CJTranslations - The Taming of the Shrew

QUOTES BY TOPIC

A good swift simile, but something currish

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
She hath prevented me. Here, Signior Tranio,
This bird you aimed at, though you hit her not.—
Therefore a health to all that shot and missed.
TRANIO
Oh, sir, Lucentio slipped me like his greyhound,
Which runs himself and catches for his master.
PETRUCHIO
A good swift simile, but something currish.
TRANIO
‘Tis well, sir, that you hunted for yourself.
‘Tis thought your deer does hold you at a bay.

DUTCH:
TRANIO
O heer, ‘k was voor Lucentio als een windhond,
Die dapper loopt en voor zijn meester vangt.
PETRUCCIO
Een vlugge vergelijking, maar wat hondsch.

MORE:
Prevent=Forestall
Health=A toast to
Slipped=Unleashed
Swift=Quick-witted
Currish=Dog-like; malicious
Hold you at bay=Make a stand agaisnt
Compleat:
To prevent=Voorkomen, eerstkomen; afkeeren; verhoeden
To slip a dog=Een hond los laaten
Currish=Hondsch, kwaadaardig

Burgersdijk notes:
Men meent, uw hinde loopt u wel bek-af. In ‘t Engelsch: ‘t Is thought your deer does hold you at a bay. Een woordspeling met deer, hinde, en dear, dierbare, liefjen.

Topics: rivalry, failure

A whoreson, beetle-headed, flap-eared knave

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Patience, I pray you! ‘Twas a fault unwilling.
PETRUCHIO
A whoreson, beetle-headed, flap-eared knave!—
Come, Kate, sit down. I know you have a stomach.
Will you give thanks, sweet Kate, or else shall I?—
What’s this? Mutton?

DUTCH:
Het is een schoelje, een langoor, een schavuit !
Ga zitten, Kaatjen, gij zult hong’rig zijn .
Doet gij ‘t gebed, mijn lieve Kaatjen, of ik ? –
Wat is dat? Lamsbout?

MORE:
Fault unwilling=Unintentional mistake
Beetle-headed=Blockhead
Stomach=Appetite
Give thanks=Say grace
Compleat:
Unwilling=Ongewillig, ongeneegen
Beetle-headed=Plomp, bot
Stomach=Gramsteurigheyd
Stomach=Trek (appetite); hart (spirit)

Topics: insult, patience, flaw/fault

And all my pains is sorted to no proof

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Pluck up thy spirits. Look cheerfully upon me.
Here love, thou seest how diligent I am,
To dress thy meat myself and bring it thee.
I am sure, sweet Kate, this kindness merits thanks.
What, not a word? Nay, then thou lov’st it not
And all my pains is sorted to no proof.
Here, take away this dish.

DUTCH:
En reken, lieve Kaatjen, op uw dank.
Wat, zelfs geen woord? Dan is ‘t niet naar uw smaak,
En was mijn moeite en zorg alweer vergeefsch; –
Hier, neem den schotel weg.

MORE:
Pluck up your spirits=Cheer up, pull yourself together
Dress=Prepare
Sorted to no proof=Done for nothing
Compleat:
To pluck up one’s spirits=Moed scheppen
To dress=Optooijen, opschikken, toetakelen, toemaaken, toerechten, havenen
To sort=Uytschieten, elk by ‘t zyne leggen, sorteeren

Topics: emotion and mood, love, ingratitude, work

And do as adversaries do in law, strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Tranio
CONTEXT:
HORTENSIO
Sir, you say well, and well you do conceive.
And since you do profess to be a suitor,
You must, as we do, gratify this gentleman,
To whom we all rest generally beholding.
TRANIO
Sir, I shall not be slack; in sign whereof,
Please ye we may contrive this afternoon
And quaff carouses to our mistress’ health
And do as adversaries do in law,
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.

DUTCH:
1k blijf niet achter, heer, en tot bewijs
Vraag ik: brengt deez’ namiddag bij mij door,
En drinken we op het welzijn onzer liefsten,
En doen we als advokaten, die, hoe fel
Ze elkaar bestrijden, vrienden zijn aan tafel.

MORE:
Conceive=Understand
Profess=Claim
Gratify=Recompense
Contrive=Spend
Quaff carouses=Drink to, toast
Compleat:
Conceive=Bevatten, begrypen, beseffen, zich inbeelden
To profess=Belyden, belydenis doen, betuygen
To gratify=Begunstigen, believen, iets te gevalle doen, involgen
To contrive=Bedenken, verzinnen, toestellen
To quaff=Zuypen en zwelgen, dronken drinken
To carouse=Lustig zuypen

Topics: lawyers, rivalry, friendship

And if the boy have not a woman’s gift to rain a shower of commanded tears, an onion will do well for such a shift

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: Ind 1
SPEAKER: Lord
CONTEXT:
LORD
Go, sirrah, take them to the buttery
And give them friendly welcome every one.
Let them want nothing that my house affords.
Sirrah, go you to Barthol’mew, my page,
And see him dressed in all suits like a lady.
That done, conduct him to the drunkard’s chamber
And call him “madam,” do him obeisance.
Tell him from me, as he will win my love,
He bear himself with honourable action,
Such as he hath observed in noble ladies
Unto their lords, by them accomplishèd.
Such duty to the drunkard let him do
With soft low tongue and lowly courtesy,
And say, “What is ’t your honour will command,
Wherein your lady and your humble wife
May show her duty and make known her love?”
And then with kind embracements, tempting kisses,
And with declining head into his bosom,
Bid him shed tears, as being overjoyed
To see her noble lord restored to health,
Who for this seven years hath esteemed him
No better than a poor and loathsome beggar.
And if the boy have not a woman’s gift
To rain a shower of commanded tears,
An onion will do well for such a shift,
Which in a napkin being close conveyed
Shall in despite enforce a watery eye.
See this dispatched with all the haste thou canst:
Anon I’ll give thee more instructions.

DUTCH:
Verstaat de knaap de kunst der vrouwen niet,
En kan hij niet, zoo vaak hij wil, een vloed
Van tranen storten, dan moog’ hem een ui
Van dienst zijn, die, verborgen in een zakdoek,
Hem, trots zijn aard, uit de oogen water pers’

MORE:
Buttery=Storehouse
Want=Lack
Do him obeisance=Pay homage
Honourable action=In an honourable manner, honourably, properly
Accomplished=Perfected
Lowly=Humble
Declining=Bowed
Esteemed=Believed
Shift=Purpose
Close=Secretly
Anon=Imminently
Compleat:
Buttery=Een spyskamer, proviziekelder, bottelery
Want=Gebrek
Obeisance=Eerbiedigheid, neerbuiging
To accomplished=Voltooid, vervuld, volmaakt in goede manieren
Low=Nederig, laagjes
Declining=Afwyking, vermyding, schuuwing, daaling, afhelling, buiging; afwykende
Esteem=Achting, waarde
To make a shift=Zich behelpen, zich redden
Close=Besloten
Anon=Daadelyk, straks, aanstonds

Topics: deceit, appearance, civility, order/society, emotion and mood

And now I find report a very liar. For thou are pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous.

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
No, not a whit. I find you passing gentle.
‘Twas told me you were rough and coy and sullen,
And now I find report a very liar.
For thou are pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous,
But slow in speech, yet sweet as springtime flowers.
Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
Nor bite the lip as angry wenches will,
Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk.
But thou with mildness entertain’st thy wooers,
With gentle conference, soft and affable.
Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
O slanderous world! Kate like the hazel-twig
As hazel nuts, and sweeter than the kernels.
Oh, let me see thee walk! Thou dost not halt.

DUTCH:
Volstrekt niet; ‘k vind u allerliefst. Men had
U mij geschetst als schuw en ruw en geem’lijk;
En nu vind ik ‘t Gerucht een lastertong,
Want gij zijt vroolijk, geestig, allerhoflijkst.

MORE:
Not a whit=Not at all
Passing=Exceedingly
Coy=Disdainful
Gamesome=Playful
Askance=Scornful
Entertain=Receive
Conference=Conversation
Halt=Limp
Compleat:
Not a whit displeased=Niet een zier misnoegd
A passing (or excellent) beauty=Een voortreffelyke schoonheid
Coy=Gemaakt, schuw, zedig in schyn
Gamesom=Speelziek, weeldrig, dartel
I never saw him so gamesome=Ik heb hem nooit zo kortswylig gezien
Entertain=Onthaalen, huysvesten, plaats vergunnen
Conference=Onderhandeling, t’zamenspraak, mondgemeenschap gesprekhouding
To halt=Hinken, mank gaan

Topics: nature, civility, reputation

And where two raging fires meet together, they do consume the thing that feeds their fury

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Why, that is nothing. For I tell you, father,
I am as peremptory as she proud-minded;
And where two raging fires meet together,
They do consume the thing that feeds their fury.
Though little fire grows great with little wind,
Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all.
So I to her and so she yields to me,
For I am rough and woo not like a babe.
BAPTISTA
Well mayst thou woo, and happy be thy speed.
But be thou armed for some unhappy words.
PETRUCHIO
Ay, to the proof, as mountains are for winds,
That shakes not, though they blow perpetually.

DUTCH:
O, dat is niets; want ik verklaar u, vader,
‘k Ben even kort van stof als zij hooghartig;
En als een heftig vuur een ander vindt,
Dan wordt, wat hunne woede voedt, verteerd.

MORE:

Proverb: The wind puts out small lights but enrages great fires
Proverb: A little wind kindles, much puts out the fire

Peremptory=Positive, absolute
Speed=Success
To the proof=Properly armed
Compleat:
Peremptory=Volstrekt, uitvoerig, volkomen, uiteindig
Speed=Voortgang

Topics: independence, conflict, proverbs and idioms, conflict, anger

Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
O monstrous arrogance! Thou liest, thou thread, thou thimble,
Thou yard, three-quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail!
Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter cricket thou!
Braved in mine own house with a skein of thread?
Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant,
Or I shall so be-mete thee with thy yard
As thou shalt think on prating whilst thou liv’st!
I tell thee, I, that thou hast marred her gown.
TAILOR
Your Worship is deceived. The gown is made
Just as my master had direction.
Grumio gave order how it should be done.
GRUMIO
I gave him no order. I gave him the stuff.
TAILOR
But how did you desire it should be made?
GRUMIO
Marry, sir, with needle and thread.
TAILOR
But did you not request to have it cut?
GRUMIO
Thou hast faced many things.
TAILOR
I have.
GRUMIO
Face not me. Thou hast braved many men; brave not me. I
will neither be faced nor braved. I say unto thee, I
bid thy master cut out the gown, but I did not bid him
cut it to pieces. Ergo, thou liest.
TAILOR
Why, here is the note of the fashion to testify.

DUTCH:
Jij endjen draad, mij tarten in mijn huis!
Voort, voort, jij lap, jij vod, jij lomp, jij snipper,
Of ik neem met jouw el je zoo de maat,
Dat heel je leven je deez’ praatjes rouwen!
Dat kleed, zeg ik nog eens, het is verknipt .

MORE:
Nail=Measure of cloth
Nit=Louse egg
Brave=(1) to “dress in fine clothes”; (2) “to defy.”
Yard=Measuring stick
Quantity=Fragment
Be-mete=Measure
Prating=Talking
Stuff=Material
Whilst=For as long as
Compleat:
Nail (one eighth of an ell)=De agste deel van een el
Nit=Een neet
To brave=Trotsen, braveeren, trotseeren; moedig treeden
To prate=Praaten. Prate and prattle=Keffen en snappen. Prate foolishly=Mal praaten

Topics: insult, fashion/trends, work, satisfaction, vanity

But I with blowing the fire shall warm myself.

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Gremio
CONTEXT:
GRUMIO
Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and
all foul ways! Was ever man so beaten? Was ever man so
‘rayed? Was ever man so weary? I am sent before to make
a fire, and they are coming after to warm them. Now,
were not I a little pot and soon hot, my very lips might
freeze to my teeth, my tongue to the roof of my mouth,
my heart in my belly, ere I should come by a fire to
thaw me. But I with blowing the fire shall warm myself.
For, considering the weather, a taller man than I will
take cold.—Holla, ho! Curtis!

DUTCH:
Ja, was ik niet zoo ‘n
kleine pot, die gauw heet wordt, dan zouden waarachtig
mijn lippen aan de tanden vastvriezen, mijn tong aan
mijn gehemelte, mijn hart in mijn lijf, eer ik vuur genoeg
had om mij te ontdooien; – maar ik zal mijzelf
warm maken door het vuur aan te blazen.

MORE:
Proverb: Let them that be acold blow at the coal
Proverb: A ltitle pot is soon hot

Jade=Old horse; nag
Rayed=(Raied, raide) Defiled
Taller=Bolder, more valiant
Hot=Angry
Compleat:
Jade=Een lompig paerd, knol, jakhals

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, anger

By this reck’ning he is more shrew than she

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Grumio
CONTEXT:
CURTIS
By this reck’ning he is more shrew than she.
GRUMIO
Ay, and that thou and the proudest of you all shall
find when he comes home. But what talk I of this? Call
forth Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter,
Sugarsop, and the rest. Let their heads be slickly
combed, their blue coats brushed, and their garters of
an indifferent knit. Let them curtsy with their left
legs, and not presume to touch a hair of my master’s
horse-tail till they kiss their hands. Are they all
ready?

DUTCH:
Op die manier is hij nog erger helleveeg dan zij.

MORE:
By this reckoning=On that basis, calculation
Blue coats=Uniform
Indifferent=Matching, plain
Curtsy=Show respect
Left legs=To curtsy with the right leg was a sign of defiance
Compleat:
Indifferent=Onvercheelig, middelmaatig, koelzinnig, onzydig, passelyk, taamelyk, tussenbeyde
Curtsy=Nyging, genyg
Make a courtsey (curtsy)=Nygen

Topics: appearance, civility, order/society

Come, come, you froward and unable worms!

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Katherine
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
(…) And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown.
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.

DUTCH:
Ziet, drieste, zwakke, licht vertreden wormen!
‘k Was eens zoo stug van geest als een van u,
Zoo trotsch van hart; en ‘k had, naar ‘k denk, meer grond,
Om woord met woord en drift met drift te keeren ;

MORE:
Froward=Disobedient, contrary, difficult.
Peevish=Obstinate
Simple=Foolish
Unapt=Not fit
Conditions=Characteristics
Heart=Courage
Big=Arrogant
Vail your stomachs=Reduce your pride
Boot=Profit, use
Do him ease=Please him
Compleat:
Froward=Gemelyk, knorrig, kribbig.
Peevish=Kribbig, gemelyk
Simple=Onbeschadigend, eenvoudig
Haply=Misschien
Condition=Aardt, gesteltenis
Vail=Bedekken
Stomach=Trek (appetite); hart (spirit)
No boot=Te vergeefs, vruchteloos
To much boot=Met veel winst

Topics: insult authority, independence

Cunning in Greek, Latin, and other languages

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Gremio
CONTEXT:
GREMIO
I doubt it not, sir, but you will curse your wooing.—
neighbour, this is a gift very grateful,
I am sure of it. To express the like kindness, myself,
that have been more kindly beholding to you than any,
freely give unto you this young scholar that hath been long
studying at Rheims, as cunning in Greek, Latin, and
other languages as the other in music and mathematics.
His name is Cambio. Pray accept his service.

DUTCH:
(…) veroorloof ik mij, u dezen jeugdigen geleerde voor te stellen, die lang in Reims gestudeerd heeft en even zoo bedreven is in het Latijn, Grieksch en andere talen, als die ander in muziek en wiskunde ; zijn naam is Cambio; ik bid u, neem zijn diensten aan.

MORE:
Grateful=Gracious, pleasing
Beholding=Beholden, indebted
The like kindness=My own affection
Compleat:
Gratefull=Dankbaar, erkentelyk
Beholding=Gehouden, verpligt, verschuldigd
I never saw the like=Ik heb diergelyk nooit gezien
Kindness=Vrindschap, vrindlykheyd, goedertierenheyd

Topics: skill/talent, learning/education, intellect, language

For ’tis the mind that makes the body rich

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Well, come, my Kate. We will unto your father’s
Even in these honest mean habiliments.
Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor,
For ’tis the mind that makes the body rich,
And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds,
So honour peereth in the meanest habit.
What, is the jay more precious than the lark
Because his feathers are more beautiful?
Or is the adder better than the eel
Because his painted skin contents the eye?
Oh, no, good Kate. Neither art thou the worse
For this poor furniture and mean array.
If thou account’st it shame, lay it on me,
And therefore frolic! We will hence forthwith
To feast and sport us at thy father’s house.
Go, call my men, and let us straight to him,
And bring our horses unto Long Lane end.
There will we mount, and thither walk on foot.
Let’s see, I think ’tis now some seven o’clock,
And well we may come there by dinnertime.

DUTCH:
Kom nu, mijn Kaatje’, eens naar uw vader toe,
In dit armoedig, doch welvoeg’lijk kleed ;
Met trotsche beurs, schoon need’rig van gewaad;
De geest alleen geeft aan het lijf waardij;

MORE:
Mean habiliments=Plain clothes
Proud=Full
Peereth=Peeps out, can be seen
Habit=Attire
Painted=Patterned
Furniture=Clothes
Array=Attire
Lay it on=Blame
Look what=Whatever
Still=Always
Crossing=Contradicting
Compleat:
Habiliment=Kleeding, dos, gewaad
To peer out=Uitmunten, uitsteeken
Habit=Een kleed, gewaad, dos
Furniture=Stoffeersel
Array=Gewaad, kleeding
To lay upon=Opleggen, te laste leggen
Still=Steeds, gestadig, altyd
To cross=Tegenstreeven, dwars voor de boeg komen, dwarsboomen, wederestreeven, kruisen

Topics: fashion/trends, poverty and wealth, appearance, value, vanity

Forward, I pray, since we have come so far

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.5
SPEAKER: Katherine
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Now, by my mother’s son, and that’s myself,
It shall be moon, or star, or what I list,
Or e’er I journey to your father’s house.
Go on, and fetch our horses back again.—
Evermore crossed and crossed, nothing but crossed!
HORTENSIO
Say as he says, or we shall never go.
KATHERINE
Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please.
An if you please to call it a rush candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.
PETRUCHIO
I say it is the moon.
KATHERINE
I know it is the moon.
PETRUCHIO
Nay, then you lie. It is the blessèd sun.
KATHERINE
Then God be blessed, it is the blessèd sun.
But sun it is not, when you say it is not,
And the moon changes even as your mind.
What you will have it named, even that it is,
And so it shall be so for Katherine.

DUTCH:
O voorwaarts toch; wij zijn nu eens zoo ver;
En zij het maan of zon of wat go wilt;
Al wildet gij het ook een nachtlicht noemen,
Ik zweer, voortaan zal ‘t ook voor mij zoo zijn.

MORE:
Proverb: As changeful (inconstant) as the moon

List=Please
Crossed=Challenged
Rush candle=Cheap candle made of a rush dipped in tallow
Compleat:
To list=Genegen zijn, lust hebben
To cross=Tegenstreeven, dwars voor de boeg komen, dwarsboomen, wederestreeven, kruisen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, free will, independence, language

Go, girl. I cannot blame thee now to weep, for such an injury would vex a very saint

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Baptista
CONTEXT:
TRANIO
Patience, good Katherine, and Baptista too.
Upon my life, Petruchio means but well,
Whatever fortune stays him from his word:
Though he be blunt, I know him passing wise;
Though he be merry, yet withal he’s honest.
KATHERINE
Would Katherine had never seen him, though!
BAPTISTA
Go, girl. I cannot blame thee now to weep,
For such an injury would vex a very saint,
Much more a shrew of thy impatient humour.

DUTCH:
Ga, kind, het spreekt van zelf dat gij nu weent,
Want zulk een hoon verdroeg geen heil’ge zelfs,
Laat staan een driftkop van uw kreeg’len aard.

MORE:
Blunt=Rude, coarse
Passing=Exceedingly
Merry=A joker
Injury=Insult
Compleat:
Blunt=Stomp, bot, plomp, onbebouwen
A passing (or excellent) beauty=Een voortreffelyke schoonheid
Merry=Vrolyk
Injury=Verongelyking, belediging, smaad, verkorting, laster, ongelyk

Topics: insult, honesty

Go, hop me over every kennel home, for you shall hop without my custom, sir

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Thy gown? Why, ay. Come, tailor, let us see ’t.
O mercy, God! What masking stuff is here?
What’s this? A sleeve? ‘Tis like a demi-cannon.
What, up and down, carved like an apple tart?
Here’s snip and nip and cut and slish and slash,
Like to a censer in a barber’s shop.
Why, what i’ devil’s name, tailor, call’st thou this?
HORTENSIO
I see she’s like to have neither cap nor gown.
TAILOR
You bid me make it orderly and well,
According to the fashion and the time.
PETRUCHIO
Marry, and did. But if you be remembered,
I did not bid you mar it to the time.
Go, hop me over every kennel home,
For you shall hop without my custom, sir.
I’ll none of it. Hence, make your best of it.
KATHERINE
I never saw a better-fashioned gown,
More quaint, more pleasing, nor more commendable.
Belike you mean to make a puppet of me.
PETRUCHIO
Why, true, he means to make a puppet of thee.

DUTCH:
Ga, dros maar op, door dik en dun, naar huis,
Dros op, maar zonder mijn klandisie, man;
Ik dank je; zie maar, dat je ‘t elders slijt.

MORE:
Demi-cannon=Large cannon
Like an apple tart=The fashion of slits in material to reveal the colour beneath
Censer=Perfume pan with perforated lid
Masking stuff=Rich material, suitable for a masque
If you be remembered=If you recall
Kennel=Street gutter
Mar it to the time=So fashionable that it will soon be out of fashion
Quaint=Elegant
Compleat:
Demi-cannon=Een bastaard, zekere Kannon
Censer=Een reukvat, wierookvat
Kennel=Een geut
Quaint=Aardig, cierlyk, net

Burgersdijk notes:
‘t Lijkt wel een vuurpot in een scheerderswinkel. In de scheerwinkels, waar dikwijls veel menschen bijeen waren, werd reukwerk gebrand. Daartoe dienden metalen vuurpotten, censers, met opengewerkt deksel.

Topics: appearance, insult, fashion/trends, satisfaction

Happy man be his dole! He that runs fastest gets the ring.

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Hortensio
CONTEXT:
GREMIO
I cannot tell. But I had as lief take her dowry with
this condition: to be whipped at the high cross every
morning.
HORTENSIO
Faith, as you say, there’s small choice in rotten
apples. But come, since this bar in law makes us
friends, it shall be so far forth friendly maintained
till by helping Baptista’s eldest daughter to a husband
we set his youngest free for a husband, and then have to
’t afresh. Sweet Bianca! Happy man be his dole! He that
runs fastest gets the ring. How say you, Signior
Gremio?
GREMIO
I am agreed, and would I had given him the best horse
in Padua to begin his wooing that would thoroughly woo
her, wed her, and bed her, and rid the house of her!
Come on.

DUTCH:
Die ‘t gelukkigst is, brengt de bruid thuis. Wie ‘t beste paard berijdt, steekt den ring.

MORE:
Proverb: There is a small choice in rotten apples (1594)
Proverb: Happy man happy dole (be his dole)
Proverb: He that hops best (runs fases) gets the ring

As lief=As happily
Bar in law=Legal obstacle
Afresh=Anew
Compleat:
I had as lief=Ik wilde al zo lief
Bar=Een dwarsboom, draaiboom, sluytboom, boom, hinderpaal, diefeyzer, traali, beletsel

Topics: proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised, still in use, rivalry, friendship

He kills her in her own humour

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Peter
CONTEXT:
NATHANIEL
Peter, didst ever see the like?
PETER
He kills her in her own humour.
GRUMIO
Where is he?
CURTIS
In her chamber,
Making a sermon of continency to her,
And rails and swears and rates, that she, poor soul,
Knows not which way to stand, to look, to speak,
And sits as one new-risen from a dream.
Away, away, for he is coming hither!

DUTCH:
Hij maakt haar met haar eigen grillen klein.

MORE:
Sermon=Lecture
Continency=Self-control
In her own humour=By imitating her behaviour
Rates=Berates, scolds
Risen from=Woken from
Compleat:
Continency=Onthouding, onthoudenheid, kuisheid, ingetoogenheid
Humour (or disposition of the mind)=Humeur, gemoeds gesteldheid

Topics: persuasion, relationship

He was a frantic fool, hiding his bitter jests in blunt behavior

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Tranio
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
No shame but mine. I must, forsooth, be forced
To give my hand, opposed against my heart,
Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen,
Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure.
I told you, I, he was a frantic fool,
Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behavior,
And, to be noted for a merry man,
He’ll woo a thousand, ‘point the day of marriage,
Make friends, invite, and proclaim the banns,
Yet never means to wed where he hath wooed.
Now must the world point at poor Katherine
And say, “Lo, there is mad Petruchio’s wife,
If it would please him come and marry her!”
TRANIO
Patience, good Katherine, and Baptista too.
Upon my life, Petruchio means but well,
Whatever fortune stays him from his word:
Though he be blunt, I know him passing wise;
Though he be merry, yet withal he’s honest.

DUTCH:
Ik zeide ‘t wel, ‘t was een bezeten zot;
Die bitt’re scherts verbergt in lompheids schijn,

MORE:

Proverb: Marry in haste, repent at leisure

Forsooth=In truth
Rudesby=Boorish man
Full of spleen=Fickle, changeable moods
Frantic=Insane
Blunt=Coarse
Noted=Reputed
Fortune=Events
Stays=Prevents him (from keeping his word)
Compleat:
Forsooth=Zeker, trouwens
Blunt=Stomp, bot, plomp, onbebouwen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, marriage, haste, manipulation

Here let us breathe and haply institute a course of learning and ingenious studies

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lucentio
CONTEXT:
LUCENTIO
Tranio, since for the great desire I had
To see fair Padua, nursery of arts,
I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy,
The pleasant garden of great Italy,
And by my father’s love and leave am armed
With his goodwill and thy good company.
My trusty servant, well approved in all,
Here let us breathe and haply institute
A course of learning and ingenious studies.
Pisa, renownèd for grave citizens,
Gave me my being and my father first,
A merchant of great traffic through the world,
Vincentio, come of the Bentivolii.
Vincentio’s son, brought up in Florence,
It shall become to serve all hopes conceived
To deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds.
And therefore, Tranio, for the time I study
Virtue, and that part of philosophy
Will I apply that treats of happiness
By virtue specially to be achieved.
Tell me thy mind, for I have Pisa left
And am to Padua come, as he that leaves
A shallow plash to plunge him in the deep
And with satiety seeks to quench his thirst.

DUTCH:
Hier zijn we aan ‘t doel en willen ‘t pad der kennis,
Der eed’le studien inslaan, ons tot heil.

MORE:
Proverb: Lombardy is the garden of the world

Padua=Known for its university
Leave=Permission
Haply=Perhaps
Institute=Begin
Traffic=Commercial trade
Come of=Originated from
Become=Is fitting
Plash=Pool
Compleat:
To give leave=Verlof geeven, veroorloven
Give me leave to do it=Vergun het my te doen
Haply=Misschien
To institute=Instellen, inzetten
To traffic=Handel dryven, handelen
Become=Betaamen

Burgersdijk notes:
Padua, der kunsten wieg . De universiteit van Padua, in 1228 gesticht, was in Sh .’s tijd de beroemdste en meest bezochte van Italie, Petrarca, Columbus en Galilei hadden er gestudeerd.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, virtue, satisfaction, hope/optimism

I am in all affected as yourself

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Tranio
CONTEXT:
TRANIO
Mi perdonato, gentle master mine.
I am in all affected as yourself,
Glad that you thus continue your resolve
To suck the sweets of sweet philosophy.
Only, good master, while we do admire
This virtue and this moral discipline,
Let’s be no stoics nor no stocks, I pray,
Or so devote to Aristotle’s checks
As Ovid be an outcast quite abjured.
Balk logic with acquaintance that you have,
And practice rhetoric in your common talk;
Music and poesy use to quicken you;
The mathematics and the metaphysics—
Fall to them as you find your stomach serves you.
No profit grows where is no pleasure ta’en.
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.

DUTCH:
Ik denk hierin volkomen als gijzelf,
En ben verheugd, dat ge in uw plan volhardt,
Der zoete wijsheid honigzoet te zuigen.

MORE:
Affected=Inclined
Discipline=Philosophy
Stoics=Greek philosophers who believed that perfection involved
getting rid of all emotion.
Stocks=Post or block of wood, pun on the emotionless Stoics.
Ovid=Roman love poet
Abjured=Renounced
Balk logic=Argue
Compleat:
How stands he affected=Hoe is hy geneigd?
Stoicks=Stoicynen, Stoische Philosophen
A stoick, a mere stoick (a severe or sontant man)=Een gestreng gevoelloos man
To abjure=Afzweeren
Balk=Een brok lands daar de ploeg niet overgegaan is, de opgeworpende aarde tusschen twee vooren; (shame or disgrace): Schande
To balk=Voorby gaan, daar over heen stappen, zyn woord niet houden, verongelyken, te leur stellen
He balked him not a whit=Hy zweeg niet voor hem, hy bleef hem niet schuldig

Burgersdijk notes:
Mi perdonate. Shakespeare’s tijdgenooten, Ben Jonson, Webster en vooral Marston strooiden gaarne vreemde gezegden hier en daar in hunne tooneelwerken, hijzelf doet het nagenoeg alleen in dit stuk; de schoolpedant Holofernes doet het in “Veel gemin, geen gewin” om zijne geleerdheid te
luchten.

Topics: virtue, learning/education, satisfaction

I am not so nice to change true rules for odd inventions

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Bianca
CONTEXT:
BIANCA
[reads]“Gamut I am, the ground of all accord:
A re, to plead Hortensio’s passion;
B mi, Bianca, take him for thy lord,
C fa ut, that loves with all affection;
D sol re, one clef, two notes have I;
E la mi, show pity, or I die.”
Call you this “gamut”? Tut, I like it not.
Old fashions please me best. I am not so nice
To change true rules for old inventions.

DUTCH:
Is dit een gamma? die bevalt mij niet;
Ik houd mij liefst aan de oude en goede leerwijs,
En heb geen lust in dwaze nieuwigheid

MORE:
Gamut=Scale
Nice=Malleable
Change=Exchange
Compleat:
Gamut=Tafel der muziek nooten
Nice=Keurig, vies
Change=Verwisseling, ruiling, wissel

Burgersdijk notes:
Ik ben de gamma enz . – Gamut I am, the ground of all accord enz. Het woord gamut heteekent in dit versjen niet de toonladder, maar de noot Gamma, zoodat het woord in het Engelsch eigenlijk gammut moest geschreven zijn. De vertaling zou ook juister zijn, indien zij luidde:
‘Gamm’ -ut ben ik, de grond van elk accoord.”
Gammut is, in den zin, waarin het woord hier genomen wordt, de laagste noot der toonladder van Guido Aretino, een Benedictjjner monnik, uit de elfde eeuw, van Arezzo in Toseane. Aan dezen toon, de G op de onderste lijn van den has, gaf hij den naam van de derde letter in bet Grieksch Alphabet, r, Gamma, liet den slotklinker weg en stelde er de lettergreep ut voor in plants. Dezen, en de overige namen, re, mi, fa enz. , die Guido aan de noton der diatonische toonladder gaf, ontleende hij aan de volgende verzen, die de eerste strofe uitmaken van een kerkgezang, van Paulus Diaconus, aan den Heiligen Johannes Baptista :
,, Ut queant laxis resonare fibris
Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti labii reatum,
Sancte Joannes!”
De wijze, waarop deze hymne oudtijds in de Catholieke kerk gezongen
werd, klimt met de diatonische intervallen G, A, B, C,
D en E, bij de lettergrepen, die hier cursief gedrukt zijn.

Topics: fashion/trends, love

I have thrust myself into this maze, haply to wive and thrive as best I may

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
HORTENSIO
Petruchio, patience. I am Grumio’s pledge.
Why, this’ a heavy chance ’twixt him and you,
Your ancient, trusty, pleasant servant Grumio.
And tell me now, sweet friend, what happy gale
Blows you to Padua here from old Verona?
PETRUCHIO
Such wind as scatters young men through the world
To seek their fortunes farther than at home,
Where small experience grows. But in a few,
Signior Hortensio, thus it stands with me:
Antonio, my father, is deceased,
And I have thrust myself into this maze,
Happily to wive and thrive as best I may.
Crowns in my purse I have and goods at home,
And so am come abroad to see the world.

DUTCH:
Antonio, mijn vader, overleed,
En ik dwaal nu deez’ doolhof in en zoek
Er mijn fortuin.

MORE:
Heavy=Sad
Chance=Occurrence, occasion
Ancient=Long-standing
In a few=To be brief
Happily=Perhaps, with a bit of luck
Compleat:
Heavy=(sad) Droevig, verdrietig
To chance=Voorvallen, gebeuren
Anciently=Van ouds, oulings
Haply=Misschien

Topics: money, age/experience, learning/education, legacy, independence

I have watched so long that I am dog-weary

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Biondello
CONTEXT:
TRANIO
Ay, mistress, and Petruchio is the master,
That teacheth tricks eleven and twenty long
To tame a shrew and charm her chattering tongue.
BIONDELLO
O master, master, I have watched so long
That I am dog-weary, but at last I spied
An ancient angel coming down the hill
Will serve the turn.

DUTCH:
O meester, ‘k stond zoo lang op wacht, dat ik
Zoo moe ben als een hond; maar eind’lijk daalt
Ginds van den berg een oude hemelzend’ling,
Die juist ons past.

MORE:
Eleven and twenty long=Card game, Thirty-one, in which the goal is to obtain a hand that equals 31 points.
Ancient angel=Of the old stamp (ref to the angel coin, which bore an image of the Archangel Michael)
Serve the turn=Serve our purpose

Burgersdijk notes:
Een oude hemelzend’ling. In ‘t Engelsch: an ancient angel, een engel, wijl hij hulp brengt. Wij behoeven hier dus niet te lezen an engle, dat men als a gull, iemand die zich foppen laat, verklaren wil.

Topics: authority, plans/intentions

I will be master of what is mine own: she is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn, my horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing.

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
They shall go forward, Kate, at thy command.—
Obey the bride, you that attend on her.
Go to the feast, revel and domineer,
Carouse full measure to her maidenhead,
Be mad and merry, or go hang yourselves.
But for my bonny Kate, she must with me.
Nay, look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret;
I will be master of what is mine own.
She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything.
And here she stands, touch her whoever dare.
I’ll bring mine action on the proudest he
That stops my way in Padua. —Grumio,
Draw forth thy weapon, we are beset with thieves.
Rescue thy mistress if thou be a man.—
Fear not, sweet wench, they shall not touch thee, Kate.
I’ll buckler thee against a million.

DUTCH:
k Wil meester zijn van wat mijn eigen is;
Zij is mijn have en goed; zij is mijn huis,
Mijn huisgerief, mijn veld, mijn korenschuur,
Mijn paard, mijn os, mijn ezel, ja mijn al;

MORE:
Domineer=Revel riotously
Big=Threatening
Action=Legal action; attack
Buckler=Shield
Compleat:
To domineer=Opgeblaazen zyn, den baas speelen
Action=Een daad, handeling, rechtzaak, gevecht

Topics: marriage, free will, authority

I’ll answer him by law: I’ll not budge an inch, boy

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: Ind 1
SPEAKER: Sly
CONTEXT:
SLY
Y’are a baggage, the Slys are no rogues. Look in the
chronicles—we came in with Richard Conqueror. Therefore
paucas pallabris: let the world slide. Sessa!
HOSTESS
You will not pay for the glasses you have burst?
SLY
No, not a denier. Go by, Saint Jeronimy. Go to thy cold
bed and warm thee.
HOSTESS
I know my remedy. I must go fetch the thirdborough.
SLY
Third, or fourth, or fifth borough, I’ll answer him by law.
I’ll not budge an inch, boy. Let him come, and kindly.

DUTCH:
Doe dat, en zijn moer en zijn grootjen er bij; ik zal hem
naar de wet te woord staan; ik ga geen duimbreed van
mijn plaats, jongen; laat hem maar komen, en fatsoenlijk
ook.

MORE:
Proverb: He came in with the Conqueror

Slide=Take its course
Denier=French coin of little value
Richard=Mistake for William the Conqueror
Jeronimy=Mistake for St. Jerome (Hieronymous) or cross between St Jerome and Hieronimo
Thirdborough=Peace keeping officer
Fifth borough=Paris officer
Kindly=Welcome
Compleat:
Rogue=Een Schelm, fielt
To play the rogue=Guytery aanrechten
Slide=Glyen

Burgersdijk notes:
Richard den Veroveraar . Hij meent natuurljjk Willem den Veroveraar, met wien zoovelen van den oudsten adel in bet land kwamen . – Het paucas pallabris is verdraaid uit het Spaansche pocas palabras, weinig woorden! evenals sessa uit het Spaansche cesa, houd op, stil! twee uitheemsche
uitdrukkingen, toen, blijkens andere tooneelspelen van dien tjjd, in zwang; ook Brummel gebruikt het woord palabras in „Veel leven om niets”, 3.5

Ga weg, Jeronimus. Deze woorden zijn genomen uit KYD’S Spaansche Tragedie, toen ter tijd aan ieder schouwburgbezoeker bekend, zoodat zeker de aanhaling dadelijk opgemerkt werd. In de folio staat „S . Ieronimie”; de S wordt door de uitgevers der Cambridge- en Globe-edition voor een vraagteeken gehouden, dat voor uitroepingsteeken gebezigd werd, en
zoo is hier vertaald. Doch misschien is het beter de S als eene werkelijke S, dus als eene verkorting van Saint, te beschouwen en te vertalen : „ga weg, Sint Jeronimus!” zoodat de dronkaard den held der Sp . Tragedie met den heiligen Hieronymus verwart.

Ik ga den schout halen. In de folio staat : I must go fetch the Headborough . Headborough is een konstabel, een policie-agent. Blijkbaar moet dit woord vervangen worden, zooals in alle uitgaven geschiedt, door thirdborough;
dit blijkt uit Sly’s antwoord Third or fourth, or fifth borough.
Thirdborough was een onderkonstabel, of nagenoeg gelijk met headborough. In The Constable’s Guide (1771) leest men : „There are in several counties of this realm other officers ; that is, by other titles, but not much inferior to our constables ; as, in Warwickshire, a thirdborough . – In de vertaling moest bet antwoord van Sly gewijzigd worden ; hij spreekt hier van den schout als van
een soort van duivel . – Hij richt verder in zijn dronkenschap het woord tot den knecht van het bierhuis.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised, remedy

I’ll not be tied to hours nor ‘pointed times

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Bianca
CONTEXT:
BIANCA
Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong
To strive for that which resteth in my choice.
I am no breeching scholar in the schools.
I’ll not be tied to hours nor ‘pointed times
But learn my lessons as I please myself.
And, to cut off all strife, here sit we down.
Take you your instrument, play you the whiles.
His lecture will be done ere you have tuned.
HORTENSIO
You’ll leave his lecture when I am in tune?
LUCENTIO
That will be never.
Tune your instrument.

DUTCH:
Ik ben geen schoolkind, dat de roede ducht;
‘k Wil aan geen uur of tijd gebonden zijn,
Maar neem mijn les zooals ik zelf verkies,

MORE:
Double wrong=You are both doing me wrong
Breeching is an old term meaning flogging (e.g. of a schoolboy). “I am no breeching scholar”=I am not “liable to be whipped”.
Tied to=Bound by
Strife=Dispute
Compleat:
To wrong=Verongelyken, verkorten
He did me wrong=Hy deed my ongelyk
To breech=Op de billen slaan
Tied=Gebonden
Strife=Twist, tweedragt, krakkeel, pooging

Topics: punishment, civility, time

If I be waspish, best beware my sting

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Katherina
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Come, come, you wasp. I’ faith, you are too angry.
KATHERINE
If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
PETRUCHIO
My remedy is then to pluck it out.
KATHERINE
Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.
PETRUCHIO
Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting?
In his tail.
KATHERINE
In his tongue.
PETRUCHIO
Whose tongue?
KATHERINE
Yours, if you talk of tales. And so farewell.

DUTCH:
Ben ik zoo wespig, ducht mijn angel dan

MORE:

Topics: caution

If she and I be pleased, what’s that to you?

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Be patient, gentlemen. I choose her for myself.
If she and I be pleased, what’s that to you?
‘Tis bargained ’twixt us twain, being alone,
That she shall still be curst in company.
I tell you, ’tis incredible to believe
How much she loves me. O, the kindest Kate!
She hung about my neck, and kiss on kiss
She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath,
That in a twink she won me to her love.
O, you are novices! ‘Tis a world to see,
How tame, when men and women are alone,
A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.—
Give me thy hand, Kate. I will unto Venice
To buy apparel ‘gainst the wedding day.
Provide the feast, father, and bid the guests.
I will be sure my Katherine shall be fine.

DUTCH:
Stil, heeren, stil ; ik koos haar voor mijzelf;
‘t Gaat u niet aan, als ‘t haar en mij zoo wel is.

MORE:
Be pleased=Are happy
Bargained=Agreed
Twixt us twain=Between the two of us
Curst=Perverse, forward, peevish
Meacock=Timid
‘Gainst=In preparation for
Compleat:
Pleased=Behaagd, aangestaan, beliefd
Bargain=Een verding, verdrag, koop
Betwixt=Tusschen, tusschenbeide
Betwixt the devil and the red sea=Tusschen hangen en worgen
Meacock=Een verwyfde bloodaard
Against=Tegens
Against the end of the week=Tegen ‘t laastst van deeze week

Topics: patience, free will, marriage, love

In brief, sir, study what you most affect

DUTCH:
Ik denk hierin volkomen als gijzelf,
En ben verheugd, dat ge in uw plan volhardt,
Der zoete wijsheid honigzoet te zuigen .

Topics: poverty and wealth, money

Is she so hot a shrew as she’s reported?

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Curtis
CONTEXT:
CURTIS
Is she so hot a shrew as she’s reported?
GRUMIO
She was, good Curtis, before this frost. But thou
knowest winter tames man, woman and beast, for it hath
tamed my old master and my new mistress and myself,
fellow Curtis.
CURTIS
Away, you three-inch fool! I am no beast.

DUTCH:
Is zij wezenlijk zoo ‘n heetgebakerde feeks, als men
vertelt?

MORE:
Proverb: Age and wedlock tame both man and beast
Proverb: Age and wedlock bring a man to his nightcap

Hot=Angry, fiery

Topics: proverbs and idioms, age/experience, marriage

It shall become to serve all hopes conceived to deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds

DUTCH:
t Betaamt Vincentio’s zoon, die in Florence
Werd opgevoed, dat hij, zooals men wacht,
Door edel doen zijn rijkdom glans verleen’.

MORE:
Proverb: Lombardy is the garden of the world

Topics: proverbs and idioms, virtue, satisfaction, hope/optimism

Let specialties be therefore drawn between us, that covenants may be kept on either hand

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste,
And every day I cannot come to woo.
You knew my father well, and in him me,
Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,
Which I have bettered rather than decreased.
Then tell me, if I get your daughter’s love,
What dowry shall I have with her to wife?
BAPTISTA
After my death, the one half of my lands,
And, in possession, twenty thousand crowns.
PETRUCHIO
And, for that dowry, I’ll assure her of
Her widowhood, be it that she survive me,
In all my lands and leases whatsoever.
Let specialties be therefore drawn between us,
That covenants may be kept on either hand.

DUTCH:
En ik, van mijnen kant, verzeker haar
Een weduwgift , – als zij mij overleeft , –
Van al mijn have en goed, hoe ook genaamd ;
Nauwkeurig zij dit wett’lijk dus omschreven,
Opdat aan weerszij het verdrag ons bind’ .

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW: Brooks v Brooks, 733 P.2d 1044 (Alaska 1987) (Burke, J.) (Presumptive validity of prenuptial agreements in contemplation of death rather than divorce)

Asketh haste=Is urgent
In possession=Immediately
Specialties=Special terms
Covenants=Stipulations
Kept=Observed
On either hand=By both sides
Compleat:
To take (or enter into) possession=Bezit nemen, de bezitting aanvaarden
Specialty=Een verbondschrift, of schuldbekentenis; een al te gemeenzaame kennis
To bind one by covenant=Iemand door een verdrag verbinden

Burgersdijk notes:
Ik kan niet elken dag hier aanzoek doen. Dit zeggen van Petruccio : And everyday I cannot come to woo, wekte zeker veel vroolijkheid bij de toeschouwers op, want het is woordelijk, met een kleine omzetting, het refrein van een oude ballade, The ingenious Bragadoccio betiteld. Ook in een tusschenspel, interlude, van Puttenham komt de regel voor: I cannot come a wooing every day.

Topics: law, poverty and wealth, haste, contract, marriage

Let the world slip: we shall ne’er be younger

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: Ind 2
SPEAKER: Sly
CONTEXT:
MESSENGER
Your Honour’s players, hearing your amendment,
Are come to play a pleasant comedy,
For so your doctors hold it very meet,
Seeing too much sadness hath congealed your blood,
And melancholy is the nurse of frenzy.
Therefore they thought it good you hear a play
And frame your mind to mirth and merriment,
Which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life.
SLY
Marry, I will. Let them play it. Is not a comonty a
Christmas gambol or a tumbling-trick?
PAGE
No, my good lord, it is more pleasing stuff.
SLY
What, household stuff?
PAGE
It is a kind of history.
SLY
Well, we’ll see ’t. Come, madam wife, sit by my side
and let the world slip. We shall ne’er be younger.

DUTCH:
Nu, we willen het zien. Kom, Madame vrouw, zet u
naast mij veer en laat de wereld haar gang gaan; wij
kunnen het nooit jonger doen.

MORE:
Proverb: You shall never be younger

Amendment=Recovery
Hold=Regard
Meet=Appropriate
Frenzy=Madness
Bars=Prevents
Comonty=Comedy
Gambol=Game
History=Story
Slip=Slip by
Compleat:
Amendment=Beterschap; verbeterming
Amendment of life=Verbetering van leeven
Hold=Houden, vatten
Meet=Dienstig, bequaam, gevoeglyk
Frenzy=Ylhoofdigheid, uitzinnigheid
To bar=Dwarsboom, draaiboom, hinderpaal, beletsel, traali
To gambol=Springe, huppelen
History=Een geschiedenis, verhaal, geschiedboek, historie
To slip (or let slip)=Laaten ontslippen

Topics: time, age/experience, proverbs and idioms

Let their heads be slickly combed, their blue coats brushed, and their garters of an indifferent knit

DUTCH:
Laten zij hun haar goed glad kammen, hun blauwe kamizolen goed borstelen en hun kousebanden gelijk strikken ; laten ze een buiging maken met hun linkerbeenen ; en het hart niet hebben om een haar aan te raken van mijn meesters paardestaart, voordat ze hun handen gekust hebben.

Topics: appearance, civility, order/society

Look what I speak, or do, or think to do, you are still crossing it.

DUTCH:
Wie schat den meerkol hooger dan den leeuwrik,
Omdat zijn veed’ren fraaier zijn van kleur?

Topics: fashion/trends, poverty and wealth, appearance, value, vanity

My cake is dough, but I’ll in among the rest, out of hope of all but my share of the feast

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Gremio
CONTEXT:
VINCENTIO
Fear not, Baptista, we will content you. Go to. But I
will in to be revenged for this villainy..
BAPTISTA
And I, to sound the depth of this knavery.
LUCENTIO
Look not pale, Bianca. Thy father will not frown.
GREMIO
My cake is dough, but I’ll in among the rest,
Out of hope of all but my share of the feast.

DUTCH:
Mijn koek ligt in de asch, maar ik ga mee naar binnen;
Want buiten het maal heb ik niets meer to winnen .

MORE:
Proverb: My cake is dough (cake that isn’t properly baked)

Content=Satisfy
Go to=Don’t worry
Sound=Find out
Compleat:
To content=Voldoen, te vreede stellen, genoegen geeven
Go to=Wel aan, wakker
To sound=Peilen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, satisfaction, revenge, failure

My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Katherine
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak,
And speak I will. I am no child, no babe.
Your betters have endured me say my mind,
And if you cannot, best you stop your ears.
My tongue will tell the anger of my heart
Or else my heart, concealing it, will break,
And, rather than it shall, I will be free
Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.
PETRUCHIO
Why, thou say’st true. It is a paltry cap,
A custard-coffin, a bauble, a silken pie.
I love thee well in that thou lik’st it not.
KATHERINE
Love me or love me not, I like the cap,
And it I will have, or I will have none.

DUTCH:
Ik wil mij uiten;
Mijn hart bezweek van ergernis, zoo ‘k zweeg;
En eerder geef ik, wat ik denk en wil,
Al zij het nog zoo fel, in woorden lucht.

MORE:
Endured=Suffered
Uttermost=Without limits (I will speak as I like)
Me say=Me to say
Custard coffin=Pastry crust filled with custard
Compleat:
To endure=Verdraagen, harden, duuren
Utmost=Uiterste

Topics: language, independence, anger

Nay, ’tis no matter, what he ‘leges in Latin

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Grumio
CONTEXT:
HORTENSIO
Alla nostra casa ben venuto, molto honourato signor mio
Petruchio.—Rise, Grumio, rise. We will compound this
quarrel.
GRUMIO
Nay, ’tis no matter, sir, what he ‘leges in Latin. If
this be not a lawful case for me to leave his service
—look you, sir: he bid me knock him and rap him soundly,
sir. Well, was it fit for a servant to use his master
so, being perhaps, for aught I see, two-and-thirty, a
pip out?
Whom, would to God, I had well knocked at first,
Then had not Grumio come by the worst.

DUTCH:
Ach, heer, dat doet er niets toe, wat hij daar
in ‘t Latijn vertelt.

MORE:
Compound=Settle
‘leges=Alleges
Latin=Confuses Latin and Italian
Two-and-thirty=Drunk
Pip=Dot on the dice or playing cards
Rap=Strike quickly
Compleat:
To compound=’t Zamenzetten, byleggen, afmaaken, vereffenen, overeenkomen
To allege=(alledge) Bybrengen, aantrekken, aanhallen
To alledge against one=Tegen iemand inbrengen

Burgersdijk notes:
Het doet er niet, wat hij daar in het Latijn vertelt. Het moge vreemd schijnen, dat Grumio, de Italiaan, zijn eigen moedertaal voor Latjjn houdt, maar hij spreekt door Shakespeare Engelsch; het ltaliaansch is hem, al speelt het stuk in ltalie, een onbekende taal en kan hem dus Latijn toeschijnen of iedere andere vreemde taal; alleen voor ltaliaansch moet hij het niet houden.

En niet meer meespeelt. In ‘t Engelsch staat: being, perhaps, two-and-thirty, – a pip out. Een pip is een oog, een punt op een speelkaart, a spot on cards. De zegswijze is ontleend aan het kaartspel: Bone-ace or One and thirty; wie meer had dan een-en-dertig, viel uit, speelde niet meer mee. Was Petruccio twee-en dertig, dan was zijn tijd van spelen voorbij . – Halliwell merkt verder nog op : , to be two-and-thirty, a pip out, was an old cant phrase applied to a person who was intoxicated .”

Topics: language, law, work

No profit grows where is no pleasure taken

DUTCH:
Want niets gedijt, als lust en liefde ontbreekt;
In ‘t kort, studeer wat u bet meest behaagt.

Topics: virtue, learning/education, satisfaction

O this learning, what a thing it is!

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Gremio
CONTEXT:
GREMIO
O, very well, I have perused the note.
Hark you, sir: I’ll have them very fairly bound,
All books of love. See that at any hand,
And see you read no other lectures to her.
You understand me. Over and beside
Signior Baptista’s liberality,
I’ll mend it with a largess. Take your paper too.
And let me have them very well perfum’d
For she is sweeter than perfume itself
To whom they go to. What will you read to her?
LUCENTIO
Whate’er I read to her, I’ll plead for you
As for my patron, stand you so assured,
As firmly as yourself were still in place,
Yea, and perhaps with more successful words
Than you, unless you were a scholar, sir.
GREMIO
O this learning, what a thing it is!
GRUMIO
O this woodcock, what an ass it is!

DUTCH:
O die geleerdheid, welk een schoone zaak!

MORE:
Note=List of books
Fairly=Beautifully
At any hand=In any case
Mend=Remedy; increase
Largess=Generous donation
Still=Always
Woodcock=Fool
Compleat:
Fairly=Fraai; oprechtelyk
To mend=Verbeteren, beteren’ verstellen, lappen
Largess=Een gift, geschenk, drinkgeld
Still=Steeds, gestadig, altyd
Woodcock=Houtsnip

Topics: learning/educaation, intellect

O’ my word, an she knew him as well as I do, she would think scolding would do little good upon him

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Grumio
CONTEXT:
GRUMIO
I pray you, sir, let him go while the humour lasts. O’ my word, an she knew him as well as I do, she would think scolding would do little good upon him. She may perhaps call him half a score knaves or so.
Why, that’s nothing; an he begin once, he’ll rail in his rope tricks. I’ll tell you what sir: an she stand him but a little, he will throw a figure in her face and so disfigure her with it that she shall have no more eyes to see withal than a cat. You know him not, sir.

DUTCH:
Ik bid u, heer, laat hem gaan, nu hij er lust in heeft.
Op niijn woord, als zij hem zoo goed kende als ik, zou
zij begrijpen, dat kijven bij hem bijzonder weiniguitricht.

MORE:
Humour=Mood
An=If
Rope tricks=Grumio’s mistake for “rhetoric”
Stand=Stand up to
Figure=Phrase, rhetoric
Compleat:
Figure=Voorbeeldsel, afbeeldsel
Humour (or disposition of the mind)=Humeur, gemoeds gesteldheid
To stand it out=Staand houden, het uytstaan

Topics: emotion and mood, insult, language

Our cake’s dough on both sides

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Gremio
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Why, and I trust I may go too, may I not? What, shall I
be appointed hours as though, belike, I knew not what
to take and what to leave, ha?
GREMIO
You may go to the devil’s dam! Your gifts are so good
here’s none will hold you.—Their love is not so great,
Hortensio, but we may blow our nails together and fast
it fairly out. Our cake’s dough on both sides. Farewell.
Yet for the love I bear my sweet Bianca, if I can by
any means light on a fit man to teach her that wherein
she delights, I will wish him to her father.
HORTENSIO
So will I, Signior Gremio. But a word, I pray. Though
the nature of our quarrel yet never brooked parle, know
now upon advice, it toucheth us both, that we may yet
again have access to our fair mistress and be happy
rivals in Bianca’s love, to labour and effect one thing
specially.

DUTCH:
Loop naar des duivels grootmoeder! – Uwe gaven zijn
zoo goed, dat niemand van u gediend is. – Zoo groot
is de liefde tusschen Katharina en haar vader niet, Hortensio,
of wij mogen wel op onze nagels gaan blazen
en geduldig vasten; onze koek is aan geen van beide
zijden nog gaar.

MORE:
Proverb: My cake is dough (cake that isn’t properly baked)

Belike=Perhaps
Dam=Mother
Wish=Commend
Brooked=Endured (also abrook)
Parle=Discussion
Compleat:
Dam=Een dam; de moer van sommige beesten
Wish=Wenschen
Brook=Verdraagen, uitstaan
To brook an affront=Een leed verkroppen
Parley=Gesprek over voorwaarden, onderhandeling, gesprekhouding

Burgersdijk notes:
Zoo groot is de liefde tusschen Katharina en haar vader niet. Er staat eigenlijk alleen: „Hun liefde is zoo groot niet”; doch dit moet beteekenen, wat in de vertaling is uitgedrukt : de liefde tusschen hen beiden is zoo groot niet, dat zij op den duur een echtverbintenis van Bianca tegenhoudt, al moeten de twee medevrijers nu rustig wachten, daar zij op ‘t oogenblik teleurgesteld zijn . Dit Iaatste wordt uitgedrukt door ‘t ongaar zijn van den koek.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, love, rivalry

Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes that have been so bedazzled with the sun

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.5
SPEAKER: Katherina
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes
That have been so bedazzled with the sun
That everything I look on seemeth green.
Now I perceive thou art a reverend father.
Pardon, I pray thee, for my mad mistaking.
PETRUCHIO
Do, good old grandsire, and withal make known
Which way thou travellest. If along with us,
We shall be joyful of thy company.
VINCENTIO
Fair sir, and you, my merry mistress,
That with your strange encounter much amazed me,
My name is called Vincentio, my dwelling Pisa,
And bound I am to Padua, there to visit
A son of mine which long I have not seen.

DUTCH:
Vergeef mij, oude heer, mijn oogen dwaalden;
Zij waren door de felle zon verblind;
En alles wat ik zag, kwam groen mij voor.

MORE:
Bedazzled=Blinded
Green=Fresh, young
Encounter=Behaviour, manner of address
Bound I am to=I am bound for
Compleat:
To dazzle with overmuch light=Verblinden, het gezigt verduisteren
Wether are you bound?=Waar legt de reis na toe?
Encounter=Bestryden, bevechten, aanvallen

Topics: respect, error

Say she be mute and will not speak a word; then I’ll commend her volubility

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
I pray you do.
I’ll attend her here
And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
Say that she rail; why then I’ll tell her plain
She sings as sweetly as a nightingale.
Say that she frown; I’ll say she looks as clear
As morning roses newly washed with dew.
Say she be mute and will not speak a word;
Then I’ll commend her volubility,
And say she uttereth piercing eloquence.
If she do bid me pack, I’ll give her thanks,
As though she bid me stay by her a week.
If she deny to wed, I’ll crave the day
When I shall ask the banns and when be married.
But here she comes—and now, Petruchio, speak.

DUTCH:
En kijkt ze zwart, ik roem haar blikken, helder
Als morgenrozen, frisch met dauw gedrenkt;
En is ze stom en spreekt ze zelfs geen woord,
Dan roem ik luid de radheid van haar tong
En zeg, dat zulk een tail de ziel beweegt;

MORE:
Attend=Wait for
Rail=Rant
Piercing=Moving
Pack=Leave
Compleat:
To rail=Schelden
To attend=Opwachten, verzellen
To pierce=Doorbooren, doordringen
To pack=Oppakken, by een pakken
To pack hence=Pak u weg, vertrek van hier

Topics: flattery, language, persuasion

The door is open, sir. There lies your way. You may be jogging whiles your boots are green

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Katherine
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Nay, then,
Do what thou canst, I will not go today,
No, nor tomorrow, not till I please myself.
The door is open, sir. There lies your way.
You may be jogging whiles your boots are green.
For me, I’ll not be gone till I please myself.
‘Tis like you’ll prove a jolly surly groom,
That take it on you at the first so roundly.
PETRUCHIO
O Kate, content thee. Prithee, be not angry.
KATHERINE
I will be angry. What hast thou to do?—
Father, be quiet. He shall stay my leisure.

DUTCH:
De deur is open, heer, daar ligt uw weg;
Hots gij maar weg, als gij op spelden staat;

MORE:
Proverb: Here is the door and there is the way
Proverb: Be jogging while your boots are green

You may be jogging=Youed better get going
Green=New
Take it on you=Be responsible for
Roundly=Openly
What hast thou to do=What’s it to do with you?
Stay my leisure=Wait until I’m ready
Compleat:
Jogging=Stooting
Will ye be jogging?=Wil je wel gaan?
To take on=Aanneemen
Roundly=Rondelyk, rond uyt

Topics: proverbs and idioms, independence, anger

The gown is made just as my master had direction

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Tailor
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
O monstrous arrogance! Thou liest, thou thread, thou
thimble,
Thou yard, three-quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail!
Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter cricket thou!
Braved in mine own house with a skein of thread?
Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant,
Or I shall so be-mete thee with thy yard
As thou shalt think on prating whilst thou liv’st!
I tell thee, I, that thou hast marred her gown.
TAILOR
Your Worship is deceived. The gown is made
Just as my master had direction.
Grumio gave order how it should be done.
GRUMIO
I gave him no order. I gave him the stuff.
TAILOR
But how did you desire it should be made?
GRUMIO
Marry, sir, with needle and thread.
TAILOR
But did you not request to have it cut?
GRUMIO
Thou hast faced many things.
TAILOR
I have.
GRUMIO
Face not me. Thou hast braved many men; brave not me. I
will neither be faced nor braved. I say unto thee, I
bid thy master cut out the gown, but I did not bid him
cut it to pieces. Ergo, thou liest.
TAILOR
Why, here is the note of the fashion to testify.

DUTCH:
Uw edelheid vergist zich; ‘t is gemaakt,
Precies zooals ‘t mijn meester werd besteld.
Hier, Grumio, gaf heel op, hoe ‘t wezen moest.

Topics: insult, fashion/trends, work, satisfaction

There’s small choice in rotten apples

DUTCH:
Ik geef toe, uit rotte appels is het kwaad kiezen.

MORE:
Proverb: There is a small choice in rotten apples (1594)
Proverb: Happy man happy dole (be his dole)
Proverb: He that hops best (runs fases) gets the ring

As lief=As happily
Bar in law=Legal obstacle
Afresh=Anew
Compleat:
I had as lief=Ik wilde al zo lief
Bar=Een dwarsboom, draaiboom, sluytboom, boom, hinderpaal, diefeyzer, traali, beletsel

Topics: proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised, still in use, rivalry, friendship

This is a way to kill a wife with kindness

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Thus have I politicly begun my reign,
And ’tis my hope to end successfully.
My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,
And, till she stoop, she must not be full-gorged,
For then she never looks upon her lure.
Another way I have to man my haggard,
To make her come and know her keeper’s call.
That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites
That bate and beat and will not be obedient.
She ate no meat today, nor none shall eat.
Last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not.
As with the meat, some undeservèd fault
I’ll find about the making of the bed,
And here I’ll fling the pillow, there the bolster,
This way the coverlet, another way the sheets.
Ay, and amid this hurly I intend
That all is done in reverend care of her.
And, in conclusion, she shall watch all night,
And if she chance to nod I’ll rail and brawl,
And with the clamor keep her still awake.
This is a way to kill a wife with kindness,
And thus I’ll curb her mad and headstrong humour.
He that knows better how to tame a shrew,
Now let him speak; ’tis charity to show.

DUTCH:
Zoo wordt ze klein gemaakt door teed’re zorg,
En buig ik wel haar dollen, kreeg’len kop.

MORE:
Politicly=Skilfully, with cunning
Sharp=Hungry
Stoop=Submit
Lure=Used to train hawk (following falcolnry image)
Haggard=Female hawk
Kite=Bird of prey
Bate and beat=Flap and flutter
Hurly=Hurly-burly, tumult
Intend=Pretend
Charity=An act of goodwill
Rail=Rant
Compleat:
Politick=(cunnning)=Slim, schrander, doorsleepen
A sharp stomach=Een hongerige maag
Sharp-set=Hongerig
To stoop=Buigen, bokken of bukken
Lure=Lokvogel
Hagard=Wild. A hagard hawk=Een wilde valk
Kite=Een kuikendief [vogel]Hurly-burly=Een gestommel, dedrang, oproer
To rail=Schelden

Burgersdijk notes:
Mijn valk, met ledge maag, enz.
Petruccio bezigt inderdaad dezelfde middelen als voor bet temmen van valken gebruikt worden: vasten en slapeloosheid .

Topics: authority, plans/intentions, manipulation

Thou know’st not gold’s effect

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Hortensio, peace. Thou know’st not gold’s effect.
Tell me her father’s name, and ’tis enough;
For I will board her, though she chide as loud
As thunder when the clouds in autumn crack.
HORTENSIO
Her father is Baptista Minola,
An affable and courteous gentleman.
Her name is Katherina Minola,
Renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue.

DUTCH:
O zwijg, ge kent de kracht niet van het goud;

MORE:
Board=Accost; woo
Chide=Argue, scold
Crack=Thunder crack
Compleat:
To board=Met planken beleggen, bezolderen, bevloeren, beschieten
To chide=Kyven, bekyven
To crack=Kraaken, barsten, splyten; pochen

Topics: money, advantage/benefit

Though he be blunt, I know him passing wise; though he be merry, yet withal he’s honest

DUTCH:
Zij hij wat ruw, verstandig is hij zeer;
Drijv’ hij den spot, hij is een man van eer.

MORE:

Proverb: Marry in haste, repent at leisure

Topics: proverbs and idioms, marriage, haste, manipulation

Tis a good hearing when children are toward

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Vincentio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Why, there’s a wench! Come on and kiss me, Kate.
LUCENTIO
Well, go thy ways, old lad, for thou shalt ha ’t.
VINCENTIO
‘Tis a good hearing when children are toward.
LUCENTIO
But a harsh hearing when women are froward.
PETRUCHIO
Come, Kate, we’ll to bed.
We three are married, but you two are sped.
‘Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white,
And, being a winner, God give you good night!
HORTENSIO
Now, go thy ways, thou hast tamed a curst shrew.
LUCENTIO
‘Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamed so.

DUTCH:
t Is lieflijk te hooren, als kind’ren zoo willig zijn.

MORE:
Go thy ways=Well done
Ha’t=Have it (win the prize)
Good hearing=Good to hear
Toward=Obedient, well-behaved
Sped=Done for
White=Centre of the target
Compleat:
Toward=Genegen
Sped=Geschieden

Topics: civility, marriage

Tis burnt, and so is all the meat.
What dogs are these! Where is the rascal cook?

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
‘Tis burnt, and so is all the meat.
What dogs are these! Where is the rascal cook?
How durst you, villains, bring it from the dresser
And serve it thus to me that love it not?
There, take it to you, trenchers, cups, and all!
Throws the meat, & c. about the stage
You heedless joltheads and unmannered slaves!
What, do you grumble? I’ll be with you straight.

DUTCH:
t Is aangebrand; en zoo is al het eten;
Wat hondevolk! – Waar is die schelmsche kok?
Hoe hebt, gij schurken, ‘t hart, op onze tafel
Zulk goed te brengen, dat oneetbaar is?

MORE:
Dresser=Person who prepared the food
Trenchers=Plates
Jolt-heads=Blockheads
Be with you straight=Deal with you immediately
Compleat:
Dresser=Een toerechter, opschikker
Trencher=Tafelbord, houten tafelbord
Straightway=Eenswegs, terstond, opstaandevoet
Jolthead=(Joulthead) Een dikkop

Topics: patience, haste, negligence

To thy cold comfort, for being slow in thy hot office

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Grumio
CONTEXT:
CURTIS
Away, you three-inch fool! I am no beast.
GRUMIO
Am I but three inches? Why, thy horn is a foot, and so
long am I, at the least. But wilt thou make a fire, or
shall I complain on thee to our mistress, whose hand,
she being now at hand, thou shalt soon feel, to thy cold
comfort, for being slow in thy hot office?
GRUMIO
A cold world, Curtis, in every office but thine, and
therefore fire! Do thy duty, and have thy duty, for my
master and mistress are almost frozen to death.

DUTCH:
Maar wilt ge nu het vuur eens aanmaken, of zal ik over u klagen
bij onze meesteres? dan zult ge haar hand, – en ze is
bij de hand, – gauw voelen, tot uw kouden troost, omdat
ge zoo lauw zijt in uw warmen dienst.

MORE:
Proverb: Cold comfort

Horn=Horn of a cuckold
Hot office=Fire-making duty
Have thy duty=Receive your reward
Compleat:
To wear horns=Hoornen dragen
She bestows a pair of horns upon her husband=Zy zet haaren man een paar hoorns op ‘t hoofd; Zy kroont hem met het wapen van Boksbergen
A cuckold’s horn=Het hoorn, van een hoorndraager
To pay one’s duty=Zyn plicht betrachten

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, loyalty

Unknit that threat’ning unkind brow and dart not scornful glances from those eyes

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Katherine
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Fie, fie! Unknit that threat’ning unkind brow
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty,
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labor both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks and true obedience—
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband.
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel
And graceless traitor to her loving lord? (…)

DUTCH:
O foei, strijk glad dat dreigend, toornig voorhoofd ;
En schiet geen booze blikken nit die oogen
Op uwen heer, uw koning, uw gebieder.

MORE:
Knitted brows=Frown
Unkind=Unnatural
Meads=Meadows
Confounds=Destroys
Meet=Fitting
Fame=Reputation
Moved=Angry
Ill-seeming=Unpleasant looking
Dry=Thirsty
Compleat:
Meet=Dienstig, bequaam, gevoeglyk
To knit the brows=Het voorhoofd in rimpels trekken
Mead=Een heemde, weyde
To confound=Verwarren, verstooren, te schande maaken, verbysteren
Fame=Faam, gerucht, vermaardheid, goede naam
Moved=Bewoogen, verroerd, ontroerd

Topics: emotion and mood, anger, love, ingratitude

Well, forward, forward! Thus the bowl should run, and not unluckily against the bias

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.5
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Then God be blessed, it is the blessèd sun.
But sun it is not, when you say it is not,
And the moon changes even as your mind.
What you will have it named, even that it is,
And so it shall be so for Katherine.
HORTENSIO
Petruchio, go thy ways; the field is won.
PETRUCHIO
Well, forward, forward! Thus the bowl should run,
And not unluckily against the bias.
But, soft! Company is coming here.

DUTCH:
Vooruit dan, voort; zoo rolt de bal wel goed
En poedelt niet meer zijwaarts aan ‘t beschot. –
Maar kijk, wie komt ons daar gezelschap houden?

MORE:
Proverb: As changeful (inconstant) as the moon

Topics: proverbs and idioms, free will, independence, language

What, is the jay more precious than the lark because his feathers are more beautiful?

DUTCH:
Wie schat den meerkol hooger dan den leeuwrik,
Omdat zijn veed’ren fraaier zijn van kleur?

Topics: fashion/trends, poverty and wealth, appearance, value, vanity

Where did you study all this goodly speech?
– It is extempore, from my mother wit.

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Katherine
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Did ever Dian so become a grove
As Kate this chamber with her princely gait?
Oh, be thou Dian, and let her be Kate,
And then let Kate be chaste and Dian sportful.
KATHERINE
Where did you study all this goodly speech?
PETRUCHIO
It is extempore, from my mother wit.
KATHERINE
A witty mother! Witless else her son.
PETRUCHIO
Am I not wise?
KATHERINE
Yes, keep you warm.

DUTCH:
Waar hebt gij al dien schoonen praat geleerd?

MORE:
Proverb: He is wise enough that can keep himself warm

Dian=Goddess Diana
Grove=Wood
Extempore=Improvised, off the cuff
Mother wit=Natural intelligence
Compleat:
Grove=Een kleyn bosch, een hout
Extempore=Voor de vuyst, opstaandevoet

Burgersdijk notes:
Nu, houd dien geest maar warm. Yes, keep you warm. Een spreekwoordelijk zeggen, vollediger uitgedrukt in “Veel leven om niets”, 1.1: If he have wit enough to keep himself warm, „als hij geest genoeg heeft om zich warm te houden”.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, wisdom, intellect, language, skill/talent

Where is the life that late I led?

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
GRUMIO
Nathaniel’s coat, sir, was not fully made,
And Gabriel’s pumps were all unpinked i’ th’ heel.
There was no link to colour Peter’s hat,
And Walter’s dagger was not come from sheathing.
There were none fine but Adam, Rafe, and Gregory.
The rest were ragged, old, and beggarly.
Yet, as they are, here are they come to meet you.
PETRUCHIO
Go, rascals, go, and fetch my supper in.
Go, idiots, go, and fetch me my supper.
Where is the life that late I led—
Where are those —Sit down, Kate, and welcome.—
Soud, soud, soud, soud!
Where is the life I used to lead?
Where are those—
Sit down, Kate, and make yourself welcome.—
Food, food, food, food!

DUTCH:
Waar zijn mijn goede dagen heen?

MORE:
Fully made=Finished
Pumps=Shoes
Unpinked=Lacking decoration
Link=Blacking (from burned-out torches)
Compleat:
Pinked=Doorgestoken
Link=Toorts, fakkel

Topics: fashion/trends, memory

Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Katherina
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
No shame but mine. I must, forsooth, be forced
To give my hand, opposed against my heart,
Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen,
Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure.
I told you, I, he was a frantic fool,
Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behavior,
And, to be noted for a merry man,
He’ll woo a thousand, ‘point the day of marriage,
Make friends, invite, and proclaim the banns,
Yet never means to wed where he hath wooed.
Now must the world point at poor Katherine
And say, “Lo, there is mad Petruchio’s wife,
If it would please him come and marry her!”

DUTCH:
t Is smaad op mij! Ja, ‘k werd genoopt, de hand
Met tegenzin te reiken aan een dollen,
Grilzieken wildeman, die vliegensvlug
Verloofd wil zijn, maar trouwen, als ‘t hem lust.

MORE:
Proverb: Marry in haste, repent at leisure

Forsooth=In truth
Rudesby=Boorish man
Full of spleen=Fickle, changeable moods
Frantic=Insane
Blunt=Coarse
Noted=Reputed
Compleat:
Forsooth=Zeker, trouwens
Frentick=Ylhoofdig, uitzinnig, zinneloos
Frantick=Zinneloos, hersenloos, ylhoofdig

Topics: proverbs and idioms, marriage, haste, manipulation

Why came I hither but to that intent?

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Why came I hither but to that intent?
Think you a little din can daunt mine ears?
Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
Have I not heard the sea, puffed up with winds,
Rage like an angry boar chafèd with sweat?
Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
And heaven’s artillery thunder in the skies?
Have I not in a pitchèd battle heard
Loud ‘larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets’ clang?
And do you tell me of a woman’s tongue
That gives not half so great a blow to hear
As will a chestnut in a farmer’s fire?
Tush, tush! Fear boys with bugs.

DUTCH:
Waarvoor kwam ik dan hier, dan met dit doel?
Denkt gij mijn oor vervaard voor wat geruchts?
Hoorde ik dan nooit het brullen van den leeuw?

MORE:
Proverb: Bugbears (bugs) to scare babies
Proverb: You fray an old knave with a bugbear

Intent=Purpose
Din=Noise
Daunt=Intimidate
Ordnance=Cannon
Field=Battlefield
‘Larums=Call to battle
Bugs=Bugbears
Compleat:
Intent=Oogmerk, einde, opzet
Dinn=Geklink, geraas
To daunt=Verschrukken, vrees aanjaagen, verbaazen
Ordinance=Geschut

Topics: proverbs and idioms, courage

Why, nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Grumio
CONTEXT:
GRUMIO
Nay, look you, sir, he tells you flatly what his mind is.
Why, give him gold enough and marry
him to a puppet or an aglet-baby, or an old trot with
ne’er a tooth in her head, though she have as many
diseases as two-and-fifty horses. Why, nothing comes
amiss, so money comes withal.
HORTENSIO
Petruchio, since we are stepped thus far in,
I will continue that I broached in jest.
I can, Petruchio, help thee to a wife
With wealth enough, and young and beauteous,
Brought up as best becomes a gentlewoman.
Her only fault, and that is faults enough,
Is that she is intolerable curst,
And shrewd and froward, so beyond all measure
That, were my state far worser than it is,
I would not wed her for a mine of gold.

DUTCH:
O niets komt hem ten onpas, als er maar geld bij is.

MORE:
Flatly=Plainly
Aglet-baby=Small carved figure
Trot=Hag
So=Provided
Withal=Along with it
Broached=Started
Curst=Perverse, forward
Froward=Contrary, difficult
Compleat:
Flatly=Platachtig
To deny flatly=Ronduyt ontkennen
Aglet=Een plaatje
To broach=Aan ‘t spit steeken, speeten; voortbrengen
Froward=Gemelyk, knorrig, kribbig.

Topics: money, poverty and wealth

With ruffs and cuffs and farthingales and things

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
[aside to HORTENSIO ]Eat it up all, Hortensio, if thou lovest me.—
Much good do it unto thy gentle heart.
Kate, eat apace. And now, my honey love,
Will we return unto thy father’s house
And revel it as bravely as the best,
With silken coats and caps and golden rings,
With ruffs and cuffs and farthingales and things,
With scarves and fans and double change of brav’ry,
With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knav’ry.
What, hast thou dined? The tailor stays thy leisure
To deck thy body with his ruffling treasure.
Come, tailor, let us see these ornaments.
Lay forth the gown.
HABERDASHER
Here is the cap your Worship did bespeak.

DUTCH:
Wij gaan nu naar uws vaders huis en komen
Er op het feest eens prachtig voor den dag,
Met zijden kleedjes, hoedjes, gouden ringen,
Met strikken, kwikken, duizend fraaie dingen,
Met sjaals en waaiers, telkens nieuwen tooi,
Met barnsteen, paarlen, duizenderlei mooi.

MORE:
Farthingales=Hooped petticoats to support wide skirts
Bravery=Finery
Knavery=Tricks
Ruffling treasure=Finery
Bespeak=Order (first cited with this meaning on OED 1607; previous meaning was “to speak for something”.)
Compleat:
Bravery=Praal, pronk, pronkery
Knavery=Guiterij, boertery
Ruff=Een kraag, lob
Ruffled=Gekreukeld, gefrommeld
To bespeak=Bespreeken
To bespeak a pair of shoes=Een paar schoenen te maaken bestellen

Topics: fashion/trends, appearance, money

Would not the beggar then forget himself?

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: Ind 1
SPEAKER: Lord
CONTEXT:
LORD
O monstrous beast, how like a swine he lies!
Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image!
Sirs, I will practice on this drunken man.
What think you: if he were conveyed to bed,
Wrapped in sweet clothes, rings put upon his fingers,
A most delicious banquet by his bed,
And brave attendants near him when he wakes,
Would not the beggar then forget himself?
FIRST HUNTSMAN
Believe me, lord, I think he cannot choose.
SECOND HUNTSMAN
It would seem strange unto him when he waked.

DUTCH:
Wist dan de beed’laar zelf wel, wie hij was?

MORE:
Proverb: Beggars should be no choosers

Practise on=Trick, persuade
Brave=Finely dressed
Compleat:
To practise upon others=Anderen omzetten, of overhaalen, of in zyn belang wikkelen
Practice=(underhand dealing, intrigue) Praktyk, bedekten handel, list
To brave=Trotsen, braveeren, trotseeren; moedig treeden

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, deceit poverty and wealth

You heedless joltheads and unmannered slaves!

DUTCH:
Gij stomme vlegels, lomperds, galgenaas!
Wat! bromt ge? ‘k Zal u leeren, hoe het hoort!

Topics: patience, haste, negligence

You know pitchers have ears, and I have many servants

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Baptista
CONTEXT:
BAPTISTA
Sir, pardon me in what I have to say.
Your plainness and your shortness please me well.
Right true it is your son Lucentio here
Doth love my daughter and she loveth him,
Or both dissemble deeply their affections.
And therefore, if you say no more than this,
That like a father you will deal with him
And pass my daughter a sufficient dower,
The match is made, and all is done.
Your son shall have my daughter with consent.
TRANIO
I thank you, sir. Where then do you know best
We be affied and such assurance ta’en
As shall with either part’s agreement stand?
BAPTISTA
Not in my house, Lucentio, for you know
Pitchers have ears, and I have many servants.
Besides, old Gremio is heark’ning still,
And happily we might be interrupted.

DUTCH:
Niet hier, Lucentio ; potten hebben ooren,
Zooals ge weet, en ‘k heb vrij wat bedienden;
En de oude Gremio ligt er niet voor niets
Steeds op den loer ; licht werden wij gestoord.

MORE:

Proverb: Little (small) pitchers have wide (great) ears (caution about speaking in earshot of others)

Affied=Affianced, betrothed
Such assurance=Legal guarantee
With either part’s agreement=By mutual agreement
Pitcher=Water jug with handles
Hearkening still=Always eavesdropping
Happily=Haply, perhaps
Compleat:
Pitcher=Een aarden kruyk meet een handvatsel
Still=Steeds, gestadig, altyd
Assurance=Verzekering, verzekerdheid, een vast vertrouwen
Pitcher=Een aarden kruyk meet een handvatsel
Hearken=Toeluysteren, toehooren
Haply=Misschien

Topics: proverbs and idioms, caution, secrecy, trust

You know there wants no junkets at the feast.

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Baptista
CONTEXT:
BAPTISTA
Neighbours and friends, though bride and bridegroom wants
For to supply the places at the table,
You know there wants no junkets at the feast.
Lucentio, you shall supply the bridegroom’s place,
And let Bianca take her sister’s room.
TRANIO
Shall sweet Bianca practice how to bride it?
BAPTISTA
She shall, Lucentio. Come, gentlemen, let’s go.

DUTCH:
Komt, buren, vrienden ! Bruid en bruidegom
Ontbreken, ja, aan onze tafel, maar
Daarom ontbreken lekkernijen niet ; –
Neem gij de plaats des bruigoms in, Lucentio;
En gij, Bianca, eens de plaats der bruid.

MORE:
Wants for to supply the places=Won’t be in their seats
Junkets=Delicacies
Bride it=Act as the bride
Compleat:
Junkets=Lekkernyen, banket
To go junketting=Uit smullen gaan, uitgaan om wat lekkers op te jaagen

Topics: marriage, deceit