The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (58 page)

and attendants

BOLINGBROKE.

Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear

Is that the rebels have consum'd with fire

Our town of Ciceter in Gloucestershire;

But whether they be ta'en or slain we hear not.

Enter NORTHUMBERLAND

Welcome, my lord. What is the news?

Kind uncle York, the latest news I've heard

is that the rebels have burnt down

our town of Cirencester in Gloucestershire;

but whether they have been captured or killed I have not heard.

Welcome, my lord. What's the news?

NORTHUMBERLAND.

First, to thy sacred state wish I all

happiness.

The next news is, I have to London sent

The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent.

The manner of their taking may appear

At large discoursed in this paper here.

Firstly, to your holy majesty I wish all happiness.

The next news is, I have sent the heads of Salisbury, Spencer,

Blunt and Kent to London. The circumstances of their capture

are fully explained in this paper here.

BOLINGBROKE.

We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains;

And to thy worth will add right worthy gains.

I thank you, kind Percy, for your efforts;

you shall be rewarded for them.

Enter FITZWATER

FITZWATER.

My lord, I have from Oxford sent to London

The heads of Brocas and Sir Bennet Seely;

Two of the dangerous consorted traitors

That sought at Oxford thy dire overthrow.

My lord, I have sent the heads of Brocas and Sir Bennet Seely

from Oxford to London;

two of the dangerous plotting traitors

who tried to fatally overthrow you at Oxford.

BOLINGBROKE.

Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot;

Right noble is thy merit, well I wot.

Your efforts, Fitzwater, will not be forgotten;

I know that you are richly deserving.

Enter PERCY, With the BISHOP OF CARLISLE

PERCY.

The grand conspirator, Abbot of Westminster,

With clog of conscience and sour melancholy,

Hath yielded up his body to the grave;

But here is Carlisle living, to abide

Thy kingly doom, and sentence of his pride.

The great conspirator, Abbot of Westminster,

consumed by guilt and depression,

has given his body up to the grave;

but here is Carlisle, still alive, to suffer

your kingly sentence, and the punishment for his pride.

BOLINGBROKE.

Carlisle, this is your doom:

Choose out some secret place, some reverend room,

More than thou hast, and with it joy thy life;

So as thou liv'st in peace, die free from strife;

For though mine enemy thou hast ever been,

High sparks of honour in thee have I seen.

Carlisle, this is your punishment:

find some secret place, some respectable room,

bigger than you have now, and enjoy your life in it.

As long as you live in peace, you will die peacefully;

for although you have always been my enemy

I have seen great signs of honour in you.

Enter EXTON, with attendants, hearing a coffin

EXTON.

Great King, within this coffin I present

Thy buried fear. Herein all breathless lies

The mightiest of thy greatest enemies,

Richard of Bordeaux, by me hither brought.

Great King, I present to you inside this coffin

the fear which was hanging over you. Inside here, dead,

lies the mightiest of your great enemies,

Richard of Bordeaux, brought here by me.

BOLINGBROKE.

Exton, I thank thee not; for thou hast wrought

A deed of slander with thy fatal hand

Upon my head and all this famous land.

Exton, I do not thank you; for you have committed

a deed with your killing hand which stains

my reputation and this whole land.

EXTON.

From your own mouth, my lord, did I this deed.

My lord, I did this thing on your orders.

BOLINGBROKE.

They love not poison that do poison need,

Nor do I thee. Though I did wish him dead,

I hate the murderer, love him murdered.

The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour,

But neither my good word nor princely favour;

With Cain go wander thorough shades of night,

And never show thy head by day nor light.

Lords, I protest my soul is full of woe

That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow.

Come, mourn with me for what I do lament,

And put on sullen black incontinent.

I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land,

To wash this blood off from my guilty hand.

March sadly after; grace my mournings here

In weeping after this untimely bier.

Those who need poison do not love poison,

and I do not love you. Though I wanted him dead,

I hate the murderer and love his victim.

You can take guilt as the payment for your efforts,

but you do not have my good word nor my princely favour;

go and wander through the shades of night with Cain,

and never show your face by day or by light.

Lords, I tell you that my soul is full of sorrow

that I should profit through the spilling of blood.

Come and mourn with me for that which I lament,

and put on mourning clothes at once.

I shall make a voyage to the Holy Land,

to wash this blood off my guilty hands.

March sadly afterwards; dignify my mourning

by weeping as you follow this too early funeral.

Exeunt

The End

In Plain and Simple English

EDWARD THE FOURTH

Sons to the King

EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES afterwards KING EDWARD V

RICHARD, DUKE OF YORK,

Brothers to the King

GEORGE, DUKE OF CLARENCE,

RICHARD, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, afterwards KING RICHARD III

A YOUNG SON OF CLARENCE (Edward, Earl of Warwick)

HENRY, EARL OF RICHMOND, afterwards KING HENRY VII

CARDINAL BOURCHIER, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

THOMAS ROTHERHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK

JOHN MORTON, BISHOP OF ELY

DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM

DUKE OF NORFOLK

EARL OF SURREY, his son

EARL RIVERS, brother to King Edward's Queen

MARQUIS OF DORSET and LORD GREY, her sons

EARL OF OXFORD

LORD HASTINGS

LORD LOVEL

LORD STANLEY, called also EARL OF DERBY

SIR THOMAS VAUGHAN

SIR RICHARD RATCLIFF

SIR WILLIAM CATESBY

SIR JAMES TYRREL

SIR JAMES BLOUNT

SIR WALTER HERBERT

SIR WILLIAM BRANDON

SIR ROBERT BRAKENBURY, Lieutenant of the Tower

CHRISTOPHER URSWICK, a priest

LORD MAYOR OF LONDON

SHERIFF OF WILTSHIRE

HASTINGS, a pursuivant

TRESSEL and BERKELEY, gentlemen attending on Lady Anne

ELIZABETH, Queen to King Edward IV

MARGARET, widow of King Henry VI

DUCHESS OF YORK, mother to King Edward IV

LADY ANNE, widow of Edward, Prince of Wales, son to King

Henry VI; afterwards married to the Duke of Gloucester

A YOUNG DAUGHTER OF CLARENCE (Margaret Plantagenet,

Countess of Salisbury)

Ghosts, of Richard's victims

Lords, Gentlemen, and Attendants; Priest, Scrivener, Page,

Bishops,

Aldermen, Citizens, Soldiers, Messengers, Murderers, Keeper

SCENE: England