Weve had some queries and feedback about the plain English translations posted recently. They are meant to sit alongside the text, to aid understanding. They are not designed to be read in place of the original. Heres another example - keep the feedback coming: TROILUS Call my page here; Ill take off my armour again: Why should I fight outside the walls of Troy, Since I find such a cruel conflict here inside my heart? Let every Trojan that is master of his heart, Go to the battlefield; Sadly, Troilus lacks such confidence. PANDARUS Will this matter never be put right? TROILUS The Greeks are strong and skilful in their strength, Fierce in their skill and in their fierceness brave; But I am weaker than a womans tear, Tamer than sleep, more foolish than ignorance, No braver than a virgin in the night And as unskilled as inexperienced childhood. PANDARUS Well, I have spoken to you enough about this: for my part, Ill not interfere or act any further. Someone who wants to make a cake out of the wheat must wait for the grinding of the wheat. TROILUS Havent I waited? PANDARUS Yes, for the grinding; but you must also await the sieving of the flour. TROILUS Havent I waited? PANDARUS Yes, for the sieving of the flour, but you must wait for the rising of the dough. TROILUS Still I have waited. PANDARUS Yes, for the rising of the dough; but after that, there is still the need to wait for the mixing of the dough, the making of the cake, the heating of the oven and the baking; indeed, you must wait for the cooling too, or you may risk burning your lips. TROILUS Patience herself, whatever goddess she is, Shrinks no less from patient endurance than I do. I sit at Priam’s royal table; And when the beautiful Cressida comes into my thoughts,-- So, traitor that I am! I said When she comes! When is she away from there? PANDARUS Well, yesterday night she looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her look, or any other woman. TROILUS I was about to tell you:--for when my heart, As if split apart with a sigh, would break in two, Lest Hector or my father should notice me, I have, just as when the sun lights up in scorn, Buried that sigh in the wrinkle of a smile: But sorrow, that is concealed in apparent gladness, Is like that joy that fate turns to sudden sadness. PANDARUS If her hair were not somewhat darker than Helens-- well, that’s absurd--there could be no further comparison of the women: but, as for me, she is my relative; I would not, as they term it, praise her: but I wish that somebody had heard her talk yesterday, as I did. I will not run down your sister Cassandras mental powers, but-- TROILUS Oh Pandarus! I tell you, Pandarus,-- When I tell you, it is there that my hopes lie drowned, Do not reply in how many fathoms deep They lie immersed. I tell you I am mad For Cressidas love: you answer she is beautiful, Pouring into the open ulcer of my heart Her eyes, her hair, her cheek, her movement, and her voice; Oh, you describe those hands of hers in your speech, Compared with which all whites are ink, Writing their own reproach, to whose soft clasp The baby swans down is rough and the very essence of feeling Hard as the palm of a ploughman: you are telling me this, And in this you tell the truth, whenever I say I love her; But, in speaking like this, instead of oil and soothing ointment, You lay in every gash that love has given me The knife that made it. PANDARUS I speak no more than the truth. TROILUS You do not speak so much. PANDARUS Really, Ill not interfere with it. Let her be as she is: if she is beautiful, its all the better for her; if she is not, she has the remedy for it in her own hands. TROILUS Good Pandarus, come on, Pandarus! PANDARUS I have had nothing but trouble for my pains; condemned by her and condemned by you; I have gone back and forth, between you both, but I get little thanks for my trouble. TROILUS What, are you angry, Pandarus? What, with me? PANDARUS Because shes related to me, for that reason shes not as beautiful as Helen: if she were not related to me, she would be as beautiful on Friday as Helen is on Sunday. But what do I care? I would not care if she were as black as the ace of spades; It’s all the same to me. TROILUS Do I say she is not beautiful? PANDARUS I do not care whether you do or not. Shes a fool to stay behind her father; let her go to the Greeks; and so Ill tell her the next time I see her: for my part, Ill interfere or act no more in the matter. TROILUS Pandarus,-- PANDARUS Not I. TROILUS Dear Pandarus,-- PANDARUS Please, say no more to me: I will leave everything as I found it, and there’s an end to it.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 07:14:25 +0000
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