The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (923 page)

I am now from home, and out of that provision

Which shall be needful for your entertainment.

I must ask you, father, to behave appropriately for your position.

If you will go back, until the end of the month,

and complete your stay with my sister,

and dismiss half your entourage, them come to me:

I am not at home now, and things are not prepared

to give you a proper welcome.

KING LEAR

Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd?

No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose

To wage against the enmity o' the air;

To be a comrade with the wolf and owl,--

Necessity's sharp pinch! Return with her?

Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took

Our youngest born, I could as well be brought

To knee his throne, and, squire-like; pension beg

To keep base life afoot. Return with her?

Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter

To this detested groom.

Pointing at OSWALD

Go back to her, and sack fifty men?

No, in preference I reject all shelter

and choose to live in the open air;

I shall live with the wolf and the owl,

if that's what I'm forced to do! Go back with her?

I might just as well go to passionate France,

who took my youngest child without a dowry,

and kneel before his throne like a squire,

begging for a pension to keep my poor life going.

Go back with her? You might as well tell me

that I had to be a servant and carrier

for this disgusting groom.

GONERIL

At your choice, sir.

It's your choice, sir.

KING LEAR

I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad:

I will not trouble thee, my child; farewell:

We'll no more meet, no more see one another:

But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;

Or rather a disease that's in my flesh,

Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil,

A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle,

In my corrupted blood. But I'll not chide thee;

Let shame come when it will, I do not call it:

I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot,

Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove:

Mend when thou canst; be better at thy leisure:

I can be patient; I can stay with Regan,

I and my hundred knights.

Please, daughter, do not make me angry:

I won't bother you, my child; farewell:

we'll never meet or see one another again:

but you are still my flesh and blood, my daughter:

or rather you are a disease in my flesh,

which I have to call mine: you are a boil

a plague sore, a swollen carbuncle

in my diseased blood. But I won't criticise you;

let the shame come in its own time, I don't summon it:

I have not told the God of Thunder to fire

and I do not tell tales about you to the great judge Jove:

change your ways when you can; get better at your own pace:

I can be patient; I can stay with Regan,

me and my hundred knights.

REGAN

Not altogether so:

I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided

For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister;

For those that mingle reason with your passion

Must be content to think you old, and so--

But she knows what she does.

That's not quite the case:

I wasn't expecting you yet, and I'm not ready

to give you a proper welcome. Listen, sir, to my sister;

those who apply a little common sense to your anger

must acknowledge that you are old, and so–

but she knows what she's doing.

KING LEAR

Is this well spoken?

This is what you have to say?

REGAN

I dare avouch it, sir: what, fifty followers?

Is it not well? What should you need of more?

Yea, or so many, sith that both charge and danger

Speak 'gainst so great a number? How, in one house,

Should many people, under two commands,

Hold amity? 'Tis hard; almost impossible.

It's what I think, sir: what, fifty followers?

Isn't that enough? Why should you need any more?

In fact why do you need so many, since the expense and risk

suggest you should have fewer? How can so many people

keep the peace in one house when they are under

two different commanders? It's hard; it's almost impossible.

GONERIL

Why might not you, my lord, receive attendance

From those that she calls servants or from mine?

My lord, why can you not be waited on

by her servants or by mine?

REGAN

Why not, my lord? If then they chanced to slack you,

We could control them. If you will come to me,--

For now I spy a danger,--I entreat you

To bring but five and twenty: to no more

Will I give place or notice.

Why not, my lord? If they did not serve you well,

we would punish them. If you want to come to me–

because I now feel uneasy–I must ask you

to only bring twenty-five: I will not

accommodate any more than that.

KING LEAR

I gave you all--

I gave you everything–

REGAN

And in good time you gave it.

At the right time.

KING LEAR

Made you my guardians, my depositaries;

But kept a reservation to be follow'd

With such a number. What, must I come to you

With five and twenty, Regan? said you so?

I made you my stewardesses, my trustees;

and all I asked was that I should have an entourage

of a certain size. So, I have to come to you

with twenty-five, Regan? Is that what you said?

REGAN

And speak't again, my lord; no more with me.

And I'll say it again, my lord; that's all I'll have.

KING LEAR

Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favour'd,

When others are more wicked: not being the worst

Stands in some rank of praise.

These wicked creatures are still pretty,

and there are others who are more wicked: I suppose

not being the worst is something.

To GONERIL

I'll go with thee:

Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty,

And thou art twice her love.

I'll go with you:

your fifty is at least double her twenty-five,

and you love me twice as much.

GONERIL

Hear me, my lord;

What need you five and twenty, ten, or five,

To follow in a house where twice so many

Have a command to tend you?

Listen to me, my lord;

why do you need twenty five, ten, or five,

to go with you to a house where twice that number

have been ordered to serve you?

REGAN

What need one?

Why do you even need one?

KING LEAR

O, reason not the need: our basest beggars

Are in the poorest thing superfluous:

Allow not nature more than nature needs,

Man's life's as cheap as beast's: thou art a lady;

If only to go warm were gorgeous,

Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,

Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true need,--

You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!

You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,

As full of grief as age; wretched in both!

If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts

Against their father, fool me not so much

To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger,

And let not women's weapons, water-drops,

Stain my man's cheeks! No, you unnatural hags,

I will have such revenges on you both,

That all the world shall--I will do such things,--

What they are, yet I know not: but they shall be

The terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep

No, I'll not weep:

I have full cause of weeping; but this heart

Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,

Or ere I'll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!

Exeunt KING LEAR, GLOUCESTER, KENT, and Fool

Storm and tempest

Oh! Do not argue about need; our lowest beggars

might have some small thing that is more than they need:

if you don't think human nature needs more than the animals

then a man's life is as cheap as an animal's. You are a lady;

if being gorgeous just meant being warm,

then nature would not need those gorgeous things you're wearing,

which hardly keep you warm. But, for real need–

heavens, give me patience, patience is what I need!–

You gods see me here, the poor old man,

as full of grief as he is of age, and made wretched by both!

If it's you that has turned these daughters' hearts

against their father, don't make me such a fool

as to take it meekly; give me noble anger,

and don't let women's weapons, teardrops,

stain my manly cheeks! No, you unnatural hags,

I will have such revenge on both of you

that all the world shall–I will do such things,

what they are I don't know yet, but they will be

the worse things on earth. You think I'll cry;

I will not:

I have every reason to,

but this heart

will shatter into a hundred thousand fragments

before I'll cry. O fool! I shall go mad.

CORNWALL

Let us withdraw; 'twill be a storm.

 Let's go inside, there's a storm coming.

REGAN

This house is little: the old man and his people

Cannot be well bestow'd.

This house is small: the old man and his servants

can't be easily accommodated.

GONERIL

'Tis his own blame; hath put himself from rest,

And must needs taste his folly.

That's his own fault; he's taken himself away from shelter,

and he must face the consequences.

REGAN

For his particular, I'll receive him gladly,

But not one follower.

As an individual, I will gladly welcome him,

but not one follower.

GONERIL

So am I purposed.

Where is my lord of Gloucester?

The same for me.

Where is my lord of Gloucester?

CORNWALL

Follow'd the old man forth: he is return'd.

Re-enter GLOUCESTER

He followed the old man out: here he is back.

GLOUCESTER

The king is in high rage.