The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (198 page)

and so I will share my crown with her;

and all the priests and monks in my kingdom

shall take it in turns to sing her praises eternally.

I'll build her a greater pyramid than

there ever was in Thrace or at Memphis;

when she is dead, in her memory

her ashes, in an urn more precious than

the richly jewelled treasure chests of Darius,

shall be carried in front of the Kings and Queens of France

at all the great festivals.

We shall no longer appeal to Saint Denis,

Joan la Pucelle shall be our saint now.

Come inside, and let us have a royal banquet

after this golden day of victory.

[Flourish. Exeunt.]

[Enter a Sergeant of a band, with two Sentinels.]

SERGEANT.

Sirs, take your places and be vigilant:

If any noise or soldier you perceive

Near to the walls, by some apparent sign

Let us have knowledge at the court of guard.

Sirs, take your places and remain vigilant:

if you hear any noise or see any soldiers

near to the walls, made some signal

to let the guardhouse know.

FIRST SENTINEL.

Sergeant, you shall. [Exit Sergeant.]

Thus are poor servitors,

When others sleep upon their quiet beds,

Constrain'd to watch in darkness, rain and cold.

Sergeant, we will.

So poor common soldiers

have to stand out in the rain and cold, in the dark,

keeping watch while others sleep in their quiet beds.

[Enter Talbot, Bedford, Burgundy, and forces,

with scaling-ladders, their drums beating a dead march.]

TALBOT.

Lord Regent, and redoubted Burgundy,

By whose approach the regions of Artois,

Wallon and Picardy are friends to us,

This happy night the Frenchmen are secure,

Having all day caroused and banqueted:

Embrace we then this opportunity,

As fitting best to quittance their deceit

Contriv'd by art and baleful sorcery.

Lord Regent, and famed Burgundy,

who in joining with us has made the regions of Artois,

Wallon and Picardy friendly to us,

the Frenchmen are feeling secure tonight,

having partied and feasted all day:

so let's take this chance as being

the best time to pay back their deceit,

which was driven by cunning and evil magic.

BEDFORD.

Coward of France, how much he wrongs his fame,

Despairing of his own arm's fortitude,

To join with witches and the help of hell!

Cowardly French king, what wrong he does to his own title,

so afraid to rely on the strength of his own arm

that he has to enlist witches and the assistance of hell!

BURGUNDY.

Traitors have never other company.

But what 's that Pucelle whom they term so pure?

That's always been the way with traitors.

But who's this Pucelle they call so pure?

TALBOT.

A maid, they say.

A girl, they say.

BEDFORD.

A maid! and be so martial!

A girl! So soldierly!

BURGUNDY.

Pray God she prove not masculine ere long,

If underneath the standard of the French

She carry armour as she hath begun.

I hope she'll stop behaving like a man before long,

if she carries on fighting in battle beneath

the French standard as she has been.

TALBOT.

Well, let them practice and converse with spirits:

God is our fortress, in whose conquering name

Let us resolve to scale their flinty bulwarks.

Well, let them carry on with their occult practices:

God is our fortress, and in his conquering name

let's climb over their stone battlements.

BEDFORD.

Ascend, brave Talbot; we will follow thee.

Climb up, brave Talbot; we will follow you.

TALBOT.

Not all together:  better far, I guess,

That we do make our entrance several ways;

That, if it chance the one of us do fail,

The other yet may rise against their force.

Not everyone together: I think it would be far better

for us to go in at several different points;

that way, if one of us fails,

the others can still fight against them.

BEDFORD.

Agreed:  I 'll to yond corner.

Agreed: I'll go over to that corner.

BURGUNDY.

And I to this.

I'll go to this one.

TALBOT.

And here will Talbot mount, or make his grave.

Now, Salisbury, for thee, and for the right

Of English Henry, shall this night appear

How much in duty I am bound to both.

And I will get over here, or die.

Now it shall be seen just how much

I am prepared to do to do my duty

for you, Salisbury, and for the rights

of English King Henry.

SENTINEL.

Arm! arm! the enemy doth make assault!

Arm yourselves! The enemy is attacking!

[Cry:  'St George,' 'A Talbot.']

[The French leap over the walls in their shirts.

Enter, several ways, the Bastard of Orleans, Alencon, and

Reignier, half ready, and half unready.]

ALENCON.

How now, my lords! what, all unready so?

What's this, my Lord! What, all so unprepared?

BASTARD.

Unready! aye, and glad we 'scap'd so well.

Unprepared! Yes, and glad to have such a lucky escape.

REIGNIER.

'Twas time, I trow, to wake and leave our beds,

Hearing alarums at our chamber-doors.

I knew it was time to wake and leave our beds,

when I heard the alarm at our bedroom doors.

ALENCON.

Of all exploits since first I follow'd arms,

Ne'er heard I of a warlike enterprise

More venturous or desperate than this.

Of all the things I've seen since I became a soldier,

I have never heard of anything

as adventurous or desperate as this.

BASTARD.

I think this Talbot be a fiend of hell.

I think this Talbot is a devil from hell.

REIGNIER.

If not of hell, the heavens, sure, favor him.

If he's not from hell, the heavens certainly favour him.

ALENCON.

Here cometh Charles:  I marvel how he sped.

Here comes Charles: I'm amazed how quickly he moved.

BASTARD.

Tut, holy Joan was his defensive guard.

Well, he had holy Joan to defend him.

[Enter Charles and La Pucelle.]

CHARLES.

Is this thy cunning, thou deceitful dame?

Didst thou at first, to flatter us withal,

Make us partakers of a little gain,

That now our loss might be ten times so much?

Is this your cunning plan, you deceitful woman?

Did you decide to soften us up

by letting us get a little gain,

so that now we might lose ten times as much?

PUCELLE.

Wherefore is Charles impatient with his friend?

At all times will you have my power alike?

Sleeping or waking must I still prevail,

Or will you blame and lay the fault on me?

Improvident soldiers! had your watch been good,

This sudden mischief never could have fall'n.

Why is Charles so suspicious of his friend?

Do you expect my power to be the same at all times?

Must I rule everything, sleeping or waking,

or are you going to place all the blame on me?

Useless soldiers! If you'd kept a good watch,

this sudden problem would never have arisen.

CHARLES.

Duke of Alencon, this was your default,

That, being captain of the watch to-night,

Did look no better to that weighty charge.

Duke of Alencon, this is your fault,

as you were captain of the watch tonight,

and you didn't fulfil your responsibility.

ALENCON.

Had all your quarters been as safely kept

As that whereof I had the government,

We had not been thus shamefully surprised.

If you'd all guarded your quarters as well

as the ones I was guarding,

we wouldn't have been caught so shamefully off guard.

BASTARD.

Mine was secure.

Mine were secure.

REIGNIER.

And so was mine, my lord.

And so were mine, my lord.

CHARLES.

And, for myself, most part of all this night,

Within her quarter and mine own precinct

I was employ'd in passing to and fro,

About relieving of the sentinels:

Then how or which way should they first break in?

As for myself I have spent most of this night