Henry VI Part 2: Act 4, Scene 2 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 4, Scene 2 of Henry VI Part 2 from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text	Translated Text
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
Enter Bevis and John Holland with staves. BEVIS Come, and get thee a sword, though made of a lath. They have been up these two days. HOLLAND They have the more need to sleep now, then. BEVIS I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap 5 upon it. HOLLAND So he had need, for ’tis threadbare. Well, I say, it was never merry world in England since gentlemen came up. BEVIS O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in 10 handicraftsmen. HOLLAND The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons. BEVIS Nay, more, the King’s Council are no good workmen. 15 HOLLAND True, and yet it is said “Labor in thy vocation,” which is as much to say as “Let the magistrates be laboring men.” And therefore should we be magistrates. BEVIS Thou hast hit it, for there’s no better sign of a 20 brave mind than a hard hand. HOLLAND I see them, I see them! There’s Best’s son, the tanner of Wingham— BEVIS He shall have the skins of our enemies to make dog’s leather of. 25 HOLLAND And Dick the butcher— BEVIS Then is sin struck down like an ox, and iniquity’s throat cut like a calf. HOLLAND And Smith the weaver. BEVIS Argo, their thread of life is spun. 30 HOLLAND Come, come, let’s fall in with them.	Meanwhile, back on land, Bevis and Butthead—er, Holland are talking about how Jack Cade has a new plan for England and its government: he wants workers to have the honor from now on.
Drum. Enter Cade, Dick the butcher, Smith the weaver, and a Sawyer, with infinite numbers, all with staves. CADE We, John Cade, so termed of our supposed father— DICK, aside Or rather of stealing a cade of herrings. CADE For our enemies shall fall before us, inspired 35 with the spirit of putting down kings and princes— command silence. DICK Silence! CADE My father was a Mortimer— DICK, aside He was an honest man and a good 40 bricklayer. CADE My mother a Plantagenet— DICK, aside I knew her well; she was a midwife. CADE My wife descended of the Lacys. DICK, aside She was indeed a peddler’s daughter, and 45 sold many laces. SMITH, aside But now of late, not able to travel with her furred pack, she washes bucks here at home. CADE Therefore am I of an honorable house. DICK, aside Ay, by my faith, the field is honorable; 50 and there was he born, under a hedge, for his father had never a house but the cage. CADE Valiant I am— SMITH, aside He must needs, for beggary is valiant. CADE I am able to endure much— 55 DICK, aside No question of that; for I have seen him whipped three market-days together. CADE I fear neither sword nor fire. SMITH, aside He need not fear the sword, for his coat is of proof. 60 DICK, aside But methinks he should stand in fear of fire, being burnt i’ th’ hand for stealing of sheep.	Just then, Cade and some of his followers enter. Cade tries to make a speech, but our focus is split between what he's saying and the constant jokes and jabs from his buddies Dick and Smith. It's clear to us that Cade is actually a commoner from the jokes about his lineage. Cade tells the people that his dad was Mortimer and his mom was a Plantagenet, so that makes him a noble. Of course, all of this is totally made up, but he wants to get the support of the commoners by being above them.
CADE Be brave, then, for your captain is brave and vows reformation. There shall be in England seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny. The three-hooped 65 pot shall have ten hoops, and I will make it felony to drink small beer. All the realm shall be in common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to grass. And when I am king, as king I will be— ALL God save your Majesty! 70 CADE I thank you, good people.—There shall be no money; all shall eat and drink on my score; and I will apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree like brothers and worship me their lord. DICK The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers. 75 CADE Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should be made parchment? That parchment, being scribbled o’er, should undo a man? Some say the bee stings, but I say, ’tis the beeswax; for I did but seal 80 once to a thing, and I was never mine own man since. How now? Who’s there?	Cade tells his peeps that when he's king, there will be no money... but there will be all the beer you can drink, and lots of food, too. What, is this dude a member of the Polish Beer-Lovers' Party? Also on Cade's to-do list for his new government: (1) kill the lawyers, and (2) get rid of anyone who can read or write…
Enter a Clerk of Chartham, under guard. SMITH The clerk of Chartham. He can write and read and cast account. CADE O, monstrous! 85 SMITH We took him setting of boys’ copies. CADE Here’s a villain! SMITH H’as a book in his pocket with red letters in ’t. CADE Nay, then, he is a conjurer. DICK Nay, he can make obligations and write court 90 hand. CADE I am sorry for ’t. The man is a proper man, of mine honor. Unless I find him guilty, he shall not die.—Come hither, sirrah; I must examine thee. What is thy name? 95 CLERK Emmanuel. DICK They use to write it on the top of letters.—’Twill go hard with you. CADE Let me alone.—Dost thou use to write thy name? Or hast thou a mark to thyself, like an 100 honest, plain-dealing man? CLERK Sir, I thank God, I have been so well brought up that I can write my name. ALL He hath confessed. Away with him! He’s a villain and a traitor. 105 CADE Away with him, I say! Hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck. One exits with the Clerk.	Cade's laying out his plan when a clerk comes in. Cade accuses him of being a monstrous villain and orders that he be hanged (with his pen and ink bottle, no less). He's not messing around about this reading-and-writing thing.
Enter Michael. MICHAEL Where’s our general? CADE Here I am, thou particular fellow. MICHAEL Fly, fly, fly! Sir Humphrey Stafford and his 110 brother are hard by, with the King’s forces. CADE Stand, villain, stand, or I’ll fell thee down. He shall be encountered with a man as good as himself. He is but a knight, is he? MICHAEL No. 115 CADE To equal him I will make myself a knight presently. He kneels. Rise up Sir John Mortimer. He rises. Now have at him!	Michael, a messenger, comes in to tell Cade that Stafford is coming this way. Cade says it's no big thing.
Enter Sir Humphrey Stafford and his Brother, with a Herald, Drum, and Soldiers. STAFFORD Rebellious hinds, the filth and scum of Kent, Marked for the gallows, lay your weapons down! 120 Home to your cottages; forsake this groom. The King is merciful, if you revolt. BROTHER But angry, wrathful, and inclined to blood, If you go forward. Therefore yield, or die. CADE As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not. 125 It is to you, good people, that I speak, Over whom, in time to come, I hope to reign, For I am rightful heir unto the crown. STAFFORD Villain, thy father was a plasterer, And thou thyself a shearman, art thou not? 130 CADE And Adam was a gardener. BROTHER And what of that? CADE Marry, this: Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, Married the Duke of Clarence’ daughter, did he not? STAFFORD Ay, sir. 135 CADE By her he had two children at one birth. BROTHER That’s false. CADE Ay, there’s the question. But I say ’tis true. The elder of them, being put to nurse, Was by a beggar-woman stol’n away, 140 And, ignorant of his birth and parentage, Became a bricklayer when he came to age. His son am I. Deny it if you can. DICK Nay, ’tis too true. Therefore he shall be king. SMITH Sir, he made a chimney in my father’s house, 145 and the bricks are alive at this day to testify it. Therefore deny it not. STAFFORD And will you credit this base drudge’s words, That speaks he knows not what? ALL Ay, marry, will we. Therefore get you gone. 150	Stafford enters with his soldiers and brother. He tells Cade and the rebels to get rid of their weapons, and no one will get hurt. Cade tells Stafford he's actually a noble, and he's in line to the throne. Stafford and his bro don't believe it, and there's bickering for a while.
BROTHER Jack Cade, the Duke of York hath taught you this. CADE He lies, aside for I invented it myself.—Go to, sirrah. Tell the King from me that, for his father’s sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys went to span-counter for French crowns, I am content he 155 shall reign, but I’ll be Protector over him. DICK And, furthermore, we’ll have the Lord Saye’s head for selling the dukedom of Maine. CADE And good reason: for thereby is England mained and fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance 160 holds it up. Fellow kings, I tell you that that Lord Saye hath gelded the commonwealth and made it an eunuch; and, more than that, he can speak French, and therefore he is a traitor. STAFFORD O, gross and miserable ignorance! 165 CADE Nay, answer if you can. The Frenchmen are our enemies. Go to, then, I ask but this: can he that speaks with the tongue of an enemy be a good counselor, or no? ALL No, no, and therefore we’ll have his head! 170 BROTHER, to Stafford Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail, Assail them with the army of the King. STAFFORD Herald, away, and throughout every town Proclaim them traitors that are up with Cade, That those which fly before the battle ends 175 May, even in their wives’ and children’s sight Be hanged up for example at their doors.— And you that be the King’s friends, follow me. The Staffords, Soldiers, and Herald exit.	Then Stafford's brother accuses Cade of learning his little family history from York. Cade laughs and says he did no such thing. There's no time to deal with that, because Cade's buddy Dick chimes in to say that they're planning to take Lord Saye's head. Stafford and his brother argue with them about that. Stafford finally gets tired of the whole thing, declares Cade a traitor, and asks anyone who follows the king to leave with him. The brother says that, by the way, they're sending the king's army against these traitors.
CADE And you that love the Commons, follow me. Now show yourselves men. ’Tis for liberty! 180 We will not leave one lord, one gentleman; Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon, For they are thrifty, honest men and such As would, but that they dare not, take our parts. DICK They are all in order and march toward us. 185 CADE But then are we in order when we are most out of order. Come, march forward. They exit.	After they leave, Cade tells the men that anyone who loves common people should come with him. He's not some fancy-pants noble; he's an honest man.

Original Text

Translated Text

Enter Bevis and John Holland with staves.

BEVIS Come, and get thee a sword, though made of a
lath. They have been up these two days.

HOLLAND They have the more need to sleep now, then.

BEVIS I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress
the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap 5
upon it.

HOLLAND So he had need, for ’tis threadbare. Well, I
say, it was never merry world in England since
gentlemen came up.

BEVIS O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in 10
handicraftsmen.

HOLLAND The nobility think scorn to go in leather
aprons.

BEVIS Nay, more, the King’s Council are no good
workmen. 15

HOLLAND True, and yet it is said “Labor in thy vocation,”
which is as much to say as “Let the magistrates
be laboring men.” And therefore should we
be magistrates.

BEVIS Thou hast hit it, for there’s no better sign of a 20
brave mind than a hard hand.

HOLLAND I see them, I see them! There’s Best’s son, the
tanner of Wingham—

BEVIS He shall have the skins of our enemies to make
dog’s leather of. 25

HOLLAND And Dick the butcher—

BEVIS Then is sin struck down like an ox, and iniquity’s
throat cut like a calf.

HOLLAND And Smith the weaver.

BEVIS Argo, their thread of life is spun. 30

HOLLAND Come, come, let’s fall in with them.

Meanwhile, back on land, Bevis and Butthead—er, Holland are talking about how Jack Cade has a new plan for England and its government: he wants workers to have the honor from now on.

Drum. Enter Cade, Dick the butcher, Smith the
weaver, and a Sawyer, with infinite numbers,
all with staves.

CADE We, John Cade, so termed of our supposed
father—

DICK, aside Or rather of stealing a cade of herrings.

CADE For our enemies shall fall before us, inspired 35
with the spirit of putting down kings and princes—
command silence.

DICK Silence!

CADE My father was a Mortimer—

DICK, aside He was an honest man and a good 40
bricklayer.

CADE My mother a Plantagenet—

DICK, aside I knew her well; she was a midwife.

CADE My wife descended of the Lacys.

DICK, aside She was indeed a peddler’s daughter, and 45
sold many laces.

SMITH, aside But now of late, not able to travel with
her furred pack, she washes bucks here at home.

CADE Therefore am I of an honorable house.

DICK, aside Ay, by my faith, the field is honorable; 50
and there was he born, under a hedge, for his
father had never a house but the cage.

CADE Valiant I am—

SMITH, aside He must needs, for beggary is valiant.

CADE I am able to endure much— 55

DICK, aside No question of that; for I have seen him
whipped three market-days together.

CADE I fear neither sword nor fire.

SMITH, aside He need not fear the sword, for his coat
is of proof. 60

DICK, aside But methinks he should stand in fear of
fire, being burnt i’ th’ hand for stealing of sheep.

Just then, Cade and some of his followers enter. Cade tries to make a speech, but our focus is split between what he's saying and the constant jokes and jabs from his buddies Dick and Smith. It's clear to us that Cade is actually a commoner from the jokes about his lineage.

Cade tells the people that his dad was Mortimer and his mom was a Plantagenet, so that makes him a noble. Of course, all of this is totally made up, but he wants to get the support of the commoners by being above them.

CADE Be brave, then, for your captain is brave and
vows reformation. There shall be in England seven
halfpenny loaves sold for a penny. The three-hooped 65
pot shall have ten hoops, and I will make it
felony to drink small beer. All the realm shall be in
common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to
grass. And when I am king, as king I will be—

ALL God save your Majesty! 70

CADE I thank you, good people.—There shall be no
money; all shall eat and drink on my score; and I
will apparel them all in one livery, that they may
agree like brothers and worship me their lord.

DICK The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers. 75

CADE Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable
thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should
be made parchment? That parchment, being scribbled
o’er, should undo a man? Some say the bee
stings, but I say, ’tis the beeswax; for I did but seal 80
once to a thing, and I was never mine own man
since. How now? Who’s there?

Cade tells his peeps that when he's king, there will be no money... but there will be all the beer you can drink, and lots of food, too. What, is this dude a member of the Polish Beer-Lovers' Party?

Also on Cade's to-do list for his new government: (1) kill the lawyers, and (2) get rid of anyone who can read or write…

Enter a Clerk of Chartham, under guard.

SMITH The clerk of Chartham. He can write and read
and cast account.

CADE O, monstrous! 85

SMITH We took him setting of boys’ copies.

CADE Here’s a villain!

SMITH H’as a book in his pocket with red letters in ’t.

CADE Nay, then, he is a conjurer.

DICK Nay, he can make obligations and write court 90
hand.

CADE I am sorry for ’t. The man is a proper man, of
mine honor. Unless I find him guilty, he shall not
die.—Come hither, sirrah; I must examine thee.
What is thy name? 95

CLERK Emmanuel.

DICK They use to write it on the top of letters.—’Twill
go hard with you.

CADE Let me alone.—Dost thou use to write thy
name? Or hast thou a mark to thyself, like an 100
honest, plain-dealing man?

CLERK Sir, I thank God, I have been so well brought
up that I can write my name.

ALL He hath confessed. Away with him! He’s a villain
and a traitor. 105

CADE Away with him, I say! Hang him with his pen
and inkhorn about his neck.

One exits with the Clerk.

Cade's laying out his plan when a clerk comes in. Cade accuses him of being a monstrous villain and orders that he be hanged (with his pen and ink bottle, no less). He's not messing around about this reading-and-writing thing.

Enter Michael.

MICHAEL Where’s our general?

CADE Here I am, thou particular fellow.

MICHAEL Fly, fly, fly! Sir Humphrey Stafford and his 110
brother are hard by, with the King’s forces.

CADE Stand, villain, stand, or I’ll fell thee down. He
shall be encountered with a man as good as himself.
He is but a knight, is he?

MICHAEL No. 115

CADE To equal him I will make myself a knight
presently. He kneels. Rise up Sir John Mortimer.
He rises. Now have at him!

Michael, a messenger, comes in to tell Cade that Stafford is coming this way. Cade says it's no big thing.

Enter Sir Humphrey Stafford and his Brother, with
a Herald, Drum, and Soldiers.

STAFFORD
Rebellious hinds, the filth and scum of Kent,
Marked for the gallows, lay your weapons down! 120
Home to your cottages; forsake this groom.
The King is merciful, if you revolt.

BROTHER
But angry, wrathful, and inclined to blood,
If you go forward. Therefore yield, or die.

CADE
As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not. 125
It is to you, good people, that I speak,
Over whom, in time to come, I hope to reign,
For I am rightful heir unto the crown.

STAFFORD
Villain, thy father was a plasterer,
And thou thyself a shearman, art thou not? 130

CADE
And Adam was a gardener.

BROTHER And what of that?

CADE
Marry, this: Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March,
Married the Duke of Clarence’ daughter, did he not?

STAFFORD Ay, sir. 135

CADE
By her he had two children at one birth.

BROTHER That’s false.

CADE
Ay, there’s the question. But I say ’tis true.
The elder of them, being put to nurse,
Was by a beggar-woman stol’n away, 140
And, ignorant of his birth and parentage,
Became a bricklayer when he came to age.
His son am I. Deny it if you can.

DICK
Nay, ’tis too true. Therefore he shall be king.

SMITH Sir, he made a chimney in my father’s house, 145
and the bricks are alive at this day to testify it.
Therefore deny it not.

STAFFORD
And will you credit this base drudge’s words,
That speaks he knows not what?

ALL
Ay, marry, will we. Therefore get you gone. 150

Stafford enters with his soldiers and brother. He tells Cade and the rebels to get rid of their weapons, and no one will get hurt.

Cade tells Stafford he's actually a noble, and he's in line to the throne. Stafford and his bro don't believe it, and there's bickering for a while.

BROTHER
Jack Cade, the Duke of York hath taught you this.

CADE He lies, aside for I invented it myself.—Go to,
sirrah. Tell the King from me that, for his father’s
sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys went to
span-counter for French crowns, I am content he 155
shall reign, but I’ll be Protector over him.

DICK And, furthermore, we’ll have the Lord Saye’s
head for selling the dukedom of Maine.

CADE And good reason: for thereby is England mained
and fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance 160
holds it up. Fellow kings, I tell you that that Lord
Saye hath gelded the commonwealth and made it
an eunuch; and, more than that, he can speak
French, and therefore he is a traitor.

STAFFORD
O, gross and miserable ignorance! 165

CADE Nay, answer if you can. The Frenchmen are our
enemies. Go to, then, I ask but this: can he that
speaks with the tongue of an enemy be a good
counselor, or no?

ALL No, no, and therefore we’ll have his head! 170

BROTHER, to Stafford
Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail,
Assail them with the army of the King.

STAFFORD
Herald, away, and throughout every town
Proclaim them traitors that are up with Cade,
That those which fly before the battle ends 175
May, even in their wives’ and children’s sight
Be hanged up for example at their doors.—
And you that be the King’s friends, follow me.

The Staffords, Soldiers, and Herald exit.

Then Stafford's brother accuses Cade of learning his little family history from York. Cade laughs and says he did no such thing.

There's no time to deal with that, because Cade's buddy Dick chimes in to say that they're planning to take Lord Saye's head. Stafford and his brother argue with them about that.

Stafford finally gets tired of the whole thing, declares Cade a traitor, and asks anyone who follows the king to leave with him. The brother says that, by the way, they're sending the king's army against these traitors.

CADE
And you that love the Commons, follow me.
Now show yourselves men. ’Tis for liberty! 180
We will not leave one lord, one gentleman;
Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon,
For they are thrifty, honest men and such
As would, but that they dare not, take our parts.

DICK They are all in order and march toward us. 185

CADE But then are we in order when we are most out
of order. Come, march forward.

They exit.

After they leave, Cade tells the men that anyone who loves common people should come with him. He's not some fancy-pants noble; he's an honest man.

Henry VI Part 2: Act 4, Scene 2 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 4, Scene 2 of Henry VI Part 2 from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text

Translated Text

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