ACT I
SCENE I
Enter KING EDWARD, DERBY, PRINCE EDWARD. WARWICK, AUDLEY, and ARTOIS.
K. Edw. Robert of Artois, banish'd though thou be
From France, thy native country, yet with us
Thou shalt retain as great a signiory;
For we create thee Earl of Richmond here:
5
And now go forwards with our pedigree.
Who next succeeded Philip le Beau?
Art. Three sons of his, which all successively,
Did sit upon their father's regal throne;
Yet died and left no issue of their loins.
10
K. Edw. But was my mother sister unto those?
Art. She was, my lord, and only Isabel
Was all the daughters that this Philip had,
Whom afterward your father took to wife,
And from the fragrant garden of her womb
15
Your gracious self, the flower of Europe's hope,
Derived is inheritor to France.
But note the rancour of rebellious minds:
When thus the linage of le Beau was out,
The French obscur'd your mother's privilege,
20
And, though she were the next of blood, proclaimed
John of the house of Valois, now their king:
The reason was, they say, the realm of France,
Replete with princes of great parentage,
Ought not admit a governor to rule,
I. i.（表示第一幕第一场，后类推。）（以下黑体数字为行码。）
Location: London. A room of state in the palace.
2 us, we: royal we, 朕，the same in line 4 and also in other lines.
3 retain: keep. signiory: lordship, rights and privileges of a feudal lord.
5 go forwards with: proceed to relate.
6 Philip le Beau: Philip IV. Le Beau, which means "the Fair", was pronounced by the Elizabethans [lə'bjuː］, not in the French way [lə'boː]. His only daughter Isabel was the wife of Edward II of England and mother of Edward III.
7 which: who.
8 regal: royal.
9 issue: offspring.
11—12 only Isabel…daughters: Isabel was the only daughter. Cf. Viola's words to Cessario in Twelfth Night: "I am all the daughters of my father's house." (II. iv)
18 linage: lineage, 血统。 out: at an end.
19 obscur'd: kept obscure, hid out of sight.
20 the next of blood: i. e., the next of blood to succeed to the throne. proclaimed: i. e., proclaimed to be the heir.
23 Replete: filled with.
24 admit: to admit.
25
Except he be descended of the male;
And that's the special ground of their contempt,
Wherewith they study to exclude your grace;
But they shall find that forged ground of theirs
To be but dusty heaps of brittle sand.
30
Perhaps it will be thought a heinous thing,
That I, a Frenchman, should discover this,
But heaven I call to record of my vows,
It is not hate, nor any private wrong,
But love unto my country and the right
35
Provokes my tongue thus lavish in report.
You are the lineal watchman of our peace,
And John of Valois indirectly climbs:
What then should subjects but embrace their king?
Ah, wherein may our duty more be seen,
40
Than striving to rebate a tyrant's pride,
And place the true shepherd of our commonwealth?
K. Edw. This counsel, Artois, like to fructful showers,
Hath added growth unto my dignity,
And, by the fiery vigour of thy words,
45
Hot courage is engend'red in my breast,
Which heretofore was rak'd in ignorance,
But now doth mount with golden wings of fame,
And will approve fair Isabel's descent
Able to yoke their stubborn necks with steel
50
That spurn against my sovereignty in France.
Sound a horn.
A messenger! —Lord Audley, know from whence.
Exit Audley, who returns.Aud. The Duke of my lordaine, having cross'd the seas,
Entreats he may have conference with your highness.
K. Edw. Admit him, lords, that we may hear the news.
25 Except: unless. of: from.
26 ground…contempt: basis for their despising your claim to the crown.
27 Wherewith: with which. study: try hard.
31 discover: reveal, disclose.
32 heaven…call to record of: call on heaven to witness.
33 wrong: n. 委屈。
34 the right: the right that.
35 Provokes: urges, incites. lavish: vi. to expend profusely.
36 lineal watchman: guardian by direct descent.
37 indirectly: deviously. climbs: attains sovereignty.
38 subjects but: i. e., subjects do except. embrace: joyfully accept the authority.
40 rebate: repress.
41 place: install. shepherd: (metaphor) leader and protector.
42 like to: like. fructful: fruitful.
43 Hath: S was pronounced th in the southern dialect of England. The same occurs in line 47. dignity: position as the claimant to the throne.
46 heretofore: until the present. rak'd: scraped and covered (the way a fire is raked under ashes).
48—49 will approve…Able: will prove that fair Isabel's descent is able.
49—50 yoke…That: yoke with steel the stubborn necks of those who. That: with their (in fact they) as its antecedent.
50 spurn: kick.
51 know: learn, find out.
53 conference: conversation.
Exeunt Lords, who then return with the Duke of Lorraine, attended.
55
Say, Duke of Lorraine, wherefore art thou come?
Lor. The most renowned prince, King John of France,
Doth greet thee, Edward, and by me commands
That, for so much as by his liberal gift
The Guyenne dukedom is entail'd to thee,
60
Thou do him lowly homage for the same.
And for that purpose, here I summon thee
Repair to France within these forty days,
That there, according as the custom is,
Thou mayst be sworn true liegeman to our king
65
Or else thy title in that province dies,
And he himself will repossess the place.
K. Edw. See how occasion laughs me in the face.
No sooner minded to prepare for France,
But straight I am invited; nay, with threats
70
Upon a penalty enjoin'd to come.
'Twere but a childish part to say him nay.—
Lor. aine, return this answer to thy lord:
I mean to visit him as he requests,
But how? Not servilely dispos'd to bend,
75
But like a conqueror to make him bow.
His lame, unpolish'd shifts are come to light,
And truth hath pull'd the vizard from his face
That set a gloss upon his arrogance.
Dare he command a fealty in me?
80
Tell him the crown that he usurps is mine,
And where he sets his foot he ought to kneel.
'Tis not a petty dukedom that I claim.
But all the whole dominions of the realm,
Which, if with grudging he refuse to yield,
85
I'll take away those borrow'd plumes of his,
And send him naked to the wilderness.
S. D. (stage direction) attended: acccompanied by attendant (s).
55 wherefore: why.
56 prince: sovereign, 君主。
58 for: in.
59 Guyenne [ɡiːen]: a dukedom in the south of France, also called Aquitaine formerly. entail'd to thee: bestowed you as hereditary possession.
60 lowly: humble. homage: respect, paid by a vassal to his lord.
62 Repair: proceed.
64 Thou mayst: thou was 2nd person singular pronoun, often hadst as its suffix. liegeman: vassal sworn to the service and support of his liege (lord).
65 title: right to the possession of property.
67 occasion: fortune, goddess of fate.
68 for: to go to.
69 straight (adv.): immediately, at once. nay: not only that, with a sense to correct and amplify what precedes.
70 Upon a penalty: upon penalty, under threat of punishment. enjoin'd: charged, ordered.
71 'Twere: it would be. to say him nay: to say no to him.
74 dispos'd: inclined, prepared.
76 lame, unpolish'd shifts: poorly conceived stratagems, poor tricks. come to light: become known, revealed.
77 vizard: visor, mask.
78 gloss: fair and deceptive appearance.
79 fealty: vassal's sworn faith to his liege lord.
83 the realm: i. e., France.
85 borrow'd plumes: plumes a crow borrowed from a peacock (cf. Aesop's Fables), falsely assumed finery.
Lor. Then, Edward, here, in spite of all thy lords
I do pronounce defiance to thy face.
P. Edw. Defiance, Frenchman! we rebound it back
90
Even to the bottom of thy master's throat,
And, be it spoke with reverence of the king,
My gracious father, and these other lords,
I hold thy message but as scurrilous,
And him that sent thee, like the lazy drone
95
Crept up by stealth unto the eagle's nest;
From whence we'll shake him with so rough a storm,
As others shall be warned by his harm.
War. Bid him leave off the lion's case he wears,
Lest, meeting with the lion in the field,
100
He chance to tear him piecemeal for his pride.
Art. The soundest counsel I can give his grace
Is to surrender ere he be constrain'd:
A voluntary mischief hath less scorn
Than when reproach with violence is borne.
105
Lor. Regenerate traitor, viper to the place
Where thou wast fost'red in thine infancy,
Bearest thou a part in this conspiracy?
He draws his sword.K. Edw. [Draws his.] Lorraine, behold the sharpness of this steel:
Fervent desire that sits against my heart
110
Is far more thorny-pricking than this blade,
That, with the nightingale, I shall be scarr'd
As oft as I dispose myself to rest,
Until my colours be display'd in France.
This is thy final answer; so be gone.
115
Lor. It is not that, nor any English brave,
Afflicts me so, as doth his poison'd view,
That is most false, should most of all be true.
Exeunt Lorraine and attendants.
87 in spite of: despite the threatening presence of.
88 defiance: rejection, challenge.
90 Even: fully (for emphasis).
91 be it spoke: let my words be spoken. with reverence of: with full repect (an apology for outspokenness).
93 but: merely. scurrilous: becoming a buffoon.
94 drone: 雄蜂, idler.
95 eagle's nest: i. e., royal throne (eagle being the king of birds).
98 case: skin.
100 He: it. piecemeal: piece by piece. for: because of.
101 his grace: i. e., John the French king.
102 constrain'd: forced (to surrender).
103 voluntary…scorn: evil-doing confessed voluntarily results in less contempt.
105 Regenerate: degenerate, 堕落的。（可能原文排字有错。）
105—106 viper…fost'red: A viper was fabled to bite its mother's womb.
108 steel
