The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (1004 page)

That can keep him in pain for a while but alive just as long,

It shall be his. You shall close prisoner rest,

He will get it. You will stay as a prisoner

Till that the nature of your fault be known

Until your crimes are known

To the Venetian state. Come, bring him away.

In the Venetian government. Bring him away.

OTHELLO

Soft you; a word or two before you go.

Wait, I want to say a word before going.

I have done the state some service, and they know't.

I have worked for the government, and they know that.

No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,

Nothing more needs said there. I ask that in your letters,

When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,

When you talk about these bad events,

Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,

Talk about me as I am in reality. Do not exaggerate

Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak

And do not write about me in anger. Describe me

Of one that loved not wisely but too well;

As someone who did not love wisely, but did love a lot,

Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought

And say that I was prone to jealousy, but was manipulated

Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,

In the extreme, and say that my hand

Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away

Like a foolish Indian, threw away a pearl

Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,

Worth more than his whole tribe. Write that my calm eyes,

Albeit unused to the melting mood,

Not used to being sad,

Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees

Give off tears faster than trees from Arabia

Their medicinal gum. Set you down this;

That are known to let drip their sap. Write this,

And say besides, that in Aleppo once,

And say also that once in Aleppo,

Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk

Where a dangerous Turk wearing a turban

Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,

Beat a Venetian man and slandered the country,

I took by the throat the circumcised dog,

I took the Turk by the throat

And smote him, thus.

And killed him like this.

Stabs himself

LODOVICO

O bloody period!

What a bloody ending!

GRATIANO

All that's spoke is marr'd.

Everything that has been said is bad.

OTHELLO

I kiss'd thee ere I kill'd thee: no way but this;

I kissed you before I killed you. Now it is fitting

Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.

That killing myself, I die kissing you.

Falls on the bed, and dies

CASSIO

This did I fear, but thought he had no weapon;

I was afraid of this, but I thought he did not have a weapon.

For he was great of heart.

He was a passionate man.

LODOVICO

[To IAGO] O Spartan dog,

You dog,

More fell than anguish, hunger, or the sea!

Crueler than sadness, hunger, and the sea!

Look on the tragic loading of this bed;

Look at the dead bodies piled onto this bed:

This is thy work: the object poisons sight;

This is your work. This is a poisonous sight,

Let it be hid. Gratiano, keep the house,

Someone cover it. Gratiano, take care of the house

And seize upon the fortunes of the Moor,

And take the Moor’s estate,

For they succeed on you. To you, lord governor,

For it all goes to you. And you, Cassio,

Remains the censure of this hellish villain;

Must punish this criminal.

The time, the place, the torture: O, enforce it!

Enforce the time, the place, and the kind of torture.

Myself will straight aboard: and to the state

I am returning to Venice immediately to tell them

This heavy act with heavy heart relate.

In sadness the awful events that happened here

Exeunt

Chorus

Escalus-Prince of Verona

Paris-Young nobleman, related to Prince

Montague-Head of the family in conflict with the Capulets

Capulet-Head of the family in conflict with the Montagues

An Old Man-Relative of the Capulets

Romeo-Son of Montague

Tybalt-Nephew of Lady Capulet

Mercutio-Friend of Romeo and relative of the Prince

Benvolio-Friend of Romeo and nephew of Montague

Friar Lawrence-Member of the Catholic church

Friar John-Member of the Catholic church

Balthasar-Servant of Romeo

Abram-Servant of Montague

Sampson-Servant of Capulet

Gregory-Servant of Capulet

Peter-Servant of Juliet’s nurse

Abraham-Servant to Montague

An Apothecary-Pharmacist

Three Musicians

An Officer

Lady Montague-Wife of Montague

Lady Capulet-Wife to Capulet

Juliet-Daughter to Capulet

Nurse of Juliet

Citizens of Verona-Men and women related to both families

Incidental Characters-Maskers, Guards, Watchmen, Pages, and Attendants

(Old Version is Underneath the Modern Version in Italics)

Chorus

Two families with similar social standing,

Located in Verona, Italy,

Hold an old grudge which develops into a new controversy,

Where seemingly civilized people commit murder.

Two households, both alike in dignity

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

Two children of the warring families,

Fall in love and take their lives,

And in the process destroy,

Their parents’ will to fight.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows

Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.

The events leading up to the young deaths,

And the mutual hatred held by their parents,

Which could only be softened by their children’s suicide,

Is the subject of the play.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage,

Which but their children's end naught could remove,

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;

If you watch and listen patiently,

What is missing from this prologue will be shown on stage.

The which, if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Scene I: A Public Place

(Enter Sampson and Gregory, armed with swords and bucklers, or shields.)

Sampson

I swear, Gregory, we will not stand by and be treated like servants.

Gregory, o' my word, we'll not carry coals.

Gregory

We are servants, fool.

No, for then we should be colliers.

Sampson

I mean, if they want to fight, I’m ready.

I mean, an we be in choler we'll draw.

Gregory

The only thing you will fight is the death penalty.

Ay, while you live, draw your neck out o' the collar.

Sampson

I will fight in a minute, if someone messes with me.

I strike quickly, being moved.

Gregory

Well then, no one has messed with you in a long time, huh?

But thou art not quickly moved to strike.

Sampson

A Montague can make me angry enough to fight!

A dog of the house of Montague moves me.

Gregory

To be angry is to react and to be brave is to stand and fight; therefore, your reaction has always been to run.