The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (528 page)

is the cue for Thisby to enter so that I can

spy her through the wall. You shall see, it will

see her through the wall. You’ll see, everything

fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.

will happen like I said. Here she comes.

Enter Thisbe

THISBE

O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,

Oh wall, you have heard my sad moans so often, blaming you

For parting my fair Pyramus and me!

For separating Pyramus and me!

My cherry lips have often kiss'd thy stones,

I have often kissed your stones with my lips as red as cherries,

Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.

Your stones, stuck together with cement.

PYRAMUS

I see a voice: now will I to the chink,

I see something, now I will go to the hole

To spy an I can hear my Thisby's face. Thisby!

And see if I can hear Thisby’s face. Thisby!

THRISBE

My love thou art, my love I think.

You are my love, I think.

PYRAMUS

Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace;

Think whatever you want, I am your love:

And, like Limander, am I trusty still.

Just as faithful as heroic Limander.

THISBE

And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill.

And I will be as faithful as Helen of Troy, until the Fates decide my death.

PYRAMUS

Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.

Not even Shafalus was as faithful to Procus.

THISBE

As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.

Yes, I am like Shafalus to Procrus to you too.

PYRAMUS

O kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!

Oh kiss me through the hole of this evil wall!

THISBE

I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all.

I can only kiss the hole in the wall, I can’t get to your lips.

Pyramus

Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me straightway?

Then will you come meet me at Ninny’s tomb right now?

THISBE

'Tide life, 'tide death, I come without delay.

I will come at once, and neither life nor death can stop me.

Exeunt Pyramus and Thisbe

WALL

Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so;

Thus, I as Wall have finished my part,

And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.

And since I am done, Wall will leave as well.

Exit

THESEUS

Now is the mural down between the two neighbours.

And now the wall is down that separated the lovers.

DEMETRIUS

No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear

There’s nothing to do about it, lord, when walls will hear and speak

without warning.

without warning.

HIPPOLYTA

This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.

This is the silliest play I’ve ever heard.

THESEUS

The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst

The best plays are just illusions of reality, and so the worst

are no worse, if imagination amend them.

are not really worse – you just need imagination to fix them.

HIPPOLYTA

It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.

But it must be the audience’s imagination, instead of the performers.

THESEUS

If we imagine no worse of them than they of

If we imagine them as they think

themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here

of themselves, then they will look like the best of all men. Here

come two noble beasts in, a man and a lion.

come two very noble beasts: a man and a lion.

Enter Lion and Moonshine

LION

You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fear

Dear ladies, whose gentle hears might be afraid

The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,

Of the smallest mouse creeping along the floor,

May now perchance both quake and tremble here,

You might now be tremble with fear,

When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar.

After an angry lion roars.

Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am

Please know that I am really Snug the wood worker,

A lion-fell, nor else no lion's dam;

not really a fierce lion or a lioness.

For, if I should as lion come in strife

If I were a lion, and came angrily

Into this place, 'twere pity on my life.

To this place, I would be giving up my life.

THESEUS

A very gentle beast, of a good conscience.

What a kind beast, very caring for others.

DEMETRIUS

The very best at a beast, my lord, that e'er I saw.

The best actor I’ve ever seen portray a lion, my lord.

LYSANDER

This lion is a very fox for his valour.

This lion is as brave as a fox.

THESEUS

True; and a goose for his discretion.

And as wise as a goose.

DEMETRIUS

Not so, my lord; for his valour cannot carry his

No, my lord, because his courage doesn’t make him

discretion; and the fox carries the goose.

wiser – as would be suggested since a fox carries a goose.

THESEUS

His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour;

Well his wisdom certainly can’t carry his courage,

for the goose carries not the fox. It is well:

which makes sense, since the goose can’t carry the fox. Well,

leave it to his discretion, and let us listen to the moon.

we will leave the matter to his wisdom to resolve. I want to hear the moon.

MOONSHINE

This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;--

This lantern is the crescent moon above--

DEMETRIUS

He should have worn the horns on his head.

Then he should have worn horns on his head.

THESEUS

He is no crescent, and his horns are

This is no crescent moon, unless the horns

invisible within the circumference.

are invisible within the moon itself.

MOONSHINE

This lanthorn doth the horned moon present;

This lantern is the crescent moon above

Myself the man i' the moon do seem to be.

And I am the man in the moon.

THESEUS

This is the greatest error of all the rest: the man

They certainly made a mistake here: the actor

should be put into the lanthorn. How is it else the

should have been placed inside the lantern. How else would he be

man i' the moon?

the man in the moon?

DEMETRIUS

He dares not come there for the candle; for, you

He cannot go in there because of the candle;

see, it is already in snuff.

it is already charred and smoking.

HIPPOLYTA

I am aweary of this moon: would he would change!

I am tired of this moon and want it to change phases.

THESEUS

It appears, by his small light of discretion, that

It looks like, since he is not very bright,

he is in the wane; but yet, in courtesy, in all

he is waning, but we should be polite

reason, we must stay the time.

and see for certain.

LYSANDER

Proceed, Moon.

Continue, Moon.

MOONSHINE

All that I have to say, is, to tell you that the

All I have to say is that the

lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this

lantern is the moon, I am the man in the moon,

thorn-bush, my thorn-bush; and this dog, my dog.

this bush of thorns is mine, and this dog is mine.

DEMETRIUS

Why, all these should be in the lanthorn; for all

Well all of these things should be inside the lantern then,

these are in the moon. But, silence! here comes Thisbe.

since they are in the moon. But wait! here comes Thisbe.

Enter Thisbe

THISBE

This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love?

This is old Ninny’s tomb, but where is Pyramus, my love?

LION

[Roaring] Oh--

Roar!

Thisbe runs off

DEMETRIUS

Well roared, Lion.

Great roaring, Lion.

THESEUS

Well run, Thisbe.

Great running, Thisbe.

HIPPOLYTA

Well shone, Moon. Truly, the moon shines with a

Great shining, Moon. Really, the moon shines

good grace.

very beautifully.

The Lion shakes Thisbe's mantle

THESEUS

Well moused, Lion.

Well shaken, like a cat shaking a mouse, Lion.

DEMETRIUS

And then came Pyramus.

And now Pyramus enters.

Enter Pyramus

LYSANDER

And so the lion vanished.

And the lion is gone.

Exit Lion

PYRAMUS

Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams;

Dear Moon, thank you for your bright beams,

I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright;

Thank you for shining so brightly right now,

For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering gleams,

Because by your golden and shimmering beams

I trust to take of truest Thisby sight.

I can see Thisby even better.

But stay, O spite!

But wait, Oh no!

But mark, poor knight,

What is this, poor me,

What dreadful dole is here!

What is this awful thing!

Eyes, do you see?

Eyes, do you see what it is?

How can it be?

How is it possible?

O dainty duck! O dear!

Oh dainty duck! Oh dear!

Thy mantle good,

Your good cloak

What, stain'd with blood!

is what, it is stained with blood!

Approach, ye Furies fell!

Come you Furies, and avenge me!

O Fates, come, come,

Come you Fates, come,

Cut thread and thrum;

And cut the thread of my life,

Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!

Crush, finish, kill!

THESEUS

This passion, and the death of a dear friend, would

Such passion of an actor, next to the death of a close friend,

go near to make a man look sad.

could make someone very sad while watching this.

HIPPOLYTA

Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man.

I blame my heart, but I actually feel sorry for this man.