Introduction
My
transcription is a direct transcription of the 1632 edition; the only change
that I’ve made is to modernize the spelling.
I left the punctuation, capitalization and line breaks true to the
original. The result of this decision
(if I didn’t have Bevington’s edition, I wouldn’t be aware of it) is the
inclusion of a small handful of trivial punctuation errors: colons are used in
the place of semi-colons (most notably in Jaques’ long speech), apostrophes are
omitted, etc. But these minor
punctuation errors pale in comparison to one significant error: one of Jaques’
lines is accidentally attributed to Orlando.
What should be Jaques’ parting line, “Nay then God buy you, and you talk
in blank verse” (4.1.31), has “Orlando” next to it! Clearly this is a mistake; the dialogue
between Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) and Orlando about Orlando’s
tardiness—and therefore Orlando’s unreliability, inconstancy, etc.—occurs
directly after this, so it couldn’t be Orlando exiting. Whether this was a careless printing error or
something more, I don’t think we’ll ever know—but it’s interesting and worth
noting. Besides fixing this interesting
quirk, Bevington’s edition remains nearly identical to the 1632 edition; as
previously mentioned, the style of capitalization popular in the seventeenth
century has been modernized, as has the spelling and punctuation. It’s a little interesting to note, however,
that the 1632 edition is 35 lines long, whereas Bevington’s is one line longer;
this difference is due to a discrepancy with the line breaks in the last two
lines. The 1632 edition breaks the
penultimate line at “…that countenance you are;” this makes the line twelve
syllables long and the final line thirteen syllables long. Bevington, on the other hand, breaks the same
line at “countenance,” which results in both lines being twelve syllables each,
and the leftover, three syllable “gondola” being pushed to the thirty-sixth
line. Perhaps Bevington made this
metrical decision based on a desire to balance the rhythm? Or maybe it wasn’t Bevington that made this
change; perhaps an earlier editor made that change, and it became the status
quo? Again, it doesn’t seem likely that
we will know for sure any time soon, if at all.
My Transcription
Enter Rosalind, and Celia, and Jaques.
Jaques
I prithee, pretty youth, let me better acquainted
with thee.
Rosalind They say you are a melancholy fellow.
Jaques I
am so: I do love it better than laughing.
Rosalind Those that are in extremity of either, are
abomi-
nable
fellows, and betray themselves to every modern
censure,
worse then drunkards.
Jaques Why, ‘tis good to be sad and say nothing.
Rosalind Why
then ‘tis good to be a post.
Jaques I have neither the Scholar’s melancholy,
which
is
emulation: nor the Musicians, which is fantastical;
nor the
Courtiers, which is proud: nor the Soldiers,
which is ambitious:
nor the Lawyers, which is politic:
nor the
Ladies, which is nice: nor the Lovers, which
is all
these: but it is a melancholy of mine own, com-
pounded of
many simples, extracted from many objects,
and indeed
the sundry contemplation of my travels, in
which my
often rumination, wraps me in a most humo-
rous
sadness.
Rosalind A Traveler: by my faith you have great
reason
to be sad: I
fear you have sold your own Lands, to see
other mens;
then to have seen much, and to have nothing,
is to have
rich eyes and poor hands.
Jaques Yes, I have gain’d my experience.
Enter Orlando
Rosalind
And your experience makes you sad: I have rather
have a fool
to make me merry, then experience to make
me sad, and
to travel for it too.
Orlando Good day, and happiness, dear Rosalind.
Orlando Nay then God buy you, and you talk in blank
verse. Exit.
Rosalind Farewell Monsieur Traveler: look you lisp,
and wear
strange suits; disable all the benefits of your
own Country:
be out of love with your nativity, & almost
chide God
for making you that countenance you are,
or I will
scarce think you have swam in a Gondola.
Bevington’s
Transcription
Enter Rosalind and Celia, and Jaques.
Jaques I prithee, pretty
youth, let me be better ac-
quainted
with thee.
Rosalind They say you are a melancholy fellow.
Jaques I am so. I do love it better than laughing.
Rosalind Those that are in extremity of either are
abominable
fellows and betray themselves to every
modern
censure worse than drunkards.
Jaques
Why, ‘tis good to be sad and say nothing.
Rosalind Why then, ‘tis good to be a post.
Jaques
I have neither the scholar’s melancholy, which
is
emulation, nor the musician’s, which is fantastical,
nor the
courtier’s, which is proud, nor the soldier’s,
which is
ambitious, nor the lawyer’s, which is politic,
nor the
lady’s, which is nice, nor the lover’s, which is
all these;
but it is a melancholy of mine own, com-
pounded of
many simples, extracted from many
objects,
and indeed the sundry contemplation of my
travels, in
which my often rumination wraps me in a
most
humorous sadness.
Rosalind A traveler! By my faith, you have great
reason to
be sad. I fear you have sold your own lands
to see other
men’s. Then to have seen much and to
have
nothing is to have rich eyes and poor hands.
Jaques
Yes, I have gained my experience.
Enter Orlando.
Rosalind And your experience makes you sad. I had
rather have
a fool to make me merry than experience
to make me
sad—and to travel for it too!
Orlando Good day and happiness, dear Rosalind!
Jaques
Nay, then, God b’wi’you, an you talk in blank
verse.
Rosalind Farewell, Monsieur Traveler. Look you
lisp
and wear
strange suits, disable all the benefits of your
own
country, be out of love with your nativity, and
almost
chide God for making you that countenance
you are, or
I will scarce think you have swam in a
gondola. [Exit Jaques.]
1632 Edition
Works Cited
Shakespeare,
William. Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, and tragedies
published according to the true originall copies. London, 1632. Early English Books Online. Web.24
October 2013. <http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&res_id=xri:eebo&rft_id=xri:eebo:image:210498>.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York:
Pearson, 2009. 321-322. Print.
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