The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (165 page)

Exit.

Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely.

Canterbury

My lord, I'll tell you: that self bill is urg'd,


Which in the eleventh year of the last king's reign


Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd,


But that the scambling and unquiet time


Did push it out of farther question.

I’m afraid that the same bill reviewed in the king’s eleventh year of reign is back up. It almost passed, but the time wasn’t right.

Ely

But how, my lord, shall we resist it now?

How are we going to get it vetoed this time?

Canterbury

It must be thought on. If it pass against us,


We lose the better half of our possession;


For all the temporal lands, which men devout


By testament have given to the Church,


Would they strip from us; being valu'd thus:


As much as would maintain, to the King's honour,


Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights,


Six thousand and two hundred good esquires;


And, to relief of lazars and weak age,


Of indigent faint souls, past corporal toil,


A hundred almshouses right well suppli'd;


And to the coffers of the King beside,


A thousand pounds by the year. Thus runs the bill.

We have to think about it. If it passes, we will lose half of what we own. We would lose enough land given to us by devout men to maintain fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights, and six thousand two hundred squires, not to mention the upkeep of lepers, old men unable to work, a hundred almshouses, and a thousand pounds to put in the king’s bank.

Ely

This would drink deep.

That would really drain us.

Canterbury

'Twould drink the cup and all.

Completely.

Ely

But what prevention?

So, how do we prevent it from passing?

Canterbury

The King is full of grace and fair regard.

The king is fair and full of grace.

Ely

And a true lover of the holy Church.

And he does love the church.

Canterbury

The courses of his youth promis'd it not.


The breath no sooner left his father's body,


But that his wildness, mortifi'd in him,


Seem'd to die too; yea, at that very moment


Consideration like an angel came


And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him,


Leaving his body as a paradise


To envelope and contain celestial spirits.


Never was such a sudden scholar made;


Never came reformation in a flood


With such a heady currance, scouring faults;


Nor never Hydra-headed wilfulness


So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,


As in this king.

As soon as his father died, it was like the wildness left his body and was inhabited by an angel. He turned into a scholar and great reformer.

Ely

We are blessed in the change.

We have been blessed.

Canterbury

Hear him but reason in divinity,


And, all-admiring, with an inward wish


You would desire the King were made a prelate;


Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs,


You would say it hath been all in all his study;


List his discourse of war, and you shall hear


A fearful battle rend'red you in music;


Turn him to any cause of policy,


The Gordian knot of it he will unloose,


Familiar as his garter; that, when he speaks,


The air, a charter'd libertine, is still,


And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears,


To steal his sweet and honey'd sentences;


So that the art and practic' part of life


Must be the mistress to this theoric:


Which is a wonder how his Grace should glean it,


Since his addiction was to courses vain,


His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow,


His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports,


And never noted in him any study,


Any retirement, any sequestration


From open haunts and popularity.

If you heard him talk about things pertaining to the church, you would wish he were made a priest. If you heard him debate affairs of the state, you would think he had studied it all his life. If you heard him discuss war, you would hear a lyrical tale of battle. Ask him about any policy, and when he speaks, freedom rings in the air with his sweet sentences. And, who knows where he learned all of it, since he was addicted to worldly habits of riots, parties, and sports. He never studied or practiced quiet contemplation.

Ely

The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,


And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best


Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality;


And so the Prince obscur'd his contemplation


Under the veil of wildness; which, no doubt,


Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,


Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.

The best fruit grows underneath weeds, and the most wholesome berries thrive when surrounded by weaker fruit. So, the prince got his ability to think while he was busy with wild activities. No one knew he was mastering these qualities.

Canterbury

It must be so; for miracles are ceas'd,


And therefore we must needs admit the means


How things are perfected.

It must be true since there aren’t any miracles. Therefore, that would explain things.

Ely

But, my good lord,


How now for mitigation of this bill


Urg'd by the commons? Doth his Majesty


Incline to it, or no?

But, my good lord, about the bill. How does the king feel about it?

Canterbury

He seems indifferent,


Or rather swaying more upon our part


Than cherishing the exhibiters against us;


For I have made an offer to his Majesty,


Upon our spiritual convocation


And in regard of causes now in hand,


Which I have open'd to his Grace at large,


As touching France, to give a greater sum


Than ever at one time the clergy yet


Did to his predecessors part withal.

He seems indifferent, or he may be swaying towards our opinion. I have made an offer to him concerning France, on our behalf, to give him a large sum, greater than any before.

Ely

How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord?

How did he respond to your offer?

Canterbury

With good acceptance of his Majesty;


Save that there was not time enough to hear,


As I perceiv'd his Grace would fain have done,


The severals and unhidden passages


Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms,


And generally to the crown and seat of France


Deriv'd from Edward, his great-grandfather.

There wasn’t a whole lot of time, but he seemed to accept it well, although he would have liked to hear more about how he is entitled to certain dukedoms in France, and even the throne based on his great-grandfather, Edward.

Ely

What was the impediment that broke this off?

What interrupted the conversation?

Canterbury

The French ambassador upon that instant


Crav'd audience; and the hour, I think, is come


To give him hearing. Is it four o'clock?

The French ambassador requested to be seen. I think it’s time to hear him. Is it four o’clock?

Ely

It is.

Yes, it is.

Canterbury

Then go we in, to know his embassy;


Which I could with a ready guess declare,


Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.

Then we should go see what he wants. I bet I already know.

Ely

I'll wait upon you, and I long to hear it.

I can’t wait to hear it.

Exit.

Enter King Henry V, Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, Warwick, Westmoreland, and Attendants.

King

Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?

Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?

Exeter

Not here in presence.

He is not here.

King

Send for him, good uncle.

Please send for him, uncle.

Westmoreland

Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege?

Do you want us to call in the ambassador, my liege?

King

Not yet, my cousin. We would be resolv'd,


Before we hear him, of some things of weight


That task our thoughts, concerning us and France.