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PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Fool
CONTEXT:
OLIVIA
He shall enlarge him. Fetch Malvolio hither:
And yet, alas, now I remember me,
They say, poor gentleman, he’s much distract.
A most extracting frenzy of mine own
From my remembrance clearly banished his.
How does he, sirrah?
FOOL
Truly, madam, he holds Beelzebub at the staves’ end as
well as a man in his case may do. Has here writ a letter
to you. I should have given ’t you today morning, but
as a madman’s epistles are no gospels, so it skills not
much when they are delivered.
OLIVIA
Open ’t, and read it.
FOOL
Look then to be well edified when the fool delivers the
madman.“By the Lord, madam,”—
OLIVIA
How now? Art thou mad?

DUTCH:
Hier heb ik een brief van hem aan u; eigenlijk
had ik u dien van ochtend al moeten geven; maar, daar
dollemansbrieven geen evangeliën zijn, komt het er niet
veel op aan, wanneer zij besteld worden.


MORE:
Proverb: All is not gospel that comes out of his mouth

Enlarge=Release
Much distract=Deranged
Skill=Matter
It skills not much=It doesn’t make much difference
Look then=Be prepared
Well edified=Learn a lot
Compleat:
Distracted=(troubled) Ontsteld; (mad) Dul, krankzinnig; (rend) Gescheurd
To edify=Stichten, opbouwen

Topics: madness, language, communication

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Scrivener
CONTEXT:
SCRIVENER
This is the indictment of the good Lord Hastings,
Which in a set hand fairly is engrossed,
That it may be today read o’er in Paul’s.
And mark how well the sequel hangs together:
Eleven hours I have spent to write it over,
For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me;
The precedent was full as long a-doing,
And yet within these five hours Hastings lived,
Untainted, unexamined, free, at liberty.
Here’s a good world the while. Who is so gross
That cannot see this palpable device?
Yet who so bold but says he sees it not?
Bad is the world, and all will come to naught
When such ill dealing must be seen in thought.

DUTCH:
Boos is de wereld ; alles gaat to grond,
Sluit vrees bij zulk een boosheid elk den mond.

MORE:
Fairly engrossed=Clearly written
Sequel=Chronology of events
Precedent=Original draft
Untainted=Not accused
Gross=Stupid
Palpable device=Obvious strategy
Seen in thought=Not spoken of
Compleat:
To engross=Te boek stellen, in’t net stellen
Precedent=Voorgaande, voorbeeld
Untainted=Gaaf, onbedurven, onbesmet
Gross=Grof, plomp, onbebouwen
Palpable=Tastelyk, tastbaar
Device=List; uytvindsel, gedichtsel

Topics: good and bad, trust, communication, honesty

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Orsino
CONTEXT:
ORSINO
Who saw Cesario, ho?
VIOLA
On your attendance, my lord, here.
ORSINO
Stand you a while aloof. Cesario,
Thou know’st no less but all. I have unclasped
To thee the book even of my secret soul.
Therefore, good youth, address thy gait unto her;
Be not denied access, stand at her doors,
And tell them there thy fixed foot shall grow
Till thou have audience.
VIOLA
Sure, my noble lord,
If she be so abandoned to her sorrow
As it is spoke , she never will admit me.
ORSINO
Be clamorous, and leap all civil bounds,
Rather than make unprofited return.

DUTCH:
Geen weig’ring schrikke u af, neem aan haar deur
Een plaats in en verklaar u daar geworteld,
Tot gij gehoor erlangt.

MORE:
Stand aloof=Keep your distance
Unclasped=Opened
On your attendance=At your service
Address=Direct
Gait=Steps
Grow=Take root (Fixed foot shall grow=Fig., plant yourself, do not move)
Civil bounds=Decency, civility
Unprofited=Unsuccessful, not having achieved the objective
Compleat:
Aloof=In de ruimte, van verre
To unclasp a boek=De slooten van een boek opdoen
Attendance=Opwachting, oppassing, behartiging; Een stoet van oppasssers, hofgezin, dienstbooden
Gait (gate)=Tred, gang. A majestic gate=Een deftige tred. Mincing gates=Een trippelende gang
Bounds=Landpaalen, grenzen, paalen
To surpass the bounds of modesty=De paalen der zeedigheid te buyten gaan

Topics: secrecy, respect, communication, persuasion

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
But to win time
To lose so bad employment; in the which
I have consider’d of a course. Good lady,
Hear me with patience.
IMOGEN
Talk thy tongue weary; speak
I have heard I am a strumpet; and mine ear
Therein false struck, can take no greater wound,
Nor tent to bottom that. But speak.
PISANIO
Then, madam,
I thought you would not back again.
IMOGEN
Most like;
Bringing me here to kill me.
PISANIO
Not so, neither:
But if I were as wise as honest, then
My purpose would prove well. It cannot be
But that my master is abused:
Some villain, ay, and singular in his art.
Hath done you both this cursed injury.

DUTCH:
Maar als ik even slim als eerlijk ben,
Dan slaagt mijn plan wellicht. Het is gewis,
Afschuwlijk werd mijn arme heer bedrogen.

MORE:
Talk thy tongue weary=Say as much as you like
Ear false struck=Hit by the slander
Tent=Probe for searching wounds
Bottom=Go deeper
Back again=Return
Purpose=Plan
Prove well=Succeed
Compleat:
To weary=Vermoeijen, moede maaken
Tent (for a wound)=Tentyzer
To bottom=Gronden, grondvesten
Purpose (design, resolution, project)=Voorneemen, besluit, ontwerp

Topics: communication, language, insult, offence

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 4.6
SPEAKER: Menenius
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
Go see this rumourer whipp’d. It cannot be
The Volsces dare break with us.
MENENIUS
Cannot be!
We have record that very well it can,
And three examples of the like have been
Within my age. But reason with the fellow,
Before you punish him, where he heard this,
Lest you shall chance to whip your information
And beat the messenger who bids beware
Of what is to be dreaded.
SICINIUS
Tell not me:
I know this cannot be.
BRUTUS
Not possible.
MESSENGER
The nobles in great earnestness are going
All to the senate-house: some news is come
That turns their countenances.
SICINIUS
‘Tis this slave;—
Go whip him, ‘fore the people’s eyes:—his raising;
Nothing but his report.

DUTCH:
„Het kan niet zijn!” Wij weten, ‘t kan zeer goed;
Ik weet er uit mijn eigen levenstijd
Drie staaltjes van.

MORE:
My age=My lifetime
Information=Informant
Raising=Incitement
Compleat:
Informant=Aanbrenger
To raise a sedition=Een oproer verwekken of veroorzaaken

Topics: communication, news, punishment

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Marcus Andronicus
CONTEXT:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
Fear her not, Lucius: somewhat doth she mean:
See, Lucius, see how much she makes of thee:
Somewhither would she have thee go with her.
Ah, boy, Cornelia never with more care
Read to her sons than she hath read to thee
Sweet poetry and Tully’s Orator.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS
Canst thou not guess wherefore she plies thee thus?
YOUNG LUCIUS
My lord, I know not, I, nor can I guess,
Unless some fit or frenzy do possess her:
For I have heard my grandsire say full oft,
Extremity of griefs would make men mad;
And I have read that Hecuba of Troy
Ran mad through sorrow: that made me to fear;
Although, my lord, I know my noble aunt
Loves me as dear as e’er my mother did,
And would not, but in fury, fright my youth:
Which made me down to throw my books, and fly—
Causeless, perhaps. But pardon me, sweet aunt:
And, madam, if my uncle Marcus go,
I will most willingly attend your ladyship.

DUTCH:
Kunt gij niet gissen, wat zij van u wil?

MORE:
Cornelia=Mother of the Gracchi brothers (Roman tribunes in the late 2nd century BC), famous for her devotion to her children’s education.
Tully’s Orator=Cicero’s De Oratore
Hecuba=Queen of Troy during the Trojan War whose grief at the death of her children is the basis for Euripides’s tragedy “Hecuba”
Plies=Importunes
Fury=Madness
Extremities=Highest degrees
Compleat:
To ply=Wakker op iets aanvallen
He plies me too hard=Hy valt my al te hard; hy wil al te veel werks van my hebben
Fury=Verwoedheyd, raazerny, woede, uytzinnigheyd, doldriftigheyd
Extremity=Het uyterste, ‘t uyterste eynd, de uyterste nood, uytendigheyd

Burgersdijk notes:
Cornelia las niet vlijtiger. Cornelia, de moeder der Gracchen, die als voortreffelijke opvoedster harer
zonen bekend staat (zie Cicero in zijn Brutus, 58. 211). Verder wordt hier Cicero’s boek over de welsprekendheid, De oratore, bedoeld.
Dat Hecuba van Troje van kommer dol werd. Zoo wordt Hecuba ook in den Hamlet door den tooneelspeler voorgesteld; zie ook Cymbeline, IV. 2.
Ben ik geheel en gaarne tot uw dienst. Om zijn vroeger wegloopen weer goed te maken, is de knaap
vleiend beleefd jegens Lavinia. In ‘t Engelsch: I will most willingly attend your ladyship.

Topics: learning/education, madness, communication

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Valentine
CONTEXT:
VALENTINE
As you enjoined me, I have writ your letter
Unto the secret nameless friend of yours;
Which I was much unwilling to proceed in
But for my duty to your ladyship.
SILVIA
I thank you gentle servant: ’tis very clerkly done.
VALENTINE
Now trust me, madam, it came hardly off;
For being ignorant to whom it goes
I writ at random, very doubtfully.
SILVIA
Perchance you think too much of so much pains?
VALENTINE
No, madam; so it stead you, I will write
Please you command, a thousand times as much; And yet—

DUTCH:
Geloof mij, jonkvrouw, ‘t ging mij moeilijk af;
Want onbewust, aan wien het was gericht,
Schreef ik als in den blinde, zeer onzeker.

MORE:
Enjoined=Required, instructed
Clerkly=Learned
Came hardly off=Was difficult to do
Stead=Benefit
Compleat:
Clerkship=Klerkschap, schryverschap
To enjoyn=Belasten, opleggen, beveelen
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

Burgersdijk notes:
Heer Valenti.jn, mijn dienaar. In Sh’s. tijd werden de vereerders of minnaars eener schoone of gebiedster, Madam of Mistress, vaak servant genoemd, wat dus nagenoeg hetzelfde beteekent als lover.

Topics: communication, love, loyalty

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Page
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS PAGE
Letter for letter, but that the name of Page and
Ford differs! To thy great comfort in this mystery
of ill opinions, here’s the twin-brother of thy
letter: but let thine inherit first; for, I
protest, mine never shall. I warrant he hath a
thousand of these letters, writ with blank space for
different names—sure, more,—and these are of the
second edition: he will print them, out of doubt;
for he cares not what he puts into the press, when
he would put us two. I had rather be a giantess,
and lie under Mount Pelion. Well, I will find you
twenty lascivious turtles ere one chaste man.

DUTCH:
Hij zal ze laten drukken, buiten twijfel; want hij geeft er niet om, wat hij onder de pers brengt, daar hij er ons alle twee onder zou willen brengen.

MORE:
Inherit=Acquire
Out of doubt=No doubt
Press=Printing press
Mount Pelion=In Greek mythology, where the Titans who defied the gods are buried

Topics: communication, manipulation

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
LYSANDER
He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt. He knows
not the stop. A good moral, my lord: it is not enough to
speak, but to speak true.
HIPPOLYTA
Indeed he hath played on his prologue like a child on a
recorder—a sound, but not in government.
THESEUS
His speech was like a tangled chain. Nothing impaired,
but all disordered. Who is next?

DUTCH:
Zijn aanspraak was als een verwarde keten, geen schakel
stuk, maar heel en al warboel.

MORE:
Recorder=Child’s instrument
Government=Control
Disordered=Jumbled
Compleat:
Recorder=een Zeker slach van fluyt
Government=Bestiering, heersching
Disordered=In wanorde gebragt, in de war gebragt

Topics: truth, language, communication

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Poet
CONTEXT:
PAINTER
How shall I understand you?
POET
I will unbolt to you.
You see how all conditions, how all minds,
As well of glib and slippery creatures as
Of grave and austere quality, tender down
Their services to Lord Timon: his large fortune
Upon his good and gracious nature hanging
Subdues and properties to his love and tendance
All sorts of hearts; yea, from the glass-faced flatterer
To Apemantus, that few things loves better
Than to abhor himself: even he drops down
The knee before him, and returns in peace
Most rich in Timon’s nod.

DUTCH:
SCHILDER.
Hoe moet ik u verstaan?
dichter
‘k Wil u den zin ontgrend’len.
Gij ziet, hoe alle standen, alle geesten, —
Zoowel die glad en sluip’rig zijn van ziel
Als strenge en stugge mannen, — allen Timon
Ten dienste willen staan.

MORE:
Unbolt=Unfasten, open (fig. reveal)

Topics: communication, understanding, flattery, respect, leadership

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Pandarus
CONTEXT:
SERVANT
Who shall I command, sir?
PANDARUS
Friend, we understand not one another: I am too
courtly and thou art too cunning. At whose request
do these men play?
SERVANT
That’s to ‘t indeed, sir: marry, sir, at the request
of Paris my lord, who’s there in person; with him,
the mortal Venus, the heart-blood of beauty, love’s
invisible soul,—
PANDARUS
Who, my cousin Cressida?
SERVANT
No, sir, Helen: could you not find out that by her
attributes?

DUTCH:
Vriend, wij verstaan elkander niet; ik ben te hoffelijk
en gij te gevat. Wie heeft die menschen hier besteld?

MORE:
Courtly=Elegant, polite
Cunning=Crafty
Venus=Goddess of Beauty (but the servant means Helen)
Compleat:
Courtly=Lugtig, gallant, hoflyk
Cunning=Loosheid, Listigheid

Topics: civility, order/society, language, communication, understanding

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Coriolanus
CONTEXT:
CORIOLANUS
What must I say?
‘I Pray, sir’— Plague upon’t! I cannot bring
My tongue to such a pace:—’Look, sir, my wounds!
I got them in my country’s service, when
Some certain of your brethren roar’d and ran
From the noise of our own drums.’
MENENIUS
O me, the gods!
You must not speak of that: you must desire them
To think upon you.
CORIOLANUS
Think upon me! hang ’em!
I would they would forget me, like the virtues
Which our divines lose by ’em.
MENENIUS
You’ll mar all:
I’ll leave you: pray you, speak to ’em, I pray you,
In wholesome manner.

DUTCH:
Vervloekt! ik kan mijn tong
In zulk een gang niet krijgen.

MORE:
Pace=Manner
Desire=Ask
Think upon=Consider
Wholesome=Suitable, beneficial
Compleat:
Pace=Een stap, treede, schreede, tred, gang, pas, voortgang
To desire=Gebieden
To think upon=Op denken
Wholesom=Gezond, heylzaam, heelzaam

Topics: communication, persuasion

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Ulysses
CONTEXT:
ULYSSES
I do not strain at the position,—
It is familiar,—but at the author’s drift;
Who, in his circumstance, expressly proves
That no man is the lord of any thing,
Though in and of him there be much consisting,
Till he communicate his parts to others:
Nor doth he of himself know them for aught
Till he behold them formed in the applause
Where they’re extended; who, like an arch, reverberates
The voice again, or, like a gate of steel
Fronting the sun, receives and renders back
His figure and his heat. I was much wrapt in this;
And apprehended here immediately
The unknown Ajax.
Heavens, what a man is there! a very horse,
That has he knows not what. Nature, what things there are
Most abject in regard and dear in use!
What things again most dear in the esteem
And poor in worth! Now shall we see to-morrow—
An act that very chance doth throw upon him—
Ajax renowned. O heavens, what some men do,
While some men leave to do!
How some men creep in skittish fortune’s hall,
Whiles others play the idiots in her eyes!
How one man eats into another’s pride,
While pride is fasting in his wantonness!
To see these Grecian lords!— why, even already
They clap the lubber Ajax on the shoulder,
As if his foot were on brave Hector’s breast
And great Troy shrinking.

DUTCH:
Wat mij verbaast, is niet de stelling zelf,
Die elk wel kent, maar wel ‘t besluit des schrijvers

MORE:
Strain at=Struggle to accept
Position=Argument
Drift=Meaning, gist
Circumstance=Detail of an argument
Expressly=In full, explicitly
In and of=He and his actions
Consisting=Quality, substance
Parts=Qualities
Formed in=Reflected in
Arch=Vault
Figure=Appearance
Abject in regard=Despised
Dear in use=Useful
Dear in the esteem=Highly regarded
Poor in worth=Of little value
Lubber=Lout
Shrinking=Weakening
Compleat:
Strain hard=Alle zyne krachten inspannen; lustig zyn best doen
Position=Legging, stelling
Drift=Oogmerk, opzet, vaart
Circumstance=Omstandigheyd
Circumstanced=Met omstandigheden belegd, onder omstandigheden begreepen
Expressely or Expresly=Duidelyk; uitdrukkelyk
Consistence=Bestaanlykheid; saamenbestaanlykheid
Parts=Deelen, hoedaanigheden, begaafdheden
Form=Wyze, gedaante
Arch=Een gewelf, boog
Figure (or representation)=Afbeelding
Figure (or appearance)=Gedaante, aanzien
Abject=Veracht, gering, snood, lafhartig, verworpen
Dear=Waard, lief, dierbaar, duur
Lubber=Een sul, slokker, zwabber, een lubbert

Topics: communication, persuasion, reputation, value, appearance, merit

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Duke Orsino
CONTEXT:
ORSINO
Who saw Cesario, ho?
VIOLA
On your attendance, my lord, here.
ORSINO
Stand you a while aloof. Cesario,
Thou know’st no less but all. I have unclasped
To thee the book even of my secret soul.
Therefore, good youth, address thy gait unto her;
Be not denied access, stand at her doors,
And tell them there thy fixed foot shall grow
Till thou have audience.
VIOLA
Sure, my noble lord,
If she be so abandoned to her sorrow
As it is spoke she never will admit me.
ORSINO
Be clamorous, and leap all civil bounds,
Rather than make unprofited return.

DUTCH:
Cesario,
Gij weet reeds alles; ‘k heb u opgeslagen
De bladen van ‘t geheimboek mijner ziel

MORE:
Stand aloof=Keep your distance
Unclasped=Opened
On your attendance=At your service
Address=Direct
Gait=Steps
Grow=Take root (Fixed foot shall grow=Fig., plant yourself, do not move)
Civil bounds=Decency, civility
Unprofited=Unsuccessful, not having achieved the objective
Compleat:
Aloof=In de ruimte, van verre
To unclasp a boek=De slooten van een boek opdoen
Attendance=Opwachting, oppassing, behartiging; Een stoet van oppasssers, hofgezin, dienstbooden
Gait (gate)=Tred, gang. A majestic gate=Een deftige tred. Mincing gates=Een trippelende gang
Bounds=Landpaalen, grenzen, paalen
To surpass the bounds of modesty=De paalen der zeedigheid te buyten gaan

Topics: secrecy, respect, communication, persuasion

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Page
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS FORD
Why, this is the very same; the very hand, the very
words. What doth he think of us?
MISTRESS PAGE
Nay, I know not: it makes me almost ready to
wrangle with mine own honesty. I’ll entertain
myself like one that I am not acquainted withal;
for, sure, unless he know some strain in me, that I
know not myself, he would never have boarded me in this
fury.

DUTCH:
Ja, dit weet ik niet; maar het brengt er mij bijna
toe mijn eigen eerbaarheid te bekijven

MORE:
Wrangle with=Question
Honesty=Chastity
Entertain=Treat
Withal=With
Strain=Disposition
Compleat:
Wrangle=Gekyf, krakeel
Honesty=Eerbaarheid, vroomheid
Entertain=Onthaalen, huysvesten, plaats vergunnen
Strrain=Wyze, toon, trant

Topics: communication, imagination, anger

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Sylvia
CONTEXT:
JULIA
Madam, please you peruse this letter.—
Pardon me, madam; I have unadvised
Delivered you a paper that I should not:
This is the letter to your ladyship.
SILVIA
I pray thee, let me look on that again.
JULIA
It may not be; good madam, pardon me.
SILVIA
There, hold!
I will not look upon your master’s lines:
I know they are stuffed with protestations
And full of new-found oaths; which he will break
As easily as I do tear his paper.

DUTCH:
Ik wil het schrijven van uw heer niet inzien.
‘k Weet, met geloften is het opgepropt,
Met nieuw verzonnen eeden; maar hij breekt die,
Zoo ras als ik hier zijn papier verscheur.

MORE:
Unadvised=Inadvertently
Protestations=Solemn declarations
New-found=Recent
Compleat:
Unadvised=Onbedacht, onvoorzigtig
Protestation=Betuyging, aantuyging, aankondiging, opentlyke verklaaring, vrybetuyging, tegeninlegging
New-found=Eerst-gevonden, nieuwgevonden

Topics: communication, language, negligence

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Sir Hugh Evans
CONTEXT:
SIR HUGH EVANS
Go your ways, and ask of Doctor Caius’ house which
is the way: and there dwells one Mistress Quickly,
which is in the manner of his nurse, or his dry
nurse, or his cook, or his laundry, his washer, and
his wringer.
SIMPLE
Well, sir.
SIR HUGH EVANS
Nay, it is petter yet. Give her this letter; for it
is a ‘oman that altogether’s acquaintance with
Mistress Anne Page: and the letter is, to desire
and require her to solicit your master’s desires to
Mistress Anne Page. I pray you, be gone: I will
make an end of my dinner; there’s pippins and cheese to
come.

DUTCH:
Ik pit u, cha. Ik heb nog niet afchecheten, taar
komen nog pippelingen en kaas.

MORE:
Go your ways=Get away with you
Which=Who
Dry nurse=Housekeeper (as opposed to wet nurse)
Laundry=Laundry-maid
Pippins=Apples
Compleat:
Go your ways=Gaat heenen
A dry nurse=Een drooge min, kindermeid, baker
Laundry (landry)=Wasschery, waschhuis, waschplaats
Pippin=Een pippeling

Topics: work, status, communication

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Coriolanus
CONTEXT:
CORIOLANUS
Well, I must do’t:
Away, my disposition, and possess me
Some harlot’s spirit! my throat of war be turn’d,
Which quired with my drum, into a pipe
Small as an eunuch, or the virgin voice
That babies lulls asleep! the smiles of knaves
Tent in my cheeks, and schoolboys’ tears take up
The glasses of my sight! a beggar’s tongue
Make motion through my lips, and my arm’d knees,
Who bow’d but in my stirrup, bend like his
That hath received an alms! I will not do’t,
Lest I surcease to honour mine own truth
And by my body’s action teach my mind
A most inherent baseness.
VOLUMNIA
At thy choice, then:
To beg of thee, it is my more dishonour
Than thou of them. Come all to ruin; let
Thy mother rather feel thy pride than fear
Thy dangerous stoutness, for I mock at death
With as big heart as thou. Do as thou list
Thy valiantness was mine, thou suck’dst it from me,
But owe thy pride thyself.

DUTCH:
Neen, ‘k wil ‘t niet doen,
Ik zou mijns harten waarheid zelf onteeren,
En door mijns lichaams kromming ook mijn geest
Tot eeuw’ge laagheid doemen.

MORE:
Tent=Camp
Surcease=Cease
Stoutness=Stubbornness
Compleat:
Surcease=Ophouden, staaken
Stoutness=(stiffness or sturdiness) Styfheid, onverzettelykheid, steiloorigheid

Topics: communication, persuasion, truth, pride

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 1.5
SPEAKER: Viola
CONTEXT:
VIOLA
Most radiant, exquisite and unmatchable beauty—I pray you, tell me if this be the lady of the house, for I never saw her. I would be loath to cast away my speech, for besides that it is excellently well penned, I have taken great pains to con it. Good beauties, let me sustain no scorn. I am very comptible, even to the least sinister usage.
OLIVIA
Whence came you, sir?
VIOLA
I can say little more than I have studied, and that question’s out of my part. Good gentle one, give me modest assurance if you be the lady of the house, that I may proceed in my speech.

DUTCH:
Ik zou niet gaarne mijne toespraak tot de verkeerde
richten, want, behalve dat zij meesterlijk gesteld is, heb
ik er veel werk aan besteed om ze van buiten te leeren.

MORE:
Penned=Written, composed
Con=Learn, memorize
Sustain=Suffer
Comptible=Sensitive (accurate in accounting)
Studied=Learned by heart
Sinister usage=Lack of civility
Modest=Adequate
Compleat:
Penned=In geschrifte gesteld, beschreeven
The letter was very ill penned=De brief was zeer qualyk ingesteld of bewoord
To penn well=Wel schryven, wel instellen
To conn=Zyne lesse kennen, of van buiten leeren
To sustain=Lyden, uytstaan, verdraagen
Sinister=Slinksch, averechts, valsch
Modest=Zeedig, eerbaar

Burgersdijk notes:
Ik ben zeer susceptibel. Ook in ‘t oorspronkelijke bezigt Viola eene gezochte uitdrukking: 1 am very
comptible, eigenlijk: precies in ‘t rekenen; van plan om iedere beleediging nauwkeurig terug te geven.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, civility, communication, intellect, learning/education

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
LODOVICO
Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?
IAGO
He’s that he is. I may not breathe my censure
What he might be. If what he might he is not,
I would to heaven he were!
LODOVICO
What? Strike his wife?
IAGO
‘Faith, that was not so well. Yet would I knew
That stroke would prove the worst!
LODOVICO
Is it his use?
Or did the letters work upon his blood
And new-create his fault?
IAGO
Alas, alas! It is not honesty in me to speak
What I have seen and known. You shall observe him,
And his own courses will denote him so
That I may save my speech. Do but go after
And mark how he continues.
LODOVICO
I am sorry that I am deceived in him.

DUTCH:
Is hij bij zinnen? is zijn brein niet krank?
– Hij is zooals hij is; ik uit geen oordeel.

MORE:
Censure=Opinion (on his soundness of mind)
Use=Custom, habit
Blood=Passion
New-create=Start, instigate
Courses=Actions
Denote him=Explain
Deceived in=Have misjudged
Compleat:
Censure=Bestraffing, berisping, oordeel, toets
Use=Gewoonte, gebruyk
Blood=Disposition, temper
Courses=Wegen of middelen
Denote=Betekenen

Topics: madness, appearance, communication, trust

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Quickly
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Why, I will.
MISTRESS QUICKLY
Nay, but do so, then: and, look you, he may come and
go between you both; and in any case have a
nay-word, that you may know one another’s mind, and
the boy never need to understand any thing; for
’tis not good that children should know any
wickedness: old folks, you know, have discretion,
as they say, and know the world.
FALSTAFF
Fare thee well: commend me to them both: there’s
my purse; I am yet thy debtor. Boy, go along with
this woman.
This news distracts me!
PISTOL
This punk is one of Cupid’s carriers:
Clap on more sails; pursue; up with your fights:
Give fire: she is my prize, or ocean whelm them all!

DUTCH:
Neen, maar doe het zeker; en zie, dan kan hij tusschen
u beiden heen en weer gaan; en in allen gevalle
moet gij een afgesproken woord hebben, waardoor gij
elkander begrijpt, zonder dat de jongen er iets van kan
maken;

MORE:
Nay-word=Password
Distracts=Bewilders
Punk=Whore
Carriers=Messengers
Compleat:
Distracted=Gestoord; ontsteld
Punk (ugly whore)=Ee lelijke hoer
Letter carrier=Briefdraager

Topics: communication|ssecrecy|understanding

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Julia
CONTEXT:
JULIA
Now, by my modesty, a goodly broker!
Dare you presume to harbour wanton lines?
To whisper and conspire against my youth?
Now, trust me, ’tis an office of great worth
And you an officer fit for the place.
There, take the paper; see it be returned,
Or else return no more into my sight.
LUCETTA
To plead for love deserves more fee than hate.
JULIA
Will ye be gone?
LUCETTA
That you may ruminate.

DUTCH:
Nu, op mijn eer, een fraaie makelaarster!
Gij waagt het, dart’le briefjens aan te nemen?

MORE:
Broker=Intermediary
Paper=Letter
Place=Position
Compleat:
Broker=Makelaar; Uytdraager
Place=Plaats

Topics: communication, conspiracy

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Speed
CONTEXT:
SPEED
O jest unseen, inscrutable, invisible,
As a nose on a man’s face, or a weathercock on a steeple!
My master sues to her, and she hath taught her suitor,
He being her pupil, to become her tutor.
O excellent device! Was there ever heard a better,
That my master, being scribe, to himself should write
the letter?
VALENTINE
How now, sir? What are you reasoning with yourself?

DUTCH:
O diepverholen scherts , onzichtbaar, nooit in ‘t licht,
Gelijk op een toren het haantjen, de neus op iemands gezicht!

MORE:
Weathercock=Weathervane in the form of a cockerel
Sues to=Courts, woos
Reasoning with=Talking to
Compleat:
Weathercock=Weerhaan
To sue=Voor ‘t recht roepen, in recht vervolgen; iemand om iets aanloopen
To reason=Redeeeren, gesprek houden, redenkavelen, redentwisten

Topics: communication

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 4.6
SPEAKER: Hector
CONTEXT:
HECTOR
O, like a book of sport thou’lt read me o’er;
But there’s more in me than thou understand’st.
Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye?
ACHILLES
Tell me, you heavens, in which part of his body
Shall I destroy him? whether there, or there, or there?
That I may give the local wound a name
And make distinct the very breach whereout
Hector’s great spirit flew: answer me, heavens!

DUTCH:
O, gij doorbladert me als een boek tot scherts;
Doch er is meer in mij dan gij begrijpt.
Wat drukt gij zoo mij met uw blik ter ne r?

MORE:
Book of sport=Hunting manual
Distinct=Separate, different positions/functions
Compleat:
Distinct=Onderscheyden, afzonderlyk, duydelyk

Topics: communication, understanding, dispute

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Pisanio
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
But to win time
To lose so bad employment; in the which
I have consider’d of a course. Good lady,
Hear me with patience.
IMOGEN
Talk thy tongue weary; speak
I have heard I am a strumpet; and mine ear
Therein false struck, can take no greater wound,
Nor tent to bottom that. But speak.
PISANIO
Then, madam,
I thought you would not back again.
IMOGEN
Most like;
Bringing me here to kill me.
PISANIO
Not so, neither:
But if I were as wise as honest, then
My purpose would prove well. It cannot be
But that my master is abused:
Some villain, ay, and singular in his art.
Hath done you both this cursed injury.

DUTCH:
Een fielt, ja wel een uitgeleerde schurk,
Heeft u en hem deez’ helschen streek gespeeld.

MORE:
Talk thy tongue weary=Say as much as you like
Ear false struck=Hit by the slander
Tent=Probe for searching wounds
Bottom=Go deeper
Back again=Return
Purpose=Plan
Prove well=Succeed
Compleat:
To weary=Vermoeijen, moede maaken
Tent (for a wound)=Tentyzer
To bottom=Gronden, grondvesten
Purpose (design, resolution, project)=Voorneemen, besluit, ontwerp

Topics: communication, language, insult, offence

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Coriolanus
CONTEXT:
CORIOLANUS
What must I say?
‘I Pray, sir’— Plague upon’t! I cannot bring
My tongue to such a pace:—’Look, sir, my wounds!
I got them in my country’s service, when
Some certain of your brethren roar’d and ran
From the noise of our own drums.’
MENENIUS
O me, the gods!
You must not speak of that: you must desire them
To think upon you.
CORIOLANUS
Think upon me! hang ’em!
I would they would forget me, like the virtues
Which our divines lose by ’em.
MENENIUS
You’ll mar all:
I’ll leave you: pray you, speak to ’em, I pray you,
In wholesome manner.

DUTCH:
Gij bederft
Nog alles. ‘k Ga. Spreek goed hun toe, ik bid u,
Verstandig.

MORE:
Pace=Manner
Desire=Ask
Think upon=Consider
Wholesome=Suitable, beneficial
Compleat:
Pace=Een stap, treede, schreede, tred, gang, pas, voortgang
To desire=Gebieden
To think upon=Op denken
Wholesom=Gezond, heylzaam, heelzaam

Topics: communication, persuasion

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
FIRST MESSENGER
O my lord!
ANTONY
Speak to me home. Mince not the general tongue.
Name Cleopatra as she is called in Rome.
Rail thou in Fulvia’s phrase, and taunt my faults
With such full licence as both truth and malice
Have power to utter. Oh, then we bring forth weeds
When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us
Is as our earing.
Fare thee well awhile.

DUTCH:
Spreek vrij; verbloem niet wat het volk zegt; noem
Cleopatra zooals haar Rome noemt.

MORE:
Proverb: To mince the matter
Proverb: Weeds come forth on the fattest soil if it is untilled

Speak home=Speak plainly
Mince=To extenuate, make light of (tone down)
Tongue=Manner of speaking
Rail=Reproach, scold
Licence=Freedom
Quick=Alert, live
Ills=Faults
Earing=Ploughing
Compleat:
Home-reason, home-argument=Een overtuigende drang-reden
Home expression=Een klemmend uitdruksel, een zeggen ‘t welk raakt, een boeren slag
Mince=Kleyn kappen
To rail=Schelden
Licence=Verlof, oorlof, vergunning, toelaating, vrygeeving, goedkeuring; vryheid
Quick=Levendig
Ill=Quaad, ondeugend, onpasselijk, slegt
To ear=Land bouwen

Topics: communication, language, error, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Host
CONTEXT:
HOST
What wouldst thou have, boor? what: thick-skin?
speak, breathe, discuss; brief, short, quick, snap.
SIMPLE
Marry, sir, I come to speak with Sir John Falstaff
from Master Slender.
HOST
There’s his chamber, his house, his castle, his
standing-bed and truckle-bed; ’tis painted about
with the story of the Prodigal, fresh and new. Go
knock and call; he’ll speak like an Anthropophaginian
unto thee: knock, I say.

DUTCH:
Waar naar toe, boer? wat wilt gij, dikhuid? Spreek,
geef geluid, deel mee, kort, bondig, vlug, snel!

MORE:
Discuss=Disclose
Truckle-bed=Low bed on castors that could be stored under a standing bed
Anthropophaginian=Cannibal
Compleat:
Discuss=Onderzoeken, uytpluyzen, naavorschen
Truckle-bed=Rol bed, uythaal bed

Burgersdijk notes:
Veldbed. Trucklebed, een laag bed, op rollen, dat onder het groote bed kon geborgen worden en meest voor een bediende bestemd was.

Topics: insult|clarity/precision|communication

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Titus Andronicus
CONTEXT:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
How now! has sorrow made thee dote already?
Why, Marcus, no man should be mad but I.
What violent hands can she lay on her life?
Ah, wherefore dost thou urge the name of hands;
To bid AEneas tell the tale twice o’er,
How Troy was burnt and he made miserable?
O, handle not the theme, to talk of hands,
Lest we remember still that we have none.
Fie, fie, how franticly I square my talk,
As if we should forget we had no hands,
If Marcus did not name the word of hands!
Come, let’s fall to; and, gentle girl, eat this:
Here is no drink! Hark, Marcus, what she says;
I can interpret all her martyred signs;
She says she drinks no other drink but tears,
Brewed with her sorrow, meshed upon her cheeks:
Speechless complainer, I will learn thy thought;
In thy dumb action will I be as perfect
As begging hermits in their holy prayers:
Thou shalt not sigh, nor hold thy stumps to heaven,
Nor wink, nor nod, nor kneel, nor make a sign,
But I of these will wrest an alphabet
And by still practise learn to know thy meaning.

DUTCH:
Gij stomme klaagster, ‘k wil uw taal verstaan.
Mij zullen uw gebaren zoo vertrouwd
Als bedelkluiz’naars hun gebeden zijn.

MORE:
Dote=Become irrational
Square=Judge, adjust
Signs=Gestures
Mashed or meshed=Brewed
Perfect=Expert, complete
Wrest=Force
Still=Continued
Compleat:
To dote=Suffen, dutten, mymeren
To mash=Mengel, een mengsel maaken, vergruizen
Perfect=Volmaakt, volkomen, voltoid, voleind
To wrest=Verdraaijen, wringen
Still=Altijd

Topics: madness, regret, sorrow, understanding, communication

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
But to win time
To lose so bad employment; in the which
I have consider’d of a course. Good lady,
Hear me with patience.
IMOGEN
Talk thy tongue weary; speak
I have heard I am a strumpet; and mine ear
Therein false struck, can take no greater wound,
Nor tent to bottom that. But speak.
PISANIO
Then, madam,
I thought you would not back again.
IMOGEN
Most like;
Bringing me here to kill me.
PISANIO
Not so, neither:
But if I were as wise as honest, then
My purpose would prove well. It cannot be
But that my master is abused:
Some villain, ay, and singular in his art.
Hath done you both this cursed injury.

DUTCH:
Spreek, spreek u moede;
Ik hoorde, ik ben een eerloos wijf; mijn oor
Kan, na die valschheid, toch niets ergers lijden;
Onpeilbaar is de wond die ik ontving.

MORE:
Talk thy tongue weary=Say as much as you like
Ear false struck=Hit by the slander
Tent=Probe for searching wounds
Bottom=Go deeper
Back again=Return
Purpose=Plan
Prove well=Succeed
Compleat:
To weary=Vermoeijen, moede maaken
Tent (for a wound)=Tentyzer
To bottom=Gronden, grondvesten
Purpose (design, resolution, project)=Voorneemen, besluit, ontwerp

Topics: communication, language, insult, offence

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Ulysses
CONTEXT:
ULYSSES
I do not strain at the position,—
It is familiar,—but at the author’s drift;
Who, in his circumstance, expressly proves
That no man is the lord of any thing,
Though in and of him there be much consisting,
Till he communicate his parts to others:
Nor doth he of himself know them for aught
Till he behold them formed in the applause
Where they’re extended; who, like an arch, reverberates
The voice again, or, like a gate of steel
Fronting the sun, receives and renders back
His figure and his heat. I was much wrapt in this;
And apprehended here immediately
The unknown Ajax.
Heavens, what a man is there! a very horse,
That has he knows not what. Nature, what things there are
Most abject in regard and dear in use!
What things again most dear in the esteem
And poor in worth! Now shall we see to-morrow—
An act that very chance doth throw upon him—
Ajax renowned. O heavens, what some men do,
While some men leave to do!
How some men creep in skittish fortune’s hall,
Whiles others play the idiots in her eyes!
How one man eats into another’s pride,
While pride is fasting in his wantonness!
To see these Grecian lords!— why, even already
They clap the lubber Ajax on the shoulder,
As if his foot were on brave Hector’s breast
And great Troy shrieking.

DUTCH:
Die, dit ontwikk’lend, hier uitdrukk’lijk leert,
Dat niemand heer en meester is van iets, —
Hoe veel hij ook bezitte en in zich hebbe, —
Eer hij zijn gaven and’ren mededeelt;

MORE:
Strain at=Struggle to accept
Position=Argument
Drift=Meaning, gist
Circumstance=Detail of an argument
Expressly=In full, explicitly
In and of=He and his actions
Consisting=Quality, substance
Parts=Qualities
Formed in=Reflected in
Arch=Vault
Figure=Appearance
Abject in regard=Despised
Dear in use=Useful
Dear in the esteem=Highly regarded
Poor in worth=Of little value
Lubber=Lout
Shrinking=Weakening
Compleat:
Strain hard=Alle zyne krachten inspannen; lustig zyn best doen
Position=Legging, stelling
Drift=Oogmerk, opzet, vaart
Circumstance=Omstandigheyd
Circumstanced=Met omstandigheden belegd, onder omstandigheden begreepen
Expressely or Expresly=Duidelyk; uitdrukkelyk
Consistence=Bestaanlykheid; saamenbestaanlykheid
Parts=Deelen, hoedaanigheden, begaafdheden
Form=Wyze, gedaante
Arch=Een gewelf, boog
Figure (or representation)=Afbeelding
Figure (or appearance)=Gedaante, aanzien
Abject=Veracht, gering, snood, lafhartig, verworpen
Dear=Waard, lief, dierbaar, duur
Lubber=Een sul, slokker, zwabber, een lubbert

Topics: communication, persuasion, reputation, value, appearance, merit

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Timon
CONTEXT:
TIMON
Rogue, rogue, rogue!
I am sick of this false world, and will love nought
But even the mere necessities upon ‘t.
Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
Lie where the light foam the sea may beat
Thy grave-stone daily: make thine epitaph,
That death in me at others’ lives may laugh.
O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce
‘Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
Of Hymen’s purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
Thou ever young, fresh, loved and delicate wooer,
Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
That lies on Dian’s lap! thou visible god,
That solder’st close impossibilities,
And makest them kiss! that speak’st with
every tongue,
To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts!
Think, thy slave man rebels, and by thy virtue
Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
May have the world in empire!

DUTCH:
Gij, die onmooglijkheden samenwelt,
Ten kus vereent! die spreekt met ied’re tong,
Tot ieder doel! gij toetssteen van de harten!

MORE:
Even the mere=The most basic
Solder=Fuse
Impossibilities=Things that cannot be joined
With every tongue=In every language
Touch of hearts=Touchstone; wounder of hearts
Compleat:
To solder=Soudeeren
The gift of tongues=De gaave der taale
To speak several tongues=Verscheiden taalen spreeken

Topics: value, truth, language, communication, leadership

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Nym
CONTEXT:
NYM
The anchor is deep: will that humour pass?
FALSTAFF
Now, the report goes she has all the rule of her
husband’s purse: he hath a legion of angels.
PISTOL
As many devils entertain; and ‘To her, boy,’ say I.
NYM
The humour rises; it is good: humour me the angels.
FALSTAFF
I have writ me here a letter to her: and here
another to Page’s wife, who even now gave me good
eyes too, examined my parts with most judicious
oeillades; sometimes the beam of her view gilded my
foot, sometimes my portly belly.
PISTOL
Then did the sun on dunghill shine.

DUTCH:
Het anker zinkt diep; zal deze humor houden?

MORE:
Anchor is deep=It is a complex plan
Humour=Plan (or fancy)
Pass=Take place
Report=Rumour
Angels=Coins
Compleat:
A deep conspiracy=Een heymelyke zaamenzweering
Humour=Verbeelding
To pass=Doortrekken, doorgaan, doorbrengen
Report (rumour)=Gerucht, praat

Topics: plans/intentions, money, communication

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Cassius
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
What a blunt fellow is this grown to be!
He was quick mettle when he went to school.
CASSIUS
So is he now in execution
Of any bold or noble enterprise,
However he puts on this tardy form.
This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit,
Which gives men stomach to digest his words
With better appetite.
BRUTUS
And so it is. For this time I will leave you.
Tomorrow, if you please to speak with me,
I will come home to you; or, if you will,
Come home to me, and I will wait for you.
CASSIUS
I will do so. Till then, think of the world.

DUTCH:
Die ruwheid is een toekruid bij zijn geest;
‘t Versterkt de maag der hoorders, om zijn taal
Met beter eetlust te verteren.

MORE:
Blunt=Dull in understanding
Quick mettle=Quick-witted; keen
However=Although
Tardy form=Sluggish appearance
Wit=Intelligence
Rudeness=Roughness, coarseness
Compleat:
To blunt=Stomp maaken, verstompen
A blunt fellow=Een ongeschikte vent, een plompe boer
Full of mettle=Vol vuurs, moedig
Tardy=Slof, traag, langzaam
Wit (understanding)=Vinding, schranderheid, verstand
Rudeness=Ruuwheyd, onbehouwenheyd, plompheyd

Burgersdijk notes:
Denk midd’lerwijl aan ‘s werelds eischen. Er staat eigenlijk: “Denk middelerwijl aan de wereld”,
aan de wereld en hoe het er toegaat; overweeg den toestand .

Topics: intellect, language, understanding, communication

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Julia
CONTEXT:
JULIA
How many women would do such a message?
Alas, poor Proteus! Thou hast entertained
A fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs.
Alas, poor fool! Why do I pity him
That with his very heart despiseth me?
Because he loves her, he despiseth me;
Because I love him I must pity him.
This ring I gave him when he parted from me,
To bind him to remember my good will;
And now am I, unhappy messenger,
To plead for that which I would not obtain,
To carry that which I would have refused,
To praise his faith which I would have dispraised.
I am my master’s true-confirmed love;
But cannot be true servant to my master,
Unless I prove false traitor to myself.
Yet will I woo for him, but yet so coldly
As, heaven it knows, I would not have him speed.
Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you, be my mean
To bring me where to speak with Madam Silvia.

DUTCH:
Die boodschap, hoeveel vrouwen brachten ze over?
Ach, arme Proteus, gij hebt daar een vos
Als herder uwer lamm’ren aangesteld!

MORE:
Do a message=Deliver a message
Entertained=Employed, taken into service
Dispraise=Censure
Speed=Succeed
Mean=Means, method
Compleat:
To deliver a message=Een boodschap afleggen
Entertain=Onthaalen, huysvesten, plaats vergunnen
To speed=Voortspoeden, voorspoedig zyn, wel gelukken
Dispraise=Mispryzen, hoonen, verachten, laaken
Mean=Middelen, een middel

Topics: communication, language, persuasion, loyalty

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Olivia
CONTEXT:
MALVOLIO
Lady, you have. Pray you, peruse that letter.
You must not now deny it is your hand.
Write from it if you can, in hand or phrase;
Or say ’tis not your seal, not your invention:
You can say none of this. Well, grant it then
And tell me, in the modesty of honour,
Why you have given me such clear lights of favour,
Bade me come smiling and cross-gartered to you,
To put on yellow stockings, and to frown
Upon Sir Toby and the lighter people?
And, acting this in an obedient hope,
Why have you suffered me to be imprisoned,
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geck and gull
That e’er invention played on? Tell me why.
OLIVIA
Alas, Malvolio, this is not my writing,
Though, I confess, much like the character.
But out of question, ’tis Maria’s hand.
And now I do bethink me, it was she
First told me thou wast mad, then camest in smiling,
And in such forms which here were presupposed
Upon thee in the letter. Prithee, be content.
This practice hath most shrewdly passed upon thee;
But when we know the grounds and authors of it,
Thou shalt be both the plaintiff and the judge
Of thine own cause.

DUTCH:
Doch wees getroost;
Met boos beleid is u die streek gespeeld;
Maar kennen we eens de reed’nen en de daders,
Dan zult gij, beide, klager zijn en rechter,
In eigen zaak.

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton):
Proverb: No man ought to be judge in his own cause

Invention=Composition
Light=Sign
Lighter=Lesser
Suffer=Allow
Geck=Fool
Gull=Dupe, easily deceived
Invention=Trick
Character=Handwriting
Practice=Trick
Passed=Imposed
Shrewdly=Grievously
Compleat:
Invention=Uitvindzel
Suffer=Toelaten
Practice=(underhand dealing, intrigue, plot) Praktyk, bedekten handel, list
Gull=Bedrieger
To gull=Bedriegen, verschalken. You look as if you had a mind to gull me=Hete schynt of gy voorneemens waart om my te foppen
Character=Een merk, merkteken, letter, afbeeldsel, uitdruksel, print, stempel, uitgedruktbeeld, uitbeelding
Shrewdly (very much)=Sterk

Topics: learning/education, language, communication, madness, punishment, deceit

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Pyramus
CONTEXT:
THESEUS
Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?
DEMETRIUS
It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard
discourse, my lord.
THESEUS
Pyramus draws near the wall. Silence!
PYRAMUS
O grim-looked night! O night with hue so black!
O night, which ever art when day is not!
O night, O night! Alack, alack, alack,
I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot!
And thou, O Wall, O sweet, O lovely Wall,
That stand’st between her father’s ground and mine.
Thou Wall, O Wall, O sweet and lovely Wall,
Show me thy chink to blink through with mine eyne!
Thanks, courteous Wall. Jove shield thee well for this!
But what see I? No Thisbe do I see.
O wicked Wall through whom I see no bliss!
Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!
THESEUS
The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.

DUTCH:
En gij, o Muur, o lieve, beste Muur!
Die ‘t huis haars vaders en het mijne scheidt,
Gij Muur, o Muur, o lieve, beste Muur,
Toon mij uw spleet, waar ik mijn blik door weid’.

MORE:
Lime and hair=Used to build walls
Discourse=Converse
Grim-looked=Grim-looking
Wittiest=Cleverest
Sensible=Capable of feeling, conscious
Curse again=Retort, curse back
Compleat:
Discourse=Redeneering, reedenvoering, gesprek, vertoog
Grim=Grimmig, bars, nors, stuursch
Sensible=Gevoelig, voelbaar

Topics: communication, language, intellect

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Cleopatra
CONTEXT:
CHARMIAN
Good madam, keep yourself within yourself.
The man is innocent.
CLEOPATRA
Some innocents ’scape not the thunderbolt.
Melt Egypt into Nile, and kindly creatures
Turn all to serpents. Call the slave again.
Though I am mad, I will not bite him. Call!
CHARMIAN
He is afeard to come.
CLEOPATRA
I will not hurt him.
These hands do lack nobility that they strike
A meaner than myself, since I myself
Have given myself the cause.
Come hither, sir.
Though it be honest, it is never good
To bring bad news. Give to a gracious message
An host of tongues, but let ill tidings tell
Themselves when they be felt

DUTCH:
Treed nader , vriend ;
Rechtschapen moog’ het zijn, goed is het nimmer,
Onheil te melden; geef een goede tijding
Een heer van tongen; slechte tijding melde
Zichzelf aan, als zij wordt gevoeld.

MORE:
Keep yourself within yourself=Restrain yourself
Kindly=Good-natured
Meaner=Of lower rank
Compleat:
Kindly=Op een vrindlyke wyze; vrindelyk
The meaner sort of people=Het gemeene slach van volk

Topics: communication, understanding, language

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER:
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
Could you not have told him
As you were lesson’d, when he had no power,
But was a petty servant to the state,
He was your enemy, ever spake against
Your liberties and the charters that you bear
I’ the body of the weal; and now, arriving
A place of potency and sway o’ the state,
If he should still malignantly remain
Fast foe to the plebeii, your voices might
Be curses to yourselves? You should have said
That as his worthy deeds did claim no less
Than what he stood for, so his gracious nature
Would think upon you for your voices and
Translate his malice towards you into love,
Standing your friendly lord.
SICINIUS
Thus to have said,
As you were fore-advised, had touch’d his spirit
And tried his inclination; from him pluck’d
Either his gracious promise, which you might,
As cause had call’d you up, have held him to
Or else it would have gall’d his surly nature,
Which easily endures not article
Tying him to aught; so putting him to rage,
You should have ta’en the advantage of his choler
And pass’d him unelected.

DUTCH:
Zulk een zeggen, —
Men ried het u vooruit, — had hem getroffen
En zijn gemoed beproefd; het had misschien
Hem een belofte ontlokt van gunst en vriendschap …

MORE:
Lessoned=Instructed
Ever=Always
Charters=Rights
Body=Common people
Weal=Commonwealth
Sway=Influence
Translate=Transform
Fore-advised=Advised in advance
Tried=Tested, found out
Inclination=Thinking
Article=Conditions
Compleat:
Ever=Altoos, altyd
Charter=Handvest, voorrecht
Inclination=Neiging, geneigdheid, genegenheid, trek, zucht
The common-weal=’t Welvaaren van ‘t algemeen
A common-wealths man=Een republyks gezinde
Sway=Zwaaijen; regeren
To translate=Overzetten, vertaalen, overvoeren, verplaatsen
Tried=Beproefd, te recht gesteld, verhoord
Inclination=Neiging, geneigdheid, genegenheid, trek, zucht
Article=Een lid, artykel, verdeelpunt

Topics: learning/education, dispute, language, communication

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
FIRST MESSENGER
O my lord!
ANTONY
Speak to me home. Mince not the general tongue.
Name Cleopatra as she is called in Rome.
Rail thou in Fulvia’s phrase, and taunt my faults
With such full licence as both truth and malice
Have power to utter. Oh, then we bring forth weeds
When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us
Is as our earing. Fare thee well awhile.

DUTCH:
Ja, dan brengen we onkruid voort,
Als frissche wind ons spaart; en wie ons gispt,
Doet ons den dienst van ploeg. — Vaarwel, tot later!

MORE:
Proverb: To mince the matter
Proverb: Weeds come forth on the fattest soil if it is untilled

Speak home=Speak plainly, be straightforward
Mince=To extenuate, make light of (tone down)
Tongue=Manner of speaking
Rail=Reproach, scold
Licence=Freedom
Quick=Alert, live
Ills=Faults
Earing=Ploughing
Compleat:
Home-reason, home-argument=Een overtuigende drang-reden
Home expression=Een klemmend uitdruksel, een zeggen ‘t welk raakt, een boeren slag
Mince=Kleyn kappen
To rail=Schelden
Licence=Verlof, oorlof, vergunning, toelaating, vrygeeving, goedkeuring; vryheid
Quick=Levendig
Ill=Kwaad; slegt
To ear=Land bouwen

Topics: communication, language, error, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Sir Hugh Evans
CONTEXT:
PISTOL
He hears with ears.
SIR HUGH EVANS
The tevil and his tam! what phrase is this, ‘He
hears with ear’? why, it is affectations.
FALSTAFF
Pistol, did you pick Master Slender’s purse?
SLENDER
Ay, by these gloves, did he, or I would I might
never come in mine own great chamber again else, of
seven groats in mill-sixpences, and two Edward
shovel-boards, that cost me two shilling and two
pence apiece of Yead Miller, by these gloves.

DUTCH:
De tuifel en sijn chrootmoeder! Wat is tat foor een
manier van spreken: „Hij hoort met ooren!” Kom, tat
is toch cheaffectioneerd.

MORE:
Proverb: The devil and his dam

Gloves=Formal attire, representation of honour
Great chamber=Great hall
Groat=Fourpenny coin
Mill-sixpence=New method of stamping coins
Shovel-board=Shilling from the reign of Edward VI

Topics: proverbs and idioms, language, communication, honour

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
Come, come, you are a fool,
And turned into the extremity of love.
I saw her hand. She has a leathern hand,
A freestone-colored hand. I verily did think
That her old gloves were on, but ’twas her hands.
She has a huswife’s hand—but that’s no matter.
I say she never did invent this letter.
This is a man’s invention, and his hand.
SILVIUS
Sure it is hers.
ROSALIND
Why, ’tis a boisterous and a cruel style,
A style for challengers. Why, she defies me
Like Turk to Christian. Women’s gentle brain
Could not drop forth such giant-rude invention,
Such Ethiop words, blacker in their effect
Than in their countenance. Will you hear the letter?

DUTCH:
Kom, ‘t is een woeste, wreede stijl, zooals
Uitdagers kiezen; ja zij tart mij uit,
Als Turken ‘t Christ’nen doen

MORE:
Leathern=Leathery, coarse
Free-stone=Yellow limestone
Turk to Christian=Enemies in the Crusades
Ethiop=Black
Countenance=Appearance, face value
Compleat:
Leathern=Lederen, van leer
Free-stone=Hardsteen
Countenance=Gelaat, gezigt, uitzigt, weezen

Topics: language, clarity/precision, discovery, communication

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Thersites
CONTEXT:
ACHILLES
Thou must be my ambassador to him, Thersites.
THERSITES
Who, I? why, he’ll answer nobody; he professes not
answering: speaking is for beggars ; he wears his
tongue in’s arms. I will put on his presence: let
Patroclus make demands to me, you shall see the
pageant of Ajax.
ACHILLES
To him, Patroclus; tell him I humbly desire the
valiant Ajax to invite the most valorous Hector
to come unarmed to my tent, and to procure
safe-conduct for his person of the magnanimous
and most illustrious six-or-seven-times-honoured
captain-general of the Grecian army, Agamemnon,
et cetera. Do this.

DUTCH:
Wie? ik? hij zal niemand antwoord geven; hij maakt
van het niet antwoorden zijn beroep; spreken is goed
voor bedelaars; hij heeft zijn tong in zijn armen.

MORE:
Profess=Declare, claim as a calling or trade
Arms=Military prowess
Put on=Imitate
Pageant=Spectacle, show
Compleat:
To profess=(hold a doctrine) Een leer belyden, gelooven, belydenis doen
Arms=Wapenen, geweer, een wapenschild, wapen
To put on=Aandoen
Pageant=Een Triomfhoog, triomfwagen; schijn

Topics: communication

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Phoebe
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
By my life I do, which I tender dearly, though I say I
am a magician. Therefore put you in your best array, bid
your friends; for if you will be married tomorrow, you
shall, and to Rosalind, if you will.
Look, here comes a lover of mine and a lover of hers.
PHOEBE
Youth, you have done me much ungentleness
To show the letter that I writ to you.
ROSALIND
I care not if I have. It is my study
To seem despiteful and ungentle to you.
You are there followed by a faithful shepherd.
Look upon him, love him; he worships you.
PHOEBE
Good shepherd, tell this youth what ’tis to love.
SILVIUS
It is to be all made of sighs and tears,
And so am I for Phoebe.

DUTCH:
Jonkman, dat was niet hupsch van u gedaan,
Dien brief, dien ik u schreef, te laten zien.

MORE:
Best array=Finest clothes
Bid=Invite
Ungentleness=Unkindness, discourtesy
Study=Purposeful endeavour
Despiteful=Contemptuous
Ungentle=Rude
Compleat:
Bidding=Gebieding, noodiging
To bid=Gebieden, beveelen, belasten, heeten, noodigen, bieden
Ungentle= (untractable) Ontembaar, onhandelbaar; (severe, hard) Gestreng, hard
To study (endeavour)=Trachten, poogen
Despiteful=Spytig, boosaardig

Topics: promise, marriage, appearance, communication

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