Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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The trumpets sound. Enter young Prince Edward,
Richard Duke of Gloucester, Buckingham,
the Cardinal, Catesby, and others. BUCKINGHAM
Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your chamber. RICHARD, to Prince
Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts’ sovereign.
The weary way hath made you melancholy. PRINCE
No, uncle, but our crosses on the way
Have made it tedious, wearisome, and heavy. 5
I want more uncles here to welcome me. RICHARD
Sweet prince, the untainted virtue of your years
Hath not yet dived into the world’s deceit;
Nor more can you distinguish of a man
Than of his outward show, which, God He knows, 10
Seldom or never jumpeth with the heart.
Those uncles which you want were dangerous.
Your Grace attended to their sugared words
But looked not on the poison of their hearts.
God keep you from them, and from such false 15
friends. PRINCE
God keep me from false friends, but they were none. RICHARD
My lord, the Mayor of London comes to greet you. | On a London street, Buckingham and Richard talk with young Prince Edward, who has just arrived in the city. The young Prince asks why his other uncles have not come to greet him. (He has no idea they've been locked up at Pomfret Castle.) Richard talks trash about them and says little Edward is better off without those guys. |
Enter Lord Mayor with others. MAYOR
God bless your Grace with health and happy days. PRINCE
I thank you, good my lord, and thank you all.— 20
I thought my mother and my brother York
Would long ere this have met us on the way.
Fie, what a slug is Hastings that he comes not
To tell us whether they will come or no! Enter Lord Hastings. BUCKINGHAM
And in good time here comes the sweating lord. 25 PRINCE
Welcome, my lord. What, will our mother come? HASTINGS
On what occasion God He knows, not I,
The Queen your mother and your brother York
Have taken sanctuary. The tender prince
Would fain have come with me to meet your Grace, 30
But by his mother was perforce withheld. | The Prince is greeted by the mayor of London, and he's left to wonder why his mother isn't there on the street with the city's welcoming committee. Just then Lord Hastings enters and explains that Queen Elizabeth is in hiding. |
BUCKINGHAM
Fie, what an indirect and peevish course
Is this of hers!—Lord Cardinal, will your Grace
Persuade the Queen to send the Duke of York
Unto his princely brother presently?— 35
If she deny, Lord Hastings, go with him,
And from her jealous arms pluck him perforce. CARDINAL
My lord of Buckingham, if my weak oratory
Can from his mother win the Duke of York,
Anon expect him here; but if she be obdurate 40
To mild entreaties, God in heaven forbid
We should infringe the holy privilege
Of blessèd sanctuary! Not for all this land
Would I be guilty of so deep a sin. | Buckingham dismisses the queen's sanctuary as nonsense and instructs Cardinal Bourchier to go persuade the queen to release her youngest son so he can watch his brother be crowned king. As backup, he suggests Hastings go along to forcibly take the boy, should his mother refuse. The Cardinal balks at Buckingham's suggestion – sanctuary is a sacred right. (According to the rules of sanctuary, if you were being hunted by The Man, you could escape into a church or holy place and they couldn't come after you.) |
BUCKINGHAM
You are too senseless obstinate, my lord, 45
Too ceremonious and traditional.
Weigh it but with the grossness of this age,
You break not sanctuary in seizing him.
The benefit thereof is always granted
To those whose dealings have deserved the place 50
And those who have the wit to claim the place.
This prince hath neither claimed it nor deserved it
And therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it.
Then taking him from thence that is not there,
You break no privilege nor charter there. 55
Oft have I heard of sanctuary men,
But sanctuary children, never till now. CARDINAL
My lord, you shall o’errule my mind for once.—
Come on, Lord Hastings, will you go with me? HASTINGS I go, my lord. 60 | Buckingham, so as not to seem the kind of jerk that breaks sacred rights, jumps through some logical hoops. He argues that the queen may have invoked sanctuary, but her son didn't invoke it for himself, and certainly didn't do anything to need it – so taking him out of sanctuary isn't actually blasphemous. The Cardinal, because he's kind of a pushover, is persuaded by Buckingham's logic and goes with Hastings to collect the boy. |
PRINCE
Good lords, make all the speedy haste you may. The Cardinal and Hastings exit. Say, uncle Gloucester, if our brother come,
Where shall we sojourn till our coronation? RICHARD
Where it seems best unto your royal self.
If I may counsel you, some day or two 65
Your Highness shall repose you at the Tower;
Then where you please and shall be thought most fit
For your best health and recreation. PRINCE
I do not like the Tower, of any place.—
Did Julius Caesar build that place, my lord? 70 BUCKINGHAM
He did, my gracious lord, begin that place,
Which, since, succeeding ages have re-edified. PRINCE
Is it upon record, or else reported
Successively from age to age, he built it? BUCKINGHAM Upon record, my gracious lord. 75 PRINCE
But say, my lord, it were not registered,
Methinks the truth should live from age to age,
As ’twere retailed to all posterity,
Even to the general all-ending day. | Prince Edward wonders where he should stay until his coronation day. His Uncle Richard suggests staying at the Tower of London, one of the strongest fortresses around. Little Edward thinks this is a bad idea. (The Tower, after all, is also a prison.) |
RICHARD, aside
So wise so young, they say, do never live long. 80 PRINCE What say you, uncle? RICHARD
I say, without characters fame lives long.
Aside. Thus, like the formal Vice, Iniquity,
I moralize two meanings in one word. PRINCE
That Julius Caesar was a famous man. 85
With what his valor did enrich his wit,
His wit set down to make his valor live.
Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,
For now he lives in fame, though not in life.
I’ll tell you what, my cousin Buckingham— 90 BUCKINGHAM What, my gracious lord? PRINCE
An if I live until I be a man,
I’ll win our ancient right in France again
Or die a soldier, as I lived a king. RICHARD, aside
Short summers lightly have a forward spring. 95 | Richard mutters under his breath that Edward doesn't have long to live. Prince Edward talks about how he admires Julius Caesar (the Roman leader who was stabbed in the back by his frenemies). Edward hopes he'll be a brave king. |
Enter young Duke of York, Hastings, and the
Cardinal. BUCKINGHAM
Now in good time here comes the Duke of York. PRINCE
Richard of York, how fares our loving brother? YORK
Well, my dread lord—so must I call you now. PRINCE
Ay, brother, to our grief, as it is yours.
Too late he died that might have kept that title, 100
Which by his death hath lost much majesty. RICHARD
How fares our cousin, noble lord of York? YORK
I thank you, gentle uncle. O my lord,
You said that idle weeds are fast in growth.
The Prince my brother hath outgrown me far. 105 RICHARD
He hath, my lord. YORK And therefore is he idle? RICHARD
O my fair cousin, I must not say so. YORK
Then he is more beholding to you than I. RICHARD
He may command me as my sovereign, 110
But you have power in me as in a kinsman. YORK
I pray you, uncle, give me this dagger. RICHARD
My dagger, little cousin? With all my heart. PRINCE A beggar, brother? YORK
Of my kind uncle, that I know will give, 115
And being but a toy, which is no grief to give. RICHARD
A greater gift than that I’ll give my cousin. YORK
A greater gift? O, that’s the sword to it. RICHARD
Ay, gentle cousin, were it light enough. YORK
O, then I see you will part but with light gifts. 120
In weightier things you’ll say a beggar nay. RICHARD
It is too heavy for your Grace to wear. YORK
I weigh it lightly, were it heavier. RICHARD
What, would you have my weapon, little lord? YORK
I would, that I might thank you as you call me. 125 RICHARD How? YORK Little. PRINCE
My lord of York will still be cross in talk.
Uncle, your Grace knows how to bear with him. YORK
You mean, to bear me, not to bear with me.— 130
Uncle, my brother mocks both you and me.
Because that I am little, like an ape,
He thinks that you should bear me on your
shoulders. BUCKINGHAM, aside
With what a sharp-provided wit he reasons! 135
To mitigate the scorn he gives his uncle,
He prettily and aptly taunts himself.
So cunning and so young is wonderful. RICHARD, to Prince
My lord, will ’t please you pass along?
Myself and my good cousin Buckingham 140
Will to your mother, to entreat of her
To meet you at the Tower and welcome you. YORK, to Prince
What, will you go unto the Tower, my lord? PRINCE
My Lord Protector needs will have it so. YORK
I shall not sleep in quiet at the Tower. 145 RICHARD Why, what should you fear? YORK
Marry, my uncle Clarence’ angry ghost.
My grandam told me he was murdered there. | Hastings and the Cardinal return with Prince Edward's young, snarky brother, the Duke of York.
Together the two boys are a juggernaut of wit, and they get on Richard's nerves. Finally the young Duke of York says he doesn't want to stay at the Tower of London because he knows his uncle, George of Clarence, was jailed and murdered there. |
PRINCE I fear no uncles dead. RICHARD Nor none that live, I hope. 150 PRINCE
An if they live, I hope I need not fear.
To York. But come, my lord. With a heavy heart,
Thinking on them, go I unto the Tower. A sennet. Prince Edward, the Duke of York,
and Hastings exit. Richard, Buckingham,
and Catesby remain. BUCKINGHAM, to Richard
Think you, my lord, this little prating York
Was not incensèd by his subtle mother 155
To taunt and scorn you thus opprobriously? RICHARD
No doubt, no doubt. O, ’tis a parlous boy,
Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable.
He is all the mother’s, from the top to toe. BUCKINGHAM
Well, let them rest.—Come hither, Catesby. 160
Thou art sworn as deeply to effect what we intend
As closely to conceal what we impart.
Thou knowest our reasons, urged upon the way.
What thinkest thou? Is it not an easy matter
To make William Lord Hastings of our mind 165
For the installment of this noble duke
In the seat royal of this famous isle? | There's some uncomfortable joking about whether or not the little princes should be afraid of any of their living uncles (like Richard). Finally the boys exit with a crowd to go to the Tower. Left alone, Richard, Buckingham, and Catesby confer, first over what a cheeky pain little York is, and then over their grand plan for Richard to become the next king of England. |
CATESBY
He, for his father’s sake, so loves the Prince
That he will not be won to aught against him. BUCKINGHAM
What think’st thou then of Stanley? Will not he? 170 CATESBY
He will do all in all as Hastings doth. BUCKINGHAM
Well then, no more but this: go, gentle Catesby,
And, as it were far off, sound thou Lord Hastings
How he doth stand affected to our purpose
And summon him tomorrow to the Tower 175
To sit about the coronation.
If thou dost find him tractable to us,
Encourage him and tell him all our reasons.
If he be leaden, icy, cold, unwilling,
Be thou so too, and so break off the talk, 180
And give us notice of his inclination;
For we tomorrow hold divided councils,
Wherein thyself shalt highly be employed. | Catesby says he doesn't think Hastings is going to be down with their plan to do away with Prince Edward. Hastings hates the queen's family, but he really loved the Prince's father, the late Edward IV.
Catesby is also sure Lord Stanley will do whatever Hastings does. Buckingham wants Catesby to try to get Hastings on their side anyway. Buckingham's plan for the next day is to hold two councils: one to discuss Prince Edward's coronation and another secret council to discuss how Richard might steal the crown. |
RICHARD
Commend me to Lord William. Tell him, Catesby,
His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries 185
Tomorrow are let blood at Pomfret Castle,
And bid my lord, for joy of this good news,
Give Mistress Shore one gentle kiss the more. BUCKINGHAM
Good Catesby, go effect this business soundly. CATESBY
My good lords both, with all the heed I can. 190 RICHARD
Shall we hear from you, Catesby, ere we sleep? CATESBY You shall, my lord. RICHARD
At Crosby House, there shall you find us both. Catesby exits. | Richard wants the queen's captured family members killed at Pomfret castle the next day. Catesby promises to bring back news to Richard's pad, Crosby House, and he exits to do his task. |
BUCKINGHAM
Now, my lord, what shall we do if we perceive
Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots? 195 RICHARD
Chop off his head. Something we will determine.
And look when I am king, claim thou of me
The earldom of Hereford, and all the movables
Whereof the King my brother was possessed. BUCKINGHAM
I’ll claim that promise at your Grace’s hand. 200 RICHARD
And look to have it yielded with all kindness.
Come, let us sup betimes, that afterwards
We may digest our complots in some form. They exit. | Buckingham wonders what will happen if Hastings won't go along with their plan. In a famous line, Richard gleefully declares that if Hastings doesn't comply, they will simply "Chop off his head!" Even though Richard isn't the king yet, he promises to give Buckingham the earldom of Hereford for his faithful service. Richard and Buckingham run off to have a snack. |