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PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Celia
CONTEXT:
CELIA
Yes, I think he is not a pick-purse nor a
horse-stealer, but for his verity in love, I do think
him as concave as a covered goblet or a worm-eaten nut.
ROSALIND
Not true in love?
CELIA
Yes, when he is in, but I think he is not in.
ROSALIND
You have heard him swear downright he was.
CELIA
“Was” is not “is.” Besides, the oath of a lover is no
stronger than the word of a tapster. They are both the
confirmer of false reckonings. He attends here in the
forest on the duke your father.
ROSALIND
I met the duke yesterday and had much question with
him. He asked me of what parentage I was. I told him, of
as good as he. So he laughed and let me go. But what
talk we of fathers when there is such a man as Orlando?

DUTCH:
Was is geen is; bovendien, de eed van een minnaar is niet meer waard dan de eed van een tapper; zij zijn beide de bekrachtiging van valsche rekeningen

MORE:
Verity=Truthfulness
Concave=Hollow
Downright=Directly, without stopping short, without further ceremony, plainly
Tapster=Barman (traditionally considered dishonest)
False=Not right, wrong, erroneous
Reckoning=The money charged by a host (a Bill)
Question=Conversation
Compleat:
Verity=Waarheyd
Concave=Hol
Downright (plain and clear)=Eenvoudig and clear
Downright (plain or open)=Duidelyk of openhartig
A downright contradiction=Een rechtstrydede zaak
Tapster=Een tapper, biertapper
False=Valsch, onwaar; nagemaakt, verraderlyk
Reckoning=(in a public house) Gelach

Topics: language, clarity/precision, truth, honesty

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Polonius
CONTEXT:
(points to his head and shoulders)
Take this from this if this be otherwise.
If circumstances lead me, I will find
Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed
Within the centre.

DUTCH:
Als mij de feiten leiden, vind ik wel
Waar waarheid schuilt, al zou ze in ‘t middelpunt
Der aarde schuilen /
Is mij het toeval gunstig, vind ik wel Waar hier de waarheid schuilt, al borg zij zich In ‘t hart van ‘t hart der aard

MORE:
Schmidt:
Centre=The earth, as the supposed centre of the world

Topics: honesty, truth, discovery

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Parolles
CONTEXT:
PAROLLES
That is not the duke’s letter, sir; that is an
advertisement to a proper maid in Florence, one
Diana, to take heed of the allurement of one Count
Rousillon, a foolish idle boy, but for all that very
ruttish: I pray you, sir, put it up again.
FIRST SOLDIER
Nay, I’ll read it first, by your favour.
PAROLLES
My meaning in’t, I protest, was very honest in the
behalf of the maid; for I knew the young count to be
a dangerous and lascivious boy, who is a whale to
virginity and devours up all the fry it finds.
BERTRAM
Damnable both-sides rogue !

DUTCH:
Mijn bedoeling er mee, – dat betuig ik, -was geheel
eerlijk en in het belang van het meisjen, want ik wist,
dat de graaf een gevaarlijke en zeer wulpsche knaap is,
die een ware walvisch is voor al wat maagd is, en al
het jonge goed, dat hij aantreft, verslindt.

MORE:
Advertisement=Instruction, admonition
Ruttish=Lecherous, lustful
By your favour=By your leave
Put it up=Put it away
Both-sides=Double-tongued, two-faced
Fry=Small fish
Compleat:
Advertisement=Wasarschouwing, bekendmaaking, verwittiging
To favour=Begunstigen, gunste toedraagen
The fry of fish=’t Zaad der visschen
Jack on both sides=Slinks en rechts

Topics: honesty, loyalty

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: Prologue
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
PROLOGUE
If we offend, it is with our good will.
That you should think we come not to offend,
But with good will. To show our simple skill,
That is the true beginning of our end.
Consider then we come but in despite.
We do not come as minding to contest you,
Our true intent is. All for your delight
We are not here. That you should here repent you,
The actors are at hand, and by their show
You shall know all that you are like to know.
THESEUS
This fellow doth not stand upon points.
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.

DUTCH:
Mishagen we u, we wenschen dit als gunst.
Dat gij ons ijvrig denkt uw lof te winnen,
‘t Kan dwaling zijn. Dit toonen onzer kunst,
‘t Is toch het eind, waarmee we thans beginnen.

MORE:
Quince alters the meaning of the Prologue completely by speaking punctuation in the wrong places.

Minding=Intending
Stand upon=Be concerned with
Points=Punctuation
Compleat:
Minded=Gezind, betracht
To stand upon punctilio’s=Op vodderyen staan blyven
To point=Met punten of stippen onderscheyden, punteeren

Topics: language, offence, life, truth, honesty

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Lance
CONTEXT:
SPEED
Lance, by mine honesty, welcome to Milan!
LANCE
Forswear not thyself, sweet youth, for I am not welcome. I reckon this always, that a man is never undone till he be hanged, nor never welcome to a place till some certain shot be paid and the hostess say “Welcome!”
SPEED
Come on, you madcap, I’ll to the alehouse with you presently, where, for one shot of five pence, thou shalt have five thousand welcomes. But, sirrah, how did thy master part with Madam Julia?

DUTCH:
Doe geen valschen eed, beste jongen, want ik ben niet
welkom. Ik reken dit altijd : een mensch is niet eer
verloren, dan als hij gehangen wordt, en ook niet eer
ergens welkom, dan als hij een zeker gelag heeft betaald,
en de waardin zegt: ,,welkom!”

MORE:
To forswear=To swear falsely, commit perjury
Undone=Ruined
Shot=Tavern bill
Madcap=Fool
Compleat:
To forswear one’s self=Eenen valschen eed doen, meyneedig zyn
To forswear a thing=Zweeren dat iets zo niet is
Shot=Het gelag
A mad-cap=Een gek, zotskap

Burgersdijk notes:
Welkom in Milaan. In den tekst der Folio-uitgave staat Padua, zooals in III. 1. en V.4. Verona voor Milaan. Het is mogelijk, dat Shakespeare zelf zoo geschreven heeft, voor hij vast bepaald had, waar hij het stuk zou laten spelen, maar ‘t kan ook aan een omwerker liggen.

Topics: truth, ruin, honesty, civility, debt/obligation

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Agamemnon
CONTEXT:
AGAMEMNON
Hear you, Patroclus:
We are too well acquainted with these answers:
But his evasion, winged thus swift with scorn,
Cannot outfly our apprehensions.
Much attribute he hath, and much the reason
Why we ascribe it to him; yet all his virtues,
Not virtuously on his own part beheld,
Do in our eyes begin to lose their gloss,
Yea, like fair fruit in an unwholesome dish,
Are like to rot untasted. Go and tell him,
We come to speak with him; and you shall not sin,
If you do say we think him over-proud
And under-honest, in self-assumption greater
Than in the note of judgement; and worthier than himself
Here tend the savage strangeness he puts on,
Disguise the holy strength of their command,
And underwrite in an observing kind
His humorous predominance; yea, watch
His pettish lunes, his ebbs, his flows, as if
The passage and whole carriage of this action
Rode on his tide. Go tell him this, and add,
That if he overhold his price so much,
We’ll none of him; but let him, like an engine
Not portable, lie under this report:
‘Bring action hither, this cannot go to war:
A stirring dwarf we do allowance give
Before a sleeping giant.’ Tell him so.

DUTCH:
Een dwerg, die goed zich roert, is meer ons waard
Dan eenig reus, die slaapt; ga, meld hem dit.

MORE:
Apprehensions=Comprehension, grasp
Attribute=Reputation
Unwholesome=Unhealthy
Like=Likely
Self-assumption=Self-regard, arrogance
Note=Observation
Tend=Attend, wait on
Savage=Uncivilised
Strangeness=Aloofness
Underwrite=Subscribe to
Observing=Compliant
Predominance=Superior power, influence
Humorous=Capricious
Pettish=Petulant
Lunes=Fits of madness (relating to the changing moons)
Action=Military campaign
Overhold=Overestimate
Stirring=Active
Compleat:
Apprehension=Bevatting, begryping; jaloezy, achterdogt
Attribute=Eigenschap
Unwholesom=Ongezond
Assumption=Aanmaatiging, aanneeming
To note=Merken, aanteykenen, aanmerken
To attend=Opwachten, verzellen
Savage=Woest, wild, wreed, ruuw
Strangeness=Vreemdheid
To underwrite=Onderschryven
Observant=Gedienstig, opmerkend, waarneemend, eerbiedig
Predominancy=Overheersching
Humoursom (humerous)=Eigenzinnig, koppig, styfhoofdig, eenzinnig
Pettish=Kribbig, korzel
Action=Een daad, handeling, rechtzaak, gevecht
Stirring=Beweeging, verroering

Topics: reputation, merit, pride, honesty, vanity

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
HELEN
Ay, surely, mere the truth: I know his lady.
DIANA
There is a gentleman that serves the count
Reports but coarsely of her.
HELEN
What’s his name?
DIANA
Monsieur Parolles.
HELEN
O, I believe with him,
In argument of praise, or to the worth
Of the great count himself, she is too mean
To have her name repeated: all her deserving
Is a reserved honesty, and that
I have not heard examined.
DIANA
Alas, poor lady!
‘Tis a hard bondage to become the wife
Of a detesting lord.
WIDOW
I warrant, good creature, wheresoe’er she is,
Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might do her
A shrewd turn, if she pleased.
HELEN
How do you mean?
May be the amorous count solicits her
In the unlawful purpose.

DUTCH:
O, ik geloof met hem,
Dat, als men van den grooten graaf den roem
En de of komst weegt, zij te gering is, om
Met hem genoemd te worden; haar verdienste
Is enkel strenge zedigheid; die hoorde ik
Nog nooit in twijfel trekken.

MORE:
Mere the=The absolute
Coarsely=Harshly
Believe with=Hold the same opinion
Argument=Respect
Mean=Lowly
Deserving=Worthy
Honesty=Chastity
Shewd turn=Play a nasty trick
Compleat:
Mere (meer)=Louter, enkel
Coarse=Grof
Argument=Bewys, bewysreden, dringreden; kort begrip der zaak die te bewyzen staat; inhoud
Mean=Gering, slecht
Deserving=Verdienende
Honesty=Eerbaarheid, vroomheid
Shrewd=Loos, doortrapt, sneedig, vinnig, fel
An ill turn=Een quaade dienst

Topics: merit, status, honesty

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Brutus
CONTEXT:
PORTIA
If this were true, then should I know this secret.
I grant I am a woman, but withal
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife.
I grant I am a woman, but withal
A woman well-reputed, Cato’s daughter.
Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so fathered and so husbanded?
Tell me your counsels. I will not disclose ’em.
I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound
Here in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience,
And not my husband’s secrets?
BRUTUS
O ye gods,
Render me worthy of this noble wife!
Hark, hark! One knocks. Portia, go in awhile.
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows.
Leave me with haste.

DUTCH:
Portia, ga een wijle binnen.
Zoo aanstonds zal uw boezem met mijn hart
Zijn zorgen deelen .
‘k Ontvouw u al waartoe ik mij verbond,
Heel ‘t raadselschrift van mijn bekommerd voorhoofd.
Verlaat mij nu met spoed.

MORE:
Withal=Nonetheless
Counsels=Secrets
Engagements=Commitments, pledges
Charactery=Handwriting (lines)
Compleat:
Engagement=Verbindtenis, verpligting
Charactery=Karakter-schrift, cyferschrift

Topics: secrecy, truth, trust, loyalty, honesty

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Davy
CONTEXT:
I grant your Worship that he is a knave, sir, but yet, God
forbid, sir, but a knave should have some countenance at his
friend’s request. An honest man, sir, is able to speak for
himself when a knave is not. I have served your Worship
truly, sir, this eight years; an if I cannot once or twice in a
quarter bear out a knave against an honest man, I have
a very little credit with your Worship. The knave is mine
honest friend, sir; therefore I beseech you let him be
countenanced.

DUTCH:
Een eerlijk man, heer, kan voor
zichzelf spreken, als een schelm het niet kan

MORE:

Countenance=Favour, support
Bear out=Support
Knave=Rascal, villain
Credit=Good opinion and influence derived from it

Compleat:
To bear out=Goedmaaken, staande houden, bewyzen, voorstaan’
Knave=Een guit, boef
Credit=Geloof, achting, aanzien, goede naam

Topics: honesty, truth, law/legal

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Queen Elizabeth
CONTEXT:
QUEEN ELIZABETH
But how long shall that title “ever” last?
KING RICHARD
Sweetly in force unto her fair life’s end.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
But how long fairly shall her sweet life last?
KING RICHARD
As long as heaven and nature lengthens it.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
As long as hell and Richard likes of it.
KING RICHARD
Say I, her sovereign, am her subject low.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
But she, your subject, loathes such sovereignty.
KING RICHARD
Be eloquent in my behalf to her.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.
KING RICHARD
Then plainly to her tell my loving tale.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Plain and not honest is too harsh a style.
KING RICHARD
Your reasons are too shallow and too quick.

DUTCH:
t Eenvoudigst woord wint best een goede zaak .

MORE:
Title=Word
Sovereignty=Rule
Speeds=Progresses
Compleat:
Title=Een tytel, opschrift
To speed=Voortspoeden, voorspoedig zyn, wel gelukken

Topics: honesty, communication, language

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: Edgar
CONTEXT:
Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune,
Thy valor and thy heart—thou art a traitor,
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father,
Conspirant ‘gainst this high illustrious prince,
And from th’ extremest upward of thy head
To the descent and dust below thy foot
A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou “No,”
This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak,
Thou liest.

DUTCH:
Verrader van uw schedel tot aan ‘t stof,
Dat onder uwe voeten is, gevlekt
Gelijk de vuilste pad

MORE:
Proverb: From the crown of his head to the soul of his foot (c.1300)
Schmidt:
Fire-new=Brand new, freshly minted
Toad-spotted=Tainted and polluted with venom like the toad
Compleat:
Fire-new (brand new)=Vlinder nieuw
Spotted=Bevlekt, gevlakt

Topics: insult, truth, honesty, conspiracy

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Cassius
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?
CASSIUS
Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear.
And since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you yet know not of.
And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus.
Were I a common laughter, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester, if you know
That I do fawn on men and hug them hard
And, after, scandal them, or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.

DUTCH:
En wijl gij weet, dat gij uzelf niet beter
Dan door weerkaatsing zien kunt, zoo wil ik,
Uw spiegel, welbezonnen dat van u
Aan u onthullen, wat gijzelf niet weet.

MORE:
Glass=Mirror
Jealous=Suspicion
Gentle=Mild, kind; noble
To stale=Debase, sully
Laughter=Object of ridicule
Ordinary=Common
Protester=Promiser of loyalty
Fawn on=Flatter
Scandal=Defame
Compleat:
Glass=Spiegel
Jealous=Belgziek, yverzuchtig, minnenydig; naayverig, argwaanig, achterdochtig, achterkousig, jaloers
Gentle=Aardig, edelmoedig
Ordinary=Gewoonlyk, gemeen
Protester=Een aankondiger, betuiger
To fawn upon=Vleijen, streelen
To scandal=Lasteren, enteeren

Topics: honesty, truth, envy, friendship, suspicion

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Lance
CONTEXT:
SPEED
But tell me true, will ’t be a match?
LANCE
Ask my dog. If he say ay, it will; if he say no, it will; if he shake his tail and say nothing, it will.
SPEED
The conclusion is then that it will.
LANCE
Thou shalt never get such a secret from me but by a parable.

DUTCH:
Vraag het mijn hond: als hij Tja” zegt, dan gebeurt
het; als hij kwispelstaart en niets zegt, dan gebeurt liet.

MORE:
Compleat:
It will be a match=Dat zal een huwelyk worden
Conclusion=Het besluit
Parable=Een gelykenis

Topics: honesty, marriage

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: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Luciana
CONTEXT:
LUCIANA
And may it be that you have quite forgot
A husband’s office? Shall, Antipholus,
Even in the spring of love thy love-springs rot?
Shall love, in building, grow so ruinous?
If you did wed my sister for her wealth,
Then for her wealth’s sake use her with more kindness.
Or if you like elsewhere, do it by stealth—
Muffle your false love with some show of blindness.
Let not my sister read it in your eye;
Be not thy tongue thy own shame’s orator;
Look sweet, be fair, become disloyalty;
Apparel vice like virtue’s harbinger.
Bear a fair presence, though your heart be tainted.
Teach sin the carriage of a holy saint.
Be secret-false. What need she be acquainted?
What simple thief brags of his own attaint?
‘Tis double wrong to truant with your bed
And let her read it in thy looks at board.
Shame hath a bastard fame, well managèd;
Ill deeds is doubled with an evil word.
Alas, poor women, make us but believe,
Being compact of credit, that you love us.
Though others have the arm, show us the sleeve;
We in your motion turn, and you may move us.
Then, gentle brother, get you in again.
Comfort my sister, cheer her, call her wife.
‘Tis holy sport to be a little vain
When the sweet breath of flattery conquers strife.

DUTCH:
Blik zacht, spreek vleiend, huichel, ban haar vrees;
Hul in het vlekk’loos kleed der deugd uw zonde

MORE:
Proverb: Fair face foul heart
Proverb: It is an ill thing to be wicked (wretched) but a worse to be known so (to boast of it)

Become disloyalty=Wear disloyalty in a becoming fashion
Harbinger=Forerunner
Apparel=Dress up, cloak (vice as the forerunner of virtue)
Compleat:
Disloyalty=Ongetrouwigheid, trouwloosheid
Harbinger=Een bestelmeester, voorloper
To apparel=Optooijen, kleeden,
Apparelled=Gekleed, gedoft, opgetooid

Topics: deceit, appearance, honesty, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Luciana
CONTEXT:
LUCIANA
And may it be that you have quite forgot
A husband’s office? Shall, Antipholus,
Even in the spring of love thy love-springs rot?
Shall love, in building, grow so ruinous?
If you did wed my sister for her wealth,
Then for her wealth’s sake use her with more kindness.
Or if you like elsewhere, do it by stealth—
Muffle your false love with some show of blindness.
Let not my sister read it in your eye;
Be not thy tongue thy own shame’s orator;
Look sweet, be fair, become disloyalty;
Apparel vice like virtue’s harbinger.
Bear a fair presence, though your heart be tainted.
Teach sin the carriage of a holy saint.
Be secret-false. What need she be acquainted?
What simple thief brags of his own attaint?
‘Tis double wrong to truant with your bed
And let her read it in thy looks at board.
Shame hath a bastard fame, well managèd;
Ill deeds is doubled with an evil word.
Alas, poor women, make us but believe,
Being compact of credit, that you love us.
Though others have the arm, show us the sleeve;
We in your motion turn, and you may move us.
Then, gentle brother, get you in again.
Comfort my sister, cheer her, call her wife.
‘Tis holy sport to be a little vain
When the sweet breath of flattery conquers strife.

DUTCH:
Blik zacht, spreek vleiend, huichel, ban haar vrees;
Hul in het vlekk’loos kleed der deugd uw zonde

MORE:
Proverb: Fair face foul heart
Proverb: It is an ill thing to be wicked (wretched) but a worse to be known so (to boast of it)

Become disloyalty=Wear disloyalty in a becoming fashion
Harbinger=Forerunner
Apparel=Dress up, cloak (vice as the forerunner of virtue)
Compleat:
Disloyalty=Ongetrouwigheid, trouwloosheid
Harbinger=Een bestelmeester, voorloper
To apparel=Optooijen, kleeden,
Apparelled=Gekleed, gedoft, opgetooid

Topics: deceit, appearance, honesty, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Duke of Milan
CONTEXT:
DUKE
Proteus, I thank thee for thine honest care;
Which to requite, command me while I live.
This love of theirs myself have often seen,
Haply when they have judged me fast asleep,
And oftentimes have purposed to forbid
Sir Valentine her company and my court:
But fearing lest my jealous aim might err
And so unworthily disgrace the man,
A rashness that I ever yet have shunned,
I gave him gentle looks, thereby to find
That which thyself hast now disclosed to me.
And, that thou mayst perceive my fear of this,
Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested,
I nightly lodge her in an upper tower,
The key whereof myself have ever kept;
And thence she cannot be conveyed away.

DUTCH:
Maar, duchtend, dat mijn argwaan dwalen mocht,
En zoo den jongling schreeuwend onrecht doen, —
Een overijling, die ik altijd meed, —
Bleef ik hem gunstig aanzien, tot ikzelf
Ontdekte, wat door u mij wordt gemeld

MORE:
Requite=Reward
Haply=By chance
Jealous=Suspicious
Aim=Guess
Unworthily=Unjustly, unfairly
Ever yet=Always
Suggested=Tempted
Compleat:
To requite=Vergelden
To requite a man in his own way=Iemand met gelyke munt betaalen
To requite a kindness=Een vriendschap vergelden
Haply=Misschien
Jealous=Belgziek, yverzuchtig, minnenydig; naayverig, argwaanig, achterdochtig, achterkousig, jaloers
To aim=(Guess) Mikken
Unworthily=Onwaardiglyk
To suggest=Ingeeven, insteeken, inluysteren, inblaazen

Topics: honesty, marriage, suspicion

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
I am not valiant neither,
But ever puny whipster gets my sword.
But why should honour outlive honesty?
Let it go all.
EMILIA
What did thy song bode, lady?
Hark, canst thou hear me? I will play the swan.
And die in music.
Willow, willow, willow —
Moor, she was chaste, she loved thee, cruel Moor.
So come my soul to bliss, as I speak true.
So speaking as I think, alas, I die.

DUTCH:
Ik werd een bloodaard,
De zwakste knaap ontweldigt mij mijn zwaard.
Waarom zou de eer de deugd ook overleven ?

MORE:

Whipster=Contemptible fellow (Arden: Whippersnapper)
Puny=Little, petty (meaning invented by Shakespeare)
Compleat:
Valiant=Dapper, kloekmoedig
Puny (a younger brother)=Een jonger broeder
A puny judge=Een jongste rechter (See Puisny. Puisne (or puisny)=a law term for younger; a name given in the house of lords to the youngest baron, and in Westminster hall to the youngest judge. De jongste Lord in ‘t hogerhuis, of de jongste Rechter in de pleitzaal van Westmunster.)

Topics: honesty, strength, honour, reputation

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Timon
CONTEXT:
TIMON
Ceremony was but devised at first
To set a gloss on faint deeds, hollow welcomes,
Recanting goodness, sorry ere ’tis shown;
But where there is true friendship, there needs none.
Pray, sit; more welcome are ye to my fortunes
Than my fortunes to me.
FIRST LORD
My lord, we always have confessed it.
APEMANTUS
Ho, ho, confessed it! hanged it, have you not?

DUTCH:

Plichtplegingen zijn enkel uitgedacht
Om koele daden, holle vriend’lijkheid
Met glans te sieren; om berouwde goedheid
Vóor ‘t hand’len te herroepen, zijn zij noodig

MORE:
Proverb: Ceremony was but devised at first to set a gloss on faint deeds
Proverb: Full of courtesy full of craft

Ceremony=Rituals, formalities
Set a gloss=Give meaning, make something look good
Recanting=Denying
Hollow=Meaningless
Confessed=Said so, known (not confessed in a criminal or religious sense)
Compleat:
Ceremony=Plegtigheyd
To set a gloss upon a thing=Iets een schoonen opschik geeven
To recant=Herroepen, wederroepen, weer in zyn hals haalen, verzaaken
Hollow=Hol, uytgehold; Hollow-hearted=Geveinst

Burgersdijk notes:
En niet gehangen. Toespeling op het spreekwordelijk zeggen, tegen spitsboeven in gebruik: Confess and be hanged, „Beken en laat je hangen.”

Topics: honesty, manipulation, proverbs and idioms, appearance

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Ophelia
CONTEXT:
OPHELIA
Could beauty, my lord, have better commerce than with honesty?
HAMLET
Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once.

DUTCH:
Kon kuischheid, grins, een beetren omgang hebben? /
Kan schoonheid, mijn heer, in beter gezelschap verkeeren dan van deugd?

MORE:
Schmidt:
Commerce= intercourse, transaction
Paradox=statement or tenet contrary to received opinion
Compleat=
Commerce=Gemeenschap, onderhandeling, ommegang
I have no manner of commerce with him=Ik houde in ‘t geheel geen gemeenschap met hem.

Topics: honesty, virtue

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: King Henry VIII
CONTEXT:
KING HENRY VIII
Good man, those joyful tears show thy true heart:
The common voice, I see, is verified
Of thee, which says thus, ‘Do my Lord of Canterbury
A shrewd turn, and he is your friend for ever.’
Come, lords, we trifle time away; I long
To have this young one made a Christian.
As I have made ye one, lords, one remain;
So I grow stronger, you more honour gain.

DUTCH:
Wel heeft het volk gelijk,
Dat zegt: „Speel aan mylord van Canterbury
Een booze treek, dan is hij steeds uw vriend.”

MORE:
Shrewd=Malicious, evil
Turn=Act
Trifle away=Waste
One=United
Compleat:
Shrewd=Loos, doortrapt, sneedig, vinnig, fel
A good turn=Een goeden dienst
Trifle away his time=Zyn tyd verleuteren of verquisten

Topics: honesty, unity/collaboration

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Ulysses
CONTEXT:
ULYSSES
Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,
A great-sized monster of ingratitudes:
Those scraps are good deeds past; which are devoured
As fast as they are made, forgot as soon
As done: perseverance, dear my lord,
Keeps honour bright: to have done is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mockery. Take the instant way;
For honour travels in a strait so narrow,
Where one but goes abreast: keep then the path;
For emulation hath a thousand sons
That one by one pursue: if you give way,
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an entered tide, they all rush by
And leave you hindmost;
Or like a gallant horse fall’n in first rank,
Lie there for pavement to the abject rear,
O’er-run and trampled on: then what they do in present,
Though less than yours in past, must o’ertop yours;
For time is like a fashionable host
That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand,
And with his arms outstretched, as he would fly,
Grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles,
And farewell goes out sighing. O, let not virtue seek
Remuneration for the thing it was;
For beauty, wit,
High birth, vigour of bone, desert in service,
Love, friendship, charity, are subjects all
To envious and calumniating time.
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,
That all with one consent praise new-born gawds,
Though they are made and moulded of things past,
And give to dust that is a little gilt
More laud than gilt o’er-dusted.
The present eye praises the present object.
Then marvel not, thou great and complete man,
That all the Greeks begin to worship Ajax;
Since things in motion sooner catch the eye
Than what not stirs. The cry went once on thee,
And still it might, and yet it may again,
If thou wouldst not entomb thyself alive
And case thy reputation in thy tent;
Whose glorious deeds, but in these fields of late,
Made emulous missions ‘mongst the gods themselves
And drave great Mars to faction.

DUTCH:
Dus, houd het pad,
Want roembegeerte heeft een duizend zoons,
Die, de een den ander, dringen; wijkt gij uit,
Of treedt gij zijwaarts van het rechte pad,
Dan stroomen ze allen toe als ‘t wassend tij,
Voorbij u, u vooruit;

MORE:
Time was originally personified as a money collector for Forgetfulness, based on an old saying

Wallet=Satchel, beggar’s bag
Alms=Donations
Mail=Armour
One but goes abreast=Single file
Instant=Direct
Strait=Narrow passage
Forthright=Straight path
Rank=Row
Abject=Worthless
Calumniating=Slandering
Touch of nature=Natural trait
Gawds=Trivia
Laud=Praise
Overtop=Surpass
Emulous=Envying, rivalry
Faction=Taking sides
Compleat:
Wallet=Knapzak
Alms=Een aalmoes
Mail=Een maalie-wambes, maalijen-kolder
Abreast=Naast malkander
Instant=Aanhoudende, dringende
Strait=Eng, naauw, bekrompen, strikt
Rank=Rang, waardigheid
Abject=Veracht, gering, snood, lafhartig, verworpen
To calumniate=Lasteren, schandvlekken, eerrooven
Gawd=Wisje-wasjes, beuzelingen
To laud=Looven, pryzen
Over-top=Te boven gaan, overschryden
Emulous=Naayverig, nydig
Faction=Samenrotting, saamenspanning, oproerige party, rot, aanhang, partyschap, verdeeldheid

Burgersdijk notes
Ja, Mars tot strijden dreef. Hiervan maakt Homerus gewag.

Topics: honesty, value, integrity, respect, reputation

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Lucullus
CONTEXT:
LUCULLUS
La, la, la, la! ‘nothing doubting,’ says he? Alas,
good lord! a noble gentleman ’tis, if he would not
keep so good a house. Many a time and often I ha’
dined with him, and told him on’t, and come again to
supper to him, of purpose to have him spend less,
and yet he would embrace no counsel, take no warning
by my coming. Every man has his fault, and honesty
is his: I ha’ told him on’t, but I could ne’er get
him from’t.

DUTCH:
Iedereen heeft zijn zwak, en grootmoedigheid
is het zijne; ik heb het hem gezegd, maar
ik kon hem er nooit van afbrengen.

MORE:
Proverb: Every man has (no man is without) his faults

Honesty=Decency, propriety
Of purpose=With the aim of
Embrace=Accept
Counsel=Advice
Compleat:
Honesty=Eerbaarheid, vroomheid
Purpose (design, resolution, project)=Voorneemen, besluit, ontwerp
Embrace=(to receive or embrace an opinion): Een gevoelen omhelzen
Embrace=(to receive or approve of an excuse)=Een verschooning aannemen, voor goed houden
Counsel=Raad, onderrechting

Topics: proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised, still in use, flaw/fault, honesty

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
These are kind creatures. Gods, what lies I have heard!
Our courtiers say all’s savage but at court:
Experience, O, thou disprovest report!
The imperious seas breed monsters, for the dish
Poor tributary rivers as sweet fish.
I am sick still; heart-sick. Pisanio,
I’ll now taste of thy drug.
GUIDERIUS
I could not stir him:
He said he was gentle, but unfortunate;
Dishonestly afflicted, but yet honest.
ARVIRAGUS
Thus did he answer me: yet said, hereafter
I might know more.
BELARIUS
To the field, to the field!
We’ll leave you for this time: go in and rest.

DUTCH:
Wat zijn zij goed! 0 goden,
Wat liegt de wereld toch! Gij, hoov’ling, noemt,
Wat niet de hoflucht ademt, woest en ruw,
Hoe logenstraft thans ondervinding u !

MORE:
Imperious=Imperial
Poor=Small, minor
Sweet=Tasty
Stir=Persuade to talk
Gentle=High bred, noble
Dishonestly=In bad faith
Compleat:
Imperious=Heerschzuchtig
Poor=(mean, pitiful) Arm, elendig
To stir=Beweegen; verwekken
Gentle=Aardig, edelmoedig
Dishonestly=Oneerlyker wyze

Topics: status, truth, civility, sorrow, honesty

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Posthumus Leonatus
CONTEXT:
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Is there no way for men to be but women
Must be half-workers? We are all bastards;
And that most venerable man which I
Did call my father, was I know not where
When I was stamp’d; some coiner with his tools
Made me a counterfeit: yet my mother seem’d
The Dian of that time so doth my wife
The nonpareil of this. O, vengeance, vengeance!
Me of my lawful pleasure she restrain’d
And pray’d me oft forbearance; did it with
A prudency so rosy the sweet view on’t
Might well have warm’d old Saturn; that I thought her
As chaste as unsunn’d snow. O, all the devils!
This yellow Iachimo, in an hour,—wast not?—
Or less,—at first?—perchance he spoke not, but,
Like a full-acorn’d boar, a German one,
Cried ‘O!’ and mounted; found no opposition
But what he look’d for should oppose and she
Should from encounter guard. Could I find out
The woman’s part in me! For there’s no motion
That tends to vice in man, but I affirm
It is the woman’s part: be it lying, note it,
The woman’s; flattering, hers; deceiving, hers;
Lust and rank thoughts, hers, hers; revenges, hers;
Ambitions, covetings, change of prides, disdain,
Nice longing, slanders, mutability,
All faults that may be named, nay, that hell knows,
Why, hers, in part or all; but rather, all;
For even to vice
They are not constant but are changing still
One vice, but of a minute old, for one
Not half so old as that. I’ll write against them,
Detest them, curse them: yet ’tis greater skill
In a true hate, to pray they have their will:
The very devils cannot plague them better.

DUTCH:
O, vond ik slechts
Wat vrouwlijk is in mij! want ied’re neiging
Tot ondeugd in den man, voorwaar, zij is
Zijn vrouwlijk erfdeel; liegen, ja, het is zoo,
Komt van de vrouw; van haar ‘t gevlei, ‘t bedriegen;
Onkuische lust, van haar; van haar, de wraakzucht;
Van haar de zucht naar grootheid, hoovaardij,
Inbeelding, dwaze lusten, lasterzucht,
Laatdunkendheid en wuftheid, alle kwaad,
Wat maar een naam heeft, wat de hel maar kent,
Van haar, gedeelt’lijk of geheel; of ja, geheel;

MORE:
May be named=That man can name (See Richard III, 1.2 “tongue may name”)
Motion=Impulse
Nice=Fastidious
Compleat:
Motion (instigation)=Aanporring, aandryving
To plague=Plaagen, quellen

Topics: honesty, truth, flattery, deceit, revenge

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Cardinal Wolsey
CONTEXT:
CARDINAL WOLSEY
Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear
In all my miseries; but thou hast forced me,
Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.
Let’s dry our eyes: and thus far hear me, Cromwell;
And, when I am forgotten, as I shall be,
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of, say, I taught thee,
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,
Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in;
A sure and safe one, though thy master miss’d it.
Mark but my fall, and that that ruin’d me.
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:
By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?
Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee;
Corruption wins not more than honesty.
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,
To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s,
Thy God’s, and truth’s; then if thou fall’st,
O Cromwell,
Thou fall’st a blessed martyr! Serve the king;
And,—prithee, lead me in:
There take an inventory of all I have,
To the last penny; ’tis the king’s: my robe,
And my integrity to heaven, is all
I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!
Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.

DUTCH:
O Cromwell, hoor mij, werp toch eerzucht weg!
Door deze zonde vielen eng’len; hoe
Kan dan de mensch, zijns makers beeld, ooit hopen
Er door te winnen?

MORE:
Play the woman=Weep (common expression at the time)
Sounded=Fathomed (as in depth sounding, i.e. measuring the depth of a body of water)
Shoal=Shallow place
Mark=Consider
Charge=Exhort
Still=Always
Ends=Goals, objectives
Compleat:
To sound=Peilen
Mark=Let er op
Charge=Belasten
End=Eynde, oogmerk

Topics: ambition, corruption, honesty

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Hastings
CONTEXT:
HASTINGS
His grace looks cheerfully and smooth this morning.
There’s some conceit or other likes him well
When that he bids good morrow with such spirit.
I think there’s never a man in Christendom
Can lesser hide his love or hate than he,
For by his face straight shall you know his heart.
STANLEY
What of his heart perceive you in his face
By any livelihood he showed today?
HASTINGS
Marry, that with no man here he is offended,
For were he, he had shown it in his looks.
STANLEY
I pray God he be not, I say.

DUTCH:
De hertog ziet van morgen opgeruimd;
Een streelend denkbeeld zweeft hem voor den geest,
Als hij zoo vroolijk goeden morgen wenscht.
Ik acht, dat niemand in de christenheid
Zijn liefde en haat zoo slecht verbergt als hij;
Wat hij op ‘t hart heeft, leest ge op zijn gelaat.

MORE:
Smooth=Calm
Conceit=Design, plan
Likes him=That he is keen on
Livelihood=Liveliness
Compleat:
Smooth=Glad, effen, vlak
Conceit=Waan, bevatting, opvatting, meening
Livelihood=’t Gene waarvan men zich geneert, de Broodwinning, leeftogt

Topics: appearance, truth, honesty

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Apemantus
CONTEXT:
APEMANTUS
Flow this way! A brave fellow! he keeps his tides
well. Those healths will make thee and thy state
look ill, Timon. Here’s that which is too weak to
be a sinner, honest water, which ne’er left man i’ the
mire:
This and my food are equals; there’s no odds:
Feasts are too proud to give thanks to the gods.

Immortal gods, I crave no pelf;
I pray for no man but myself:
Grant I may never prove so fond,
To trust man on his oath or bond;
Or a harlot, for her weeping;
Or a dog, that seems a-sleeping:
Or a keeper with my freedom;
Or my friends, if I should need ’em.
Amen. So fall to’t:
Rich men sin, and I eat root.

DUTCH:
Geeft, dat ik niemand dwaas vertrouw,
Geen woord noch eed, van man noch vrouw

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Sims v. Manson, 25 Wis.2d 110, 130 N.W.2d 200 (1964)(Gordon, J.).

Proverb: Trust not a woman when she weeps

Tides=Time
Healths=Toasts
Mire=Mud, stain
No odds=No difference
Pelf=Wealth
Fond=Foolish
Compleat:
Tide=Tyd, stond
To drink a health=Een gezondheyd drinken
Mire=Slyk, slik
He is deep in the mire=Hy steekt diep in schulden; hy heeft veel op zyne hoorens
To stick in the mire=In de stik steeken
Odds=Verschil
Pelf=Prullen, slechte goederen [Men gebruykt dit woord als men verachtelyk van goederen spreekt]Fond=Zot, dwaas, ongerymt

Topics: cited in law, contract, honesty, trust, proverbs and idioms

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

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

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

Topics: honesty, truth, promise

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Parolles
CONTEXT:
PAROLLES
He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister: for rapes and ravishments he parallels Nessus: he professes not keeping of oaths; in breaking ’em he is stronger than Hercules: he will lie, sir, with such volubility, that you would think truth were a fool: drunkenness is his best virtue, for he will be swine-drunk; and in his sleep he does little harm, save to his bed-clothes about him; but they know his conditions and lay him in straw. I have but little more to say, sir, of his honesty: he has every thing that an honest man should not have; what an honest man should have, he has nothing.

DUTCH:
[H]ij heeft alles, wat een rechtgeaard man niet moest hebben; en van wat een deugdzaam man wel moet hebben, heeft hij niets.

MORE:
Proverb: Dispraise by evil men is praise
Proverb: As drunk as a swine
Proverb: Honest is a fool

Egg=Eggs being worthless, of no value (so untrustworthy that he would steal something worthless from a sacred place)
Nessus=Centaur who attempted to rape Hercules’ wife
Professes=Claims (not to believe in)
Truth were a fool=To be honest is foolish
With such volubility=So fluently, easily
Compleat:
To profess=(hold a doctrine) Een leer belyden, gelooven, belydenis doen
Volubility=Raddigheyd, vloeijendheyd, rollendheyd

Topics: honesty, reputation, insult, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Pistol
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
No quips now, Pistol! Indeed, I am in the waist two
yards about; but I am now about no waste; I am about
thrift. Briefly, I do mean to make love to Ford’s
wife: I spy entertainment in her; she discourses,
she carves, she gives the leer of invitation: I
can construe the action of her familiar style; and
the hardest voice of her behavior, to be Englished
rightly, is, ‘I am Sir John Falstaff’s.’
PISTOL
He hath studied her will, and translated her will,
out of honesty into English.

DUTCH:
Hij heeft haar goed bestudeerd en goed vertaald, uit
de eerbaarheid in het Engelsch.

MORE:
Proverb: To be one’s own carver

Honest=(wives) Faithful
About=Circumference
Carves=Carves the meat; pleases herself
Construe=Interpret
Familiar=Domestic; intimate
Will=1) Desire 2) Will and testament
Compleat:
Honest=Eerlyk, oprecht, vroom
Construe=t’Zamenschikken, t’zamenstellen
Familiar=Gemeenzaam

Burgersdijk notes:
Zij lacht toe. In ‘t Engelsch staat letterlijk: she carves. To carve is eigenlijk „voorsnijden”, „trancheeren”, een kunst die een welopgevoed mensch, man en vrouw, moest verstaan. Als een vrouw aan een man voorsneed, hem bediende, kon dit een teeken van welwillendheid of gunst gerekend worden, en dat Falstaff, die van zijn buik zijn afgod maakte, het zoo opvatte, kan niet verwonderen. Men kan hier het woord dus opvatten in letterlijken zin, maar ook eenvoudig als voorkomend zijn; evenzoo is het in Veel gemin, geen gewin “, 5.2.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, loyalty, language, honesty

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER:
CONTEXT:
SECOND CITIZEN
Not one amongst us, save yourself, but says
He used us scornfully: he should have show’d us
His marks of merit, wounds received for’s country.
SICINIUS
Why, so he did, I am sure.
CITIZENS
No, no; no man saw ’em.
THIRD CITIZEN
He said he had wounds, which he could show in private;
And with his hat, thus waving it in scorn,
‘I would be consul,’ says he: ‘aged custom,
But by your voices, will not so permit me;
Your voices therefore.’ When we granted that,
Here was ‘I thank you for your voices: thank you:
Your most sweet voices: now you have left your voices,
I have no further with you.’ Was not this mockery?
SICINIUS
Why either were you ignorant to see’t,
Or, seeing it, of such childish friendliness
To yield your voices?

DUTCH:
Elk onzer, buiten u, erkent: hij hoonde ons;
Hij had zijn eeremerken moeten toonen,
De voor zijn land ontvangen wonden.

MORE:
Used=Treated
Voices=Votes
No further with you=No further need of you
Childish friendliness=Innocence, gullibility
Yield=Grant
Compleat:
To use one unkindly=Iemand stuursch bejegenen
Voice=Stem, recht van stemmen
Yield=Overgeeven, toegeeven, geeven

Topics: gullibility, manipulation, honesty, integrity

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Flavius
CONTEXT:
FLAVIUS
O, the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us!
Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt,
Since riches point to misery and contempt?
Who would be so mocked with glory? or to live
But in a dream of friendship?
To have his pomp and all what state compounds
But only painted, like his varnished friends?
Poor honest lord, brought low by his own heart,
Undone by goodness! Strange, unusual blood,
When man’s worst sin is, he does too much good!
Who, then, dares to be half so kind again?
For bounty, that makes gods, does still mar men.
My dearest lord, blessed, to be most accursed,
Rich, only to be wretched, thy great fortunes
Are made thy chief afflictions. Alas, kind lord!
He’s flung in rage from this ingrateful seat
Of monstrous friends, nor has he with him to
Supply his life, or that which can command it.
I’ll follow and inquire him out:
I’ll ever serve his mind with my best will;
Whilst I have gold, I’ll be his steward still.

DUTCH:
Die goede meester!
Hij stormde in woede van deze’ ondankszetel,
Van onmensch-vrienden weg;
Niets nam hij meê tot levensonderhoud,
Niets, dat dit koopen kan!

MORE:
Wretchedness=Misery
Compounds=Includes, comprises
Painted=Artificial
Varnished=Disingenuous
Blood=Mood, disposition
Mar=Harm
His mind=Wishes
Compleat:
Wretchedness=Elendigheyd, heylloosheyd, oneugendheyd
To compound=’t Zamenzetten, byleggen, afmaaken, vereffenen, overeenkomen
Painted=Geschilderd, geverwd, geblanket
Varnished=Vernisd
To marr=Bederven, verboetelen, verknoeijen

Topics: sorrow, poverty and wealth, honesty, loyalty

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
Some of your function, mistress,
Leave procreants alone and shut the door.
Cough or cry “hem” if any body come.
Your mystery, your mystery! Nay, dispatch!
DESDEMONA
Upon my knee, what doth your speech import?
I understand a fury in your words,
But not the words.
OTHELLO
Why, what art thou?
DESDEMONA
Your wife, my lord. Your true and loyal wife.
OTHELLO
Come, swear it, damn thyself.
Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves
Should fear to seize thee. Therefore be double damned,
Swear thou art honest!
DESDEMONA
Heaven doth truly know it.
OTHELLO
Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell.
DESDEMONA
To whom, my lord? With whom? How am I false?

DUTCH:
God weet, ja, dat gij valsch zijt als de hel.

MORE:
Proverb: As false as hell

Some of your function=Do your work (on look out duty)
Mystery=Trade (brothel)
Motive=Cause
Import=Mean
Compleat:
False (not true)=Valsch, onwaar
False (counterfeit)=Nagemaakt
False (treacherous)=Verraderlyk
To import=Medebrengen, betekenen; invoeren
Motive=Beweegreden, beweegoorzaak
Mystery or mistery (trade)=Handel, konst, ambacht

Topics: honesty, truth, deceit, proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised

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: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Apemantus
CONTEXT:
APEMANTUS
Flow this way! A brave fellow! he keeps his tides
well. Those healths will make thee and thy state
look ill, Timon. Here’s that which is too weak to
be a sinner, honest water, which ne’er left man i’ the
mire:
This and my food are equals; there’s no odds:
Feasts are too proud to give thanks to the gods.
Immortal gods, I crave no pelf;
I pray for no man but myself:
Grant I may never prove so fond,
To trust man on his oath or bond;
Or a harlot, for her weeping;
Or a dog, that seems a-sleeping:
Or a keeper with my freedom;
Or my friends, if I should need ’em.
Amen. So fall to’t:
Rich men sin, and I eat root.

DUTCH:
Hier heb ik, wat geen kracht tot zonde heeft;
Braaf water, dat nooit iemand in het slijk wierp.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Sims v. Manson, 25 Wis.2d 110, 130 N.W.2d 200 (1964)(Gordon, J.).

Proverb: Trust not a woman when she weeps

Tides=Time
Healths=Toasts
Mire=Mud, stain
No odds=No difference
Pelf=Wealth
Fond=Foolish
Compleat:
Tide=Tyd, stond
To drink a health=Een gezondheyd drinken
Mire=Slyk, slik
He is deep in the mire=Hy steekt diep in schulden; hy heeft veel op zyne hoorens
To stick in the mire=In de stik steeken
Odds=Verschil
Pelf=Prullen, slechte goederen [Men gebruykt dit woord als men verachtelyk van goederen spreekt]Fond=Zot, dwaas, ongerymt

Topics: cited in law, contract, honesty, trust, proverbs and idioms

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

DUTCH:
Verberg uw gif niet zoo met suikerwoorden

MORE:

Proverb: The basilisk’s eye is fatal

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

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

Topics: proverbs and idioms, betrayal, honesty, deceit

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Portia
CONTEXT:
PORTIA
That light we see is burning in my hall.
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
NERISSA
When the moon shone we did not see the candle.
PORTIA
So doth the greater glory dim the less.
A substitute shines brightly as a king
Until a king be by, and then his state
Empties itself, as doth an inland brook
Into the main of waters. Music, hark.

DUTCH:
Dat licht daar, dat wij zien, brandt in de zaal;
Hoe verre licht die kleine kaars! zoo straalt
Een goede daad in deze booze wereld.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Maier v. Secretary of the Air Force, 754 F. 2d 973, 980 n.6 (Fed. Cir. 1985) (Markey, C.J.): “A federal court has now ordered the Air Force to do far more, i.e., to reenlist Maier as of 1977, with the promotions, longevity pay, and six-year earlier retirement she would have received if she had never been discharged.*
*So shines a good deed in a naughty world. Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, V, i, 90.”

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Menenius
CONTEXT:
VOLUMNIA
I know not where to turn: O, welcome home:
And welcome, general: and ye’re welcome all.
MENENIUS
A hundred thousand welcomes. I could weep
And I could laugh, I am light and heavy. Welcome.
A curse begin at very root on’s heart,
That is not glad to see thee! You are three
That Rome should dote on: yet, by the faith of men,
We have some old crab-trees here at home that will not
Be grafted to your relish. Yet welcome, warriors:
We call a nettle but a nettle and
The faults of fools but folly.

DUTCH:
Een honderdduizend welkoms! Weenen kon ik
En lachen! ‘t is mij licht en zwaar! Weest welkom!

MORE:
Crab-trees=Old men
Grafted to your relish=Changed to your liking
Folly=Mistake, weakness
Compleat:
Crab-tree=Een haagapppel boom
Crabbed=Nors, stuurs
Folly=Ondeugd, buitenspoorigheid, onvolmaaktheid
Relish (like or approve)=Aanstaan, goedkeuren, veel van houden

Topics: age/experience, emotion and mood, honesty, commnication

PLAY: King Henry V
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Boy
CONTEXT:
I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart. But the saying is true: “The empty vessel makes the greatest sound.” Bardolph and Nym had ten times more valour than this roaring devil i’ th’ old play, that everyone may pare his nails with a wooden dagger, and they are both hanged, and so would this be if he durst steal any thing adventurously. I must stay with the lackeys with the luggage of our camp. The French might have a good prey of us if he knew of it, for there is none to guard it but boys.

DUTCH:
Van mijn leven heb ik zulk een volle stem niet hooren
komen uit een ledig hart; maar het zeggen is waar: in
holle vaten zit de meeste klank

MORE:

Proverb: Empty vessels sound most, empty vessels make the greatest sound (most noise)

Paring nails would have been an affront to the Devil, who chose not to pare his own (Malone)
Adventurously=Daringly, boldly
Luggage=Army baggage

Burgersdijk notes:
Dan deze brullende duivel. In de oude moraliteiten zag de duivel er wel vreeselijk uit en brulde
geweldig, maar hij was toch zeer laf en liet zich door den hansworst met zijn houten zwaard ongestraft op de vingers slaan.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, integrity, honesty

PLAY:
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Kent
CONTEXT:
I do profess to be no less than I seem, to serve him truly that will put me in trust, to love him that is honest, to converse with him that is wise and says little, to fear judgement, to fight when I cannot choose, and to eat no fish.

DUTCH:

MORE:
Profess=Declare, claim as a calling or trade.
Eat no fish=May mean not a Papist (Re.: Catholic abstenance from meat on Fridays but not fish)

Topics: identity, claim, appearance, identity, honesty, trust, integrity

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Lance
CONTEXT:
LANCE
I am but a fool, look you; and yet I have the wit to
think my master is a kind of a knave: but that’s
all one, if he be but one knave. He lives not now
that knows me to be in love; yet I am in love; but a
team of horse shall not pluck that from me; nor who
’tis I love; and yet ’tis a woman; but what woman, I
will not tell myself; and yet ’tis a milkmaid; yet
’tis not a maid, for she hath had gossips; yet ’tis
a maid, for she is her master’s maid, and serves for
wages. She hath more qualities than a water-spaniel;
which is much in a bare Christian.

DUTCH:
Ik ben slechts een domme kerel, ziet gij, maar ik heb
toch het verstand om te merken, dat mijn meester een
soort van schurk is; maar dat doet er niet toe, als hij
maar geen dubbele schurk is

MORE:
Proverb: Two false knaves need no broker

Gossips=(Steevens) “Gossips not only signify those who answer for a child in baptism, but the tattling women who attend lyings-in.” She hath had gossips=She has given birth.
(Compleat: ‘To gossip: te Kindermaal gaan’
Look you=You know
Qualities=Accomplishments
Compleat:
Gossip=Een doophefster, gemoeder, peet
A tattling gossip=Een Labbey, kaekelaarster
Qualities=Aart, hoedanigheid, eigenschap van een ding

Burgersdijk notes:
Dubbele schurk, In meer dan éen opzicht een schurk.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, truth, honesty, kill/talent

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
“Think, my lord?” Alas, thou echo’st me
As if there were some monster in thy thought
Too hideous to be shown. Thou dost mean something.
I heard thee say even now thou lik’st not that
When Cassio left my wife. What didst not like?
And when I told thee he was of my counsel
Of my whole course of wooing, thou cried’st “Indeed?”
And didst contract and purse thy brow together
As if thou then hadst shut up in thy brain
Some horrible conceit. If thou dost love me
Show me thy thought.
IAGO
My lord, you know I love you.
OTHELLO
I think thou dost.
And for I know thou ‘rt full of love and honesty
And weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them breath,
Therefore these stops of thine fright me the more.
For such things in a false disloyal knave
Are tricks of custom, but in a man that’s just
They are close dilations, working from the heart,
That passion cannot rule.

DUTCH:
Ik denk dit, ja!
En wijl ik weet, dat gij, vol liefde en plicht,
Uw woorden weegt, aleer gij ze adem geeft,
Beangstigt mij dit staam’len des te meer

MORE:
The two most favoured interpretations of close dilations are: (1) involuntary delays; and (2) half-hidden expressions

Stops=Sudden pauses
Tricks of custom=Customary artifice, stratagem, device
Just=Honest, upright, to be relied on
Compleat:
Just (righteous)=Een rechtvaardige
Custom=Gewoonte, neering

Topics: honesty, loyalty, language, caution

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Celia
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
I pray thee, if it stand with honesty,
Buy thou the cottage, pasture, and the flock,
And thou shalt have to pay for it of us.
CELIA
And we will mend thy wages. I like this place,
And willingly could waste my time in it.
CORIN
Assuredly the thing is to be sold.
Go with me. If you like upon report
The soil, the profit, and this kind of life,
I will your very faithful feeder be
And buy it with your gold right suddenly.

DUTCH:
En hooger loon. Dit oord bevalt mij goed,
En gaarne wil ik hier mijn leven slijten.

MORE:
Stand with=Consistent with
To pay=Money to pay
Mend=Improve
Waste=Spend
Feeder=Servant
Compleat:
Mend=Beteren, verbeteren
To waste=Verwoesten, verquisten, verteeren, vernielen, doorbrengen
Feeder=Een voeder, spyzer, weyder, eeter

Topics: honesty, money, loyalty, work, life

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Stanley
CONTEXT:
STANLEY
They have not been commanded, mighty king.
Pleaseth your Majesty to give me leave,
I’ll muster up my friends and meet your Grace
Where and what time your Majesty shall please.
KING RICHARD
Ay, thou wouldst be gone to join with Richmond,
But I’ll not trust thee.
STANLEY
Most mighty sovereign,
You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful.
I never was nor never will be false.
KING RICHARD
Go then and muster men, but leave behind
Your son George Stanley. Look your heart be firm.
Or else his head’s assurance is but frail.
STANLEY
So deal with him as I prove true to you.

DUTCH:
Grootmachtig vorst,
Gij hebt geen grond om aan mijn trouw te twijflen.
Nooit was ik valsch, en zal het nimmer zijn .

MORE:
Hold doubtful=Doubt
False=Disloyal
Look your=Make sure your
Deal with=Treat
Compleat:
Doubtfull=Twyfelachtg
Disloyal=Ongetrouw, trouwloos

Topics: friendship, loyalty, honesty

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
PHOEBE
Sweet youth, I pray you chide a year together.
I had rather hear you chide than this man woo.
PHOEBE
Sweet youth, please keep scorning me all year long. I would
rather hear your scolding than this man’s wooing.
ROSALIND
He’s fall’n in love with your foulness.
And she’ll fall in love with my anger. If it be so, as
fast as she answers thee with frowning looks, I’ll sauce
her with bitter words.
– Why look you so upon me?
PHOEBE
For no ill will I bear you.
ROSALIND
I pray you, do not fall in love with me,
For I am falser than vows made in wine.
Besides, I like you not. If you will know my house,
‘Tis at the tuft of olives, here hard by.
—Will you go, sister?— Shepherd, ply her hard.
—Come, sister.— Shepherdess, look on him better,
And be not proud. Though all the world could see,
None could be so abused in sight as he.
—Come, to our flock.

DUTCH:
Ik bid u, word toch niet op mij verliefd;
Want valscher ben ‘k, dan eeden bij de wijnkan;
En voorts, ik mag u niet.

MORE:
Chide=Rebuke, scold
Foulness=Ugliness
Sauce=Sharply rebuke
In wine=When drunk
Tuft of olives=Olive grove
Compleat:
Chide=Kyven, bekyven
Foulness=Vuilheid, slordigheid, vervuildheid; leelykheid; schandelykheid
Tuft=Een bos, kuif

Topics: deceit, appearance, truth, honesty

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Antipholus of Syracuse
CONTEXT:
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
What is your will that I shall do with this?
ANGELO
What please yourself, sir. I have made it for you.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
Made it for me, sir? I bespoke it not.
ANGELO
Not once, nor twice, but twenty times you have.
Go home with it and please your wife withal,
And soon at supper time I’ll visit you
And then receive my money for the chain.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
I pray you, sir, receive the money now,
For fear you ne’er see chain nor money more.
ANGELO
You are a merry man, sir. Fare you well.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
What I should think of this I cannot tell,
But this I think: there’s no man is so vain
That would refuse so fair an offered chain.
I see a man here needs not live by shifts
When in the streets he meets such golden gifts.
I’ll to the mart, and there for Dromio stay.
If any ship put out, then straight away.

DUTCH:
Een vreemd geval! wat is dit nu alweer?
Dit weet ik slechts: geen mensch zoo dwaas, die niet
Een gift aanvaardt, die men zoo hoff’lijk biedt.
En ik erken, hier is nog wel te leven,
Als vreemden zoo maar gouden ketens geven.

MORE:
Mart=Market, marketplace
Shifts=Tricks
Vain=Foolish
Compleat:
Vain (useless, frivolous, idle, chimerical)=Nutteloos, ydel, ingebeeld
Shift (subterfuge, evasion)=Uitvlucht
I made shift to go thither=Ik ging ‘er met veel moeite naar toe
He made a hard shift to live=Hy kon kwaalyk aan de kost komen
Mart=Jaarmarkt
Letters of mart=Brieven van wederneeminge of van verhaal; Brieven van Represailes

Topics: honesty, poverty and wealth, work

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Page
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS FORD
Nay, I will consent to act any villainy against him,
that may not sully the chariness of our honesty. O,
that my husband saw this letter! it would give
eternal food to his jealousy.
MISTRESS PAGE
Why, look where he comes; and my good man too: he’s
as far from jealousy as I am from giving him cause;
and that I hope is an unmeasurable distance.
MISTRESS FORD
You are the happier woman.
MISTRESS PAGE
Let’s consult together against this greasy knight.
Come hither.

DUTCH:
Goed, ik doe mee om hem iederen schelmschen trek
te spelen, die geen vlek kan werpen op de zuiverheid
van onzen goeden naam

MORE:
Chariness=Scrupulousness
Eternal food=Keep feeding (his jealousy)
Consult=Devise a plan
Compleat:
Chary=Bezorgd, voorzigtig, bekommerd
Feed=Aankweken

Topics: plans/intentions, conspiracy, honesty

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Cloten
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
If she be up, I’ll speak with her; if not,
Let her lie still and dream.
By your leave, ho! I know her women are about her: what
If I do line one of their hands? ‘Tis gold
Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea, and makes
Diana’s rangers false themselves, yield up
Their deer to the stand o’ the stealer; and ’tis gold
Which makes the true man kill’d and saves the thief;
Nay, sometime hangs both thief and true man: what
Can it not do and undo? I will make
One of her women lawyer to me, for
I yet not understand the case myself.
By your leave.
LADY
Who’s there that knocks?
CLOTEN
A gentleman.
LADY
No more?
CLOTEN
Yes, and a gentlewoman’s son.
LADY
That’s more
Than some, whose tailors are as dear as yours,
Can justly boast of. What’s your lordship’s pleasure?

DUTCH:
Ik weet, zij heeft haar vrouwvolk bij zich. Wacht!
Vulde ik aan een de handen eens? Voor goud
Verkrijgt men toegang, dikwijls, ja; het maakt
Diana’s jagers zelfs ontrouw, zoodat
Zij ‘t wild den stroopers tegendrijven; goud
Brengt brave kerels om en redt den dief,
Maar soms ook brengt het beiden aan de galg.

MORE:
Proverb: If money go before all ways lie open
Proverb: To line one’s purse (coat, hand)

Line hands=Bribe
Diana’s rangers=Gamekeepers, nymphs vowed to chastity
False=1) (adjective) Betraying a trust; 2) (verb) falsify (see ‘falsing’ in Comedy of Errors, 2.2)
Stand=Hiding-place in the thickest brake, across which the deer were expected to pass”, Madden, Diary of Master William Silence
Lawyer to=Advocate for

Topics: poverty and wealth, corruption, honesty, lawyers, law/legal, understanding, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Thersites
CONTEXT:
THERSITES
That same Diomed’s a false-hearted rogue, a most
unjust knave; I will no more trust him when he leers
than I will a serpent when he hisses: he will spend
his mouth, and promise, like Brabbler the hound:
but when he performs, astronomers foretell it; it
is prodigious, there will come some change; the sun
borrows of the moon, when Diomed keeps his
word. I will rather leave to see Hector, than
not to dog him: they say he keeps a Trojan
drab, and uses the traitor Calchas’ tent: I’ll
after. Nothing but lechery! all incontinent varlets!

DUTCH:
Die Diomedes is toch een valsche schelm, een recht
gemeene kerel; ik vertrouw hem, wanneer hij glimlacht,
al even weinig als een slang, wanneer zij sist.

MORE:

Unjust=False, perfidious
Leers=Smiles (not pejorative)
Brabbler=A dog that barks
Prodigious=Ominous
Leave to see=Stop seeing
To dog=Pursue
Drab=Strumpet
Incontinent=Promiscuous
Compleat:
Unjust=Onrechtvaerdig, onbillyk
To leer=Begluuren
Brabbler=Een krakkeeler
Prodigious=Wonderbaar, overzeldzaam, gedrochtelyk, wanschapen, gansch ongemeen, byster
To dog one=Iemand van achteren volgen
Drab=Een openbaare hoer, straathoer
Incontinent=Ontuchtig

Topics: trust, truth, honesty

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
No, Lepidus, let him speak.
The honour is sacred which he talks on now,
Supposing that I lacked it. —But, on, Caesar.
The article of my oath?
CAESAR
To lend me arms and aid when I required them,
The which you both denied.
ANTONY
Neglected, rather,
And then when poisoned hours had bound me up
From mine own knowledge. As nearly as I may
I’ll play the penitent to you, but mine honesty
Shall not make poor my greatness nor my power
Work without it. Truth is that Fulvia,
To have me out of Egypt, made wars here,
For which myself, the ignorant motive, do
So far ask pardon as befits mine honour
To stoop in such a case.

DUTCH:
Zeg: verzuimd;
En wel, toen een vergiftend leven mij
Mijn denkkracht had geroofd. Zooveel ik kan,
Wil ik een boet’ling zijn, doch mijn oprechtheid
Mag nooit mijn aanzien deren, noch mijn macht
Bij de uiting aanzien derven.

MORE:
Proverb: Know thyself

Article=Terms
Bound me up=Prevented me
Poisoned hours=Period of illness
Make poor=Diminish
Ignorant=Unknowing
Motive=Cause, reason
Compleat:
Article=Een lid, artykel, verdeelpunt
To surrender upon articles=Zich by verdrag overgeeven
Bound=Gebonden, verbonden, verpligt, dienstbaar
Poisoned=Vergeeven, vergiftigd
Poison=Vergift, gift, fenyn
Ignorant=Onweetend, onkundig, onbewust
Motive=Beweegreden, beweegoorzaak

Topics: honesty, leadership, authority, integrity

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Menenius
CONTEXT:
MENENIUS
Pray you, be gone:
I’ll try whether my old wit be in request
With those that have but little: this must be patch’d
With cloth of any colour.
COMINIUS
Nay, come away.
A PATRICIAN
This man has marr’d his fortune.
MENENIUS
His nature is too noble for the world:
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,
Or Jove for’s power to thunder. His heart’s his mouth:
What his breast forges, that his tongue must vent;
And, being angry, does forget that ever
He heard the name of death.

DUTCH:
Hij is voor de aard te grootsch; hij zou Neptunus
Niet om zijn drietand vleien, Jupiter
Niet om zijn dondermacht. Zijn hart en tong
Zijn één; wat de eene smeedt, moet de ander uiten;
En wordt hij toornig, dan vergeet hij steeds,
Dat hij den naam van dood ooit hoorde

MORE:
Proverb: The heart of a fool is in his tongue (mouth)
Proverb: What the heart thinks the tongue speaks

Wit=Sound sense or judgement, understanding. Intelligence
In request=To be of use

Topics: proverbs and idioms, honour, intellect, reason, honesty

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Brutus
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?
CASSIUS
Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear.
And since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you yet know not of.
And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus.
Were I a common laughter, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester, if you know
That I do fawn on men and hug them hard
And, after, scandal them, or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.

DUTCH:
In wat gevaren, Cassius, lokt gij mij ?
Dat gij mij dringt mijn binnenst te doorvorschen
Naar wat niet in mij is?

MORE:
Glass=Mirror
Jealous=Suspicion
Gentle=Mild, kind; noble
To stale=Debase, sully
Laughter=Object of ridicule
Ordinary=Common
Protester=Promiser of loyalty
Fawn on=Flatter
Scandal=Defame
Compleat:
Glass=Spiegel
Jealous=Belgziek, yverzuchtig, minnenydig; naayverig, argwaanig, achterdochtig, achterkousig, jaloers
Gentle=Aardig, edelmoedig
Ordinary=Gewoonlyk, gemeen
Protester=Een aankondiger, betuiger
To fawn upon=Vleijen, streelen
To scandal=Lasteren, enteeren

Topics: honesty, truth, envy, friendship, suspicion

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Parolles
CONTEXT:
PAROLLES
Ten o’clock: within these three hours ’twill be
time enough to go home. What shall I say I have
done? It must be a very plausive invention that
carries it: they begin to smoke me; and disgraces
have of late knocked too often at my door. I find
my tongue is too foolhardy; but my heart hath the
fear of Mars before it and of his creatures, not
daring the reports of my tongue.
SECOND LORD
This is the first truth that e’er thine own tongue
was guilty of.

DUTCH:
Wat zal ik zeggen, dat ik gedaan heb? Het meet een zeer waarschijnlijke vond zijn, als zij mij helpen zal.

MORE:
Proverb: I will smoke you

Plausive=Plausible
Smoke=Scent (suspect)
Creatures=Soldiers
Daring=Daring to do
Compleat:
Plausible=Op een schoonschynende wyze, met toejuyghinge

Topics: proverbs and idioms, suspicion, honesty, courage

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

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

MORE:

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

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

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

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Ford
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
Of what quality was your love, then?
FORD
Like a fair house built on another man’s ground; so that I have lost my edifice by mistaking the place where I erected it.
FALSTAFF
To what purpose have you unfolded this to me?
FORD
When I have told you that, I have told you all.
Some say, that though she appear honest to me, yet in
other places she enlargeth her mirth so far that
there is shrewd construction made of her. Now, Sir
John, here is the heart of my purpose: you are a
gentleman of excellent breeding, admirable
discourse, of great admittance, authentic in your
place and person, generally allowed for your many
war-like, court-like, and learned preparations.

DUTCH:
Zij geleek een schoon huis, op eens andermans grond
gebouwd; zoodat ik mijn gebouw verspeelde, door een
verkeerd erf te kiezen om het te stichten.

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
There was a Latin maxim to the effect that if a man built a house using his own materials on another man’s land, has become the property of the owner of the plot. This legal consequence of an innocent mistake was a hot topic for the public and taken up by dramatists of the time. Shakespeare approached it differently by not using the Latin maxim but alluding to it only in ordinary language.

Proverb: Who builds upon another’s ground loses both mortar and stones

Honest=Faithful
Shrewd construction=Suspicion
Great admittance=Admitted to elevated social circles
Authentic=Creditable
Preparations=Accomplishments
Compleat:
Shrewd=Loos, doortrapt, sneedig, vinnig, fel
Construction=Uytlegging, Zamenstelling
Admittance=Toelaating, inwilliging
Authentick, authentical=Eygen-geloofwaardig, goedgekeurd, achtbaar, geloofwaardig
Preparation=Toerusting, voorbereyding, voorbereydsel

Topics: law/legal|proverbs and idioms|honesty|status|learning/education|reputation

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
Make me to see ’t, or at the least so prove it
That the probation bear no hinge nor loop
To hang a doubt on, or woe upon thy life!
IAGO
My noble lord—
OTHELLO
If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more. Abandon all remorse.
On horror’s head horrors accumulate,
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed,
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Greater than that.
IAGO
Oh, grace! Oh, heaven forgive me!
Are you a man? Have you a soul or sense?
God buy you, take mine office. O wretched fool
That lov’st to make thine honesty a vice!
O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world,
To be direct and honest is not safe.
I thank you for this profit, and from hence
I’ll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence.

DUTCH:
Doe mij het zien, of geef voor ‘t minst bewijzen,
Maar zonder scheur of splinter, waar een twijfel
Zich vast aan haken kan; of wee uw leven!

MORE:
Probation=Proof
Never pray more=Give up on praying
Take mine office=Dismiss me from my position
Make honesty a vice=Take honesty too far, to a fault
Profit=Lesson, improvement
Sith=Since, as, seeing that
Compleat:
Sith=Naardien, nademaal
Sith that=Sedert dat
Profit=Voordeel, gewin, nut, profyt, winst, baat
Probation=Een proef, proeve

Topics: evidence, uncertainty, honesty

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
STEWARD
Madam, I was very late more near her than I think
she wished me: alone she was, and did communicate
to herself her own words to her own ears; she
thought, I dare vow for her, they touched not any
stranger sense. Her matter was, she loved your son:
Fortune, she said, was no goddess, that had put
such difference betwixt their two estates; Love no
god, that would not extend his might, only where
qualities were level; Dian no queen of virgins, that
would suffer her poor knight surprised, without
rescue in the first assault or ransom afterward.
This she delivered in the most bitter touch of
sorrow that e’er I heard virgin exclaim in: which I
held my duty speedily to acquaint you withal;
sithence, in the loss that may happen, it concerns
you something to know it.
COUNTESS
You have discharged this honestly; keep it to
yourself: many likelihoods informed me of this
before, which hung so tottering in the balance that
I could neither believe nor misdoubt. Pray you,
leave me: stall this in your bosom; and I thank you
for your honest care: I will speak with you further
anon. (…)

DUTCH:
Uit allerlei omstandigheden had ik dit reeds vermoed, maar deze lagen zoo onzeker in de weegschaal, dat ik noch gelooven, noch twijfelen kon.

MORE:
Stranger sense=In anyone else’s hearing
Matter=Subject
Estates=Stations
Might=Power
Qualities=Status, ranking
Level=Equal
Suffer=Allow
Surprised=Ambushed, captured
Exclaim=Lament
Sithence=Since
Tottering=Wavering
Stall=Enclose
Likelihoods=That from which a conclusion may be drawn, appearances, sign, indication
Misdoubt=Suspicion, diffidence, apprehension; have dounts as to
Compleat:
Stranger=Vreemdeling
Matter=Stof
Estate=Bezit, middelen
Might=Magt, vermoogen, kracht
Qualities=Aart, hoedanigheid, eigenschap van een ding
Level=Gelyk, vlak, effen, water-pas
Exclaim=Uytroepen, uytschreeuwen
Likelihood=Waarschynelykheid
Totter=Schudden, waggelen
Titter-totter=Waggelen, gereen zyn om te vallen
Misdoubt=’t Onrecht twyffelen

Topics: honesty, suspicion, caution

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Adriana
CONTEXT:
ADRIANA
Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
Mightst thou perceive austerely in his eye
That he did plead in earnest, yea or no?
Looked he or red or pale, or sad or merrily?
What observation mad’st thou in this case
Of his heart’s meteors tilting in his face?
LUCIANA
First he denied you had in him no right.
ADRIANA
He meant he did me none; the more my spite.
LUCIANA
Then swore he that he was a stranger here.
ADRIANA
And true he swore, though yet forsworn he were.

DUTCH:
Ach, zuster, heeft hij zoo uw hart belaagd?
Gelooft gij, dat hij ‘t waarlijk meende? spreek!
Zeg ja of neen! Hoe sprak zijn oog? en zaagt
Ge er leed of vreugd in? was hij rood of bleek?

MORE:
Tilt=Toss, play unsteadily
Meteor=A bright phenomenon, thought to be portentous, appearing in the atmosphere (perhaps electrically charged clouds or colours of the aurora borealis)
Austerely=Severely
Compleat:
To tilt=Schermen
Austerely=Straffelyk, strengelyk

Topics: love, appearance, honesty

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Ford
CONTEXT:
FORD
Believe it, for you know it. There is money; spend
it, spend it; spend more; spend all I have; only
give me so much of your time in exchange of it, as
to lay an amiable siege to the honesty of this
Ford’s wife: use your art of wooing; win her to
consent to you: if any man may, you may as soon as
any.
FALSTAFF
Would it apply well to the vehemency of your
affection, that I should win what you would enjoy?
Methinks you prescribe to yourself very preposterously.
FORD
O, understand my drift. She dwells so securely on
the excellency of her honour, that the folly of my
soul dares not present itself: she is too bright to
be looked against. Now, could I could come to her
with any detection in my hand, my desires had
instance and argument to commend themselves: I
could drive her then from the ward of her purity,
her reputation, her marriage-vow, and a thousand
other her defences, which now are too too strongly
embattled against me. What say you to’t, Sir John?

DUTCH:
Maar zie, als ik eens met een ontdekking in de hand voor haar kon treden, dan hadden mijne wenschen steun en grond om zich te doen gelden; dan kon ik haar drijven uit het bolwerk van haar kuischheid, haren goeden naam, haar huwelijksgelofte en die duizend verdedigingswerken meer, die nu veel te sterk tegen mij bevestigd zijn.

MORE:
Amiable=Amorous
Honesty=Fidelity
Apply well=Be effective as a remedy
Vehemency=Intensity
Dwells so securely=Stands so confidently
Against=At
Detection=Exposure, blame
Instance=Precedent
Ward=Defence
Compleat:
Amiable=Lieflyk, minlyk, minzaam
Honest=Eerlyk, oprecht, vroom
Vehemency=Heftigheid
Detection=Ontdekking
Instance=Exempel
Ward=Op wacht zyn

Topics: money|marriage|reputation|honesty

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: Lucius
CONTEXT:
LUCIUS
Then, noble auditory, be it known to you,
That cursed Chiron and Demetrius
Were they that murdered our emperor’s brother;
And they it were that ravished our sister:
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father’s tears despised, and basely cozened
Of that true hand that fought Rome’s quarrel out,
And sent her enemies unto the grave.
Lastly, myself unkindly banished,
The gates shut on me, and turned weeping out,
To beg relief among Rome’s enemies:
Who drowned their enmity in my true tears.
And oped their arms to embrace me as a friend.
I am the turned forth, be it known to you,
That have preserved her welfare in my blood;
And from her bosom took the enemy’s point,
Sheathing the steel in my adventurous body.
Alas, you know I am no vaunter, I;
My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
That my report is just and full of truth.
But, soft! methinks I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise: O, pardon me;
For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.

DUTCH:
Litteekens mogen stom zijn, toch getuigen
De mijne, dat ik zuiv’re waarheid spreek.

MORE:
Auditory=Listeners
Fell=Cruel
Cozened=Cheated
Fought out=Fought and settled
Vaunter=Boastful person
Patience=Endurance
Ragged=Rugged
Closure=End
Compleat:
Auditory=Een hoorplaats, gehoorplaaats
To speak before a great auditory=Voor eene groote menigte van toehoorderen redenvoeren
Fell (cruel)=Wreede, fel
To cozen=Bedriegen
To close=Overeenstemmen; besluiten; eindigen
To vaunt=Pochen, snorken, opsnuiven
Patience=Geduld, lydzaamheid, verduldigheid
To fight it out=Een geschil vechtenderhand beslissen

Topics: order/society, revenge, honesty, pride

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Claudius
CONTEXT:
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

DUTCH:
Mijn woord stijgt op, mijn ziel blijft lager dwalen;
Het zielloos woord zal nooit den hemel halen. /
Mijn woord wiekt op en mijn gedachten zijgen: Ledige woorden nooit ten hemel stijgen. /
Mijn woord heeft vleugels, maar ontbeert de zin, en ’t holle woord wiekt nooit de hemel in.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Inappropriately cited (See William Domnarski Shakespeare in the Law) in People v. Langston, 131 Cal. App.3d 7 (1982)(Brown, J.)

Topics: language, cited in law, honesty, caution

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Northumberland
CONTEXT:
MORTON
(…) But now the Bishop
Turns insurrection to religion.
Supposed sincere and holy in his thoughts,
He’s followed both with body and with mind,
And doth enlarge his rising with the blood
Of fair King Richard, scraped from Pomfret stones;
Derives from heaven his quarrel and his cause;
Tells them he doth bestride a bleeding land,
Gasping for life under great Bolingbroke;
And more and less do flock to follow him.
NORTHUMBERLAND
I knew of this before, but, to speak truth,
This present grief had wiped it from my mind.
Go in with me and counsel every man
The aptest way for safety and revenge.
Get posts and letters, and make friends with speed.
Never so few, and never yet more need.

DUTCH:
Werft vrienden, werft ze ras, met brief en bode;
Nooit waren zij zoo schaarsch, en zoo van noode.

MORE:

Supposed=Considered to be
Enlarge=Spread, extend
Bestride=Stand over in defence
More and less=Higher and lower ranks

Compleat:
Supposed=Vermoed, ondersteld, gewaand
Bestrride=Beschryden

Topics: friendship, leadership, integrity, honesty

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
Make me to see ’t, or at the least so prove it
That the probation bear no hinge nor loop
To hang a doubt on, or woe upon thy life!
IAGO
My noble lord—
OTHELLO
If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more. Abandon all remorse.
On horror’s head horrors accumulate,
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed,
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Greater than that.
IAGO
Oh, grace! Oh, heaven forgive me!
Are you a man? Have you a soul or sense?
God buy you, take mine office. O wretched fool
That lov’st to make thine honesty a vice!
O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world,
To be direct and honest is not safe.
I thank you for this profit, and from hence
I’ll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence.

DUTCH:
Indien gij haar belastert en mij foltert,
Zoo bid niet meer; verzaak de menschlijkheid;
Hoop gruw’len op des gruwels hoofd; doe daden,
Waarom de hemel weent, heel de aarde rilt;
Want niets kunt gij bij uw verdoem’nis voegen,
Dat dit verzwaart!

MORE:
Probation=Proof
Never pray more=Give up on praying
Take mine office=Dismiss me from my position
Make honesty a vice=Take honesty too far, to a fault
Profit=Lesson, improvement
Sith=Since, as, seeing that
Compleat:
Sith=Naardien, nademaal
Sith that=Sedert dat
Profit=Voordeel, gewin, nut, profyt, winst, baat
Probation=Een proef, proeve

Topics: evidence, uncertainty, honesty, trust

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: King Lear
CONTEXT:
LEAR
(…) To thee and thine hereditary ever
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom,
No less in space, validity, and pleasure
Than that conferred on Goneril.—But now, our joy,
Although our last and least, to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interessed. What can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
CORDELIA
Nothing, my lord.
LEAR
Nothing?
CORDELIA
Nothing.
LEAR
How? Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.
CORDELIA
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less.
LEAR
How, how, Cordelia? Mend your speech a little,
Lest you may mar your fortunes.

DUTCH:
Door niets wordt niets verkregen; spreek nog eens.

MORE:
Proverb: Nothing will come of nothing (Ex nihilo nihil fit)
Mend your speech=revise your statement, think about what you’ve said
In the context of King Lear telling Cordelia she’ll be disinherited if she doesn’t speak more kindly.
Schmidt:
Heave=Raise, lift (Poss. ref. to Eccles. 21:26 = The heart of fools is in their mouth: but the mouth of the wise is in their heart.)
Bond=(Filial) obligation
To be interessed=To have a right or share (OED). Often amended to ‘interested’ in more modern versions.
Draw=Win (gambling metaphor)
A third more opulent=not equal thirds
Compleat:
Bond=Verbinding, obligatie
Interessed=Betrokken, gegreepen, een part in hebbende.
To interess oneself in a matter=Zich aan eene zaak laaten gelegen zyn.

Topics: honesty, truth, duty, relationship, proverbs and idioms, still in use

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER:
CONTEXT:
SECOND CITIZEN
Not one amongst us, save yourself, but says
He used us scornfully: he should have show’d us
His marks of merit, wounds received for’s country.
SICINIUS
Why, so he did, I am sure.
CITIZENS
No, no; no man saw ’em.
THIRD CITIZEN
He said he had wounds, which he could show in private;
And with his hat, thus waving it in scorn,
‘I would be consul,’ says he: ‘aged custom,
But by your voices, will not so permit me;
Your voices therefore.’ When we granted that,
Here was ‘I thank you for your voices: thank you:
Your most sweet voices: now you have left your voices,
I have no further with you.’ Was not this mockery?
SICINIUS
Why either were you ignorant to see’t,
Or, seeing it, of such childish friendliness
To yield your voices?

DUTCH:
Daarom, uw stemmen!” Toen wij die hem schonken,
Toen heette ‘t: „Dank u voor uw stemmen, — dank u, —
Uw fraaie stemmen; — zoo, nu gaaft ge uw stemmen;
‘k Ben met u klaar.” — Wat dit geen spotternij?

MORE:
Used=Treated
Voices=Votes
No further with you=No further need of you
Childish friendliness=Innocence, gullibility
Yield=Grant
Compleat:
To use one unkindly=Iemand stuursch bejegenen
Voice=Stem, recht van stemmen
Yield=Overgeeven, toegeeven, geeven

Topics: gullibility, manipulation, honesty, integrity

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Apemantus
CONTEXT:
APEMANTUS
No, I’ll nothing: for if I should be bribed too,
there would be none left to rail upon thee, and then
thou wouldst sin the faster. Thou givest so long,
Timon, I fear me thou wilt give away thyself in
paper shortly: what need these feasts, pomps and
vain-glories?
TIMON
Nay, an you begin to rail on society once, I am
sworn not to give regard to you. Farewell; and come
with better music.
APEMANTUS
So:
Thou wilt not hear me now; thou shalt not then:
I’ll lock thy heaven from thee.
O, that men’s ears should be
To counsel deaf, but not to flattery!

DUTCH:
Wilt gij mij thans niet hooren, goed, dan hoort gij
Mij later niet; uw hemel sluit ik u.
Wee, dat de mensch zijn oor voor goeden raad
Steeds afsluit, en voor vleiers openlaat!

MORE:
I’ll nothing=I’ll take nothing
Rail upon=Criticise
Give thyself away=Overextend yourself
Paper=Promissory notes
Vain-glories=Spectacles, celebrations
Heaven=Rescue
Compleat:
To rail=Schelden
Vain glory=Ydele glorie

Topics: vanity, advice, caution, honesty

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
Thus do I ever make my fool my purse.
For I mine own gained knowledge should profane
If I would time expend with such a snipe
But for my sport and profit. I hate the Moor,
And it is thought abroad that ’twixt my sheets
He’s done my office. I know not if ’t be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety. He holds me well.
The better shall my purpose work on him.
Cassio’s a proper man. Let me see now,
To get his place and to plume up my will
In double knavery. How? How? Let’s see.
After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear
That he is too familiar with his wife.
He hath a person and a smooth dispose
To be suspected, framed to make women false.
The Moor is of a free and open nature
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose
As asses are.
I have ’t. It is engendered! Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.

DUTCH:
De Moor is gul en open van natuur,
Waant ieder eerlijk, die slechts eerlijk schijnt,
En laat zoo zachtkens bij den neus zich leiden,
Als ezels ‘t laten doen

MORE:
Snipe=Bird, also ‘worthless’ fellow, simpleton
Gained knowledge=Practical experience
Profane=Desecrate
In that kind=In that regard
‘Twixt=Betwixt (between)
Surety=Certainty
Holds me well=Respects, has a good opinion of
Purpose=Plan
Compleat:
Snipe=Snip, snep
To profane (prophane)=Lasteren, heilige zaaken enteeren; misbruiken
Surety=Borg, vastigheyd
Betwixt=Tusschen, tusschenbeide
Betwixt the devil and the red sea=Tusschen hangen en worgen
Purpose (design, resolution, project)=Voorneemen, besluit, ontwerp

Topics: honesty, gullibility, suspicion, respect, learning/education, age/experience, conspiracy

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Katherine
CONTEXT:
QUEEN KATHERINE
Speak it here.
There’s nothing I have done yet, o’ my conscience,
Deserves a corner. Would all other women
Could speak this with as free a soul as I do.
My lords, I care not, so much I am happy
Above a number, if my actions
Were tried by ev’ry tongue, ev’ry eye saw ’em,
Envy and base opinion set against ’em,
I know my life so even. If your business
Seek me out, and that way I am wife in,
Out with it boldly. Truth loves open dealing

DUTCH:
Wenscht gij hier
Mij na te gaan, en hoe ik ben als vrouw,
Spreekt vrij; de waarheid mint den rechten weg.

MORE:
Proverb: Truth seeks no corners
Proverb: Truth’s tale is simple (Truth is plain)
Would=If only
Above a number=More than many
Even=Pure, flawless
Compleat:
Would=’t was te wenschen dat; it zou ‘t wel willen
Even=Effen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, truth, honesty

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
I see a man’s life is a tedious one:
I have tired myself, and for two nights together
Have made the ground my bed. I should be sick,
But that my resolution helps me. Milford,
When from the mountain-top Pisanio show’d thee,
Thou wast within a ken: O Jove! I think
Foundations fly the wretched; such, I mean,
Where they should be relieved. Two beggars told me
I could not miss my way. Will poor folks lie,
That have afflictions on them, knowing ’tis
A punishment or trial? Yes. No wonder,
When rich ones scarce tell true. To lapse in fullness
Is sorer than to lie for need, and falsehood
Is worse in kings than beggars. My dear lord,
Thou art one o’ th’ false ones. Now I think on thee,
My hunger’s gone; but even before, I was
At point to sink for food. But what is this?
Here is a path to ’t. ’Tis some savage hold.
I were best not call; I dare not call. Yet famine,
Ere clean it o’erthrow nature, makes it valiant.
Plenty and peace breeds cowards; hardness ever
Of hardiness is mother.—Ho! Who’s here?
If anything that’s civil, speak; if savage,
Take or lend. Ho!—No answer? Then I’ll enter.
Best draw my sword; an if mine enemy
But fear the sword like me, he’ll scarcely look on ’t.

DUTCH:
Ja, weelde en vreê kweekt lafaards; ‘t hardste lot
Verhardt en staalt ons steeds

MORE:
Proverb: Afflictions are sent us by God for our good (Will poor folks lie…)

Trial=Test of virtue
To lapse in fullness=Fall from truth in a state of prosperity
Even before=Just before
Hardiness=Bravery
Compleat:
Trial (temptation)=Beproeving
Even=Even. Just now=Zo even
Hardiness=Onvertzaagdheid, stoutheid, koenheid
Hardiness of constitution=Hardheid van gesteltenis

Topics: adversity, proverbs and idioms, poverty and wealth, honesty

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Painter
CONTEXT:
POET
What have you now to present unto him?
PAINTER
Nothing at this time but my visitation: only I will
promise him an excellent piece.
POET
I must serve him so too, tell him of an intent
that’s coming toward him.
PAINTER
Good as the best. Promising is the very air o’ the
time: it opens the eyes of expectation:
performance is ever the duller for his act; and,
but in the plainer and simpler kind of people, the
deed of saying is quite out of use. To promise is
most courtly and fashionable: performance is a kind
of will or testament which argues a great sickness
in his judgment that makes it.

DUTCH:
Beloven is een echte trek
van onzen tijd; het opent de oogen der verwachting;

MORE:
Visitation=Presence, visit
Intent=Planned work
Air=Spirit
Performance=Fulfilment
But in=Except for
Deed of saying=Performance of a promise
Out of use=Out of fashion
Argues=Shows
Compleat:
Visitation=Bezoeking
Intent=Oogmerk, einde, opzet
Performance=Volbrenging, betrachting
I am not satisfied with words=Ik laat my met geen woorden paaijen, ik houde van daaden

Topics: honesty, promise, ingratitude, friendship, money

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
CASSIO
Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my
reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!
IAGO
As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some
bodily wound. There is more sense in that than in
reputation. Reputation is an idle and most false
imposition, oft got without merit and lost without
deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you
repute yourself such a loser. What, man, there are ways
to recover the general again. You are but now cast in
his mood, a punishment more in policy than in malice,
even so as one would beat his offenceless dog to
affright an imperious lion. Sue to him again and he’s
yours.

DUTCH:
Een goede naam is een ijdele en hoogst bedriegelijke
begoocheling, vaak zonder verdienste verkregen
en onverdiend verloren; gij hebt in het geheel geen goeden
naam verloren, tenzij gij uzelven den naam bezorgt,
dat gij dit verlies hebt geleden

MORE:
Proverb: A man is weal or woe as he thinks himself so

Cast=Dismissed
Mood=Anger
In policy=Public demonstration
Speak parrot=Nonsense
Fustian=Bombastic, high-sounding nonsense
Imposition=Cheat, imposture
Repute (yourself)=To think, to account, to hold
Compleat:
To cast off=Afwerpen, verwerpen, achterlaaten
To cast his adversary at the bar=Zyn party in rechte verwinnen
To be cast=’t Recht verlooren hebben
Mood=Luym, aardt, wyze
Fustian (or bombast)-Gezwets, snorkery
Fustian language=Grootspreeking, opsnyery
Imposition=Oplegging, opdringing, belasting, bedrog
Repute=Achten

Topics: reputation, merit, honesty, value, integrity, wellbeing

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Cassio
CONTEXT:
CASSIO
Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my
reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!
IAGO
As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some
bodily wound. There is more sense in that than in
reputation. Reputation is an idle and most false
imposition, oft got without merit and lost without
deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you
repute yourself such a loser. What, man, there are ways
to recover the general again. You are but now cast in
his mood, a punishment more in policy than in malice,
even so as one would beat his offenceless dog to
affright an imperious lion. Sue to him again and he’s
yours.

DUTCH:
Mijn goede naam, mijn goede naam, niijn goede naam!
0 ik heb mijn goeden naam verloren! Ik heb mijn onsterflijk
deel verloren, en wat mij rest is dierlijk! — Mijn
goeden naam, Jago, mijn goeden naam!

MORE:
Proverb: A man is weal or woe as he thinks himself so

Cast=Dismissed
Mood=Anger
In policy=Public demonstration
Speak parrot=Nonsense
Fustian=Bombastic, high-sounding nonsense
Imposition=Cheat, imposture
Repute (yourself)=To think, to account, to hold
Compleat:
To cast off=Afwerpen, verwerpen, achterlaaten
To cast his adversary at the bar=Zyn party in rechte verwinnen
To be cast=’t Recht verlooren hebben
Mood=Luym, aardt, wyze
Fustian (or bombast)-Gezwets, snorkery
Fustian language=Grootspreeking, opsnyery
Imposition=Oplegging, opdringing, belasting, bedrog
Repute=Achten

Topics: reputation, merit, honesty, value, integrity, wellbeing, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Lance
CONTEXT:
LANCE
I am but a fool, look you; and yet I have the wit to
think my master is a kind of a knave: but that’s
all one, if he be but one knave. He lives not now
that knows me to be in love; yet I am in love; but a
team of horse shall not pluck that from me; nor who
’tis I love; and yet ’tis a woman; but what woman, I
will not tell myself; and yet ’tis a milkmaid; yet
’tis not a maid, for she hath had gossips; yet ’tis
a maid, for she is her master’s maid, and serves for
wages. She hath more qualities than a water-spaniel;
which is much in a bare Christian.

DUTCH:
Zij verstaat meer kunststukjens dan een hond, die te water gaat, en dat is veel voor een eenvoudig christenmensch.

MORE:
Proverb: Two false knaves need no broker

Gossips=(Steevens) “Gossips not only signify those who answer for a child in baptism, but the tattling women who attend lyings-in.” She hath had gossips=She has given birth.
(Compleat: ‘To gossip: te Kindermaal gaan’
Look you=You know
Qualities=Accomplishments
Compleat:
Gossip=Een doophefster, gemoeder, peet
A tattling gossip=Een Labbey, kaekelaarster
Qualities=Aart, hoedanigheid, eigenschap van een ding

Burgersdijk notes:
Dubbele schurk, In meer dan éen opzicht een schurk.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, truth, honesty, kill/talent

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Corin
CONTEXT:
TOUCHSTONE
Most shallow man. Thou worms’ meat in respect of a good
piece of flesh, indeed. Learn of the wise and perpend:
civet is of a baser birth than tar, the very uncleanly
flux of a cat. Mend the instance, shepherd.
CORIN
You have too courtly a wit for me. I’ll rest.
TOUCHSTONE
Wilt thou rest damned? God help thee, shallow man. God
make incision in thee; thou art raw.
CORIN
Sir, I am a true labourer. I earn that I eat, get that I
wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of
other men’s good, content with my harm, and the
greatest of my pride is to see my ewes graze and my
lambs suck.
TOUCHSTONE
That is another simple sin in you, to bring the ewes
and the rams together and to offer to get your living by
the copulation of cattle; to be bawd to a bellwether
and to betray a she-lamb of a twelvemonth to a
crooked-pated old cuckoldly ram, out of all reasonable
match. If thou be’st not damned for this, the devil
himself will have no shepherds. I cannot see else how
thou shouldst ’scape.

DUTCH:
Vriend, ik ben een eerlijk daglooner; ik verdien mijn kost en mijn kleeding, draag niemand haat toe, benijd niemand zijn geluk, verheug mij in een andermans welvaren, en schik mij in mijn leed; en mijn grootste trots is, mijn ooien te zien grazen en mijn lammeren te zien zuigen.

MORE:
Shallow=Superficial, empty
Perpend=Consider
Civet=Perfume from the anal glands of the civet cat
Flux=Discharge
Mend=Improve
Instance=Proof
Make incision=Blood-letting (to cure stupidity); score (raw meat)
Raw=Unripe, immature; inexperienced, unskilled, untrained
Content=Resigned to
Harm=Misfortune
Simple=Plain, simple-minded
Bell-wether=Lead sheep that wears the bell
Out of=Beyond
Compleat:
Shallow=Ondiep
Shallowness, shallow wit=Kleinheid van begrip, dommelykheid
To perpend=Overweegen
Flux=De vloed, loop; flux and reflux=Eb en vloed
Mend=Beteren, verbeteren
Instance=Proof
To make an incision=Met een vlym openen, een opening maaken, insnyden
Raw=(unskilled) Onbedreven
To take content=Genoegen neemen
Harm=Tegenspoed, ongeluk
Simple=Eenvoudig, onnozel
Bell-weather=Een Hamel met een bel aan

Burgersdijk notes:
God late u de schillen van de oogen vallen, God geneze u (door een operatie)! gij zijt rauw, d. i. niet toebereid, niet gaar.

Topics: preparation, skill/talent, work, honesty, integrity, envy

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 4.7
SPEAKER: Aufidius
CONTEXT:
AUFIDIUS
All places yield to him ere he sits down;
And the nobility of Rome are his:
The senators and patricians love him too:
The tribunes are no soldiers; and their people
Will be as rash in the repeal, as hasty
To expel him thence. I think he’ll be to Rome
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature. First he was
A noble servant to them; but he could not
Carry his honours even: whether ’twas pride,
Which out of daily fortune ever taints
The happy man; whether defect of judgment,
To fail in the disposing of those chances
Which he was lord of; or whether nature,
Not to be other than one thing, not moving
From the casque to the cushion, but commanding peace
Even with the same austerity and garb
As he controlled the war; but one of these—
As he hath spices of them all, not all,
For I dare so far free him—made him fear’d,
So hated, and so banish’d: but he has a merit,
To choke it in the utterance. So our virtues
Lie in the interpretation of the time:
And power, unto itself most commendable,
Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair
To extol what it hath done.
One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail;
Rights by rights falter, strengths by strengths do fail.
Come, let’s away. When, Caius, Rome is thine,
Thou art poor’st of all; then shortly art thou mine.

DUTCH:
In der menschen oordeel
Ligt onze kracht; lofwaarde en echte grootheid
Heeft geen zoo zeker graf als een gestoelte,
Waarop verkond wordt, wat zij heeft verricht.

MORE:
Proverb: Fire drives out fire (1592)
Proverb: One fire (or one nail or one poison) drives out another.

In the interpretation of the time=Evaluation according to prevailing standards [referring to the fluctuation of the popular opinion of Coriolanus, from denunciation to acclaim]
Unto itself most commendable=Having a very high opinion of itself, self-justified
Spices of them all, not all=Not complete, in their full extent
Popular=Of the people, vulgar (a vulgar station=standing place with the crowd)
Extol=Praise, magnify
Chair=A seat of public authority
Compleat:
Chair of state=Zetel
Extoll=Verheffen, pryzen, looven
To extol one, raise him up to the sky=Iemand tot den Hemel toe verheffen
Highly commendable=Ten hoogste pryselyk

Topics: time, reputation, honesty, integrity, authority, ruin

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Flavius
CONTEXT:
FLAVIUS
O, the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us!
Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt,
Since riches point to misery and contempt?
Who would be so mocked with glory? or to live
But in a dream of friendship?
To have his pomp and all what state compounds
But only painted, like his varnished friends?
Poor honest lord, brought low by his own heart,
Undone by goodness! Strange, unusual blood,
When man’s worst sin is, he does too much good!
Who, then, dares to be half so kind again?
For bounty, that makes gods, does still mar men.
My dearest lord, blessed, to be most accursed,
Rich, only to be wretched, thy great fortunes
Are made thy chief afflictions. Alas, kind lord!
He’s flung in rage from this ingrateful seat
Of monstrous friends, nor has he with him to
Supply his life, or that which can command it.
I’ll follow and inquire him out:
I’ll ever serve his mind with my best will;
Whilst I have gold, I’ll be his steward still.

DUTCH:
Mijn arme heer! dien ‘t al te goede hart
Te gronde richtte! Vreemde drift van ‘t bloed;
Zijn ergste feil het doen van te veel goed!

MORE:
Wretchedness=Misery
Compounds=Includes, comprises
Painted=Artificial
Varnished=Disingenuous
Blood=Mood, disposition
Mar=Harm
His mind=Wishes
Compleat:
Wretchedness=Elendigheyd, heylloosheyd, oneugendheyd
To compound=’t Zamenzetten, byleggen, afmaaken, vereffenen, overeenkomen
Painted=Geschilderd, geverwd, geblanket
Varnished=Vernisd
To marr=Bederven, verboetelen, verknoeijen

Topics: sorrow, poverty and wealth, honesty, loyalty

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Kent
CONTEXT:
That such a slave as this should wear a sword,
Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as these,
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords a-twain,
Which are too intrince t’unloose; smooth every passion
That in the natures of their lords rebel,
Being oil to fire, snow to the colder moods,
Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks
With every gall and vary of their masters,
Knowing naught, like dogs, but following.

DUTCH:
Dat zulk een deugniet, zonder hart in ‘t lijf,
Een zwaard aan ‘t lijf draagt. Zulk een vleilach-tuig
Doorknaagt, als ratten, vaak de heil’ge banden,
Die onontknoopbaar zijn; vleit ied’ren hartstocht,
Die in de borst van hun gebieders woelt;
Werpt olie op hun vuur, ijs op hun koelheid;
Knikt ja, schudt neen, en draait als weerhaan rond,
Met ied’re vlaag en wiss’ling van hun meesters;
Loopt hun als honden na, het kent niets anders.

MORE:
Proverb: A mouse in time may bite in two a cable (Like rats, oft bite….)
Holy cords=Matrimonial bond
A-twain=In two
Intrince=Entangled, intertwined (Verb to intrince=To untangle)
Onions:
Smooth=Flatter, humour
Halcyon=Kingfisher. (Kingfishers when hung by the beck or tail could serve as a weathervane).
Compleat:
Halcyon (sea fowl)=Een zekere Zeevogel
Burgerdijk notes:
En draait als weerhaan rond. In’t Engelsch: and turn their halcyon beaks; naar het volksgeloof keerde een ijsvogel, aan een draad opgehangen, zijn bek altijd naar den kant, waar de wind van daan kwam.

Topics: insult, proverbs and idioms, flattery, honesty

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
You have discharged this honestly; keep it to
yourself: many likelihoods informed me of this
before, which hung so tottering in the balance that
I could neither believe nor misdoubt. Pray you,
leave me: stall this in your bosom; and I thank you
for your honest care: I will speak with you further
anon.
Even so it was with me when I was young:
If ever we are nature’s, these are ours; this thorn
Doth to our rose of youth rightly belong;
Our blood to us, this to our blood is born;
It is the show and seal of nature’s truth,
Where love’s strong passion is impress’d in youth:
By our remembrances of days foregone,
Such were our faults, or then we thought them none.
Her eye is sick on’t: I observe her now.

DUTCH:
Natuur bezegelt jeugd als waar en goed,
Plant zij haar zulk een hartstocht in ‘t gemoed;
Ja, ‘k pleegde in mijne dagen van voorheen
Gelijk vergrijp, of dacht, bet was er geen.

MORE:
Likelihoods=That from which a conclusion may be drawn, appearances, sign, indication
Misdoubt=Suspicion, diffidence, apprehension; have dounts as to
Show=Sign
Compleat:
Likelihood=Waarschynelykheid
Misdoubt=’t Onrecht twyffelen
Show=Vertooning

Topics: honesty, suspicion, caution

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more. Abandon all remorse.
On horror’s head horrors accumulate,
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed,
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Greater than that.
IAGO
Oh, grace! Oh, heaven forgive me!
Are you a man? Have you a soul or sense?
God buy you, take mine office. O wretched fool
That lov’st to make thine honesty a vice!
O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world,
To be direct and honest is not safe.
I thank you for this profit, and from hence
I’ll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence.
OTHELLO
Nay, stay. Thou shouldst be honest.
IAGO
I should be wise, for honesty’s a fool
And loses that it works for.

DUTCH:
Merk, merk op, gij wereld!
Oprecht en eerlijk zijn brengt fel gevaar! —
Ik dank u voor die les en voed voortaan
Geen vriendschap meer, komt dit zoo duur te staan.

MORE:
Probation=Proof
Never pray more=Give up on praying
Take mine office=Dismiss me from my position
Make honesty a vice=Take honesty too far, to a fault
Profit=Lesson, improvement
Sith=Since, as, seeing that
Compleat:
Sith=Naardien, nademaal
Sith that=Sedert dat
Profit=Voordeel, gewin, nut, profyt, winst, baat
Probation=Een proef, proeve

Topics: honesty, truth, learning/education

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Ulysses
CONTEXT:
ULYSSES
Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,
A great-sized monster of ingratitudes:
Those scraps are good deeds past; which are devoured
As fast as they are made, forgot as soon
As done: perseverance, dear my lord,
Keeps honour bright: to have done is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mockery. Take the instant way;
For honour travels in a strait so narrow,
Where one but goes abreast: keep then the path;
For emulation hath a thousand sons
That one by one pursue: if you give way,
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an entered tide, they all rush by
And leave you hindmost;
Or like a gallant horse fall’n in first rank,
Lie there for pavement to the abject rear,
O’er-run and trampled on: then what they do in present,
Though less than yours in past, must o’ertop yours;
For time is like a fashionable host
That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand,
And with his arms outstretched, as he would fly,
Grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles,
And farewell goes out sighing. O, let not virtue seek
Remuneration for the thing it was; (…)

DUTCH:
Treed immer voort, terstond,
Want de eere wandelt op een pad, welks smalte
Voor  en slechts ruimte heeft.

MORE:
Time was originally personified as a money collector for Forgetfulness, based on an old saying

Wallet=Satchel, beggar’s bag
Alms=Donations
Mail=Armour
One but goes abreast=Single file
Instant=Direct
Strait=Narrow passage
Forthright=Straight path
Rank=Row
Abject=Worthless
Calumniating=Slandering
Touch of nature=Natural trait
Gawds=Trivia
Laud=Praise
Overtop=Surpass
Emulous=Envying, rivalry
Faction=Taking sides
Compleat:
Wallet=Knapzak
Alms=Een aalmoes
Mail=Een maalie-wambes, maalijen-kolder
Abreast=Naast malkander
Instant=Aanhoudende, dringende
Strait=Eng, naauw, bekrompen, strikt
Rank=Rang, waardigheid
Abject=Veracht, gering, snood, lafhartig, verworpen
To calumniate=Lasteren, schandvlekken, eerrooven
Gawd=Wisje-wasjes, beuzelingen
To laud=Looven, pryzen
Over-top=Te boven gaan, overschryden
Emulous=Naayverig, nydig
Faction=Samenrotting, saamenspanning, oproerige party, rot, aanhang, partyschap, verdeeldheid

Burgersdijk notes
Ja, Mars tot strijden dreef. Hiervan maakt Homerus gewag.

Topics: honesty, value, integrity, respect, reputation

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Enobarbus
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
Thou art a soldier only. Speak no more.
ENOBARBUS
That truth should be silent, I had almost forgot.
ANTONY
You wrong this presence. Therefore speak no more.
ENOBARBUS
Go to, then. Your considerate stone.
CAESAR
I do not much dislike the matter, but
The manner of his speech, for ’t cannot be
We shall remain in friendship, our conditions
So diff’ring in their acts. Yet if I knew
What hoop should hold us stanch, from edge to edge
O’ th’ world I would pursue it.

DUTCH:
Dat de waarheid zwijgen moet, had ik bijna vergeten./
Ik had haast vergeten, dat de waarheid moet zwijgen.

MORE:
Proverb: The truth should be silent

Presence=Company
Considerate stone=Still, silent and capable of thought
Conditions=Dispositions
Staunch=Strong, watertight
Compleat:
Presence=Tegenwoordigheyd, byzyn, byweezen
Considerate=Omzigtig, bedachtzaam
Condition=Aardt, gesteltenis

Topics: truth, status, honesty, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Duke
CONTEXT:
The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good:
the goodness that is cheap in beauty makes beauty
brief in goodness; but grace, being the soul of
your complexion, shall keep the body of it ever fair.

DUTCH:
De hand, die u schoon deed zijn, heeft u ook goed
doen zijn.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Grace=Virtue
Soul=Denoting the chief part and quintessence of a thing
(Compleat)
Grace=Genade, gunst, bevalligheyd, fraajigheyd, aardige zwier
Soul=Ziel, leven geevende kragt, leevensgeesten

Topics: good and bad, virtue, honesty, innocence

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Angelo
CONTEXT:
’Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
Another thing to fall. I not deny,
The jury, passing on the prisoner’s life,
May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try. But justice takes the opportunities it has; who knows what laws thieves pass against other thieves?

DUTCH:
k Loochen niet,
Dat onder de gezwoor’nen voor een halszaak
Het twaalftal licht éen dief, zelfs twee, kan tellen,
Wier schuld die des gedaagden overtreft;

MORE:

Topics: law/legal, justice, guilt, honesty, judgment

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Dromio of Syracuse
CONTEXT:
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
The plainer dealer, the sooner lost. Yet he loseth it in a kind of jollity.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
For what reason?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
For two, and sound ones too.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
Nay, not sound, I pray you.
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
Sure ones, then.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
Nay, not sure, in a thing falsing.
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
Certain ones, then.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
Name them.
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
The one, to save the money that he spends in tiring; the other, that at dinner they should not drop in his porridge.

DUTCH:
Hoe onnoozeler iemand is, des te eer zorgt hij het
kwijt te raken; maar hij verliest het met een soort van
genot.

MORE:
Proverb: The properer (honester) man the worse luck

Falsing=Deceptive
Tiring=Hairdressing
Sound=Both ‘valid’ and ‘healthy’
Compleat:
Plain dealing=Oprechte handeling
To tire=Optoooijen, de kap zetten
Sound (healthful)=Gezond
Sound (whole)=Gaaf
Sound (judicious)=Verstandig, schrander, gegrond

Topics: honesty, gullibility, satisfaction, fate/destiny, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Messenger
CONTEXT:
MESSENGER
Lord Rivers and Lord Grey are sent to Pomfret,
And, with them, Sir Thomas Vaughan, prisoners.
DUCHESS
Who hath committed them?
MESSENGER
The mighty dukes, Gloucester and Buckingham.
ARCHBISHOP
For what offence?
MESSENGER
The sum of all I can, I have disclosed.
Why, or for what, the nobles were committed
Is all unknown to me, my gracious lord.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Ay me! I see the ruin of my house.
The tiger now hath seized the gentle hind.
Insulting tyranny begins to jut
Upon the innocent and aweless throne.
Welcome, destruction, blood, and massacre.
I see, as in a map, the end of all.

DUTCH:
Ik heb gemeld al wat ik melden kan .
Waarom, waarvoor die eed’len zijn gevat,
Is mij volkomen onbekend, mylord.

MORE:
Pomfret (or Pontefract)=A castle in Yorkshire, often used for political prisoners
All I can=All I know
Jut=Encroach, disrespect
Aweless=Not inspiring reverence
Map=Picture
Compleat:
To jut over=Voorover hellen, uytsteeken
Jutting out=Overhellende
Awed=Afgeschrikt, in ontzach gehouden
Map=Kaart, landkaart

Topics: honesty, communication, intellect, news

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
PISANIO
Sir, my life is yours;
I humbly set it at your will; but, for my mistress,
I nothing know where she remains, why gone,
Nor when she purposes return. Beseech your highness,
Hold me your loyal servant.
FIRST LORD
Good my liege,
The day that she was missing he was here:
I dare be bound he’s true and shall perform
All parts of his subjection loyally. For Cloten,
There wants no diligence in seeking him,
And will, no doubt, be found.
CYMBELINE
The time is troublesome.
We’ll slip you for a season; but our jealousy
Does yet depend.

DUTCH:
t Is een tijd van onrust. —
Ge ontsnapt voor ditmaal; doch mijn argwaan houdt
U steeds in ‘t oog.

MORE:
Purposes=Intends to
Hold=Consider
Subjection=Actions as a subject
Troublesome=Dire
Slip you=Leave you alone
Jealousy=Suspicion
Does yet depend=Hasn’t yet gone
Compleat:
To purpose=Voorneemen, voorhebben
To hold=Houden, vatten
Subjection=Onderwerping, onderdaanigheyd
Jealousy=Achterdocht, argwaan

Topics: work, loyalty, honesty

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Ford
CONTEXT:
FORD
Believe it, for you know it. There is money; spend
it, spend it; spend more; spend all I have; only
give me so much of your time in exchange of it, as
to lay an amiable siege to the honesty of this
Ford’s wife: use your art of wooing; win her to
consent to you: if any man may, you may as soon as
any.
FALSTAFF
Would it apply well to the vehemency of your
affection, that I should win what you would enjoy?
Methinks you prescribe to yourself very preposterously.
FORD
O, understand my drift. She dwells so securely on
the excellency of her honour, that the folly of my
soul dares not present itself: she is too bright to
be looked against. Now, could I could come to her
with any detection in my hand, my desires had
instance and argument to commend themselves: I
could drive her then from the ward of her purity,
her reputation, her marriage-vow, and a thousand
other her defences, which now are too too strongly
embattled against me. What say you to’t, Sir John?

DUTCH:
Geloof dit, want gij weet het zelf. — Hier is geld;
verbruik het, verbruik het; verbruik meer; verbruik al
wat ik heb;

MORE:
Amiable=Amorous
Honesty=Fidelity
Apply well=Be effective as a remedy
Vehemency=Intensity
Dwells so securely=Stands so confidently
Against=At
Detection=Exposure, blame
Instance=Precedent
Ward=Defence
Compleat:
Amiable=Lieflyk, minlyk, minzaam
Honest=Eerlyk, oprecht, vroom
Vehemency=Heftigheid
Detection=Ontdekking
Instance=Exempel
Ward=Op wacht zyn

Topics: money|marriage|reputation|honesty

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Bassanio
CONTEXT:
BASSANIO
So may the outward shows be least themselves.
The world is still deceived with ornament.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil? In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.
How many cowards whose hearts are all as false
As stairs of sand wear yet upon their chins
The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars,
Who, inward searched, have livers white as milk,
And these assume but valour’s excrement
To render them redoubted…

DUTCH:
Ge§en boosheid, die de slimheid mist, om zich
Met de’ uiterlijken schijn van deugd te sieren.

MORE:
No vice so simple=any vice can be disguised.
‘Stairs of sand’ to convey the idea of weakness and instability was coined by Shakespeare.
Also used as the title for a 1929 silent film.

See also:
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil?

Simple=Silly, witless, weak in intellect.
Livers white as milk – white livers used to signify cowardice. Hence lily-livered (Macbeth, 5.3) and milk-livered (King Lear, 4.2), both compounds coined by Shakespeare
Compleat:
White livered=Een die ‘er altyd bleek uitziet, een bleek-neus, kwaaraardig, nydig.
Simple=Zot, dwaas, onnozel

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

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

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

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

Topics: honour, courage, honesty

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Duncan
CONTEXT:
There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face.
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.

DUTCH:
Er is geen kunst,
Die ‘s menschen ziel leert lezen op ‘t gelaat

MORE:

Schmidt:
Art=The power of doing something not taught by nature, skill, dexterity
Construction=Interpretation
Compleat:
Art (Cunning or Industry)=Behendigheid, gebranderheid, narstigheid
Construction=Saamenstelling, saamenvoeging, gebouw, uitlegging
We ought to make the best construction of other men’s words=Men behoort de woorden van anderen ten besten te duiden
Construction=Woordenschikking
Proverbs: “The face is the index of the heart” (1575) or the older proverb “Deem not after the face” (1395)
CITED IN IRISH LAW:
Doherty (A. P. U. M.) -v- Quigley [2011] IEHC 361 (05 July 2011)/[2011] IEHC 361
CITED IN US LAW:
U.S. v. Vines, 214 F.Supp. 642, 645 (N.D.N.Y. 1963)(Foley, J.);
CITED IN EU LAW:
W. -v- W. [2009] IEHC 542 (18 December 2009) (cited in turn in High Court of Ireland, McDonald -v- Conroy & Ors [2017] IEHC 559 (09 October 2017))
‘In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Duncan says about the deceitful main character: “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face: he was a gentlemen on whom I built an absolute trust”.’

Topics: appearance, deceit, trust, honesty, cited in law, still in use, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Katherine
CONTEXT:
QUEEN KATHERINE
Speak it here.
There’s nothing I have done yet, o’ my conscience,
Deserves a corner. Would all other women
Could speak this with as free a soul as I do.
My lords, I care not, so much I am happy
Above a number, if my actions
Were tried by ev’ry tongue, ev’ry eye saw ’em,
Envy and base opinion set against ’em,
I know my life so even. If your business
Seek me out, and that way I am wife in,
Out with it boldly. Truth loves open dealing

DUTCH:
Spreekt vrij hier.
Op mijn geweten, niets wat ik ooit deed
Behoeft een schuilhoek.

MORE:
Proverb: Truth seeks no corners
Proverb: Truth’s tale is simple (Truth is plain)
Would=If only
Above a number=More than many
Even=Pure, flawless
Compleat:
Would=’t was te wenschen dat; it zou ‘t wel willen
Even=Effen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, truth, honesty

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Menenius
CONTEXT:
MENENIUS
Why, then you should discover a brace of
unmeriting, proud, violent, testy magistrates, alias
fools, as any in Rome.
SICINIUS
Menenius, you are known well enough, too.
MENENIUS
I am known to be a humorous patrician, and one that
loves a cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying
Tiber in’t; said to be something imperfect in
favouring the first complaint; hasty and tinder-like
upon too trivial motion; one that converses more
with the buttock of the night than with the forehead
of the morning: what I think I utter, and spend my
malice in my breath. Meeting two such wealsmen as
you are—I cannot call you Lycurguses—if the drink
you give me touch my palate adversely, I make a
crooked face at it. I can’t say your worships have
delivered the matter well, when I find the ass in
compound with the major part of your syllables: and
though I must be content to bear with those that say
you are reverend grave men, yet they lie deadly that
tell you you have good faces. If you see this in
the map of my microcosm, follows it that I am known
well enough too? what barm can your bisson
conspectuities glean out of this character, if I be
known well enough too?

DUTCH:
En hoewel ik het mij getroosten moet hen te laten uitspreken, die u eerbied-wardige mannen van gewicht noemen, vertellen toch zij, die zeggen, dat gij redelijk goede gezichten hebt, een leugen om van te barsten.

MORE:
Humorous=Capricious, whimsical
Converses more=Is more conversant with
Too trivial motion=Too trifling a provocation
Spend my malice in my breath=Vent my anger in words
Weal=(1) Welfare, prosperity, happiness; (2) Commonwealth, body politic
Wealsmen=Legislators
Testy=Easily angry, fretful, peevish
Motion=Incitement
Delivered=Spoken, presented
Good faces=(1) Honest faces; (2) Handsome faces
Reverend=Entitled to respect, venerable
Bisson (beesom)=Purblind
Conspectuities=Sight, vision
Glean=Conclude, infer
Map of my microcosm=Face
Compleat:
To deliver (or speak out in discourse)=Een redevoering doen
Purblind=Stikziende
The common-weal=’t Welvaaren van ‘t algemeen
A common-wealths man=Een republyks gezinde
Testy=Korzel, kribbig, gramsteurig, gemelyk
Crooked=Krom, geboogen, scheef

Topics: insult, perception, appearance, truth, honesty, deceit

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: Prologue
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
PROLOGUE
If we offend, it is with our good will.
That you should think we come not to offend,
But with good will. To show our simple skill,
That is the true beginning of our end.
Consider then we come but in despite.
We do not come as minding to contest you,
Our true intent is. All for your delight
We are not here. That you should here repent you,
The actors are at hand, and by their show
You shall know all that you are like to know.
THESEUS
This fellow doth not stand upon points.
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.

DUTCH:
Die knaap let niet bijzonder op komma’s en punten.

MORE:
Quince alters the meaning of the Prologue completely by speaking punctuation in the wrong places.

Minding=Intending
Stand upon=Be concerned with
Points=Punctuation
Compleat:
Minded=Gezind, betracht
To stand upon punctilio’s=Op vodderyen staan blyven
To point=Met punten of stippen onderscheyden, punteeren

Topics: language, offence, life, truth, honesty

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
This fellow’s of exceeding honesty
And knows all quantities, with a learnèd spirit,
Of human dealings. If I do prove her haggard,
Though that her jesses were my dear heartstrings,
I’d whistle her off and let her down the wind
To prey at fortune. Haply, for I am black
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have, or for I am declined
Into the vale of years—yet that’s not much—
She’s gone, I am abused, and my relief
Must be to loathe her. Oh, curse of marriage
That we can call these delicate creatures ours
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad
And live upon the vapor of a dungeon
Than keep a corner in the thing I love
For others’ uses. Yet ’tis the plague to great ones,
Prerogatived are they less than the base.
‘Tis destiny unshunnable, like death.
Even then this forkèd plague is fated to us
When we do quicken. Look where she comes.
If she be false, heaven mocked itself.
I’ll not believe ’t.

DUTCH:
Die mensch is bij uitnemendheid rechtschapen
En blikt met scherpen geest in alle diepten
Van ‘s menschen doen.

MORE:
Jesses=Straps of leather or silk, with which hawks were tied by the legs
Haggard=Intractable, wild (as an untrained hawk)
Whistle off=Call of falconers (Johnson: the falconers always let fly the hawk against the wind; if she flies with the wind behind her, she seldom returns. If therefore a hawk was for any reason to be dismissed, she was let down the wind, and from that time shifted for herself and preyed at fortune)
Soft parts of conversation=Social arts
Haply=Perhaps
Chamberers=Gallants
Prerogatived=Privileged
Compleat:
Learnèd=Geleerd
Haply=Misschien
Chamberer=Kamermeyd, kamenier

Blijkt zij me een woeste valk. Shakespeare noemt het woord valk niet. maar bezigt het woord haggard,
dat juist voor een valk , die niet gehoorzaam wil worden, maar wild blijft, gebezigd wordt, en spreekt van de jesses, de veters of riemen, waarmee men den valk op de hand vasthoudt, van het gefluit, waarmeê men hem loslaat, en van het laten vliegen met den wind mee of voor den wind, waarna een valk zelden terugkeert, maar voor eigen rekening gaat jagen. In Sh.’s tijd was de valkerij met hare uitdrukkingen algemeen bekend en werd iedere toespeling er op onmiddellijk begrepen.

Burgersdijk notes:

Topics: honesty, learning and education

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IACHIMO
Thou’lt torture me to leave unspoken that
Which, to be spoke, would torture thee.
CYMBELINE
How! me?
IACHIMO
I am glad to be constrain’d to utter that
Which torments me to conceal. By villainy
I got this ring: ’twas Leonatus’ jewel;
Whom thou didst banish; and—which more may grieve thee,
As it doth me—a nobler sir ne’er lived
‘Twixt sky and ground. Wilt thou hear more, my lord?
CYMBELINE
All that belongs to this.
IACHIMO
That paragon, thy daughter,—
For whom my heart drops blood, and my false spirits
Quail to remember—Give me leave; I faint.

DUTCH:
Gij wilt mij folt’ren, als ik dat verzwijg,
Wat, als ik sprak, u folt’ren zou.

MORE:
Constrained=Forced
Quail=Shrink, cringe
Compleat:
Constrained=Bedwongen, gedrongen, gepraamd
To quail=Weerhouden, beteugelen; saamenrunnen, verflaauwen

Topics: language, secrecy, honesty

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
HAMLET
Then I would you were so honest a man.
POLONIUS
Honest, my lord?
HAMLET
Ay, sir. To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.

DUTCH:
Een eerlijk man te zijn in deze wereld, betekent één uit duizenden te zijn. /
Ja! Mijnheer, zooals ‘t op aarde toegaat, vindt men Op de tien duizend maar één eerlijk mensch /
Ja, menheer; fatsoenlijk zijn, in ‘t verloop dezer wereld, beduidt een man te zijn, uitgepikt uit tienduizend.

MORE:

Topics: honesty, value

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Clown
CONTEXT:
CLOWN
I know not where he lodges, and for me to devise a
lodging and say he lies here, or he lies there, were to
lie in mine own throat.
DESDEMONA
Can you inquire him out and be edified by report?
CLOWN
I will catechise the world for him, that is, make questions, and by them answer.
DESDEMONA
Seek him, bid him come hither. Tell him I have moved my lord on his behalf, and hope all will be well.
CLOWN
To do this is within the compass of man’s wit: and therefore I will attempt the doing of it.

DUTCH:
Dit te doen valt binnen het bereik van een gewoon menschenverstand en daarom wil ik wel beproeven het te doen.

MORE:

Devise=Invent
Lies=Lodges
Lie in the throat=A deliberate lie
Inquire out=Seek out by asking
Edified=Instructed
Catechise=To try by questions (allusion to instructional method)
Compass=Reach, range, scope Is it beyond the wit of man?)
Compleat:
Compass=Omtrek, omkreits, begrip, bestek, bereik
It is not within the compass of humane skill=’t Gaat het bereik van ‘s menschen verstand te boven
Catechise=In ‘t geloof onderwyzen, katechizeren; een vermaaning geven
Edify (to set examples of piety)=Stichten door een goed voorbeeld

Topics: skill/talent, intellect, truth, honesty

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Polonius
CONTEXT:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

DUTCH:
Wees eerlijk tegenover jezelf /
Wees voor u zelf waarachtig /
Blijf aan jezelf getrouw

MORE:
Oft-quoted list of maxims in Polonius’ ‘fatherly advice’ monologue to Laertes. Many of these nuggets have acquired proverb status today, although they weren’t invented by Shakespeare (here, for example, After night comes the day, c1475)

Quoted by Margaret Thatcher in 1989 conference speech:
Mr President, politicians come in many colours, but if you aspire to lead this nation: ‘This, above all, to thine own self be true.’ You don’t reach Downing Street by pretending you’ve travelled the road to Damascus when you haven’t even left home (Thatcher, 1989).

To thine own self be true. Current meaning=be honest with yourself
Wees eerlijk tegenover jezelf dan kun je tegen niemand oneerlijk zijn, dat staat als een paal boven water.

Topics: honesty, still in use, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Brutus
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
No, not an oath. If not the face of men,
The sufferance of our souls, the time’s abuse—
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
And every man hence to his idle bed.
So let high-sighted tyranny range on
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these—
As I am sure they do—bear fire enough
To kindle cowards and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen,
W hat need we any spur but our own cause
To prick us to redress? What other bond
Than secret Romans that have spoke the word
And will not palter? And what other oath
Than honesty to honesty engaged,
That this shall be, or we will fall for it?
Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls
That welcome wrongs. Unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt. But do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprise,
Nor th’ insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think that or our cause or our performance
Did need an oath, when every drop of blood
That every Roman bears—and nobly bears—
Is guilty of a several bastardy
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath passed from him.

DUTCH:
Beeedigt priesters, lafaards, sluwe reek’naars,
Stokoude stumperds, of het slaafsch geboefte,
Dat bij verguizing dankt; vergt onbetrouwb’ren
Een eed voor slechte zaken af.

MORE:
Faces=Expressions
Sufferance=Suffering
Time’s abuse=Corruption of the time
Betimes=Immediately
High-sighted=Arrogant, looking down
Lottery=Chance
Palter=Equivocate
Engaged=Pledged
Cautelous=Crafty, false; cautious
Even=Honest, unstained
Insuppressive=Undefeatable
Guilty of bastardy=Adulterated
Compleat:
Face=’t Aangezigt, gelaat, gedaante
Sufferance=Verdraagzaamheid, toegeevendheid
Betimes=Bytyds, vroeg
High-minded=Hoogmoedig, verwaand
Lottery=Lotery
To palter=Weyfelen, leuteren, haperen, achteruyt kruypen, aerzelen, bedektelyk handelen
To engage=Verbinden, verplichten, verpanden
Cautelous=Omzigtig, zorgvuldig
To even=Effenen, vereffenen, effenmaaken, gelykmaaken
To suppress=(to stifle, stop) Beletten, verhinderen, sluiten
Bastardy=Onechtheid

Burgersdijk notes:

Indien niet onze trekken. Het Engelsch heeft: If not the face of men, ,zoo niet der menschen gelaat”. Het gelaat is natuurlijk, wat op het gelaat te lezen staat, de droef heid om Rome’s vernedering; wat door het woord trekken genoegzaam is uitgedrukt. Dat er bij deze zamenzwering geen eed werd afgelegd, vond Sh. in Plutarchus; evenzoo dat zjj aan Cicero de zaak niet mededeelden, en wel omdat
zij vreesden, dat hij door de bedachtzaamheid van den ouderdom het vuur, voor de uitvoering noodig, zou trachten te temperen’ alsmede, dat Marcus Antonius op Brutus’ aandrang gespaard bleef.

Topics: promise, courage, honesty

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Duke Vincentio
CONTEXT:
ISABELLA
Let me hear you speak farther. I have spirit to do
anything that appears not foul in the truth of my spirit.
DUKE VINCENTIO
Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. Have
you not heard speak of Mariana, the sister of
Frederick the great soldier who miscarried at sea?

DUTCH:
Deugd is moedig en goedheid nooit bang./
Deugd is moedig en een good hart nimmer bevreesd.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Spirit=Vivacity, mettle, fire, courage
Foul=Wicket, impure
Spirit(2)=Mind, soul
Compleat:
Spirit=Moed
Foul=Valsch. Foul dealing=Kwaade praktyken, A foul aciton=Een slechte daad.
Spirit(2)=Geest

Topics: virtue, courage, honesty

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
Not so, my lord. Your ill angel is light, but I hope he that
looks upon me will take me without weighing. And yet in
some respects I grant I cannot go. I cannot tell. Virtue is of
so little regard in these costermongers’ times that true valor
is turned bear-herd; pregnancy is made a tapster, and hath his
quick wit wasted in giving reckonings. All the other gifts
appurtenant to man, as the malice of this age shapes them,
are not worth a gooseberry. You that are old consider not the
capacities of us that are young. You do measure the heat of
our livers with the bitterness of your galls, and we that are in
the vaward of our youth, I must confess, are wags too.

DUTCH:
De deugd is in deze kruidenierstijden zoo weinig in aanzien, dat echte dapperheid berenhoeder moet worden.

MORE:

Schmidt:
Angel=A coin (ill angel=false coin, a coin that is light (clipped)) (Every person was traditionally thought to have a good angel and a bad angel, sometimes appearing in the morality plays)
Regard=Opinion, estimation, or judgement
Costermonger=A petty dealer, a mercenary soul, (In these costermonger times: These times when the prevalence of trade has produced that meanness that rates the merit of every thing by money. Johnson)
Bear-herd (other passages have berrord, berard and bearard)=Bear leader
Pregnancy=Cleverness
Malice=Malignity, disposition to injure others
Liver=Regarded as the seat of love and passion
Gall=Source of bile, hence seat of rancour
Vaward=Vanguard
Wag=Light-hearted youth, joker

Compleat:
Costermonger (one who sells fruit)=Fruitkooper
Pregnancy of wit=Doordringendheid van verstand
Malice=Kwaadaardigheid, boosheid, spyt, kwaadheid
Wag=Een potsemaaker, boef
Vaward=Voorhoede

Topics: virtue, age/experience, money, honesty

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Menenius
CONTEXT:
VOLUMNIA
I know not where to turn: O, welcome home:
And welcome, general: and ye’re welcome all.
MENENIUS
A hundred thousand welcomes. I could weep
And I could laugh, I am light and heavy. Welcome.
A curse begin at very root on’s heart,
That is not glad to see thee! You are three
That Rome should dote on: yet, by the faith of men,
We have some old crab-trees here
at home that will not
Be grafted to your relish. Yet welcome, warriors:
We call a nettle but a nettle and
The faults of fools but folly.

DUTCH:
Wij noemen netels netels en de nukken
Van narren narrigheid.

MORE:
Crab-trees=Old men
Grafted to your relish=Changed to your liking
Folly=Mistake, weakness
Compleat:
Crab-tree=Een haagapppel boom
Crabbed=Nors, stuurs
Folly=Ondeugd, buitenspoorigheid, onvolmaaktheid
Relish (like or approve)=Aanstaan, goedkeuren, veel van houden

Topics: age/experience, emotion and mood, honesty, commnication

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Helena
CONTEXT:
LYSANDER
Why should you think that I should woo in scorn?
Scorn and derision never come in tears.
Look, when I vow, I weep. And vows so born,
In their nativity all truth appears.
How can these things in me seem scorn to you,
Bearing the badge of faith to prove them true?
HELENA
You do advance your cunning more and more.
When truth kills truth, O devilish holy fray!
These vows are Hermia’s. Will you give her o’er?
Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh.
Your vows to her and me, put in two scales,
Will even weigh, and both as light as tales.

DUTCH:
Uw dubbelhartigheid wordt zonneklaar;
Doodt trouwe trouwe, o booze heil’genstrijd !
Uw eed heeft Hermia; verzaakt gij haar?
‘t Weegt niets, die eeden, haar en mij gewijd;
Leg de’ eed aan haar, aan mij elk in een schaal,
Beide even licht, licht als een droomverhaal !

MORE:
In scorn=In mockery
Badge of faith=Tears
Advance=Increase
Cunning=Deceit
Truth kills truth=One truth cancels out another
Tales=Lies
Compleat:
In scorn=Spotswyze
Badge=Teken
Advance=Vordering, voortgang
Cunning=Loosheyd, listigheyd, behendigheyd
To tell tales=Verklikken, sprookjes vertellen

Topics: truth, appearance, love, promise, honesty

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Quickly
CONTEXT:
FENTON
Yes, marry, have I; what of that?
MISTRESS QUICKLY
Well, thereby hangs a tale: good faith, it is such another Nan; but, I detest, an honest maid as ever broke bread: we had an hour’s talk of that wart. I shall never laugh but in that maid’s company! But indeed she is given too much to allicholy and musing: but for you—well, go to.
FENTON
Well, I shall see her to-day. Hold, there’s money for thee; let me have thy voice in my behalf: if thou seest her before me, commend me.
MISTRESS QUICKLY
Will I? i’faith, that we will; and I will tell your
worship more of the wart the next time we have
confidence; and of other wooers.

DUTCH:
Wel, daar is een heel verhaal aan vast. — Goede
hemel, dat is mij een Anneken! maar, dat verzweer ik,
een meisjen zoo zedig, als er ooit een brood gesneden
heeft; — wij hebben wel een uur lang over die wrat
gepraat.

MORE:
Proverb: As honest a man as ever broke bread
Proverb: Thereby hangs a tale

Detest=Prconfotest (malapropism)
Allicholy=Melancholy
Have confidence=Confide in each other
Compleat:
Confidence=Betrouwen, vertrouwen, vrymoedigheyd, verzekerdheyd

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

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Shylock
CONTEXT:
DUKE
How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?
SHYLOCK
What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?
You have among you many a purchased slave,
Which—like your asses and your dogs and mules—
You use in abject and in slavish parts
Because you bought them. Shall I say to you,
“Let them be free! Marry them to your heirs!
Why sweat they under burdens? Let their beds
Be made as soft as yours and let their palates
Be seasoned with such viands”? You will answer,
“The slaves are ours.” So do I answer you.
The pound of flesh which I demand of him
Is dearly bought. ‘Tis mine and I will have it.
If you deny me, fie upon your law—
There is no force in the decrees of Venice.

DUTCH:
Doge.
Hoopt ge op gena, gij die er geen bewijst?
Shylock.
Wat vonnis zou ik duchten ? ‘k Doe geen onrecht.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
By 1993, “pound of flesh” had been used 120 times in courts without reference to Shakespeare. (See William Domnarski, Shakespeare in the Law)
Gates v. United States 33 Fed. Cl. 9 , 13 (1995);
Leasing Service Corporation v. Justice, 673 F.2d 70, 71 (2d Cir. 198l)(Kaufman,J.);
Eldridge v. Burns, 76 Cal. App.3d 396, 432, 142 Cal. Rptr. 845,868 (1978);
Jones v. Jones, 189 Mise. 186, 70 N.Y.S.2d lll, 112 (N.Y. C1v. Ct.1947).

Fie=Exclamation of contempt or dislike
Force=validity
Viands=Dressed meat, food
Compleat:
Fie (or fy)=Foei
Fy upon it! Fy for shame!=Foei ‘t is een schande!

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Brutus
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
No, not an oath. If not the face of men,
The sufferance of our souls, the time’s abuse—
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
And every man hence to his idle bed.
So let high-sighted tyranny range on
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these—
As I am sure they do—bear fire enough
To kindle cowards and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen,
W hat need we any spur but our own cause
To prick us to redress? What other bond
Than secret Romans that have spoke the word
And will not palter? And what other oath
Than honesty to honesty engaged,
That this shall be, or we will fall for it?
Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls
That welcome wrongs. Unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt. But do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprise,
Nor th’ insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think that or our cause or our performance
Did need an oath, when every drop of blood
That every Roman bears—and nobly bears—
Is guilty of a several bastardy
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath passed from him.

DUTCH:
Doch dragen zij,
Gelijk ik vast vertrouw, het vuur in zich
Om lafaards te doorgloeien, weeke vrouwen
Door moed te stalen, waartoe, medeburgers,
Dan nog een and’re spoor dan onze zaak
Als prikkel, dat wij redden?

MORE:
Faces=Expressions
Sufferance=Suffering
Time’s abuse=Corruption of the time
Betimes=Immediately
High-sighted=Arrogant, looking down
Lottery=Chance
Palter=Equivocate
Engaged=Pledged
Cautelous=Crafty, false; cautious
Even=Honest, unstained
Insuppressive=Undefeatable
Guilty of bastardy=Adulterated
Compleat:
Face=’t Aangezigt, gelaat, gedaante
Sufferance=Verdraagzaamheid, toegeevendheid
Betimes=Bytyds, vroeg
High-minded=Hoogmoedig, verwaand
Lottery=Lotery
To palter=Weyfelen, leuteren, haperen, achteruyt kruypen, aerzelen, bedektelyk handelen
To engage=Verbinden, verplichten, verpanden
Cautelous=Omzigtig, zorgvuldig
To even=Effenen, vereffenen, effenmaaken, gelykmaaken
To suppress=(to stifle, stop) Beletten, verhinderen, sluiten
Bastardy=Onechtheid

Burgersdijk notes:

Indien niet onze trekken. Het Engelsch heeft: If not the face of men, ,zoo niet der menschen gelaat”. Het gelaat is natuurlijk, wat op het gelaat te lezen staat, de droef heid om Rome’s vernedering; wat door het woord trekken genoegzaam is uitgedrukt. Dat er bij deze zamenzwering geen eed werd afgelegd, vond Sh. in Plutarchus; evenzoo dat zjj aan Cicero de zaak niet mededeelden, en wel omdat
zij vreesden, dat hij door de bedachtzaamheid van den ouderdom het vuur, voor de uitvoering noodig, zou trachten te temperen’ alsmede, dat Marcus Antonius op Brutus’ aandrang gespaard bleef.

Topics: promise, courage, honesty

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Adriana
CONTEXT:
ADRIANA
Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
Mightst thou perceive austerely in his eye
That he did plead in earnest, yea or no?
Looked he or red or pale, or sad or merrily?
What observation mad’st thou in this case
Of his heart’s meteors tilting in his face?
LUCIANA
First he denied you had in him no right.
ADRIANA
He meant he did me none; the more my spite.
LUCIANA
Then swore he that he was a stranger here.
ADRIANA
And true he swore, though yet forsworn he were.

DUTCH:
En zaagt ge, als tusschen wolken flikkerlicht,
Ook strijd des harten op zijn aangezicht?

MORE:
Tilt=Toss, play unsteadily
Meteor=A bright phenomenon, thought to be portentous, appearing in the atmosphere (perhaps electrically charged clouds or colours of the aurora borealis)
Austerely=Severely
Compleat:
To tilt=Schermen
Austerely=Straffelyk, strengelyk

Topics: love, appearance, honesty

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Flavius
CONTEXT:
FLAVIUS
No care, no stop! so senseless of expense,
That he will neither know how to maintain it,
Nor cease his flow of riot: takes no account
How things go from him, nor resumes no care
Of what is to continue: never mind
Was to be so unwise, to be so kind.
What shall be done? he will not hear, till feel:
I must be round with him, now he comes from hunting.
Fie, fie, fie, fie!

DUTCH:
Hij berekent niet,
Wat door zijn vingers druipt, wil niet bedenken,
Hoe ‘t voort kan gaan. Nooit was er een gemoed,
Bij zooveel onverstand zoo innig goed.
En wat te doen? Hij hoort niet eer hij voelt;
Toch, als hij van de jacht komt, zal ik spreken.

MORE:
Senseless=Insensitive, having no ear
Flow of riot=Destructive path
Till feel=Until he suffers, experiences
Be round=Speak plainly
Compleat:
Senseless=Gevoeleloos, ongevoelig, zinneloos
To riot=Optrekken, rinkinken, pypestellen
Riot=(in law, the forcible doing of an unlawful thing by three or more persons): Eene geweldenaary door drie of vier persoonen bedreven
To feel=Voelen, tasten, gevoelen, vewaar worden
Roundly=(Honestly, sincerely): Oprechtelyk, voor de vuist

Topics: caution, wisdom, money, honesty

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Banquo
CONTEXT:
ROSS
And, for an earnest of a greater honor,
He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor:
In which addition, hail, most worthy thane,
For it is thine.
BANQUO
What, can the devil speak true?
MACBETH
The thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me
In borrowed robes?

DUTCH:
Wat! spreekt de duivel waarheid?

MORE:
Schmidt:
Earnest=Subst., handsel, part paid beforehand as a pledge
Compleat:
Handsel, Hansel=Handgift
To give/take hansel=Handgift geeven/ontvangen
To hansel something=een ding voor ‘t eerst gebruiken
I took hansel before my shop was quite open=Ik ontving handgeld voor dat myn winkel nog ter deeg open was.

Topics: truth, good and bad, honesty, money, business

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: Lucius
CONTEXT:
LUCIUS
Then, noble auditory, be it known to you,
That cursed Chiron and Demetrius
Were they that murdered our emperor’s brother;
And they it were that ravished our sister:
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father’s tears despised, and basely cozened
Of that true hand that fought Rome’s quarrel out,
And sent her enemies unto the grave.
Lastly, myself unkindly banished,
The gates shut on me, and turned weeping out,
To beg relief among Rome’s enemies:
Who drowned their enmity in my true tears.
And oped their arms to embrace me as a friend.
I am the turned forth, be it known to you,
That have preserved her welfare in my blood;
And from her bosom took the enemy’s point,
Sheathing the steel in my adventurous body.
Alas, you know I am no vaunter, I;
My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
That my report is just and full of truth.
But, soft! methinks I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise: O, pardon me;
For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.

DUTCH:
Doch stil! mij dunkt, te verre dwaal ik af,
Mijn luttel doen zoo roemend; — o, vergeeft,
Elk prijst, is hem geen vriend nabij, zichzelf.

MORE:
Auditory=Listeners
Fell=Cruel
Cozened=Cheated
Fought out=Fought and settled
Vaunter=Boastful person
Patience=Endurance
Ragged=Rugged
Closure=End
Compleat:
Auditory=Een hoorplaats, gehoorplaaats
To speak before a great auditory=Voor eene groote menigte van toehoorderen redenvoeren
Fell (cruel)=Wreede, fel
To cozen=Bedriegen
To close=Overeenstemmen; besluiten; eindigen
To vaunt=Pochen, snorken, opsnuiven
Patience=Geduld, lydzaamheid, verduldigheid
To fight it out=Een geschil vechtenderhand beslissen

Topics: order/society, revenge, honesty, pride

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Page
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS FORD
We’ll try that; for I’ll appoint my men to carry the
basket again, to meet him at the door with it, as
they did last time.
MISTRESS PAGE
Nay, but he’ll be here presently: let’s go dress him
like the witch of Brentford.
MISTRESS FORD
I’ll first direct my men what they shall do with the
basket. Go up; I’ll bring linen for him straight.
MISTRESS PAGE
Hang him, dishonest varlet! we cannot misuse him enough.
We’ll leave a proof, by that which we will do,
Wives may be merry, and yet honest too:
We do not act that often jest and laugh;
‘Tis old, but true, Still swine eat all the draff.

DUTCH:
Aan de galg met dien ontuchtigen schelm! wij kunnen
hem niet genoeg beetnemen.
Bedriegen kan, zoo leere ons doen, de schijn;
Een vrouw kan vroolijk en toch eerbaar zijn;
Zij is niet slecht, die gaarne schertst en lacht,
Neem eer voor stille waat’ren u in acht.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW: Re. the definition of “honesty”: State v Snover, 63 NJL 382, 43 A. 1059 (1899)

Proverb: The quiet swine eats all the hogwash
Proverb: The humble (meek) lamb sucks its own dam and others also
Proverb: The still sow eats up all the draff

Merry=Talkative, cheerful, fun-loving, flirtatious
Honest=Truthful, also virtuous, chaste
Compleat:
Merry=Vrolyk
Honest=Eerlyk, oprecht, vroom

Burgersdijk notes:
Neem eer voor stille waat’ren u in acht. In het Engelsch staat hier het spreekwoord: „Stille varkens eten allen draf.” Ons spreekwoord is: „Stille waters hebben diepe gronden.”

Topics: cited in law|proverbs and idioms|honesty|loyalty

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Ford
CONTEXT:
FORD
When I have told you that, I have told you all.
Some say, that though she appear honest to me, yet in
other places she enlargeth her mirth so far that
there is shrewd construction made of her. Now, Sir
John, here is the heart of my purpose: you are a
gentleman of excellent breeding, admirable
discourse, of great admittance, authentic in your
place and person, generally allowed for your many
war-like, court-like, and learned preparations.

DUTCH:
En nu, Sir John, kom ik tot de kern van mijn plan: gij zijt een gentleman van fijne beschaving, bewonderenswaardig talent van praten, in de hoogste kringen gezien, invloedrijk door rang en persoon, algemeen geschat wegens uwe hoedanigheden als soldaat, als hoveling en als geleerde.

MORE:
Honest=Faithful
Shrewd construction=Suspicion
Great admittance=Admitted to elevated social circles
Authentic=Creditable
Preparations=Accomplishments
Compleat:
Honest=Eerlyk, oprecht, vroom
Shrewd=Loos, doortrapt, sneedig, vinnig, fel
Construction=Uytlegging, Zamenstelling
Admittance=Toelaating, inwilliging
Authentick, authentical=Eygen-geloofwaardig, goedgekeurd, achtbaar, geloofwaardig
Preparation=Toerusting, voorbereyding, voorbereydsel

Topics: law/legal|proverbs and idioms|honesty|status|learning/education|reputation

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Cassio
CONTEXT:
IAGO
As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some
bodily wound. There is more sense in that than in
reputation. Reputation is an idle and most false
imposition, oft got without merit and lost without
deserving. You have lost no reputation at all unless you
repute yourself such a loser. What, man, there are ways
to recover the general again. You are but now cast in
his mood, a punishment more in policy than in malice,
even so as one would beat his offenceless dog to
affright an imperious lion. Sue to him again and he’s
yours.
CASSIO
I will rather sue to be despised than to deceive so good a commander with so slight, so drunken, and so indiscreet an officer. Drunk? And speak parrot? And squabble? Swagger? Swear? And discourse fustian with one’s own shadow? O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil!

DUTCH:
Kom, man, er zijn middelen om den Generaal weder te winnen; hij verstiet u slechts in zijn drift, een straf meer uit staatkunde dan uit boosheid; juist zooals iemand zijn onschuldigen hond zou slaan om een dreigenden leeuw af te schrikken.

MORE:
Proverb: A man is weal or woe as he thinks himself so

Cast=Dismissed
Mood=Anger
In policy=Public demonstration
Speak parrot=Nonsense
Fustian=Bombastic, high-sounding nonsense
Sue=Petition, entreat
Compleat:
To cast off=Afwerpen, verwerpen, achterlaaten
To cast his adversary at the bar=Zyn party in rechte verwinnen
To be cast=’t Recht verlooren hebben
Fustian (or bombast)-Gezwets, snorkery
Fustian language=Grootspreeking, opsnyery

Topics: punishment, judgment, excess, anger, honesty, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Cromwell
CONTEXT:
CHAMBERLAIN
’Tis now too certain.
How much more is his life in value with him!
Would I were fairly out on ’t!
CROMWELL
My mind gave me,
In seeking tales and informations
Against this man, whose honesty the devil
And his disciples only envy at,
You blew the fire that burns you. Now, have at you!

DUTCH:
k Voelde inwendig,
Dat gij, naar praatjes en berichten zoekend,
Om dezen man te schaden, aan wiens braafheid
De duivel en zijn jong’ren slechts zich erg’ren,
‘t Vuur aanbliest, u ter blaak’ring. Redt u thans!

MORE:
In value to=Worth
Mind gave me=I worried/had misgivings that
Tales=Rumours
Informations=Intelligence
Compleat:
To value=Waardeeren, achten, schatten
Tell tales=Verklikken

Topics: life, value, honesty

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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