Much Ado About Nothing: Act 2, Scene 1
Enter LEONATO, [ANTONIO]
his brother, HERO his daughter,
and BEATRICE his niece, [MARGARET,
URSULA,] and a KINSMAN.
LEONATO
1 Was not Count John here at supper?
ANTONIO
2 I saw him not.
BEATRICE
3. tartly: sourly.
3 How tartly that gentleman looks! I never can
4. am heart-burn'd: suffer from heartburn [sour stomach].
4 see him but I am heart-burn'd an hour after.
HERO
5 He is of a very melancholy disposition.
BEATRICE
6. He were: a man would be.
6 He were an excellent man that were made 7 just in the midway between him and Benedick:
8. image: statue.
8 the one is too like an image and says nothing,
9. my lady's eldest son: i.e., a spoiled child.
9 and the other too like my lady's eldest son,
10. tattling: babbling.
10 evermore tattling.
LEONATO
11 Then half Signior Benedick's tongue in 12 Count John's mouth, and half Count John's 13 melancholy in Signior Benedick's face,—
BEATRICE
14 With a good leg and a good foot, uncle, 15 and money enough in his purse, such a 16 man would win any woman in the world, 17 if a' could get her good will.
LEONATO
18 By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a19. shrewd: sharp, satirical.
19 husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.
ANTONIO
20. curst: ill-tempered.
20 In faith, she's too curst.
BEATRICE
21 Too curst is more than curst: I shall lessen22-23. that way: in that respect. 'God sends a curst cow short horns': —This proverb means that people who are "curst" (ill-tempered) often don't have the ability to do any real harm. Beatrice turns this proverb to her favor by saying that since she is "too curst" she has no horns at all, and will therefore do no one any harm.
22 God's sending that way; for it is said, 'God 23 sends a curst cow short horns'; but to a cow 24 too curst he sends none.
LEONATO
25 So, by being too curst, God will send you 26 no horns.
BEATRICE
27. Just: just so. if he send me no husband: She implies that God, in sending her a husband, would also send horns; i.e., that her husband would certainly be a cuckold.
27 Just, if he send me no husband; for the 28 which blessing I am at him upon my knees 29 every morning and evening. Lord, I could 30 not endure a husband with a beard on his
31. lie in the woollen: sleep between woollen blankets, without sheets. —Lying in the woollen would be a scratchy experience, like kissing a bearded man.
31 face: I had rather lie in the woollen.
LEONATO
32 You may light on a husband that hath no 33 beard.
BEATRICE
34 What should I do with him? dress him in my 35 apparel and make him my waiting-gentlewoman? 36 He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he 37-38. he that . . . me: —In Shakespeare's time the type of man considered most attractive was a youth; Beatrice apparently shares that taste. 38-39. he . . . him: —I think Beatrice means that only a real man could put up with her.
40. in earnest: as advance payment for. berrord: bear-ward or bear-herd, one who exhibits bears (and sometimes apes).
41. lead his apes into hell: —Old maids were said to lead apes in hell.
40. in earnest: as advance payment for. berrord: bear-ward or bear-herd, one who exhibits bears (and sometimes apes).
41. lead his apes into hell: —Old maids were said to lead apes in hell.
37 that hath no beard is less than a man: and he that 38 is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is 39 less than a man, I am not for him: therefore, I will 40 even take sixpence in earnest of the berrord, and 41 lead his apes into hell.
LEONATO
42 Well, then, go you into hell?
BEATRICE
43 No, but to the gate; and there will the devil meet 44 me, like an old cuckold, with horns on his head, 45 and say 'Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you to46-48. so deliver I up my apes, and away to Saint Peter for the heavens: i.e., so I leave my apes with the devil and journey to Saint Peter and the heavens.
48. bachelors: unmarried persons of either sex.
48. bachelors: unmarried persons of either sex.
46 heaven; here's no place for you maids': so deliver 47 I up my apes, and away to Saint Peter 48 for the heavens; he shows me where the bachelors 49 sit, and there live we as merry as the day is long.
ANTONIO [To Hero.]
50 Well, niece, I trust you will be ruled 51 by your father.
BEATRICE
52. cur'sy: curtsy.
52 Yes, faith; it is my cousin's duty to make cur'sy 53 and say 'Father, as it please you'. But yet for all 54 that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow, or 55 else make another curtsy and say 'Father, as it 56 please me'.
LEONATO
57 Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted 58 with a husband.
BEATRICE
59. metal: substance.
59 Not till God make men of some other metal 60 than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be 61 overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? to 62 make an account of her life to a clod of wayward
63. marl: clay, earth.
63 marl? No, uncle, I'll none: Adam's sons are my
64-65. match in my kindred: i.e., marry close relatives.
64 brethren; and, truly, I hold it a sin to match in 65 my kindred.
LEONATO
66-68. if the prince ... answer: i.e., if Don Pedro proposes marriage you must accept.
66 Daughter, remember what I told you: if the 67 prince do solicit you in that kind, you know 68 your answer.
BEATRICE
69 The fault will be in the music, cousin, if you 70. in good time: with propriety. —Beatrice is making a punning reference to the "time" (regular rhythm) of music.
71. important: importunate, pressing. measure: (1) moderation; (2) slow, stately dance.
71. important: importunate, pressing. measure: (1) moderation; (2) slow, stately dance.
70 be not wooed in good time: if the prince be 71 too important, tell him there is measure in 72 every thing and so dance out the answer. For, 73 hear me, Hero: wooing, wedding, and repenting,
74. cinquepace: a lively five step dance.
74 is as a Scotch jig, a measure, and a cinquepace:
75. the first suit: (1) the first of a set of dances; (2) the first stage of a relationship: wooing. 76. full: fully, quite. mannerly-modest: becomingly moderate in tempo. 77. state and ancientry: dignity and traditional stateliness.
75 the first suit is hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and 76 full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly-modest, 77 as a measure, full of state and ancientry; and then 78 comes repentance and, with his bad legs, falls into 79 the cinquepace faster and faster, till he sink into 80 his grave.
LEONATO
81. apprehend passing shrewdly: perceive with unusual sharpness.
82-83. I can see a church by daylight: i.e., I can see what is obvious.
82-83. I can see a church by daylight: i.e., I can see what is obvious.
81 Cousin, you apprehend passing shrewdly.
BEATRICE
82 I have a good eye, uncle; I can see a church 83 by daylight.
LEONATO
84 The revellers are entering, brother: make 85 good room.
[They put on their masks.]
as maskers: —It's a masked ball. As soon as the locals hear that their guests are arriving, they put on their masks. The guests arrive with their masks already on ("as maskers"), so that supposedly no one knows the identity of their dance partners.
Enter [as maskers] Prince [Don] Pedro,
Claudio, and Benedick, and Balthasar,
[Borachio,] and Don John.
DON PEDRO
86. walk about: (1) dance; (2) stroll around.
86 Lady, will you walk about with your
87. friend: —Don Pedro is using this word in the sense of "lover," but the word "friend" did not necessarily mean "sex partner," as "lover" does now (C.E. 2015). Don Pedro is being gallant because he has promised that he will pretend to be Claudio, and woo Hero on Claudio's behalf. 88. softly: gently.
87 friend?
HERO
88 So you walk softly and look sweetly and 89 say nothing, I am yours for the walk; and 90 especially when I walk away.
DON PEDRO
91 With me in your company?
HERO
92 I may say so, when I please.
DON PEDRO
93 And when please you to say so?
HERO
94. favor: face. God defend the lute should be like the case: i.e., God forbid that your face should as ugly as your mask.
94 When I like your favor; for God defend the lute 95 should be like the case!
DON PEDRO
96. visor: mask. Philemon's roof: Philemon and his wife Baucis entertained Jove in their peasant cottage, unaware of his identity.
96 My visor is Philemon's roof; within 97 the house is Jove.
HERO
98. thatched: roofed with thatch (as peasant cottages generally were).
98 Why, then, your visor should be thatched.
DON PEDRO
99 Speak low, if you speak love.
[They move aside.]
BALTHASAR
100 Well, I would you did like me.
MARGARET
101 So would not I, for your own sake; for I have 102. ill: bad.
102 many ill qualities.
BALTHASAR
103 Which is one?
MARGARET
104 I say my prayers aloud.
BALTHASAR
105 I love you the better: the hearers may106 cry, Amen.
MARGARET
107 God match me with a good dancer!
BALTHASAR
108 Amen.
MARGARET
109 And God keep him out of my sight when the dance 110. Answer, clerk: i.e., say amen (= so be it) again. It was the duty of the parish clerk to say the responses at church services.
110 is done! Answer, clerk.
BALTHASAR
111 No more words: the clerk is answered.
[They move aside.]
URSULA
112 I know you well enough; you are Signior113 Antonio.
ANTONIO
114. At a word: in short.
114 At a word, I am not.
URSULA
115 I know you by the waggling of your head.
ANTONIO
116. I counterfeit him: I am pretending to be him.
116 To tell you true, I counterfeit him.
URSULA
117 You could never do him so ill-well, unless you were118. dry hand: —A sign of age. up and down: all over, exactly.
118 the very man. Here's his dry hand up and down: you119 are he, you are he.
ANTONIO
120 At a word, I am not.
URSULA
121 Come, come, do you think I do not know you by your
122. virtue: excellence (of any kind). —Ursula is making a joke; Antonio's "excellent wit" consists entirely of denying that he is Antonio. 123. mum: be silent. 124. an end: no more to be said.
122 excellent wit? can virtue hide itself? Go to,123 mum, you are he: graces will appear, and
124 there's an end.
[They move aside.]
BEATRICE
125 Will you not tell me who told you so?
BENEDICK
126 No, you shall pardon me.
BEATRICE
127 Nor will you not tell me who you are?
BENEDICK
128 Not now.
BEATRICE
129 That I was disdainful, and that I had my good wit130. 'Hundred Merry Tales': a popular collection of jests and tales, first published 38 years before Shakespeare's birth. —Beatrice is saying that Benedick accused her of getting her wit from an old joke book.
130 out of the 'Hundred Merry Tales':—well this was131 Signior Benedick that said so.
BENEDICK
132 What's he?
BEATRICE
133 I am sure you know him well enough.
BENEDICK
134 Not I, believe me.
BEATRICE
135 Did he never make you laugh?
BENEDICK
136 I pray you, what is he?
BEATRICE
137. dull: stupid.
137 Why, he is the prince's jester: a very dull fool;
138. only his gift: i.e., his only talent. impossible: incredible.
138 only his gift is in devising impossible slanders:
139. libertines: i.e., jerks who will laugh at any insult.
139 none but libertines delight in him; and the
140. villainy: insulting rudeness.
140 commendation is not in his wit, but in his villany;141 for he both pleases men and angers them, and then142 they laugh at him and beat him. I am sure he is in
143. fleet: i.e., company drifting about the room [with pun on "fleet of ships"]. boarded: come alongside a ship to attempt an attack on it. —Beatrice's point is that she could easily counter Benedick's rude wit. I believe she knows who she is talking to and is teasing Benedick.
143 the fleet: I would he had boarded me.
BENEDICK
144 When I know the gentleman, I'll tell him145 what you say.
BEATRICE
146. break a comparison: crack a joke by making a scornful comparison.
146 Do, do: he'll but break a comparison or two on me;147 which, peradventure not marked or not laughed at,
148-150. there's a partridge wing saved, for the fool will eat no supper that night: —Previously, Beatrice sarcastically referred to Benedick as "a very valiant trencherman." Now she is making the same kind of joke by understatement; it's not just a "partridge wing" that will be saved, but a huge meal.
148 strikes him into melancholy; and then there's a149 partridge wing saved, for the fool will eat no150 supper that night.
[Music for the dance begins.]
151. leaders: i.e., of the dance.
151 We must follow the leaders.
BENEDICK
152 In every good thing.
BEATRICE
153 Nay, if they lead to any ill, I will leave them at154 the next turning.
Dance. [Then] exeunt [all but DON JOHN,
BORACHIO, and CLAUDIO].
DON JOHN
155-157. Sure my brother is amorous on Hero and hath withdrawn her father to break with him about it: surely my brother loves Hero and has taken her father aside to talk with him about marrying her. —Though earlier Borachio reported to Don John "that the prince should woo Hero for himself, and having obtained her, give her to Count Claudio," now Don John seems convinced that Don Pedro means to marry Hero himself.
155 Sure my brother is amorous on Hero and hath156 withdrawn her father to break with him about 157 it. The ladies follow her and but one visor158 remains.
BORACHIO
159 And that is Claudio: I know him by his160 bearing.
DON JOHN
161 Are not you Signior Benedick?
CLAUDIO
162 You know me well; I am he.
DON JOHN
163. very near my brother in his love: a very close, intimate friend of my brother's
163 Signior, you are very near my brother in his love:164 he is enamoured on Hero; I pray you, dissuade 165 him from her: she is no equal for his birth: 166 you may do the part of an honest man in it.
CLAUDIO
167 How know you he loves her?
DON JOHN
168 I heard him swear his affection.
BORACHIO
169 So did I too; and he swore he would marry170 her tonight.
DON JOHN
171. banquet: light repast of sweets, fruit, and wine.
171 Come, let us to the banquet.
Exeunt. Manet Claudio.
CLAUDIO
172 Thus answer I in the name of Benedick,173 But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio.174. certain: certainly.
174 'Tis certain so; the prince woos for himself.175 Friendship is constant in all other things
176. office: business.
176 Save in the office and affairs of love:
177. all: let all.
177 Therefore, all hearts in love use their own tongues;178 Let every eye negotiate for itself
179. agent: go-between.
179 And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch180. Against whose charms: in the face of whose spells. faith melteth into blood: honor gives way to passion.
181. accident of hourly proof: occurrence that can be seen to take place every hour.
182. mistrusted: suspected, took account of.
181. accident of hourly proof: occurrence that can be seen to take place every hour.
182. mistrusted: suspected, took account of.
180 Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.181 This is an accident of hourly proof,182 Which I mistrusted not. Farewell, therefore, Hero!
Enter BENEDICK.
BENEDICK
183 Count Claudio?
CLAUDIO
184 Yea, the same.
BENEDICK
185 Come, will you go with me?
CLAUDIO
186 Whither?
BENEDICK
187. next: nearest. willow: —The willow was a symbol of lost love. 188. county: count.
187 Even to the next willow, about your own 188 business, county. What fashion will you
189. garland: i.e., garland of willow.
189 wear the garland of? about your neck, like
190. usurer's chain: —Costly chains were worn by rich people, including usurers (money lenders). under your arm: i.e., draped over the right shoulder and resting on the left hip. 192. one way: one way or another.
190 an usurer's chain? or under your arm, like 191 a lieutenant's scarf? You must wear it 192 one way, for the prince hath got your Hero.
CLAUDIO
193 I wish him joy of her.
BENEDICK
194. drovier: drover, cattle dealer. —Claudio is pretending to not care that Don Pedro has got Hero's love, and Benedick is mocking his defensiveness. 196. served you thus: i.e., have played a trick on you like this.
194 Why, that's spoken like an honest drovier: so 195 they sell bullocks. But did you think the prince
196 would have served you thus?
CLAUDIO
197 I pray you, leave me.
BENEDICK
198. the blind man: — Benedick is apparently alluding to some story, but it's not known what story. Nevertheless, Benedick's meaning is clear: Claudio is angry at the messenger (Benedick) who brings the bad news.
200. post: messenger. —As in postman.
200. post: messenger. —As in postman.
198 Ho! now you strike like the blind man: 199 'twas the boy that stole your meat, and 200 you'll beat the post.
CLAUDIO
201 If it will not be, I'll leave you.
Exit.
BENEDICK
202-203. creep into sedges: i.e., find himself a hiding-place. —Sedges are rushes or stands of coarse grass that provide cover for birds.
202 Alas, poor hurt fowl! now will he creep into 203 sedges. But that my Lady Beatrice should know 204 me, and not know me! The prince's fool! Ha? It 205 may be I go under that title because I am merry. 206 Yea, but so I am apt to do myself wrong; I am
207-209. it is the base, though bitter, disposition of Beatrice that puts the world into her person and so gives me out: it is the despicable, though stinging, disposition of Beatrice which represents her attitudes as the attitude of all the world and thus portrays me [as the "prince's fool"].
207 not so reputed: it is the base, though bitter, 208 disposition of Beatrice that puts the world 209 into her person and so gives me out. Well, 210 I'll be revenged as I may.
Enter the Prince [DON PEDRO].
DON PEDRO
211 Now, signior, where's the count? did212 you see him?
BENEDICK
213-214. Troth: in truth. Lady Fame: Dame Rumor. 214‑215. lodge in a warren: burrow in a rabbit warren. Rabbits were proverbially melancholy.
213 Troth, my lord, I have played the part of Lady 214 Fame. I found him here as melancholy as a 215 lodge in a warren: I told him, and I think I told 216 him true, that your grace had got the good will 217 of this young lady; and I offered him my company 218 to a willow-tree, either to make him a garland, as
219. bind him up a rod: tie several willow switches into a whip.
219 being forsaken, or to bind him up a rod, as being 220 worthy to be whipped.
DON PEDRO
221 To be whipped! What's his fault?
BENEDICK
222. flat: simple, downright.
222 The flat transgression of a schoolboy, who, being223 overjoyed with finding a bird's nest, shows it his224 companion, and he steals it.
DON PEDRO
225. a trust: i.e., the placing of one's trust in a person.
225 Wilt thou make a trust a transgression? The226 transgression is in the stealer.
BENEDICK
227 Yet it had not been amiss the rod had been made,228 and the garland too; for the garland he might have229. bestowed: i.e., used.
229 worn himself, and the rod he might have bestowed 230 on you, who, as I take it, have stolen231 his bird's nest.
DON PEDRO
232. them: i.e., the baby birds in the nest.
232 I will but teach them to sing, and restore them to233 the owner.
BENEDICK
234. answer your saying: correspond to what you say.
234 If their singing answer your saying, by my faith,235 you say honestly.
DON PEDRO
236. to: with.
236 The Lady Beatrice hath a quarrel to you: the237 gentleman that danced with her told her she 238 is much wronged by you.
BENEDICK
239 O, she misused me past the endurance of240 a block! an oak but with one green leaf on 241 it would have answered her; my very visor 242 began to assume life and scold with her. She 243 told me, not thinking I had been myself, that 244-245. duller than a great thaw: —During a great thaw, roads are muddy and impassable, and there's nothing to do but stay dully at home. 246. impossible conveyance: incredible dexterity. 247. man at a mark: man set up as a target.
244 I was the prince's jester, that I was duller than 245 a great thaw; huddling jest upon jest with such 246 impossible conveyance upon me that I stood like
247 a man at a mark, with a whole army shooting at me. 248 She speaks poniards, and every word stabs: if her
249. terminations: terms, names [as in "name-calling"]. 250‑251. infect to the north star: i.e., stink up the whole world.
249 breath were as terrible as her terminations, there 250 were no living near her; she would infect to the 251 north star. I would not marry her, though she were 252 endowed with all that Adam had left him before he
253-254. Hercules have turned spit: —Omphale forced the captive Hercules to put on women's clothes and spin among her maids. Turning the spit over a cooking fire would be even more humiliating. 256. Ate: goddess of mischief and discord.
253 transgressed: she would have made Hercules have 254 turned spit, yea, and have cleft his club to make the 255 fire too. Come, talk not of her: you shall find her the 256 infernal Ate in good apparel. I would to God some
257. scholar: i.e., one familiar with the proper words for exorcising evil spirits.
257 scholar would conjure her; for certainly, while she 258 is here, a man may live as quiet in hell as in a 259 sanctuary; and people sin upon purpose, because 260 they would go thither; so, indeed, all disquiet, 261 horror and perturbation follows her.
DON PEDRO
262 Look, here she comes.
Enter CLAUDIO and BEATRICE,
[LEONATO, and HERO].
BENEDICK
263 Will your grace command me any service to the264 world's end? I will go on the slightest errand now265 to the Antipodes that you can devise to send me 266. tooth-picker: toothpick.
267. the length of: i.e., a measurement of.
268. Prester John: a legendary Far Eastern emperor and Christian priest. 269. Cham: Khan of Tartary, ruler of the Mongols. Pigmies: a legendary small race which beset Hercules in his sleep. 271. harpy: a mythical monster with the face and trunk of a woman and the wings and talons of a bird of prey. >>>
267. the length of: i.e., a measurement of.
268. Prester John: a legendary Far Eastern emperor and Christian priest. 269. Cham: Khan of Tartary, ruler of the Mongols. Pigmies: a legendary small race which beset Hercules in his sleep. 271. harpy: a mythical monster with the face and trunk of a woman and the wings and talons of a bird of prey. >>>
266 on; I will fetch you a tooth-picker now from the267 furthest inch of Asia, bring you the length of268 Prester John's foot, fetch you a hair off the great269 Cham's beard, do you any embassage to the Pigmies,270 rather than hold three words' conference with this271 harpy. You have no employment for me?
DON PEDRO
272 None, but to desire your good273 company.
BENEDICK
274 O God, sir, here's a dish I love not: I cannot275 endure my Lady Tongue.
Exit.
DON PEDRO
276 Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of277 Signior Benedick.
BEATRICE
278-282. Indeed . . . awhile: —This speech appears to be an allusion to an earlier flirtation between Benedick and Beatrice. 279. use: usury, interest. double heart: —Beatrice could mean that she loved Benedick twice as much as he loved her. Or she could mean that her heart was "double": insincere and deceitful. 280. false dice: loaded dice.
278 Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I 279 gave him use for it, a double heart for his single 280 one: marry, once before he won it of me with false281 dice, therefore your grace may well say I have282 lost it.
DON PEDRO
283 You have put him down, lady, you have
284. put him down: got the better of him (in the battle of wits).
284 put him down.
BEATRICE
285-286. So I would not he should do me, my lord, lest I should prove the mother of fools: i.e., I wouldn't want him to put me down (= have sex with me), because of the danger getting pregnant and becoming a mother of fools.
285 So I would not he should do me, my lord, lest I286 should prove the mother of fools. I have brought287 Count Claudio, whom you sent me to seek.
DON PEDRO
288 Why, how now, count! wherefore are289 you sad?
CLAUDIO
290 Not sad, my lord.
DON PEDRO
291 How then? sick?
CLAUDIO
292 Neither, my lord.
BEATRICE
293 The count is neither sad, nor sick, nor merry, 294. civil: (1) grave, serious; (2) Seville (a homophone). —The oranges of Seville are extremely sour. 295. something: somewhat. jealous complexion: i.e., yellow, associated with a jaundiced attitude and jealousy.
294 nor well; but civil count, civil as an orange, 295 and something of that jealous complexion.
DON PEDRO
296. blazon: description.
296 I' faith, lady, I think your blazon to be true;
297. so: i.e., jealous. conceit: idea.
297 though, I'll be sworn, if he be so, his conceit is298 false. Here, Claudio, I have wooed in thy name, 299 and fair Hero is won: I have broke with her 300 father, and his good will obtained: name the 301 day of marriage, and God give thee joy!
LEONATO
302 Count, take of me my daughter, and with her my303-304. all grace: i.e., the grace of God.
303 fortunes: his grace hath made the match, and all304 grace say Amen to it.
BEATRICE
305 Speak, count, 'tis your cue.
CLAUDIO
306 Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were307 but little happy, if I could say how much. Lady,308 as you are mine, I am yours: I give away myself 309 for you and dote upon the exchange.
BEATRICE
310 Speak, cousin; or, if you cannot, stop his mouth311 with a kiss, and let not him speak neither.
DON PEDRO
312 In faith, lady, you have a merry313 heart.
BEATRICE
314 Yea, my lord; I thank it, poor fool, it keeps 315. windy: windward; i.e., safe.
315 on the windy side of care. My cousin tells 316 him in his ear that he is in her heart.
CLAUDIO
317 And so she doth, cousin.
BEATRICE
318-319. goes every one to the world: i.e., everyone gets married. 319. sunburnt: i.e., unattractive. —In Shakespeare's time, white was thought beautiful, and being tan was associated with poverty and ignorance.
318 Good Lord, for alliance! Thus goes every one to 319 the world but I, and I am sunburnt; I may sit in a320 corner and cry heigh-ho for a husband!
DON PEDRO
321 Lady Beatrice, I will get you one.
BEATRICE
322. getting: begetting.
322 I would rather have one of your father's getting.323 Hath your grace ne'er a brother like you? Your324 father got excellent husbands, if a maid could325 come by them.
DON PEDRO
326 Will you have me, lady?
BEATRICE
327 No, my lord, unless I might have another for328 working-days: your grace is too costly to wear329 every day. But, I beseech your grace, pardon me: 330. matter: substance, sense.
330 I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.
DON PEDRO
331 Your silence most offends me, and to be merry best332 becomes you; for, out of question, you were born in333 a merry hour.
BEATRICE
334. my mother cried: —Beatrice makes a jest out of the fact that childbirth is a painful experience.
334 No, sure, my lord, my mother cried; but then there335 was a star danced, and under that was I born.336 Cousins, God give you joy!
LEONATO
337 Niece, will you look to those things I told338 you of?
BEATRICE
339 I cry you mercy, uncle. By your grace's340 pardon.
Exit Beatrice.
DON PEDRO
341 By my troth, a pleasant-spirited lady.
LEONATO
342. melancholy element: i.e., earth, associated with melancholy.
342 There's little of the melancholy element in her, my343 lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps, and
344. ever: always.
344 not ever sad then; for I have heard my daughter say,
345. unhappiness: misfortune.
345 she hath often dreamed of unhappiness and waked346 herself with laughing.
DON PEDRO
347 She cannot endure to hear tell of a348 husband.
LEONATO
349 O, by no means: she mocks all her wooers350. suit: courtship, pursuit of her.
350 out of suit.
DON PEDRO
351 She were an excellent wife for352 Benedict.
LEONATO
353 O Lord, my lord, if they were but a week married,354 they would talk themselves mad.
DON PEDRO
355-356. go to church: marry.
355 County Claudio, when mean you to go356 to church?
CLAUDIO
357 Tomorrow, my lord: time goes on crutches till love358 have all his rites.
LEONATO
359-360. a just seven-night: exactly a week.
359 Not till Monday, my dear son, which is hence a just360 seven-night; and a time too brief, too, to have all
361. answer my mind: correspond with my wishes.
361 things answer my mind.
DON PEDRO
362. breathing: interval, delay.
362 Come, you shake the head at so long a breathing:363 but, I warrant thee, Claudio, the time shall not go364 dully by us. I will in the interim undertake one of365 Hercules' labours; which is, to bring Signior366 Benedick and the Lady Beatrice into a mountain of367 affection the one with the other. I would fain have368 it a match, and I doubt not but to fashion it, if369. minister: furnish, supply.
369 you three will but minister such assistance as I370 shall give you direction.
LEONATO
371. am for you: accept your proposal. 371‑372. though it cost me ten watchings: even if I had to stay awake all night for ten nights.
371 My lord, I am for you, though it cost me ten372 nights' watchings.
CLAUDIO
373 And I, my lord.
DON PEDRO
374 And you too, gentle Hero?
HERO
375 I will do any modest office, my lord, to help my376 cousin to a good husband.
DON PEDRO
377 And Benedick is not the unhopefullest husband that378 I know. Thus far can I praise him; he is of a noble379. approved: tested. honesty: honor.
379 strain, of approved valour and confirmed honesty. I380 will teach you how to humour your cousin, that she381 shall fall in love with Benedick; and I, with your
382. practice on: scheme against.
382 two helps, will so practice on Benedick that,
383. in despite of: notwithstanding. his queasy stomach: i.e., his squeamishness about love and marriage.
383 in despite of his quick wit and his queasy stomach, he384 shall fall in love with Beatrice. If we can do this,385 Cupid is no longer an archer: his glory shall be386 ours, for we are the only love-gods. Go in with me,
387. drift: i.e., plan.
387 and I will tell you my drift.
Exeunt.