The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (820 page)

Pray you speak with me. You shall at least

Go see my lord aboard. For this time leave me.

Exeunt

About half an hour from now,

please come and speak to me.You shall at least

help my lord to board his ship.Leave me for now.

Enter CLOTEN and two LORDS

FIRST LORD.

Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt; the

violence

of action hath made you reek as a sacrifice. Where air comes

out,

air comes in; there's none abroad so wholesome as that you

vent.

Sir, I think you should change your shirt;

the efforts you've made make you smell like a sacrifice.

If you breathe out you have to breathe in,

and the outside air isn't as sweet as what you give off.

CLOTEN.

If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Have I hurt

him?

If my shirt had blood on it, then I would change it. Have I hurt him?

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] No, faith; not so much as his patience.

Indeed not, you haven't even hurt his pride.

FIRST LORD.

Hurt him! His body's a passable carcass if he be

not

hurt. It is a throughfare for steel if it be not hurt.

Hurt him! His body must have been dead already if he wasn't hurt.

It's a road for steel to pass through if he isn't hurt.

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] His steel was in debt; it went o' th' back

side the town.

His sword must have been in debt; it sneaked round the back way.

CLOTEN.

The villain would not stand me.

The villain couldn't stand me.

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] No; but he fled forward still, toward your

face.

No; but he ran away coming forwards, towards your face.

FIRST LORD.

Stand you? You have land enough of your own; but he

added to your having, gave you some ground.

Stand you? You have plenty of land of your own; but he

added to it, by giving ground to you.

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] As many inches as you have oceans.

Puppies!

He gave as many inches as you have oceans.

Whippersnappers!

CLOTEN.

I would they had not come between us.

I wish they hadn't stopped us.

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] So would I, till you had measur'd how long

a

fool you were upon the ground.

I wish they hadn't also, I wanted to see you

measuring out your stupidity on the ground.

CLOTEN.

And that she should love this fellow, and refuse me!

To think that she loves this fellow and refuses me!

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] If it be a sin to make a true election,

she is

damn'd.

If it's a sin to make the right choice,

she's damned.

FIRST LORD.

Sir, as I told you always, her beauty and her brain

go

not together; she's a good sign, but I have seen small

reflection

of her wit.

Sir, as I always said, her beauty and her brains don't match;

she looks good, but I haven't seen much sign of intelligence.

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] She shines not upon fools, lest the

reflection

should hurt her.

She doesn't show it to fools, in case

she should have to listen to their replies.

CLOTEN.

Come, I'll to my chamber. Would there had been some

hurt

done!

Come on, I'll go to my room. I wish I'd done him some injury!

SECOND LORD.

[Aside] I wish not so; unless it had been the fall

of

an ass, which is no great hurt.

I don't wish that; unless an ass had fallen down,

which is no great loss.

CLOTEN.

You'll go with us?

Will you come with me?

FIRST LORD.

I'll attend your lordship.

I'll wait on your lordship.

CLOTEN.

Nay, come, let's go together.

No, come on, let's go together.

SECOND LORD.

Well, my lord.

Exeunt

Good, my lord.

Enter IMOGEN and PISANIO

IMOGEN.

I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' th' haven,

And questioned'st every sail; if he should write,

And I not have it, 'twere a paper lost,

As offer'd mercy is. What was the last

That he spake to thee?

I'd like you to stick to the shores of the harbour,

and ask on every ship; if he should write

and I don't get his letter, it will be a letter lost,

as bad as losing salvation. What was the last

thing he said to you?

PISANIO.

It was: his queen, his queen!

It was: ‘my queen, my queen!’

IMOGEN.

Then wav'd his handkerchief?

Then he waved his handkerchief?

PISANIO.

And kiss'd it, madam.

And kissed it, madam.

IMOGEN.

Senseless linen, happier therein than I!

And that was all?

Unfeeling material, luckier than me!

And that was all?

PISANIO.

No, madam; for so long

As he could make me with his eye, or care

Distinguish him from others, he did keep

The deck, with glove, or hat, or handkerchief,

Still waving, as the fits and stirs of's mind

Could best express how slow his soul sail'd on,

How swift his ship.

No, madam; for as long

as he could make me out, or I

could pick him out from the crowd, he stayed

on deck, still waving with his gloves, or his hat,

or his handkerchief, as if he wanted to show how

slowly and reluctantly his soul was going away,

compared to the speed of his ship.

IMOGEN.

Thou shouldst have made him

As little as a crow, or less, ere left

To after-eye him.

You should have waited until

he was as small as a crow, or smaller, before

you walked away.

PISANIO.

Madam, so I did.

Madam, that's what I did.

IMOGEN.

I would have broke mine eyestrings, crack'd them but

To look upon him, till the diminution

Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle;

Nay, followed him till he had melted from

The smallness of a gnat to air, and then

Have turn'd mine eye and wept. But, good Pisanio,

When shall we hear from him?

I would have strained my eyes to breaking point, broken them

just look at him, until the shrinking

of perspective had made him as small as a needlepoint;

no, I would have kept on watching until he had shrunk

from the size of a gnat to visibility, and then

I would have turned my eyes away and wept. But, good Pisanio,

when shall we hear from him?

PISANIO.

Be assur'd, madam,

With his next vantage.

You can be sure, madam,

at his earliest opportunity.

IMOGEN.

I did not take my leave of him, but had

Most pretty things to say. Ere I could tell him

How I would think on him at certain hours

Such thoughts and such; or I could make him swear

The shes of Italy should not betray

Mine interest and his honour; or have charg'd him,

At the sixth hour of morn, at noon, at midnight,

T' encounter me with orisons, for then

I am in heaven for him; or ere I could

Give him that parting kiss which I had set

Betwixt two charming words, comes in my father,

And like the tyrannous breathing of the north

Shakes all our buds from growing.

I didn't say a proper goodbye, I had

very sweet things to say. Before I could tell him

how I would think different thoughts of him

at different times; or I could make him swear

that the women of Italy wouldn't

turn his head; or have ordered him,

at six in the morning, at noon, at midnight,

to pray at the same time as me, for then

I would be in heaven with him; before I could

give him that parting kiss, which I meant to come

between two charming words, in comes my father,

and like the chilly north wind

stopped our buds from flowering.

Enter a LADY

LADY.

The Queen, madam,

Desires your Highness' company.

The Queen, madam,

wants to see your Highness.

IMOGEN.

Those things I bid you do, get them dispatch'd.