уильям шекспир - King Lear

24 foulwicked/bad (weather)

25 put’sput his

26 head-piecehelmet/brain

27 codpiecepenis (literally, appendage worn on the front of a man’s breeches to cover and emphasize the genitals)

27 housefind a house for itself, i.e. have sex

28 anyi.e. any shelter

29 louseget lice (in pubic and head hair)

30 So … manyin this way beggars end up with a string of mistresses (or “end up not only with a woman but a quantity of lice”)

31 makes … makevalues most what he should value least/considers his penis (sex) more important than his heart (love/moral integrity)

33 cornmay suggest a syphilitic sore

35 made … glasspracticed smiling or pouting in a mirror

40 grace … codpieceroyalty and a fool (fools sometimes wore exaggerated codpieces and were proverbially well-endowed)

44 Gallowgally, i.e. frighten

44 wanderers … darknocturnal animals

51 pudderpother, tumult

54 Unwhipped ofunpunished by

55 simularfaker, pretender

56 caitiffvillain, wretch

57 seemingfalse appearances, deception

58 practised onplotted against

59 Rivesplit open

59 continentscontainers

59 cry … gracebeg for mercy from these terrifying summoners (officers who summoned the accused to court)

65 hardnear

65 hard housepitiless household (Gloucester’s house, under the authority of Cornwall and Regan)

67 demanding(when I was) asking urgently

69 scantedwithheld

72 fellowservant (but with connotations of “companion”)

73 The … strangenecessity has a strange skill

77 He … dayadapted from Feste’s song at the end of Twelfth Night

77 and aa very

77 witpossibly plays on the sense of “penis”

79 make … fitmake his happiness fit his fortunes/be content with the fortune that he deserves

82 bravefine

82 cooli.e. cool the lust of

82 courtesancourtier’s mistress, high-class prostitute

84 in … mattermore concerned with words than substance (i.e. do not practice what they preach)

85 marspoil (i.e. water down for their own profit)

86 are … tutorsi.e. teach their tailors about fashion

87 hereticsreligious dissenters, conventionally punished with burning at the stake

87 wenches’ suitorsi.e. who are afflicted with the burning effects of syphilis

88 rightjust

91 cutpursesthieves who cut the strings of moneybags hanging at their victims’ waists

91 throngscrowds

92 usurersmoneylenders, notorious for charging excessively high interest

92 tell … i’th’fieldcount their money openly

93 bawdspimps

94 Albionancient name for Britain

95 confusiondestruction, overthrow

96 whowhoever

97 going … feetwalking will be done on foot (perhaps simply meaning “things will return to normal”)

98 Merlinin the legendary history of Britain, the reign of Lear precedes that of Arthur by centuries

Act 3 Scene 3

3.3 Location: the Earl of Gloucester’s residence

2 leave … pitypermission to help, take pity on

7 Go toexpression of impatient dismissal

10 closetprivate room/cabinet

11 homethoroughly

11 powerarmy

12 footedashore

12 incline tosupport, side with

12 looklook for

13 privily relievesecretly help

14 thatso that

14 ofby

17 towardimminent

18 courtesy forbid theeforbidden kindness (to Lear)

20 This … deservingi.e. my action should be worth a good reward

Act 3 Scene 4

3.4 Location: outside a hovel somewhere out in the open, not far from the Earl of Gloucester’s residence

3 naturehuman nature

10 greater maladyi.e. mental suffering

13 i’th’mouthface to face

13 freefree of worry, untroubled

14 delicatesensitive

17 asas if

18 homesoundly

22 frankgenerous

32 bideendure

33 sidesbodies (with visible ribs)

34 lopped and windowedfull of holes

36 physicmedicine (often a purgative)

36 pompsplendor, ostentatious display (i.e. rich and powerful people)

38 superfluxsuperfluity, excess ( fluxwas used for a discharge of excrement from the bowels, the result of a purgative)

40 Fathomabout six feet

40 Fathom and halfEdgar calls as though he is measuring the depth of the water in the hovel, as a sailor might in a leaking ship

41 spiritevil spirit, demon

45 grumblemutter, mumble

52 foulwicked

54 knives … pewthe devil was believed to tempt men to damnation by leaving them the means of committing suicide (even in church)

55 ratsbanerat poison

56 porridgevegetable or meat soup

56 bayreddish-brown

57 four-inchedfour inches wide (the devil gives one the arrogance to try and perform extremely difficult feats)

57 foras

57 coursehunt

58 five witsfive mental faculties (common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory)

58 do … dethe sound of chattering teeth?

59 star-blastingbeing afflicted by the malign influence of the stars

59 takingbeing infected with disease/malign influence of the stars

60 vexestorments

60 there … thereperhaps Edgar snatches at parts of his body as he tries to catch lice or the devil; or he may grab or point at the air around him

63 passstate, predicament

65 reserved a blanketkept a blanket (to cover himself)

67 pendulousoverhanging

68 fated … faultsdestined to punish men’s faults

70 subdued naturereduced human nature

73 thus … fleshrefers to Edgar’s self-mutilation

75 pelicanyoung pelicans supposedly fed on their mother’s blood; they were proverbial for filial cruelty

76 Pillicock … Pillicock-hillpossibly part of an old nursery rhyme, but Pillicockis slang for penis and Pillycock-hillthe female genitals

76 alow … loopossibly from “halloo” (cry to incite dogs in a hunt), perhaps an imitation of a cock’s crow, or simply a nonsensical sound