons
Rate (Berate)=Chide
Mark=To take notice of, to pay attention to, to heed, to observe
Compleat:
Unsavoury=Onsmaakelyk, smaakeloos
Burgersdijk:
Gij hebt vloekwaardige aanhalingen.
Een aanhaling, als Prins Hendrik juist uit de spreuken van Salomo deed, werd door de strenge protestanten zondig gerekend en was ook door een statuut van K. Jacobus I verboden. Daarom is dan ook het citaat in folio- uitgave van 1623 verminkt, zoodat daar Falstaffs antwoord zinledig wordt.

Topics: language, reputation, vanity

Thou sayest well, and it holds well too.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
Thou sayest well, and it holds well too, for the fortune of us that are the moon’s men doth ebb and flow like the sea, being governed, as the sea is, by the moon. As for proof now: a purse of gold most resolutely snatched on Monday night and most dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning, got with swearing “Lay by” and spent with crying “Bring in”; now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder, and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows

DUTCH:

Zeer goed gezegd, en zeer juist bovendien; want het geluk van ons, die dienaars zijn der maan, heeft zijn eb en vloed als de zee, en wordt, evenals de zee, door de maan bestuurd.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Holds=to be fit, to be consistent: “thou sayest well, and it –s well too
Ridge=The top of a long and narrow elevation
Compleat:
Hold (bear up)=Ondersteunen

Topics: language, understanding, money, reason

Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Lady Percy
CONTEXT:
Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war,
And thus hath so bestirred thee in thy sleep,
That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow
Like bubbles in a late-disturbèd stream,
And in thy face strange motions have appeared,
Such as we see when men restrain their breath
On some great sudden hest. O, what portents are these?

DUTCH:
Uw geest in u was zoozeer bij den krijg,
En heeft u zoo in uwen slaap verhit,
Dat parels zweet u op het voorhoofd stonden,
Als blazen op een pas verwoeden stroom;

MORE:

Some great sudden hest=A sudden important command
Schmidt:
Soul=Represented as the seat of real, not only professed, sentiments
Hest=behest
CITED IN IRISH LAW:
Murtagh -v- Minister for Defence & Ors [2008] IEHC 292 (22 July 2008) /[2008] IEHC 292

Topics: madness, conflict, wellbeing, emotion and mood

Tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Zounds, where thou wilt, lad. I’ll make one. An I do not, call me villain and baffle me.
PRINCE HENRY
I see a good amendment of life in thee, from praying to purse-taking.
FALSTAFF
Why, Hal, ’tis my vocation, Hal. ‘Tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation.

DUTCH:
Wel, Hein, ’t is mijn beroep, Hein; en in zijn beroep werkzaam zijn is geen zonde.

MORE:
Baffle=originally a punishment of infamy, inflicted on recreant knights, one part of which was hanging them up by the heels” (Nares). This practice is also referred to in 2.4 (Falstaff: If thou dost it half so gravely, so majestically, both in word and matter, hang me up by the heels for a rabbit- sucker or a poulter’s hare.)
“‘Tis no sin for a man…”: Corinthians 7:20 “Let every man abide in the same vocation wherein he was called.”
Compleat:
To lay one by the heels (to send someone to prison)=Iemand gevangen zetten
Amendment of life=Verbeteering van leeven

Topics: work, offence, punishment

To conclude, I am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour that I can drink with any tinker in his own language during my life.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
To conclude, I am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour that I can drink with any tinker in his own language during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost much honor that thou wert not with me in this action; but, sweet Ned—to sweeten which name of Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped even now into my hand by an underskinker, one that never spake other English in his life than “Eight shillings and sixpence,” and “You are welcome,”

DUTCH:
Kortom, ik heb het in een kwartier uur zoo ver gebracht, dat ik mijn leven lang met elken ketellapper in zijn eigen taal drinken kan. Ik zeg u, Edu, veel eer is u ontgaan, dat gij niet met mij bij deze heldendaad geweest zijt.

MORE:
Schmidt:
A proficient=one who has made progress
Tinker=Mender of old brass; Proverbial tipplers and would-be politicians.
Under-skinker=An under-drawer, one that serves liquors
Action=Engagement
Compleat:
Proficient=Vorderende, toeneemende
He is a great proficient in his learning=Hy neemt zeer wel aan zyn leeren.
To skink (to fill drink)=Schenken, inschenken
Skinker=Schenker
Burgersdijk:
Dit stuiverszaksken suiker. In de wijnhuizen kregen de gasten bij den wijn een zakjen suiker. Men mag er uit vermoeden, dat of de wijn of die hem dronk vaak niet al te best van smaak was.

Topics: language, learning/education, order/society

To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap
To pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon,
Or dive into the bottom of the deep,
Where fathom line could never touch the ground,
And pluck up drownèd honor by the locks,
So he that doth redeem her thence might wear
Without corrival all her dignities.
But out upon this half-faced fellowship!

DUTCH:
Bij God! het komt een lichte sprong mij voor,
De bleeke maan de zilvren eer te ontrukken,
Of, nederduikend tot den grond der zee

MORE:
Schmidt:
Corrival (cf. Co-rival)=Rival, competitor
Dignities=Worthiness, worth, estimation, merit
Compleat:
Corrival=Medeminnaar
Burgersdijk:
Maar dit halfslachtig bondgenootschap, weg! In ‘t Engelsch staat half-faced, een half gezicht vertoonend. Percy wil in zijn opgewondenheid elk gevaar alleen tarten, en luistert nog niet naar zijn oom Worcester, die het plan slechts even heeft aangeduid en dadelijk op het gevaar gewezen. Van angstige helpers of bondgenooten wil Heetspoor niets weten. Eerst later, als hij bespeurt, dat er van een grootschen opstand sprake is, heeft hij er ooren naar, en dan terstond. Van Heetspoor zij hier nog aangeteekend, dat hij zijn bijnaam van de Schotten ontving, met wie hij schier altijd in twist was. Hij was bij den slag te Holmedon 35 jaar oud en dus vrij wat ouder dan Shakespeare hem schetst, veel ouder dan Hendrik Monmouth.

Topics: invented or popularised, honour

To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
WESTMORELAND
He is, Sir John. I fear we shall stay too long.
FALSTAFF
Well,
To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast
Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.

DUTCH:
Nu goed.
Het laatst in ‘t veld, en de eersten bij een feest,
Lijkt tragen vechters, gragen gasten ‘t meest.

MORE:
Heywood proverbs (1546):
“And it is ill coming, I have heard say,
To th’ end of a shot and beginning of a fray.”
A hungry guest will come early for a meal, a reluctant soldier will arrive late in the battle..

Topics: proverbs and idioms, time

Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Northumberland
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool
Art thou to break into this woman’s mood,
Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own!
HOTSPUR
Why, look you, I am whipped and scourged with rods,
Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear
Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.
In Richard’s time—what do you call the place?
A plague upon it! It is in Gloucestershire.
‘Twas where the madcap duke his uncle kept,
His uncle York; where I first bowed my knee
Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke.
‘Sblood, when you and he came back from Ravenspurgh.

DUTCH:
Wat wesp heeft u, onstuim’ge dwaas, gestoken,
Dat ge in een vlaag van vrouwenwoede losbreekt,
En ’t oor aan geene tong dan de uwe leent?

MORE:
Tying thine ear=Listening
King of smiles=Hypocrite
Schmidt:
Wasp-stung=Stung by a wasp, highly irritated (Ff wasp-tongued)
Scourge=A whip, a lash; used as the symbol of punishment and vindictive affliction
Rod=The instrument of chastisement for children (or men compared with children)
Pismire=The ant, emmet
Compleat:
Pismire=Mier
Waspish=Kribbig, knyzig, snaauwachtig

Topics: respect, language

Were ’t not for laughing, I should pity him

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
Got with much ease. Now merrily to horse.
The thieves are all scattered, and possessed with fear
So strongly that they dare not meet each other.
Each takes his fellow for an officer.
Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death,
And lards the lean earth as he walks along.
Were ’t not for laughing, I should pity him.

DUTCH:
Kom meê, vriend Edu. Falstaff zweet zich dood,
En spekt de magere aarde, waar hij loopt;
’k Zou hem beklagen, kon ik dat van ’t lachen.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Lard=To fatten; to enrich, to garnish
Compleat:
To lard=Doorspekken
Larded=Doorspekt, met spek doorreegen

Topics: insult, pity

What a lack-brain is this!

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was laid, our friends true and constant—a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation; an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is this! Why, my Lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action. Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I could brain him with his lady’s fan. I

DUTCH:
Wat is dat voor een hersenloos wezen! Bij God, ons plan is zoo goed, als er ooit een plan beraamd is; onze vrienden trouw en standvastig: een goed plan, goede vrienden, en veelbelovend; een uitmuntend plan, zeer goede vrienden!

MORE:
Dr Johnson
La’ckbrain. n.s. [lack and brain.] One that wants wit.
Schmidt:
Lackbrain=A stupid fellow
Action=Enterprise
Frosty-spirited=Cowardly

Topics: insult, plans/intentions

What doth Gravity out of his bed at midnight?

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
What doth Gravity out of his bed at midnight? Shall I give him his answer?

DUTCH:
Wat doet de deftigheid te middernacht uit haar bed? Zal ik hem te woord staan?

MORE:
Schmidt
Gravity=Dignity, solemnity of deportment or character, venerableness
Compleat:
Gravity=Deftigheyd, Stemmigheyd, Ernsthaftigheyd, staataigheyd

Topics: civility, authority

What is honour? A word. What is in that word “honour”?

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
PRINCE HENRY
Why, thou owest God a death.
Tis not due yet. I would be loath to pay Him before His day. What need I be so forward with Him that calls not on me? Well, ’tis no matter. Honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honour prick me off when I come on? How then? Can honor set to a leg? no. Or an arm? no. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honour? A word. What is in that word “honour”? What is that “honour”? Air. A trim reckoning. Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. ‘Tis insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore, I’ll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism.

DUTCH:
Wat is eer? Een woord. Wat is het woord eer? Lucht. De rekening sluit! — Wie Iieeft haar? Die woensdag gestorven is. Voelt hij ze? Neen. Hoort hij ze? Neen. Is ze dus niet waar te nemen? Neen, door de dooden niet. Maar leeft ze dan nooit bij de levenden? Neen. Waarom niet? De afgunst duldt dit niet.

MORE:
Death. Debt. The word-play on “death” and “debt” occurs as early as 1400.
Onions:
Prick on=Encourage, incite
Prick off=to mark or indicate by a ‘prick’ or tick, mark or tick off
Set to a leg=Restore a leg cut off
Insensible=Not to be apprehended by the senses
Scutcheon=A shield with armorial ensigns. Scutcheon is the lowest description of heraldic ensign used for funerals.
Compleat:
Scutcheon=Schild, wapenschild
REFERENCED IN E&W LAW: AM v Local Authority & Anor [2009] EWCA Civ 205 (16 March 2009)
Burgersdijk notes:
De eer is niets dan een wapenschild. Dat bij de begrafenis van een edelman mede rond gedragen wordt, zonder dat de doode er iets aan heeft. — Falstaff noemt, wat hij gezegd heeft, een catechismus, omdat hij in vragen en antwoorden zijn geloofsbelijdenis heeft afgelegd.

Topics: honour, cited in law, skill/talent, life

What trick, what device, what starting-hole canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
What a slave art thou to hack thy sword as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight! What trick, what device, what starting-hole canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?

DUTCH:
Wat voor een deugniet zijt gij, je zwaard in te hakken, zooals je gedaan hebt, en dan te zeggen, dat het van ‘t vechten is gekomen! Wat voor een streek, wat uitvlucht, wat schuil kun je nu uitvinden, om je voor deze openlijke-hoek en klaarblijkelijke schande te versteken?

MORE:
Onions:
Starting-hole: place of refuge for a hunted animal; fig. subterfuge
Trick: An heraldic term, meaning a delineation of arms, in which the colours are distinguished by their technical marks, without any colour being laid on.
Schmidt:
Starting-hole=Evasion, subterfuge
Frosty-spirited=Cold, dull
Compleat:
A starting-hole (a come-off or subterfuge)=Een voorwendzel, uitvlucht
To start a hare=Een haas verjaagen (of opstooten)

Topics: justification, truth, offence

Wherein cunning but in craft? Wherein crafty but in villany? Wherein villanous but in all things? Wherein worthy but in nothing?

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
Ungracious boy, henceforth ne’er look on me. Thou art violently carried away from grace. There is a devil haunts thee in the likeness of an old fat man. A tun of man is thy companion. Why dost thou converse with that trunk of humors, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloakbag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly, that reverend Vice, that gray iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years? Wherein is he good, but to taste sack and drink it? Wherein neat and cleanly but to carve a capon and eat it? Wherein cunning but in craft? Wherein crafty but in villany? Wherein villanous but in all things? Wherein worthy but in nothing?
FALSTAFF
I would your grace would take me with you: whom
means your grace

DUTCH:
Gij laat u met geweld wegsleuren van de genade; er is een duivel, die om u waart in de gedaante van een vetten ouden man; een ton van een man is uw kameraad. Waarom verkeert gij met die kist vol grillen, dien builtrog van dierlijkheid, die opgeblazen baal waterzucht, dat buikig stiikvat sek, dat volgepropte darmenvalies, dien gebraden kermisos met den beuling in ‘t lijf, die eerwaardige ondeugd, die grijze verdorvenheid, dien vader losbol, die ijdelheid op jaren?

MORE:
Schmidt:
Ungracious=impious, wicked
Vanity= worthlessness
Take me with you=Explain your meaning
Burgersdijk notes:
In de Oud-Engelsche spelen trad als komische persoon de Ondeugd, Vice, dikwijls op; hij was met een houten zwaard gewapend.
Dien gebraden kermis-os. In’t Engelsch staat: Dien gebraden Manningtree-ox. Manningtree was een plaats in het weide- en veerijke graafschap Essex, waar op de jaarmarkt steeds een geheele os met de ingewanden in ‘t lijf werd gebraden. Bij die gelegenheid werden er dan ook volksschouwspelen, zoogenaamde Moraliteiten , gegeven, waarin doorgaans de allegorische personen Ondeugd, Goddeloosheid of Verdorvenheid, en IJdelheid, Vice, Iniquity en Vanity, optraden. Van daar dat de Prins Falstaff eerst met den os en dan met die allegorische personen vergelijkt.

Topics: insult, offence, value, order/society, understanding

You tread upon my patience. But be sure I will from henceforth rather be myself

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
My blood hath been too cold and temperate,
Unapt to stir at these indignities,
And you have found me, for accordingly
You tread upon my patience. But be sure
I will from henceforth rather be myself,
Mighty and to be feared, than my condition,
Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down,
And therefore lost that title of respect
Which the proud soul ne’er pays but to the proud.

DUTCH:
Te koel en te gematigd was mijn bloed,
Niet vatbaar om hij zulk een hoon te koken;
En dit hebt gij ontdekt, want daarom treedt gij
Op mijn lankmoedigheid;

MORE:
Schmidt:
Temperate=moderate, calm
Found me=Found me out, have my measure
Unapt=Not propense or ready
Condition=Quality
Tread upon (in a moral sense)=To trample, to set the foot on in contempt
Indignity=Contemptuous injury, insult
Title of respect=Claim to respect, respect to which I have title
Compleat:
Unapt=Onbekwaam
Temperate=Maatig, gemaatigd
To tread upon=Optreeden, vertreeden
To tread underfoot=Met den voet treeden

Topics: identity, dignity, failure, respect, patience, authority