CJTranslations

QUOTES BY TOPIC

A stone is soft as wax, tribunes more hard than stones

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Titus Andronicus
CONTEXT:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
Why, tis no matter, man; if they did hear,
They would not mark me, or if they did mark,
They would not pity me, yet plead I must;
Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones;
Who, though they cannot answer my distress,
Yet in some sort they are better than the tribunes,
For that they will not intercept my tale:
When I do weep, they humbly at my feet
Receive my tears and seem to weep with me;
And, were they but attired in grave weeds,
Rome could afford no tribune like to these.
A stone is soft as wax,—tribunes more hard than stones;
A stone is silent, and offendeth not,
And tribunes with their tongues doom men to death.

DUTCH:
Een steen is zacht als was, harder dan steen tribunen;
Een steen is stom en krenkt niet, doch tribunen,
Zij hebben tongen, die ten doode doemen.

MORE:
Proverb: As hard as a stone (flint, rock)
Proverb: Pliable as wax

Mark=Take notice, heed
In some sort=Somehow
Intercept=Interrupt
Grave weeds=Somber clothes
Afford=Provide
Doom=Condemn
Compleat:
To mark=Merken, tekenen, opletten
To intercept=Onderscheppen
Grave=Deftig, stemmig, staatig
Weeds (habit or garment)=Kleederen, gewaad
Afford=Verschaffen, uytleeveren
Doom=Vonnis, oordeel, verwyzing

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, sorrow

Against ill chances men are ever merry, but heaviness foreruns the good event.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Archbishop
CONTEXT:
MOWBRAY
You wish me health in very happy season,
For I am on the sudden something ill.
ARCHBISHOP
Against ill chances men are ever merry,
But heaviness foreruns the good event.
WESTMORELAND
Therefore be merry, coz, since sudden sorrow
Serves to say thus: “Some good thing comes tomorrow.”

DUTCH:
Als onheil naakt, is steeds de mensch blijmoedig;
Zwaarmoedigheid verkondigt goed geluk./
Bij slechte kansen zijn mensen altijd vrolijk, maar depressies kondigen een gunstige afloop aan

MORE:

Happy season=The appropriate time
Something=Somewhat
Heaviness=Sorrow, sadness, melancholy
Forerun=Precede

Compleat:
Season (a proper time to do a thing)=Een bekwamen tyd om iets te doen
In due season=Ter rechter tyd, recht van pas
Something (somewhat)=Iets, iet, wat
Heaviness (or sadness)=Verdriet, droefheid, leetweezen

Topics: fate/destiny, wellbeing, sorrow

All solemn things should answer solemn accidents

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Guiderius
CONTEXT:
BELARIUS
My ingenious instrument!
Hark, Polydore, it sounds! But what occasion
Hath Cadwal now to give it motion? Hark!
GUIDERIUS
Is he at home?
BELARIUS
He went hence even now.
GUIDERIUS
What does he mean? since death of my dear’st mother
it did not speak before. All solemn things
Should answer solemn accidents. The matter?
Triumphs for nothing and lamenting toys
Is jollity for apes and grief for boys.
Is Cadwal mad?
BELARIUS
Look, here he comes,
And brings the dire occasion in his arms
Of what we blame him for.

DUTCH:
Wat meent hij? Sinds mijn lieve moeder stierf,
Klonk die muziek niet weer. Een plechtigheid
Vereischt een plechtige oorzaak.

MORE:
Ingenious=Of curious structure
Occasion=Cause
Answer=Correspond to
Accidents=Events
Lamenting toys=Crying over nothing
Dire=Dreadful
Compleat:
Ingenious=Zinryk, vernuftig, scherpzinnig, verstandig, geestig, aardig
Occasion=Gelegenheyd, voorval, oorzaak, nood
To answer to the purpose=Ter zaake antwoorden
Accident=Een toeval, quaal, aankleefsel
Dire=Wreed, yslyk, gruuwelyk

Topics: sorrow, justification, appearance, emotion and mood

And with mine eyes I’ll drink the words you send, though ink be made of gall

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Posthumus
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
O, dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant
Can tickle where she wounds! My dearest husband,
I something fear my father’s wrath; but nothing—
Always reserved my holy duty—what
His rage can do on me: you must be gone;
And I shall here abide the hourly shot
Of angry eyes, not comforted to live,
But that there is this jewel in the world
That I may see again.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
My queen, my mistress!
O lady, weep no more, lest I give cause
To be suspected of more tenderness
Than doth become a man. I will remain
The loyal’st husband that did e’er plight troth.
My residence in Rome at one Philario’s,
Who to my father was a friend, to me
Known but by letter; thither write, my queen,
And with mine eyes I’ll drink the words you send,
Though ink be made of gall.

DUTCH:
k Neem mijn verblijf in Rome, bij Philario,
Een vriend mijns vaders, dien ikzelf alleen
Uit brieven ken; geliefde, schrijf mij daar;
Mijn oogen zullen uwe woorden drinken,
Al wordt ook inkt uit gal bereid.

MORE:
Tickle=Flatter
Something=Sometimes, to some extent
Hourly=Continually
Gall=Bile; any thing bitter and disagreeable; bitterness of mind, rancour
Gall=An ingredient in ink (iron gall ink)
Compleat:
Gall=Gal
To gall (or vex)=Tergen, verbitteren
Bitter as gall=Zo bitter als gal

Topics: sorrow, appearance, loyalty, language

Between their titles and low name there’s nothing differs but the outward fame.

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 1.4
SPEAKER: Brakenbury
CONTEXT:
BRAKENBURY
Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,
Makes the night morning, and the noontide night.
Princes have but their titles for their glories,
An outward honour for an inward toil,
And, for unfelt imaginations,
They often feel a world of restless cares,
So that betwixt their titles and low name
There’s nothing differs but the outward fame.

DUTCH:
Zoodat van lagen stand een hooge naam
In niets verschilt dan in den tooi der faam.

MORE:
Breaks=Ignores
Reposing=Rest
Unfelt=Unreal
Restless=Ceaseless
Compleat:
Repose=Rust
Restless=Rusteloos, ongerust, onverduldig

Topics: sorrow, appearance, status

Careful hours with Time’s deformèd hand have written strange defeatures in my face

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Aegeon
CONTEXT:
AEGEON
I am sure you both of you remember me.
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
Ourselves we do remember, sir, by you.
For lately we were bound as you are now.
You are not Pinch’s patient, are you, sir?
AEGEON
Why look you strange on me? you know me well.
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
I never saw you in my life till now.
AEGEON
O, grief hath changed me since you saw me last,
And careful hours with time’s deformèd hand
Have written strange defeatures in my face.
But tell me yet, dost thou not know my voice?
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
Neither.
AEGEON
Dromio, nor thou?
DROMIO OF EPHESUS
No, trust me, sir, nor I.

DUTCH:
Door zorgvolle uren heeft de maag’re hand
Des Tijds mij vreemde trekken ingegrift

MORE:
Defeatures=Disfigurements
Careful=Full of cares, subject to anxiety, sorrow, or want
Compleat:
Disfigurement=Mismaaktheyd, wanschapenheyd
Carefull=Zorgvuldig, bezorgd, zorgdraagend, bekommerd

Topics: time, age/experience, sorrow, appearance, grief

Experience, O, thou disprovest report!

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

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

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

Topics: status, truth, civility, sorrow, honesty

Grief makes one hour ten

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Henry Bolingbroke
CONTEXT:
JOHN OF GAUNT
O, to what purpose dost thou hoard thy words,
That thou return’st no greeting to thy friends?
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
I have too few to take my leave of you,
When the tongue’s office should be prodigal
To breathe the abundant dolour of the heart.
JOHN OF GAUNT
Thy grief is but thy absence for a time.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Joy absent, grief is present for that time.
JOHN OF GAUNT
What is six winters? they are quickly gone.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
To men in joy; but grief makes one hour ten.

DUTCH:
Voor vreugde; smart vertienvoudt ieder uur.

MORE:

Schmidt:
Prodigal=Lavish, profuse
Dolour=Grief

Compleat:
Prodigal=Quistig, verquistend
Dolor=Droefheid, smerte

Topics: grief, language, sorrow, time

He’s flung in rage from this ingrateful seat

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

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

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

Topics: sorrow, poverty and wealth, honesty, loyalty

I knew he was not in his perfect wits

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Angelo
CONTEXT:
ABBESS
Be quiet, people. Wherefore throng you hither?
ADRIANA
To fetch my poor distracted husband hence.
Let us come in, that we may bind him fast
And bear him home for his recovery.
ANGELO
I knew he was not in his perfect wits.
SECOND MERCHANT
I am sorry now that I did draw on him.
ABBESS
How long hath this possession held the man?
ADRIANA
This week he hath been heavy, sour, sad,
And much different from the man he was.
But till this afternoon his passion
Ne’er brake into extremity of rage.
ABBESS
Hath he not lost much wealth by wrack of sea?
Buried some dear friend? Hath not else his eye
Stray’d his affection in unlawful love,
A sin prevailing much in youthful men
Who give their eyes the liberty of gazing?
Which of these sorrows is he subject to?

DUTCH:
Ik wist wel, dat hij in de war moest zijn.

MORE:
Throng=Crowd
Hither=Here
Distracted=Agitated
Reprehend=Reprimand
Haply=Perhaps
Wrack of sea=Shipwreck
Compleat:
Throng=Gedrang, een menigte volks
Hither=Herwaards
Distracted=Van een gescheurd, ontroerd
Reprehend=Berispen, bestraffen
Haply=Misschien
Wrack=Een wrak, vergaan schip
To go to wrack=Verlooren gaan, te gronde gaan
Ship-wrack=Schipbreuk

Topics: sorrow, emotion and mood, madness, anger

It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Macbeth
CONTEXT:
Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

DUTCH:
Het is een sprookjen,
Verteld, vol galm en drift, door een onnooz’le,
Gansch zonder zin.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 636 F.2d 464, 469 (D.C.Cir. 1980);
McNeil v. Butz, Secretary of Agriculture, 480 F.2d 314, 323 (4th Cir. 1973)(|Winter, J): In a due process case the court writes that “without the right of confrontation, the process provided by the government here is mere sound and fury signifying nothing.”;
Action for Children’s Television v. Federal Communications Commission, 821 F.2d 741, 747 (D.C.Cir. 1987);
Jenkins v. Tatem, 795 F.2d 112, 113 (D.C.Cir. 1986);
Schering Corporation v. Vitarine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 124 F.R.D. 580, 587 (D.N.J. 1989);
Bell v. Busse, 633 F.Supp. 628, 632 (S.D.Ohio 1986);
Cebula v. General Electric Company, 614 F.Supp. 260, 265 (N.D.Ill. 1985)(Aspen, J.): In disparaging the plaintiff’ s statistical evidence, the court writes, “the so-called statistical evidence … is filled with sound and fury…”;
Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc. v. Campbell, 512 So.2d 72.5, 729 Ala. 1987);
Arnold v. Parry, 173 Ind. App. 300, 363 N.E.2d 1055, 1061 (1977);
Claybrooks v. State, 36 Md. A,pp. 295,374 A.2d 365 (1977);
State v. Schweikert, 39 Ohio St.3d 603,604,529 N.E.2d 1271 (1988).

Topics: life, death, sorrow, cited in law, still in use

Neither my place nor aught I heard of business hath raised me from my bed

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Brabantio
CONTEXT:
DUKE
Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you
Against the general enemy Ottoman—
I did not see you. Welcome, gentle signior.
We lacked your counsel and your help tonight.
BRABANTIO
So did I yours. Good your grace, pardon me.
Neither my place nor aught I heard of business
Hath raised me from my bed, nor doth the general care
Take hold on me, for my particular grief
Is of so flood-gate and o’erbearing nature
That it engluts and swallows other sorrows
And it is still itself.

DUTCH:
Zoo ik uw hulp. Genadig heer, vergeef mij,
Geen ambtszaak, geen gerucht van wat hier omging,
Riep van mijn bed mij op; geen staatszorg is ‘t,
Die mij vervult;

MORE:
Straight=Immediately
Lacked=Missed
Englut=Engulf
Place=Duty
Floodgate=Overwhelming
Compleat:
Straightway=Eenswegs, terstond, opstaandevoet
To lack=Ontbreeken, van noode hebben
To englut=Verkroppen
Floud-gate=Sluys, doortogt

Topics: emotion and mood, work, satisfaction, sorrow

O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Ophelia
CONTEXT:
O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!
The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword,
Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th’ observed of all observers, quite, quite down!

DUTCH:
O, wat een edele geest is hier verscheurd! /
O, wat een eedle geest ging hier te loor!

MORE:
Noble=Magnanimous, elevated, dignified, generous
Expectancy=Hope
Glass= Mirror, reflection
Compleat:
Nobly (or generously)=Edemoediglyk
Expectance. To be an expectation of something=Iets verwagten, ergens op hoopen

Topics: sorrow, madness, intellect, honour, hope

Oft our displeasures, to ourselves unjust, destroy our friends and after weep their dust

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
BERTRAM
Admiringly, my liege, at first
I stuck my choice upon her, ere my heart
Durst make too bold a herald of my tongue
Where the impression of mine eye infixing,
Contempt his scornful perspective did lend me,
Which warp’d the line of every other favour;
Scorn’d a fair colour, or express’d it stolen;
Extended or contracted all proportions
To a most hideous object: thence it came
That she whom all men praised and whom myself,
Since I have lost, have loved, was in mine eye
The dust that did offend it.
KING
Well excused:
That thou didst love her, strikes some scores away
From the great compt: but love that comes too late,
Like a remorseful pardon slowly carried,
To the great sender turns a sour offence,
Crying, ‘That’s good that’s gone.’ Our rash faults
Make trivial price of serious things we have,
Not knowing them until we know their grave:
Oft our displeasures, to ourselves unjust,
Destroy our friends and after weep their dust
Our own love waking cries to see what’s done,
While shame full late sleeps out the afternoon.
Be this sweet Helen’s knell, and now forget her.
Send forth your amorous token for fair Maudlin:
The main consents are had; and here we’ll stay
To see our widower’s second marriage-day.

DUTCH:
Vaak drijft ons booze dolheid, en verslaan
We een vriend, om weenend aan zijn graf te staan;

MORE:
Stuck=Fixed
Perspectives=(a) Multifaceted crystal balls, often mounted; (b) A type of painting which, when viewed obliquely, reveals another (more complex or deeper) meaning
Scores=debits
Compt=Account
Remorseful=Regretful, guilty
Compleat:
Perspective=Een verschiet, doorzigt
A piece of perspective=Een afbeelding in ‘t verschiet
A perspective glass=Een verrekyker
Score=Rekening, kerfstok
Scored up=Op rekening, op de kerfstok gezet
Accompt=Rekening, begrooting
Remorse=Knaaging, wroeging, berouw

Topics: regret, guilt, sorrow

Speechless complainer, I will learn thy thought

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

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

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

Topics: madness, regret, sorrow, understanding, communication

Strange, unusual blood, when man’s worst sin is he does too much good!

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

Topics: sorrow, poverty and wealth, honesty, loyalty

The tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Enobarbus
CONTEXT:
ENOBARBUS
Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice. When it
pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from
him, it shows to man the tailors of the earth,
comforting therein, that when old robes are worn out,
there are members to make new. If there were no more
women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the
case to be lamented. This grief is crowned with
consolation. Your old smock brings forth a new
petticoat, and indeed the tears live in an onion that
should water this sorrow.
ANTONY
The business she hath broached in the state
Cannot endure my absence.

DUTCH:
Waren er geen vrouwen meer
dan Fulvia, dan waart gij er inderdaad erg aan toe en
wegens uw lot te beklagen; maar dit leed wordt met
troost gekroond; uw oud vrouwenhemd levert een nieuwen
onderrok; en, waarachtig, in een ui schuilen de
tranen, die dezen kommer moeten besproeien.

MORE:
Proverb: The tailor makes the man
Proverb: Nine (three) tailors make a man

Tailors=Tailors were proverbially the makers of men
Members=Limbs
Cut=Slash
Tears live in an onion=Not real tears
Broached=Started, opened
Compleat:
Tailor=Snyder, kleermaker
Member=Lid, Lidmaat. Member of the body=Een lid des lichaams
To broach=Aan ‘t spit steeken, speeten; voortbrengen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, grief, sorrow

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Macbeth
CONTEXT:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing

DUTCH:
Het leven is slechts een wandelende schaduw, een arme speler, die zijn uur op het podium steekt en piekert, en dan niet meer gehoord wordt; het is een verhaal verteld door een idioot, vol geluid en woede, wat niets betekent.

MORE:
5.From Macbeth’s famous soliloquy
This can be broken up into phrases still in use today:
1. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow
2. Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
3. To the last syllable of recorded time
4. All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
5. Out, out, brief candle!
6. Life’s but a walking shadow
7. A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.
8. It is a tale Told by an idiot
9. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

Topics: death, invented or popularised, sorrow, still in use

What shalt thou expect, to be depender on a thing that leans

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.5
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
QUEEN
Weeps she still, say’st thou? Dost thou think in time
She will not quench and let instructions enter
Where folly now possesses? Do thou work:
When thou shalt bring me word she loves my son,
I’ll tell thee on the instant thou art then
As great as is thy master, greater, for
His fortunes all lie speechless and his name
Is at last gasp: return he cannot, nor
Continue where he is: to shift his being
Is to exchange one misery with another,
And every day that comes comes to decay
A day’s work in him. What shalt thou expect,
To be depender on a thing that leans,
Who cannot be new built, nor has no friends,
So much as but to prop him?
Thou takest up
Thou know’st not what; but take it for thy labour:
It is a thing I made, which hath the king
Five times redeem’d from death: I do not know
What is more cordial. Nay, I prethee, take it;
It is an earnest of a further good
That I mean to thee. Tell thy mistress how
The case stands with her; do’t as from thyself.
Think what a chance thou changest on, but think
Thou hast thy mistress still, to boot, my son,
Who shall take notice of thee: I’ll move the king
To any shape of thy preferment such
As thou’lt desire; and then myself, I chiefly,
That set thee on to this desert, am bound
To load thy merit richly. Call my women:
Think on my words.
A sly and constant knave,
Not to be shaked; the agent for his master
And the remembrancer of her to hold
The hand-fast to her lord. I have given him that
Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her
Of liegers for her sweet, and which she after,
Except she bend her humour, shall be assured
To taste of too.
So, so: well done, well done:
The violets, cowslips, and the primroses,
Bear to my closet. Fare thee well, Pisanio;
Think on my words.

DUTCH:
Want zijn geluk ligt spraak’loos neer, zijn naam
Is stervende. Hij kan niet wederkeeren,
Niet blijven waar hij is.

MORE:
Quench=Grow cool, lose zeal
Shift his being=Relocate, change abode
Leans=Inclining, about to fall
Prop=Support, prop up
Compleat:
Quench=Blusschen, uytblusschen, lesschen, dempen
To lean=Leunen, leenen, steunen
Prop=Een stut, steun. To prop=Ondersteunen, stutten

Topics: sorrow, intellect, remedy, fate/fortune, achievement

When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
but in battalions

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 4.5
SPEAKER: Claudius
CONTEXT:
O Gertrude, Gertrude,
When sorrows come, they come not single spies
But in battalions. First, her father slain.
Next, your son gone, and he most violent author
Of his own just remove.

DUTCH:
Als zorgen komen, komen ze niet als enkele verspieders, maar bij troepen tegelijk. /
Als smarten komen, komen ze als verspreide Verkenners niet, maar in bataljons. /
Als zorgen komen, komt niet de enk’le spie, Maar dichte drommen.

MORE:
“Not in single spies, but in battalions” still in use today

Topics: sorrow, grief, proverbs and idioms

Why, tis no matter, man; if they did hear, they would not mark me

DUTCH:
t Is eender, knaap; al hoorden ze ook, zij zouden
Er niet op letten; letten zij er op,
Er niet geroerd door zijn; toch moet ik spreken,
Hoe nutt’loos ook.

MORE:
Proverb: As hard as a stone (flint, rock)
Proverb: Pliable as wax

Mark=Take notice, heed
In some sort=Somehow
Intercept=Interrupt
Grave weeds=Somber clothes
Afford=Provide
Doom=Condemn
Compleat:
To mark=Merken, tekenen, opletten
To intercept=Onderscheppen
Grave=Deftig, stemmig, staatig
Weeds (habit or garment)=Kleederen, gewaad
Afford=Verschaffen, uytleeveren
Doom=Vonnis, oordeel, verwyzing

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, sorrow

You have often Begun to tell me what I am;
but stopp’d. And left me to a bootless inquisition

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

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

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

Topics: sorrow, grief, mercy, discovery, truth