CJTranslations - learning/education

QUOTES BY TOPIC

[H]aving both the key Of officer and office,
set all hearts i’th’ state To what tune pleased his ear.

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

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

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Retired=Withdrawn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

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

And more than that, he can speak French; and therefore he is a traitor.

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

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

MORE:

(See also Away with him! He speaks Latin)

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

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

Topics: learning/education, language, misunderstanding, perception

Are you a god? would you create me new?

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Antipholus of Syracuse
CONTEXT:
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE
Sweet mistress—what your name is else I know not,
Nor by what wonder you do hit of mine,—
Less in your knowledge and your grace you show not
Than our earth’s wonder, more than earth divine.
Teach me, dear creature, how to think and speak.
Lay open to my earthy gross conceit,
Smothered in errors, feeble, shallow, weak,
The folded meaning of your words’ deceit.
Against my soul’s pure truth why labour you
To make it wander in an unknown field?
Are you a god? would you create me new?
Transform me, then, and to your power I’ll yield.
But if that I am I, then well I know
Your weeping sister is no wife of mine,
Nor to her bed no homage do I owe.
Far more, far more, to you do I decline.
O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note
To drown me in thy sister’s flood of tears.
Sing, Siren, for thyself, and I will dote.
Spread o’er the silver waves thy golden hairs,
And as a bed I’ll take them and there lie,
And in that glorious supposition think
He gains by death that hath such means to die.
Let Love, being light, be drownèd if she sink.

DUTCH:
Zijt ge een godin, die mij vervormen wil?
Vervorm mij dan! ik geef mij in uw hand.

MORE:
Hit=Guess, discover
Gross conceit=Weak intellect
Folded=Concealed
Compleat:
To hit (succeed, happen)=Aankomen, gelukken, ontmoeten; (agree) over eens worden
I can’t hit of his name=Ik an niet op zyn naam komen
To conceit=Zich verbeelden, achten
Conceit=Waan, bevatting, opvatting, meening

Topics: understanding, error, intellect, learning/education, respect

Away with him, away with him! He speaks Latin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Topics: money, value, learning/education, language

Boys of art, I have deceived you both; I have directed you to wrong places

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Host
CONTEXT:
HOST
Peace, I say! hear mine host of the Garter. Am I
politic? am I subtle? am I a Machiavel? Shall I
lose my doctor? no; he gives me the potions and the
motions. Shall I lose my parson, my priest, my Sir
Hugh? no; he gives me the proverbs and the
no-verbs. Give me thy hand, terrestrial; so. Give me
thy hand, celestial; so. Boys of art, I have
deceived you both; I have directed you to wrong
places: your hearts are mighty, your skins are
whole, and let burnt sack be the issue. Come, lay
their swords to pawn. Follow me, lads of peace;
follow, follow, follow.

DUTCH:
Kinderen der wijsheid, ik heb u beiden bedrogen; ik heb u op verkeerde plaatsen besteld; en daar staat gij nu met heldenharten en heelshuids; en laat nu gebrande sek het einde zijn.

MORE:
Garter=Name of the inn
Politic=Devious
Subtle=Crafty, treacherous
Proverbs=Parables
No-verbs=Interdictions
Terrestrial=Priest
Celestial=Doctor
Art=Learning
Burnt sack=Heated wine
Issue=Outcome
Compleat:
Politick (or cunning)=Slim, schrander, doorsleepen
Subtle=Listig, loos, sneedig, spitsvindig
Proverb=Een spreuk, spreekwoord, byspreuk
Artful=Konstig, loos
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn

Topics: betrayal|conspiracy|deceit|learning/education|manipulation

But thou art deeper read, and better skilled

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Titus Andronicus
CONTEXT:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
How now, Lavinia! Marcus, what means this?
Some book there is that she desires to see.
Which is it, girl, of these? Open them, boy.
But thou art deeper read, and better skilled
Come, and take choice of all my library,
And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens
Reveal the damned contriver of this deed.
Why lifts she up her arms in sequence thus?
MARCUS ANDRONICUS
I think she means that there was more than one who did
this; yes, there was more than one. Unless she’s praying to
heaven for revenge.
TITUS ANDRONICUS
Lucius, what book is that she tosseth so?
YOUNG LUCIUS
Grandsire, ’tis Ovid’s Metamorphoses;
My mother gave it me.

DUTCH:
Er moet een boek zijn, dat zij wenscht te zien. —
Is ‘t een van deze, kind? — Doe ze open, knaap. —
Maar gij zijt meer belezen, hebt meer oef”ving;
Dus, doe een keus uit heel mijn boekerij,
En leid uw kommer af, totdat de hemel
Den gruwb’ren euveldader openbaart. —
Welk boek? —
Wat heft zij bij herhaling de armen op ?

MORE:
Deeper read=Better read
Take choice of=Choose from
Beguile=Cheat, deceive
Tosseth=Riffle through
Contriver=Plotter
Compleat:
To beguile=Bedriegen, om den tuyn leyden
Tossed=Gesold, geslingerd, geschud, geschokt, opgestuyt
To contrive=Bedenken, verzinnen

Topics: learning/education, revenge

Canst thou not guess wherefore she plies thee thus?

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

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

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

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

Topics: learning/education, madness, communication

Doth it not show vilely in me to desire small beer?

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
PRINCE HENRY
Faith, it does me; though it discolors the complexion of my greatness to acknowledge it. Doth it not show vilely in me to desire small beer?
POINS
Why, a prince should not be so loosely studied as to remember so weak a composition.
PRINCE HENRY
Belike then my appetite was not princely got, for, by my troth, I do now remember the poor creature small beer. But indeed these humble considerations make me out of love with my greatness. What a disgrace is it to me to remember thy name, or to know thy face tomorrow, or to take note how many pair of silk stockings thou hast—with these, and those that were thy peach-colored ones—or to bear the inventory of thy shirts, as, one for superfluity and another for use. But that the tennis-court keeper knows better than I, for it is a low ebb of linen with thee when thou keepest not racket there, as thou hast not done a great while, because the rest of the low countries have made a shift to eat up thy holland; and God knows whether those that bawl out the ruins of thy linen shall inherit His kingdom; but the midwives say the children are not in the fault, whereupon the world increases and kindreds are mightily strengthened.

DUTCH:
Misschien dan, dat mijn trek niet van vorstelijke afkomst
is; want, op mijn woord, ik herinner mij nu dien
armen duivel, dat dunnehier

MORE:

Small beer=Inferior, watered down beer
Loosely=Carelessly
Composition=(a)Weak (beer) (b) Details
Low countries=Brothels (with a pun on “Netherlands”)
Made a shift=Contrivance, trick
Holland=Linen
Kindreds=Families, populations

Compleat:
Small beer=Dun bier
Holland (Holland cloth)=Hollands linnen
To wear holland shirts=Hembden van Hollands linneb draagen
To make shift with any thing=Zich ergens mede behelpen

Topics: order/society, status, learning/education, excess

Experience is by industry achieved and perfected by the swift course of time

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Antonio
CONTEXT:
ANTONIO
Nor need’st thou much importune me to that
Whereon this month I have been hammering.
I have considered well his loss of time
And how he cannot be a perfect man,
Not being tried and tutored in the world:
Experience is by industry achieved
And perfected by the swift course of time.
Then tell me, whither were I best to send him?

DUTCH:
Ervaring wordt door vlijt en moeite erlangd,
En door den snellen gang des tijds gerijpt.
Doch spreek, waar zou ik best hem henen zenden?

MORE:
Hammering=Pondering
Industry=Assiduity, zealous activity
Importune=Urge, impel
Compleat:
To hammer out a thing=Iets met groote moeite bewerken
Importune=Lastig vallen, zeer dringen, gestadig aanhouden, overdringen, aandringen
Industry=Nyverheid, vytigheid, kloekzinnigheid, vernuftigheid
Industry (wit)=Behendigheid
To tutor=Berispen, bestraffen

Topics: learning/education, age/experience, time, work

Happy in this, she is not yet so old but she may learn

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Portia
CONTEXT:
PORTIA
You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand
Such as I am. Though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish
To wish myself much better, yet for you
I would be trebled twenty times myself—
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more
rich—
That only to stand high in your account
I might in virtue, beauties, livings, friends
Exceed account. But the full sum of me
Is sum of something which, to term in gross,
Is an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpracticèd;
Happy in this—she is not yet so old
But she may learn. Happier than this—
She is not bred so dull but she can learn.
Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted. But now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o’er myself. And even now, but now,
This house, these servants, and this same myself
Are yours, my lord’s. I give them with this ring,
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.

DUTCH:
Een meisjen, zonder kennis of ervaring,
Die zich gelukkig rekent, dat zij niet
Voor leeren te oud is; nog gelukkiger,
Dat zij voor ‘t leeren niet te stomp zich acht

MORE:
In gross=Frankly speaking
Dull [Welsh, Saxon]=Stupid, doltish, blockish, unapprehensive, indocile, slow of understanding. (Samuel Johnson)
Dulbrained=Stupid, doltish, foolish
Converted=Transferred
Happy=Lucky
Account=Estimate
But now=Just now
Vantage=Opportunity
Exclaim on=Accuse
Compleat:
To tell in general terms=In ‘t gros vertellen
Dull=Bot, stomp, dof, dom, loom, vadsig, doodsch
Dull-witted=Dom van verstand
Dull-pated=Haardhoofdig, dom
It dulls my brains=Het maakt myn verstand stomp

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

Have you the lion’s part written? Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am slow of study

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Snug the Joiner
CONTEXT:
SNUG
Have you the lion’s part written? Pray you, if it be,
give it me, for I am slow of study.
QUINCE
You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.
BOTTOM
Let me play the lion too. I will roar, that I will do
any man’s heart good to hear me. I will roar, that I
will make the duke say, “Let him roar again. Let him
roar again.”
QUINCE
An you should do it too terribly, you would fright the
duchess and the ladies, that they would shriek. And that
were enough to hang us all.

DUTCH:
Hebt ge de rol van den leeuw ook op papier? Och
toe, hebt ge ze, geef ze mij dan, want ik ben zoo hardleersch.

MORE:
Lion’s part=Lion’s share
Slow of study=Slow at learning (esp. a part)
Extempore=Improvised, off the cuff
Compleat:
Extempore=Voor de vuyst, opstaandevoet

Topics: learning/education, intellect, preparation

He felt himself, and found the blessedness of being little

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Griffith
CONTEXT:
GRIFFITH
This cardinal,
Though from an humble stock, undoubtedly
Was fashion’d to much honour from his cradle.
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one;
Exceeding wise, fair-spoken, and persuading:
Lofty and sour to them that loved him not;
But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
And though he were unsatisfied in getting,
Which was a sin, yet in bestowing, madam,
He was most princely: ever witness for him
Those twins of learning that he raised in you,
Ipswich and Oxford! one of which fell with him,
Unwilling to outlive the good that did it;
The other, though unfinish’d, yet so famous,
So excellent in art, and still so rising,
That Christendom shall ever speak his virtue.
His overthrow heap’d happiness upon him;
For then, and not till then, he felt himself,
And found the blessedness of being little:
And, to add greater honours to his age
Than man could give him, he died fearing God.

DUTCH:
Want toen, en toen eerst, voelde hij zichzelf,
En vond het zalig waarlijk klein te zijn.

MORE:
Fashioned=Moulded, raised
Ripe=Mature
Lofty=Proud, haughty
Art=Learning
Little=Humble, unimportant
Compleat:
Fashioned=Gevormd, gefatsoeneerd
Ripe=Ryp
Lofty=Verheven, hoog, hoogdraavend, moedig, verwaand, opgeblaazen, fier

Burgersdijk notes:
Die tweelingscholen Ipswich en Oxford. In 1525 stichtte Wolsey eene Latijnsche school in zijne geboortestad Ipswich, en een College in Oxford; hij doteerde deze inrichtingen met het vermogen van eenige kleine, door hem opgeheven kloosters. Na zijn val hief Hendrik VIII de school te Ipswich op; het College te Oxford hield hij in stand, doch eigende zichzelf de eer der stichting toe door het the King’s college te noemen, welken naam het nog ten huidigen dage draagt.

Topics: learning/education, intellect, persuasion, achievement

He gives me the proverbs and the no-verbs

DUTCH:
Zou ik mijn eerwaarde, mijn priester, mijn Sir Hugo kwijtraken? Neen, hij geeft mij de spreekwoorden en de nietwoorden.

MORE:
Garter=Name of the inn
Politic=Devious
Subtle=Crafty, treacherous
Proverbs=Parables
No-verbs=Interdictions
Terrestrial=Priest
Celestial=Doctor
Art=Learning
Burnt sack=Heated wine
Issue=Outcome
Compleat:
Subtle=Listig, loos, sneedig, spitsvindig
Politick (or cunning)=Slim, schrander, doorsleepen
Proverb=Een spreuk, spreekwoord, byspreuk
Artful=Konstig, loos
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn

Topics: betrayal|conspiracy|deceit|learning/education|manipulation

He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one; Exceeding wise, fair-spoken, and persuading.

DUTCH:
Hij was geleerd, en rijk in diepe kennis;
Zeer schrander, wijs, welsprekend, overtuigend..

Topics: learning/education, intellect, persuasion, achievement

His years but young, but his experience old; his head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Valentine
CONTEXT:
VALENTINE
I know him as myself; for from our infancy
We have conversed and spent our hours together:
And though myself have been an idle truant,
Omitting the sweet benefit of time
To clothe mine age with angel-like perfection,
Yet hath Sir Proteus, for that’s his name,
Made use and fair advantage of his days;
His years but young, but his experience old;
His head unmellowed, but his judgment ripe;
And, in a word, for far behind his worth
Comes all the praises that I now bestow,
He is complete in feature and in mind
With all good grace to grace a gentleman.

DUTCH:
In jaren jong, doch in ervaring oud,
Met overjeugdig brein, doch rijp in oordeel,
Is hij, kortom, — want hoe ik hem ook prijze,
Mijn lof schiet bij zijn waarde ver te kort, —
Volkomen, zoo van lichaam als van geest,
Door alles, wat een edelman kan aad’len.

MORE:
Omitting=Neglecting
Mine age=When I am of age
Unmellowed=Still young
Compleat:
Omitting=Nalaatende
To mellow=Rypen, ryp of murw worden

Topics: friendship, life, age/experience, learning/education, judgment

I am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such filth as thou art.

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

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

MORE:

Proverb: A new broom (besom) sweeps clean

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

Compleat:
Buckram=Gewascht doek, trilje
Besom=Beezem

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

Topics: learning/education, language

I do perceive here a divided duty

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Desdemona
CONTEXT:
DUKE
I think this tale would win my daughter too.
Good Brabantio. Take up this mangled matter at the best.
Men do their broken weapons rather use
Than their bare hands.
BRABANTIO
I pray you, hear her speak.
If she confess that she was half the wooer,
Destruction on my head if my bad blame
Light on the man.— Come hither, gentle mistress.
Do you perceive in all this noble company
Where most you owe obedience?
DESDEMONA
My noble father,
I do perceive here a divided duty.
To you I am bound for life and education.
My life and education both do learn me
How to respect you. You are the lord of duty.
I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband.
And so much duty as my mother showed
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord.

DUTCH:
k Zie, eed’le vader, hier mijn plicht gedeeld;
En ‘t leven dank ik u èn leer voor ‘t leven;
En beide, leer en leven, Ieeren wij
U te eeren, als Wien al mijn eerbied toekomt

MORE:
Mangled matter=Complex situation
Education=Upbringing
Learn=Teach
Challenge=Claim
Compleat:
Mangled=Opgereten, van een gescheurd, hakkelen
A liberal education=Een goede of ruime opvoeding
Learn=Leren
Challenge=Een uitdaaging, uittarting, beschuldiging; uitzondering, verwerping

Topics: duty, debt/obligation, relationship, marriage, learning/education, respect

I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgement:
But in these nice sharp quillets of the law,
Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Warwick
CONTEXT:
SOMERSET
Judge you, my Lord of Warwick, then, between us.
WARWICK
Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch;
Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;
Between two blades, which bears the better temper:
Between two horses, which doth bear him best;
Between two girls, which hath the merriest eye;
I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgement;
But in these nice sharp quillets of the law,
Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw.

DUTCH:
Hierin treed ik des noods als rechter op,
Maar in een rechtszaak vol haarkloverij,
Streeft licht een gans in slimheid mij voorbij.

MORE:
Sharp Quillets of the Law, title of a book by Charles S. Desmond, of stories based on decisions of the New York Court of Appeals, where he served as a judge
CITED IN US LAW:
Adams v. Aero Services International, Inc, 657 F.Supp. 519, 520 (E.D.Va.1987);
U.S. v. Caserino, 259 F.Supp. 784 (S.D.N.Y.1966);
Labat v. Bennett, 365 F.2d 698, 729 (5th Cir. 1966);
Bryans Road Building & Supply Co., Inc. v. Grinder, 46 Md. App. 10, 415 A.2d 615, 616 (1980)(Wilner, J.): In a contract dispute the court notes, “the ‘nice sharp quillets of the law’ are both weapon and shield, thrust and parry. Or, as appellant would say in this case, ‘my technicality prevails over your technicality.’ In the end, it is the court’ s technicality, unrecognized as yet by either party, that will prevail.”

Quillets=Subtleties
Pitch=Altitude
Deeper mouth=Louder bark
Bear him=Carries himself
Nice=Fine, subtle
Shallow=Superficial

Compleat:
Quillet=(The querks and quillets of the law): De kneepen en draaijen der Rechtsgeleerden
Pitch=Top
Shallow=Ondiep.
A shallow man=Een man van klein begrip; A shallow wit=Een dom verstand

Topics: cited in law, judgment, law/legal, learning/education

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

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

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

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

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

I know it well, sir; you have an exchequer of words, and, I think, no other treasure to give your followers

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Valentine
CONTEXT:
VALENTINE
Yourself, sweet lady, for you gave the fire. Sir Thurio borrows his wit from your ladyship’s looks, and spends what he borrows kindly in your company.
THURIO
Sir, if you spend word for word with me, I shall make your wit bankrupt.
VALENTINE
I know it well, sir; you have an exchequer of words, and, I think, no other treasure to give your followers, for it appears, by their bare liveries, that they live by your bare words.

DUTCH:
Ik weet wel, heer, gij hebt een schatkist vol woorden,
en, naar ik geloof, geen andere munt om uw dienaars
te betalen, want men mag uit hun kale livereien vermoeden
dat zij van uw kale woorden moeten leven.

MORE:
Fire=Spark, kindling; impetus
Kindly=Appropriately
Exchequer=Treasury
Bare=(1) Threadbare, shabby; (2) Mere
Compleat:
Exchequer=’s Lands Schatkist, de plaats daar ‘t geld tot de Kroon behoorende ontvangen wordt
Bare (of money)=Geldeloos; (bare in clothes) Bar in kleeding, kaal

Topics: friendship, language, learning/education, persuasion, insult

I once did hold it …
A baseness to write fair,

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
Being thus benetted round with villainies—
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains,
They had begun the play—I sat me down,
Devised a new commission, wrote it fair.
I once did hold it, as our statists do,
A baseness to write fair, and labored much
How to forget that learning, but, sir, now
It did me yeoman’s service. Wilt thou know
Th’ effect of what I wrote?

DUTCH:
Ik meende eens, op ‘t voorbeeld onzer staatsliên, Dat ‘t klerksch was mooi te schrijven /
Ik vond het vroeger, zooals staatslui nog, Een min ding mooi te schrijven /
Ik hield het eens – als onze staatsbestuurders – voor laag om fraai te schrijven.

MORE:
Yeoman or Yeoman’s service still in use: sterling work, good service
Schmidt:
Baseness=That which becomes a low station
Benetted=Snared
Yeoman=A gentleman servant
Statist=A statesman, politician
Compleat:
Statist=Staatkundige, staatsbedienaar

Topics: learning/education, still in use, invented or popularised

I shall the effect of this good lesson keep

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Ophelia
CONTEXT:
I shall the effect of this good lesson keep
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven
Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads
And recks not his own rede.

DUTCH:
Mij zal de leering de ter wijze les Tot wacht des hasten zijn /
Ik zal de werking van uw goede lessen Als ‘n wachter zetten bij mijn hart.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Watchman=One who is careful, vigilant. Ungracious=Impious, wicked.
Reck=To care for, to mind (heed)
Rede=Counsel
Compleat:
Watchman with a clapper=Klapperman

Topics: learning/education, wisdom

I would be loath to cast away my speech, for besides that it is excellently well penned, I have taken great pains to con it

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

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

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

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

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

If you can, pace your wisdom
In that good path that I would wish it go,

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Duke Vincentio
CONTEXT:
If you can, pace your wisdom
In that good path that I would wish it go,
And you shall have your bosom on this wretch,
Grace of the duke, revenges to your heart,
And general honour.

DUTCH:
Wees wijs, en volg, indien gij kunt, den weg,
Dien ik als goed u toon, dan zal de snoodaard
Ontvangen wat uw boezem wenscht

MORE:
Schmidt:
Pace=Train
Wisdom=The quality of being wise; applied with great latitude to any degree of the faculty of discerning and judging what is most just and proper, from the sapience of the sage to the sound discretion of policy or common sense
Bosom=desires, inmost thoughts and wishes
Compleat:
To pace=Een pas gaan
Wisdom (Prudence, discretion)=Voorzichtigheid, bescheidenheid

Topics: wisdom, judgment, learning/education, ambition, achievement

If you spend word for word with me, I shall make your wit bankrupt

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Thurio
CONTEXT:
VALENTINE
Yourself, sweet lady; for you gave the fire. Sir
Turio borrows his wit from your ladyship’s looks,
and spends what he borrows kindly in your company.
TURIO
Sir, if you spend word for word with me, I shall
make your wit bankrupt.
VALENTINE
I know it well, sir; you have an exchequer of words,
and, I think, no other treasure to give your
followers, for it appears by their bare liveries,
that they live by your bare words.
SILVIA
No more, gentlemen, no more:—here comes my father.

DUTCH:
Als gij, heer, u aan een woordenwisseling met mij
waagt, zal ik al uw geest bankroet maken.

Topics: friendship, language, learning/education, persuasion, insult

Ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.

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

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

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

Topics: money, value, learning/education, language

In faith, he is a worthy gentleman, Exceedingly well read and profited In strange concealments.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Mortimer
CONTEXT:
In faith, he is a worthy gentleman,
Exceedingly well read and profited
In strange concealments, valiant as a lion,
And as wondrous affable, and as bountiful
As mines of India.

DUTCH:
Hij is, geloof me, een waardig edelman,
Van veel belezenheid en door-ervaren
In diepe kunsten,

MORE:
Schmidt:
Worthy=Deserving praise, excellent (implying all the shades of meaning between simple approval and the highest veneration)
Profited=proficient
Concealments=Keeping secrets
Compleat:
A worthy man (man of worth)=Een waardig man
A worthy (virtuous or principled) man=Een man van goede grondbeginzelen
Concealment=Verberging, bedekking, geheimhouding, verzwyging

Topics: value, status, order/society, learning/education

Instructed by the antiquary times, he must, he is, he cannot but be wise

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Ulysses
CONTEXT:
ULYSSES
Thank the heavens, lord, thou art of sweet composure;
Praise him that got thee, she that gave thee suck:
Famed be thy tutor, and thy parts of nature
Thrice famed, beyond all erudition:
But he that disciplined thy arms to fight,
Let Mars divide eternity in twain,
And give him half: and, for thy vigour,
Bull-bearing Milo his addition yield
To sinewy Ajax. I will not praise thy wisdom,
Which, like a bourn, a pale, a shore, confines
Thy spacious and dilated parts: here’s Nestor;
Instructed by the antiquary times,
He must, he is, he cannot but be wise:
Put pardon, father Nestor, were your days
As green as Ajax’ and your brain so tempered,
You should not have the eminence of him,
But be as Ajax.

DUTCH:
Ik zwijg nog van uw wijsheid,
Want die begrenst gelijk een paal, steen, strand,
‘t Ruim veld van uwe deugden. Hier is Nestor;
Diep in de grauwende oudheid doorgedrongen,
Kan, moet hij wijs zijn, kan niet anders zijn

MORE:
Composure=Disposition
Parts of nature=Natural qualities
Erudition=Learning
Milo=Greek athlete who famously competed whilst carrying a bull on his shoulders.
Addition=Title, reputation
Bourn=Boundary
Pale=Fence; enclosure
Antiquary times=Antiquity
Father=Not literal, but a sign of respect
Green=Young, fresh; gullible
Eminence=Superiority
Compleat:
Composure of mind=Bezadigdheid des gemoeds
Parts=Deelen, hoedaanigheden, begaafdheden
Erudition=Geleerdheid
Addition=Bydoening, byvoegsel
Bourn=Een bron
To pale in=Met paalen afperken, afpaalen. Paled in=Rondom met paalen bezet, afgepaald
Green: (not ripe)=Onryp; (raw)=Een nieuweling
Eminence=Uytsteekendheyd, hoogte

Topics: learning/education, civility, wisdom, intellect

It shall serve among wits of no higher breeding than thine.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Prince Hal
CONTEXT:
POINS
How ill it follows, after you have laboured so hard, you should talk so idly! Tell me, how many good young princes would do so, their fathers being so sick as yours at this time is?
PRINCE HENRY
Shall I tell thee one thing, Poins?
POINS
Yes, faith, and let it be an excellent good thing.
PRINCE HENRY
It shall serve among wits of no higher breeding than thine.
POINS
Go to. I stand the push of your one thing that you will tell.

DUTCH:
Het zal voor geesten, die niet hooger staan dan gij, zijn dienst kunnen doen.

MORE:

Push=A thrust, calculated either to overturn something, or to set it in motion; hence attack, onset
Stand the push=Withstand the attack
Wits=intellects

Compleat:
To push=Stooten, duwen

Topics: intellect, equality, learning/education

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

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

Me, poor man, my library
Was dukedom large enough

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

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

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

Topics: learning/education, ambition, authority, status

Men that make envy and crooked malice nourishment dare bite the best.

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: Cranmer
CONTEXT:
CRANMER
My good lords, hitherto, in all the progress
Both of my life and office, I have labour’d,
And with no little study, that my teaching
And the strong course of my authority
Might go one way, and safely; and the end
Was ever, to do well: nor is there living,
I speak it with a single heart, my lords,
A man that more detests, more stirs against,
Both in his private conscience and his place,
Defacers of a public peace, than I do.
Pray heaven, the king may never find a heart
With less allegiance in it! Men that make
Envy and crooked malice nourishment
Dare bite the best. I do beseech your lordships,
That, in this case of justice, my accusers,
Be what they will, may stand forth face to face,
And freely urge against me.
SUFFOLK
Nay, my lord,
That cannot be. You are a councillor,
And by that virtue no man dare accuse you.

DUTCH:
Een mensch,
Die zich van haat en slinksche boosheid voedt,
Bijt driest den beste.

MORE:
No little=Significant
End=Objective
Ever=Always
Single=True
Urge against=Accuse
By that virtue=By virtue of that
Compleat:
End=Eynde, oogmerk
Ever=Altoos, altyd
Urge=Dringen, pressen, aandringen, aanstaan
By virtue of=Uyt krachte van

Topics: envy, work, learning/education, loyalty

Never was such a sudden scholar made

PLAY: King Henry V
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Canterbury
CONTEXT:
The courses of his youth promised it not.
The breath no sooner left his father’s body
But that his wildness, mortified in him,
Seemed to die too. Yea, at that very moment
Consideration like an angel came
And whipped th’ offending Adam out of him,
Leaving his body as a paradise
T’ envelop and contain celestial spirits.
Never was such a sudden scholar made,
Never came reformation in a flood
With such a heady currance scouring faults,
Nor never Hydra-headed willfulness
So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
As in this king

DUTCH:
Zoo plots’ling werd geen kweek’ling ooit gevormd;
Zoo, als een vloed, kwam nooit bekeering op

MORE:

Proverb: The old Adam
Proverb: As many heads as Hydra

Mortified=Struck down
The offending Adam=Innate depravity
Currance=Current
Hydra=Moster with proliferating heads
Seat=Throne

Compleat:
Hydra=Een monstreuze en fabel=achtige draak
To mortify=Dooden, tuchtigen, onderbrengen, quellen, den voet dwars zetten

Topics: learning/education, regret, good and bad

Nor need’st thou much importune me to that whereon this month I have been hammering

DUTCH:
Gij hebt geen sterken aandrang noodig, ‘t was
De gansche maand reeds niet uit mijn gedachten;
Ik overwoog reeds lang zijn tijdsverlies,
En hoe hij nooit een deeg’lijk man wordt, als
De wereld hem niet schudt en mondig maakt;

Topics: time, age/experience, work, value, learning/education

O, ’tis a verse in Horace; I know it well: I read it in the grammar long ago

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Aaron
CONTEXT:
DEMETRIUS
What’s here? A scroll; and written round about?
Let’s see;
‘Integer vitae, scelerisque purus,
Non eget Mauri jaculis, nec arcu.’
CHIRON
O, ’tis a verse in Horace; I know it well:
I read it in the grammar long ago.
AARON
Ay, just; a verse in Horace; right, you have it.
Now, what a thing it is to be an ass!
Here’s no sound jest! the old man hath found their
guilt;
And sends them weapons wrapped about with lines,
That wound, beyond their feeling, to the quick.
But were our witty empress well afoot,
She would applaud Andronicus’ conceit:
But let her rest in her unrest awhile.
And now, young lords, was’t not a happy star
Led us to Rome, strangers, and more than so,
Captives, to be advanced to this height?
It did me good, before the palace gate
To brave the tribune in his brother’s hearing.

DUTCH:
Een vers is ‘t uit Horatius; ik ken het;
Ik las het in mijn spraakkunst, lang geleên.

MORE:
Proverb: He touches him to the quick

“The man who is of pure life and free from crime needs not the bows and arrows of the Moor” (Horace)
Grammar=Latin grammar book. This is quoted in William Lily’s grammar, which was popular in Elizabethan schools
Just=Precisely
Sound=Straightforward
Afoot=Up and about
Conceit=Design, plan
Stranger=Foreigner
Brave=Confront, defy
Compleat:
Cut to the quick=Tot aan ‘t leeven snyden
Conceit=Waan, bevatting, opvatting, meening
To brave=Trotsen, braveeren, trotseeren, moedig treden
Sound=Gaaf
Stranger=Vreemdeling

Burgersdijk notes:
Integer vitae enz. Daar de regels uit Horatius (Od. 1. 22. 1.) zeggen, dat de reine en schuldelooze geen Mauretanische pijl en boog, met andere woorden, geen wapenen behoeft, is door de toezending van wapenen uitgedrukt, dat Tamora’s zonen niet rein en schuldeloos zijn. Als de slimme Tamora niet juist wegens hare zwangerschap onwel was, zou zij de schranderheid van den vond toelachen. — Men merke op, dat het adjectivische Manris van Horatius hier in Mauri “van den Moor”, veranderd is.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, learning/education, intellect, dignity, wisdom

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

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

Remember
First to possess his books, for without them He’s but a sot

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

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

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

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

Report speaks goldenly of his profit

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Orlando
CONTEXT:
ORLANDO
As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion
bequeathed me by will but poor a thousand crowns, and,
as thou sayest, charged my brother on his blessing to
breed me well. And there begins my sadness. My brother
Jacques he keeps at school, and report speaks goldenly
of his profit. For my part, he keeps me rustically at
home or, to speak more properly, stays me here at home
unkept; for call you that “keeping” for a gentleman of
my birth that differs not from the stalling of an ox?
His horses are bred better, for, besides that they are
fair with their feeding, they are taught their manage
and, to that end, riders dearly hired. But I, his
brother, gain nothing under him but growth, for the
which his animals on his dunghills are as much bound to
him as I. Besides this nothing that he so plentifully
gives me, the something that nature gave me his
countenance seems to take from me. He lets me feed with
his hinds, bars me the place of a brother, and, as much
as in him lies, mines my gentility with my education.
This is it, Adam, that grieves me, and the spirit of my
father, which I think is within me, begins to mutiny
against this servitude. I will no longer endure it,
though yet I know no wise remedy how to avoid it

DUTCH:
Mijn broeder Jacob heeft hij op school gedaan en de berichten over zijn vorderingen zijn schitterend;

MORE:
But poor=A measly, only (a miserable)
On his blessing=In order to obtain his blessing
Breed=Educate, bring up
School=University
Profit=Progress, advancement
Stays=Detains
Unkept=Unkempt
Fair with=Blossom because of
Manège=Paces
Dearly=Expensively
Bound=Indebted
Countenance=Behaviour, attitude
Hinds=Farmhands
Mines=Undermines
Compleat:
But=Maar, of, dan, behalven, maar alleen
Poor=(mean, pitiful) Arm, elendig
Blessing=Zegening
Breed=Teelen, werpen; voortbrengen; veroorzaaken; opvoeden
Profit=Voordeel, gewin, nut, profyt, winst, baat
To stay=Wagten
Dear=Duurgekocht
Bound=Gebonden, verbonden, verpligt, dienstbaar
Out of countenance=Bedeesd, verbaasd, ontsteld, ontroerd

Topics: learning/education, order/society, status, equality, legacy

Rude am I in my speech, and little blessed with the soft phrase of peace

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors,
My very noble and approved good masters,
That I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter,
It is most true. True, I have married her.
The very head and front of my offending
Hath this extent, no more. Rude am I in my speech,
And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace,
For since these arms of mine had seven years’ pith
Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used
Their dearest action in the tented field,
And little of this great world can I speak,
More than pertains to feats of broils and battle,
And therefore little shall I grace my cause
In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience,
I will a round unvarnished tale deliver
Of my whole course of love. What drugs, what charms,
What conjuration and what mighty magic—
For such proceeding I am charged withal—
I won his daughter.

DUTCH:
Ruw ben ik in ‘t spreken,
En schaars met vredes zachte taal begaafd;

MORE:
Rude=Raw, unrefined, uncivilized
Pith=Strength, force
Moon=month
Grace=To give, in any manner, a good appearance to, to set off, to adorn, to dignify, to exalt
Proceeding=Doing, action, course taken
Round=Plain
Conjuration=Incantation
Withal=With
Compleat:
Rude=Ruuw, onbeschouwen, plomp
Grace=Genade, gunst, bevalligheyd, fraaigheyd, aardige zwier
Proceeding=Voortvaaring, handeling
Conjuration=Zamenzweering, eedgespan, vloekverwantschap, bezweering

Topics: learning/education, language, defence

See; note how she quotes the leaves

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Titus Andronicus
CONTEXT:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
Soft! see how busily she turns the leaves!
What would she find? Lavinia, shall I read?
This is the tragic tale of Philomel,
And treats of Tereus’ treason and his rape:
And rape, I fear, was root of thine annoy.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS
See, brother, see; note how she quotes the leaves.

DUTCH:
Stil, zie, wat bladert zij er haastig in!

MORE:
Busily=Earnestly, actively
Would=Is hoping to
Philomel=Athenian princess raped by Tereus, who cut out her tongue to stop her talking
Root=Cause
Annoy=Pain, suffering
Quotes=Examines
Compleat:
To annoy=Beschaadigen, quetsen, beleedigne, afbreuk doen
To annoy the enemy=Den Vyand abreuk doen

Topics: learning/education, revenge

Take note! Take note, o world! To be direct and honest is not safe.

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

Tedious and brief? That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
THESEUS
[Reads]“The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung
By an Athenian eunuch to the harp.”
We’ll none of that. That have I told my love,
In glory of my kinsman Hercules.
“The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,
Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.”
That is an old device, and it was played
When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.
“The thrice three Muses mourning for the death
Of learning, late deceased in beggary.”
That is some satire, keen and critical,
Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.
“A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe. Very tragical mirth.”
“Merry” and “tragical?” “Tedious” and “brief?”
That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?

DUTCH:
Een treurspel en een klucht? kort en gerekt?
Dat klinkt als gloeiend ijs en heete sneeuw.
Wie wijst mij de eenheid van die tweeheid aan?

MORE:
Proverb: He that lives with the muses shall die in the straw (Learning ever dies in beggary)

The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals=The murder of Orpheus
Device=Show
Thrice-three=Nine
Sorting with=Befitting
Compleat:
Bacchanals=’t Feest van Bacchus, een slempfeest
Tipsy=Verbuysd

Burgersdijk notes:
Hercules. Hercules was zelf de held in den strijd met de Kentauren. — De zanger van Thracië is Orpheus. Men heeft vermoed, dat De negen Muzen enz. zou doelen op een gedicht van Spenser, The Teares of the Muses (1591), waarin de Muzen achtereenvolgens optreden om over het verval en de geringschatting van kunsten en wetenschappen te klagen. Ht gedicht is echter elegisch en niet een streng bijtende satyre.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, language, clarity/precision, learning/education

That is some satire, keen and critical

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
THESEUS
“The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung
By an Athenian eunuch to the harp.”
We’ll none of that. That have I told my love,
In glory of my kinsman Hercules.
“The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals,
Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage.”
That is an old device, and it was played
When I from Thebes came last a conqueror.
“The thrice three Muses mourning for the death
Of learning, late deceased in beggary.”
That is some satire, keen and critical,
Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony.
“A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe. Very tragical mirth.”
“Merry” and “tragical?” “Tedious” and “brief?”
That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?

DUTCH:
Dat is een strenge, bijtende satyre,
Volstrekt niet passend op een bruiloftsfeest.

MORE:
Proverb: He that lives with the muses shall die in the straw (Learning ever dies in beggary)

The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals=The murder of Orpheus
Device=Show
Thrice-three=Nine
Sorting with=Befitting
Compleat:
Bacchanals=’t Feest van Bacchus, een slempfeest
Tipsy=Verbuysd

Topics: proverbs and idioms, language, clarity/precision, learning/education

The courtesy of nations allows you my better, in that you are the first-born

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Orlando
CONTEXT:
ORLANDO
Shall I keep your hogs and eat husks with them? What
prodigal portion have I spent that I should come to such
penury?
OLIVER
Know you where you are, sir?
ORLANDO
O sir, very well: here in your orchard.
OLIVER
Know you before whom, sir?
ORLANDO
Ay, better than him I am before knows me. I know you
are my eldest brother, and in the gentle condition of
blood you should so know me. The courtesy of nations
allows you my better, in that you are the first-born,
but the same tradition takes not away my blood, were
there twenty brothers betwixt us. I have as much of my
father in me as you, albeit, I confess, your coming
before me is nearer to his reverence.

DUTCH:
De begunstiging van de volkswet erkent u als mijn meerdere, omdat gij de eerstgeborene zijt; maar ditzelfde aloud gebruik ontneemt mij het recht van mijn geboorte niet, al waren er twintig broeders tusschen ons in.

Topics: learning/education, order/society, status, equality, civility

Then learn this of me: to have is to have

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Touchstone
CONTEXT:
TOUCHSTONE
Then learn this of me: to have is to have. For it is a
figure in rhetoric that drink, being poured out of a cup
into a glass, by filling the one doth empty the other.
For all your writers do consent that ipse is “he.” Now,
you are not ipse, for I am he.
WILLIAM
Which he, sir?
TOUCHSTONE
He, sir, that must marry this woman. Therefore, you
clown, abandon—which is, in the vulgar, “leave”—the
society—which in the boorish is “company”—of this
female—which in the common is “woman” ; which together
is, abandon the society of this female, or, clown, thou
perishest; or, to thy better understanding, diest; or,
to wit, I kill thee, make thee away, translate thy life
into death, thy liberty into bondage. I will deal in
poison with thee, or in bastinado, or in steel. I will
bandy with thee in faction. I will o’errun thee with
policy. I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways.
Therefore tremble and depart.
AUDREY
Do, good William.
WILLIAM
God rest you merry, sir.

DUTCH:
Leer dan dit van mij. Hebben is hebben; want het
is een redekunstige figuur, dat drinken, als het van een
beker in een glas wordt overgegoten; het eene vol en
het andere ledig maakt

MORE:
Learn of=Learn from
Figure=Figure of speech
Ipse=He himself
Bastinado=Beating
Bandy=Compete
Faction=Insults
Policy=Art, cunning, skil
Compleat:
Figure (of grammer or rhetorick)=Eenbloem in de redeneerkunde
Bastinado=Stokslagen
Bandy=Een bal weer toeslaan; een zaak voor en tegen betwisten
Faction=Samenrotting, saamenspanning, oproerige party, rot, aanhang, partyschap, verdeeldheid
Policy (conduct, address, cunning way)=Staatkunde, beleid, behendigheid

Topics: learning/education, language, intellect

There is no darkness but ignorance

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Fool
CONTEXT:
FOOL
Madman, thou errest. I say, there is no darkness but ignorance, in which thou art more puzzled than the Egyptians in their fog.
MALVOLIO
I say, this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell. And I say, there was never man thus abused. I am no more mad than you are. Make the trial of it in any constant question.
FOOL
What is the opinion of Pythagoras concerning wildfowl?
MALVOLIO
That the soul of our grandam might haply inhabit a bird.

DUTCH:
Waanzinnige, gij dwaalt. Ik zeg, er is geen donkerheid
dan de onwetendheid; waarin gij meer bevangen
zijt, dan de Egyptenaars in hun nevel.

MORE:
Proverb: The hood (habit, cowl) makes not the monk
Puzzled=Bewildered
Fog=One plague in Egypt was the ‘black darkness’ (Exodus)
Haply=Perhaps
Constant=Logical, common sense
Question=Consideration, discussion
Compleat:
Puzzled=In ‘t naauw gebragt, verbysterd
Foggy=Mistig, mistachtig; log, loom
Haply=Misschien
Constant=Standvastig, bestending, gestadig
Question=Verschil, twyfel

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, learning/education, madness

This butcher’s cur is venom-mouth’d, and I have not the power to muzzle him.

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Buckingham
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
This butcher’s cur is venom-mouth’d, and I
Have not the power to muzzle him; therefore best
Not wake him in his slumber. A beggar’s book
Outworths a noble’s blood.
NORFOLK
What, are you chafed?
Ask God for temperance; that’s the appliance only
Which your disease requires.
BUCKINGHAM
I read in’s looks
Matter against me; and his eye reviled
Me, as his abject object: at this instant
He bores me with some trick: he’s gone to the king;
I’ll follow and outstare him.

DUTCH:
Een giftmuil heeft die slagershond en ik
De macht niet hem te breid’len; ‘t best is dus
Zijn slaap te ontzien

MORE:
Proverb: It is evil (ill, not good) waking of a sleeping dog
Proverb: As surly as a butcher’s dog
Cur=Dog (term of abuse)
Book=Learning
Outworths=Is worth more than
Chafed=Irritated
Temperance=Self-control
Appliance=Remedy (application)
Matter=Substance of a complaint
Abject object=Object of contempt
Bore=To bore into, wound
Trick=Art, knack, contrivance
Outstare=Face down
Compleat:
Cur=Hond (also Curr)
Chafed=Verhit, vertoornd, gevreeven
Temperance=Maatigheyd
Matter=Stoffe, zaak, oorzaak
Abject=Veragt, gering, snood, lafhartig, verworpen
Bore=Booren, doorbooren
Trick=Een looze trek, greep, gril

Burgersdijk notes:
Een giftmuil heeft die slagershond. Wolsey was uit Ipswich geboortig, en, zooals verhaald werd, eens slagers zoon. Twee regels later wordt gesproken van eens beed’laars boekgeleerdheid; het oorspronkelijke heeft, met deze beteekenis : a beggar’s book. — Hij was in 1470 geboren, ontving in Oxford zijne opleiding, werd in 1500 te Lymington als geestelijke geplaatst, in 1505 op aanbeveling van den bisschop van Winchester door koning Hendrik VII tot zijn kapelaan benoemd en in 1507 naar keizer Maximiliaan te Brugge afgevaardigd. De tevredenheid des konings over zijne diensten bleek uit de gunsten, die hem ten deel vielen. Na den dood van Hendrik VII, in 1509, ging Wolsey als aalmoezenier in dienst van Hendrik VIII over, wist zich door zijn geest, geleerdheid en welsprekendheid weldra bij zijn meester onontbeerlijk te maken en steeg ras in rang; in 1514 werd hij aartsbisschop van York en in liet volgend jaar werd hem door paus Leo X de kardinaalshoed verleend. Hij werd rijkskanselier en in 1516 ook pauselijk legaat; later werden hem nog drie andere bisdommen toegekend; bovendien was hem reeds in 1512 de abdij van Sint Albaan verleend. Zijne ruime inkomsten veroorloofden hem een vorstelijken staat te voeren en aan zijne neiging hiervoor gaf hij ruimschoots toe. Zijn trots kende geen grenzen; hertogen en graven des rijks behandelde hij als zijne minderen; als hij de mis las, moesten zij dienst doen. Vertoonde hij zich in het openbaar, dan was hij geheel in het scharlaken, met marterbont om den hals, en droeg in de hand een uitgeholden oranjeappel, die eene in azijn en fijne geurige wateren gedoopte spons bevatte, als voorhoedmidel tegen de slechte lucht in volle zalen; hij liet zijn kardinaalshoed en zijne bisschopskruisen voor zich uitdragen, alsook een beurs met het rijkszegel; een paar edellieden volgden om plaats voor hem te maken, en na dezen trawanten met vergulde hellebaarden; dan kwam hijzelf op een muildier met roodfluweelen schabrak en gouden stijgbeugels, gevolgd door een langen stoet van edellieden. Sh.’s tooneelaanwijzing op blz. 174 is dus ten volle gerechtvaardigd.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, learning/education, order/society

This is the deadly spite that angers me: My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mortimer
CONTEXT:
WORCESTER
In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame,
And, since your coming hither, have done enough
To put him quite beside his patience.
You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault.
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood—
And that’s the dearest grace it renders you—
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain,
The least of which, haunting a nobleman,
Loseth men’s hearts and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.
HOTSPUR
Well, I am schooled. Good manners be your speed!
Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
MORTIMER
This is the deadly spite that angers me:
My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.

DUTCH:
Dit is voor mij een dood’lijk grievend leed:
Mijn vrouw verstaat geen Engelsch, ik geen Welsch.

MORE:
Wilful-blame=Blameable on purpose, on principle; indulging faults, though conscious that they are faults. (Arden: blameworthy in the obstinacy or rashness of your behaviour. (…) Others explain as “
wilfully blameworthy” or “wilfully to blame,” comparing “wilful-negligent” in Winter’s Tale, i. ii. 255,)
Haunting=Affecting
Blood=Mettle, spirit
Want of government=Lack of self-control
Opinion= Conceit
Boiling them of commendation=Making them lose respect
I am schooled=I have learned my lesson
Compleat:
Commendation=Pryzing, aanpryzing, aanbeveling
Opinion=Waan
A man of government=Een gemaatigt Man
He hath not the government of his tongue=Hy kan zyn tong niet beteugelen

Topics: learning/education, civility, order/society, respect, language, blame

Thou hast appointed justices of peace, to call poor men before them about matters they were not able to answer.

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

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

MORE:

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

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

Topics: learning/education, language, order/society

Thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and a verb and such abominable words

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

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

MORE:

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

Topics: learning/education, order/society, language

Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school

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

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

MORE:

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

Topics: learning/education, language, order/society

Thou shalt be both the plaintiff and the judge of thine own cause

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

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

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

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

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

Thus to have said, as you were fore-advised, had touch’d his spirit

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

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

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

Topics: learning/education, dispute, language, communication

We make trifles of terrors, ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
LAFEW
They say miracles are past; and we have our
philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless. Hence is it that
we make trifles of terrors, ensconcing ourselves
into seeming knowledge, when we should submit
ourselves to an unknown fear.
PAROLLES
Why, ’tis the rarest argument of wonder that hath
shot out in our latter times.

DUTCH:
Men zegt, dat de tijd der wonderen voorbij is; en wij hebben onder ons wijsgeerige koppen genoeg, die bovennatuurlijke en onverklaarbare dingen tot alledaagsche en gewone zaken maken.

MORE:
Modern=Common, everyday
Causeless=Without explanation
Supernatural=Not produced according to the laws of nature, miraculous:
Ensconcing=Sheltering
Unknown fear=Recognition of the inexplicable
Compleat:
Causeless=Zonder oorzaak
Seeming=Schynende
A man of great seeming piety=Een man van eene groote uitwendige vroomheid
Trifle=Kleinigheid

Topics: learning/education, caution, understanding, justification

We turned o’er many books together. He is furnished with my opinion.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Duke
CONTEXT:
DUKE
With all my heart.—Some three or four of you
Go give him courteous conduct to this place.—
Meantime the court shall hear Bellario’s letter.
[reads]“Your grace shall understand that at the receipt of
your letter I am very sick, but in the instant that your
messenger came, in loving visitation was with me a
young doctor of Rome. His name is Balthazar. I
acquainted him with the cause in controversy between the
Jew and Antonio the merchant. We turned o’er many books
together. He is furnished with my opinion,
which—bettered with his own learning, the greatness
whereof I cannot enough commend—comes with him at my
importunity to fill up your grace’s request in my stead.
I beseech you, let his lack of years be no impediment to
let him lack a reverend estimation, for I never knew so
young a body with so old a head. I leave him to your
gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish
his commendation.”

DUTCH:
Wij hebben samen vele rechtsgeleerde werken nageslagen;
hij is volkomen met mijn inzichten bekend

MORE:
Proverb: An old head on young shoulders

Reverend=Testifying veneration, humble
Estimation=Value, worth
Turned o’er=Consulted
Publish=bring to light, show
Commendation=Value
Let=Cause (him to)
Compleat:
Reverent=Eerbiedig
Estimation=Waardeering, schatting
Publish=Openbaarmaken, bekendmaken

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

What is the opinion of Pythagoras concerning wildfowl?

DUTCH:
Wat is de leer van Pythagoras ten opzichte van het
wild gevogelte ?

MORE:
Proverb: The hood (habit, cowl) makes not the monk

Puzzled=Bewildered
Fog=One plague in Egypt was the ‘black darkness’ (Exodus)
Haply=Perhaps
Constant=Logical, common sense
Question=Consideration, discussion
Compleat:
Puzzled=In ‘t naauw gebragt, verbysterd
Foggy=Mistig, mistachtig; log, loom
Haply=Misschien
Constant=Standvastig, bestending, gestadig
Question=Verschil, twyfel

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, learning/education, madness

When I was sick, you gave me bitter pills, and I must minister the like to you

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Proteus
CONTEXT:
VALENTINE
O, flatter me; for love delights in praises.
PROTEUS
When I was sick, you gave me bitter pills,
And I must minister the like to you.
VALENTINE
Then speak the truth by her; if not divine,
Yet let her be a principality,
Sovereign to all the creatures on the earth.

DUTCH:
Mij gaaft gij, toen ik krank was, bitt’re pillen,
En ik verorden u dezelfde kuur.

MORE:
Proverb: To swallow (digest) a bitter pill

By her=To her
Minister the like=Treat equally
Principality=One of the nine orders of angels
Sovereign=Superior, ruler
Compleat:
To minister=Bedienen, toebedienen
Sovereign=Volstrekt, onafhangkelyk, oppermachtig
Principality=Een vorstendom, prinsdom

Topics: proverbs and idioms, equality, learning/education

Wherefore do you so ill translate yourself Out of the speech of peace

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Westmoreland
CONTEXT:
With your fair honours. You, Lord Archbishop,
Whose see is by a civil peace maintained,
Whose beard the silver hand of peace hath touched,
Whose learning and good letters peace hath tutored,
Whose white investments figure innocence,
The dove and very blessèd spirit of peace,
Wherefore do you so ill translate yourself
Out of the speech of peace, that bears such grace,
Into the harsh and boist’rous tongue of war,
Turning your books to graves, your ink to blood,
Your pens to lances, and your tongue divine
To a trumpet and a point of war?

DUTCH:
Waarom vertaalt gij thans zoo slecht uzelf,
Uit zulk een liefdevolle spraak des vredes
In deze woeste, ruwe taal des krijgs,
Verkeert ge uw inkt en schrift in bloed en graven,
Uw pen in oorlogslans, uw priestermond
In schrille krijgsklaroen en strijdsignaal?

MORE:

Civil=Grave, decent
Graves=This could be glaives (polearm weapon) or greaves (armour for the legs)
Figure=Symbolise, represent
Investments=Vestments
Good letters=Learning

Compleat:
Boisterous=Onstuimig, stormachtig, windig
Investment=Omcingeling, insluiting

Topics: learning/education, language, understanding

You are a gentleman of excellent breeding, admirable discourse, of great admittance, authentic in your place and person

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

You have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all gentlemanlike qualities

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Adam
CONTEXT:
ADAM
Sweet masters, be patient. For your father’s
remembrance, be at accord.
OLIVER
Let me go, I say.
ORLANDO
I will not till I please. You shall hear me. My father
charged you in his will to give me good education. You
have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding
from me all gentlemanlike qualities. The spirit of my
father grows strong in me, and I will no longer endure
it. Therefore allow me such exercises as may become a
gentleman, or give me the poor allottery my father left
me by testament. With that I will go buy my fortunes.

DUTCH:
Mijn vader gelastte u bij zijn uitersten wil mij een goede opvoeding te geven; gij hebt mij als een boer grootgebracht en alle edelmansbegaafdheden voor mij verduisterd en verborgen gehouden; de geest van mijn vader wordt sterk in mij en ik wil het niet langer verduren; daarom sta mij de oefeningen toe, die een edelman passen, of keer mij het armoedig erfdeel uit, dat mijn vader mij bij testament naliet; daarmee wil ik mijn geluk beproeven.

MORE:
At accord=Reconciled
Qualities=Accomplishments
Exercises=Pursuits
Allottery=Portion
Fortunes=Livelihood
Compleat:
To accord=Zich onderling verdraagen, eens worden
Qualities=Aart, hoedanigheid, eigenschap van een ding
To exercise oneself with …=Zich bezig houden
Fortunes=Leeven en goederen

Topics: learning/education, order/society, poverty and wealth

Your ‘if’ is the only peacemaker; much virtue in ‘if’

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Touchstone
CONTEXT:
TOUCHSTONE
I durst go no further than the lie circumstantial, nor
he durst not give me the lie direct, and so we measured
swords and parted.
JAQUES
Can you nominate in order now the degrees of the lie?
TOUCHSTONE
O sir, we quarrel in print, by the book, as you have
books for good manners. I will name you the degrees: the
first, “the retort courteous;” the second, “the quip
modest;” the third, “the reply churlish;” the fourth,
“the reproof valiant;” the fifth, “the countercheque
quarrelsome;” the sixth, “the lie with circumstance;”
the seventh, “the lie direct.” All these you may avoid
but the lie direct, and you may avoid that, too, with an
“if.” I knew when seven justices could not take up a
quarrel, but when the parties were met themselves, one
of them thought but of an “if,” as: “If you said so,
then I said so.” And they shook hands and swore
brothers. Your “if” is the only peacemaker: much virtue
in “if.”

DUTCH:
Zoo’n „indien” is de ware vredestichter; ontzachlijk
krachtig dat „indien”!

MORE:
Quarrel=To wrangle, to seek occasion of a fray, to pick a quarrel.
Met=Had come together
Peace-maker=One who composes differences
Compleat:
Quarrel=Krakeel; twist
A peacemaker=Een vreedemaaker, bevreediger

“O Sir, we quarrel in print: Ref. Fleming, A Panoplie of Epistles (1576), 357: Considering that whatsoever is uttered in such men’s hearing, must be done in print, as we say in our common proverb.

Burgersdijk notes:
Door een logenstraffing, zevenmaal herhaald. Hier en in het volgende wordt gezinspeeld op een boek, dat in 1595 in Londen werd uitgegeven, van Vincentio Saviolo, een schermmeester, waarschijnlijk uit Padua afkomstig en door Essex begunstigd. Het heet: „Vincentio Saviolo his Practise. In two Bookes. The first intreating of the use of the Rapier and Dagger. The second of honour and honourable Quarrels.” Van het tweede deel zegt de schrijver: A discourse most necessarie for all gentlemen that have in regard their honours, touching the giving and receiving of the Lie, where upon the Duello and the Combats in divers sortes doth insue, and many other inconveniences, for lack only of the trite Knowledge of honour and the contrary and the right understanding of wordes. Onder de hoofdstukken vindt men o. a.: What the reason is that the portie unto whom the lye is given ought to become Challenger: and of the nature of Lies; — Of the manner and diversitie of Lies; — Of Lies certaine; — Of conditionall Lies, enz.
Hier en daar ontleent Toetssteen het een en ander woordelijk uit dit boek; zoo leest men in het laatstgenoemd kapittel: „Conditionall lyes be such as are given conditionally; as if a man should saie or write these wordes: If thou hast saide that 1 have offered my Lord abuse, thou lyest; or if thou saiest so hereafter, thou shalt lye. Of these kind of lyes given in this manner often arise much contention in wordes whereof no sure conclusion can arise.” — Vandaar zegt Toetssteen dan ook „Ons twisten gaat naar de boeken”; er staat: in print, by the book: ,,zooals ‘t gedrukt is, naar het boek.”

Topics: law, language, civility, learning/education, dispute, proverbs and idioms

Your gentleness shall force more than your force move us to gentleness

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 2.7
SPEAKER: Duke Senior
CONTEXT:

DUKE SENIOR
Art thou thus boldened, man, by thy distress
Or else a rude despiser of good manners,
That in civility thou seem’st so empty?
ORLANDO
You touched my vein at first. The thorny point
Of bare distress hath ta’en from me the show
Of smooth civility, yet am I inland bred
And know some nurture. But forbear, I say.
He dies that touches any of this fruit
Till I and my affairs are answerèd.
JAQUES
An you will not be answered with reason, I must die.
DUKE SENIOR
What would you have? Your gentleness shall force
More than your force move us to gentleness.

DUTCH:
Doch vriend’lijkheid dwingt meer,
Dan ooit uw dwang tot vriend’lijkheid ons stemt.

MORE:
Proverb: There is a great force hidden in a sweet command (1581).

Empty=Void, destitute
Touched=Identified
Vein=Disposition, temper, humour
Thorny point=(fig.) Piercing
Bare distress=Pure pain and misery
Inland=A word of a very vague signification, not so much denoting remoteness from the sea or the frontier, as a seat of peace and peaceful civilization; (perhaps opposite to ‘outlandish’)
Nurture=Good breeding, humanity
Answered=Satisfied, settled
Gentleness=Gentility; kindness, mild manners
Compleat:
Emtpy=Ledig
An empty hope=Een ydele hoop
Thorny=Doornig
Distress=Benaauwdheyd, verlegenheyd; beslag an goederen, panding
Nurture=Opvoeding
Answer=Beantwoorden; antwoord geven
Gentle=(mild or moderate) Zagtmoedig, maatig

Topics: proverbs and idioms, order/society, language, civility, learning/education