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

by William Shakespeare

  ANGELO

  And his offence is so, as it appears,

  And his offence is such that, as it appears,Accountant to the law upon that pain.

  It is accountable to the law with that penalty.

  ISABELLA

  True.

  True.

  ANGELO

  Admit no other way to save his life,--

  Suppose there is no other way to save his life,--As I subscribe not that, nor any other,

  As I agree to neither that, nor any other,But in the loss of question,--that you, his sister,

  Except for the lack of better words,--that you, his sister,Finding yourself desired of such a person,

  Finding that you are desired by such a person,Whose credit with the judge, or own great place,

  Whose influence with the judge, or whose own powerful position,Could fetch your brother from the manacles

  Could free your brother from the handcuffsOf the all-building law; and that there were

  Of the law on which everything is founded; and that there wereNo earthly mean to save him, but that either

  No other way to save him, except eitherYou must lay down the treasures of your body

  You must surrender your virginityTo this supposed, or else to let him suffer;

  To this hypothetical authority figure, or else your brother will suffer;What would you do?

  What would you do?

  ISABELLA

  As much for my poor brother as myself:

  I would do the same for my poor brother as I would for myself:That is, were I under the terms of death,

  That is, if I were under the sentence of death,The impression of keen whips I'ld wear as rubies,

  I would wear the marks of the biting whips as rubies,And strip myself to death, as to a bed

  And bind myself to death, like I would to a bedThat longing have been sick for, ere I'ld yield

  That I have been longing, before I would yieldMy body up to shame.

  My body up to shame.

  ANGELO

  Then must your brother die.

  Then your brother must die.

  ISABELLA

  And 'twere the cheaper way:

  And it would be the less harmful way:Better it were a brother died at once,

  It is better for a brother to die once,Than that a sister, by redeeming him,

  Than for a sister, by saving him,Should die for ever.

  To suffer eternal damnation.

  ANGELO

  Were not you then as cruel as the sentence

  Would that not make you as cruel as the sentenceThat you have slander'd so?

  That you have spoken out against.

  ISABELLA

  Ignomy in ransom and free pardon

  Disgrace in buying freedom and freedom freely givenAre of two houses: lawful mercy

  Are two different things: legal mercyIs nothing kin to foul redemption.

  Is nothing like an evil exchange.

  ANGELO

  You seem'd of late to make the law a tyrant;

  You just recently seemed to portray the law as a tyrant;And rather proved the sliding of your brother

  And rather seemed to see the sinfulness of you brotherA merriment than a vice.

  As a light-hearted matter and as a crime.

  ISABELLA

  O, pardon me, my lord; it oft falls out,

  Oh, forgive me, my lord: it often happens,To have what we would have, we speak not what we mean:

  In trying to get what we want, we don’t say what we mean:I something do excuse the thing I hate,

  I do somewhat make excuses for the thing I hate,For his advantage that I dearly love.

  For the advantage of the one whom I love dearly.

  ANGELO

  We are all frail.

  We are all weak.

  ISABELLA

  Else let my brother die,

  Then let my brother die,If not a feodary, but only he

  If he is not a servant to this weakness, and instead it is he who solelyOwe and succeed thy weakness.

  Owns and inherits the weakness that you speak of.

  ANGELO

  Nay, women are frail too.

  No, women are weak too.

  ISABELLA

  Ay, as the glasses where they view themselves;

  Yes, as the mirrors where they view themselves;Which are as easy broke as they make forms.

  Which are broken as easily as they reflect images.Women! Help Heaven! men their creation mar

  Women! Heaven help them! Men ruin their own powerIn profiting by them. Nay, call us ten times frail;

  By abusing women. No, call us ten times more week;For we are soft as our complexions are,

  For we are as soft as our complexions,And credulous to false prints.

  And believe in men’s falsehoods.

  ANGELO

  I think it well:

  I agree:And from this testimony of your own sex,--

  And this a statement speaking about your own gender,--Since I suppose we are made to be no stronger

  Since I suggest we are made to be no strongerThan faults may shake our frames,--let me be bold;

  Then the weaknesses we fall prey to,--let me be blunt;I do arrest your words. Be that you are,

  I do take heed of your words. Be what you are,That is, a woman; if you be more, you're none;

  That is, a woman; if you are more than that, then you’re not a woman;If you be one, as you are well express'd

  If you are one, as you clearly seem to beBy all external warrants, show it now,

  By your outward appearance, show it now,By putting on the destined livery.

  By demonstrating women’s weakness.

  ISABELLA

  I have no tongue but one: gentle my lord,

  I do not tell lies: my gentle lord,Let me entreat you speak the former language.

  I ask you to speak plainly as you did before.

  ANGELO

  Plainly conceive, I love you.

  Plainly understand, I love you.

  ISABELLA

  My brother did love Juliet,

  My brother did love Juliet,And you tell me that he shall die for it.

  And you tell me that he will die for it.

  ANGELO

  He shall not, Isabel, if you give me love.

  He will not, Isabel, if you give yourself over to my love.

  ISABELLA

  I know your virtue hath a licence in't,

  I know your goodness has an authority to it,Which seems a little fouler than it is,

  Which seems a little more horrible than it is,To pluck on others.

  In order to test others.

  ANGELO

  Believe me, on mine honour,

  Believe me, on my honor,My words express my purpose.

  The words I say express what I want.

  ISABELLA

  Ha! little honour to be much believed,

  Ha! You have little honor to so believe,And most pernicious purpose! Seeming, seeming!

  And a terrible desire! Deception, deception!I will proclaim thee, Angelo; look for't:

  I will accuse you, Angelo; look for itSign me a present pardon for my brother,

  Immediately sign me a pardon for my brother,Or with an outstretch'd throat I'll tell the world aloud

  Or as loud as I can, I’ll tell the whole worldWhat man thou art.

  What kind of man you are.

  ANGELO

  Who will believe thee, Isabel?

  Who would believe you, Isabel?My unsoil'd name, the austereness of my life,

  My un-dirtied name, the strictness of my life,My vouch against you, and my place i' the state,

  My testimony against you, and my authority in the governement,Will so your accusation overweigh,

  Will overpower your accusations so much,That you shall stifle in your own report

  That you will silence your own storyAnd smell of calumny. I have begun,

  And seem like slander. I have begun,And now I give my sensual
race the rein:

  And now I allow my desires to run freely:Fit thy consent to my sharp appetite;

  Make your agreement fit my intense appetite:Lay by all nicety and prolixious blushes,

  Put aside all coyness and delaying blushes,That banish what they sue for; redeem thy brother

  That send away what they ask for; save your brotherBy yielding up thy body to my will;

  By giving up your body to my passion;Or else he must not only die the death,

  Or else me will not only die,But thy unkindness shall his death draw out

  But your refusal will make his death so slowTo lingering sufferance. Answer me to-morrow,

  He lingers before death and suffers. Answer me tomorrowOr, by the affection that now guides me most,

  Or, by the desire that now guides me most,I'll prove a tyrant to him. As for you,

  I will prove myself a tyrant to him. As for you,Say what you can, my false o'erweighs your true.

  Say what you will, but my lies will overpower your truth.

  Exit

  ISABELLA

  To whom should I complain? Did I tell this,

  Who could I tell this? If I told this to someone,Who would believe me? O perilous mouths,

  Who would believe me? Oh, terrible voices,That bear in them one and the self-same tongue,

  That can only tell truths,Either of condemnation or approof;

  Either of blame or approval;Bidding the law make court'sy to their will:

  Asking the law to go along with their desires:Hooking both right and wrong to the appetite,

  Attaching both good and bad to the longing,To follow as it draws! I'll to my brother:

  To follow along as it makes things up! I’ll go to my brother:Though he hath fallen by prompture of the blood,

  Though he has fallen prey to the urging of passion,Yet hath he in him such a mind of honour.

  Still he has in him an honorable mind.That, had he twenty heads to tender down

  I know, if he had twenty head to lay downOn twenty bloody blocks, he'ld yield them up,

  On twenty bloody blocks, he would give them up,Before his sister should her body stoop

  Before his sister should give up her bodyTo such abhorr'd pollution.

  To such terrible contamination.Then, Isabel, live chaste, and, brother, die:

  So, Isabel will live a virgin, and her brother will die:More than our brother is our chastity.

  Our chastity is worth more than our brother.I'll tell him yet of Angelo's request,

  I’ll tell him of Angelo’s request,And fit his mind to death, for his soul's rest.

  And prepare his mind for death, and his soul for heaven.

  Exit

  Enter DUKE VINCENTIO disguised as before, CLAUDIO, and Provost

  DUKE VINCENTIO

  So then you hope of pardon from Lord Angelo?

  So then you hope for a pardon from Lord Angelo?

  CLAUDIO

  The miserable have no other medicine

  Miserable people have no other medicineBut only hope:

  Except hope:I've hope to live, and am prepared to die.

  I hope to live, but am prepared to die.

  DUKE VINCENTIO

  Be absolute for death; either death or life

  Be set on for death; then either death or lifeShall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life:

  Will be sweeter. Reason with life like this:If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing

  If I lose you, I lose a thingThat none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,That no one but a fool wants to keep: you are a breath

  Servile to all the skyey influences,

  Servant to all the planetary influencesThat dost this habitation, where thou keep'st,

  That this body where you are keptHourly afflict: merely, thou art death's fool;

  Is troubled by hourly: you are entirely death’s fool;For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun

  You labor to try and run from himAnd yet runn'st toward him still. Thou art not noble;

  And yet you still run towards him. You are not noble;For all the accommodations that thou bear'st

  Because all the comforts that you bringAre nursed by baseness. Thou'rt by no means valiant;

  Come from dishonorable beginnings. You are by no means brave;For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork

  Because you fear the soft and tender forked tongueOf a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep,

  Of a poor snake. Thy best way to rest is sleep,And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear'st

  And that you often produce; but excessively fearThy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;

  Your death, which is no more than sleep. You are not yourself;For thou exist'st on many a thousand grains

  Because you exist in thousands of thingsThat issue out of dust. Happy thou art not;

  That grow from the earth. You are not happy;For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get,

  Because what you don’t have, you try to get,And what thou hast, forget'st. Thou art not certain;

  And what you have, you forget. You are not consistant;For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,

  For your character changes in strange ways,After the moon. If thou art rich, thou'rt poor;

  Taking after the moon. If you are rich, then you are poor;For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,

  Because, like a donkey whose back is weighed down with gold barsThou bear's thy heavy riches but a journey,

  You carry your heavy riches only on a journey,And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none;

  And death takes it away from you. You have no friends;For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,

  Because your own children, who call you father,The mere effusion of thy proper loins,

  The very product of your own lions,Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum,

  Curse at sicknesses like gout, skin diseases and head coldsFor ending thee no sooner. Thou hast nor youth nor age,

  For not ending you sooner. You have neither youth nor age,But, as it were, an after-dinner's sleep,

  But instead an evening nap,Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth

  Dreaming of both; because all your blessed youthBecomes as aged, and doth beg the alms

  Becomes elderly, and begs for the richesOf palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,

  Of old age; and when you are old and rich,Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,

  You have neither passion, nor love, nor an able body,To make thy riches pleasant. What's yet in this

  To make you riches pleasant. What’s is still hereThat bears the name of life? Yet in this life

  That is worth the name of life? Yet in this lifeLie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear,

  More than a thousand deaths lie hidden: yet it is death that we fear,That makes these odds all even.

  That makes everything even.

  CLAUDIO

  I humbly thank you.

  I humbly thank you.To sue to live, I find I seek to die;

  By begging to live, I find I seek to die;And, seeking death, find life: let it come on.

  And in seeking death I find life: let death come.

  ISABELLA

  [Within] What, ho! Peace here; grace and good company!

  [Inside] Well, hello! I wish you peace, mercy and good company!

  Provost

  Who's there? come in: the wish deserves a welcome.

  Who’s there? Come in: the well-wishes deserve a welcome.

  DUKE VINCENTIO

  Dear sir, ere long I'll visit you again.

  Dear sir, before long I’ll visit you again.

  CLAUDIO

  Most holy sir, I thank you.

  Most holy sir, thank you.

  Enter ISABELLA

  ISABELLA

  My business is a word or two with Claudio.

  I am here to have a word or two with Claudio.

  PROVOST

  And very welcome. Look, signior, he
re's your sister.

  And you’re very welcome to do so. Look, mister, here’s your sister.

  DUKE VINCENTIO

  Provost, a word with you.

  Provost, may I have a word with you?

  PROVOST

  As many as you please.

  You may have as many words as you please.

  DUKE VINCENTIO

  Bring me to hear them speak, where I may be concealed.

  Bring me to where I may hear them speak but not be seen.

  Exeunt DUKE VINCENTIO and PROVOST

  CLAUDIO

  Now, sister, what's the comfort?

  Now, sister, what’s the consolation?

  ISABELLA

  Why,

  Why,As all comforts are; most good, most good indeed.

  The same as all consolations are; very good, very good indeed.Lord Angelo, having affairs to heaven,

  Lord Angelo has business with heaven,Intends you for his swift ambassador,

  And intends you to be his ambassador soon,Where you shall be an everlasting leiger:

  Where you will be an everlasting resident as ambassador:Therefore your best appointment make with speed;

  Therefore you must make your preparations quickly;To-morrow you set on.

  Tomorrow you leave for heaven.

  CLAUDIO

  Is there no remedy?

  Is there no solution?

  ISABELLA

  None, but such remedy as, to save a head,

  None, but such a solution that would, in order to save a head,To cleave a heart in twain.

  Sever a heart in two.

  CLAUDIO

  But is there any?

  But is there any?

  ISABELLA

  Yes, brother, you may live:

  Yes, brother, you may live:There is a devilish mercy in the judge,

  The judge’s mercy is evil,If you'll implore it, that will free your life,

  If you’ll take it, it will save your life,But fetter you till death.

  But burden you till death.