CJTranslations

QUOTES BY TOPIC

A man is well holp up that trusts to you!

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors ACT/SCENE: 4.1 SPEAKER: Antipholus of Ephesus CONTEXT: ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
A man is well holp up that trusts to you!
I promisèd your presence and the chain,
But neither chain nor goldsmith came to me.
Belike you thought our love would last too long
If it were chained together, and therefore came not.
ANGELO
Saving your merry humour, here’s the note
How much your chain weighs to the utmost carat,
The fineness of the gold, and chargeful fashion,
Which doth amount to three-odd ducats more
Than I stand debted to this gentleman.
I pray you, see him presently discharged,
For he is bound to sea, and stays but for it.
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS
I am not furnished with the present money.
Besides, I have some business in the town.
Good signior, take the stranger to my house,
And with you take the chain, and bid my wife
Disburse the sum on the receipt thereof.
Perchance I will be there as soon as you. DUTCH: Nu, die op u vertrouwt, is wel bediend!
Ik zeide ginds uw komst toe en den ketting,
Maar noch de keten, noch de goudsmid kwam. MORE: Holp=Helped
Belike=Perhaps
Saving=With due regard to
Note=Receipt
Discharged=Satisfied, his debt paid
Chargeful fashion=Expensive
I am not furnished=I do not have
Present=At the moment, now
Compleat:
Holpen=Geholpen; Holp op=Opgeholpen
Saving=Behouding, zaaligmaakig, bewaaring, redding, bespaaring
To discharge=Onstlaan, lossen, quytschelden
Chargeable=Lastig, kostelyk
Furnished=Verzorgd, voorzien, gestoffeerd Topics: debt/obligation, value, trust

Agree these deeds with that proud brag of thine

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Saturninus
CONTEXT:
SATURNINUS
No, Titus, no; the emperor needs her not,
Nor her, nor thee, nor any of thy stock:
I’ll trust, by leisure, him that mocks me once;
Thee never, nor thy traitorous haughty sons,
Confederates all thus to dishonour me.
Was there none else in Rome to make a stale,
But Saturnine? Full well, Andronicus,
Agree these deeds with that proud brag of thine,
That said’st I begged the empire at thy hands.
TITUS ANDRONICUS
O monstrous! what reproachful words are these?

DUTCH:
Goed strookt dit doen met uw gepoch, dat ik
Het keizerschap aan u hebt afgebedeld.

MORE:
Stock=Family
Trust by leisure=Will hesitate to trust
Haughty=Proud, arrogant
Confederate=Associate (not normally in a good sense)
Stale=Laughing-stock, dupe; decoy or bait set up as a lure
Brag=Boast
Compleat:
Stock=Een stam, blok, geslacht, kapitaal
Haughty=Hoogmoedig, verwaand, opgeblaazen, trots
Confederate=Een bondgenoot, bondverwant, metverwant
To make on a stale (property or stalking-horse) to one’s design=Iemand gebruiken om ons oogmerk te bereiken
To brag=Pochen, roemen, opsnyen

Topics: trust, betrayal

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

Ask me what question thou canst possible

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Joan la Pucelle
CONTEXT:
JOAN LA PUCELLE
(…)Ask me what question thou canst possible,
And I will answer unpremeditated:
My courage try by combat, if thou darest,
And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.
Resolve on this, thou shalt be fortunate,
If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.
CHARLES
Thou hast astonish’d me with thy high terms:
Only this proof I’ll of thy valour make,
In single combat thou shalt buckle with me,
And if thou vanquishest, thy words are true;
Otherwise I renounce all confidence.

DUTCH:
Vraag mij naar alles wat gij vragen kunt,
Onvoorbereid zal ik u antwoord geven;
Toets in den strijd, indien gij durft, mijn moed,
Bevinden zult gij, meer ben ik dan vrouw.
Neem uw besluit; — gij hebt geluk op aard,
Wanneer gij mij als strijdgenoot aanvaardt.

MORE:
Resolve=Be assured, know this
High terms=Pompous words
Proof=Trial
Buckle=Grapple
Confidence=Trust

Compleat:
To resolve upon something=Iets bepaalen
I know not what to resolve on=Ik weet niet wat ik besluiten zal
Proof=Beproeving
To buckle together=Worstelen, schermutselen
To repose an entire confidence in one=Een volkomen betrouwen op iemand stellen

Topics: trust, language, dispute, truth

Boldness be my friend: arm me, audacity, from head to foot!

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Iachimo
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Thanks, good sir:
You’re kindly welcome.
IACHIMO
All of her that is out of door most rich!
If she be furnish’d with a mind so rare,
She is alone the Arabian bird, and I
Have lost the wager. Boldness be my friend!
Arm me, audacity, from head to foot!
Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight;
Rather directly fly.
IMOGEN
‘He is one of the noblest note, to whose
kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon
him accordingly, as you value your trust—
Leonatus.’
So far I read aloud:
But even the very middle of my heart
Is warm’d by the rest, and takes it thankfully.
You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I
Have words to bid you, and shall find it so
In all that I can do.

DUTCH:
O, driestheid, wees mijn vriend,
En wapen, stoutheid, mij van top tot teen!
Of als de Parth, moet ik al vluchtend vechten,
Neen, vluchten en niets meer.

MORE:
Proverb: As rare as the Phoenix

Arabian bird=Phoenix (never is there more than one Phoenix in the world at one time)
Out of door=External, outward appearance
Value your trust=Value the charge entrusted to you. (Some editors have this as ‘truest’, making this the close of the letter.)
Reflect upon=Consider him
Compleat:
Boldness=Stoutheyd, koenheyd, vrymoedigheyd, onvertsaagheyd
Audacity=Stoutheyd
It would be well for every one to reflect upon himself=’t Zou wel zyn dat een yder zich zelven aanmerkte; ‘t was goed dat elk op zich zelven lette
To lay a wager=Wedden, een wedspel aan gaan
Wager of law=Aanbieding van te beedigen, dat men zynen eyscher niets schuldig is

Burgersdijk notes:
Uw getrouwsten Leonatus. Hier is de gissing van Mason gevolgd, die, éene letter e bijvoegende, leest your truest Leonatus. Imogeen loopt den brief haastig door en deelt dan aan Jachimo, die inmiddels bij zichzelf gesproken heeft, beleefd het slot, dat op hem betrekking heeft, mede. Wil men de lezing der folio-uitgave behouden: as you value your trust, dan moet men dit, veel minder eenvoudig, als eene soort van bezwering opvatten: „zoo waar gij uwe bezworen trouw in eere houdt” en aannemen, dat Imogeen uit het midden van den brief eenige woorden hardop leest, dan de lezing ten einde brengt en alleen de onderteekening weder uitspreekt.

Topics: appearance, intellect, value, trust, judgment, proverbs and idioms

Come, to the forge with it then; shape it: I would not have things cool

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Page
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS PAGE
Yes, by all means; if it be but to scrape the
figures out of your husband’s brains. If they can
find in their hearts the poor unvirtuous fat knight
shall be any further afflicted, we two will still be
the ministers.
MISTRESS FORD
I’ll warrant they’ll have him publicly shamed: and
methinks there would be no period to the jest,
should he not be publicly shamed.
MISTRESS PAGE
Come, to the forge with it then; shape it: I would
not have things cool.

DUTCH:
Kom, dan naar de smidse, en aan ‘t smeden; ik wil
het ijzer niet koud laten worden.

MORE:
Scrape=Erase
Figures=Suspicions
Period=End
Compleat:
To scrape=Schaapen, schrabben
Figure=Voorbeeldsel, afbeeldsel
To bring to a period=Tot een eyde brengen

Topics: suspicion|envy|trust|plans/intentions|haste

For trust not him that hath once broken faith

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 3
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Queen Elizabeth
CONTEXT:
QUEEN ELIZABETH
I am inform’d that he comes towards London,
To set the crown once more on Henry’s head:
Guess thou the rest; King Edward’s friends must down,
But, to prevent the tyrant’s violence,—
For trust not him that hath once broken faith,—
I’ll hence forthwith unto the sanctuary,
To save at least the heir of Edward’s right:
There shall I rest secure from force and fraud.
Come, therefore, let us fly while we may fly:
If Warwick take us we are sure to die.

DUTCH:
Want die eens trouwe brak, zij nooit vertrouwd

MORE:

Proverb: Trust not him that hath once broken faith (broken his word)
Proverb: he that once deceives is ever suspected

Down=Fall, be defeated

Compleat:
To bring down=Beneden brengen, onderbrengen, vernederen

Topics: trust, suspicion, proverbs and idioms

Grant I may never prove so fond, to trust man on his oath or bond

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

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

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

Proverb: Trust not a woman when she weeps

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

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

He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under whose practices he hath persecuted time with hope

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
What hope is there of his majesty’s amendment?
LAFEW
He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under whose
practices he hath persecuted time with hope, and
finds no other advantage in the process but only the
losing of hope by time.
COUNTESS
This young gentlewoman had a father, —O, that
‘had’! how sad a passage ’tis! —whose skill was
almost as great as his honesty; had it stretched so
far, would have made nature immortal, and death
should have play for lack of work. Would, for the
king’s sake, he were living! I think it would be
the death of the king’s disease.

DUTCH:
Hij heeft aan zijne artsen hun afscheid gegeven, mevrouw, nadat hij onder hunne behandeling den tijd met hoop vervolgd had, en er op den duur geen ander voordeel van heeft, dan dat hij met den tijd de hoop verloor.

MORE:
Amendment=Recovery
Persecute=To afflict, to harass; not very intelligibly used.
Persecuted time with hope=Wasted his time hoping for a cure.
Passage=Punning on passing
Compleat:
Persecute=Lastig vallen; vervolgen.

Topics: hope/optimism, remedy, time, trust, life, death

He’s mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Fool
CONTEXT:
EDGAR
The foul fiend bites my back.
FOOL
He’s mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse’s health, a boy’s love, or a whore’s oath.

DUTCH:
Hij is gek die vertrouwt op de makheid van een wolf, de gezondheid van een paard, de liefde van een jongen of de eed van een hoer./
Alleen een gek vertrouwt op de tamheid van een wolf, de ge-
zondheid van een paard, de liefde van een jongen of de eed van een hoer.

MORE:

Topics: gullibility, madness, betrayal, trust, deceit

He’s very near the truth in this

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER:
CONTEXT:
BERTRAM
All’s one to him. What a past-saving slave is this!
FIRST LORD
You’re deceived, my lord: this is Monsieur
Parolles, the gallant militarist,—that was his own
phrase,— that had the whole theoric of war in the
knot of his scarf, and the practise in the chape of
his dagger.
SECOND LORD
I will never trust a man again for keeping his sword
clean. Nor believe he can have every thing in him
by wearing his apparel neatly.
FIRST SOLDIER
Well, that’s set down.
PAROLLES
Five or six thousand horse, I said,— I will say
true,—or thereabouts, set down, for I’ll speak truth.
FIRST LORD
He’s very near the truth in this.
BERTRAM
But I con him no thanks for’t, in the nature he
delivers it.

DUTCH:
In dit opzicht komt hij de waarheid zeer nabij .

MORE:
Chape=Dagger tip
Clean=Polished
Knot of his scarf=Tied by the lady giving a knight her favour
Con him no thanks=Give no gratitue
Nature=Manner
Compleat:
Chape=’t Beslag onder aan de scheede
Clean=Schoon, zuyver, reyn, net
To wear a favour=Een lint of iets dergelyks van zyne minnares draagen
Nature=Natuur, aardt

Topics: deceit, conflict, truth, trust, , appearance

He’s here in double trust

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 1.7
SPEAKER: Macbeth
CONTEXT:
He’s here in double trust:
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself.

DUTCH:
Hier dekt hem dubb’le hoede

MORE:
Schmidt:
Trust=A state of being confided to another’s care and guard

Topics: trust

Here’s that which is too weak to be a sinner — honest water —which ne’er left man i’th’mire

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

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

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

Proverb: Trust not a woman when she weeps

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

I am not furnished with the present money
Besides, I have some business in the town.

DUTCH:
Ik heb op ‘t oogenblik het geld niet bij mij,
En heb ook in de stad nog iets te doen.

MORE:
Holp=Helped
Belike=Perhaps
Saving=With due regard to
Note=Receipt
Discharged=Satisfied, his debt paid
Chargeful fashion=Expensive
I am not furnished=I do not have
Present=At the moment, now
Compleat:
Holpen=Geholpen; Holp op=Opgeholpen
Saving=Behouding, zaaligmaakig, bewaaring, redding, bespaaring
To discharge=Onstlaan, lossen, quytschelden
Chargeable=Lastig, kostelyk
Furnished=Verzorgd, voorzien, gestoffeerd

Topics: debt/obligation, value, trust

I do condemn mine ears that have so long attended thee

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.6
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
Away! I do condemn mine ears that have
So long attended thee. If thou wert honourable,
Thou wouldst have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek’st,—as base as strange.
Thou wrong’st a gentleman, who is as far
From thy report as thou from honour, and
Solicit’st here a lady that disdains
Thee and the devil alike. What ho, Pisanio!
The king my father shall be made acquainted
Of thy assault: if he shall think it fit,
A saucy stranger in his court to mart
As in a Romish stew and to expound
His beastly mind to us, he hath a court
He little cares for and a daughter who
He not respects at all. What, ho, Pisanio!
IACHIMO
O happy Leonatus! I may say
The credit that thy lady hath of thee
Deserves thy trust, and thy most perfect goodness
Her assured credit. Blessed live you long!
A lady to the worthiest sir that ever
Country call’d his! and you his mistress, only
For the most worthiest fit! Give me your pardon.
I have spoke this, to know if your affiance
Were deeply rooted; and shall make your lord,
That which he is, new o’er: and he is one
The truest manner’d; such a holy witch
That he enchants societies into him;
Half all men’s hearts are his.
IMOGEN
You make amends.

DUTCH:
Van hier! — Mijn oor is schuldig, dat zoo lang
Geluisterd heeft! — Waart gij een man van eer,
Dan hadt ge uit lust tot deugd mij dit gemeld,
Niet met een doel, zoo snood en ongehoord.

MORE:
Saucy=Impudent
To mart=Do business
Stew=Brothel
Credit=Good opinion
Assured credit=Loyalty
Affiance=Faith
Societies=Groups
Compleat:
Saucy=Stout, onbeschaamd, baldaadig
Mart=Jaarmarkt
Stew, stew-house=Hoerhuys
Credit=Geloof, achting, aanzien, goede naam
Affiance=Vertrouwen, hoop
Society=Gezelschap, gemeenschap, gezelligheyd, genootschap, maatschap

Topics: anger, virtue, honour, plans/intentions, trust

I know you two are rival enemies. How comes this gentle concord in the world,

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
THESEUS
I pray you all, stand up.
I know you two are rival enemies.
How comes this gentle concord in the world,
That hatred is so far from jealousy
To sleep by hate and fear no enmity?
LYSANDER
My lord, I shall reply amazèdly,
Half sleep, half waking. But as yet, I swear,
I cannot truly say how I came here.
But as I think—for truly would I speak,
And now do I bethink me, so it is—
I came with Hermia hither. Our intent
Was to be gone from Athens, where we might,
Without the peril of the Athenian law—

DUTCH:
Van waar die lieflijke eendracht zoo op eens,
Dat vrij van argwaan haat bij haat zich vlijt,
En ijverzucht haar vijand ducht noch mijdt.

MORE:
Jealousy=Distrust
Where=To where
Without=Beyond
Amazèdly=In confusion
Where we might=Wherever we can
Peril=Threat, risk
Compleat:
Jealousy=Belgzucht, naayver, argwaan, volgyver, minnenyd, achterdocht
Without=Buyten
Amazed=Ontzet, verbaasd, ontsteld
Amazedly=Verbaasdelyk
Peril=Gevaar, perykel, nood

Topics: rivalry, envy, resolution, trust

I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Bassanio
CONTEXT:
SHYLOCK
Then meet me forthwith at the notary’s.
Give him direction for this merry bond,
And I will go and purse the ducats straight,
See to my house left in the fearful guard
Of an unthrifty knave, and presently
I will be with you.
ANTONIO
Hie thee, gentle Jew.
The Hebrew will turn Christian. He grows kind.
BASSANIO
I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind.
ANTONIO
Come on. In this there can be no dismay.
My ships come home a month before the day.

DUTCH:
k Vertrouw geen goedheid van een boos gemoed

MORE:
There can be no dismay=No cause for concern
Compleat:
Dismay=Vreeze

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

I love not many words
– No more than a fish loves water

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Parolles
CONTEXT:
PAROLLES
I’ll about it this evening: and I will presently
pen down my dilemmas, encourage myself in my
certainty, put myself into my mortal preparation;
and by midnight look to hear further from me.
BERTRAM
May I be bold to acquaint his grace you are gone about
it?
PAROLLES
I know not what the success will be, my lord; but
the attempt I vow.
BERTRAM
I know thou’rt valiant; and, to the possibility of
thy soldiership, will subscribe for thee. Farewell.
PAROLLES
I love not many words.
SECOND LORD
No more than a fish loves water. Is not this a
strange fellow, my lord, that so confidently seems
to undertake this business, which he knows is not to
be done; damns himself to do and dares better be
damned than to do’t?

DUTCH:
Niet meer dan de visch van het water . – Is dat niet
een kostelijke kerel, graaf, die schijnbaar zoo vol vertrouwen deze zaak op zich neemt, schoon hij weet, dat
zij onuitvoerbaar is, zich verdoemt om haar te volbrengen
en toch eer verdoemd zou willen zijn dan haar uitvoeren?

MORE:
Proverb: To love it no more than (as well as) a fish loves water

Subscribe=Surety, guarantee
Steal himself=Creep furtively, insinuate himself
Compleat:
Subscribe=Onderschryven
Steal=Doorsluypen

Topics: language, work, trust, proverbs and idioms

I will never trust a man again for keeping his sword clean. Nor believe he can have every thing in him by wearing his apparel neatly

DUTCH:
Ik wil nooit meer iemand vertrouwen, omdat hij zijn
degen blank houdt, en evenmin gelooven, dat er wel iets
in hem kan zitten, omdat hij zijn kleeding met zwier
draagt.

Topics: deceit, conflict, truth, trust, , appearance

I will no more trust him when he leers than I will a serpent when he hisses

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

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

MORE:

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

Topics: trust, truth, honesty

I wonder men dare trust themselves with men

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Apemantus
CONTEXT:
APEMANTUS
Let me stay at thine apperil, Timon: I come to
observe; I give thee warning on’t.
TIMON
I take no heed of thee; thou’rt an Athenian,
therefore welcome: I myself would have no power;
prithee, let my meat make thee silent.
APEMANTUS
I scorn thy meat; ‘twould choke me, for I should
ne’er flatter thee. O you gods, what a number of
men eat Timon, and he sees ’em not! It grieves me
to see so many dip their meat in one man’s blood;
and all the madness is, he cheers them up too.
I wonder men dare trust themselves with men:
Methinks they should invite them without knives;
Good for their meat, and safer for their lives.
There’s much example for’t; the fellow that sits
next him now, parts bread with him, pledges the
breath of him in a divided draught, is the readiest
man to kill him: ‘t has been proved. If I were a
huge man, I should fear to drink at meals;
Lest they should spy my windpipe’s dangerous notes:
Great men should drink with harness on their throats.

DUTCH:
Vreemd, dat een mensch een mensch vertrouwt! want ware
.Laat messen thuis” aan gasten voorgeschreven,
‘t Waar’ goed voor ‘t maal en veil’ger voor hun leven.

MORE:
Apperil=Risk
Knives=Guests would bring their own knives
Divided=Shared
Huge=Prominent, high-ranking
Windpipe=Throat
Dangerous=Exposed, at risk
Notes=Marks; reputation
Harness=Armour, protection
Compleat:
Huge rich=Magtig rijk
Wind-pipe=Lucht=pyp
To note=Merken, aanteykenen, aanmerken
Harness=Een harnas, borstwapen

Burgersdijk notes:
Bereid om hem te vermoorden. Wie een ander zijn goed helpt verkwisten, werkt mede om hem tot
wanhoop en zelfmoord te brengen.

Topics: risk, caution, trust

If he do not … offer to betray you and deliver all the intelligence in his power against you

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: Second Lord
CONTEXT:
FIRST LORD
It were fit you knew him; lest, reposing too far in
his virtue, which he hath not, he might at some
great and trusty business in a main danger fail you.
BERTRAM
I would I knew in what particular action to try him.
FIRST LORD
None better than to let him fetch off his drum,
which you hear him so confidently undertake to do.
SECOND LORD
I, with a troop of Florentines, will suddenly
surprise him; such I will have, whom I am sure he
knows not from the enemy: we will bind and hoodwink
him so, that he shall suppose no other but that he
is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries, when
we bring him to our own tents. Be but your lordship
present at his examination: if he do not, for the
promise of his life and in the highest compulsion of
base fear, offer to betray you and deliver all the
intelligence in his power against you, and that with
the divine forfeit of his soul upon oath, never
trust my judgment in any thing.

DUTCH:
Dat uwe edelheid dan bij zijn verhoor tegenwoordig zij;
zoo hij dan niet, als hem het leven geschonken wordt,
en onder den sterksten aandrang van lage vrees, zich
bereid verklaart u te verraden en al de inlichtingen, die
hij in zijn bezit heeft, tegen u te geven, en wel terwijl
hij zijn ziel en zaligheid bij eede op het spel zet, behoeft
gij mij nimmermeer in iets ter wereld te vertrouwen.

MORE:
Fit=Suitable
Trusty=Requiring trust
Fetch off=Bring back
Surprise=Capture
Hoodwink=Blindfold
Leaguer=Camp (from Dutch ‘leger’)
Intelligence=Information
Compleat:
To fit=Passen, pas maaken, gereedmaaken, voegen
To fetch off=Afhaalen
Surprise=Overval, verrassing, overyling, ontsteltenis, onverwacht voorval
To hoodwink=Blinddoeken, blindhokken, verblinden
Leaguer=Leger
Intelligence=Kundschap, verstandhouding

Topics: trust, perception, caution, betrayal, judgment, evidence

If what he might he is not, I would to heaven he were!

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

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

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

Topics: madness, appearance, communication, trust

In common worldly things, ’tis called ungrateful with dull unwillingness to repay a debt which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Duchess
CONTEXT:
DUCHESS
Was never mother had so dear a loss.
Alas, I am the mother of these griefs.
Their woes are parcelled; mine are general.
She for an Edward weeps, and so do I;
I for a Clarence weep; so doth not she.
These babes for Clarence weep and so do I;
I for an Edward weep; so do not they.
Alas, you three, on me, threefold distressed,
Pour all your tears. I am your sorrow’s nurse,
And I will pamper it with lamentations.
DORSET
Comfort, dear mother. God is much displeased
That you take with unthankfulness, his doing.
In common worldly things, ’tis called ungrateful
With dull unwillingness to repay a debt
Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent;
Much more to be thus opposite with heaven,
For it requires the royal debt it lent you.

DUTCH:
Ondankbaar beet het steeds in ‘s werelds doen
Met tragen onwil golden weer te geven,
Met milde hand weiwillend ons geleend ;
Veel meer dan, zoo te twisten met den hemel,
Wijl die zijn vorst’lijk leengoed weder eischt.

MORE:
Parcelled=Specific, single
Pamper=Overindulge
Compleat:
To parcel=In hoopen verdeelen, in partyen deelen
To pamper=Mesten, wel onthaalen

Topics: debt/obligation, ingratitude, trust, promise

Look you, the worm is not to be trusted but in the keeping of wise people

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Countryman
CONTEXT:
COUNTRYMAN
You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind.
CLEOPATRA
Ay, ay. Farewell.
COUNTRYMAN
Look you, the worm is not to be trusted but in the keeping of wise people, for indeed there is no goodness in the worm.
CLEOPATRA
Take thou no care. It shall be heeded.
COUNTRYMAN
Very good. Give it nothing, I pray you, for it is not
worth the feeding.
CLEOPATRA
Will it eat me?
COUNTRYMAN
You must not think I am so simple but I know the devil
himself will not eat a woman. I know that a woman is a
dish for the gods, if the devil dress her not. But,
truly, these same whoreson devils do the gods great harm
in their women, for in every ten that they make, the
devils mar five.

DUTCH:
Ziet gij, de worm is niet te vertrouwen dan bij voorzichtige
lieden; want wezenlijk, er steekt niets goeds in
den worm.

MORE:
Worm=Snake
Do his kind=Obey his nature
But in the keeping of=Unless kept by
Take no care=Don’t worry
Whoreson=Accursed
Compleat:
Worm=Wurm
To worm someone=Iemand de voet ligten
Kind=Soort, slach
Keeping=Bewaaring, houding
Take no care=Bekommer u daar niet over

Topics: trust, caution

Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Claudius
CONTEXT:
POLONIUS
We heard it all.—My lord, do as you please.
But, if you hold it fit, after the play
Let his queen mother all alone entreat him
To show his grief. Let her be round with him,
And I’ll be placed, so please you, in the ear
Of all their conference. If she find him not,
To England send him or confine him where
Your wisdom best shall think.
CLAUDIUS
It shall be so.
Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.

DUTCH:
Uw raad staat me aan; ‘n Hooggeplaatste en gek mag vrij niet gaan /
Dat zal ik, want de waanzin van vorstenzonen eist een wakend oog. /
‘t Zij zoo. Onderwijl Waanzin bij grooten eischt een oog in ‘t zeil.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Round=roundly, straightforwardly and without much ceremony:
Compleat:
To have a round delivery (or clear utterance)=Glad ter taal zyn
Round about=Rondt-om

Topics: madness, caution, trust, order/society

Naught but mine eye could have persuaded me

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Valentine
CONTEXT:
VALENTINE
Thou common friend, that’s without faith or love,
For such is a friend now; treacherous man!
Thou hast beguiled my hopes; nought but mine eye
Could have persuaded me: now I dare not say
I have one friend alive; thou wouldst disprove me.
Who should be trusted, when one’s own right hand
Is perjured to the bosom? Proteus,
I am sorry I must never trust thee more,
But count the world a stranger for thy sake.
The private wound is deepest: O time most accurst,
‘Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst!

DUTCH:
Gij hebt mijn hoop bedrogen; slechts mijn oog
Kon me overtuigen. Nooit meer kan ik zeggen:
“Ik heb een vriend”; gij zoudt mij logenstraffen.

MORE:
Proverb: He is his right hand

Beguile=Cheat, deceive
Persuaded=Convinced
To the bosom=To the very heart
Count the world a stranger=Estrange
For thy sake=Because of you
Accurst=Doomed
Compleat:
To beguile=Bedriegen, om den tuyn leyden
Persuade=Overreeden, overstemmen, overtuigen, aanraaden, wysmaaken, dietsmaaken
For his sake=Om zynent wille
Accursed=Vervloekt

Topics: evidence, betrayal, trust, friendship, loyalty, proverbs and idioms

Never mind was to be so unwise to be so kind

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

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

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

Topics: life, nature, trust, offence, skill/talent

Nothing canst thou to damnation add greater than that

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

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

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

Topics: evidence, uncertainty, honesty, trust

Now ’tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;
Suffer them now, and they’ll o’ergrow the garden
And choke the herbs for want of husbandry.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
First note that he is near you in descent,
And should you fall, he as the next will mount.
Meseemeth then it is no policy,
Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears
And his advantage following your decease,
That he should come about your royal person
Or be admitted to your highness’ council.
By flattery hath he won the commons’ hearts,
And when he please to make commotion,
‘Tis to be fear’d they all will follow him.
Now ’tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;
Suffer them now, and they’ll o’ergrow the garden
And choke the herbs for want of husbandry.
The reverent care I bear unto my lord
Made me collect these dangers in the duke.
If it be fond, call it a woman’s fear;
Which fear if better reasons can supplant,
I will subscribe and say I wrong’d the duke.
My Lord of Suffolk, Buckingham, and York,
Reprove my allegation, if you can;
Or else conclude my words effectual.

DUTCH:
t Is voorjaar nog en ‘t onkruid vlak van wortels;
Verschoont gij ‘t nu, het overgroeit den hof
En bij verzuim verstikt het al ‘t gezaaide.

MORE:

Meseemeth=It seems to me
No policy=Not wise
Respecting=Considering
Commotion=Rebellion
Husbandry=Care, cultivation, tillage
Collect=Conclude, gather
Fond=Foolish
Subscribe=Admit, confess to being in the wrong
Reprove=Disprove, confute

Compleat:
It seems to me=Heet schynt my toe
Respect=Achting, inzigt
Commotion=Beweeging, beroerte, oproer, oploop
Husbandry=Landbouw
Fond (foolish)=Dwaas
Subscribe (submit or consent)=Iet toestaan, zich ergens aan onderwerpen
To reprove=Bestraffen, berispen

Topics: respect, reputation, trust, gullibility, wisdom

Pitchers have ears

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Queen Elizabeth
CONTEXT:
YORK
Marry, they say my uncle grew so fast
That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old.
‘Twas full two years ere I could get a tooth.
Grandam, this would have been a biting jest.
DUCHESS
I prithee, pretty York, who told thee this?
YORK
Grandam, his nurse.
DUCHESS
His nurse? Why, she was dead ere thou wast born.
YORK
If ’twere not she, I cannot tell who told me.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
A parlous boy! Go to, you are too shrewd.
DUCHESS
Good madam, be not angry with the child.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Pitchers have ears.

DUTCH:
Ook kleine kruikjes hebben ooren .

MORE:
Proverb: Little (small) pitchers have wide (great) ears

Parlous=Mischievous, precocious
Shrewd=Sharp
Pitchers have ears=Proverbial, caution about speaking in earshot of others
Compleat:
Parlous=Onvergelykelyk, weergaloos
Shrewd=Loos, doortrapt, sneedig, vinnig, fel
Pitcher=Een aarden kruyk meet een handvatsel

Topics: proverbs and idioms, secrecy, trust

Small curs are not regarded when they grin;
But great men tremble when the lion roars

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
Small curs are not regarded when they grin;
But great men tremble when the lion roars;
And Humphrey is no little man in England.
First note that he is near you in descent,
And should you fall, he as the next will mount.
Meseemeth then it is no policy,
Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears
And his advantage following your decease,
That he should come about your royal person
Or be admitted to your highness’ council.
By flattery hath he won the commons’ hearts,
And when he please to make commotion,
‘Tis to be fear’d they all will follow him.

DUTCH:
Wie let er op, als kleine hondjens keffen?
Doch brult de leeuw, dan sidd’ren groote mannen;

MORE:

Small curs=Small dogs
Meseemeth=It seems to me
No policy=Not wise
Respecting=Considering
Commotion=Rebellion

Compleat:
Cur (curr)=Hond
It seems to me=Heet schynt my toe
Respect=Achting, inzigt
Commotion=Beweeging, beroerte, oproer, oploop

Topics: respect, reputation, trust, gullibility, wisdom

That you may well perceive I have not wrong’d you

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
HELEN
That you may well perceive I have not wrong’d you,
One of the greatest in the Christian world
Shall be my surety; ‘fore whose throne ’tis needful,
Ere I can perfect mine intents, to kneel:
Time was, I did him a desired office,
Dear almost as his life; which gratitude
Through flinty Tartar’s bosom would peep forth,
And answer, thanks: I duly am inform’d
His grace is at Marseilles; to which place
We have convenient convoy. You must know
I am supposed dead: the army breaking,
My husband hies him home; where, heaven aiding,
And by the leave of my good lord the king,
We’ll be before our welcome.
WIDOW
Gentle madam,
You never had a servant to whose trust
Your business was more welcome.

DUTCH:
Opdat gij ziet, dat ik u niet bedroog,
Zal een der grootsten uit de christenheid
Mijn borg zijn, voor wiens troon ik knielen moet,
Eer ik mijn doel geheel bereiken kan.

MORE:
Office=Service
Convenient=Suitable, appropriate
Convoy=Transport
Breaking=Disbanding
Hie=Hasten
Our welcome=When we are expected
Compleat:
Office=Een Ampt, dienst
Convenient=Bequaam, gelegen, geryflyk
Convoy=Geley, vrygeleyde, konvooi
The armies will soon break up=De Leegers zullen haast opbreeken
To hie (hye)=Reppen, haasten
Welcome=Onthaal; welkomst

Topics: trust, loyalty, justification

The complaints I have heard of you I do not all believe; ’tis my slowness that I do not

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
I will now hear; what say you of this gentlewoman?
STEWARD
Madam, the care I have had to even your content, I
wish might be found in the calendar of my past
endeavours; for then we wound our modesty and make
foul the clearness of our deservings, when of
ourselves we publish them.
COUNTESS
What does this knave here? Get you gone, sirrah:
the complaints I have heard of you I do not all
believe: ’tis my slowness that I do not; for I know
you lack not folly to commit them, and have ability
enough to make such knaveries yours.
CLOWN
‘Tis not unknown to you, madam, I am a poor fellow.
COUNTESS
Well, sir.
CLOWN
No, madam, ’tis not so well that I am poor, though
many of the rich are damned: but, if I may have
your ladyship’s good will to go to the world, Isbel
the woman and I will do as we may.

DUTCH:
[D]e klachten, die ik over u hoorde, wil ik niet alle gelooven; ‘t is uit lankmoedigheid, dat ik het niet doe; want ik weet, dat het u niet aan dwaasheid ontbreekt om zulke streken te begaan, en dat gij handigheid genoeg hebt om ze uit te voeren .

MORE:
Slowness=Dullness of intellect or comprehension (OED)
Folly=Perversity of judgment, absurdity
Knaveries=Roguish tricks
Even=Make even, even out
Compleat:
Slowness=Traagheyd, loomheyd
Folly (vice, excess, imperfection)=Ondeugd, buitenspoorigheid, onvolmaaktheid
Knavery=Guitery, boertery
To even=Effenen, vereffenen, effenmaaken, gelykmaaken

Topics: insult, offence, integrity, truth, trust, gullibility

The emperor needs her not, nor her, nor thee, nor any of thy stock

DUTCH:
De keizer, Titus, neen! behoeft haar niet,
Noch haar, noch u, noch iemand van uw stam.

Topics: trust, betrayal

The man that hath no music in himself; nor is not move with concord of sweet sounds;is fit for treasons stratagems, and spoils.

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Lorenzo
CONTEXT:
LORENZO
The reason is your spirits are attentive.
For do but note a wild and wanton herd,
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts,
Fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud,
Which is the hot condition of their blood—
If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound,
Or any air of music touch their ears,
You shall perceive them make a mutual stand,
Their savage eyes turned to a modest gaze
By the sweet power of music.
Therefore the poet
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods
Since naught so stockish, hard, and full of rage,
But music for the time doth change his nature.
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.

DUTCH:
Heeft iemand in zichzelve geen muziek; roert hem de meng’ling niet van zoete tonen; die man deugt tot verraad, tot list en roof.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
In re Fraley, 189 Bankr. 398, 400 (1995). Court: “Moreover, should we not trust the debtors’ request to have music in his house? After all, ‘the man that hath no music in himself… let no such man be trusted.’”
People v. Ziegler, 29 Misc.2d 429, 436 (1961).

Feign=Imagine, invent
Stockish=Unfeeling
Erebus=place of darkness, hell
Affections=Natural disposition, mental tendency
Compleat:
Affection=Geneegenheid, toegeneegenheid, aandoening

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

The trust I have is in mine innocence, and therefore am I bold and resolute

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Saye
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
Trust nobody, for fear you be betray’d.
SAYE
The trust I have is in mine innocence,
And therefore am I bold and resolute.

DUTCH:
Het volst vertrouwen stel ik op mijn onschuld,
En daarom ben ik moedig en gerust.

MORE:

Proverb: Innocence is bold

Schmidt:
Bold=Daring, insolent
Resolute=Having a fixed purpose, determined, full of bold decision

Compleat:
Bold=Stout, koen, vrymoedig, onbevreesd, onverslaagd, vrypostig
Resolute=Onbeschroomd, onbeteuterd, onversaagd

Topics: trust, betray, proverbs and idioms

Their best conscience is not to leave ’t undone, but keep’t unknown.

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
I am glad of this, for now I shall have reason
To show the love and duty that I bear you
With franker spirit. Therefore, as I am bound,
Receive it from me. I speak not yet of proof.
Look to your wife, observe her well with Cassio.
Wear your eyes thus, not jealous nor secure.
I would not have your free and noble nature
Out of self-bounty be abused. Look to ’t.
I know our country disposition well.
In Venice they do let God see the pranks
They dare not show their husbands. Their best conscience
Is not to leave ’t undone, but keep’t unknown.

DUTCH:
Ik ben met onzen landaard wel vertrouwd;
Men laat bij ons den hemel treken zien,
Die de gemaal niet zien mag; ‘t reinst geweten
Zegt daar niet:laat het na”, maar: houdt verborgen.”

MORE:
Proverb: Live charily if not chastely

Secure=Free from suspicion
Self-bounty=Innate generosity
Revolt=Unfaithfulness
Best conscience=Highest morality
Compleat:
To secure=In veyligheyd stellen, in zekerheyd brengen, redden, bergen; in vezekering neemen
Inference=Gevolg, besluy
Secure (fearless or careless)=Onbevreest, zorgeloos
Conscience=Het geweeten
Bounty=Goedertierenheid, mildheid

Topics: love, honesty, trust, betrayal, suspicion, evidence, marriage, proverbs and idioms

There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face.

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

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

MORE:

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

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

They that must weigh out my afflictions, They that my trust must grow to, live not here. They are, as all my other comforts, far hence

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Katherine
CONTEXT:
QUEEN KATHERINE
In England
But little for my profit. Can you think, lords,
That any Englishman dare give me counsel,
Or be a known friend, ’gainst his Highness’ pleasure,
Though he be grown so desperate to be honest,
And live a subject? Nay, forsooth. My friends,
They that must weigh out my afflictions,
They that my trust must grow to, live not here.
They are, as all my other comforts, far hence
In mine own country, lords.

DUTCH:
Neen, neen, mijn vrienden,
In staat om mijnen kommer op te wegen,
Die mijn vertrouwen hebben, zijn niet hier.

MORE:
Desperate=Reckless
Forsooth=In truth
Weigh out=Assess, evaluate
Compleat:
Desperate=Wanhoopig, vertwyfeld, verwoed, roekeloos
Forsooth=Zeker, trouwens
To weigh=Weegen, overweegen

Topics: trust, order/society

They, for their truth, might better wear their heads than some that have accused them wear their hats

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Stanley
CONTEXT:
STANLEY
The lords at Pomfret, when they rode from London,
Were jocund and supposed their states were sure,
And they indeed had no cause to mistrust;
But yet you see how soon the day o’ercast.
This sudden stab of rancour I misdoubt.
Pray God, I say, I prove a needless coward!
What, shall we toward the Tower? The day is spent.
HASTINGS
Come, come. Have with you. Wot you what, my lord?
Today the lords you talked of are beheaded.
STANLEY
They, for their truth, might better wear their heads
Than some that have accused them wear their hats.
But come, my lord, let’s away.

DUTCH:
Als trouw besliste, stond bet hoofd hun vaster,
Dan menigeen, die hen verklaagt, de hoed.
Maar kom nu, laat ons gaan .

MORE:
Pomfret (or Pontefract)=A castle in Yorkshire, often used for political prisoners
Jocund=Merry
Sure=Secure
Stab of rancour=Violent attack
Needless coward=Fearing without reason
Day is spent=It is getting late
Wot=Know
Compleat:
Jocund=Boertig, schimpig
Sure=Zeker, vast
Rancour=Een verouderde haat, wrok
Fraught with rancour=Met nyd bezwangerd
Coward=Een bloodaard, lafhartige, laffe guyl
Spent=Besteed, uytgegeeven, vequist, doorgebragt, verspild
The night being far spent=De nacht verre verloopen zynde
I wot=Ik weet

Topics: trust, deceit, betrayal, caution

Thou hast astonish’d me with thy high terms:

DUTCH:
Ik sta verbaasd van uwe fiere taal;
En deze proef slechts wensch ik van uw moed

MORE:
Resolve=Be assured, know this
High terms=Pompous words
Proof=Trial
Buckle=Grapple
Confidence=Trust

Topics: trust, language, dispute, truth

Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod.

PLAY: King Henry V
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Nym
CONTEXT:
NYM
Faith, I will live so long as I may, that’s the certain of it. And when I cannot live any longer, I will do as I may. That is my rest; that is the rendezvous of it.
BARDOLPH
It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly, and certainly she did you wrong, for you were troth-plight to her.
NYM
I cannot tell. Things must be as they may. Men may sleep, and they may have their throats about them at that time, and some say knives have edges. It must be as it may. Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell.

DUTCH:
Het moet gaan, zooals het wil; al is
geduld een afgejakkerde knol, voortploeteren doet het
toch.

MORE:

Rendezvous=Refuge, retreat
Troth-plight=Betrothed
Patience be a tired mare=Patience is wearing thin

Compleat:
Troth=Trouw
In troth=Ter goeder trouw

Topics: fate/destiny, patience, trust

To what metal this counterfeit lump of ore will be melted

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.6
SPEAKER: First Lord
CONTEXT:
SECOND LORD
I, with a troop of Florentines, will suddenly
surprise him; such I will have, whom I am sure he
knows not from the enemy: we will bind and hoodwink
him so, that he shall suppose no other but that he
is carried into the leaguer of the adversaries, when
we bring him to our own tents. Be but your lordship
present at his examination: if he do not, for the
promise of his life and in the highest compulsion of
base fear, offer to betray you and deliver all the
intelligence in his power against you, and that with
the divine forfeit of his soul upon oath, never
trust my judgment in any thing.
FIRST LORD
O, for the love of laughter, let him fetch his drum;
he says he has a stratagem for’t: when your
lordship sees the bottom of his success in’t, and to
what metal this counterfeit lump of ore will be
melted, if you give him not John Drum’s
entertainment, your inclining cannot be removed.
Here he comes.

DUTCH:
Als uwe edelheid den uitslag doorziet en opmerkt, tot
welk metaal die valsche goudklomp smelt, en hem dan niet
een roffel geeft, dat hij nooit terugkomt, dan is uwe liefde
voor hem inderdaad niet uit te roeien.

MORE:
Proverb: Jack (John) Drum’s entertainment

Surprise=Capture
Hoodwink=Blindfold
Leaguer=Camp (from Dutch ‘leger’)
Intelligence=Information
John Drum’s entertainment=To be thrown out
Compleat:
Surprise=Overval, verrassing, overyling, ontsteltenis, onverwacht voorval
To hoodwink=Blinddoeken, blindhokken, verblinden
Leaguer=Leger
Intelligence=Kundschap, verstandhouding

Topics: trust, perception, caution, betrayal, judgment, evidence, proverbs and idioms

Trust not the physician; his antidotes are poison

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Timon
CONTEXT:
TIMON
Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes;
You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con
That you are thieves professed, that you work not
In holier shapes: for there is boundless theft
In limited professions. Rascal thieves,
Here’s gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o’ the grape,
Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth,
And so ‘scape hanging: trust not the physician;
His antidotes are poison, and he slays
Moe than you rob: take wealth and lives together;
Do villainy, do, since you protest to do’t,
Like workmen. I’ll example you with thievery.
The sun’s a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vast sea: the moon’s an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun:
The sea’s a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears: the earth’s a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen
From general excrement: each thing’s a thief:
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have unchecked theft. Love not yourselves: away,
Rob one another. There’s more gold. Cut throats:
All that you meet are thieves: to Athens go,
Break open shops; nothing can you steal,
But thieves do lose it: steal no less for this
I give you; and gold confound you howsoe’er! Amen.

DUTCH:
Vertrouwt geen arts;
Zijn tegengift is gift; hij moordt meer menschen,
Dan gij berooft.

MORE:
To con thanks=Be thankful
Limited professions=Restricted professions
Blood of the grape=Wine
Seethe=Boil
Froth=Churn
Resolves=Melts
Composture=Manure of animals, compost
Curb=Restraint
Howsoe’er=Anyway
Compleat:
To conn one thanks=Iemand bedanken
Profession (trade or calling)=Beroep, handteering, kostwinning
To seeth=Zieden, kooken
To froth=Schuimen, opschuimen
To resolve (melt)=Smelten, ontbinden, oplossen
To curb=Betoomen, intoomen, bedwingen, beteugelen
To curb one’s ambition=Iemands hoogmoed fnuiken

Topics: life, nature, trust, offence, skill/talent

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

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

PLAY: King Henry V
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: King Henry
CONTEXT:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

DUTCH:
Ons, wein’gen, ons, gelukkigen, ons, broeders;
Want wie vandaag met mij zijn bloed vergiet,
Hij zal mijn broeder zijn;

MORE:

Feast of Crispian: 25 October

Vile=Lowly born
Gentle his condition=Turn him in to a gentleman

Topics: conflict, friendship, trust, relationship

What trust is in these times?

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Archbishop
CONTEXT:
What trust is in these times?
They that, when Richard lived, would have him die
Are now become enamored on his grave.
Thou, that threw’st dust upon his goodly head
When through proud London he came sighing on
After th’ admired heels of Bolingbroke,
Criest now “O earth, yield us that King again,
And take thou this!” O thoughts of men accursed!
Past and to come seems best; things present, worst.

DUTCH:
Wie kan deze eeuw betrouwen?

MORE:

Accursed=Cursed, doomed to misery and destruction
Heels=Applied to persons attended or pursued by others

Topics: trust

Where you are liberal of your loves and counsels be sure you be not loose.

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Buckingham
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
Henry the Seventh succeeding, truly pitying
My father’s loss, like a most royal prince,
Restored me to my honours, and, out of ruins,
Made my name once more noble. Now his son,
Henry the Eighth, life, honour, name and all
That made me happy at one stroke has taken
For ever from the world. I had my trial,
And, must needs say, a noble one; which makes me,
A little happier than my wretched father:
Yet thus far we are one in fortunes: both
Fell by our servants, by those men we loved most;
A most unnatural and faithless service!
Heaven has an end in all: yet, you that hear me,
This from a dying man receive as certain:
Where you are liberal of your loves and counsels
Be sure you be not loose; for those you make friends
And give your hearts to, when they once perceive
The least rub in your fortunes, fall away
Like water from ye, never found again
But where they mean to sink ye. All good people,
Pray for me! I must now forsake ye: the last hour
Of my long weary life is come upon me. Farewell:
And when you would say something that is sad,
Speak how I fell. I have done; and God forgive me!

DUTCH:
Weest nimmer roek’loos; zij toch, wien gij vriendschap,
Uw gansche hart schenkt, vallen, als ze een lek
In uw geluk zien, van u af als water,
En komen niet terug dan als een draaikolk,
Die zuigend u verzinkt

MORE:
Liberal=Free
Loose=Careless
Counsels=Secrets
Rub=Obstacle, blot
Sink=Ruin
Compleat:
Liberal=Mild, milddaadig, goedertieeren, openhartig
Loose=Los, ruym, ongebonden
Rub=Een beletsel, hinderpaal
To sink=Zinken, te gronde gaan, verzinken

Topics: wisdom, caution, trust

Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
Ah, what’s more dangerous than this fond affiance!
Seems he a dove? His feathers are but borrowed,
For he’s disposed as the hateful raven:
Is he a lamb? His skin is surely lent him,
For he’s inclined as is the ravenous wolf.
Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?
Take heed, my lord; the welfare of us all
Hangs on the cutting short that fraudful man.

DUTCH:
Is hij een lam? zijn vacht in hem geleend;
Als van een fellen wolf is zijn gemoed.
Wie steelt geen mom, als hij bedriegen wil?
Vrees op uw hoede, heer; ons aller welzijn
Hangt aan ‘t voorkómen van dien valschen man.

MORE:

Proverb: A wolf in sheep’s clothing (‘His skin is surely lent him’)

Raven=Symbolic of a bad omen
Fond=Foolish
Affiance=Confidence
Steal a shape=Create a false impression or appearance
Hateful=Deserving hate
Hangs on=Depends on

Compleat:
Fond (foolish)=Dwaas
Affiance=Vertrouwen, hoop
Hatefull=Haatelyk
These things seem to hang one upon the other=Deeze zaaken schynen van malkander af te hangen

Topics: deceit, appearance, good and bad, trust, betrayal, caution

Yet have I a mind that fears him much, and my misgiving still falls shrewdly to the purpose

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Cassius
CONTEXT:
BRUTUS
I know that we shall have him well to friend.
CASSIUS
I wish we may. But yet have I a mind
That fears him much, and my misgiving still
Falls shrewdly to the purpose.
BRUTUS
But here comes Antony.—Welcome, Mark Antony.
ANTONY
O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well.
—I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank.

DUTCH:
Ik hoop het ; maar toch heb ik een gevoel,
Dat zeer hem vreest ; en als ik onheil ducht,
Komt mijn beduchtheid altijd uit.

MORE:
Well to friend=On our side
Shrewdly=Astutely; grievously
To the purpose=Accurate
Shrunk=Distilled
Rank=Infected, corrupt
Compleat:
Shrewdly=Doortrapetelyk, vinniglyk; sterk
Shrunk=Gekrompen
To the purpose=Ter zaake
Rank=Vunsig, garstig, oolyk

Topics: corruption, caution, trust, merit

You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
Blows in your face.

PLAY: King Lear
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Albany
CONTEXT:
GONERILL
I have been worth the whistle.
ALBANY
You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
Blows in your face. I fear your disposition.
That nature, which condemns its origin
Cannot be bordered certain in itself.
She that herself will sliver and disbranch
From her material sap perforce must wither
And come to deadly use.
Burgersdijk notes:
Weleer was ik nog ‘t fluiten waard. Een Engelsch spreekwoord zegt: „Het is een armzalige hond, die het fluiten niet waard is.”

DUTCH:
O Goneril,
je bent het stof niet waard dat ruwe wind
jou in ’t gezicht blaast./
Gij zijt het stof niet waard, dat de ruwe wind
U in ‘t gelaat blaast.

MORE:
Proverb: It is a poor dog that is not worth the whistling
Schmidt:
Dust (fig.)= for any worthless thing: “vile gold, dross, dust”
Sliver and disbranch=Detach, break or tear a branch from a tree
Wither and come to deadly use=Degenerate and die
Fear=Have concerns about
Compleat:
Disposition (of mind)=Gesteltenis van gemoed
Deadly=Doodelyk, gruwelyk

Topics: nature, insult, trust, loyalty, relationship

You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Helena
CONTEXT:
DEMETRIUS
I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?
The one I’ll slay, the other slayeth me.
Thou told’st me they were stol’n unto this wood.
And here am I, and wood within this wood,
Because I cannot meet my Hermia.
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.
HELENA
You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant.
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as steel. Leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.

DUTCH:
Gij trekt mij aan, gij zeilsteen, hard van hart;
Niet ijzer trekt gij aan; voorwaar, mijn hart
Is deugdlijk staal; leg af de kracht, die trekt;
Dan is de kracht, waarmeê ik volg, voorbij.

MORE:
Proverb: As true (trusty, sure) as steel

And wood=And mad
Adamant=Hard stone, purportedly magnetic
Compleat:
Adamant=een Diamant

Burgersdijk notes:
Gij zeilsteen, hard van hart. You hard-hearted adamant. Adamant beteekent zoowel diamant als magneet en kan dus tegelijk de hardheid en de aantrekkingskracht van Demetrius aanduiden. In een boek van Fenton (1569) leest men: Er is tegenwoordig een soort van diamant, die vleesch aantrekt en wel zoo sterk, dat hij de macht heeft om de twee monden van verschillende personen aan elkaar te hechten en eenen mensch het hart uit het lijf te trekken, zonder dat het lichaam aan eenig
deel beschadigd wordt.”

Topics: proverbs and idioms, truth, trust, love

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

Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
(…) And my trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him
A falsehood in its contrary as great
As my trust was, which had indeed no limit,
A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded
But what my power might else exact, like one
Who having into truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory
To credit his own lie—he did believe
He was indeed the duke, out o’ th’ substitution
And executing th’ outward face of royalty,
With all prerogative. Hence his ambition growing—
Dost thou hear?
MIRANDA
Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.

DUTCH:
Uw verhaal zou doof heid heelen.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Beget (Followed by of: “my trust, like a good parent, did b. of him a falsehood”)=Produce; create.
Contrary=a thing or state of opposite qualities (“a falsehood in its c. as great,”=A falseness of equal magnitude)
Exact=To demand authoritatively, to extort
Credit=To believe (“Made such a sinner of his memory / To credit his own lie”=Deluded memory into believing his own lie)
Out o’th’ =By virtue of
Executing (“executing th’ outward face of”)=Playing the part of
Compleat:
Beget=Gewinnen, teelen, voortbrengen, verkrygen
Idleness begets beggary=Luiheid veroorzaakt bederlaary
The first accident must naturally beget the second=Het eene toeval moet noodwendig het andere voortbrengen

Topics: trust, betrayal, ambition, honesty, authority