ACT 2
[Enter VIOLA, MALVOLIO following]
MALVOLIO
Were not you even now with the Countess Olivia?
Weren’t you just with Countess Olivia?
VIOLA
Even now, sir; on a moderate pace I have since
I was just now, sir. But, at moderate pace,
arrived but hither.
I’ve only got this far.
MALVOLIO
She returns this ring to you, sir: you might have
She wants to give this ring back, sir. You might
saved me my pains, to have taken it away yourself.
have saved me all the effort leaving with it.
She adds, moreover, that you should put your lord
She adds, as well, that you should tell your lord
into a desperate assurance she will none of him:
in no uncertain terms, she won’t be with him.
and one thing more, that you be never so hardy to
And one more thing: don’t be so bold to come
come again in his affairs, unless it be to report
back here again, unless it is to tell
your lord's taking of this. Receive it so.
of how your lord received this. Take it back.
VIOLA
She took the ring of me: I'll none of it.
She took the ring from me. I will not take it.
MALVOLIO
Come, sir, you peevishly threw it to her;
You threw it at her out of irritation,
and her will is, it should be so returned: if it be worth
and now she wants to throw it back. If it's worth
stooping for, there it lies in your eye; if not, be
bending for, there it is. If not, well then
it his that finds it.
it’s his who finds it.
[Exit]
VIOLA
I left no ring with her: what means this lady?
I left no ring with her. What does she mean?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charmed her!
Oh, don’t say my appearance might have charmed her!
She made good view of me; indeed, so much,
She did look at me closely, so much so
That sure methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
I thought at times that she was lost for words,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
And when she spoke, she spoke in fits and starts.
She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion
She definitely loves me! Out of passion,
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
She showed me through her surly messenger.
None of my lord's ring! Why, he sent her none.
She won’t take my lord’s rings? He sent her none!
I am the man: if it be so, as 'tis,
I am the man she loves! If so, as is,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
She would be better off loving a dream.
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness,
I see that my disguise can be so evil,
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
It lets the devil do god-awful things.
How easy is it for the proper-false
How easy is it for deceptive men
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!
To stamp their mark on women’s hearts, like wax!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!
Regrettably, our weakness is the reason,
For such as we are made of, such we be.
And for this weakness, we create our treason.
How will this fadge? My master loves her dearly;
What will occur? My master loves her dearly,
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And I, both man and woman, dote on him,
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
Oh, what on earth will happen? As a man,
My state is desperate for my master's love;
I have no hope of my own master’s love.
As I am woman,--now alas the day!--
And as a woman—now, I rue the day!—
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!
Olivia’s words of love will all be wasted.
O time! Thou must untangle this, not I;
Oh time, you must untangle this, not I.
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!
This knot’s too tight for me to now untie!
[Exit]
