The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (357 page)

More than your enemies.

He is calling towards us to come back. My luck fell, and like it my pride did too.

I’ll ask him what he wanted. Did you call to us, sir?

Sir, you have fought well, and you have conquered

more than your enemies.

CELIA

Will you go, coz?

Can we go now, cousin?

ROSALIND

Have with you. Fare you well.

Fine, fine. Good luck, sir.

Exeunt ROSALIND and CELIA

ORLANDO

What passion hangs these weights upon my tongue?

I cannot speak to her, yet she urged conference.

O poor Orlando, thou art overthrown!

Or Charles or something weaker masters thee.

What are these passionate feelings that are blocking my tongue?

I can’t seem to say anything to her, and she even sought to talk to me.

O poor me! I have been conquered!

Either Charles or else something weaker and prettier has overcome me.

Re-enter LE BEAU

LE BEAU

Good sir, I do in friendship counsel you

To leave this place. Albeit you have deserved

High commendation, true applause and love,

Yet such is now the duke's condition

That he misconstrues all that you have done.

The duke is humorous; what he is indeed,

More suits you to conceive than I to speak of.

Sir, in friendship I advise you

to leave this place. While it is true that you have deserved

high praise, applause, and love,

the duke is now of a strange mood

and he misconstrues your actions.

He is very moody, and I’m sure

you can imagine what I mean without me putting words to it.

ORLANDO

I thank you, sir: and, pray you, tell me this:

Which of the two was daughter of the duke

That here was at the wrestling?

Thank you sir, and please, tell me:

which girl is the duke’s daughter

of the two who were at the match?

LE BEAU

Neither his daughter, if we judge by manners;

But yet indeed the lesser is his daughter

The other is daughter to the banish'd duke,

And here detain'd by her usurping uncle,

To keep his daughter company; whose loves

Are dearer than the natural bond of sisters.

But I can tell you that of late this duke

Hath ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece,

Grounded upon no other argument

But that the people praise her for her virtues

And pity her for her good father's sake;

And, on my life, his malice 'gainst the lady

Will suddenly break forth. Sir, fare you well:

Hereafter, in a better world than this,

I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.

If you are judging by their manners, neither –

but in fact the smaller one is the duke’s daughter,

and the other is the daughter of the banished duke,

kept here by her uncle after usurping the throne

to keep his daughter company. Their love

is stronger than the natural bond of sisters.

But lately, the duke

has become displeased with his niece

for no other reason

than the fact that she is praised by everyone for her virtues,

and pitied for the sake of her good father.

I swear on my life, his ill will towards her

will become manifest soon. Sir, best of luck to you.

Some time later, in a better world than this one,

I would like to get to know you better.

ORLANDO

I rest much bounden to you: fare you well.

Exit LE BEAU

Thus must I from the smoke into the smother;

From tyrant duke unto a tyrant brother:

But heavenly Rosalind!

I owe you much, Goodbye.

So I must go from the smoke to the fire –

from the tyrant duke to his tyrant brother.

But heavenly Rosalind!

Exit

Enter CELIA and ROSALIND

CELIA

Why, cousin! why, Rosalind! Cupid have mercy! not a word?

Dear cousin! Dear Rosalind! Cupid have mercy! You won’t say a single word??

ROSALIND

Not one to throw at a dog.

I don’t even have one to throw to a dog.

CELIA

No, thy words are too precious to be cast away upon

curs; throw some of them at me; come, lame me with reasons.

Your words are worth too much to be thrown away

at dogs. Throw some at me instead. Hit me with your reasoning like you would hit a dog with stones.

ROSALIND

Then there were two cousins laid up; when the one

should be lamed with reasons and the other mad

without any.

If I did that, then the two of us would be sick and injured: one

made lame from being hit with reasons, and the other made crazy

from no reason.

CELIA

But is all this for your father?

Is this about your father?

ROSALIND

No, some of it is for my child's father. O, how

full of briers is this working-day world!

No, but some is for my future child’s father. How

injurious and thorny is this working-day, wearisome world!

CELIA

They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in

holiday foolery: if we walk not in the trodden

paths our very petticoats will catch them.

The thorns are just burrs, cousin, that you have caught

from taking a foolish holiday from the right path: if you don’t walk on the

paths that are already well-trodden, then of course they will attach to our petticoats.

ROSALIND

I could shake them off my coat: these burs are in my heart.

I could shake them off of my coat – but these burrs are in my heart.

CELIA

Hem them away.

Cough them up.

ROSALIND

I would try, if I could cry 'hem' and have him.

I would try, as long as crying “hem” would allow me to have him.

CELIA

Come, come, wrestle with thy affections.

Come on, now. Fight against your feelings.

ROSALIND

O, they take the part of a better wrestler than myself!

But they are for such a better fighter than myself!

CELIA

O, a good wish upon you! you will try in time, in

despite of a fall. But, turning these jests out of

service, let us talk in good earnest: is it

possible, on such a sudden, you should fall into so

strong a liking with old Sir Rowland's youngest son?

That’s a good wish then! You will fight him in time

and then falling to him will be good. But let’s not only joke

about this. Let’s talk sincerely: is it

possible that you so quickly have fallen

in love with old Sir Rowland’s youngest son?

ROSALIND

The duke my father loved his father dearly.

My father, the old duke, loved his father a lot.

CELIA

Doth it therefore ensue that you should love his son

dearly? By this kind of chase, I should hate him,

for my father hated his father dearly; yet I hate

not Orlando.

Does it follow that you would thus love his son

a lot? By this logic, I should hate him,

since my father hated his father a lot. Yet, I don’t hate

Orlando.

ROSALIND

No, faith, hate him not, for my sake.

No, please, do not hate him, for my sake.

CELIA

Why should I not? doth he not deserve well?

Why shouldn’t I? Doesn’t he deserve it?

ROSALIND

Let me love him for that, and do you love him

because I do. Look, here comes the duke.

Let me love him, because he deserves that, and then you can love him

because I do. Look, here comes the Duke.

CELIA

With his eyes full of anger.

And his eyes look angry.

Enter DUKE FREDERICK, with Lords

DUKE FREDERICK

Mistress, dispatch you with your safest haste

And get you from our court.

Mistress, get your things together as quickly as possible

and leave my court.

ROSALIND

Me, uncle?

Me, uncle?

DUKE FREDERICK

You, cousin

Within these ten days if that thou be'st found

So near our public court as twenty miles,

Thou diest for it.

You, niece.

If in ten days you are found

within twenty miles of my court,

you will die as punishment.

ROSALIND

I do beseech your grace,

Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me:

If with myself I hold intelligence

Or have acquaintance with mine own desires,

If that I do not dream or be not frantic,--

As I do trust I am not--then, dear uncle,

Never so much as in a thought unborn

Did I offend your highness.

I beg you, my grace,

Tell me what faults you have with me.

If I know myself

and my own desires well,

and as long as I am not dreaming or crazy –

which I don’t think I am – then, dear uncle,

I cannot find even a thought

that was against your highness.

DUKE FREDERICK

Thus do all traitors:

If their purgation did consist in words,

They are as innocent as grace itself:

Let it suffice thee that I trust thee not.

Spoken like a true traitor.

If a traitor’s salvation was due to words only,

then they would all be as innocent as divine grace itself.