CJTranslations - secrecy

QUOTES BY TOPIC

All my engagements I will construe to thee, all the charactery of my sad brows

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

And now be it known to you my full intent

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Aaron
CONTEXT:
AARON
O Lord, sir, ’tis a deed of policy:
Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours,
A long-tongued babbling gossip? no, lords, no:
And now be it known to you my full intent.
Not far, one Muli lives, my countryman;
His wife but yesternight was brought to bed;
His child is like to her, fair as you are:
Go pack with him, and give the mother gold,
And tell them both the circumstance of all;
And how by this their child shall be advanced,
And be received for the emperor’s heir,
And substituted in the place of mine,
To calm this tempest whirling in the court;
And let the emperor dandle him for his own.
Hark ye, lords; ye see I have given her physic,
And you must needs bestow her funeral;
The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms:
This done, see that you take no longer days,
But send the midwife presently to me.
The midwife and the nurse well made away,
Then let the ladies tattle what they please.

DUTCH:
Wel man, voorzichtigheid gebood die daad.
Wat! zou zij leven, deze schuld verraden?
Dat praatziek, dat langtongig wijf? Neen, neen!
En nu zult gij geheel mijn plan vernemen.

MORE:
Policy=Cunning, expediency
Go pack=Conspire
Circumstance=Details
Bestow=Arrange
Grooms=Fellows
Tattle=Gossip
Bound=Obliged
Compleat:
Policy (conduct, address, cunning way)=Staatkunde, beleid, behendigheid
A packt business=Een doorsteken werk
Circumstance=Omstandigheid
To bestow=Besteeden, te koste hangen
Groom=Stalknecht
Tittle-tattle=Snappen, kallen, praaten
Bound=Gebonden, verbonden, verpligt, dienstbaar

Topics: secrecy, trust, reputation

Be not denied access, stand at her doors

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

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

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

Topics: secrecy, respect, communication, persuasion

Boundless intemperance
In nature is a tyranny

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Macduff
CONTEXT:
Boundless intemperance
In nature is a tyranny. It hath been
The untimely emptying of the happy throne
And fall of many kings. But fear not yet
To take upon you what is yours. You may
Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty
And yet seem cold; the time you may so hoodwink.

DUTCH:
Matelooze wellust
Is tyrannie, die meen’gen schoonen troon
Te vroeg ontruimen deed, en meen’gen koning
Ten val bracht.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Intemperance= Want of moderation, licentiousness
Time=Men, the world
Spacious= wide, large, extensive
Plenty=Abundance
Convey=To do or manage with secrecy (i.e. indulge secretly)
Compleat:
Intemperance=Onmaatigheyd, overdaad

Topics: excess, deceit, secrecy, temptation

By heaven, I’ll know thy thoughts

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:

IAGO
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash. ’Tis something,
nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to
thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed
OTHELLO
By heaven, I’ll know thy thoughts.
IAGO
You cannot, if my heart were in your hand,
Nor shall not, whilst ’tis in my custody.

DUTCH:
k Moet weten wat gij denkt

MORE:
Immediate=Direct, without the intervention of another; needs no other considerations to enforce its importance
Trash=Worthless matter, dross, lumber (Also a scornful term to describe money; See J.Caesar 4.3)
Filch=To steal, pilfer
Compleat:
To filch=Ontfutzelen, afhandig maaken, ontloeren, ontsteelen
Trash=Lompige waar, ondeugend goed

Topics: reputation, respect, emotion and mood, confidentiality, secrecy

Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
I do believe it, and I ask your pardon.
Will you, I pray, demand that demi-devil
body?
IAGO
Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word.
LODOVICO
What, not to pray?
GRATIANO
Torments will ope your lips.
OTHELLO
Well, thou dost best.
LODOVICO
Sir, you shall understand what hath befall’n,
Which, as I think, you know not. Here is a letter
Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo,
And here another. The one of them imports
The death of Cassio to be undertook
By Roderigo.

DUTCH:
Vraag niets mij meer; gij weet nu, wat gij weet;
Ik spreek van stonden aan geen enkel woord.

MORE:
Proverb: I know what I know (I wot what I wot, though I few words make (1546))

Demand me=Ask me
Torments=Torture
Ope=Open
Compleat:
To demand=Eyschen, vraagen, verzoeken
Torments=Pynen, pynigingen

Topics: secrecy, proverbs and idioms, still in use

Good hearts, devise something: any extremity rather than a mischief

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS PAGE
If you go out in your own semblance, you die, Sir
John. Unless you go out disguised.
MISTRESS FORD
How might we disguise him?
MISTRESS PAGE
Alas the day, I know not! There is no woman’s gown
big enough for him otherwise he might put on a hat,
a muffler and a kerchief, and so escape.
FALSTAFF
Good hearts, devise something: any extremity rather
than a mischief.

DUTCH:
Lieve vrouwtjens, bedenkt toch iets; het onmoog’lijkste
nog eer dan een ongeluk.

MORE:
Own semblance=Looking like yourself
Extremity=Extreme measure
Mischief=Disaster
Compleat:
Semblance=Gelykenis, schyn
Extremity=het Uyterste, ‘t uyterste eynd, de uyterste nood, uytendigheyd
Mischief=Onheyl, quaad, ongeluk, ramp, verderf, heylloosheyd

Topics: appearance|deceit|secrecy

He hath an abstract for the remembrance of such places

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Ford
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS FORD
There they always use to discharge their
birding-pieces. Creep into the kiln-hole.
FALSTAFF
Where is it?
MISTRESS FORD
He will seek there, on my word. Neither press,
coffer, chest, trunk, well, vault, but he hath an
abstract for the remembrance of such places, and
goes to them by his note: there is no hiding you in the
house.
FALSTAFF
I’ll go out then.

DUTCH:
Daar zal hij ook zoeken, op mijn woord; geen kast of
koffer, geen kist of spinde, geen kelder of put, of hij
heeft een kort overzicht van al die plaatsen, en hij doorzoekt
die op het lijstjen af; er is geen mogelijkheid om
u in huis te verbergen.

MORE:
Discharge=(Guns) To clear the chimney
Birding-pieces=Guns
Kiln-hole=Entrance to the oven
Press=Cupboard
Abstract=Inventory
Compleat:
To discharge=Onstlaan, lossen
Birding-piece=Vogel-roer
Kiln=Oven
Abstract=Uyttreksel, aftreksel, verkortsel

Topics: secrecy

He that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
What dost thou mean?
IAGO
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash. ‘Tis something,
nothing:
‘Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
OTHELLO
I’ll know thy thoughts.
IAGO
You cannot, if my heart were in your hand,
Nor shall not, whilst ’tis in my custody.

DUTCH:
Maar hij, die mij mijn goeden naam ontneemt,
Berooft mij van wat hem niet rijker maakt
En mij doodarm.

MORE:
CITED IN EU LAW: LINDON, OTCHAKOVSKY-LAURENS AND JULY v. FRANCE – 21279/02 [2007] ECHR 836 (22 October 2007)/46 EHRR 35, (2008) 46 EHRR 35, [2007] ECHR 836.

CITED IN US LAW:
According to William Domnarski (Shakespeare in the Law, 1993) the second most frequently cited passage in US law (27 times at that time). Some examples:
Milkovich v Lorain Journal Co., 497 US 1, 110 Supreme Court 2695, 2702, 111 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990) (Rehnquist, C.J.). Judge Renquist disregarded the fact that the speaker was Iago, who had anything but a good reputation: this was simply used to illustrate the development of deformation law.

Cited by Abraham Lincoln when he was a defence lawyer.

Immediate=Direct, without the intervention of another; needs no other considerations to enforce its importance
Filch=To steal, to pilfer
Trash=Worthless matter, dross, lumber (Also a scornful term to describe money; See J.Caesar 4.3)
Compleat:
Filch=Ontfutzelen, afhandig maaken, ontloeren, onsteelen
Trash=Lompige waar, ondeugend goed

Topics: reputation, respect, emotion and mood, secrecy, cited in law

I am a man more sinned against than sinning

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: King Lear
CONTEXT:
Caitiff, to pieces shake,
That under covert and convenient seeming
Hast practised on man’s life. Close pent-up guilts,
Rive your concealing continents and cry
These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man
More sinned against than sinning.

DUTCH:
Een man meer gezondigd tegen dan zondigend/
Ik ben een man tegen wie meer gezondigd is dan hij zelf gezondigd heeft

MORE:
Sometimes mistranslated, e.g. “tegen wie je meer gezondigd hebt dan je gezondigd hebt” or “Ik ben een man die meer heeft gezondigd dan de zondigen”
Seeming=Hypocrisy
Caitiff=Wretch
Continent=Container, cover.
Close pent-up guilts=Concealed crimes
Practised on=Plotted against
Rive=open up
Summoner=official who summoned offenders to appear before ecclesiastical courts
Compleat:
To rive asunder=Opscheuren, opsplyten, opbarsten
Summoner=Een gerechtsboode

Topics: mercy, offence, conspiracy, secrecy, blame

I have unclaspd to thee the book even of my secret soul

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

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

Topics: secrecy, respect, communication, persuasion

I see thou wilt not trust the air with secrets

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Chiron
CONTEXT:
AARON
O Lord, sir, ’tis a deed of policy:
Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours,
A long-tongued babbling gossip? no, lords, no:
And now be it known to you my full intent.
Not far, one Muli lives, my countryman;
His wife but yesternight was brought to bed;
His child is like to her, fair as you are:
Go pack with him, and give the mother gold,
And tell them both the circumstance of all;
And how by this their child shall be advanced,
And be received for the emperor’s heir,
And substituted in the place of mine,
To calm this tempest whirling in the court;
And let the emperor dandle him for his own.
Hark ye, lords; ye see I have given her physic,
And you must needs bestow her funeral;
The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms:
This done, see that you take no longer days,
But send the midwife presently to me.
The midwife and the nurse well made away,
Then let the ladies tattle what they please.
CHIRON
Aaron, I see thou wilt not trust the air
With secrets
DEMETRIUS
For this care of Tamora,
Herself and hers are highly bound to thee.

DUTCH:
k Zie, Aaron, aan de lucht zelfs niet vertrouwt gij geheimen toe.

Topics: secrecy, trust, reputation

Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: King Lear
CONTEXT:
Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.—
Give me the map there.—Know that we have divided
In three our kingdom, and ’tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age,
Conferring them on younger strengths while we
Unburdened crawl toward death.—Our son of Cornwall,
And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
We have this hour a constant will to publish
Our daughters’ several dowers, that future strife
May be prevented now.

DUTCH:
k Ontvouw u midd’lerwijl ‘t verborgen plan.
Geef mij die kaart. Verneemt, wij deelden ‘t rijk
In drieën, en wij schudden, dit is ‘t plan,
Van de oude schoud’ren alle moeite en zorg
Op jonger krachten, om, van last bevrijd,
Grafwaarts te kruipen.

MORE:
Darker purpose= Secret intention
Constant=Unswerving (Schmidt: Constant=Firm, unshaken, persevering)
Will=Intention
Publish=Publicly proclaim
Compleat:
Dark=Duyster, donker
A dark saying=Een duystere reeden
Burgersdijk notes:
Bij de verdeeling van het koninkrijk. De dichter wil hier eenvoudig voor bereiden op de verdeeling, die door den koning weldra zal worden medegedeeld. Gloster meent de zaak te kennen, maar schijnt niet veel meer te weten, dan dat de beide hertogen gelijke deelen krijgen; misschien verbeeldt
hij zich, dat Lear nog een gedeelte voor zich behoudt, gelijk in de oude verhalen staat. Lear deelt het geheimer deel van zijn plan mede (darker purpose), waarbij het rijk in drieën verdeeld is en hijzelf het bestuur geheel nederlegt. Voor Cordelia was het beste derde gedeelte bestemd en Lear meende zeker te zijn, dat Cordelia hare liefde op de treffendste wijze zou uiten; hij hoopte daarmede zijn begunstiging van haar bij den adel des rijks, hier plechtig vereenigd, te rechtvardigen. Nu hij in zijne stellige verwachting teleurgesteld wordt, verandert de heftige vorst, aan geene zelfbeheersching gewoon, plotseling van plan.

Topics: plans/intentions, legacy, relationship, manipulation, secrecy

More water glideth by the mill than wots the miller of, and easy it is of a cut loaf to steal a shive

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Demetrius
CONTEXT:
DEMETRIUS
Why makest thou it so strange?
She is a woman, therefore may be wooed;
She is a woman, therefore may be won;
She is Lavinia, therefore must be loved.
What, man! more water glideth by the mill
Than wots the miller of; and easy it is
Of a cut loaf to steal a shive, we know:
Though Bassianus be the emperor’s brother.
Better than he have worn Vulcan’s badge.
AARON
Ay, and as good as Saturninus may.
DEMETRIUS
Then why should he despair that knows to court it
With words, fair looks and liberality?
What, hast not thou full often struck a doe,
And borne her cleanly by the keeper’s nose?
AARON
Why, then, it seems, some certain snatch or so
Would serve your turns.

DUTCH:
Kom, man, meer water loopt den molen langs,
Dan ooit de mool’naar weet; en ‘t is gemakk’lijk
Van aangesneden brood een brok te stelen.

MORE:
Proverb: It is safe taking a shive of a cut loaf
Proverb: All women may be won
Proverb: Much water goes by the mill that the miller knows not of

Shive=Slice
Worn Vulcan’s badge=Cuckolded
Knows to=Knows how to
Snatch=Quick burst
Turns=Purposes
Compleat:
Snatch=Een ruk, hap, beet
Turn (office)=Dienst, trek, poets; She did it only to serve a turn=Zy deed het enkelyk uit eigenbaat

Burgersdijk notes:
Vulkanus’ tool. Shakespeare maakt ook elders van Venus en Mars gewag; men zie Antonius en Cleopatra, en Venus en Adonis.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, trust, secrecy

My master … hath threatened to put me into everlasting liberty if I tell you of it

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Robin
CONTEXT:
ROBIN
Ay, I’ll be sworn. My master knows not of your
being here and hath threatened to put me into
everlasting liberty if I tell you of it; for he
swears he’ll turn me away.
MISTRESS PAGE
Thou’rt a good boy: this secrecy of thine shall be
a tailor to thee and shall make thee a new doublet
and hose. I’ll go hide me.
MISTRESS FORD
Do so. Go tell thy master I am alone.

DUTCH:
Ja, daar wil ik op zweren; mijn meester weet volstrekt
niet, dat gij hier zijt. Hij heeft mij met eeuwigdurende
vrijheid gedreigd, als ik er u iets van verklap; want hij
zwoer, dat hij mij dan zou wegjagen.

MORE:
Everlasting liberty=Release (dismiss)
Turn me away=Dismiss
Tailor=A suit

Topics: secrecy|order and society|work

O, let me live, and all the secrets of our camp I’ll show, their force, their purposes

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Parolles
CONTEXT:
FIRST SOLDIER
The general is content to spare thee yet;
And, hoodwinked as thou art, will lead thee on
To gather from thee: haply thou mayst inform
Something to save thy life.
PAROLLES
O, let me live!
And all the secrets of our camp I’ll show,
Their force, their purposes; nay, I’ll speak that
Which you will wonder at.
FIRST SOLDIER
But wilt thou faithfully?
PAROLLES
If I do not, damn me.
FIRST SOLDIER
Acordo linta.
Come on; thou art granted space.

DUTCH:
O, laat mij leven ;
En ik vertel u elk geheim van ‘t kamp,
De sterkte en plannen ; ja, ik deel u mee,
Wat u verbazen zal.

MORE:
Lead thee on=Deceive you more
Gather=Collect information
Haply=Perhaps
Space=Reprieve
Compleat:
Gather=Inzamelen
Haply=Misschien
Space=ruymte; tyd

Topics: secrecy, betrayal

Seal up your lips, and give no words but mum:
The business asketh silent secrecy.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Hume
CONTEXT:
Hume must make merry with the duchess’ gold;
Marry, and shall. But how now, Sir John Hume!
Seal up your lips, and give no words but mum:
The business asketh silent secrecy.
Dame Eleanor gives gold to bring the witch:
Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil.
Yet have I gold flies from another coast;
I dare not say, from the rich cardinal
And from the great and new-made Duke of Suffolk,
Yet I do find it so; for to be plain,
They, knowing Dame Eleanor’s aspiring humour,
Have hired me to undermine the duchess
And buz these conjurations in her brain.
They say ‘A crafty knave does need no broker;’
Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal’s broker.
Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near
To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.
Well, so it stands; and thus, I fear, at last
Hume’s knavery will be the duchess’ wrack,
And her attainture will be Humphrey’s fall:
Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all.

DUTCH:
Maar wat nu, John Hume?
Steeds mondjendicht; geen ander woord, dan. . . mum!

MORE:

Proverb: A cunning (crafty) knave needs no broker

Modern usage: Mum’s the word
Not invented by Shakespeare: the word was first used in the 14th century, although Shakespeare probably helped to make it popular. The word ‘mum’ may refer to the humming sound made by a closed mouth.
Asketh=Demands, requires
Buz=(or buzz) Whisper
Conjurations=Incantations; obsecration
Wrack=Ruin
Attainture=Shame; conviction

Compleat:
Knave=Een guit, boef
To buzz into one’s ears=Iemand in ‘t oor blaazen
Conjuration=Samenzweering, eedgespan, vloekverwantschap, bezweering
Wrack=(a ship): Een schip aan stukken stooten
To go to wrack=Verlooren gaan, te gronde gaan
To attaint=Overtuigen van misdaad, schuldig verklaaren, betichten; bevlekken, bederf aanzetten
Attainture (of blood)=Bederving of aansteeking des bloeds

Topics: secrecy, ambition, status, betrayal, invented or popularised

Take no notice, nor build yourself a trouble out of his scattering and unsure observance

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
Thou dost conspire against thy friend, Iago,
If thou but think’st him wronged and mak’st his ear
A stranger to thy thoughts.
IAGO
I do beseech you,
Though I perchance am vicious in my guess,
As, I confess, it is my nature’s plague
To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy
Shapes faults that are not, that your wisdom,
From one that so imperfectly conceits,
Would take no notice, nor build yourself a trouble
Out of his scattering and unsure observance.
It were not for your quiet nor your good,
Nor for my manhood, honesty, and wisdom
To let you know my thoughts.

DUTCH:
Geen acht doe slaan, en dat ge uzelf niet kwelt,
Met wat hij hier en daar, onzeker, zag.

MORE:
Make his ear a stranger to thy thoughts=Don’t mention your suspicions
Perchance=Maybe
Vicious in my guess=I may be wrong
Jealousy=Suspicion
Imperfectly conceits=Imagines wrongly
Scattering=Random
Observance=Observations
Compleat:
Perchance=By geval
Vicious=Ondeugend, snood
Jealousy (Jealoesie)(or suspicion)=Agterdogtig
Full of jealousies=Zeer agterdenkend
Imperfect=Onvolmaakt, onvolkomen
Conceit=Waan, bevatting, opvatting, meening
Scattering=Verstrooijing, verspreyding
Observance=Gedienstigheid, eerbiedigheid, opmerking, waarneeming

Topics: imagination, conspiracy, secrecy, suspicion

The quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself.

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
No? What needed, then, that terrible dispatch of it into your pocket? The quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself. Let’s see.—Come, if it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles.

DUTCH:
Niets? Waartoe dan die schrikkelijke spoed om het
in uw zak te steken? Wat niets is, behoeft zich zoo
niet te verbergen.

MORE:
Schmidt:
The quality of nothing = If it were nothing (there would be no need to hide it)
Terrible dispatch=Hasty disposition
Compleat:
Dispatch=Afvaerdiging, verrichting, beschikking, vervaerdiging
Make quick dispatch=Maak ‘er u gaauw af

Topics: discovery, truth, secrecy

This secret is so weighty, ’twill require a strong faith to conceal it.

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Second Gentleman
CONTEXT:
FIRST GENTLEMAN
O, this is full of pity! Sir, it calls,
I fear, too many curses on their heads
That were the authors.
SECOND GENTLEMAN
If the duke be guiltless,
‘Tis full of woe: yet I can give you inkling
Of an ensuing evil, if it fall,
Greater than this.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Good angels keep it from us!
What may it be? You do not doubt my faith, sir?
SECOND GENTLEMAN
This secret is so weighty, ’twill require
A strong faith to conceal it.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Let me have it;
I do not talk much.

DUTCH:
Van zulk gewicht is dit geheim, dat, waarlijk,
De strengste trouw ‘t verbergen moet.

MORE:
Weighty=Important
Faith=Trust
Inkling=Vague hint
If it fall=If it should happen
Compleat:
Weighty=Wigtig, gewigtig
Faith=Geloof, trouw
Inkling=Weynigje

Topics: secrecy

Thou dost conspire against thy friend, Iago, if thou but thinkest him wronged and makest his ear a stranger to thy thoughts

DUTCH:
Neen, Jago, zoo verraadt ge uw vriend, indien gij
Vermoedt, dat hij gekrenkt wordt, en zijn oor,
Wat gij vermoedt, onthoudt.

Topics: imagination, conspiracy, secrecy, suspicion

Thou echo’st me as if there were some monster in thy thought too hideous to be shown

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
What dost thou think?
IAGO
Think, my lord?
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.

DUTCH:
Denk, heer!
Bij God, hij is mijn echo,
Alsof in zijn gedachte een monster school,
Te afzichtlijk om te zien.

MORE:
Mean=Hint at
Even now=Just now
Of my counsel=In my confidence
Conceit=Idea
Compleat:
Mean=Meenen
Conceit=Waan, bevatting, opvatting, meening

Topics: language, advice, secrecy

Though I perchance am vicious in my guess

DUTCH:
Ik smeek u dringend,
Daar ik wellicht in mijn vermoeden faal,
Want ja, de vloek is ‘t van mijn wezen, steeds
Wat boos is na te speuren, en mijn argwaan
Schèpt dikwijls feilen;

Topics: imagination, conspiracy, secrecy, suspicion

Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Cordelia
CONTEXT:
Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides,
Who covers faults at last with shame derides.
Well may you prosper.

DUTCH:
De tijd brengt alles aan het licht./
Wie fouten maken en dat sluw maskeren,
zal tijd ons later met een spotlach leren.

MORE:
Onions:
To plight=Pleated, folded (concealed)
Cunning=Dissimulation, falseness

Topics: deceit, discovery, time, secrecy

Two may keep counsel when the third’s away

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Aaron
CONTEXT:
AARON
Why, so, brave lords! when we join in league,
I am a lamb: but if you brave the Moor,
The chafed boar, the mountain lioness,
The ocean swells not so as Aaron storms.
But say, again; how many saw the child?
NURSE
Cornelia the midwife and myself;
And no one else but the delivered empress.
AARON
The empress, the midwife, and yourself:
Two may keep counsel when the third’s away:
Go to the empress, tell her this I said.

DUTCH:
De keizerin, de vroedvrouw en gijzelf;
Twee zwijgen wel, wanneer de derde ontbreekt.

MORE:
Proverb: Three (two) may keep counsel if two (one) be away
Proverb: Two people can keep a secret when one is subtracted

Brave=Confront, defy
Chafed=Enraged
Swells not=Doesn’t rage
Compleat:
To brave=Trotsen, braveeren, trotseeren, moedig treden
To chafe=Verhitten, tot toorn ontsteeken, verhit zyn van gramschap, woeden
In a chafe=Hy brandt van toorn
To swell=Opblaazen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, secrecy, trust

Upon my wit, to defend my wiles

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER:
CONTEXT:
CRESSIDA
Ay, a minced man: and then to be baked with no date
in the pie, for then the man’s date’s out.
PANDARUS
You are such a woman! one knows not at what ward you
lie.
CRESSIDA
Upon my back, to defend my belly; upon my wit, to
defend my wiles; upon my secrecy, to defend mine
honesty; my mask, to defend my beauty; and you, to
defend all these: and at all these wards I lie, at a
thousand watches.
PANDARUS
Say one of your watches.
CRESSIDA
Nay, I’ll watch you for that; and that’s one of the
chiefest of them too: if I cannot ward what I would
not have hit, I can watch you for telling how I took
the blow; unless it swell past hiding, and then it’s
past watching.

DUTCH:
Op mijn rug, om mij van voren te verweren; op mijn
vernuft, om mijn streken te bedekken; (…)

MORE:
Minced=Emasculated
Ward=Fencing term meaning defensive position
Lie=Punning on lying and position taken
Secrecy=Ability to keep a secret
Watch=Act of guarding and observe
Swell past hiding=Pregnancy becomes obvious
Past watching=Too late to be concerned
Compleat:
To mince it=Met een gemaakten tred gaan
Mincing gait=Een trippelende gang, gemaakte tred
To ward off a blow=Eenen slag afweeren
Secrecy=Geheymhouding, bedektheyd
To watch=Waaken, bewaaken, bespieden
Past=Verleegen, geleden, voorby, over, gepasseerd
Past hope=Geen hoop meer over

Topics: intellect, defence, secrecy

When you have spoken it, ’tis dead, and I am the grave of it

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Second Lord
CONTEXT:
FIRST LORD
He has much worthy blame laid upon him for shaking
off so good a wife and so sweet a lady.
SECOND LORD
Especially he hath incurred the everlasting
displeasure of the king, who had even tuned his
bounty to sing happiness to him. I will tell you a
thing, but you shall let it dwell darkly with you.
FIRST LORD
When you have spoken it, ’tis dead, and I am the
grave of it.

DUTCH:
Als gij het uitgesproken hebt, is het dood, en ik ben
het graf er van.

MORE:
Dwell darkly=it will go no further
Bounty=Hearty disposition to do one good, active benevolence
Compleat:
Dwell=Woonen, verblyven
Bounty=Goedertierenheid, mildheid
Tune=Stellen
Darkly=Duisterlyk

Topics: secrecy, trust

Why, then, it seems, some certain snatch or so would serve your turns

DUTCH:
Nu, ‘t.schijnt dan, dat een schaking of zoo iets
U dienstig waar?

MORE:
Proverb: It is safe taking a shive of a cut loaf
Proverb: All women may be won
Proverb: Much water goes by the mill that the miller knows not of

Burgersdijk notes:
Vulkanus’ tool. Shakespeare maakt ook elders van Venus en Mars gewag; men zie Antonius en Cleopatra, en Venus en Adonis.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, trust, secrecy

You know pitchers have ears, and I have many servants

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

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

MORE:

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

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

Topics: proverbs and idioms, caution, secrecy, trust