The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (1064 page)

until the fresh sweetness has gone from it

and it's been turned into a salt pit by our bitter tears?

Or shall we bite off our tongues, and spend the rest

of our awful lives in dumb show?

What shall we do?Let those of us who still have tongues

plot some further deadly plan

which will amaze the ones who come after us.

LUCIUS.

Sweet father, cease your tears; for at your grief

See how my wretched sister sobs and weeps.

Sweet father, stop crying; look how my wretched

sister sobs and weeps at your grief.

MARCUS.

Patience, dear niece. Good Titus, dry thine eyes.

Be calm, dear niece.Good Titus, dry your eyes.

TITUS.

Ah, Marcus, Marcus! Brother, well I wot

Thy napkin cannot drink a tear of mine,

For thou, poor man, hast drown'd it with thine own.

Ah, Marcus, Marcus!Brother, I well know

that your handkerchief can't soak up any of my tears,

because, poor man, it's sodden with your own.

LUCIUS.

Ah, my Lavinia, I will wipe thy cheeks.

Ah, my Lavinia, let me wipe your cheeks.

TITUS.

Mark, Marcus, mark! I understand her signs.

Had she a tongue to speak, now would she say

That to her brother which I said to thee:

His napkin, with his true tears all bewet,

Can do no service on her sorrowful cheeks.

O, what a sympathy of woe is this

As far from help as Limbo is from bliss!

Enter AARON the Moor

Look, Marcus, look!I can understand her signs.

If she had a tongue to speak, she would say

to her brother what I just said to you:

his handkerchief, soaked withhis true tears,

can't help to dry her sorrowful cheeks.

What an outpouring of sorrow this is,

as far from help as hell is from heaven!

AARON.

Titus Andronicus, my lord the Emperor

Sends thee this word, that, if thou love thy sons,

Let Marcus, Lucius, or thyself, old Titus,

Or any one of you, chop off your hand

And send it to the King: he for the same

Will send thee hither both thy sons alive,

And that shall be the ransom for their fault.

Titus Andronicus, my lord the Emperor

sends you this message, that if you love your sons

let Marcus, or Lucius, or yourself, old Titus,

any one of you, chop off your hand

and send it to the King: in return

he will send you both your sons alive,

and that will pay for their crime.

TITUS.

O gracious Emperor! O gentle Aaron!

Did ever raven sing so like a lark

That gives sweet tidings of the sun's uprise?

With all my heart I'll send the Emperor my hand.

Good Aaron, wilt thou help to chop it off?

Oh gracious Emperor!Oh gentle Aaron!

Did a raven ever sing so like a lark,

giving sweet tidings of the sunrise?

I'll very gladly send the Emperor my hand.

Good Aaron, will you help me chop it off?

LUCIUS.

Stay, father! for that noble hand of thine,

That hath thrown down so many enemies,

Shall not be sent. My hand will serve the turn,

My youth can better spare my blood than you,

And therefore mine shall save my brothers' lives.

Wait, father!That noble hand of yours,

which has defeated so many enemies,

will not be sent.My hand will do the job,

as I'm young and can stand the blood loss better than you,

and so mine will save my brothers' lives.

MARCUS.

Which of your hands hath not defended Rome

And rear'd aloft the bloody battle-axe,

Writing destruction on the enemy's castle?

O, none of both but are of high desert!

My hand hath been but idle; let it serve

To ransom my two nephews from their death;

Then have I kept it to a worthy end.

Which of your hands hasn't defended Rome

and lifted up the bloody battleaxe,

smashing down the enemy's castle?

Both hands of both of you are highly worthy!

My hand has done nothing; let it be used

to save my two nephews from their death;

then I will have saved it for a worthy cause.

AARON.

Nay, come, agree whose hand shall go along,

For fear they die before their pardon come.

Come on now, agree whose hand will go along,

in case they are executed before the pardon comes.

MARCUS.

My hand shall go.

My hand shall go.

LUCIUS.

By heaven, it shall not go!

By heaven, it shall not!

TITUS.

Sirs, strive no more; such with'red herbs as these

Are meet for plucking up, and therefore mine.

Sirs, no more argument; withered flowers like these

are ready to be plucked, so mine will go.

LUCIUS.

Sweet father, if I shall be thought thy son,

Let me redeem my brothers both from death.

Sweet father, if I am worthy of being your son,

let me save my brothers from death.

MARCUS.

And for our father's sake and mother's care,

Now let me show a brother's love to thee.

And to repay our father and mother who looked after you,

let me show a brother's love to you.

TITUS.

Agree between you; I will spare my hand.

You agree between you who shall give a hand, I'll keep mine.

LUCIUS.

Then I'll go fetch an axe.

I'll go and get an axe

MARCUS.

But I will use the axe.

Exeunt LUCIUS and MARCUS

But I will use it.

TITUS.

Come hither, Aaron, I'll deceive them both;

Lend me thy hand, and I will give thee mine.

Come here, Aaron, I'll deceive both of them;

give me your hand, and I'll give you mine.

AARON.

[Aside] If that be call'd deceit, I will be honest,

And never whilst I live deceive men so;

But I'll deceive you in another sort,

And that you'll say ere half an hour pass.

 [He cuts off TITUS' hand]

Re-enter LUCIUS and MARCUS

If that's deceit, I'll be honest,

and never in my life deceive men like this;

but I'm deceiving you in a different way,

as you'll know before half an hour has passed.

TITUS.

Now stay your strife. What shall be is dispatch'd.

Good Aaron, give his Majesty my hand;

Tell him it was a hand that warded him

From thousand dangers; bid him bury it.

More hath it merited- that let it have.

As for my sons, say I account of them

As jewels purchas'd at an easy price;

And yet dear too, because I bought mine own.

Now stop your arguments.The deed is done.

Good Aaron, give his majesty my hand;

tell him it was the hand which protected him

from a thousand dangers; tell him to give it a burial.

It deserved more - at least give it that.

As for my sons, say that I think they are jewels

that I have bought for a bargain price;

and yet they were expensive too, for I have bought my own goods.

AARON.

I go, Andronicus; and for thy hand

Look by and by to have thy sons with thee.

[Aside] Their heads I mean. O, how this villainy

Doth fat me with the very thoughts of it!

Let fools do good, and fair men call for grace:

Aaron will have his soul black like his face.

Exit

I'm going, Andronicus; and in exchange for your hand

expect to have your sons with you shortly.

[Aside] Their heads I mean.Oh, how this villainy

delights me even to think of it!

Let fools do good, and kind men call for kindness:

Aaron enjoys having a soul as black as his face.

TITUS.

O, here I lift this one hand up to heaven,

And bow this feeble ruin to the earth;

If any power pities wretched tears,

To that I call! [To LAVINIA] What, would'st thou kneel with

me?

Do, then, dear heart; for heaven shall hear our prayers,

Or with our sighs we'll breathe the welkin dim

And stain the sun with fog, as sometime clouds

When they do hug him in their melting bosoms.

Oh, I lift this one hand up to heaven,

and bow this feeble ruin down to earth.

if there is any power which pities wretched tears,

I call on it! What, do you want to kneel with me?

Then do, sweetheart; for heaven will hear our prayers,

or we'll make the skies do more with our sighs

and cover the sun with fog, as sometimes clouds

do when they cover him over.

MARCUS.

O brother, speak with possibility,

And do not break into these deep extremes.

Oh brother, speak realistically,

and do not plumb such depths.

TITUS. Is not my sorrow deep, having no bottom?

Then be my passions bottomless with them.

Isn't my sorrow deep, being bottomless?

Then let my emotions be bottomless with them.

MARCUS.

But yet let reason govern thy lament.

But let your sadness be reasonable.

TITUS.

If there were reason for these miseries,

Then into limits could I bind my woes.

When heaven doth weep, doth not the earth o'erflow?

If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad,

Threat'ning the welkin with his big-swol'n face?

And wilt thou have a reason for this coil?

I am the sea; hark how her sighs do blow.

She is the weeping welkin, I the earth;

Then must my sea be moved with her sighs;

Then must my earth with her continual tears

Become a deluge, overflow'd and drown'd;

For why my bowels cannot hide her woes,

But like a drunkard must I vomit them.

Then give me leave; for losers will have leave

To ease their stomachs with their bitter tongues.

Enter a MESSENGER, with two heads and a hand

If there was a reason for these miseries,

then I could keep my sorrows within limits.

When heaven weeps, doesn't the Earth flood?

If the winds roar, doesn't the sea rage,

threatening the sky with his swollen waters?

And do you ask for a reason for this turmoil?

I am the sea; hear how her sighs below.

She is the weeping sky, I am the Earth.