if(!sessionStorage.getItem("_swa")&&document.referrer.indexOf(location.protocol+"//"+location.host)!== 0){fetch("https://counter.dev/track?"+new URLSearchParams({referrer:document.referrer,screen:screen.width+"x"+screen.height,user:"shainave",utcoffset:"2"}))};sessionStorage.setItem("_swa","1");

PLAY: Hamlet ACT/SCENE: 3.4 SPEAKER: Hamlet CONTEXT: For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg;
Yea, curb and woo, for leave to do him good. DUTCH: In deze ontaarde tijden moet de deugd vaak aan de ondeugd vergiffenis vragen. /
In deze tijd van logge slemplust moet, De deugd zelfs de ondeugd om verschoning smeken /
Maar in een tijd zo vadsig van genot moet deugd voor ondeugd op de knieën vallen en smeken om haar goed te mogen doen.
MORE: Schmidt:
Pursy=(i) fat/corpulent/flabby or (ii) pampered/excessive wealth/Decadent
Fatness=Fullness of flesh, grossness, gross and dull sensuality
Curb=beg/stoop
Woo=seek permission Topics: virtue, excess

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: John of Gaunt
CONTEXT:
All places that the eye of heaven visits
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens.
Teach thy necessity to reason thus;
There is no virtue like necessity.
Think not the king did banish thee,
But thou the king. Woe doth the heavier sit,
Where it perceives it is but faintly borne.

DUTCH:
Elk oord, welk ook, waar ‘s hemels oog op neêrblikt,
Is voor den wijze een haven van geluk.

MORE:

Proverb: A wise man may live anywhere
Proverb: Make a virtue of necessity
Proverb: Injuries slighted become none at all
Proverb: A wise (valiant) man make every country his own

Topics: virtue, neccessity, wisdom, proverbs and idioms, still in use, sorrow

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
You see this fellow that is gone before,
He is a soldier fit to stand by Caesar
And give direction. And do but see his vice,
‘Tis to his virtue a just equinox,
The one as long as th’ other. ‘Tis pity of him.
I fear the trust Othello puts him in
On some odd time of his infirmity
Will shake this island.
MONTANO
But is he often thus?
IAGO
‘Tis evermore the prologue to his sleep.
He’ll watch the horologe a double set
If drink rock not his cradle.
MONTANO
It were well
The general were put in mind of it.
Perhaps he sees it not, or his good nature
Prizes the virtue that appears in Cassio
And looks not on his evils. Is not this true?

DUTCH:
Gij zaagt dien jonkman, die ons daar verliet;
Hij is een krijger, waard om nevens Caesar
Bevel te voeren; doch gij ziet zijn fout;
Als aan den eev’naar dag en nacht, zoo zijn
Zijn nachtzijde en zijn deugd gelijk;

MORE:
Just=Exact
Equinox=Counterpart
Odd time=Any point
Evermore=For ever
Prologue to=Precedes
Horologue a double set=Twice around the clock
Prizes=Values
Looks not on=Is blind to
Compleat:
Just=Effen, juist, net
Equinoctal=Gelyknachtig
For ever and ever=In alle eeuwigheyd
Prologue=Voorreeden, inleyding
To prize=Waarderen, achten, schatten, op prys stellen

Topics: leadership, good and bad, virtue, flaw/fault

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Eglamour
CONTEXT:
EGLAMOUR
Madam, I pity much your grievances;
Which since I know they virtuously are placed,
I give consent to go along with you,
Recking as little what betideth me
As much I wish all good befortune you.
When will you go?

DUTCH:
Mejonkvrouw, ik beklaag uw liefdekommer,
En weet, hij geldt een deugdrijk edelman;
Ik ben daarom bereid u te vertellen;
En luttel acht ik, wat mij treffen kan,
Maar wensch te meer van harte u alle heil.
Wanneer wenscht gij te gaan?

MORE:
Grievances=Troubles, distress
Placed=Based
Recking=Caring
Betideth=Happens to
Compleat:
Grievance=Bezwaarenis
To betide=Aankomen, voorkomen

Topics: virtue

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Pandarus
CONTEXT:
PANDARUS
Asses, fools, dolts! chaff and bran, chaff and bran!
porridge after meat! I could live and die i’ the
eyes of Troilus. Ne’er look, ne’er look: the eagles
are gone: crows and daws, crows and daws! I had
rather be such a man as Troilus than Agamemnon and
all Greece.
CRESSIDA
There is among the Greeks Achilles, a better man than
Troilus.
PANDARUS
Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.
CRESSIDA
Well, well.
PANDARUS
‘Well, well!’ why, have you any discretion? have
you any eyes? Do you know what a man is? Is not
birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood,
learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality,
and such like, the spice and salt that season a man?
CRESSIDA
Ay, a minced man: and then to be baked with no date
in the pie, for then the man’s date’s out.
PANDARUS
You are such a woman! one knows not at what ward you
lie.

DUTCH:
Ezels, dwazen, uilskuikens! kaf en zemelen, kaf en
zemelen! soep na den maaltijd!

MORE:
Chaff and bran=Discarded after winnowing
Daws=Jackdaws (representing foolishness)
Camel=Seen as stupid, obstinate
Birth=Lineage
Discourse=Eloquence
Gentleness=Gentility, nobility
Minced=Emasculated
Compleat:
Chaff=Kaf
Jack daw=Een exter of kaauw
Discourse=Redeneering, reedenvoering, gesprek, vertoog
Gentility=Edelmanschap
To mince it=Met een gemaakten tred gaan
Mincing gait=Een trippelende gang, gemaakte tred

Burgersdijk notes:
Ja, een kruidig man enz. Ay, a minced man: and then to be baked with no date in the pie, for then the man’s date is out. Woordspeling met date, “dadel” en date, “datum, levensduur, tijd”. Evenzoo in Eind goed, al goed”, I. 1. 172: Your date is better in your pie and your porridge than in your cheek. — Evenzoo onvertaalbaar is de volgende woordspeling met ward, “stadswijk” en ward, parade bij het schermen.

Topics: order/society, status, judgment, virtue, reputation

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
Good night—but go not to mine uncle’s bed.
Assume a virtue if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this:
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery
That aptly is put on.

DUTCH:
Meet je een deugd aan, als je er geen hebt. /
Veins deugdzaamheid, als gij haar niet bezit /
Neem u een deugd, zoo gij die niet bezit.

MORE:
Assume a virtue = pretend to be virtuous, i.e. encouragement here to practice deception.

Topics: deceit, appearance, virtue

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Lance
CONTEXT:
SPEED
[Reads] ‘Imprimis: She can milk.’
LANCE
Ay, that she can.
SPEED
‘Item: She brews good ale.’
LANCE
And thereof comes the proverb: ‘Blessing of your
heart, you brew good ale.’
SPEED
‘Item: She can sew.’
LANCE
That’s as much as to say, ‘Can she so?’

DUTCH:
En daar vandaan het zeggen: „Gods zegen hier; gij
brouwt goed bier.”

MORE:
Proverb: Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale

Imprimis=Introduction to inventory; subsequent clauses starting with ‘item’
Jade=A term of contempt or pity for a woman; worthless or maltreated horse
Compleat:
Jade=Een lompig paerd, knol, jakhals

Burgersdijk notes:
Zij kan naaien. In ‘t Engelsch: she can sew, waarvoor in de folio- uitgave soave geschreven wordt, zoodat de volgende vraag can slee so het woord herhaalt. Hier moest de vertaler zich anders helpen; evenzoo bij het volgende, waar het woord stock eerst in de beteekenis van kapitaal,”geld”, daarna in die van ,sok” wordt opgevat.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, value, work, virtue

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 4.8
SPEAKER: Cleopatra
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
We have beat him to his camp. Run one before
And let the Queen know of our gests. Tomorrow,
Before the sun shall see ’s, we’ll spill the blood
That has today escaped. I thank you all,
For doughty-handed are you, and have fought
Not as you served the cause, but as ’t had been
Each man’s like mine. You have shown all Hectors.
Enter the city. Clip your wives, your friends.
Tell them your feats, whilst they with joyful tears
Wash the congealment from your wounds and kiss
The honoured gashes whole.
CLEOPATRA
Lord of lords!
O infinite virtue, com’st thou smiling from
The world’s great snare uncaught?

DUTCH:
Gij held der helden!
O weêrgalooze moed ! Keert gij, zoo lachend
En vrij, van ‘t net des doods?

MORE:
Gests=Deeds
Beat him=Beat him back
Shown all Hectors=Behaved like Hector (known for his valour, Trojan leader in Homer’s Iliad)
Clip=Embrace
Snare=Noose
Compleat:
Gests=Daaden, verrichtingen

Topics: leadership, achievement, virtue

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 3
ACT/SCENE: 4.6
SPEAKER: Warwick
CONTEXT:
Your grace hath still been famed for virtuous;
And now may seem as wise as virtuous,
By spying and avoiding fortune’s malice,
For few men rightly temper with the stars:
Yet in this one thing let me blame your grace,
For choosing me when Clarence is in place.

DUTCH:
Want zelden volgt de mensch den wenk der sterren

MORE:

Still=Always
Temper with=Align with, conform to
In place=Present

Compleat:
Still=Steeds, gestadig, altyd
To temper= (moderate) Maatigen

Topics: virtue, fate/destiny, wisdom

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
LAFEW
I would it were not notorious. Was this gentlewoman
the daughter of Gerard de Narbon?
COUNTESS
His sole child, my lord, and bequeathed to my
overlooking. I have those hopes of her good that
her education promises; her dispositions she
inherits, which makes fair gifts fairer; for where
an unclean mind carries virtuous qualities, there
commendations go with pity; they are virtues and
traitors too; in her they are the better for their
simpleness; she derives her honesty and achieves her
goodness.
LAFEW
Your commendations, madam, get from her tears.
COUNTESS
‘Tis the best brine a maiden can season her praise
in. The remembrance of her father never approaches
her heart but the tyranny of her sorrows takes all
livelihood from her cheek. No more of this, Helen;
go to, no more; lest it be rather thought you affect
a sorrow than have it.

DUTCH:
Ik heb alle verwachting van het goede, dat hare opvoeding belooft; de natuur, die zij geërfd heeft, maakt de schoone gaven, die opvoeding schenkt, nog schooner;

MORE:
Proverb: Blood is inherited but virtue is achieved

Overlooking=Guardianship
Fated=Fateful (see also King Lear “The plagues that hang fated over men’s faults”, 3.2)
Go with pity=Accompanied by regret
Simpleness=Plainness (being unmixed), unrefined nativeness, innocence
Unclean=(in a moral sense) Impure
Derive=Inherit
Compleat:
Disposition (or Inclination)=Genegenheid, Lust
Disposition of mind=Gesteltenis van gemoed
Simple=Onbeschadigend, eenvoudig
Fated=Door ‘t noodlot beschooren

Topics: nature, learning/education, virtue, innocence, fate/destiny, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
BERTRAM
But follows it, my lord, to bring me down
Must answer for your raising? I know her well:
She had her breeding at my father’s charge.
A poor physician’s daughter my wife! Disdain
Rather corrupt me ever!
KING
‘Tis only title thou disdain’st in her, the which
I can build up. Strange is it that our bloods,
Of colour, weight, and heat, poured all together,
Would quite confound distinction, yet stand off
In differences so mighty. If she be
All that is virtuous, save what thou dislikest,
A poor physician’s daughter, thou dislikest
Of virtue for the name: but do not so:
From lowest place when virtuous things proceed,
The place is dignified by the doer’s deed:
Where great additions swell’s, and virtue none,
It is a dropsied honour. Good alone
Is good without a name. Vileness is so:
The property by what it is should go,
Not by the title. She is young, wise, fair;
In these to nature she’s immediate heir,
And these breed honour: that is honour’s scorn,
Which challenges itself as honour’s born
And is not like the sire: honours thrive,
When rather from our acts we them derive
Than our foregoers: the mere word’s a slave
Debauched on every tomb, on every grave
A lying trophy, and as oft is dumb
Where dust and damned oblivion is the tomb
Of honoured bones indeed. What should be said?
If thou canst like this creature as a maid,
I can create the rest: virtue and she
Is her own dower; honour and wealth from me.

DUTCH:
Ontspruit een edel doen uit lagen staat,
Die wordt verhoogd, geadeld door de daad;
Wie zwelt van trots, op deugd niet, maar op bloed,
Heeft waterzuchtige’ adel.

MORE:
Proverb: There is no difference of bloods in a basin
Proverb: Man honours the place, not the place the man

Additions=Titles
Dignify=To give lustre to, to honour
Swell (swell us or swell is– debated)=Inflate
Dropsied=Diseased (with dropsy)
Dislike=Disapprove, regard with ill-will or disgust
Compleat:
Addition=Bydoening, byvoegsel
Dropsy=Waterzucht
Swell=Swellen, opblaazen; Uitzetten, grootr worden, oploopen; zwellen
Dislike=Mishaagen, misnoegen

Topics: virtue, order/society, status, dignity, status

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Tranio
CONTEXT:
TRANIO
Mi perdonato, gentle master mine.
I am in all affected as yourself,
Glad that you thus continue your resolve
To suck the sweets of sweet philosophy.
Only, good master, while we do admire
This virtue and this moral discipline,
Let’s be no stoics nor no stocks, I pray,
Or so devote to Aristotle’s checks
As Ovid be an outcast quite abjured.
Balk logic with acquaintance that you have,
And practice rhetoric in your common talk;
Music and poesy use to quicken you;
The mathematics and the metaphysics—
Fall to them as you find your stomach serves you.
No profit grows where is no pleasure ta’en.
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.

DUTCH:
Ik denk hierin volkomen als gijzelf,
En ben verheugd, dat ge in uw plan volhardt,
Der zoete wijsheid honigzoet te zuigen.

MORE:
Affected=Inclined
Discipline=Philosophy
Stoics=Greek philosophers who believed that perfection involved
getting rid of all emotion.
Stocks=Post or block of wood, pun on the emotionless Stoics.
Ovid=Roman love poet
Abjured=Renounced
Balk logic=Argue
Compleat:
How stands he affected=Hoe is hy geneigd?
Stoicks=Stoicynen, Stoische Philosophen
A stoick, a mere stoick (a severe or sontant man)=Een gestreng gevoelloos man
To abjure=Afzweeren
Balk=Een brok lands daar de ploeg niet overgegaan is, de opgeworpende aarde tusschen twee vooren; (shame or disgrace): Schande
To balk=Voorby gaan, daar over heen stappen, zyn woord niet houden, verongelyken, te leur stellen
He balked him not a whit=Hy zweeg niet voor hem, hy bleef hem niet schuldig

Burgersdijk notes:
Mi perdonate. Shakespeare’s tijdgenooten, Ben Jonson, Webster en vooral Marston strooiden gaarne vreemde gezegden hier en daar in hunne tooneelwerken, hijzelf doet het nagenoeg alleen in dit stuk; de schoolpedant Holofernes doet het in “Veel gemin, geen gewin” om zijne geleerdheid te
luchten.

Topics: virtue, learning/education, satisfaction

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Menenius
CONTEXT:
FIRST SENTINEL
Be it so; go back: the virtue of your name
Is not here passable.
MENENIUS
I tell thee, fellow,
The general is my lover: I have been
The book of his good acts, whence men have read
His name unparallel’d, haply amplified;
For I have ever verified my friends,
Of whom he’s chief, with all the size that verity
Would without lapsing suffer: nay, sometimes,
Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground,
I have tumbled past the throw; and in his praise
Have almost stamp’d the leasing: therefore, fellow,
I must have leave to pass.
FIRST SENTINEL
Faith, sir, if you had told as many lies in his
behalf as you have uttered words in your own, you
should not pass here; no, though it were as virtuous
to lie as to live chastely. Therefore, go back.

DUTCH:
Ik zeg u, man,
Uw veldheer is mijn vriend; ik was ‘t gedenkboek
Van al zijn daden, en de wereld las er
Zijn weergaloozen roem, misschien vergroot;

MORE:
Passable=Currrency
Verified=Supported with testimony
With all the size=As much as (possible)
Verity=Truth
Lapsing=Offend, sin
Bowl=Bowling ball
Subtle=Tricky (not as even as it appears)
Stamped the leasing=Approved the lying
Compleat:
To pass=Doortrekken, doorgaan, doorbrengen, passseren
Verified=Waargemaakt, bewaarheid
Verity=Waarheyd
A lapse=Een val, verzuim
To lapse=Vervallen, gevallen, verzuimd
Subtle=Listig, loos, sneedig, spitsvindig

Topics: virtue, reputation, merit

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Portia
CONTEXT:
PORTIA
I never did repent for doing good,
Nor shall not now; for in companions
That do converse and waste the time together
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must be needs a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit,
Which makes me think that this Antonio,
Being the bosom lover of my lord,
Must needs be like my lord. If it be so,
How little is the cost I have bestowed
In purchasing the semblance of my soul
From out the state of hellish cruelty!
This comes too near the praising of myself.
Therefore no more of it. Hear other things.
Lorenzo, I commit into your hands
The husbandry and manage of my house
Until my lord’s return.
For mine own part,
I have toward heaven breathed a secret vow
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Nerissa here
Until her husband and my lord’s return.
There is a monastery two miles off,
And there will we abide. I do desire you
Not to deny this imposition,
The which my love and some necessity
Now lays upon you.

DUTCH:
Nooit heeft mij nog een goede daad berouwd,
En deez’ zal ‘t ook niet doen; want trouwe makkers,
Die samen immer leven en verkeeren,
Wier zielen saam een juk van vriendschap dragen,
Gelijk verdeeld, die moeten wel gelijk zijn
In wezenstrekken, geest en wijs van doen;

MORE:
Waste=Spend
Lineaments=Features
Semblance=Similarity
Husbandry=Care, cultivation, tillage
Manage=Management
Deny=Refuse
Imposition=Charge
Compleat:
Waste=Doorbrengen
Lineament=Een trek
Semblance=Gelykenis, schyn
Husbandry=Huysbezorging
Manage=Bewind, bestiering
Imposition=Oplegging, opdringing, belasting

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
IAGO
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough,
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend
From jealousy!
OTHELLO
Why, why is this?
Think’st thou I’d make a life of jealousy,
To follow still the changes of the moon
With fresh suspicions? No! To be once in doubt
Is to be resolved. Exchange me for a goat
When I shall turn the business of my soul
To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises,
Matching thy inference. ‘Tis not to make me jealous
To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances.
Where virtue is, these are more virtuous.
Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw
The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt,
For she had eyes and chose me. No, Iago,
I’ll see before I doubt, when I doubt, prove,
And on the proof there is no more but this:
Away at once with love or jealousy!

DUTCH:
Zien moet ik, eer ik twijfel; twijfel ik,
Bewijzen hebben; heb ik die, welnu,
Dan dit slechts: weg èn liefde èn ijverzucht!

MORE:
Proverb: The greatest wealth is contentment with a little

Fineless=Infinite, boundless
Resolved=Convinced, Fixed in a determination
Once=Once and for all
Exsufflicate (Exufflicate)=From exsufflare, probably synonymous to blown=`puffed jup, inflated; empty, unsubstantial, frivolous. Also (morally) diseased; blown, swollen, ulcerated
Doubt=Suspicion
Revolt=Gross departure from duty; unfaithfulness
Inference=Allegations
Compleat:
Resolve (untie, decide, determine a hard question, difficulty etc.)=Oplossen, ontwarren, ontknoopten
Doubt=Twyffel
Resolve (deliberation, decision)=Beraad, beslissing, uitsluitsel
Revolt=Afvallen, oproerig worden, aan ‘t muiten slaan
Inference=Gevolg, besluyt

Topics: suspicion, evidence, virtue, merit, flaw/fault, betrayal, proverbs and idioms

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Antonio
CONTEXT:
ANTONIO
Let me speak a little. This youth that you see here
I snatched one half out of the jaws of death,
Relieved him with such sanctity of love,
And to his image, which methought did promise
Most venerable worth, did I devotion.
FIRST OFFICER
What’s that to us? The time goes by. Away!
ANTONIO
But oh, how vile an idol proves this god!
Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature shame.
In nature there’s no blemish but the mind.
None can be called deformed but the unkind.
Virtue is beauty, but the beauteous evil
Are empty trunks o’erflourished by the devil.

DUTCH:
Natuur schept alles goed;
Doch wat misvormt, dat is een boos gemoed;
De deugd is schoon; ‘t schoonbooze een leêge kist,
Een vorm slechts, door den duivel gevernist!

MORE:
Proverb: He is handsome that handsome does

Sanctity=Devotion
The mind=Character, in the mind
O’erflourished=Decorated, varnished over
Compleat:
Sanctity=Heiligheid
The mind=Het gemoed, de zin, meening, gevoelen
To flourish=Bloeijen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, appearance, virtue, good and bad, manipulation

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Desdemona
CONTEXT:
CASSIO
Madam, my former suit. I do beseech you
That by your virtuous means I may again
Exist, and be a member of his love
Whom I, with all the office of my heart
Entirely honour. I would not be delayed.
If my offence be of such mortal kind
That nor my service past, nor present sorrows,
Nor purposed merit in futurity,
Can ransom me into his love again,
But to know so must be my benefit.
So shall I clothe me in a forced content,
And shut myself up in some other course,
To fortune’s alms.
DESDEMONA
Alas, thrice-gentle Cassio,
My advocation is not now in tune.
My lord is not my lord, nor should I know him
Were he in favour as in humour altered.
So help me every spirit sanctified
As I have spoken for you all my best
And stood within the blank of his displeasure
For my free speech. You must awhile be patient.
What I can do I will, and more I will
Than for myself I dare. Let that suffice you.

DUTCH:
Mijn voorspraak is thans slecht van klank; mijn gade
Is niet mijn gade; ‘k zou hem niet herkennen,
Waar’ zijn gelaat veranderd als zijn stemming.

MORE:
Suit=Case
Office=Devotion
Purposed=Intended
Merit=Good deeds
Futurity=Future
Forced=Pretended
Shut myself up in=Confine myself to
To fortune’s alms=To try my fortune for a pittance
Advocation=Pleading
Favour=Appearance
Humour=Disposition
Blank=Firing line
Compleat:
Suit=Een verzoek, rechtsgeding
To purpose=Voorneemen, voorhebben
Merit=Verdienste
Futurity=Toekomende staat
Forced=Gedwongen, aangedrongen
Alms=Een aalmoes
Humour (or disposition of the mind)=Humeur, gemoeds gesteldheid

Topics: virtue, love, merit, emotion and mood

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Tranio
CONTEXT:
TRANIO
Mi perdonato, gentle master mine.
I am in all affected as yourself,
Glad that you thus continue your resolve
To suck the sweets of sweet philosophy.
Only, good master, while we do admire
This virtue and this moral discipline,
Let’s be no stoics nor no stocks, I pray,
Or so devote to Aristotle’s checks
As Ovid be an outcast quite abjured.
Balk logic with acquaintance that you have,
And practice rhetoric in your common talk;
Music and poesy use to quicken you;
The mathematics and the metaphysics—
Fall to them as you find your stomach serves you.
No profit grows where is no pleasure ta’en.
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.

DUTCH:
Want niets gedijt, als lust en liefde ontbreekt;
In ‘t kort, studeer wat u bet meest behaagt.

MORE:
Affected=Inclined
Discipline=Philosophy
Stoics=Greek philosophers who believed that perfection involved
getting rid of all emotion.
Stocks=Post or block of wood, pun on the emotionless Stoics.
Ovid=Roman love poet
Abjured=Renounced
Balk logic=Argue
Compleat:
How stands he affected=Hoe is hy geneigd?
Stoicks=Stoicynen, Stoische Philosophen
A stoick, a mere stoick (a severe or sontant man)=Een gestreng gevoelloos man
To abjure=Afzweeren
Balk=Een brok lands daar de ploeg niet overgegaan is, de opgeworpende aarde tusschen twee vooren; (shame or disgrace): Schande
To balk=Voorby gaan, daar over heen stappen, zyn woord niet houden, verongelyken, te leur stellen
He balked him not a whit=Hy zweeg niet voor hem, hy bleef hem niet schuldig

Burgersdijk notes:
Mi perdonate. Shakespeare’s tijdgenooten, Ben Jonson, Webster en vooral Marston strooiden gaarne vreemde gezegden hier en daar in hunne tooneelwerken, hijzelf doet het nagenoeg alleen in dit stuk; de schoolpedant Holofernes doet het in “Veel gemin, geen gewin” om zijne geleerdheid te
luchten.

Topics: virtue, learning/education, satisfaction

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Angelo
CONTEXT:
O cunning enemy, that, to catch a saint,
With saints dost bait thy hook! Most dangerous
Is that temptation that doth goad us on
To sin in loving virtue: never could the strumpet,
With all her double vigour, art and nature,
Once stir my temper; but this virtuous maid
Subdues me quite.

DUTCH:
O listige euv’le, die een heil’ge kiest,
Tot lokaas voor een heil’ge !

MORE:
Schmidt:
Temper=Disposition, constitution, temperament
Stir my temper=Excite, move, rouse, agitate
Subdue (in a moral sense)=To prevail over, to subjugate, to render submissive
Compleat:
Temper=Gesteltenis. To be in a good temper=In een goede gesteltenis zyn.
To shew or carry on an even temper=Een bedaardheid van gemoed vertoonen.
Subdue=Onderbrengen, overwinnen, temmen
To subdue the flesh=Het vleesch temmen

Topics: temptation, good and bad, virtue

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

DUTCH:
Voor nagels wijken nagels, gloed voor gloed;
Door rechten struik’len rechten, moed breekt moed.

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

Casque=Battlefield
Cushion=Senate
Austerity and garb=Modest attire
In the interpretation of the time=Evaluation according to prevailing standards
Unto itself most commendable=Having a very high opinion of itself
Extol=Praise, magnify
Chair=A seat of public authority
Compleat:
Chair of state=Zetel
Extoll=Verheffen, pryzen, looven
To extol one, raise him up to the sky=Iemand tot den Hemel toe verheffen
Highly commendable=Ten hoogste pryselyk

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, merit, virtue, reputation, ruin, remedy

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough,
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
Good heaven, the souls of all my
OTHELLO
Why, why is this?
Think’st thou Ied make a life of jealousy,
To follow still the changes of the moon
With fresh suspicions? No, to be once in doubt
Is once to be resolved. Exchange me for a goat
When I shall turn the business of my soul
To such exsufflicate and blown surmises
Matching thy inference. ‘Tis not to make me jealous
To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well :
Where virtue is, these are more virtuous. tribe defend
From jealousy!

DUTCH:
Arm en tevreên is rijk, en rijk genoeg;
Maar als de winter arm is de allerrijkste,
Als staag de vrees hem nijpt van arm te worden

MORE:
Proverb: The greatest wealth is contentment with a little

Fineless=Infinite, boundless
Resolved=Convinced, Fixed in a determination
Once=Once and for all
Exsufflicate (Exufflicate)=From exsufflare, probably synonymous to blown=`puffed jup, inflated; empty, unsubstantial, frivolous. Also (morally) diseased; blown, swollen, ulcerated
Doubt=Suspicion
Revolt=Gross departure from duty; unfaithfulness
Inference=Allegations
Compleat:
Resolve (untie, decide, determine a hard question, difficulty etc.)=Oplossen, ontwarren, ontknoopten
Doubt=Twyffel
Resolve (deliberation, decision)=Beraad, beslissing, uitsluitsel
Revolt=Afvallen, oproerig worden, aan ‘t muiten slaan
Inference=Gevolg, besluyt

Topics: poverty and wealth, satisfaction, proverbs and idioms, virtue, envy

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Cassio
CONTEXT:
IAGO
There is no other way. ‘Tis she must do ’t,
And, lo, the happiness! Go and importune her.
DESDEMONA
How now, good Cassio, what’s the news with you?
CASSIO
Madam, my former suit. I do beseech you
That by your virtuous means I may again
Exist, and be a member of his love
Whom I, with all the office of my heart
Entirely honour. I would not be delayed.
If my offence be of such mortal kind
That nor my service past, nor present sorrows,
Nor purposed merit in futurity,
Can ransom me into his love again,
But to know so must be my benefit.
So shall I clothe me in a forced content,
And shut myself up in some other course,
To fortune’s alms.

DUTCH:
Dan hul ik mij gedwongen in berusting,
En kerker me in een and’re baan, die ‘t Lot
Me uit deernis opent.

MORE:
Suit=Case
Office=Devotion
Purposed=Intended
Merit=Good deeds
Futurity=Future
Forced=Pretended
Shut myself up in=Confine myself to
To fortune’s alms=To try my fortune for a pittance
Advocation=Pleading
Favour=Appearance
Humour=Disposition
Blank=Firing line
Compleat:
Suit=Een verzoek, rechtsgeding
To purpose=Voorneemen, voorhebben
Merit=Verdienste
Futurity=Toekomende staat
Forced=Gedwongen, aangedrongen
Alms=Een aalmoes
Humour (or disposition of the mind)=Humeur, gemoeds gesteldheid

Topics: virtue, love, merit, emotion and mood

PLAY: Measure for Measure
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Escalus
CONTEXT:
Well, heaven forgive him! and forgive us all!
Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall:
Some run from brakes of vice, and answer none:
And some condemned for a fault alone.

DUTCH:
Sommigen rijzen door ondeugd, anderen komen door deugd ten val/
De een stijgt door schuld, door deugd moet de ander vallen

MORE:
Also versions with ‘brakes of ice’.
Schmidt:
Meaning of brakes is disputed; from the context it should be understood in the sense of “engines of torture”. Brakes was used to mean a collection.

Topics: good and bad, corruption, virtue, error, punishment, fate/destiny

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Caius Lucius
CONTEXT:
CAIUS LUCIUS
Dream often so,
And never false. Soft, ho! what trunk is here
Without his top? The ruin speaks that sometime
It was a worthy building. How! a page!
Or dead, or sleeping on him? But dead rather;
For nature doth abhor to make his bed
With the defunct, or sleep upon the dead.
Let’s see the boy’s face.
CAPTAIN
He’s alive, my lord.
CAIUS LUCIUS
He’ll then instruct us of this body. Young one,
Inform us of thy fortunes, for it seems
They crave to be demanded. Who is this
Thou makest thy bloody pillow? Or who was he
That, otherwise than noble nature did,
Hath alter’d that good picture? What’s thy interest
In this sad wreck? How came it? Who is it?
What art thou?
IMOGEN
I am nothing: or if not,
Nothing to be were better. This was my master,
A very valiant Briton and a good,
That here by mountaineers lies slain. Alas!
There is no more such masters: I may wander
From east to occident, cry out for service,
Try many, all good, serve truly, never
Find such another master.
CAIUS LUCIUS
‘Lack, good youth!
Thou movest no less with thy complaining than
Thy master in bleeding: say his name, good friend.
IMOGEN
Richard du Champ.
If I do lie and do
No harm by it, though the gods hear, I hope
They’ll pardon it.—Say you, sir?

DUTCH:
Doch, welk een stam is dit ,
Van top beroofd? De puinhoop toont, dat dit
Een trotsch gebouw geweest is.

MORE:
Sometime=Once upon a time
Worthy=Grand
Defunct=Dead
Otherwise=Differently
Wreck=Ruin
Occident=West
Service=Employment
Compleat:
Somewhile=Te eeniger tyd
Worthy=Waardig, eerwaardig, voortreffelyk, uytmuntend, deftig
Defunct=Overleeden
To wreck or go to wrack=Verlooren gaan, te gronde gaan
Occident=Het westen
Service=Dienstbaarheid

Topics: nature, death, honour, virtue, work, loyalty

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

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

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

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

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

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with ’t.

DUTCH:
In zulk een tempel kan geen boosheid wonen;
Waar’ ‘s Boozen huis zoo schoon, wat goed is trachtte
Met hem ‘t verblijf te deelen.

MORE:
In Shakespeare’s time beauty was seen as a signifier of virtue. See Thomas Hoby’s translation of the Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier(1561). Fourth Book: True beauty, the reflection of
goodness.

Topics: virtue, appearance, agood and bad

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Gloucester
CONTEXT:
Ah, gracious lord, these days are dangerous.
Virtue is choked with foul ambition,
And charity chased hence by rancor’s hand;
Foul subornation is predominant,
And equity exiled your Highness’ land.
I know their complot is to have my life;
And if my death might make this island happy
And prove the period of their tyranny,
I would expend it with all willingness.
But mine is made the prologue to their play;
For thousands more, that yet suspect no peril,
Will not conclude their plotted tragedy.

DUTCH:
0, beste heer, de tijden zijn gevaarlijk.
Door schandlijke eerzucht wordt de deugd verstikt,
Door hoozen wrok barmhartigheid verjaagd;

MORE:

Subornation=Instigation to perjury
Predominant=Prevalent, in the ascendant (astrolology)
Equity=Justice
Complot=Conspiracy

Compleat:
Subornation=Besteeking, een bestoken werk, omkooping
To suborn a witness=Eenen getuige opmaaken of omkoopen
Equity=Billijkheid
Complot=Saamenrotten
Predominant=’t Geene het hoogste gebied voert, opperheerschend, heerschappy voerend

Topics: virtue, ambition, envy, justice, conspiracy, plans/intentions

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

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

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

Topics: virtue, courage, honesty

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

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

MORE:

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

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

Topics: virtue, age/experience, money, honesty

PLAY: Romeo and Juliet
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Friar Lawrence
CONTEXT:
For naught so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good doth give.
Nor aught so good but, strained from that fair use
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime by action dignified.

DUTCH:
Niets zoo gering van wat op aarde leeft,
Dat niet aan de aarde iets goeds, iets nuttigs geeft;
En niets zoo goed, dat, in verkeerde hand,
Zijn oorsprong niet, door ‘t misbruik, maakt te schand;
In ondeugd wordt door misbruik deugd verkeerd,
Door waardig handlen ondeugd soms geëerd.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Vile=base, bad, abject
Onions:
True birth=nature. (Revolts from=Rebels against nature)

Topics: nature, good and bad, virtue, abuse

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.5
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
LAFEW
‘Twas a good lady, ’twas a good lady: we may pick a thousand salads ere we light on such another herb.
CLOWN
Indeed, sir, she was the sweet marjoram of the salad, or rather the herb of grace.
LAFEW
They are not herbs, you knave; they are nose-herbs.
CLOWN
I am no great Nebuchadnezzar, sir; I have not much skill in grass.

DUTCH:
Zij was een good meisjen, een good meisjen; wij kunnen duizendmaal veldsalade zoeken, eer wij zulk een kruid weer lezen.

MORE:
Herb of grace=Rue
Nose-herbs=Scented flowers (nosegay) cultivated for fragrance
Grass/grace pun: Nebuchadnezzar lost his sanity and “was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen”.
Compleat:
Nosegay=Een ruikertje, tuiltje
Burgersdijk notes:
Het genadekruid. “The herb of grace”. Een oogenblik later zegt de nar: “I have not much skill in grass”. De woordspeling met grace en grass was natuurljjk niet terug te geven .Het genadekruid is de wijnruit, Ruta graveolens. Verg. Richard II, 3.4.

Topics: virtue, reputation

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Cassius
CONTEXT:
CASSIUS
I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
As well as I do know your outward favour.
Well, honour is the subject of my story.
I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life, but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.
I was born free as Caesar. So were you.
We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter’s cold as well as he.
For once upon a raw and gusty day,
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
Caesar said to me, “Darest thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood
And swim to yonder point?” Upon the word,
Accoutred as I was, I plungèd in
And bade him follow. So indeed he did.
The torrent roared, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy.
But ere we could arrive the point proposed,
Caesar cried, “Help me, Cassius, or I sink!”
I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber
Did I the tired Caesar. And this man
Is now become a god, and Cassius is
A wretched creature and must bend his body
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him.
He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And when the fit was on him, I did mark
How he did shake. ‘Tis true, this god did shake!
His coward lips did from their colour fly,
And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world
Did lose his luster. I did hear him groan,
Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans
Mark him and write his speeches in their books—
“Alas,” it cried, “give me some drink, Titinius,”
As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world
And bear the palm alone.

DUTCH:
Nu, eer is onderwerp van wat ik spreek

MORE:
Favour=Appearance
As lief not=Rather not
Chafing with=Raging against
Accoutred=Equipped
Bend his body=Bow
From their colour fly=Turn pale; desert their flag
Bend=Glance
Temper=Constitution
Get the start of=Take a lead over
Compleat:
Well-favoured=Aangenaam, bevallig
I had as lief=Ik wilde al zo lief
Chafing=Verhitting, oploopendheid, wryving, schaaving
To accoutre=Toerusten, opschikken
Colour=Een vaandel
A man of an instable temper=Een man van een ongestadig humeur, van eenen wispelteurigen aart

Topics: virtue, honour, appearance, wellbeing

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Miranda
CONTEXT:
PROSPERO
Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and
She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir
And princess, no worse issued.
MIRANDA
O, the heavens!
What foul play had we that we came from thence?
Or blessed wast we did?
PROSPERO
Both, both, my girl.
By foul play, as thou sayst, were we heaved thence,
But blessedly holp hither.

DUTCH:
0, hemel!
Wat booze treken dreven ons van daar?
Of brachten zij ons zegen?

MORE:
Piece of virtue=Masterpiece, perfect specimen or
Worse issue=Lower (no worse issued = not of lesser birth than a pricess)
Holp=Short for holpen, helped
Compleat:
Holpen=Geholpen
Holp op=Opgeholpen
Ill holp op=In een slegte staat laaten
Issue=Afkomst, afkomeling

Topics: virtue, understanding, status, foul play, fate/destiny

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Caius Lucius
CONTEXT:
CAIUS LUCIUS
Dream often so,
And never false. Soft, ho! what trunk is here
Without his top? The ruin speaks that sometime
It was a worthy building. How! a page!
Or dead, or sleeping on him? But dead rather;
For nature doth abhor to make his bed
With the defunct, or sleep upon the dead.
Let’s see the boy’s face.
CAPTAIN
He’s alive, my lord.
CAIUS LUCIUS
He’ll then instruct us of this body. Young one,
Inform us of thy fortunes, for it seems
They crave to be demanded. Who is this
Thou makest thy bloody pillow? Or who was he
That, otherwise than noble nature did,
Hath alter’d that good picture? What’s thy interest
In this sad wreck? How came it? Who is it?
What art thou?
IMOGEN
I am nothing: or if not,
Nothing to be were better. This was my master,
A very valiant Briton and a good,
That here by mountaineers lies slain. Alas!
There is no more such masters: I may wander
From east to occident, cry out for service,
Try many, all good, serve truly, never
Find such another master.
CAIUS LUCIUS
‘Lack, good youth!
Thou movest no less with thy complaining than
Thy master in bleeding: say his name, good friend.
IMOGEN
Richard du Champ.
If I do lie and do
No harm by it, though the gods hear, I hope
They’ll pardon it.—Say you, sir?

DUTCH:
En wat is uw verlies
Bij deze droeve schipbreuk? Hoe gebeurde ‘t?
Wie is hij? Wie zijt gij?

MORE:
Sometime=Once upon a time
Worthy=Grand
Defunct=Dead
Otherwise=Differently
Wreck=Ruin
Occident=West
Service=Employment
Compleat:
Somewhile=Te eeniger tyd
Worthy=Waardig, eerwaardig, voortreffelyk, uytmuntend, deftig
Defunct=Overleeden
To wreck or go to wrack=Verlooren gaan, te gronde gaan
Occident=Het westen
Service=Dienstbaarheid

Topics: nature, death, honour, virtue, work, loyalty

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Sir Toby
CONTEXT:
SIR TOBY BELCH
What a plague means my niece, to take the death of her brother thus? I am sure care’s an enemy to life.
MARIA
By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier o’ nights. Your cousin, my lady, takes great exceptions to your ill hours.
SIR TOBY BELCH
Why, let her except, before excepted.
MARIA
Ay, but you must confine yourself within the modest limits of order.
SIR TOBY BELCH
Confine? I’ll confine myself no finer than I am. These clothes are good enough to drink in, and so be these boots too. An they be not, let them hang themselves in their own straps.

DUTCH:
Wel, het hindert haar niet; zij kan zelf op haar eigen
tijd gaan liggen.

MORE:
Proverb: Care will kill a cat
Proverb: Care brings grey hair
Proverb: Some complain to prevent complaint

Except before excepted=With the stated exceptions (Exceptis excipiendis)
Modest=Moderate, reasonable
Limits of order=Bounds of behaviour
Confine=Limit
Finer=More refined
Compleat:
Except=Uytzonderen, uytsluyten
Modest=Zeedig, eerbaar
Quite out of order=Geheel uyt zyn schik
Confined=Bepaald, bedwongen; gevangen
Fine=Mooi, fraai, fyn, schoon

Burgersdijk notes:
Het hindert niet. Natuurlijk moesten de woordspelingen met eenige vrijheid overgebracht worden. Hier staat in ‘t Engelsen, in antwoord op het door Maria gebezigde woord exception: ,Let her except, before excepted.” Except is de rechtsuitdrukking voor het wraken van getuigen. Verkiest men het woord afkeuren, dat alsdan ook door Maria gebruikt moet zijn, dan wordt dit: ,Laat haar afkeuren, voor zijzelf afgekeurd wordt “; dan is de vertaler iets nader gebleven aan het oorspronkelijke, maar daarentegen had jonker Tobias dan de woorden niet in een anderen zin gebruikt dan Maria, en dus ware de vertaling uit dit oogpunt weer minder getrouw. Nihil ex omni parte beatum.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, concern , order/society, excess, virtue

Go to Top