QUOTES BY TOPIC

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
Being once perfected how to grant suits,
How to deny them, who t’advance and who
To trash for overtopping, new created
The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed ’em,
Or else new formed ’em; having both the key
Of officer and office, set all hearts i’th’ state
To what tune pleased his ear, that now he was
The ivy which had hid my princely trunk
And sucked my verdure out on’t. Thou attend’st not!
MIRANDA
O, good sir, I do.

DUTCH:
Eens goed verstaand, hoe men verzoeken gunt,
Hoe weigert, wien bevord’ring dient, wiens groei,
Te welig, knotting eischt, herschiep hij zich
De wezens, eens de mijne, ‘k zeg, vervormde
Of schiep ze op nieuw; daar hij den sleutel had
Van ambtenaar en ambt, zoo stemde hij
Elk hart op zulk een toon als hem geviel;
Hij werd het klimop, dat mijn vorstenstam
Omwond, mijn sappen zoog.
Dat ik al wat der wereld was, verzuimde,
Mij wijdde aan de eenzaamheid, mijn geest verrijkte

MORE:
Trash=Put down (Trash=to rein in a dog (OED)), keep in check
Overtopping=Being over-ambitious
O’erprized=Overrated
Closeness=Solitude, recluseness
Verdure=reshness, life and vigour
Retired=Withdrawn
Compleat:
Trash=Lompige waar, ondeugend goed
Trash (bad fruit)=Slegte vrucht

Topics: ambition, status, learning/education, understanding, duty

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
A devil, a born devil on whose nature
Nurture can never stick, on whom my pains,
Humanely taken, all, all lost, quite lost.
And as with age his body uglier grows,
So his mind cankers. I will plague them all,
Even to roaring.

DUTCH:
Een duivel, een geboren duivel, waar
Verpleging aan verspild is, alle zorg,
Die ‘k liefd’rijk droeg, verloren, gansch verloren!

MORE:
Pains humanely taken = efforts with the best intentions
Canker’ blossom (or canker rose): dog rose or wild rose. Also used to refer to something that would destroy, infect or decay.
Compleat:
Humanely=Menschelyker wyze, beleefdelyk
Canker=Inkankeren, ineeten

Topics: insult, good and bad, nature

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Sebastian
CONTEXT:
A living drollery. Now I will believe
That there are unicorns, that in Arabia
There is one tree, the phoenix’ throne, one phoenix
At this hour reigning there.

DUTCH:
Een levend poppenspel. ‘k Geloof nu ook
Aan eenhoorns; ik stem toe, dat in Arabië
Eén boom, de troon des Feniks’, wast, een Feniks
Nog heden daar regeert.

MORE:
A living drollery=A comic puppet show enacted by living beings
Compleat:
Drollery=Boertery, snaakery

Topics: life, gullibility, manipulation

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: Epilogue
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint. Now, ’tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell,
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

DUTCH:
k Derf mijn geesten thans en kunst;
Wanhoop is mijn eind, tenzij
Vroom gebed mijn ziel bevrij,
En mij, nimmer smeekensmoe,
Al mijn schuld vergeven doe!
Hoopt gijzelf eens op gená,
Dat uw gunst mij dan ontsla!

MORE:

Topics: pity, mercy, life, offence, punishment, failure

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
MIRANDA
If by your art, my dearest father, you have
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
But that the sea, mounting to th’ welkin’s cheek,
Dashes the fire out. Oh, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer. A brave vessel
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her
Dashed all to pieces. Oh, the cry did knock
Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perished.
Had I been any god of power, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere
It should the good ship so have swallowed and
The fraughting souls within her.
PROSPERO
Be collected.
No more amazement. Tell your piteous heart
There’s no harm done.
MIRANDA
Oh, woe the day!
PROSPERO
No harm.
I have done nothing but in care of thee,

DUTCH:
Wees niet ontdaan:
Blijf kalm, en zeg tot uw meewarig hart —
Geen ramp viel voor.

MORE:
There’s no harm done’ still in use today.
By your art=Magic
Welkin=Edge of the sea or sky
Fraughting=Freight, freighted, freighting
Amazement=Terror, horror
Compleat:
Fraught=Bevracht, van “to Freight”
Burgersdijk notes:
O dag van wee! enz. De gewone, overgeleverde tekst luidt: Pros. Tell your piteous heart, There’s no harm done. — Mir. O, woe the day. — Pros. No harm. I have done etc., zoodat Prospero zegt: ,Zeg uw meewarig hart: Geen ramp viel voor” (of: „Geen leed geschiedde”), waarop Miranda, vreemd genoeg na dezen troostgrond, uitroept: „O, dag van wee !” en Prospero herneemt: „Geen ramp (of ,;Geen leed”). Niets deed ik” enz. Veel natuurlijker is het zoo, volgens Elze’s verbetering, Miranda met hare weeklacht haren vader in de reden valt, alvorens deze haar heeft kunnen troosten; zoodra haar vader gezegd heeft: tell your piteous heart , roept zij uit: O woe the day! en op het vertroostend zeggen van haar vader: There ‘s no harm done, vraagt zij verbaasd en verrast: No harm ? waarop Prospero herneemt: I have done nothing etc. Deze gissing van Elze is in de vertaling gevolgd.

Topics: understanding, status, invented or popularised, still in use

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
MIRANDA
Be of comfort.
My father’s of a better nature, sir,
Than he appears by speech. This is unwonted
Which now came from him.
PROSPERO
Thou shalt be free
As mountain winds. But then exactly do
All points of my command.
ARIEL
To th’ syllable.

DUTCH:
Houd goeden moed!
Mijn vader, heer, is zachter van natuur,
Dan nu zijn taal verraadt; wat hij daar zeide,
Is ongewoon in hem.

MORE:
Proverb: As free as the air (wind). Shakespeare refers to this again in AYL (“I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the wind”, 2.7) and Coriolanus (“Be free as is the wind.”, 1.9).
Unwonted=Uncommon, unusual
Compleat:
Ebb=De eb, ebbe; afvlooijen
The lowest ebb of its authority=Genoegzaam haar gezach veloren
My soul hs never ebbed from its constant principles=Myn ziel is nooit van haare grondbeginzels afgeweeken

Topics: language, civility, proverbs and idioms, still in use, free will

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
Go make thyself like a nymph o’ th’ sea. Be subject
To no sight but thine and mine, invisible
To every eyeball else. Go take this shape
And hither come in ’t. Go hence with diligence.

DUTCH:
Ga, word in vorm een zeenimf; u ontware
Geen ander oog dan ‘t mijne; blijf onzichtbaar
Voor ieder ander. Ga, neem die gestalt’nis,
En kom zoo herwaarts; ga, en spoed u; vlieg!

MORE:
Schmidt:
Diligence=Assiduity in service, officiousness, serviceableness
Compleat:
Diligence=Naerstigheid, vlyt

Topics: appearance, secrecy

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Gonzalo
CONTEXT:
SEBASTIAN
‘Scape being drunk for want of wine.
GONZALO
I’ th’ commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things. For no kind of traffic
Would I admit. No name of magistrate.
Letters should not be known. Riches, poverty,
And use of service—none. Contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard—none.
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil.
No occupation. All men idle, all.
And women too, but innocent and pure.
No sovereignty—
SEBASTIAN
Yet he would be king on ’t.
ANTONIO
The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning.
GONZALO
All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavor. Treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine,
Would I not have. But nature should bring forth
Of its own kind all foison, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.

DUTCH:
Geen huur of erfpacht, grenssteen, land- noch wijnbouw,
Geen kennis van metaal, graan, wijn of olie,
Geen ambacht; alle mannen nietsdoend, allen;
De vrouwen ook, maar schuldeloos en rein;
Geen oppermacht;

MORE:
Schmidt:
Commonwealth=Body politic
By contraries=Contrary to usual customs
Letters=Sophisticated learning; also writings, written records
Bound of land” explains “Bourn,” French Borne. (Distinguished from “bourn,” a stream.)
Foison=Rich harvest, abundance
Tilt=Tillage, husbandry
Compleat:
Contraries are best known by their contraries=Tegenstellingen worden best uit tegenstellingen gekend
Lettered=Geletterd, geleerd
A man slenderly lettered=Een man van weinig kennis
Bourn=Een bron
Foison (or plenty)=Overvloed
Tilling=Landbouwing
Burgersdijk notes:
Bij ‘t reg’len van mijn staat enz. De utopische regeeringsplannen, welke door Gonzalo hier op satyrische wijze worden voorgedragen, zijn, gedeeltelijk zelfs woordelijk , ontleend aan Florio’s vertaling van Montaigne’s Essays; men vergelijke Boek I, hoofdstuk 30, On the Caniballes, afgedrukt b.v. in Delius inleiding tot zijne uitgave van dit stuk. Het exemplaar van Florio’s vertaling, dat in het bezit is geweest van Shakespeare, is bewaard gebleven; het is van zijne naamteekening voorzien en bevindt zich in de bibliotheek van het Britsch Museum.

Topics: ambition, nature, status, order/society, law/legal

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Antonio
CONTEXT:
ALONSO
Old lord, I cannot blame thee,
Who am myself attached with weariness
To th’ dulling of my spirits. Sit down and rest.
Even here I will put off my hope and keep it
No longer for my flatterer. He is drowned
Whom thus we stray to find, and the sea mocks
Our frustrate search on land. Well, let him go.
ANTONIO
I am right glad that he’s so out of hope.
Do not for one repulse forego the purpose
That you resolved t’ effect.
SEBASTIAN
The next advantage
Will we take throughly.

DUTCH:
Ik ben verheugd, dat al zijn hoop vervloog.
Geef niet het plan, waartoe gij vast besloot,
Om één mislukking op.

MORE:
Repulse=Failure, disappointment
Attached with (used figuratively in its legal sense)=Seized by
Throughly=Thoroughly
Compleat:
Repulse=Weigering, tegenstand
Attached=Beslagen

Topics: adversity, achievement, failure

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Ariel
CONTEXT:
Full fathom five thy father lies.
Of his bones are coral made.
Those are pearls that were his eyes.
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.

DUTCH:
Vijf vadem diep uw vader rust,
Zijn gebeente werd koraal,
De oogen paarlen; ongebluscht
Is hun gloed; geen zegepraal
Viert verderf; uit ieder deel
Schept de zee een rijk juweel.

MORE:

“Full fathom five” has become a catchphrase in the English language and has been used as a title for books, songs and even a Jackson Pollock painting. Also referenced by James Joyce in Ulysses and used as a title for at least two books in Dutch (“Vijf vadem diep”)
Fathom=six feet
Fade=Decay, decompose
Sea change=Undergo a radical change, transformation
Compleat:
Fathom (Fadom)=Een vadem, vaam
Fade=Verwelken, verzwakken
Knell=De doodklok

Topics: proverbs and idioms, death

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
MIRANDA
I should sin
To think but nobly of my grandmother;
Good wombs have borne bad sons.
PROSPERO
Now the condition.
This King of Naples, being an enemy
To me inveterate, hearkens my brother’s suit,
Which was that he, in lieu o’th’ premises
Of homage, and I know not how much tribute,
Should presently extirpate me and mine
Out of the dukedom and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother. Whereon –
A treacherous army levied – one midnight
Fated to th’ purpose did Antonio open
The gates of Milan and i’th’ dead of darkness
The ministers for th’ purpose hurried thence
Me and thy crying self.

DUTCH:
t Waar’ zonde, zoo ik
Zelfs in gedachte een blaam wierp op uw moeder;
Reeds menig eed’le schoot droeg slechte zoons.

MORE:
In lieu o’th’ premises=In exchange for the stipulations (of the agreement with the King of Naples)
Schmidt:
Homage=Fealty and service professed to a superior lord
Tribute=Stated payment made in acknowledgment of submission, or as the price of peace, or by virtue of a treaty
Extirpate=To root out, to remove completely
Fated=Destined by fate
Ministers=Agents (assigned to the task)
Compleat:
Homage=Hulde, hulding, manschap, onderdaanigheid
Tribute=Cynsgeld, schatting; Tol, impost
He was the principal minister (or instrument) of his revenge=Hy was het voornaamste werktuig van zyne wraak
Fated=Door’t noodlot beschooren

Topics: contract, promise, fate/destiny, good and bad, envy, honour, revenge

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Stephano
CONTEXT:
TRINCULO
This is the tune of our catch, played by the
picture of Nobody.
STEPHANO
If thou beest a man, show thyself in thy likeness. If thou beest a devil, take ’t as thou list.
TRINCULO
O, forgive me my sins!
STEPHANO
He that dies pays all debts.—I defy thee!—Mercy upon us!

DUTCH:
Hij die sterft, betaalt al zijn schulden/
Die sterft, betaalt al zijn schulden; — ik tart u!
Wees ons genadig, o hemel!

MORE:
Proverb: Death pays all debts
As thou list=As you will
Compleat:
To list (also be willing)=Genegen zyn, lust hebben
Let them do what they list=Laat hun doen wat zy willen
Burgersdijk notes:
Het afbeeldsel van Niemand. Een soort van kabouterfiguur, die als de heer Niemand meermalen op uithangborden en de titels van gedrukte volksliedjes voorkwam.

Topics: death, debt/obligation

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Ariel
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
My brave spirit!
Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
Would not infect his reason?
ARIEL
Not a soul
But felt a fever of the mad and played
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners
Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,
Then all afire with me. The king’s son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring – then like reeds, not hair –
Was the first man that leaped; cried “Hell is empty
And all the devils are here.”

DUTCH:
Vóór de and’ren
Sprong Ferdinand, des konings zoon, wien ‘t haar, —
Het scheen eer riet, — te berge stond; hij riep:
„De hel is ledig, alle duivels hier !”

MORE:
Schmidt:
Coil=Confusion, turmoil
Up-staring=Standing on end
Compleat:
Coil=Geraas, getier

Topics: courage, madness, nature, good and bad

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Stephano
CONTEXT:
STEPHANO
How didst thou ’scape? How camest thou hither? Swear by this bottle how thou camest hither. I escaped upon a butt of sack which the sailors heaved o’erboard, by this bottle, which I made of the bark of a tree with mine own hands since I was cast ashore.
CALIBAN
I’ll swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject, for the liquor is not earthly.
STEPHANO
Here. Swear then how thou escapedst.
TRINCULO
Swum ashore, man, like a duck. I can swim like a duck, I’ll be sworn.
STEPHANO
Here, kiss the book. Though thou canst swim like a duck, thou art made like a goose.

DUTCH:
Nu, kus het boek. Maar al kun je zwemmen als een
eend, je hebt toch nog meer van een gans.

MORE:

Kiss the book=Sign of fealty, akin to kissing the Bible when swearing an oath. (Here metaphor for take another drink.)
Butt of sack=Cask of wine
Compleat:
Butt=Wynvat, wynkuip, houdende honderd zes-en-twintig gallons
Burgersdijk notes:
Nu, kus het boek. De flesch moet hier het boek, den bijbel, vervangen, die in Engeland bij het afleggen van een eed gekust wordt.

Topics: promise, truth, honesty

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Stephano
CONTEXT:
STEPHANO
Come on your ways. Open your mouth. Here is that which will give language to you, cat. Open your mouth. This will shake your shaking, I can tell you, and that soundly. You cannot tell who’s your friend. Open your chaps again.
TRINCULO
I should know that voice. It should be—But he is drowned, and these are devils. Oh, defend me!
STEPHANO
Four legs and two voices—a most delicate monster. His forward voice now is to speak well of his friend. His backward voice is to utter foul speeches and to detract. If all the wine in my bottle will recover him, I will help his ague. Come.
(CALIBAN drinks)
Amen! I will pour some in thy other mouth.

DUTCH:
Vier beenen en twee stemmen! een allerkostelijkst
monster. Zijn voorstem dient zeker om goed te spreken
van zijn vriend, zijn achterstem voor achterklap en laster.

MORE:
Cat=Reference to the proverb ‘Good liquor (ale) will make a cat speak’.
Chaps=Jaws, chops
Delicate=Pleasant, delightful
Compleat:
To turn cat in pan=Overloopen, van party veranderen
The chaps=’t Bakkus
Delicate=Teer, zacht, lekker

Topics: proverbs and idioms, excess, truth

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
MIRANDA
Abhorrèd slave,
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One thing or other. When thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in ’t which good natures
Could not abide to be with. Therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock,
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
CALIBAN
You taught me language, and my profit on ’t
Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!

DUTCH:
Deernis had ik;
En schonk u met veel zorg de spraak, ik leerde
U ieder uur iets nieuws; toen gij, een wilde,
Uzelven niet begreept, en klanken uitstiet
Gelijk het stomste vee, gaf ik u woorden,
Zoodat ge u uiten kondt;

MORE:
Schmidt:
Print=Imprint
Take=To receive as a thing in any way given or communicated
Gabble=Caliban is speaking in another language (incomprehensible to Miranda)
Purpose=That which a person or thing means to say or express, sense, meaning, purport: “I endowed thy –s with words,”
Rid=Destroy
Compleat:
Imprint=Inddrukken, inprenten
To imprint a thing in one’s mind=Iemand iets in het geheugen prenten
Gabble=Gekakel, gesnater
To gabble=Snappen, kakelen, koeteren
To gabble French=Fransch koeteren

Topics: language, learning/education, understanding, status, pity, order/society

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Alonso
CONTEXT:
ALONSO
Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?
SEBASTIAN
He is drunk now. Where had he wine?
ALONSO
And Trinculo is reeling ripe. Where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded ’em?—
How camest thou in this pickle?
TRINCULO
I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of my bones. I shall not fear fly-blowing.
SEBASTIAN
Why, how now, Stephano?

DUTCH:
Ik ben in zulk een pekel geraakt, sinds ik u het laatst zag, dat het mij, vrees ik, nooit meer uit mijn gebeente zal gaan; muggesteken zijn niets meer voor mij.

MORE:
Reeling ripe=Sufficiently drunk for reeling. (See LLL 5.3 “Weeping ripe”)
Compleat
(In de pekel: same meaning developed in EN and NL, original meant drunk)
Will never out=Never be out of (gone from)
Ripe=Ryp. A design ripe for execution=Een ontwerp dat ryp is om ter uitvoer te brengen.
When things are ripe for action=Als het tyd is om aan ‘t werk te gaan.

Topics: misc.

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Gonzalo
CONTEXT:
I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him. His complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging. Make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little advantage. If he be not born to be hanged, our case is miserable.

DUTCH:
Die kerel is mij een ware troost; hij ziet er mij niet naar uit om te verdrinken; hij heeft een echte galgentronie.

MORE:
Proverb: “He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned.”
Advantage=Benefit
Complexion=According to the four humours the four complexions were: sanguine, melancholic, choleric and phlegmatic.
Rope=Halter, hangman’s noose
Compleat:
Rope=Een touw, strop, koord, kabel
Complexion=Aart, gesteltenis, gesteldheid
Gallows=Een Galg

Topics: punishment, fate/destiny, emotion and mood

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Trinculo
CONTEXT:
Tell not me. When the butt is out, we will drink water. Not a drop before. Therefore bear up and board ’em.—Servant- monster, drink to me.
TRINCULO
“Servant-monster”? The folly of this island. They say there’s but five upon this isle. We are three of them. If th’ other two be brained like us, the state totters.

DUTCH:
Onderdaan-monster ? Een dwaas eiland! Er zouden
er maar vijf op dit eiland zijn; wij zijn er drie van; als
die andere twee niet beter bij zinnen zijn dan wij, dan
waggelt de geheele staat.

MORE:
Butt=A cask for wine or ale containing two hogsheads
Out=Empty
Board ’em: a naval command used figuratively to mean ‘Drink up!’
Brained=Pickled
Compleat:
A barrel that is out=Een vat dat leeg is
Crackt brained=Een zot

Topics: intellect, excess

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
By providence divine.
Some food we had, and some fresh water, that
A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,
Out of his charity – who, being then appointed
Master of this design – did give us, with
Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries,
Which since have steaded much; so of his gentleness,
Knowing I loved my books, he furnished me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom.

DUTCH:
Ja, zijn goedheid,
Die wist, hoe ik mijn boeken minde, gaf
Uit mijne boekerij mij werken mede,
Die ‘k hooger stel dan heel mijn hertogdom

MORE:
Steaded much=Been very helpful (stood us in good stead)
Gentleness=Kindness
Compleat:
Gentleness=Zachtheid, zachtzinnigheid, leenigheid, behendigheid
The gentleness of his temper=De zachtheid van zyn temperament
To stead (do service)=Dienst doen
To be of no stead or to serve in no stead=Nergens in staat toe zyn, nergens toe deugen
Stand in good stead=Dienstelyk zyn, goeden dienst doen.

Topics: civility, learning/education, value

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Ariel
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
Ariel, thy charge
Exactly is performed. But there’s more work.
What is the time o’ th’ day?
ARIEL
Past the mid season.
PROSPERO
At least two glasses. The time ’twixt six and now
Must by us both be spent most preciously.
ARIEL
Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,
Let me remember thee what thou hast promised,
Which is not yet performed me.

DUTCH:
Meer arbeids nog? Nu gij mij zooveel vergt,
Moge ik u ook op uw belofte wijzen,
Die gij nog niet vervuld hebt.

MORE:
Proverb: ‘Great promise small performance’
Two glasses=Two o’clock (Reference to hour glasses)
Pains=Labours
Preciously=Valuably
Compleat:
Burgersdijk notes:
Twee glazen ruim. Twee uren, naar het uurglas, een zandlooper voor een vol uur, berekend. —Bij de zeevaart is een glas een half uur.

Topics: promise, proverbs and idioms, time, work, contract

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Gonzalo
CONTEXT:
SEBASTIAN
He receives comfort like cold porridge.
ANTONIO
The visitor will not give him o’er so.
SEBASTIAN
Look he’s winding up the watch of his wit. By and by it will strike.
GONZALO
(to ALONSO) Sir—
SEBASTIAN
One. Tell.
GONZALO
When every grief is entertained that’s offered,
comes to th’entertainer –
SEBASTIAN
A dollar.
GONZALO
Dolour comes to him, indeed. You have spoken truer than you purposed.

DUTCH:
Zie, hij windt het uurwerk van zijn vernuft op, zoo
aanstonds zal het slaan.

MORE:
A visitor is ‘One who visits from charitable motives or with a view of doing good’ (OED)
Dollar=’The English name for the German thaler, a large silver coin’ (OED).
Dolour=Sorrow, grief (wordplay on ‘dollar’)
Tell=Count
Entertain=To conceive, to harbour, to feel, to keep (When everyone who feels grief embraces every grief that comes their way)
Compleat:
Entertain (receive or believe) a principle, an opinion, etc.=Een stelling, een gevoelen aanneemen, koesteren’ gelooven of voorstaan
Dolor=Droefheid, smerte
Dolorous=Pynlyk, droevig
To visit (to go about to see whether things be as they should)=Bezoeken, nazien, onderzoeken
To visit (to affect, to try)=Bezoeken, beproeven

Topics: grief, sorrow, adversity, intellect

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
To have no screen between this part he played
And him he played it for, he needs will be
Absolute Milan. Me, poor man, my library
Was dukedom large enough. Of temporal royalties
He thinks me now incapable, confederates,
So dry he was for sway, wi’th’ King of Naples
To give him annual tribute, do him homage,
Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend
The dukedom yet unbowed (alas, poor Milan)
To most ignoble stooping.

DUTCH:
Mij, arme, was mijn boekzaal
Wel hertogdoms genoeg; voor ‘t rijksbestuur
Acht hij mij ongeschikt; sluit een verbond, —
Zoo dorstte hij naar rang!

MORE:
Screen=Means of securing from attack; something that intervenes obstructively; anything that separates or conceals
Schmidt:
Temporal=Pertaining to this life or this world, not spiritual, not eternal: “my library was dukedom large enough.
Dry=Thirsty, eager
Sway=Rule, dominion
Me=”For me” or “As for me”
Ignoble=Of low or dishonourable descent
Compleat:
Temporal (secular, not spiritual)=Waereldlyk
Dry (or penurious)=Inhaalend, gierig
Sway=Macht, gezach, heerschappij
To sway=Heerschen, regeeren, ‘t bewind hebben
Ignoble (of mean birth)=Laag van geboorte, on-edel
Ignoble (or base) action=Een on-edele daad
Ignobly=Laag, snood

Topics: learning/education, ambition, authority, status

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Trinculo
CONTEXT:
TRINCULO
(…) Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver. There would this monster make a man. Any strange beast there makes a man. When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian. Legged like a man and his fins like arms! Warm, o’ my troth. I do now let loose my opinion, hold it no longer: this is no fish, but an islander that hath lately suffered by a thunderbolt.
Alas, the storm is come again! My best way is to creep under his gaberdine. There is no other shelter hereabouts. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past.

DUTCH:
Ellende laat een man kennis maken met vreemde kameraden./
De nood brengt een mensch al bij vreemde slaapkameraden.

MORE:
Proverb:Misery makes strange bedfellows
Gaberdine=Cloak
Doit=A former Dutch coin, equivalent to half a farthing
Compleat:
Doit=Een duit (achtste deel van een stuiver)
He is not worth a doit or doitkin=Het is geen duit waard
Fellow ( or companion)=Medgezel
A bed-fellow=Een byslaap, bedgenoot

Topics: fate/destiny, relationship, proverbs and idioms, still in use, adversity

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Ferdinand
CONTEXT:
MIRANDA
No wonder, sir,
But certainly a maid.
FERDINAND
My language! Heavens,
I am the best of them that speak this speech,
Were I but where ’tis spoken.
PROSPERO
How? The best?
What wert thou if the King of Naples heard thee?
FERDINAND
A single thing, as I am now, that wonders
To hear thee speak of Naples. He does hear me,
And that he does I weep. Myself am Naples,
Who with mine eyes, never since at ebb, beheld
The king my father wrecked.

DUTCH:
Mijne taal, o hemel! —
Van wie haar spreken ben ik de eerste, ware ik
Slechts daar, waar zij gesproken wordt.

MORE:
Best=Highest in rank
At ebb=Tears have never since stopped
A single thing=(1) Standing alone, without support; (2) One and the same

Topics: language, understanding, status, order/society, independence

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
MIRANDA
O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t!
PROSPERO
‘Tis new to thee.

DUTCH:
O, wonder!
Wat pracht van scheps’len zie ik daar! Wat is
Het menschdom schoon! O nieuwe, heerlijke aarde,
Die zulke wezens draagt!

MORE:

Use of ‘brave new world’ in Hamlet is ironic to describe drunken sailors staggering off the wreckage of their ship. Use is also ironic in the dystopian novel of the same name by Aldous Huxley (1931), (which quotes from several other Shakespeare plays).

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

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Ariel
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
How now? Moody?
What is ’t thou canst demand?
ARIEL
My liberty.
PROSPERO
Before the time be out? No more!
ARIEL
I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service,
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
Without or grudge or grumblings. Thou didst promise
To bate me a full year.

DUTCH:
Bedenk, ik bid u, ‘k deed u trouwen dienst,
Beloog u nooit, deed niets verkeerd, en diende
U willig zonder klacht. Een vol jaar afslag
Hebt gij mij toegezegd.

MORE:
Moody=Ill- humoured; discontented, peevish, angry
Time=Period of indenture
Bate (abate)=Reduce length of indenture
Mistakings=Mistakes
Grudge=Grudging; ill-will
Compleat:
In an ill mood=In een kwaade luim
Moody=Eenzinnig, eigenzinnig
The mood of a verb=De wyze van een werkwoord
Worthy=Waardig
Bate=Verminderen, afkorten, afslaan

Topics: work, contract, promise, claim, loyalty

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Caliban
CONTEXT:
CALIBAN
Why, as I told thee, ’tis a custom with him,
I’ th’ afternoon to sleep. There thou mayst brain him,
Having first seized his books; or with a log
Batter his skull; or paunch him with a stake;
Or cut his weasand with thy knife. Remember
First to possess his books, for without them
He’s but a sot, as I am, nor hath not
One spirit to command. They all do hate him
As rootedly as I. Burn but his books.
He has brave utensils—for so he calls them—
Which when he has a house, he’ll deck withal.

DUTCH:
Maar bedenkt,
Dat ge eerst zijn boeken kaapt, want zonder die
Is hij zoo dom als ik, en dan gehoorzaamt
Geen enk’le geest hem, want zij haten allen
Hem even diep als ik. Verbrandt zijn boeken!

MORE:
Possess=To take possession of, seize, take
Brave utensils=Impressive instruments
Deck=Decorate, furnish
Sot=Dolt, blockhead
Weasand (wezand)=Windpipe
Rootedly=Fixedly, inveterately, from the heart
Compleat:
To take possession of=Bezit neemen
Sot (blockhead)=Zot, domkop
Weasand (windpipe or weasand pipe)=De luchtpyp of gorgel pyp
Rooted=Geworteld, gewroet
Burgersdijk notes:
Dat ge eerst zijn boeken kaapt. Zonder deze is geen geestenbezwering mogelijk.

Topics: learning/education, conspiracy, betrayal, plans/intentions

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th’ quick,
Yet with my nobler reason ‘gainst my fury
Do I take part. The rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance. They being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown further. Go release them, Ariel.
My charms I’ll break, their senses I’ll restore,
And they shall be themselves.

DUTCH:
Mijn rede is eed’ler dan mijn wrok, en neemt
Partij er tegen. Een verheev’ner doen
Is deugd dan wraak. Nu zij berouwvol zijn,
Ben ik aan ‘t doel en reikt mijn streven thans
Geen fronsblik verder. Ga, bevrijd hen, Ariel.
Ik breek mijn tooverboei, herstel hun geest;
Zij mogen weer zichzelf zijn.

MORE:
Proverb: To be able to do harm and not to do it is noble
Proverb: Touched to the quick
See also LLL:
“Of all that virtue love for virtue loved: Most power to do most harm, least knowing ill;”
High wrongs=Serious offences such as treason and attempted murder
Rarer=Unusual, exceptional
Virtue=Forgiveness, mercy
Compleat:
Rare (that happens but seldom)=Zeldzaam; (or scarce)=Schaars, raar; (excellent)=Uitmuntend
Virtue (an habit of the soul, whereby a man is inclined to do good and to shun evil)=Deugd

Topics: mercy, virtue, regret

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Gonzalo
CONTEXT:
SEBASTIAN
You were kneeled to and importuned otherwise
By all of us, and the fair soul herself
Weighed between loathness and obedience, at
Which end o’ th’ beam should bow. We have lost your son,
I fear, forever. Milan and Naples have
More widows in them of this business’ making
Than we bring men to comfort them.
The fault’s your own.
ALONSO
So is the dearest o’ th’ loss.
GONZALO
My lord Sebastian,
The truth you speak doth lack some gentleness
And time to speak it in. You rub the sore
When you should bring the plaster.
SEBASTIAN
Very well.
ANTONIO
And most chirurgeonly.
GONZALO
It is foul weather in us all, good sir,
When you are cloudy.

DUTCH:
Mijn prins Sebastiaan, wat gij waars daar zegt,
Mist zachtheid en den juisten tijd voor de uiting;
Gij schrijnt de wond, die gij verbinden moest.

MORE:
Schmidt/Arden:
Importune (in the sense of ‘ask urgently and persistently’ usu. with a person as obj.)
Weighed=Considered, balanced (between loathness and obedience)
Loathness=Unwillingness, reluctance; repulsion, dislike
Dearest=Bitterest, heaviest, coming at a high price
Time=The appropriate time
Chirurgeonly=In the manner of a surgeon:
Compleat:
To importune=Lastig vallen, zeer dringen, gestadig aanhouden, overdringen, aandringen
Loathsomness=Walgelykheid
Chirurgery=De heelkunst, wondheelkunde
Chirurgion=een Heelmeester, wondheeler, wondarts. Beter ‘Surgeon’
Dear-bought experience=Een duurgekogte ondervinding

Topics: truth, language, civility, emotion and mood

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Gonzalo
CONTEXT:
If in Naples
I should report this now, would they believe me?
If I should say, I saw such islanders—
For, certes, these are people of the island—
Who, though they are of monstrous shape, yet note,
Their manners are more gentle-kind than of
Our human generation you shall find
Many—nay, almost any.

DUTCH:
En wis, dit zijn toch lieden van het eiland,
Die, schoon ook monsterachtig van gedaante,
Zoo lief’lijk , vriend’lijk waren in hun doen,
Als gij bij enk’len slechts van ‘t menschenras,
Ja, schier bij niemand vindt.

MORE:
Gentle-kind = courteous
For certes = certainly
Compleat:
Courteous (gentle, kind)=Beleefd, hoffelyk
Generation (or lineage)=Nakomelinschap, makroost

Topics: appearance, virtue, civility

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
Most cruelly
Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter.
Thy brother was a furtherer in the act.—
(to Sebastian) Thou art pinched for ’t now, Sebastian.—
(to Antonio)Flesh and blood,
You brother mine, that entertained ambition,
Expelled remorse and nature, whom, with Sebastian,
Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,
Would here have killed your king—I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art.
Their understanding
Begins to swell, and the approaching tide
Will shortly fill the reasonable shore
That now lies foul and muddy. Not one of them
That yet looks on me, or would know me.— Ariel,
Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell.
I will discase me, and myself present
As I was sometime Milan. Quickly, spirit.
Thou shalt ere long be free.

DUTCH:
Hun verstand
Verheft zich, en het naad’rend tij zal dra
Der rede boorden weder vullen, thans
Nog drabbig, donker. Onder hen niet een,
Die mij reeds ziet of zou herkennen.

MORE:
Pinched=Hurt, tormented e.g. pinch of conscience
Expelled=Rejected (pity and natural compassion)
Discase=Undress
Reasonable shore=Shore of reason
Compleat:
Pinched=Geneepen, gekneepen, gekneld, gepraamd
He has not pinched (or cramped) the controversy, but rather wrought it up with many incidentals=Wel verre van het geschil te verkorten (of in te korten) heeft hy hetzelfde veel eer uitgebreid met een menigte van ongepaste aanmerkingen.

Topics: reason, understanding, ambition

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
There be some sports are painful, and their labour
Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone. And most poor matters
Point to rich ends. This my mean task
Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
The mistress which I serve quickens what’s dead
And makes my labours pleasures. Oh, she is
Ten times more gentle than her father’s crabbed,
And he’s composed of harshness. I must remove
Some thousands of these logs and pile them up,
Upon a sore injunction. My sweet mistress
Weeps when she sees me work, and says such baseness
Had never like executor. I forget,
But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours,
Most busiest when I do it.

DUTCH:
Vermaken zijn er, die vermoeien, ‘t zwoegen
Verhoogt den lust er van; soms wordt verneed’ring
Met eer verduurd en voert ook het geringste
Tot heerlijke uitkomst

MORE:
Baseness=Low rank manual labour
Mean=humble
Heavy=Sorrowful, grievous
Quickens=Enlivens
Sore injunction=Harsh command
Crabbed=Churlish, morose
Compleat:
Baseness=Laagheid, lafhartigheid; Geringheid
Mean=Gering, slecht
Heavy (sasd)=Droevig, verdrietig
The burden lay sore upon me=De last lag zwaar op my (of drukte my zeer)
Crabbed=Wrang, stuursch, kribbig, nors, korzel
A crabbed fellow=Een norse vent

Topics: work, status, civility, satisfaction, money

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with ’t.

DUTCH:
In zulk een tempel kan geen boosheid wonen;
Waar’ ‘s Boozen huis zoo schoon, wat goed is trachtte
Met hem ‘t verblijf te deelen.

MORE:
In Shakespeare’s time beauty was seen as a signifier of virtue. See Thomas Hoby’s translation of the Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier(1561). Fourth Book: True beauty, the reflection of
goodness.

Topics: virtue, appearance, agood and bad

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou
Performed, my Ariel. A grace it had, devouring.
Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated
In what thou hadst to say.—So with good life
And observation strange, my meaner ministers
Their several kinds have done. My high charms work
And these mine enemies are all knit up
In their distractions. They now are in my power,
And in these fits I leave them while I visit
Young Ferdinand, whom they suppose is drowned,
And his and mine loved darling.

DUTCH:
Mijn tooverkracht
Werkt machtig; mijne vijanden zijn allen
Verstrikt in hun verbijst’ring; ik beheersch hen;
En ‘k laat hen in hun waanzin, om nu eerst
Tot Ferdinand, — dien zij verdronken wanen, —
En zijne en mijne liev’ling mij te spoeden.

MORE:
Bated=Omitted, neglected
Schmidt:
Bravely=Admirably
Figure=Image, representation
Harpy=A monster of ancient fable, with the face of a woman and the body of a bird of prey
Strange=extraordinary, enormous, remarkable, singular
Observation strange=Attention to detail
Several=In keeping with their separate natures
High charms=Superior magic
Knit up in=Tied up with, entangled in
Compleat:
Harpy (or fabelous monster)=Harpy, een fabel-achtig monster
Harpy or griping woman=Een giereige feeks
Bate=Verminderen, afkorten, afslaan
Figure (representation)=Afbeelding
Knit together=Verknocht, samengeknoopt
He is knit to his master’s interest=Hy is het belang van zynen Heer zeer toegedaan

Topics: conflict, plans/intentions, madness

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Stephano
CONTEXT:
Doth thy other mouth call me? Mercy, mercy! This is a devil, and no monster. I will leave him. I have no long spoon.

DUTCH:
Dit is geen monster, maar een duivel!
Ik wil wegloopen; ik heb geen langen lepel.

MORE:
Proverb: He must have a long spoon that will eat with the devil/He who sups with the devil should take a long spoon (See Comedy of Errors, 4.3)
In the Morality plays the Devil and the Vice would take food from opposite sides of the same dish with a spoon of great length. (Arden)
Burgersdijk notes:
Ik wil wegloopen; ik heb geen langen lepel. Zinspeling op het oud-Engelsche spreekwoord: „Wie met den duivel wil eten, moet een langen lepel hebben.”

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, good and bad

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Alonso
CONTEXT:
ALONSO
This is as strange a maze as e’er men trod,
And there is in this business more than nature
Was ever conduct of. Some oracle
Must rectify our knowledge.
PROSPERO
Sir, my liege,
Do not infest your mind with beating on
The strangeness of this business. At picked leisure
Which shall be shortly, single I’ll resolve you—
Which to you shall seem probable—of every
These happened accidents. Till when, be cheerful
And think of each thing well.
(to Ariel)  Come hither, spirit.
Set Caliban and his companions free.
Untie the spell.

DUTCH:
t Is ‘t vreemdste doolhof, waar een mensch ooit dwaalde.

MORE:
Maze=A labyrinth: “one encompassed with a winding m.”
Conduct of=Led, guided by (directed by nature)
Single=Privately, separately, alone
Resolve=To free from uncertainty or ignorance, to satisfy, to inform
Accidents=Unforeseen events
Infest your mind=Trouble, assail your mind
Compleat:
Maze=Doolhof, bedwelming
To resolve (to untie, to decide, to determine a hard question, a difficulty)=Oplossen, ontwarren, ontknoopen
Accident=Een toeval, kwaal

Topics: nature, plans/intentions, resolution, purpose

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Antonio
CONTEXT:
Thus, sir:
Although this lord of weak remembrance—this,
Who shall be of as little memory
When he is earthed—hath here almost persuaded
(For he’s a spirit of persuasion only,
Professes to persuade) the king his son’s alive,
‘Tis as impossible that he’s undrowned
And he that sleeps here swims

DUTCH:
Verneem dan, heer:
Al heeft deze edelman met zwak geheugen, —
Dekt eens hem de aard, dan zal zijn heug’nis dra
Zijn weggevaagd, — den vorst schier overreed, —
Hij is een man van overreden, acht dit
Als zijn betrekking, — dat zijn zoon nog leeft,
‘t Is zoo onmoog’lijk dat hij niet verdronk,
Als dat die slaper zwemt.

MORE:
Lord of weak remembrance=Of failing memory
Of as little memory=Also forgotten
Spirit of persuasion=Power, principle of persuasion
Compleat:
Remembrance=Gedachtenis, geheugenis
Persuasion=Overreeding, overtuiging, overstemming, aanraading, wysmaaking
The aim of eloquence is persuasion=Het doelwit der welspreeekendheid is overreeding
Cicero was an eloquent and persuasive orator=Cicero was een welspreekend en overtuigend redenaar

Topics: insult, memory, death

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
As if you were dismayed. Be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air.
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself—
Yea, all which it inherit—shall dissolve,
And like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vexed.
Bear with my weakness. My old brain is troubled.
Be not disturbed with my infirmity.
If you be pleased, retire into my cell
And there repose. A turn or two I’ll walk
To still my beating mind.

DUTCH:
Wij zijn van de stof, Waar droomen van gevormd zijn; ‘t korte leven Is van een slaap omringd./
Van dezelfde stof zijn wij als onze dromen; en ons kleine leven is door de slaap omringd

MORE:
Frequently misquoted as “Such stuff as dreams are made of”
These our actors…not a rack behind. This passage is often extracted from its context and treated as farewell to his art; Al Pacino recited it in his 1996 film ‘Looking for Richard’.
In a moved sort=Agitated, upset
Revels=Courtly entertainment
Insubstantial pageant=imagined pageant
Baseless fabric of this vision=Having no basis in reality
Rack=’driving mist or fog’ (OED): scarcely a trace
Compleat:
Pageant=Een grootsche vertooning. Pageantry+Praal, pracht, triiomfelyke vertooning. Het is but meer (sic) pageantry=Het is maar klatergoud, niets anders dan een ydele vertooning.
Moved=Bewoogen, verroerd, ontroerd

Topics: life, age/experience, misquoted

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and
She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir
And princess, no worse issued.
MIRANDA
O, the heavens!
What foul play had we that we came from thence?
Or blessed wast we did?
PROSPERO
Both, both, my girl.
By foul play, as thou sayst, were we heaved thence,
But blessedly holp hither.

DUTCH:
0, hemel!
Wat booze treken dreven ons van daar?
Of brachten zij ons zegen?

MORE:
Piece of virtue=Masterpiece, perfect specimen or
Worse issue=Lower (no worse issued = not of lesser birth than a pricess)
Holp=Short for holpen, helped
Compleat:
Holpen=Geholpen
Holp op=Opgeholpen
Ill holp op=In een slegte staat laaten
Issue=Afkomst, afkomeling

Topics: virtue, understanding, status, foul play, fate/destiny

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Antonio
CONTEXT:
GONZALO
I assure you, Carthage.
SEBASTIAN
His word is more than the miraculous harp. He hath raised the wall and houses too.
ANTONIO
What impossible matter will he make easy next?
SEBASTIAN
I think he will carry this island home in his pocket and give it his son for an apple.
ANTONIO
And sowing the kernels of it in the sea, bring forth more islands.
GONZALO
Ay.
ANTONIO
Why, in good time.

DUTCH:
Wat voor een onmogelijkheid zal hij den volgenden
keer uithalen.?

MORE:
Miraculous harp: In Greek mythology, Amphion used a harp to raise the walls of Thebes. Sebastian
suggests that Gonzalo rebuilt all of Carthage by conflating it with Tunis. (Arden)
Compleat:
Miraculous=Wonderbaarlyk
Kernel=Pit, kern, korrel
Burgersdijk notes:
Dan Amphion’s wonderharp. In het oorspronkelijke staat alleen: „dan de wonderharp” of „dan de wonderdoende harp”; de harp, of lier, van Amphion wordt bedoeld, op wier klanken de steenen zich samenvoegden tot den opbouw van Thebe’s muren.

Topics: achievement, ambition, purpose, fate/destiny

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Prospero
CONTEXT:
Thou hadst, and more, Miranda. But how is it
That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else
In the dark backward and abysm of time?
If thou rememb’rest aught ere thou cam’st here,
How thou cam’st here thou mayst.

DUTCH:
Wat ziet gij verder,
Op de’ achtergrond der donk’re kloof des tijds?

MORE:
Backward=Past portion of time. Shakespeare probably invented this usage.
Abysm=Abyss
Compleat:
Abyss (Abiss)=Afgrond

Topics: memory, time, age/experience, invented or popularised

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Antonio
CONTEXT:
She that is Queen of Tunis; she that dwells
Ten leagues beyond man’s life; she that from Naples
Can have no note, unless the sun were post—
The man i’ th’ moon’s too slow—till newborn chins
Be rough and razorable; she that from whom
We all were sea-swallowed, though some cast again,
And by that destiny to perform an act
Whereof what’s past is prologue, what to come
In yours and my discharge.

DUTCH:
Zij, door wier echt de zee ons allen inzwolg,
Schoon ze enk’len weergaf, die zij daardoor wenkt
Een stuk te doen, waarvan ‘t gebeurde een voorspel,
Wat volgt ons beider rol is.

MORE:
CITED IN EU LAW: SARGSYAN v. AZERBAIJAN – 40167/06 – Grand Chamber Judgment [2015] ECHR 588 (16 June 2015)/(2017) 64 EHRR 4, [2015] ECHR 588, 64 EHRR 4
Cast=Thrown ashore
By that destiny=Thus destined
Discharge=Fulfilment, performance, execution (of an obligation, duty, function) (“what to come… discharge”=What is to come is down to you and me)
Compleat:
To earthen=Begraven, met aarde overdekken
To cast up=Opwerpen, braaken
“Past is prologue” even inspired the title of a Star Trek episode!

Topics: life, still in use, fate/destiny, cited in law

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Stephano
CONTEXT:
This is some monster of the isle with four legs who hath got, as I take it, an ague. Where the devil should he learn our language? I will give him some relief if it be but for that. If I can recover him and keep him tame and get to Naples with him, he’s a present for any emperor that ever trod on neat’s leather.

DUTCH:
Dit is het een of ander monster van het eiland met vier pooten, dat, zoo het schijnt, de koorts heeft gekregen. Maar waar, voor den duivel heeft hij onze taal geleerd?

MORE:
Recover=Revive
Neat’s leather=Cowhide.
Proverbial: As good a man as ever trod on shoe (beat’s) leather. (See also Julius Caesar 1.1: ‘As proper men as ever trod upon neat’s leather…).
Compleat:
Neat=Een rund, varre (Os of koe)

Topics: language, civility, order/society

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Ariel
CONTEXT:
My master through his art foresees the danger
That you, his friend, are in, and sends me forth
(For else his project dies) to keep them living.
While you here do snoring lie,
Open-eyed conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber and beware.
Awake, awake!

DUTCH:
„Slaapt gij? Wakker is ‘t verraad;
‘t Waart hier; weet, dat euveldaad
U dreigend naakt.
Is nog iets u ‘t leven waard,
Springt dan op, de hand aan ‘t zwaard;
Ontwaakt! ontwaakt !”

MORE:
Project=Plan
Open-eyed=waking, watchful
Open-eyed conspiracy=Ever watchful conspiracy, waiting for an opportunity
Compleat:
Project=Voorneemen
To project(design or contrive)=Ontwerpen, smeeden, voorhebben, uitvinden
“Open-eyed Conspiracy” is the title of a book about American author William Dean Howells.

Topics: conspiracy, preparation, caution, negligence

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Alonso
CONTEXT:
GONZALO
Is not, sir, my doublet as fresh as the first day I wore it? I mean, in a sort.
ANTONIO
That “sort” was well fished for.
GONZALO
When I wore it at your daughter’s marriage?
ALONSO
You cram these words into mine ears against
The stomach of my sense. Would I had never
Married my daughter there! For, coming thence,
My son is lost and, in my rate, she too,
Who is so far from Italy removed
I ne’er again shall see her.—O thou mine heir
Of Naples and of Milan, what strange fish
Hath made his meal on thee?
FRANCISCO
Sir, he may live.
I saw him beat the surges under him,
And ride upon their backs. He trod the water,
Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted
The surge most swoll’n that met him. His bold head
‘Bove the contentious waves he kept, and oared
Himself with his good arms in lusty stroke
To th’ shore, that o’er his wave-worn basis bowed,
As stooping to relieve him. I not doubt
He came alive to land.

DUTCH:
Gij propt die woorden in mijn oor, al weigert
Mijn geest dit voedsel.

MORE:
In a sort=In a way, manner (comparatively)
Well fished for=lucky catch, after fishing for it.
Schmidt:
Fished. Figuratively, to catch at sth., to seek to obtain by artifice: “that sort was well –ed for”
Cram=To thrust in, to press, against his will: “you c. these words into mine ear”.
Stomach=Inclination, disposition: “you cram these words into mine ears against the s. of my sense.”
Oared=Rowed
Compleat:

Topics: language, relationship

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Ariel
CONTEXT:
You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,
That hath to instrument this lower world
And what is in ’t, the never-surfeited sea
Hath caused to belch up you—and on this island
Where man doth not inhabit, you ’mongst men
Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad,
And even with suchlike valor men hang and drown
Their proper selves.
You fools, I and my fellows
Are ministers of fate. The elements
Of whom your swords are tempered may as well
Wound the loud winds or with bemocked-at stabs
Kill the still-closing waters as diminish
One dowl that’s in my plume. My fellow ministers
Are like invulnerable.

DUTCH:
Gij dwazen! mijne makkers
En ik zijn ‘s noodlots dienaars

MORE:
Surfeit=To feed to excess, to cloy (used only in the partic. –ed: “the never –ed sea,”)
Ministers=Agents, servants
Dowl(e)=Fibre of down in a feather (“diminish one d. that’s in my plume”)
Still-closing=Always coalescing again

Topics: fate/destiny, power, corruption

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
‘Tis tIme
I should inform thee further. Lend thy hand
And pluck my magic garment from me. So,
Lie there my art. Wipe thou thine eyes, have comfort;
The direful spectacle of the wreck which touched
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art
So safely ordered, that there is no soul –
No, not so much perdition as an hair,
Betid to any creature in the vessel
Which thou heard’st cry, which thou sawst sink.
Sit down, For thou must now know further.
MIRANDA
You have often
Begun to tell me what I am; but stopp’d.
And left me to a bootless inquisition,
Concluding “Stay: not yet.”

DUTCH:
Vaak begont gij
Mij te vertellen, wie ik ben, doch telkens
Hieldt ge op, en al mijn vragen was vergeefsch;
Het eind was steeds: „Nog niet.”

MORE:
Provision=Prevision, foresight
Perdition=Loss
Bootless inquisition=Fruitless inquiry
Compleat:
Provision=Voorzorg
Perdition=Verderf, verlies, ondergang
Bootless=Te vergeefs, vruchteloos

Topics: sorrow, grief, mercy, discovery, truth

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Gonzalo
CONTEXT:
SEBASTIAN
Look he’s winding up the watch of his wit. By and by it will strike.
GONZALO
(to ALONSO) Sir—
SEBASTIAN
One. Tell.
GONZALO
When every grief is entertained that’s offered,
comes to th’entertainer –
SEBASTIAN
A dollar.
GONZALO
Dolour comes to him, indeed. You have spoken truer than you purposed.

DUTCH:
Ja juist, de tering; gij hebt het beter geraden, dan
gijzelf wel dacht.

MORE:
A visitor is ‘One who visits from charitable motives or with a view of doing good’ (OED)
Dollar=’The English name for the German thaler, a large silver coin’ (OED).
Dolour=Sorrow, grief (wordplay on ‘dollar’)
Tell=Count
Entertain=To conceive, to harbour, to feel, to keep (When everyone who feels grief embraces every grief that comes their way)
Compleat:
Entertain (receive or believe) a principle, an opinion, etc.=Een stelling, een gevoelen aanneemen, koesteren’ gelooven of voorstaan
Dolor=Droefheid, smerte
Dolorous=Pynlyk, droevig
To visit (to go about to see whether things be as they should)=Bezoeken, nazien, onderzoeken
To visit (to affect, to try)=Bezoeken, beproeven

Topics: language, truth, understanding

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
(…) And my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him
A falsehood in its contrary as great
As my trust was, which had indeed no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded
But what my power might else exact, like one
Who having into truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory
To credit his own lie—he did believe
He was indeed the duke, out o’ th’ substitution
And executing th’ outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative. Hence his ambition growing—
Dost thou hear?
MIRANDA
Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.

DUTCH:
Uw verhaal zou doof heid heelen.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Beget (Followed by of: “my trust, like a good parent, did b. of him a falsehood”)=Produce; create.
Contrary=a thing or state of opposite qualities (“a falsehood in its c. as great,”=A falseness of equal magnitude)
Exact=To demand authoritatively, to extort
Credit=To believe (“Made such a sinner of his memory / To credit his own lie”=Deluded memory into believing his own lie)
Out o’th’ =By virtue of
Executing (“executing th’ outward face of”)=Playing the part of
Compleat:
Beget=Gewinnen, teelen, voortbrengen, verkrygen
Idleness begets beggary=Luiheid veroorzaakt bederlaary
The first accident must naturally beget the second=Het eene toeval moet noodwendig het andere voortbrengen

Topics: trust, betrayal, ambition, honesty, authority

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