The Merry Wives of Windsor (31 page)

¹³⁰
great chamber
main room/hall

¹³⁰
groats
fourpenny coins

¹³¹
mill-sixpences
sixpences that had their designs impressed on them in a stamping mill

¹³¹
Edward shovel-boards
shillings made in the reign of Edward VI (used in the game of
shovel-board
)

¹³²
Yead
i.e. Ed (Edward)

¹³⁵
it is false
he is dishonest (Evans responds to “true, Pistol” as if it were “true Pistol”—i.e. “honest Pistol”)

¹³⁶
mountain-foreigner
i.e. Welshman

¹³⁷
combat challenge
challenge combat (i.e. trial by combat)

¹³⁷
latten
brass/tin-plate/thinly hammered

¹³⁷
bilbo
sword (from Bilbao, Spanish town famed for sword manufacture)

¹³⁸
labras
lips (from either the Spanish
labros
or the Latin
labra
, both meaning “lips”)

¹⁴¹
Be avised
think carefully/take my advice

¹⁴¹
pass good humours
be agreeable

¹⁴²
marry
by the Virgin Mary

¹⁴²
‘marry trap’
contemptuous phrase of uncertain meaning, the general sense of which may be something like “be off with you/mind your own business/you’ve caught yourself out”

¹⁴²
run … me
behave like a constable

¹⁴²
nuthook
hooked stick used to pull nuts from trees; slang for “constable”

¹⁴³
very note
right tune (i.e. the truth); perhaps with a play on “nut”

¹⁴⁴
he … face
i.e. Bardolph

¹⁴⁷
Scarlet and John
Will Scarlet and Little John were two of Robin Hood’s companions;
Scarlet
is applied to Bardolph because of his drunkard’s red nose

¹⁵¹
fap
drunk cashiered dismissed/got rid of/thrown out of the tavern

¹⁵²
conclusions … careers
his conclusions about what had happened galloped beyond all bounds

¹⁵²
career
short gallop at full speed

¹⁵⁷
’udge
judge

¹⁵⁷
mind
intention

¹⁶⁴
leave
permission

¹⁶⁶
pasty to
pie for

¹⁶⁸
book …
Sonnets
probably
Songs and Sonnets
, a collection of poems, most of them about love, published by Richard Tottel in 1557 and known as
Tottel’s Miscellany

¹⁷¹
Book of Riddles
unidentified; several Elizabethan collections of riddles existed

¹⁷⁴
Allhallowmas
All Saints’ Day, November 1

¹⁷⁵
Michaelmas
the feast of Saint Michael, September 29; Simple is wrong in saying it is two weeks after
Allhallowmas

¹⁷⁶
stay
wait

¹⁷⁷
tender
offer (i.e. of marriage, made on behalf of Slender)

¹⁷⁸
afar off
indirectly/in a roundabout manner

¹⁸¹
do … reason
i.e. behave in a reasonable manner/cooperate

¹⁸⁴
motions
suggestions

¹⁸⁵
be capacity of
have the capacity to understand

¹⁸⁷
country
district

¹⁸⁷
simple … here
as sure as I stand here/although I seem humble/despite my own undistinguished status

¹⁹⁵
demands
requests

¹⁹⁶
’oman
woman

¹⁹⁷
divers
various

¹⁹⁸
parcel
part

¹⁹⁹
carry … to
feel inclination/affection for (with a quibble on the slang sense of
will
—i.e. “sexual desire/penis”)

²⁰⁴
possitable
malapropism for “positively”

²⁰⁴
carry her
convey/direct

²⁰⁵
upon
providing that she comes with/on the promise of

²⁰⁹
conceive
understand

²¹²
decrease
malapropism for “increase”

²¹⁶
dissolved
resolved

²¹⁶
dissolutely
malapropism for “resolutely”

²¹⁷
fall
i.e. error

²¹⁸
’ord
word

²²⁹
forsooth
in truth

²³⁰
attends
waits for

²³²
sirrah
sir (authoritative)

²³²
for all
although

²³⁴
beholding
indebted

²³⁶
what though
what of it

²⁴⁵
fence
fencing

²⁴⁵
veneys
technical (French) term for each assault in a fencing match (from
venu
, “come”); pun (not intended by Slender) on “Venus,” slang for prostitute

²⁴⁵
stewed prunes
known to be a popular dish in brothels (“the stews”)

²⁴⁶
smell … meat
unintentionally suggesting whore’s flesh

²⁴⁹
the sport
bear-baiting, a popular Elizabethan pastime

²⁵⁴
Sackerson
a well-known bear kept at Paris Garden in Southwark

²⁵⁵
warrant
assure

²⁵⁶
passed
was past belief

²⁵⁷
ill-favoured
ugly

²⁶⁰
cock and pie
a mild oath; either a literal reference to fowl and cooked pie or a corruption of “God” and an allusion to the Church rules concerning the celebration of Saints’ days

²⁶⁰
you … choose
polite way of saying “I insist/you have no choice”

²⁶⁵
keep on
go ahead/carry on

¹
of
concerning

³
nurse
housekeeper

³
dry nurse
i.e. not a wet nurse, who would look after a baby

⁴
laundry
laundress

⁴
wringer
one who wrings out clothes after they have been washed

⁷
altogether’s acquaintance
is well acquainted

⁹
solicit
urge/court favor for

¹⁰
pippins
apples

²
bully rook
jolly companion/old rogue

⁶
bully Hercules
old mate Hercules (the Greek hero)

⁶
cashier
dismiss

⁶
wag
move on

⁸
sit at
live here at the cost of

⁹
Caesar
and
Kaiser

⁹
Kaiser
emperor

⁹
Pheazar
vizier (chief minister to a ruler), or possibly a nonsense word to rhyme with

¹⁰
entertain
employ

¹⁰
draw … tap
withdraw liquor from a cask in the manner of an innkeeper

¹¹
Hector
hero of the Trojan War

¹⁴
froth
make the beer froth up on top as a means of serving less lime flavor wine with lime in order to mask its sourness

¹⁴
I … word
i.e. without further ado

¹⁵
tapster
barman

¹⁶
jerkin
close-fitting jacket

¹⁹
Hungarian wight
thievish, beggarly person (with a play on “hungry”)

¹⁹
spigot
peg used to stop the hole in a cask of liquor

²⁰
gotten in drink
conceived while his parents were drunk

²⁰
Is … conceited
isn’t that an ingenious/witty notion

²¹
acquit
rid

²¹
tinderbox
i.e. Bardolph, an inflammable and red-faced man

²²
open
obvious

²⁴
good humour
best method/way to do it

²⁴
at … rest
in the space of a minute (
rest
plays on the sense of “moment of silence within a piece of music”)

²⁵
fico
“fig” (Italian; a contemptuous word, sometimes accompanied by the obscene gesture of thrusting the thumb between two fingers)

²⁷
out at heels
out of money (literally, with shoes or stockings worn through)

²⁸
kibes
chilblains

²⁹
shift
provide for myself/live by deception/live on my wits

³²
ken the wight
know the person

³³
am about
up to (Pistol interprets “measure about the waist”)

³⁷
make love to
court/woo

³⁸
entertainment
welcome/a pleasant reception (with sexual connotations)

³⁸
carves
is a courteous and generous hostess/has sex

³⁹
leer
sideways glance/sexually inviting look

³⁹
construe
interpret/translate/analyze grammatically

³⁹
action
working/oratorical gesture (with sexual connotations)

⁴⁰
familiar
usual/plain/courteous/overly intimate

⁴⁰
hardest voice
most severe expression/most difficult grammatical form to translate

⁴¹
Englished
translated into English

⁴²
will
inclination/sexual desire/legal document

⁴³
honesty
chastity

⁴⁴
The … deep
probably “this idea (of Falstaff’s) is firmly entrenched”

⁴⁴
that humour pass
Falstaff’s frame of mind change/Falstaff’s inclination get him anywhere/my neat expression gain approval

⁴⁶
legion of angels
great number of gold coins (plays on the sense of “host of heavenly beings”)

⁴⁷
As … entertain
employ just as many devils

⁴⁷
To her
a cry of encouragement such as might be used to a hound pursuing prey

⁴⁸
Humour … angels
let your inclination lead to the acquisition of the money (
me
is emphatic)

⁴⁸
The humour rises
the wit improves/(Falstaff’s) inclination grows

⁴⁹
writ me
written

⁵²
oeillades
amorous looks

⁵⁵
humour
turn of phrase

⁵⁶
course
run (her eyes)

⁵⁷
intention
intent observation/purpose

⁵⁸
burning-glass
magnifying glass

⁵⁹
purse
plays on sense of “vagina”

⁵⁹
Guiana
country in South America fabled for its great wealth

⁶⁰
cheaters
escheator, a district official who supervised escheats, estates that returned to the monarch’s possession in the absence of a valid heir (plays on sense of “sexual cheat, deceiver”)

⁶¹
exchequers
treasuries

⁶²
trade
plays on sense of “have sex with”