The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (157 page)

they have been careful to educate their sons

in the arts and martial virtues;

and like the bees who gather from each flower

their goodness,

we come back to the hive with our thighs full of wax and

our mouths with honey, and like the bees we are murdered

for our troubles.  This is the bitter taste

in the mouth of the dying father.

Where is the one who wouldn't stay long enough

to see his ally sickness finish me off?

WARWICK.

My lord, I found the prince in the next room,

Washing with kindly tears his gentle cheeks,

With such a deep demeanour in great sorrow

That tyranny, which never quaff'd but blood,

Would, by beholding him, have wash'd his knife

With gentle eye-drops. He is coming hither.

My lord, I found the prince in the next room,

with tears running down his noble cheeks,

looking so terribly sad that

tyranny, which never drank anything but blood,

would, when he saw him, have washed his knife

with gentle tears.  He is coming.

KING.

But wherefore did he take away the crown?

[Re-Enter Prince Henry.]

Lo, where he comes. Come hither to me, Harry.

Depart the chamber, leave us here alone.

But why did he take away the crown?

Look, here he comes.  Come here to me, Harry.

Leave the room, leave us alone.

[Exeunt Warwick and the rest.]

PRINCE.

I never thought to hear you speak again.

I never thought I'd hear you speak again.

KING.

Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought:

I stay too long by thee, I weary thee.

Dost thou so hunger for mine empty chair

That thou wilt needs invest thee with my honours

Before thy hour be ripe? O foolish youth!

Thou seek'st the greatness that will overwhelm thee.

Stay but a little; for my cloud of dignity

Is held from falling with so weak a wind

That it will quickly drop:  my day is dim.

Thou hast stolen that which after some few hours

Were thine without offence; and at my death

Thou hast seal'd up my expectation:

Thy life did manifest thou lovedst me not,

And thou wilt have me die assured of it.

Thou hidest a thousand daggers in thy thoughts

Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart,

To stab at half an hour of my life.

What! canst thou not forbear me half an hour?

Then get thee gone and dig my grave thyself,

And bid the merry bells ring to thine ear

That thou art crowned, not that I am dead.

Let all the tears that should bedew my hearse

Be drops of balm to sanctify thy head:

Only compound me with forgotten dust;

Give that which gave thee life unto the worms.

Pluck down my officers, break my decrees;

For now a time is come to mock at form:

Harry the Fifth is crown'd:  up, vanity!

Down, royal state! all you sage counsellors, hence!

And to the English court assemble now,

From every region, apes of idleness!

Now, neighbour confines, purge you of your scum:

Have you a ruffian that will swear, drink, dance,

Revel the night, rob, murder, and commit

The oldest sins the newest kind of ways?

Be happy, he will trouble you no more;

England shall double gild his treble guilt,

England shall give him office, honour, might;

For the fifth Harry from curb'd license plucks

The muzzle of restraint, and the wild dog

Shall flesh his tooth on every innocent.

O my poor kingdom, sick with civil blows!

When that my care could not withhold thy riots,

What wilt thou do when riot is thy care?

O, thou wilt be a wilderness again,

Peopled with wolves, thy old inhabitants!

That was what you wished for, Harry;

I have stayed too long, you're bored with me.

Are you so desperate for my throne

that you have to take away my titles

before it's your time?  You foolish youth!

You are looking for greatness that will crush you.

Just stay a little while; my life is hanging

by a weak thread, and I will soon be gone.

You have stolen something that in a few hours

would be yours without needing any crime; and on my deathbed

you have confirmed my suspicions:

your life showed that you did not love me,

and you want me to die certain of it.

You have kept a thousand daggers in your thoughts

which you have sharpened on your heart of stone,

to stab me in my last half hour of life.

What!  Can't you put up with me for half an hour?

Then go away and dig my grave yourself,

and let the merry bells ring out

for your coronation, not my funeral.

Let all the tears that should cover my hearse

be drops of ointment to bless your head:

let me be mixed with the forgotten dust;

give what gave you life to the worms.

Remove my officers, break my laws;

now the time has come to mock proper behaviour;

Harry the Fifth is crowned: come on, frivolity!

Down with royal dignity!  All you wise counsellors, get out!

Bring lazy monkeys to the English court

from every region!

Now, neighbouring countries, throw out your scum!

Do you have a scoundrel who will swear, drink, dance,

party all night, rob, murder and commit

all the oldest sins in the newest kind of ways?

Be happy, he won't bother you any longer.

England shall give him great rewards for his bad behaviour,

office, honour and power:

for the fifth Harry tears off the muzzle of restraint

from all control, and the wild dog

will plunge its teeth into every innocent.

Oh my poor Kingdom, sick from civil war!

When I couldn't prevent you rioting,

what will you do when a rioter is in charge?

Oh, you will become a wilderness again,

populated by wolves, your old residents!

PRINCE.

O, pardon me, my liege! but for my tears,

The moist impediments unto my speech,

I had forestall'd this dear and deep rebuke

Ere you with grief had spoke and I had heard

The course of it so far. There is your crown:

And He that wears the crown immortally

Long guard it yours!  If I affect it more

Than as your honour and as your renown,

Let me no more from this obedience rise,

Which my most inward true and duteous spirit

Teacheth, this prostrate and exterior bending.

God witness with me, when I here came in,

And found no course of breath within your majesty,

How cold it struck my heart! If I do feign,

O, let me in my present wildness die

And never live to show the incredulous world

The noble change that I have purposed!

Coming to look on you, thinking you dead,

And dead almost, my liege, to think you were,

I spake unto this crown as having sense,

And thus upbraided it: "The care on thee depending

Hath fed upon the body of my father;

Therefore, thou best of gold art worst of gold:

Other, less fine in carat, is more precious,

Preserving life in medicine potable;

But thou, most fine, most honour'd, most renown'd,

Hast eat thy bearer up." Thus, my most royal liege,

Accusing it, I put it on my head,

To try with it, as with an enemy

That had before my face murder'd my father,

The quarrel of a true inheritor.

But if it did infect my blood with joy,

Or swell my thoughts to any strain of pride;

If any rebel or vain spirit of mine

Did with the least affection of a welcome

Give entertainment to the might of it,

Let God for ever keep it from my head

And make me as the poorest vassal is

That doth with awe and terror kneel to it!

Oh pardon me, my lord! But for my tears,

which were choking off my speech,

I would have prevented this terrible rebuke,

before you spoke with such grief and I heard

so much of. Here is your crown;

and may he who wears the heavenly crown

keep this one yours for a long time! If I think it is

anything apart from your honour and your fame

let me never arise from my knees again,

as my truest inward spirit is reflected

in my exterior bending.

As God is my witness, when I came in here,

and found your Majesty not breathing,

what a chill it struck my heart! If I am pretending,

oh, let me die in my current lawless state,

and never live to show the amazed world

the noble changes that I intend to make!

Coming to look at you, thinking you were dead,

and being almost killed, my lord, by the thought that you were,

I spoke to this crown as if it was alive,

and criticised it like this: “the cares that come with you

have destroyed my father's body;

therefore you, the best gold, are the worst gold.

Other gold, less pure, is more precious,

saving lives in drinkable medicine;

but you, the finest, most honoured, most famous,

have killed your owner". So, my most royal Lord,

accusing it, I put it on my head,

to fight with it, as if it was an enemy

that had murdered my father in front of my face,

taking on the fight of a true heir.

But if it gave me any pleasure,

or made me think with any sort of pride,

if any rebellious or vain part of me

showed any disposition towards

being pleased with the power of it,

let God keep it from my head forever,

and make me like the poorest peasant,

who kneels before it in awe and terror!

KING.

O my son,

God put it in thy mind to take it hence,

That thou mightst win the more thy father's love,

Pleading so wisely in excuse of it!

Come hither, Harry, sit thou by my bed;

And hear, I think, the very latest counsel

That ever I shall breathe. God knows, my son,

By what by-paths and indirect crook'd ways

I met this crown; and I myself know well

How troublesome it sat upon my head.

To thee it shall descend with better quiet,

Better opinion, better confirmation;

For all the soil of the achievement goes

With me into the earth. It seem'd in me

But as an honour snatch'd with boisterous hand,

And I had many living to upbraid

My gain of it by their assistances;

Which daily grew to quarrel and to bloodshed,

Wounding supposed peace:  all these bold fears

Thou see'st with peril I have answered;

For all my reign hath been but as a scene