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PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2 ACT/SCENE: 3.1 SPEAKER: Cardinal CONTEXT: CARDINAL
A breach that craves a quick expedient stop!
What counsel give you in this weighty cause?
YORK
That Somerset be sent as regent thither:
‘Tis meet that lucky ruler be employ’d;
Witness the fortune he hath had in France.
SOMERSET
If York, with all his far-fet policy,
Had been the regent there instead of me,
He never would have stay’d in France so long.
YORK
No, not to lose it all, as thou hast done:
I rather would have lost my life betimes
Than bring a burthen of dishonour home
By staying there so long till all were lost.
Show me one scar character’d on thy skin:
Men’s flesh preserved so whole do seldom win. DUTCH: Een bres voorwaar, die daad’lijk dichting eischt.
Wat raad geeft gij bij dit gewichtig nieuws?
MORE:
Schmidt:
Crave=Demand, require
Far-fet=(far-fetched): Layered, deep, cunning (without modern connotation of unlikely)
Betimes=Early, at an early hour
Burthen=Burden
Charactered=Written, inscribed, marked

Compleat:
To crave=Ootmoedig bidden, smeeken
Betimes=Bytyds, vroeg
Far-fetched=Ver gehaald
Burden=Last, pak, vracht
Character=Een merk, merkteken, letter, afbeeldsel, uitdruksel, print, stempel, uitgedruktbeeld, uitbeelding Topics: skill/talent, honour, age/experience

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Suffolk
CONTEXT:
Well hath your highness seen into this duke;
And, had I first been put to speak my mind,
I think I should have told your grace’s tale.
The duchess, by his subornation,
Upon my life, began her devilish practises:
Or, if he were not privy to those faults,
Yet, by reputing of his high descent,
As next the king he was successive heir,
And such high vaunts of his nobility,
Did instigate the bedlam brain-sick duchess
By wicked means to frame our sovereign’s fall.
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep;
And in his simple show he harbours treason.
The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb.
No, no, my sovereign; Gloucester is a man
Unsounded yet and full of deep deceit.

DUTCH:
Neen, neen, mijn koning; Gloster is een man,
Die ondoorgrondlijk is, vol diep bedrog.

MORE:

Still waters run deep. Proverb of Latin origin meaning a placid exterior hiding a passionate nature.
Proverb: The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb.

Seen into=Penetrated, understood
Subornation=Crime of procuring one to offend, specially to bear false witness
Repute=(+of): Setting great store by, prize
Bedlam=Nickname for Bethlem hospital, for the treatment of mental illness, which has become a byword for chaos and mayhem
Unsounded=Unfathomed (as in depth sounding, i.e. measuring the depth of a body of water)

Compleat:
To see into a thing=Een inzigt in eene zaak hebben, ‘er den grond van beschouwen
Subornation=Besteeking, een bestoken werk, omkooping
To repute=Achten
Bedlam (Bethlem)=Een dolhuis, dulhuis, krankzinnighuis; (mad bodey)=Een dul mensch, een uitzinnige
To sound=Peilen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, appearance, deceit

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
Ah, what’s more dangerous than this fond affiance!
Seems he a dove? His feathers are but borrowed,
For he’s disposed as the hateful raven:
Is he a lamb? His skin is surely lent him,
For he’s inclined as is the ravenous wolf.
Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?
Take heed, my lord; the welfare of us all
Hangs on the cutting short that fraudful man.

DUTCH:
Ach, hoe gevaarlijk is dit blind vertrouwen!
Schijnt hij een duif? zijn veed’ren zijn geborgd
Want als een booze raaf is hij gezind.

MORE:

Proverb: A wolf in sheep’s clothing (‘His skin is surely lent him’)

Raven=Symbolic of a bad omen
Fond=Foolish
Affiance=Confidence
Steal a shape=Create a false impression or appearance
Hateful=Deserving hate
Hangs on=Depends on

Compleat:
Fond (foolish)=Dwaas
Affiance=Vertrouwen, hoop
Hatefull=Haatelyk
These things seem to hang one upon the other=Deeze zaaken schynen van malkander af te hangen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, deceit

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
CADE
And good reason; for thereby is England mained, and fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance holds it up. Fellow kings, I tell you that that Lord Say hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it an eunuch: and more than that, he can speak French; and therefore he is a traitor.
SIR HUMPHREY
O gross and miserable ignorance!

DUTCH:
En nog erger dan dit: hij kan Fransch
spreken en dus is hij een verrader.

MORE:

(See also Away with him! He speaks Latin)

Mained=Maimed
Fain to=Obliged to
Puissance=Power, strength, force
Geld=Castrate; fig. deprive of an esssential part
Gross=Dull, stupid

Compleat:
Maimed=Verminkt
Fain to=Gaern, genoodzaakt
To geld=Lubben
Gross=Grof, plomp

Topics: learning/education, language, misunderstanding, perception

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
Lord cardinal, I will follow Eleanor,
And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds:
She’s tickled now; her fume needs no spurs,
She’ll gallop far enough to her destruction.
GLOUCESTER
Now, lords, my choler being over-blown
With walking once about the quadrangle,
I come to talk of commonwealth affairs.
As for your spiteful false objections,
Prove them, and I lie open to the law:
But God in mercy so deal with my soul,
As I in duty love my king and country!
But, to the matter that we have in hand:
I say, my sovereign, York is meetest man
To be your regent in the realm of France.

DUTCH:
Nadat ik, lords, mijn gal heb afgekoeld,
Door eens het binnenhof in ‘t rond te gaan,
Isom ik de staatsbelangen weer bespreken.
Wat gij mij fel en valsch heb aangetegen,
Bewijst dit, en ik wacht de rechtspraak af;

MORE:

Proverb: Nothing is well said or done in a passion (in anger)

Listen after=Ask after
Tickled=Irritated
Fume=Irritation, anger
Choler=Anger, bile
Overblown=Blown over, gone away
Spiteful=Malignant
Meetest=Most suitable

Compleat:
Ticklish (touchy, exceptious)=Kittelig, schielyk geraakt
To be in a fume=In een woede zyn
Cholerick=Oploopend, haastig, toornig. To be in choler=Toornig zyn
Spitefull=Spytig, nydig

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, anger

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
SAY
Nothing but this; ’tis ‘bona terra, mala gens.’
CADE
Away with him, away with him! He speaks Latin.
SAY
Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.
Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,
Is term’d the civil’st place of this isle:
Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;
Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,
Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.
Justice with favour have I always done;
Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never.
When have I aught exacted at your hands,
But to maintain the king, the realm and you?
Large gifts have I bestow’d on learned clerks,
Because my book preferr’d me to the king,
And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,
Unless you be possess’d with devilish spirits,
You cannot but forbear to murder me:
This tongue hath parley’d unto foreign kings
For your behoof

DUTCH:
Weg met hem! weg met hem! hij spreekt Latijn.

MORE:
See also “He can speak French; and therefore he is a traitor” (4.2)

Civil’st=Most civilized
Clerks=Scholars
Liberal=Refined
Favour=Lenience
Aught=Anything
Exacted=Taken in the form of taxes
My book=My learning, education
Preferred me=Recommended me to, put me in favour with
Parley=Talks, negotiations for an agreement
Behoof=Advantage, benefit

Compleat:
Civilized=Welgemanierd, beschaafd, heusch
Clerk=Klerk, schryver
A liberal education=Een goede of ruime opvoeding
Favourable (jkind)=Vriendelyk
Aught=Iets
To exact=Afvorderen, afeisschen
To prefer one=Iemand bevorderen, zyn fortuin maaken
To parley=Gesprek houden, te spraake staane, te woorde staan van overgaave spreeken
Behoof=Nut, geryf, gemak

Burgersdijk notes:
Bona terra, mala gens. Het land goed, maar het volk kwaad.
De leefste streek. In Arthur Golding’s vertaling der Commentaren van Julius Czesar (1565) kon Shakespeare lezen: Of all the inhabitants of this isle the Kentishnien are the civilest. Sh. spreekt hier ook van the civil’st place.

Topics: money, value, learning/education, language

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
I feel remorse in myself with his words; but I’ll bridle it:
he shall die, an it be but for pleading so well for his life.
Away with him! He has a familiar under his tongue;
he speaks not o’ God’s name. Go, take him away,
I say, and strike off his head presently;
and then break into his son-in-law’s house,
Sir James Cromer, and strike off his head,
and bring them both upon two poles hither.

DUTCH:
Weg met hem! hij heeft een dienstbaren duivel onder zijn tong, hij spreekt niet in den naam van God

MORE:

Bridle=Rein in, constrain
Familiar=Demon or spirit
An be it but for=If only for

Compleat:
To bridle=Intoomen, breidelen, beteugelen
Familiar=Een gemeenzaame geet, queldrommel

Topics: language, deceit, truth, punishment, regret

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Suffolk
CONTEXT:
SUFFOLK
Before we make election, give me leave
To show some reason, of no little force,
That York is most unmeet of any man.
YORK
I’ll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet:
First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride;
Next, if I be appointed for the place,
My Lord of Somerset will keep me here,
Without discharge, money, or furniture,
Till France be won into the Dauphin’s hands:
Last time, I danced attendance on his will
Till Paris was besieged, famish’d, and lost.
WARWICK
That can I witness; and a fouler fact
Did never traitor in the land commit.

DUTCH:
Aleer we een keuze doen, zij mij vergund,
Dat ik met gronden van gewicht hier aantoon,
Hoe York het minst van allen er voor deugt.

MORE:

Make election=Select
Of no little force=Of substantial weight, powerful
Dance attendance=Wait upon
Cannot flatter thee in pride=My pride/self-respect won’t allow me to flatter you
Furniture=Military equipment, supplies
For the place=To the position

Compleat:
To dance attendance=Lang te vergeefsch wagten

Topics: integrity, reputation, justification, reason

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
GLOUCESTER
Why, Suffolk, England knows thine insolence.
QUEEN MARGARET
And thy ambition, Gloucester.
KING HENRY VI
I prithee, peace, good queen,
And whet not on these furious peers;
For blessed are the peacemakers on earth.

DUTCH:
Lieve vrouw,
Zwijg stil en zet die woeste pairs niet aan;
Gezegend zij, die vrede op aarde stichten.

MORE:

Proverb: To make peace with a sword in his hand
Proverb: Blessed are the peacemakers

Insolence=Pride
Whet not on=Don’t encourage

Compleat:
Insolence=Moedwilligheid, verwaandheid, baldaadigheid, trotsheid
Whet=Wetten, slypen, scherp maaken

Topics: proverbs and idioms, resolution

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
SUFFOLK
Hath he not twit our sovereign lady here
With ignominious words, though clerkly couch’d,
As if she had suborned some to swear
False allegations to o’erthrow his state?
QUEEN MARGARET
But I can give the loser leave to chide.
GLOUCESTER
Far truer spoke than meant: I lose, indeed;
Beshrew the winners, for they play’d me false!
And well such losers may have leave to speak.
BUCKINGHAM
He’ll wrest the sense and hold us here all day:
Lord cardinal, he is your prisoner.

DUTCH:
Hem, die verliest, vergun ik ‘t wel, te schimpen.

MORE:

Proverb: Give losers leave to speak (talk)

Twit=To reproach
Clerkly couched=Cleverly expressed, articulated
Suborn=Institgate to perjury
Wrest=Distort, spin, misinterpret
Beshrew=(or beshrow): mild curse

Compleat:
To suborn a witness=Eenen getuige opmaaken of omkoopen
To twit in the teeth=Verwyten
He ever twits me in the teeth with it=Hy werpt het my gestadig voor de scheenen
Twitting=Verwyting, verwytende
To suborn a witness=Eenen getuige opmaaken of omkoopen
To wrest=Verdraaijen, wringen
To wrest one’s words maliciously=Iemands woorden kwaadaardig verdraaijen
Beshrew=Bekyven, vervloeken

Topics: truth, manipulation, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Suffolk
CONTEXT:
Tis like the commons, rude unpolish’d hinds,
Could send such message to their sovereign:
But you, my lord, were glad to be employ’d,
To show how quaint an orator you are:
But all the honour Salisbury hath won
Is, that he was the lord ambassador
Sent from a sort of tinkers to the king.

DUTCH:
Maar gij, mylord, gij laat u gaarne zenden,
Opdat gij toont, hoe fraai gij spreken kunt;

MORE:

Tinkers=(a) menders of metal pots and pans; (b) beggars and thieves
Hinds=Ignorant country folk
Quaint=Skilled (in speaking)
Sort=Group

Compleat:
Rude=Ruuw; onbeleefd
A rude, unpolished person=Een ruuw, onbeschaafd persoon
A quaint discourse=Een beschaafde reden
To speak quaintly=Cierlyk spreeken

Topics: order/society, language, skill/talent

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
Now, York, or never, steel thy fearful thoughts
And change misdoubt to resolution.
Be that thou hop’st to be, or what thou art
Resign to death; it is not worth th’ enjoying.
Let pale-faced fear keep with the mean-born man
And find no harbor in a royal heart.
Faster than springtime showers comes thought on
thought,
And not a thought but thinks on dignity.
My brain, more busy than the labouring spider,
Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies.
Well, nobles, well, ’tis politicly done
To send me packing with an host of men.
I fear me you but warm the starvèd snake,
Who, cherished in your breasts, will sting your
hearts.

DUTCH:
Als voorjaarsbuien komt mij denk- bij denkbeeld,
Doch niet éen denkbeeld, dat niet grootheid denkt.

MORE:

Proverb: To nourish a viper (snake) in one ‘s bosom
Proverb: Ill putting (put not) a naked sword in a madman’s hand

Steel=Harden, strengthen
Politicly=For political reasons
Misdoubt=Forebodings
That=That which
Mean-born=Lowly
Dignity=High rank
Tedious=Laborious
The starved snake=Frozen snake (reference to Aesop’s Fable of the Farmer and the Snake)
Fell=Strong; Vicious, intense, savage

Compleat:
To steel=(harden): Hardmaaken, verharden; To steel one’s self in any sin=Zich in eene zonde verharden; To steel one against another=Den een tegen den ander ophitzen
Fell=(cruel) Wreed, fel
Starve=(of cold) Van koude sterven
Politickly=Staatkundiglyk
Of mean descent=Van een laage afkomst
Dignity (greatness, nobleness)=Grootheid, adelykheid; (merit, importance)=Waardigheid, staat-empot, verdiensten

Topics: proverbs and idioms, mercy, ambiiton, satisfaction

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Young Clifford
CONTEXT:
Shame and confusion! All is on the rout;
Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds
Where it should guard. O war, thou son of hell,
Whom angry heavens do make their minister
Throw in the frozen bosoms of our part
Hot coals of vengeance! Let no soldier fly.
He that is truly dedicate to war
Hath no self-love, nor he that loves himself
Hath not essentially but by circumstance
The name of valour.

DUTCH:
Schande en verwarring! Alles wijkt en vlucht.
Door vrees wordt orde wanorde, en verwondt
Wat zij moest hoeden

MORE:

Frames=Creates, produces
Rout=In a disorderly retreat
Guard=Protect
Circumstance=Occurrence, accident

Compleat:
To frame=Een gestalte geeven, maaken, ontwerpen, schikken
Rout (defeat)=Nederlaag
Rout (squabble, noise)=Geraas, getier
Circumstance=Omstandigheid

Topics: respect, courage, revenge

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
What, doth my Lord of Suffolk comfort me?
Came he right now to sing a raven’s note,
Whose dismal tune bereft my vital powers;
And thinks he that the chirping of a wren,
By crying comfort from a hollow breast,
Can chase away the first-conceived sound?
Hide not thy poison with such sugar’d words;
Lay not thy hands on me; forbear, I say;
Their touch affrights me as a serpent’s sting.
Thou baleful messenger, out of my sight!
Upon thy eye-balls murderous tyranny
Sits in grim majesty, to fright the world.
Look not upon me, for thine eyes are wounding:
Yet do not go away: come, basilisk,
And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight;
For in the shade of death I shall find joy;
In life but double death, now Gloucester’s dead.

DUTCH:
Verberg uw gif niet zoo met suikerwoorden

MORE:

Proverb: The basilisk’s eye is fatal

Raven’s note=Bad news (the raven was symbolic of a bad omen)
Bereft=Deprived me of, spoiled, impaired
Hollow=Faint, insincere, deceitful
First-conceived=Initially heard
Forbear=Abstain, refrain from doing
Affright=Terrify

Compleat:
Bereft, bereaved=Beroofd
Forbear=Zich van onthouden
Hollow=Hol; Hollow-hearted=Geveinst
To affright=Verschrikken, vervaard maaken

Topics: proverbs and idioms, betrayal, honesty, deceit

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah,
thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! Now
art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction
regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty for
giving up of Normandy unto Mounsieur Basimecu, the
dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these
presence, even the presence of Lord Mortimer, that I
am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such
filth as thou art.

DUTCH:
Kond en kenn’lijk zij u door dezen, dat is
door dezen lord Mortimer, dat ik de bezem ben, die het hof
schoon moet vegen van zulke vuilnis als gij zijt.

MORE:

Proverb: A new broom (besom) sweeps clean

Serge=Durable fabric often worn by the poorer in society
Buckram=Coarse linen stiffened with glue
Besom=Broom

Compleat:
Buckram=Gewascht doek, trilje
Besom=Beezem

Burgersdijk notes:
Zoo, gij Say, gij saai enz. In het Engelsch staat: Ah, thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! Say is fijner stof dan serge, en dit weer beter dan buckram. zoodat Say gedegradeerd wordt. In ‘t Nederlandsch had misschien saai, serge en karsaai kunnen gekozen zijn. — Monsieur baesimecu, dat volgt, een schimpnaam voor een Franschman, is verbasterd van baise mon cul.

Topics: learning/education, language

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

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

MORE:

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

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

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

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Iden
CONTEXT:
Lord, who would live turmoiled in the court,
And may enjoy such quiet walks as these?
This small inheritance my father left me
Contenteth me, and worth a monarchy.
I seek not to wax great by others’ waning,
Or gather wealth, I care not, with what envy:
Sufficeth that I have maintains my state
And sends the poor well pleased from my gate.

DUTCH:
Hier zoek ik niet door and’rer val te stijgen ,
Niet rijk te worden, aangegluurd door nijd;

MORE:

Turmoiled=In the turmoil of
Sufficieth that=It is enough that (what I have)

Compleat:
Turmoiled=Gehulderd, afgesloofd
Suffice=Genoeg zyn
It suffices that it is so=’t Is genoeg dat het zo is

Topics: order/society, satisfaction, envy

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

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

MORE:

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

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

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

Topics: proverbs and idioms, betrayal, justice, conspiracy

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Buckingham
CONTEXT:
YORK
Whom have we here? Buckingham, to disturb me?
The king hath sent him, sure: I must dissemble.
BUCKINGHAM
York, if thou meanest well, I greet thee well.
YORK
Humphrey of Buckingham, I accept thy greeting.
Art thou a messenger, or come of pleasure?
BUCKINGHAM
A messenger from Henry, our dread liege,
To know the reason of these arms in peace;
Or why thou, being a subject as I am,
Against thy oath and true allegiance sworn,
Should raise so great a power without his leave,
Or dare to bring thy force so near the court.

DUTCH:
Zoo gij als vriend komt, York, dan groet ik vriendlijk.

MORE:

Dissemble=Assume a false appearance
Arms=Army
Dread=Greatly revered

Compleat:
To dissemble (conceal)=Bedekken, bewimpelen; veinzen, ontveinzen, verbloemen
Dread sovereign=Geduchte Vorst

Topics: appearance, deceit, civility, purpose, loyalty

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Saye
CONTEXT:
SAYE
Nothing but this; ’tis ‘bona terra, mala gens.’
CADE
Away with him, away with him! He speaks Latin.
SAYE
Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.
Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,
Is term’d the civil’st place of this isle:
Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;
Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,
Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.
Justice with favour have I always done;
Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never.
When have I aught exacted at your hands,
But to maintain the king, the realm and you?
Large gifts have I bestow’d on learned clerks,
Because my book preferr’d me to the king,
And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,
Unless you be possess’d with devilish spirits,
You cannot but forbear to murder me:
This tongue hath parley’d unto foreign kings
For your behoof

DUTCH:
Veel giften schonk ik aan geleerde mannen,
Omdat mijn weten bij den koning gold,
En wijl onwetendheid Gods vloek, maar kennis
De vleugel is, die ons ten hemel voert.

MORE:
See also “He can speak French; and therefore he is a traitor” (4.2)

Civil’st=Most civilized
Clerks=Scholars
Liberal=Refined
Favour=Lenience
Aught=Anything
Exacted=Taken in the form of taxes
My book=My learning, education
Preferred me=Recommended me to, put me in favour with
Parley=Talks, negotiations for an agreement
Behoof=Advantage, benefit

Compleat:
Civilized=Welgemanierd, beschaafd, heusch
Clerk=Klerk, schryver
A liberal education=Een goede of ruime opvoeding
Favourable (jkind)=Vriendelyk
Aught=Iets
To exact=Afvorderen, afeisschen
To prefer one=Iemand bevorderen, zyn fortuin maaken
To parley=Gesprek houden, te spraake staane, te woorde staan van overgaave spreeken
Behoof=Nut, geryf, gemak

Burgersdijk notes:
Bona terra, mala gens. Het land goed, maar het volk kwaad.
De leefste streek. In Arthur Golding’s vertaling der Commentaren van Julius Czesar (1565) kon Shakespeare lezen: Of all the inhabitants of this isle the Kentishnien are the civilest. Sh. spreekt hier ook van the civil’st place.

Topics: money, value, learning/education, language

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Young Clifford
CONTEXT:
Meet I an infant of the house of York,
Into as many gobbets will I cut it
As wild Medea young Absyrtus did:
In cruelty will I seek out my fame.

DUTCH:
Mijn wreedheid zij het, die mij roem verwerve.

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CITED IN E&W LAW: Siddiqui v The Chancellor, Masters & Scholars of the University of Oxford [2018] EWHC 184 (QB) (07 February 2018)

Gobbet=Small pieces of flesh
In Greek mythology, Medea cut her brother Absyrtus into small pieces which she scattered to slow her father down

Topics: cited in law, ambition, good and bad

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Salisbury
CONTEXT:
It is great sin to swear unto a sin,
But greater sin to keep a sinful oath.
Who can be bound by any solemn vow
To do a murderous deed, to rob a man,
To force a spotless virgin’s chastity,
To reave the orphan of his patrimony,
To wring the widow from her custom’d right,
And have no other reason for this wrong
But that he was bound by a solemn oath?
QUEEN MARGARET
A subtle traitor needs no sophister.

DUTCH:
t Is groote zonde, op zonde een eed te doen,
Doch grooter zonde , een zondige’ eed te houden.

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Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
Proverb: It is a great sin to swear unto a sin But greater sin to keep a sinful oath

Reave=Rob
Customed right=Rightful portion of her husband’s estate
Sophister=Clever or cunning arguer
Field=Battlefield

Compleat:
Bereave=Rooven
Accustomed=Gewoon, gewend, tot iets geschikt
Sophister (a cunning or sharp man)=Een listing schrander man
Sophistry=Een schalke wyze van redeneeren, woordvittery, haairkloovery, verschalking

Topics: law/legal, proverbs and idioms, good and bad

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Holland
CONTEXT:
BEVIS
I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress
the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.
HOLLAND
So he had need, for ’tis threadbare. Well, I say it was never merry world in England since gentlemen came up.
BEVIS
O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in handicrafts-men.
HOLLAND
The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons.
BEVIS
Nay, more, the king’s council are no good workmen.

DUTCH:
Dat is ook hoognoodig, want afgedragen is hij. Ik
zeg maar, met hel vroolijk leven is het uit in Engeland,
sinds de edellieden er zoo de baas zijn.

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Set a new nap=Reform, change direction (the nap of a woven fabric being the direction)
Came up=Arrived, became fashionable
Think scorn=Are contemptuous, disdainful of
King’s Council=Assembly, privy counsellors
Regarded=Valued

Compleat:
The nap of cloth=De wol of noppen van laken
To come up=Opkomen
Regard=Achting

Topics: honesty, status, order/society, skill/talent, value, fashion/trends

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Cardinal
CONTEXT:
So, there goes our protector in a rage.
‘Tis known to you he is mine enemy,
Nay, more, an enemy unto you all,
And no great friend, I fear me, to the king.
Consider, lords, he is the next of blood,
And heir apparent to the English crown:
Had Henry got an empire by his marriage,
And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west,
There’s reason he should be displeased at it.
Look to it, lords! Let not his smoothing words
Bewitch your hearts; be wise and circumspect.
What though the common people favour him,
Calling him ‘Humphrey, the good Duke of Gloucester,’
Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice,
‘Jesu maintain your royal excellence!’
With ‘God preserve the good Duke Humphrey!’
I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss,
He will be found a dangerous protector.

DUTCH:
Lords, zorgt er voor, dat niet zijn gladde taal
Uw hart beheks’, weest wijs en op uw hoede!

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Smoothing=Flattering
Flattering gloss=Sheen
What though=Never mind, so what if

Compleat:
Gloss=Uitlegging
To set a gloss upon a thing=Iets een schoonen opschik geeven
To smooth one up (coaks)=Iemand streelen

Topics: language, deceit, truth, caution, wisdom

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
From Ireland thus comes York to claim his right
And pluck the crown from feeble Henry’s head.
Ring, bells, aloud! Burn, bonfires, clear and bright
To entertain great England’s lawful king!
Ah, sancta maiestas, who would not buy thee dear?
Let them obey that knows not how to rule.
This hand was made to handle naught but gold.
I cannot give due action to my words
Except a sword or scepter balance it.
A scepter shall it have, have I a soul,
On which I’ll toss the fleur-de-luce of France.

DUTCH:
Sancta majestas! wie kocht u niet duur?
Dat hij gehoorzaam’, die niet heerschen kan

MORE:

Sancta maiestas=Sacred majesty
Except=Unless
Balance=Add weight to
“Flower-de-luce”=”Fleur-de-lis”

Compleat:
Except=Behalve, uitgezonderd, uitgenomen, uitgezegd
Ballance=Opweegen
“Flower-de-luce”=Fransche lely

Topics: leadership, respect, authority

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

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

MORE:

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

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

Topics: justice, punishment

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
First note that he is near you in descent,
And should you fall, he as the next will mount.
Meseemeth then it is no policy,
Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears
And his advantage following your decease,
That he should come about your royal person
Or be admitted to your highness’ council.
By flattery hath he won the commons’ hearts,
And when he please to make commotion,
‘Tis to be fear’d they all will follow him.
Now ’tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;
Suffer them now, and they’ll o’ergrow the garden
And choke the herbs for want of husbandry.
The reverent care I bear unto my lord
Made me collect these dangers in the duke.
If it be fond, call it a woman’s fear;
Which fear if better reasons can supplant,
I will subscribe and say I wrong’d the duke.
My Lord of Suffolk, Buckingham, and York,
Reprove my allegation, if you can;
Or else conclude my words effectual.

DUTCH:
t Is voorjaar nog en ‘t onkruid vlak van wortels;
Verschoont gij ‘t nu, het overgroeit den hof
En bij verzuim verstikt het al ‘t gezaaide.

MORE:

Meseemeth=It seems to me
No policy=Not wise
Respecting=Considering
Commotion=Rebellion
Husbandry=Care, cultivation, tillage
Collect=Conclude, gather
Fond=Foolish
Subscribe=Admit, confess to being in the wrong
Reprove=Disprove, confute

Compleat:
It seems to me=Heet schynt my toe
Respect=Achting, inzigt
Commotion=Beweeging, beroerte, oproer, oploop
Husbandry=Landbouw
Fond (foolish)=Dwaas
Subscribe (submit or consent)=Iet toestaan, zich ergens aan onderwerpen
To reprove=Bestraffen, berispen

Topics: respect, reputation, trust, gullibility, wisdom

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
YORK
‘Tis York that hath more reason for his death.
But, my lord cardinal, and you, my Lord of Suffolk,
Say as you think, and speak it from your souls,
Were’t not all one, an empty eagle were set
To guard the chicken from a hungry kite,
As place Duke Humphrey for the king’s protector?
QUEEN MARGARET
So the poor chicken should be sure of death.
SUFFOLK
Madam, ’tis true; and were’t not madness, then,
To make the fox surveyor of the fold?
Who being accused a crafty murderer,
His guilt should be but idly posted over,
Because his purpose is not executed.

DUTCH:
Doch spreekt, lord kardinaal en gij, lord Suffolk,
Zegt eens ronduit, spreekt zooals ‘t in uw hart is

MORE:

Proverb: To speak as one thinks
Proverb: Give not the wolf (fox) the wether (sheep) to keep
Proverb: Make not the wolf your shepherd

For his death=To want him dead
Idly=Foolishly
Posted over=Disregarded

Compleat:
Idly=Zottelyk
To talk idly=Ydelyk of gebrekkelyk praaten; zotte klap uitslaan

Topics: proverbs and idioms, honesty, truth

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
Scarce can I speak, my choler is so great:
O, I could hew up rocks and fight with flint,
I am so angry at these abject terms;
And now, like Ajax Telamonius,
On sheep or oxen could I spend my fury.
I am far better born than is the king,
More like a king, more kingly in my thoughts:
But I must make fair weather yet a while,
Till Henry be more weak and I more strong,—
Buckingham, I prithee, pardon me,
That I have given no answer all this while;
My mind was troubled with deep melancholy.
The cause why I have brought this army hither
Is to remove proud Somerset from the king,
Seditious to his grace and to the state.

DUTCH:
Ik spreek met moeite, zoo vergramd ben ik.
0, rotsen kon ik kloven, keiën werpen,
Zoo toornig word ik bij die trotsche taal

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Proverb: To make fair weather

Choler=Anger
Make fair weather=Appear civil, friendly
Abject terms=Terrible words
Ajax Telamonius=Ajax, son of Telamon, who slaughtered a flock of sheep in a fit of anger

Compleat:
Cholerick=Oploopend, haastig, toornig. To be in choler=Toornig zyn
Abject=Veracht, gering, snood, lafhartig, verworpen
Term=Woord, uitdrukking

Topics: emotion and mood, loyalty, betrayal

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Hume
CONTEXT:
Hume must make merry with the duchess’ gold;
Marry, and shall. But how now, Sir John Hume!
Seal up your lips, and give no words but mum:
The business asketh silent secrecy.
Dame Eleanor gives gold to bring the witch:
Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil.
Yet have I gold flies from another coast;
I dare not say, from the rich cardinal
And from the great and new-made Duke of Suffolk,
Yet I do find it so; for to be plain,
They, knowing Dame Eleanor’s aspiring humour,
Have hired me to undermine the duchess
And buz these conjurations in her brain.
They say ‘A crafty knave does need no broker;’
Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal’s broker.
Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near
To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.
Well, so it stands; and thus, I fear, at last
Hume’s knavery will be the duchess’ wrack,
And her attainture will be Humphrey’s fall:
Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all.

DUTCH:
Maar wat nu, John Hume?
Steeds mondjendicht; geen ander woord, dan. . . mum!

MORE:

Proverb: A cunning (crafty) knave needs no broker

Modern usage: Mum’s the word
Not invented by Shakespeare: the word was first used in the 14th century, although Shakespeare probably helped to make it popular. The word ‘mum’ may refer to the humming sound made by a closed mouth.
Asketh=Demands, requires
Buz=(or buzz) Whisper
Conjurations=Incantations; obsecration
Wrack=Ruin
Attainture=Shame; conviction

Compleat:
Knave=Een guit, boef
To buzz into one’s ears=Iemand in ‘t oor blaazen
Conjuration=Samenzweering, eedgespan, vloekverwantschap, bezweering
Wrack=(a ship): Een schip aan stukken stooten
To go to wrack=Verlooren gaan, te gronde gaan
To attaint=Overtuigen van misdaad, schuldig verklaaren, betichten; bevlekken, bederf aanzetten
Attainture (of blood)=Bederving of aansteeking des bloeds

Topics: secrecy, ambition, status, betrayal, invented or popularised

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
Not all these lords do vex me half so much
As that proud dame, the lord protector’s wife.
She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies,
More like an empress than Duke Humphrey’s wife:
Strangers in court do take her for the queen:
She bears a duke’s revenues on her back,
And in her heart she scorns our poverty:
Shall I not live to be avenged on her?
Contemptuous base-born callet as she is,
She vaunted ‘mongst her minions t’other day,
The very train of her worst-wearing gown
Was better worth than all my father’s lands,
Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter.

DUTCH:
Een vreemde aan ‘t hof houdt haar voor koningin;
Zij draagt eens hertogs inkomsten aan ‘t lijf,
En op onze armoe schimpt zij in haar hart.

MORE:

Scorn=Despise
Base-born=Of low birth
Callet=(or callat) Trull, drab, jade
Vaunt=Boast
Worst-wearing=Least expensive, least fashionable
Better worth=Worth more

Compleat:
To scorn=Versmaaden, verachten, bespotten, ‘t zich een schande achten
Base born=Een onechteling, bastaard
To vaunt=Pochen, snorken, opsnuiven
To make a vaunt=Ergens veel mede op hebben, zich ergens op verbovaardigen

Topics: poverty and wealth, appearance, excess

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
SOMERSET
If York, with all his far-fet policy,
Had been the regent there instead of me,
He never would have stay’d in France so long.
YORK
No, not to lose it all, as thou hast done:
I rather would have lost my life betimes
Than bring a burthen of dishonour home
By staying there so long till all were lost.
Show me one scar character’d on thy skin:
Men’s flesh preserved so whole do seldom win.

DUTCH:
Toon mij éen wond, éen schram, die tuigt van moed;
Slechts zelden wint, wie zoo zijn vleesch behoedt.

MORE:

Schmidt:
Far-fet=(far-fetched): Layered, deep, cunning (without modern connotation of unlikely)
Betimes=Early, at an early hour
Burthen=Burden
Charactered=Written, inscribed, marked

Compleat:
Betimes=Bytyds, vroeg
Far-fetched=Ver gehaald
Burden=Last, pak, vracht
Character=Een merk, merkteken, letter, afbeeldsel, uitdruksel, print, stempel, uitgedruktbeeld, uitbeelding

Topics: age/experience, appearance, failure, evidence

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
Small curs are not regarded when they grin;
But great men tremble when the lion roars;
And Humphrey is no little man in England.
First note that he is near you in descent,
And should you fall, he as the next will mount.
Meseemeth then it is no policy,
Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears
And his advantage following your decease,
That he should come about your royal person
Or be admitted to your highness’ council.
By flattery hath he won the commons’ hearts,
And when he please to make commotion,
‘Tis to be fear’d they all will follow him.

DUTCH:
Wie let er op, als kleine hondjens keffen?
Doch brult de leeuw, dan sidd’ren groote mannen;

MORE:

Small curs=Small dogs
Meseemeth=It seems to me
No policy=Not wise
Respecting=Considering
Commotion=Rebellion

Compleat:
Cur (curr)=Hond
It seems to me=Heet schynt my toe
Respect=Achting, inzigt
Commotion=Beweeging, beroerte, oproer, oploop

Topics: respect, reputation, trust, gullibility, wisdom

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Suffolk
CONTEXT:
O, that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder
Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges!
Small things make base men proud.
This villain here,
Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more
Than Bargulus, the strong Illyrian pirate.
Drones suck not eagles’ blood, but rob beehives.
It is impossible that I should die
By such a lowly vassal as thyself.
Thy words move rage and not remorse in me.
I go of message from the Queen to France.
I charge thee waft me safely cross the Channel.

DUTCH:
O ware ik thans een god, die bliksems schoot,
Op deze lage, slaafsche, vuile knechten!
‘t Gepeupel wordt door kleine dingen trotsch

MORE:

CITED IN US LAW:
Jenkins v. Jenkins, 11 Ohio App. 135, 136, 187 N.E.2d [?9, 60 (1962)(Radcliff, J.)

In Shakespeare’s time it was believed that drone bees sucked the blood of eagles and stole honey from other beehives.

Drudge=Slave, peasant
Pinnace=Small vessel
Bargulus=Pirate (ref to Cicero’s Bardulis)
Waft=Transport, convey

Compleat:
Drudge=Iemand die het vuilste en slobbigste werk doet
Pinnace=Een pynas scheepje, pynasje
To waft over=Overvoeren

Topics: cited in law, nature, respect

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Suffolk
CONTEXT:
Well hath your highness seen into this duke;
And, had I first been put to speak my mind,
I think I should have told your grace’s tale.
The duchess, by his subornation,
Upon my life, began her devilish practices:
Or, if he were not privy to those faults,
Yet, by reputing of his high descent,
As next the king he was successive heir,
And such high vaunts of his nobility,
Did instigate the bedlam brain-sick duchess
By wicked means to frame our sovereign’s fall.
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep;
And in his simple show he harbours treason.
The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb.
No, no, my sovereign; Gloucester is a man
Unsounded yet and full of deep deceit

DUTCH:
Glad stroomt, het water van een diepe beek

MORE:

Still waters run deep. Proverb of Latin origin meaning a placid exterior hiding a passionate nature.
Proverb: The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb.

Seen into=Penetrated, understood
Subornation=Crime of procuring one to offend, specially to bear false witness
Repute=(+of): Setting great store by, prize
Bedlam=Nickname for Bethlem hospital, for the treatment of mental illness, which has become a byword for chaos and mayhem
Unsounded=Unfathomed (as in depth sounding, i.e. measuring the depth of a body of water)

Compleat:
To see into a thing=Een inzigt in eene zaak hebben, ‘er den grond van beschouwen
Subornation=Besteeking, een bestoken werk, omkooping
To repute=Achten
Bedlam (Bethlem)=Een dolhuis, dulhuis, krankzinnighuis; (mad bodey)=Een dul mensch, een uitzinnige
To sound=Peilen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Messenger
CONTEXT:
SUFFOLK
Here is my hand, the deed is worthy doing.
QUEEN MARGARET
And so say I.
YORK
And I and now we three have spoke it,
It skills not greatly who impugns our doom.
POST
Great lords, from Ireland am I come amain,
To signify that rebels there are up
And put the Englishmen unto the sword:
Send succours, lords, and stop the rage betime,
Before the wound do grow uncurable;
For, being green, there is great hope of help.

DUTCH:
Zendt hulp, mylords, en stuit bijtijds hun woede,
Aleer de wond gansch ongeneeslijk wordt;
Nu zij nog versch is, is er hoop op heeling.

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Proverb: A green wound is still healed

Amain=In haste
Skills not=Doesn’t matter
Impugn=Challenge, question
Doom=Judgment (‘doom’ or ‘dome’) was a statute or law (doombooks were codes of laws)
Succours=Military reinforcement and support
Betime=Promptly
Green=Fresh, recent, new

Compleat:
Amain=Zeer geweldig, heftig
Impugn=Bestryden, bevechten, tegenstaan
Doom=Vonnis, oordeel, verwyzing
A heavy doom=Een zwaar vonnis
Succours=Hulpbenden, krygshulpe
Green=Versch

Topics: proverbs and idioms, hope/optimism

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Suffolk
CONTEXT:
Madam, ’tis true; and were’t not madness, then,
To make the fox surveyor of the fold?
Who being accused a crafty murderer,
His guilt should be but idly posted over,
Because his purpose is not executed.
No; let him die, in that he is a fox,
By nature proved an enemy to the flock,
Before his chaps be stain’d with crimson blood,
As Humphrey, proved by reasons, to my liege.
And do not stand on quillets how to slay him:
Be it by gins, by snares, by subtlety,
Sleeping or waking, ’tis no matter how,
So he be dead; for that is good deceit
Which mates him first that first intends deceit.

DUTCH:
Want dat is goed bedrog,
Dat eerst hèm velt, die ‘t eerst zon op bedrog.

MORE:

Proverb: Give not the wolf (fox) the wether (sheep) to keep
Proverb: Make not the wolf your shepherd

Idly=Foolishly
Posted over=Disregarded
Chaps=Jaws
Quillet=Tricks in argument, distinctions, subtleties
Gins=Traps
Mate=Confound, surprise, catch out

Compleat:
Idly=Zottelyk
To talk idly=Ydelyk of gebrekkelyk praaten; zotte klap uitslaan
Quillet=(The querks and quillets of the law): De kneepen en draaijen der Rechtsgeleerden
Gin=Een strik, valstrik
To mate=Verbaazen, verwonderen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, conspiracy, plans/intentions

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
Of Salisbury, who can report of him,
That winter lion, who in rage forgets
Aged contusions and all brush of time,
And, like a gallant in the brow of youth,
Repairs him with occasion? This happy day
Is not itself, nor have we won one foot,
If Salisbury be lost.

DUTCH:
Wie weet iets van den ouden Salisbury?
Dien winterleeuw, die in zijn fiere woede
Den storm en al het leed des tijds vergeet

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Aged contusions=The marks of age
Brow=Prime
Repair=Revive
Occasion=Action

Compleat:
Contusion=Kneuzing, plettering
The brow (of a hill)=De top van een berg
To occasion=Veroorzaaken

Topics: age/experience, conflict, failure

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Warwick
CONTEXT:
It is reported, mighty sovereign,
That good Duke Humphrey traitorously is murdered
By Suffolk and the Cardinal Beaufort’s means.
The Commons, like an angry hive of bees
That want their leader, scatter up and down
And care not who they sting in his revenge.
Myself have calmed their spleenful mutiny,
Until they hear the order of his death.

DUTCH:
t Volk is, als een vergramde bijenzwerm,
Die ‘t opperhoofd verloor, spoorbijster; ‘t zwerft
En vraagt niet wien het steekt, zoo ‘t hem slechts wreekt.
Ik bracht hun felle muiterij tot staan,
Tot zij de wijze van zijn dood vernemen.

MORE:

Commons=common people
Mean=That which is at a person’s disposal; that which is used to effect a purpose: resources, power, wealth, allowance
Spleenful=Bad-tempered, spiteful, enraged
Order=Manner, details

Compleat:
The common (vulgar) people=Het gemeene Volk
Mean=Een middel
Spleen (spite, hatred or grudge)=Spyt, haat, wrok

Topics: order/society, revenge, anger

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

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

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

MORE:

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

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

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

Compleat:
Small beer=Dun bier

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

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Saye
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
Trust nobody, for fear you be betray’d.
SAYE
The trust I have is in mine innocence,
And therefore am I bold and resolute.

DUTCH:
Het volst vertrouwen stel ik op mijn onschuld,
En daarom ben ik moedig en gerust.

MORE:

Proverb: Innocence is bold

Schmidt:
Bold=Daring, insolent
Resolute=Having a fixed purpose, determined, full of bold decision

Compleat:
Bold=Stout, koen, vrymoedig, onbevreesd, onverslaagd, vrypostig
Resolute=Onbeschroomd, onbeteuterd, onversaagd

Topics: trust, betray, proverbs and idioms

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

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

MORE:

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

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

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

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
Ah, Nell, forbear! Thou aimest all awry;
I must offend before I be attainted;
And had I twenty times so many foes,
And each of them had twenty times their power,
All these could not procure me any scathe,
So long as I am loyal, true and crimeless.
Wouldst have me rescue thee from this reproach?
Why, yet thy scandal were not wiped away
But I in danger for the breach of law.
Thy greatest help is quiet, gentle Nell:
I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience;
These few days’ wonder will be quickly worn

DUTCH:
Leer, bid ik, aan uw hart geduld; deze opspraak
Van weinig dagen is weldra gedaan.

MORE:

Forbear=Abstain, refrain from doing
Aimest=Guess
Attaint=Convicted of treason
Scathe=Harm
Sort=Adapt, Adjust

Compleat:
Forbear=Zich van onthouden
To attaint=Schuldidg verklaaren, betichten
Attainted=Overtuigd van misdaad, misdaadig verklaard
To do scathe=Bezeeren

Topics: patience, loyalty, caution

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Hume
CONTEXT:
They, knowing Dame Eleanor’s aspiring humour,
Have hired me to undermine the duchess
And buzz these conjurations in her brain.
They say ‘ A crafty knave does need no broker;’
Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal’s broker.
Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near
To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.
Well, so its stands; and thus, I fear, at last
Hume’s knavery will be the duchess’ wrack,
And her attainture will be Humphrey’s fall.
Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all.

DUTCH:
Geen sluwe schelm, zoo zegt men, neemt een helper;

MORE:

Proverb: A cunning (crafty) knave needs no broker

Modern usage: Mum’s the word
Not invented by Shakespeare: the word was first used in the 14th century, although Shakespeare probably helped to make it popular. The word ‘mum’ may refer to the humming sound made by a closed mouth.
Asketh=Demands, requires
Buz=(or buzz) Whisper
Conjurations=Incantations; obsecration
Wrack=Ruin
Attainture=Shame; conviction

Compleat:
Knave=Een guit, boef
To buzz into one’s ears=Iemand in ‘t oor blaazen
Conjuration=Samenzweering, eedgespan, vloekverwantschap, bezweering
Wrack=(a ship): Een schip aan stukken stooten
To go to wrack=Verlooren gaan, te gronde gaan
To attaint=Overtuigen van misdaad, schuldig verklaaren, betichten; bevlekken, bederf aanzetten
Attainture (of blood)=Bederving of aansteeking des bloeds

Topics: proverbs and idioms, ambition, corruption, ruin

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
YORK
No, not to lose it all, as thou hast done:
I rather would have lost my life betimes
Than bring a burthen of dishonour home
By staying there so long till all were lost.
Show me one scar character’d on thy skin:
Men’s flesh preserved so whole do seldom win.
QUEEN MARGARET
Nay, then, this spark will prove a raging fire,
If wind and fuel be brought to feed it with:
No more, good York; sweet Somerset, be still:
Thy fortune, York, hadst thou been regent there,
Might happily have proved far worse than his.

DUTCH:
Stil, stil, die vonk sloeg wis in vlammen uit,
Zoo wind en brandstof nu het vuur kwam voeden

MORE:

Betimes=Early, at an early hour
Burthen=Burden
Charactered=Written, inscribed, marked

Compleat:
Betimes=Bytyds, vroeg
Burden=Last, pak, vracht
Character=Een merk, merkteken, letter, afbeeldsel, uitdruksel, print, stempel, uitgedruktbeeld, uitbeelding

Topics: fate/destiny, consequence, conflict

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
Thou hast most traitorously
corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a
grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers
had no other books but the score and the tally, thou
hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to
the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a
paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou
hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and
a verb, and such abominable words as no Christian
ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed
justices of peace, to call poor men before them
about matters they were not able to answer.
Moreover, thou hast put them in prison ; and because
they could not read, thou hast hanged them; when,
indeed, only for that cause they have been most
worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost
thou not?

DUTCH:
Gij hebt vrederechters benoemd, om arme drommels voor zich te roepen over dingen, waar zij niet op konden antwoorden.

MORE:

The score and the tally=The score was a notch made on the tally (stick) to keep accounts
These presence=These presents (these documents)
To answer=To account for

Compleat:
Score=Rekening, kerfstok
Scored up=Op rekening, op de kerfstok gezet
Tally=Kerfstok
To tally=Op de kerfstok zetten
By these presents=Door deezen tegenwoordigen [brief]To answer for=Verantwoorden, voor iets staan, borg blyven

Topics: learning/education, language, order/society

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm
in erecting a grammar school; and whereas,
before, our forefathers had no other books but the
score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be
used, and, contrary to the King his crown and dignity,
thou hast built a paper mill. It will be proved
to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually
talk of a noun and a verb and such abominable
words as no Christian ear can endure to hear. Thou hast
appointed justices of peace, to call poor men before them
about matters they were not able to answer.
Moreover, thou hast put them in prison ; and because
they could not read, thou hast hanged them; when,
indeed, only for that cause they have been most
worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost
thou not?

DUTCH:
Het zal u in uw gezicht bewezen worden, dat gij mannen om u heen hebt, die plegen te praten van naamwoorden en van werkwoorden en meer zulke afschuwelijke woorden, die geen christenoor kan uitstaan

MORE:

The score and the tally=The score was a notch made on the tally (stick) to keep accounts
These presence=These presents (these documents)
To answer=To account for

Compleat:
Score=Rekening, kerfstok
Scored up=Op rekening, op de kerfstok gezet
Tally=Kerfstok
To tally=Op de kerfstok zetten
By these presents=Door deezen tegenwoordigen [brief]To answer for=Verantwoorden, voor iets staan, borg blyven

Topics: learning/education, order/society, language

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
(…) Thou hast most traitorously
corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a
grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers
had no other books but the score and the tally, thou
hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to
the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a
paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou
hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and
a verb, and such abominable words as no Christian
ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed
justices of peace, to call poor men before them
about matters they were not able to answer.
Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and because
they could not read, thou hast hanged them; when,
indeed, only for that cause they have been most
worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost
thou not?

DUTCH:
Gij hebt hoogstverraderlijk de jeugd van dit rijk verdorven door het oprichten van een Latijnsche school, en terwijl voordezen onze voorvaders, vroeger, geen andere boeken hadden dan het keepmes en den kerfstok, hebt gij het drukken in zwang gebracht en, tot inbreuk op den koning, zijne kroon en waardigheid, een papiermolen gebouwd

MORE:

The score and the tally=The score was a notch made on the tally (stick) to keep accounts
These presence=These presents (these documents)
To answer=To account for

Compleat:
Score=Rekening, kerfstok
Scored up=Op rekening, op de kerfstok gezet
Tally=Kerfstok
To tally=Op de kerfstok zetten
By these presents=Door deezen tegenwoordigen [brief]To answer for=Verantwoorden, voor iets staan, borg blyven

Topics: learning/education, language, order/society

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted!
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though lock’d up in steel
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.

DUTCH:
Welk harnas is er als een vlekk’loos hart?
Driewerf gepantserd is wie ‘t recht verdedigt,
En hij is naakt, hoe ‘t staal hem ook omsluit’,
Wien ongerechtigheid het hart verpest.

MORE:

Proverb: Innocence bears its defence with it

Quarrel just=Has a just cause
Locked up in steel=Wearing armour

Compleat:
Quarrel=Krakeel; twist
Just (righteous)=Een rechtvaardige

Topics: proverbs and idioms, dispute, guilt

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Buckingham
CONTEXT:
CARDINAL
The commons hast thou rack’d; the clergy’s bags
Are lank and lean with thy extortions.
SOMERSET
Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife’s attire
Have cost a mass of public treasury.
BUCKINGHAM
Thy cruelty in execution
Upon offenders, hath exceeded law,
And left thee to the mercy of the law.
QUEEN MARGARET
Thy sale of offices and towns in France,
If they were known, as the suspect is great,
Would make thee quickly hop without thy head.

DUTCH:
De wet werd overtreden door de wreedheid,
Waarmee gij euveldaders hebt bestraft;
Dit levert wis u aan haar strengheid over.

MORE:

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

Commons=common people
Rack=Hurt (by exacting taxes)
Mass=Great quantities
Public treasure=Public funds
Suspect=Suspicion
Extortion=Rapacious and illegal exaction of taxes

Compleat:
The common (vulgar) people=Het gemeene Volk
To rack=(torture) Pynigen; (torment) Plaagen, kwellen, pynigen; (grind, oppress the people) Het volk verdrukken, onderdrukken
The public treasury=’s Lands schatkamer
Extortion (or extorsion)=Afkneveling, afpersen, afdwinging

Topics: law/legal, punishment, money, poverty and wealth, integrity

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
KING HENRY VI
I muse my Lord of Gloucester is not come:
‘Tis not his wont to be the hindmost man,
Whate’er occasion keeps him from us now.
QUEEN MARGARET
Can you not see? Or will ye not observe
The strangeness of his alter’d countenance?
With what a majesty he bears himself,
How insolent of late he is become,
How proud, how peremptory, and unlike himself?
We know the time since he was mild and affable,
And if we did but glance a far-off look,
Immediately he was upon his knee,
That all the court admired him for submission:
But meet him now, and, be it in the morn,
When every one will give the time of day,
He knits his brow and shows an angry eye,
And passeth by with stiff unbowed knee,
Disdaining duty that to us belongs.

DUTCH:
t Verbaast mij, dat lord Gloster nog ontbreekt,
Die anders nooit de laatste pleegt te wezen, —
Wat ook de reden zij, dat hij niet kwam.

MORE:

Muse=Wonder
Hindmost=Last in line
Wont=Habit
Strangeness=Aloofness, reserve
Knits his brow=Frown

Compleat:
Muse=Bepeinzen
Hindmost (hindermost)=De agterste, de alleragterste
Strangeness=Vreemdheid
To knit the brows=Het voorhoofd in rimpels trekken

Topics: respect, risk, caution, preparation, ambition, duty

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
My Lord of Winchester, I know your mind;
‘Tis not my speeches that you do mislike,
But ’tis my presence that doth trouble ye.
Rancour will out: proud prelate, in thy face
I see thy fury: if I longer stay,
We shall begin our ancient bickerings.
Lordings, farewell; and say, when I am gone,
I prophesied France will be lost ere long.

DUTCH:
Mylord van Winchester, ik ken u wel;
Niet mijn gezegden zijn ‘t, die u mishagen,
‘t Is mijn aanwezigheid, die u verdriet.
Wrok baant zich lucht: hoogmoedige prelaat,
‘k Lees in uw blik uw woede

MORE:

Lordings=My lords, gentlemen
Ancient=Long-standing
Bickerings=Arguments, quarrels
Prelate=Church dignitary

Compleat:
Anciently=Van ouds, oulings
To bicker=Kibbelen, harrewarren, krakkeelen
Bickering=Gekrakkeel
Prelate=’t Opperhoofd van een Domkerk, een Aartsbisschop, Bisschop, Kerkvoogd, Prelaat

Topics: dispute, anger

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
Well, for this night we will repose us here;
To-morrow toward London back again,
To look into this business thoroughly,
And call these foul offenders to their answers,
And poise the cause in justice’ equal scales,
Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails.

DUTCH:
Nu, deze nacht nog willen wij hier rusten,
En morgen keeren wij naar Londen weer,
Doorgronden daar de zaak met alle zorg,
En dagen de euveldaders ten verhoor,
En wegen alles in de juiste schalen
Van ‘t recht, welks woord en wijzing nimmer falen.

MORE:

Repose us=Take a rest, rest ourselves
To their answers=To account
Poise=Weigh
Beam=The transverse bar in a set of scales
Stand sure=Is evenly balanced (no bias)

Compleat:
To repose oneself=Wat rusten
To answer for=Verantwoorden, voor iets staan, borg blyven
Sure=Zeker, vast, wis, veilig, getrouw

Topics: law/legal, justice

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Holland
CONTEXT:
HOLLAND
True; and yet it is said, labour in thy vocation; which is as much to say as, let the magistrates be labouring men; and therefore should we be magistrates.
BEVIS
Thou hast hit it; for there’s no better sign of a brave mind than a hard hand.

DUTCH:
Zoo is het; en toch is het zeggen: „werk in uw beroep”;
wat zoo veel wil zeggen als: „laat de overheden
werklieden zijn “; en daarom moesten wij eigenlijk overheden
zijn.

MORE:

Proverb: Everyone must walk (labour) in his own calling (vocation)

Labouring=Working
Hit it=Hit the nail on the head
Hard=Calloused

Topics: proverbs and idioms, work, satisfaction

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
GLOUCESTER
Now, by God’s mother, priest,
I’ll shave your crown for this,
Or all my fence shall fail.
CARDINAL
Medice, teipsum—
Protector, see to’t well, protect yourself.
KING HENRY VI
The winds grow high; so do your stomachs, lords.
How irksome is this music to my heart!
When such strings jar, what hope of harmony?
I pray, my lords, let me compound this strife.

DUTCH:
Als zulke snaren valsche tonen geven,
Hoe is er dan ooit hoop op harmonie?

MORE:

Crown=Tonsure (shaved part of a priest’s head)
“Medice, teipsum”=Physician heal thyself (ref. Luke 4:23)
Stomach=Anger
Compound=Settle ambicably
Jar=conflict, discord (as in jarring notes)

Compleat:
Jar=Krakkeelen, twisten, harrewarren, oneens zyn, kyven
To jar (in music)=Uit de maat zyn

Topics: dispute, resolution

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
Ah, what’s more dangerous than this fond affiance!
Seems he a dove? His feathers are but borrowed,
For he’s disposed as the hateful raven:
Is he a lamb? His skin is surely lent him,
For he’s inclined as is the ravenous wolf.
Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?
Take heed, my lord; the welfare of us all
Hangs on the cutting short that fraudful man.

DUTCH:
Is hij een lam? zijn vacht in hem geleend;
Als van een fellen wolf is zijn gemoed.
Wie steelt geen mom, als hij bedriegen wil?
Vrees op uw hoede, heer; ons aller welzijn
Hangt aan ‘t voorkómen van dien valschen man.

MORE:

Proverb: A wolf in sheep’s clothing (‘His skin is surely lent him’)

Raven=Symbolic of a bad omen
Fond=Foolish
Affiance=Confidence
Steal a shape=Create a false impression or appearance
Hateful=Deserving hate
Hangs on=Depends on

Compleat:
Fond (foolish)=Dwaas
Affiance=Vertrouwen, hoop
Hatefull=Haatelyk
These things seem to hang one upon the other=Deeze zaaken schynen van malkander af te hangen

Topics: deceit, appearance, good and bad, trust, betrayal, caution

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Warwick
CONTEXT:
Who finds the heifer dead and bleeding fresh
And sees fast by a butcher with an axe,
But will suspect ’twas he that made the slaughter?
Who finds the partridge in the puttock’s nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead,
Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak?
Even so suspicious is this tragedy.

DUTCH:
Wie vindt het vaarskalf dood, nog warm en bloedend,
En dicht daarbij den slachter met de bijl,
En argwaant niet, dat hij het dier versloeg?

MORE:

CITED IN US LAW:
Wilkins v. State, 264 So.2d 411, 413 (Miss. 1972)(Rodgers, J.).
REFERENCED IN SCOTTISH LAW:
Mackinnon v. Miller [1909] SLR 299 (12 January 1909)
“There is a well-known passage in King Henry VI, where Shakespeare makes Warwick illustrate with regard to the death of a heifer the class of circumstantial evidence which brings certainty to all minds.”
(Probity of evidence)

Puttock=Bird of prey
Imagine=Conceive, surmise
Even so=Just so

Topics: cited in law, evidence

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
Why, Warwick, hath thy knee forgot to bow?
Old Salisbury, shame to thy silver hair,
Thou mad misleader of thy brain-sick son!
What, wilt thou on thy death-bed play the ruffian,
And seek for sorrow with thy spectacles?
O, where is faith? O, where is loyalty?
If it be banish’d from the frosty head,
Where shall it find a harbour in the earth?
Wilt thou go dig a grave to find out war,
And shame thine honourable age with blood?
Why art thou old, and want’st experience?
Or wherefore dost abuse it, if thou hast it?
For shame! In duty bend thy knee to me
That bows unto the grave with mickle age.

DUTCH:
Waartoe werdt ge oud, zoo gij ervaring derft?
Of hebt gij die, waarom misbruikt gij haar?

MORE:
Want’st=Lacking
Honourable=Deserving respect
Shame to=Shame on
Frosty=(of hair) Silver, grey
Mickle=much, great

Compleat:
Mickle=Veel, een woord dat in ‘t Noorden van Engeland zeer gemeen is
Many a little makes a mickle=Veele kleintjes maaken een groot
Want=Gebrek, nood

Topics: age/experience, learning/education

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Suffolk
CONTEXT:
CARDINAL
My Lord of York, try what your fortune is.
The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms
And temper clay with blood of Englishmen:
To Ireland will you lead a band of men,
Collected choicely, from each county some,
And try your hap against the Irishmen?
YORK
I will, my lord, so please his majesty.
SUFFOLK
Why, our authority is his consent,
And what we do establish he confirms:
Then, noble York, take thou this task in hand.

DUTCH:
Nu, ons gezag is ook des konings jawoord,
En wat wij hier bepalen vindt hij goed;
Dus, eed’le York, belast u met die taak.

MORE:

Kern=Irish footsoldier
In arms=Armed
Temper=To moisten; to mix
Hap=Luck
Collected choicely=Selected carefully
Confirms=Assents to

Compleat:
Kern=Een ligtgewapend Iersch Soldaat
Hap=Het luk, geval, toeval
Choicely=Keurlyk
To confirm=Bevestigen, bekrachtigen, verzekeeren, versterken

Topics: authority, duty, fate/destiny

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Iden
CONTEXT:
CADE
Here’s the lord of the soil come to seize me for a
stray, for entering his fee-simple without leave.
Ah, villain, thou wilt betray me, and get a thousand
crowns of the king carrying my head to him: but
I’ll make thee eat iron like an ostrich, and swallow
my sword like a great pin, ere thou and I part.
IDEN
Why, rude companion, whatsoe’er thou be,
I know thee not; why, then, should I betray thee?
Is’t not enough to break into my garden,
And, like a thief, to come to rob my grounds,
Climbing my walls in spite of me the owner,
But thou wilt brave me with these saucy terms?
CADE
Brave thee! Ay, by the best blood that ever was
broached, and beard thee too. Look on me well: I
have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and
thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead
as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.

DUTCH:
Gij onbeschofte knaap, wie ge ook moogt zijn,
Ik ken u niet; wat zou ik u verraden?

MORE:

Proverb: As dead (deaf, dumb) as a doornail.

Dead as a doornail wasn’t coined by Shakespeare but can be traced back to the 14th century.

To stand seised in fee simple=A feudal term that meant to have both possession and title of property, a form of freehold ownership. Shakespeare sometimes used the phrase to mean absoluteness.

Stray=Trespass, straying animals
Ostriches were believed to eat iron
Brave=Challenge
Terms=Language
Beard=Defy, challenge (e.g. ‘beard the lion in his den’)

Compleat:
To stray=Verdwaalen, doolen
To brave=Trotsen, braveeren, trotseeren, moedig treden
Term=Woord, uitdrukking
To beard (outbrave)=Uittarten, eenen anderen by den baard trekken, braveeren
Fee-simple (or fee absolute)=Een onbepaald leen, ons en onze erfgenaamen voor altoos toebehorende

Topics: law/legal, dispute, language, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: King Henry VI
CONTEXT:
KING HENRY VI
But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,
And what a pitch she flew above the rest!
To see how God in all his creatures works!
Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high.

DUTCH:
Wat nam uw valk, mylord, een vaart naar boven,
En steeg ver hoven al die andren op!
Hoe toont zich God in al zijn creaturen!
Ja, mensch en vogel, alles stijgt liefst hoog!

MORE:

Point=Windward position
Pitch=Peak before swooping
Fain=Fond

Compleat:
Pitch=Pik
Fain=Gaern, genoodzaakt

Topics: ambition

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: York
CONTEXT:
Well, nobles, well, ’tis politicly done,
To send me packing with an host of men:
I fear me you but warm the starved snake,
Who, cherish’d in your breasts, will sting
your hearts.
‘Twas men I lack’d and you will give them me:
I take it kindly; and yet be well assured
You put sharp weapons in a madman’s hands.
Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mighty band,
I will stir up in England some black storm
Shall blow ten thousand souls to heaven or hell;
And this fell tempest shall not cease to rage
Until the golden circuit on my head,
Like to the glorious sun’s transparent beams,
Do calm the fury of this mad-bred flaw.

DUTCH:
Ik zeg u dank, maar weet, een’ dolhuis-man
Drukt gij recht scherpe wapens in de hand.

MORE:

Proverb: To nourish a viper (snake) in one ‘s bosom
Proverb: Ill putting (put not) a naked sword in a madman’s hand

Politicly=For political reasons
The starved snake=Frozen snake (reference to Aesop’s Fable of the Farmer and the Snake)
Fell=Strong; Vicious, intense, savage

Compleat:
Fell=(cruel) Wreed, fel
Starve=(of cold) Van koude sterven
Politickly=Staatkundiglyk

Topics: proverbs and idioms, ingratitude, leadership

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