| Don John;in the meantime let me be that I am and seek not to alter me | I came yonder from a great supper; the prince your brother is royally entertained by Leonato; and I can give you intelligence of an intended marriage |
| Don John. Will it serve for any model to build mischief on? What is he for a fool that betroths himself to unquietness? | Marry, it is your brother’s right hand. |
| Don JohnWho the most exquisite claudio? | Even he. |
| Don JohnWhich way he looks? | Marry, on Hero, the daughter and heir of Leonato. |
| Don JohnYou are sure and will assist me? | To the death, My Lord |
| Don PedroSpeak Low, if you speak of love | Well, I would you did like me |
| Margaret;for I have many ill-qualities | Which is One? |
| MargaretI say my prayers aloud. | I love you all the better; the hearers may cry, AMEN |
| MargaretGod match me with a good Dancer | Amen(chase off stage right) |
| Don JohnThe ladies follow her and but one visor remains | And that is Claudio: I know him by his bearing. (approach claudio behind bar) |
| Don JohnI heard him swear his affection | So did I too; and swore he would marry her to-night |
| Don JohnIt is so, The count Claudio shall marry the daughter of Leonato | Yea my lord; but I cross it |
| Don JohnShow me briefly how | I think I told your lordship a year since, how much I am in favor of Margaret, the waiting gentlewoman to Hero |
| Don John…I remember | I can, at any unseasonable instant of the night, appoint her to look out at her lady’s chamber window. |
| Don JohnWhat life is in that; to be the death f this marriage? | The poison of that lies in you to temper. Go you to the prince your brother; spare not to tell him that he hath wronged his honour in marrying the renowned Claudio—whose estimation do you mightily hold up—to a contaminated stale, such a one as Hero. |
| Don JohnWhat proof shall I make of that? | Proof enough to misuse the prince, to vex Claudio, to undo Hero and kill Leonato. Look you for any other issue? |
| Enter Bar scene Drunk for Conrade | What Conrade! |
| Watchman. [Aside] Peace! stir not. | Conrade, I say! |
| Conrade. Here, man; I am at thy elbow. | Mass, and my elbow itched; I thought there would a 1415scab follow. |
| Conrade. I will owe thee an answer for that: and now forward with thy tale. | Stand thee close, then and I will, like a true drunkard, utter all to thee |
| Watchman. [Aside] Some treason, masters: yet stand close. | Therefore know I have earned of Don John a thousand ducats. |
| Conrade. Is it possible that any villany should be so dear? | Didst thou not hear somebody? |
| ConradeNo; ’twas the vane on the house. | Not so, neither: but know that I have to-night wooed Margaret, the Lady Hero’s gentlewoman, by the name of Hero: she leans me out at her mistress’ chamber-window, bids me a thousand times good night,—I tell this tale vilely:—I should first tell thee how the prince, Claudio and my master, planted and placed and possessed by my master Don John, saw afar off in the orchard this amiable encounter. |
| Conrade. And thought they Margaret was Hero? | Two of them did, the prince and Claudio; but thedevil my master knew she was Margaret; and partly by his oaths, which first possessed them, partly by the dark night, which did deceive them, but chiefly by my villany, which did confirm any slander that Don John had made, away went Claudio enraged; swore he would meet her, as he was appointed, next morning at the temple, and there, before the whole congregation, shame her with what he saw o’er night and send her home again without a husband. |
| Dogberry. Yea, marry, let them come before me. What is your name, friend? | Borachio |
| Dogberry. Write down, master gentleman Conrade. Masters, do you serve God? | Conrade. [with Borachio] Yea, sir, we hope. |
| DogberryCome you hither, sirrah; a word in your ear: sir, I say to you, it is thought you are false knaves. | Sir, I say to you we are none. |
| Dogberry. Write down Prince John a villain. Why, this is flat perjury, to call a prince’s brother villain. | Master constable,— |
| Don Pedro. Who have you offended, masters, that you are thus bound to your answer? this learned constable is 2300too cunning to be understood: what’s your offence? | Sweet prince, let me go no farther to mine answer: do you hear me, and let this count kill me. I have deceived even your very eyes: what your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light: who in the night overheard me confessing to this man how Don John your brother incensed me to slander the Lady Hero, how you were brought into the orchard and saw me court Margaret in Hero’s garments, how you disgraced her, when you shouldmarry her: my villany they have upon record; which I had rather seal with my death than repeat over to my shame. The lady is dead upon mine and my master’s false accusation; and, briefly, I desire nothing but the reward of a villain. |
| Don Pedro. But did my brother set thee on to this? | yea, and paid me richly for the practise of it. |
| Leonato. Art thou the slave that with thy breath hast kill’dMine innocent child? | Yea, even I alone. |
| LeonatoThis naughty man Shall face to face be brought to Margaret, Who I believe was pack’d in all this wrong, Hired to it by your brother. | No, by my soul, she was not, Nor knew not what she did when she spoke to me, |
Much Ado About Nothing (Borachio)
July 24, 2019