Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter Clarence and Keeper. KEEPER
Why looks your Grace so heavily today? CLARENCE
O, I have passed a miserable night,
So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights,
That, as I am a Christian faithful man,
I would not spend another such a night 5
Though ’twere to buy a world of happy days,
So full of dismal terror was the time. KEEPER
What was your dream, my lord? I pray you tell me. CLARENCE
Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower
And was embarked to cross to Burgundy, 10
And in my company my brother Gloucester,
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches. Thence we looked toward
England
And cited up a thousand heavy times, 15
During the wars of York and Lancaster,
That had befall’n us. As we paced along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought that Gloucester stumbled, and in falling
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard 20
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
O Lord, methought what pain it was to drown,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears,
What sights of ugly death within my eyes.
Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wracks, 25
A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon,
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scattered in the bottom of the sea.
Some lay in dead men’s skulls, and in the holes 30
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept—
As ’twere in scorn of eyes—reflecting gems,
That wooed the slimy bottom of the deep
And mocked the dead bones that lay scattered by. | We cut to George, Duke of Clarence, imprisoned in the Tower of London. Clarence tells the prison-keeper about a nightmare he had the night before. He dreamed he'd escaped from the Tower and was on a ship with his brother Richard, on their way to Burgundy, France (where the two were sent as boys for safety after their father was murdered). In the dream, Richard convinced Clarence to come up to the loose planks that made up the deck. From there the two looked toward England and recounted all the bad things that had happened to them during the long war between the Yorks and the Lancasters. Just then, Richard tumbled, and though Clarence was trying to steady him, Richard actually knocked his brother down, forcing him overboard.
Clarence dreamed of falling slowly through the sea. Though he felt the pain of drowning, it took a really long time for him to die, so he had plenty of time to witness all sorts of awful things under the sea: old shipwrecks, the bodies of drowned men that had been gnawed on by fish, sunken treasure, and so forth. |
KEEPER
Had you such leisure in the time of death 35
To gaze upon these secrets of the deep? CLARENCE
Methought I had, and often did I strive
To yield the ghost, but still the envious flood
Stopped in my soul and would not let it forth
To find the empty, vast, and wand’ring air, 40
But smothered it within my panting bulk,
Who almost burst to belch it in the sea. KEEPER
Awaked you not in this sore agony? CLARENCE
No, no, my dream was lengthened after life.
O, then began the tempest to my soul. 45
I passed, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that sour ferryman which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.
The first that there did greet my stranger-soul
Was my great father-in-law, renownèd Warwick, 50
Who spake aloud “What scourge for perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?”
And so he vanished. Then came wand’ring by
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair
Dabbled in blood, and he shrieked out aloud 55
“Clarence is come—false, fleeting, perjured
Clarence,
That stabbed me in the field by Tewkesbury.
Seize on him, furies. Take him unto torment.”
With that, methoughts, a legion of foul fiends 60
Environed me and howlèd in mine ears
Such hideous cries that with the very noise
I trembling waked, and for a season after
Could not believe but that I was in hell,
Such terrible impression made my dream. 65 | Finally Clarence died in the dream, but that didn't end all the agony.
Instead, Clarence dreamed he passed over the mythological River Styx
into death, and as he reached the underworld, he met his father-in-law,
the Lancaster supporter, who cursed him for his double treachery. Not to
be outdone, the man whom Clarence helped murder at Tewksbury, Prince
Edward of Wales, also showed up and cursed Clarence, who was then seized
by hell's minions. Fortunately, hell's minions are a rather rowdy
bunch, and they made enough noise to wake Clarence from his dream. |
| Clarence, still talking to the prison guard, laments that all of his sinning was to help his brother Edward, and Edward rewarded him by having him locked away. He prays that if God wants to punish him for his evil deeds, fine, but he hopes God will spare his wife and children. Having asked for his family's protection, Clarence readies to sleep again and asks the guard to sit by him awhile. |
Enter Brakenbury the Lieutenant. BRAKENBURY
Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,
Makes the night morning, and the noontide night.
Princes have but their titles for their glories, 80
An outward honor for an inward toil,
And, for unfelt imaginations,
They often feel a world of restless cares,
So that between their titles and low name
There’s nothing differs but the outward fame. 85 Enter two Murderers. FIRST MURDERER Ho, who’s here? BRAKENBURY
What wouldst thou, fellow? And how cam’st thou
hither? SECOND MURDERER I would speak with Clarence, and I
came hither on my legs. 90 BRAKENBURY What, so brief? FIRST MURDERER ’Tis better, sir, than to be tedious.—
Let him see our commission, and talk no more. | No sooner than Clarence sleeps does Brackenbury, the Lieutenant, join the prison guard. Brackenbury makes a pretty speech about how fleeting powerful titles are, and how little they mean. He's interrupted by the two murderers, who say they're there to "guard" Clarence. |
Brakenbury reads the commission. BRAKENBURY
I am in this commanded to deliver
The noble Duke of Clarence to your hands. 95
I will not reason what is meant hereby
Because I will be guiltless from the meaning.
There lies the Duke asleep, and there the keys. He hands them keys. I’ll to the King and signify to him
That thus I have resigned to you my charge. 100 FIRST MURDERER You may, sir. ’Tis a point of wisdom.
Fare you well. Brakenbury and the Keeper exit. SECOND MURDERER What, shall I stab him as he
sleeps? FIRST MURDERER No. He’ll say ’twas done cowardly, 105
when he wakes. SECOND MURDERER Why, he shall never wake until the
great Judgment Day. FIRST MURDERER Why, then he’ll say we stabbed him
sleeping. 110 | Brackenbury says OK, but runs off to tell the king that he's surrendered the watch over Clarence. Though the two new guards do intend to murder Clarence, the business is not as straightforward as it had first seemed. |
SECOND MURDERER The urging of that word “judgment”
hath bred a kind of remorse in me. FIRST MURDERER What, art thou afraid? SECOND MURDERER Not to kill him, having a warrant,
but to be damned for killing him, from the which 115
no warrant can defend me. FIRST MURDERER I thought thou hadst been resolute. SECOND MURDERER So I am—to let him live. FIRST MURDERER I’ll back to the Duke of Gloucester
and tell him so. 120 SECOND MURDERER Nay, I prithee stay a little. I hope
this passionate humor of mine will change. It was
wont to hold me but while one tells twenty. FIRST MURDERER How dost thou feel thyself now? SECOND MURDERER Faith, some certain dregs of conscience 125
are yet within me. FIRST MURDERER Remember our reward when the
deed’s done. SECOND MURDERER Zounds, he dies! I had forgot the
reward. 130 FIRST MURDERER Where’s thy conscience now? SECOND MURDERER O, in the Duke of Gloucester’s
purse. FIRST MURDERER When he opens his purse to give us
our reward, thy conscience flies out. 135 SECOND MURDERER ’Tis no matter. Let it go. There’s
few or none will entertain it. FIRST MURDERER What if it come to thee again? SECOND MURDERER I’ll not meddle with it. It makes a
man a coward: a man cannot steal but it accuseth 140
him; a man cannot swear but it checks him; a man
cannot lie with his neighbor’s wife but it detects
him. ’Tis a blushing, shamefaced spirit that mutinies
in a man’s bosom. It fills a man full of
obstacles. It made me once restore a purse of gold 145
that by chance I found. It beggars any man that
keeps it. It is turned out of towns and cities for a
dangerous thing, and every man that means to live
well endeavors to trust to himself and live without it. FIRST MURDERER Zounds, ’tis even now at my elbow, 150
persuading me not to kill the Duke. SECOND MURDERER Take the devil in thy mind, and
believe him not. He would insinuate with thee but
to make thee sigh. FIRST MURDERER I am strong-framed. He cannot prevail 155
with me. SECOND MURDERER Spoke like a tall man that respects
thy reputation. Come, shall we fall to work? FIRST MURDERER Take him on the costard with the
hilts of thy sword, and then throw him into the 160
malmsey butt in the next room. SECOND MURDERER O, excellent device—and make a
sop of him! FIRST MURDERER Soft, he wakes. SECOND MURDERER Strike! 165 FIRST MURDERER No, we’ll reason with him. | The second murderer hesitates to kill Clarence in his sleep, and this pause inspires a long talk between the two murderers about conscience. The second murderer claims he isn't afraid of killing Clarence, but he does fear the judgment he knows will follow. Though they have a commission for the murder, no commission can free them from damnation. All of this back-and-forth is easily quashed when the first murderer reminds the second murderer that, conscience be damned, this is a very well-paying job. The debate about the virtues of conscience is settled by the decision to kill Clarence and then leave the body in a vat of wine. |
Clarence wakes. CLARENCE
Where art thou, keeper? Give me a cup of wine. SECOND MURDERER
You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon. CLARENCE
In God’s name, what art thou? FIRST MURDERER A man, as you are. 170 CLARENCE But not, as I am, royal. FIRST MURDERER Nor you, as we are, loyal. CLARENCE
Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks are humble. FIRST MURDERER
My voice is now the King’s, my looks mine own. CLARENCE
How darkly and how deadly dost thou speak! 175
Your eyes do menace me. Why look you pale?
Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you come? SECOND MURDERER To, to, to— CLARENCE To murder me? BOTH Ay, ay. 180 CLARENCE
You scarcely have the hearts to tell me so
And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it.
Wherein, my friends, have I offended you? | Then Clarence wakes up and basically asks, "Have you guys come to murder
me?" to which the murderers reply, "Yes." Clarence thinks they must not
be serious, as they seem rather undecided about their chosen career
paths as assassins. |
FIRST MURDERER
Offended us you have not, but the King. CLARENCE
I shall be reconciled to him again. 185 SECOND MURDERER
Never, my lord. Therefore prepare to die. CLARENCE
Are you drawn forth among a world of men
To slay the innocent? What is my offense?
Where is the evidence that doth accuse me?
What lawful quest have given their verdict up 190
Unto the frowning judge? Or who pronounced
The bitter sentence of poor Clarence’ death
Before I be convict by course of law?
To threaten me with death is most unlawful.
I charge you, as you hope to have redemption, 195
By Christ’s dear blood shed for our grievous sins,
That you depart, and lay no hands on me.
The deed you undertake is damnable. FIRST MURDERER
What we will do, we do upon command. SECOND MURDERER
And he that hath commanded is our king. 200 CLARENCE
Erroneous vassals, the great King of kings
Hath in the table of His law commanded
That thou shalt do no murder. Will you then
Spurn at His edict and fulfill a man’s?
Take heed, for He holds vengeance in His hand 205
To hurl upon their heads that break His law. | Clarence then tries to reason with them – though they claim to follow the order of the king, Clarence tells them they'll be judged ultimately by the king of Kings (read: God). Clarence suggests that they wouldn't want to follow the king's order knowing it defied God's order not to kill. |
SECOND MURDERER
And that same vengeance doth He hurl on thee
For false forswearing and for murder too.
Thou didst receive the sacrament to fight
In quarrel of the House of Lancaster. 210 FIRST MURDERER
And, like a traitor to the name of God,
Didst break that vow, and with thy treacherous
blade
Unrippedst the bowels of thy sovereign’s son. SECOND MURDERER
Whom thou wast sworn to cherish and defend. 215 FIRST MURDERER
How canst thou urge God’s dreadful law to us
When thou hast broke it in such dear degree? CLARENCE
Alas! For whose sake did I that ill deed?
For Edward, for my brother, for his sake.
He sends you not to murder me for this, 220
For in that sin he is as deep as I.
If God will be avengèd for the deed,
O, know you yet He doth it publicly!
Take not the quarrel from His powerful arm;
He needs no indirect or lawless course 225
To cut off those that have offended Him. | The murderers point out that actually, whatever their eternal fate is, Clarence will share it. After all, Clarence murdered the Lancastrian Prince Edward of Wales, though he had sworn to protect him (betraying his own family of York in the process). Clarence claims he only murdered to help out his brother, King Edward. |
FIRST MURDERER
Who made thee then a bloody minister
When gallant-springing, brave Plantagenet,
That princely novice, was struck dead by thee? CLARENCEMy brother’s love, the devil, and my rage. 230 FIRST MURDERER
Thy brother’s love, our duty, and thy faults
Provoke us hither now to slaughter thee. CLARENCE
If you do love my brother, hate not me.
I am his brother, and I love him well.
If you are hired for meed, go back again, 235
And I will send you to my brother Gloucester,
Who shall reward you better for my life
Than Edward will for tidings of my death. SECOND MURDERER
You are deceived. Your brother Gloucester hates
you. 240 CLARENCE
O no, he loves me, and he holds me dear.
Go you to him from me. FIRST MURDERER Ay, so we will. CLARENCE
Tell him, when that our princely father York
Blessed his three sons with his victorious arm, 245
He little thought of this divided friendship.
Bid Gloucester think of this, and he will weep. FIRST MURDERER
Ay, millstones, as he lessoned us to weep. CLARENCE
O, do not slander him, for he is kind. FIRST MURDERER
Right, as snow in harvest. Come, you deceive 250
yourself.
’Tis he that sends us to destroy you here. CLARENCE
It cannot be, for he bewept my fortune,
And hugged me in his arms, and swore with sobs
That he would labor my delivery. 255 FIRST MURDERER
Why, so he doth, when he delivers you
From this Earth’s thralldom to the joys of heaven. SECOND MURDERER
Make peace with God, for you must die, my lord. CLARENCE
Have you that holy feeling in your souls
To counsel me to make my peace with God, 260
And are you yet to your own souls so blind
That you will war with God by murd’ring me?
O sirs, consider: they that set you on
To do this deed will hate you for the deed. | Anyway, Clarence would like the murderers to go see his other brother, Richard of Gloucester, as Clarence is sure Richard will straighten the whole thing out. The first murderer reveals to Clarence that Richard isn't a likely source of help, seeing as he was the one who sent the murderers. |
SECOND MURDERER, to First Murderer
What shall we do? 265 CLARENCE Relent, and save your souls.
Which of you—if you were a prince’s son
Being pent from liberty, as I am now—
If two such murderers as yourselves came to you,
Would not entreat for life? Ay, you would beg, 270
Were you in my distress. FIRST MURDERER
Relent? No. ’Tis cowardly and womanish. CLARENCE
Not to relent is beastly, savage, devilish.
To Second Murderer. My friend, I spy some pity
in thy looks. 275
O, if thine eye be not a flatterer,
Come thou on my side and entreat for me.
A begging prince what beggar pities not? SECOND MURDERER Look behind you, my lord. FIRST MURDERER
Take that, and that. (Stabs him.) If all this will not 280
do,
I’ll drown you in the malmsey butt within. He exits with the body. SECOND MURDERER
A bloody deed, and desperately dispatched.
How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands
Of this most grievous murder. 285 Enter First Murderer. FIRST MURDERER
How now? What mean’st thou that thou help’st me
not?
By heavens, the Duke shall know how slack you
have been. SECOND MURDERER
I would he knew that I had saved his brother. 290
Take thou the fee, and tell him what I say,
For I repent me that the Duke is slain. He exits. FIRST MURDERER
So do not I. Go, coward as thou art.
Well, I’ll go hide the body in some hole
Till that the Duke give order for his burial. 295
And when I have my meed, I will away,
For this will out, and then I must not stay. He exits. |
Poor Clarence. He doesn't believe them at first, but he's soon pleading for his life. The second murderer seems moved by Clarence's pleas. Still, his tender feelings for Clarence aren't enough to stop his partner from stabbing Clarence and then drowning his body in a big vat of wine for good measure. Though the second murderer is repentant, the deed is done, and the two flee. |