The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (429 page)

[Aside to ISABELLA] Don’t give up so easily: go to him
again, entreat him;

again, and plead with him;
Kneel down before him, hang upon his gown:

Kneel down before him, pull at his gown:
You are too cold; if you should need a pin,

You are too detached; if you need something,
You could not with more tame a tongue desire it:

You couldn’t ask for it in a more plan way:
To him, I say!

Go to him, I say!

ISABELLA

Must he needs die?

Does he have to die?

ANGELO

Maiden, no remedy.

Miss, there is no other way.

ISABELLA

Yes; I do think that you might pardon him,

Yes, I think you could pardon him,
And neither heaven nor man grieve at the mercy.

And neither heaven nor man look down on such mercy.

ANGELO

I will not do't.

I will not do it.

ISABELLA

But can you, if you would?

But could you, if you wanted to?

ANGELO

Look, what I will not, that I cannot do.

Look, I cannot do it if I don’t want to do it.

ISABELLA

But might you do't, and do the world no wrong,

But you could do it, and do the world no wrong
If so your heart were touch'd with that remorse

If your heart was touched with compassion
A s mine is to him?

As mine is for him?

ANGELO

He's sentenced; 'tis too late.

He’s sentenced: it is too late.

LUCIO

[Aside to ISABELLA] You are too cold.

[Aside to ISABELLA] You are too detached.

ISABELLA

Too late? why, no; I, that do speak a word

Too late? Why no; I, if I speak a word
May call it back again. Well, believe this,

May take it back again.  Well, believe this,
No ceremony that to great ones 'longs,

No ceremony that belongs to great ones,
Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword,

Not the king’s crown, nor the sword of justice
The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe,

The military officer’s command staff, nor the judge’s robe
Become them with one half so good a grace

Suits them half as virtuously
As mercy does.

As mercy does.
If he had been as you and you as he,

If he had been in your position and you in his,
You would have slipt like him; but he, like you,

You would have slipped up like him; but he, as you are,
Would not have been so stern.

Would not have been so stern.

ANGELO

Pray you, be gone.

Please leave.

ISABELLA

I would to heaven I had your potency,

I wish to God I had your power,
And you were Isabel! should it then be thus?

And you were Isabel!  Should it be then the way it is?
No; I would tell what 'twere to be a judge,

No; I would show what it meant to be a judge,
And what a prisoner.

And what a prisoner.

LUCIO

[Aside to ISABELLA]
Ay, touch him; there's the vein.

Yes, touch him; that’s the way to go about it.

ANGELO

Your brother is a forfeit of the law,

Your brother is subject to the law,
And you but waste your words.

And you are only wasting your words.

ISABELLA

Alas, alas!

Dear me!
Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once;

Why, all the souls that ever existed were given up before the arrival of Christ,
And He that might the vantage best have took

And God, who had the best opportunity to comdemn them,
Found out the remedy. How would you be,

Found a better way.  How would you be,
If He, which is the top of judgment, should

If God, who is the final judge, should
But judge you as you are? O, think on that;

Judge you as you are? Oh, think about that;
And mercy then will breathe within your lips,

And you will find your mercy,
Like man new made.

Like man after salvation.

ANGELO

Be you content, fair maid;

Calm down, young lady
It is the law, not I condemn your brother:

It is the law that sentences your brother, not me.
Were he my kinsman, brother, or my son,

Even if her were a member of my family, my brother, or my son,
It should be thus with him: he must die tomorrow.

It would still be the same for him: he will die tomorrow.

ISABELLA

To-morrow! O, that's sudden! Spare him, spare him!

Tomorrow! Oh, that’s so soon! Spare him, spare him!
He's not prepared for death. Even for our kitchens

He’s not ready to die.  Even in the kitchen
We kill the fowl of season: shall we serve heaven

One kills the birds when they are ready: shall we serve heaven
With less respect than we do minister

With less respect than we attend
To our gross selves? Good, good my lord, bethink you;

To our mortal selves? My very good lord, please consider;
Who is it that hath died for this offence?

Who is it that dies for this offence?
There's many have committed it.

There are many people who have committed it.

LUCIO

[Aside to ISABELLA] Ay, well said.

[Aside to ISABELLA] Yes, well said.

ANGELO

The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept:

The law hasn’t been dead, though it has been inactive:
Those many had not dared to do that evil,

The many who broke this law would not have dared to,
If the first that did the edict infringe

If the first one who did break the law
Had answer'd for his deed: now 'tis awake,

Had been punished for it: now the law is in action,
Takes note of what is done; and, like a prophet,

It looks at what has been done; and, like a prophet,
Looks in a glass, that shows what future evils,

Looks in a crystal ball, that shows what future troubles,
Either new, or by remissness new-conceived,

Either new, or brought about by moral impurity only just thought of,
And so in progress to be hatch'd and born,

And therefore in progress to being planned and carried out,
Are now to have no successive degrees,

Are to have no further progress,
But, ere they live, to end.

And instead, before they live, are put to death.

ISABELLA

Yet show some pity.

Yet show some pity.

ANGELO

I show it most of all when I show justice;

I show pity most of all when I uphold the law;
For then I pity those I do not know,

For then I pity those I do not know,
Which a dismiss'd offence would after gall;

Who would be upset afterwards by an overlooked offence;
And do him right that, answering one foul wrong,

And do him right because, by responding to one bad deed,
Lives not to act another. Be satisfied;

He doesn’t live to commit another.  Be satisfied;
Your brother dies to-morrow; be content.

Your brother dies tomorrow; be content.

ISABELLA

So you must be the first that gives this sentence,

So you will be the frist to give this sentence,
And he, that suffer's. O, it is excellent

And he will be the first to suffer.  Oh it is excellent
To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous

To have a brute’s strength; but it is tyranny
To use it like a giant.

To use it like a beast.

LUCIO

[Aside to ISABELLA] That's well said.

[Aside to ISABELLA] That was well said.

ISABELLA

Could great men thunder

Could great men throw thunderbolts
As Jove himself does, Jove would ne'er be quiet,

As the god Jove does, Jove would never be at peace,
For every pelting, petty officer

For every little thing, a petty officer
Would use his heaven for thunder;

Would
use only this greatest weapon;

Nothing but thunder! Merciful Heaven,

Nothing less! Merciful God,
Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt

You would rather with your lightning bolt
Split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak

Split the unbreakable and hardned oak tree
Than the soft myrtle: but man, proud man,

Than the delicate myrtle tree: but man, a proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,

Given a little bit of authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assured,

Absolutely unaware of what it is he’s been confident about,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,

His unstable heart, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven

Plays illusion tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep; who, with our spleens,

That make the angels weep; who if they could laugh like humans
Would all themselves laugh mortal.

Would all laugh to death.

LUCIO

[Aside to ISABELLA] O, to him, to him, wench! He

[Aside to ISABELLA] Oh, go to him, go to him, wench! He
will relent;

will give in;
He's coming; I perceive 't.

He’s coming round; I can tell.

PROVOST

[Aside] Pray heaven she win him!

[Aside] Pray to God she wins him over!

ISABELLA

We cannot weigh our brother with ourself:

We cannot judge others by the same standards as ourselves;
Great men may jest with saints; 'tis wit in them,

Great men may joke about saints; it is witty from them,
But in the less foul profanation.

But in lesser men it is blasphemy.

LUCIO

Thou'rt i' the right, girl; more o, that.

You are right about that, girl; more of that.

ISABELLA

That in the captain's but a choleric word,

What from the captain is only an angry word,
Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy.

From the soldier is downright profanity.

LUCIO

[Aside to ISABELLA] Art avised o' that? more on 't.

[Aside to ISABELLA] Are you aware of this? More about it.

ANGELO

Why do you put these sayings upon me?

Why do you make me listen to these sayings?

ISABELLA

Because authority, though it err like others,

Because authority, thought it makes mistakes like others,
Hath yet a kind of medicine in itself,

Still has a kind of healing power in itself,
That skins the vice o' the top. Go to your bosom;
That covers over wrong doings.  Go to you chest;

Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know

Knock there, and ask you heart whether it could think
That's like my brother's fault: if it confess

Like my brother’s did in his crime: if your heart confesses
A natural guiltiness such as is his,