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Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk; and will speak more in a minute, than he will stand to in a month.

Nurse. An 'a speak any thing against me, I'll take him down, 42 an 'a were lustier than he is, and twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those that shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills; I am his skains-mates. 43 And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure?

none of

Peter. I saw no man use you at his pleasure; if I had, my weapon should quickly have been out, I warrant you. I dare draw as soon as another man,

if I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law on my side.

44

Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave! Pray you, Sir, a word; and as I told you, my young lady bade me inquire you out: what she bid me say, I will keep to myself; but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her in a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour, as they say, for the gentlewoman is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly, it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.

Rom. Nurse, commend me to thy lady and mistress. I protest unto thee, Nurse. Good heart! 45 and, i' faith, I will tell her as much. Lord, lord! she will be a joyful woman.

Rom. What wilt thou tell her, nurse? thou dost not mark me.

Nurse. I will tell her, Sir,

is a gentlemanlike offer.

Rom. Bid her devise

that you do protest; which, as I take it,

Some means to come to shrift this afternoon;

And there she shall at friar Laurence' cell

Be shriv'd, and married. Here is for thy pains.
Nurse. No, truly, Sir; not a penny.

Rom. Go to; I say, you shall.

Nurse. This afternoon, Sir? well, she shall be there.
Rom. And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey-wall:

Within this hour my man shall be with thee,

And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair; 46

Which to the high top-gallant of my joy

42) Die Amme versteht das stand to in wörtlichem, obscönem Sinne.

43) Nach M. Mason's plausibler Vermuthung versteht die Amme, die so manches Wort verdreht, unter skains-mates nur kins-mates, gleichsam die Sippschaft Mercutio's. Malone's Erklärung des Wortes = knife-companions, von skein, ein kurzer Dolch, passt nicht recht in den Zusammenhang.

**) sprüchwörtlich für: zum Narren haben.

45) Die Amme die das Wort protest nicht versteht, aber für etwas sehr Schönes hält, glaubt, Romeo's Rede sei damit abgeschlossen.

46)

Das in tackled stair,

wird in dem top-gallant,

Strickleiter am Takelwerk eines Schiffes, angeknüpfte Bild = höchste Mastspitze, fortgeführt.

Must be my convoy in the secret night.

Farewell!
Farewell!

Be trusty, and I'll 'quite thy pains.
Commend me to thy mistress.

Nurse. Now God in heaven bless thee!

Hark you, Sir.

Rom. What say'st thou, my dear nurse?
Nurse. Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say,
Two may keep counsel, putting one away? 47

Rom. I warrant thee; my man 's as true as steel. Nurse. Well, Sir; my mistress is the sweetest lady Lord, lord! when 't was a little prating thing, 0! There's a nobleman in town, one Paris, that would fain lay knife aboard; 48 but she, good soul, had as lieve see a toad, a very toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes, and tell her that Paris is the properer man; but, I'll warrant you, when I say so, she looks as pale as any clout in the varsal 49 world. Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter?

Rom. Ay, nurse; What of that? both with an R.

Nurse. Ah, mocker! that 's the dog's name. R is for the

1

No: 50

I know it begins with some other letter; and she hath the prettiest sententious of it, of you and rosemary, that it would do you good to hear it. Rom. Commend me to thy lady.

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[Exit.

[Exeunt.

CAPULET'S Garden.

Enter JULIET.

Jul. The clock struck nine, when I did send the nurse;

In half an hour she promis'd to return.

47) Dasselbe Sprüchwort wird in Titus Andronicus (A. 4, Sc. 2.) so citirt: Two may keep counsel, when the third 's away.

48) Von dem Entern eines feindlichen Schiffes im Seekrieg entlehnt.

49) Abgekürzt und entstellt aus universal.

Die meisten Hgg. nehmen mit Tyr

50 In Qs. und Fol. heisst die Stelle: R. is for the no. whitt an, dass dog ausgefallen sei, und lesen: R. is for the dog. No etc. Andere lesen mit Warburton: R. is for thee? No. Aber die Amme redet den Romeo nirgendwo mit thou an, sondern, wie gleich nachher, mit you. Das Plausibelste ist Ritson's Erklärung, der die alte Lesart, nur anders interpungirt, beibehält. Die Amme besinnt sich vergebens auf ein mit R. beginnendes Wort, und fährt dann abbrechend fort: R. is for the No etc. Als dog's letter wird das schnarrende R. schon in alten Englischen Grammatiken bezeichnet, und die Amme meint, ein so schnarrender Buchstabe könne nicht Wörter wie Romeo und rosemary beginnen. In der folgenden Zeile sagt die Amme sententious für sentences.

51) So Qs. u. Fol. go before.

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Die Hgg. lassen die Amme zuletzt mit Q. A. sagen: Peter, take my fan and Dass die Amme sich von ihrem Diener den Fächer vortragen liess, kam auch

bei ihrem Auftreten vor, wie diese Sitte von gleichz. Schriftstellern mehr erwähnt wird.

Perchance, she cannot meet him: that 's not so.
O! she is lame: love's heralds should be thoughts,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams
Driving back shadows over lowering hills:
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw Love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
Now is the sun upon the highmost hill

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--

Enter Nurse and PETER.

O God! she comes.
Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away.

O honey nurse! what news?

[Exit PETER.

O lord! why look'st thou sad?

Nurse. Peter, stay at the gate.
Jul. Now, good sweet nurse,
Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily;
If good, thou sham'st the music of sweet news
By playing it to me with so sour a face.

Nurse. I am aweary, give me leave a while.
Fie, how my bones ache! What a jaunt

have I had! Jul. I would, thou hadst my bones, and I thy news: Nay, come, I pray thee, speak; good, good nurse, speak.

Nurse. Jesu, what haste! can you not stay a while?

Do you not see, that I am out of breath?

Jul. How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath

To say to me that thou art out of breath?

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Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his face be better than any man's,

1) hours ist bei Sh. nach dem Bedürfniss des Verses ein- und zweisylbig.

2) d. h. many old folks feign etc., viele alte Leute thun, als ob sie todt wären.

3)

as lead gehört sowohl zu heavy, wie zu pale.

4) jaunt hat Q. A., die spätern Qs. und die Fol.

Die frühern Qs. lesen jaunce, das

als Verbum auch K. Richard II. (A. 5, Sc. 5.) vorkommt: spur-gall'd and tir'd by

jauncing Bolingbroke.

5) die näheren Umstände, das Weitere, abwarten.

yet his leg excels all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. thy ways, wench; serve God. What, have you dined at home?

Jul. No, no: but all this did I know before.

What says he of our marriage? what of that?

Nurse. Lord, how my head aches! what a head have I!

It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.

My back o' t' other side.

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O, my back, my back!

Beshrew your heart, for sending me about,

To catch my death with jaunting up and down.

Jul. I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well. Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love? Nurse. Your love says like an honest gentleman,

And a courteous, and a kind, and a handsome,

And, I warrant, a virtuous:

Where is your mother?

Jul. Where is my mother? why, she is within;

Where should she be? How oddly thou reply'st:

Your love says like an honest gentleman,

Where is your mother?"

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Are you so hot? Marry, come up, I trow; 7

Is this the poultice for my aching bones?

Henceforward do your messages yourself.

Jul. Here's such a coil; 8 Come, what says Romeo?
Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?

Jul. I have.

Nurse. Then hie you hence to friar Laurence' cell,
There stays a husband to make you a wife:

Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks,
They'll be in scarlet straight at any news.
Hie you to church; I must another way,
To fetch a ladder, by the which your love
Must climb a bird's nest soon, when it is dark;
I am the drudge, and toil in your delight,
But you shall bear the burden soon at night.
Go; I'll to dinner: hie you to the cell.
Jul. Hie to high 9 fortune! -

Go

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honest nurse, farewell.

[Exeunt.

6) Einige Qs. haben jauncing. Vgl. Anm. 4.

7) Ein Wort des Vorwurfs: Kommt mir nur, fürwahr!

8) Hier ist solcher Wirrwarr, solche Noth!

läufigkeiten und Vorwürfe der Amme.

sagt Juliet in Beziehung auf die WeitSo in Two Gentlemen of Verona

(A. 1, Sc. 2.): Here is a coil with protestations.

9) Wortspiel zwischen high und hie.

SCENE VI.

Friar LAURENCE's Cell.

Enter Friar LAURENCE and ROMEO.

Fri. So smile the heavens upon this holy act, That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!

Rom. Amen, amen! but come what sorrow can,

It cannot countervail the exchange of joy
That one short minute gives me in her sight:
Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dare;
It is enough I may but call her mine.

Fri. These violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumph die: like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume. 2 The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness, 3

And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so;

Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

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Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint: *

A lover may bestride the gossamers
That idle in the wanton summer air,

And yet not fall; so light is vanity.

Jul. Good even to my ghostly confessor.

Fri. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.
Jul. As much to him, 5 else is his thanks too much.
Rom. Ah, Juliet! if the measure of thy joy

Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more
To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue

1) in ihrem höchsten Glanze.

2) to kiss and to consume sind als reflexive Verba hier zu verstehen, sich verzehren.

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3) deliciousness bezeichnet ein Uebermass von Süssigkeit, wie delicious in Titus Andronicus (A. 4, Sc. 4.) übermässig süss, ist. Durch solche Süssigkeit vernichtet der Honig beim Genusse selbst die auf ihn gerichtete Esslust.

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4) Zur Erläuterung dieser Stelle dient die Bühnenweisung aus Q. A.: Enter Juliet somewhat fast, and embraceth Romeo.

5) scil. good even to him.

Für is his thanks, wie Qs. und Fol. (letztere mit dem Druckfehler in) lesen, ändern die Hgg. willkührlich are. Sh. gebraucht thanks auch als Singular. 6) Wenn du besser als ich unsre Freude in Worten zu feiern verstehst.

7) Juliet's Zunge wird ihm wie Musik klingen.

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