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Original Text

Modern Text

The same.
The same palace.
Enter EXTON and Servant.
EXTON and a Servant enter.

EXTON

Didst thou not mark the king, what words he spake,
‘Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?’
Was it not so?

EXTON

Didn’t you notice the king and hear what he said? “Don’t I have any friends who will rid me of this constant fear?” Didn’t he say that?

SERVANT

These were his very words.

SERVANT

Those were his exact words.

EXTON

5 ‘Have I no friend?’ quoth he: he spake it twice,
And urged it twice together, did he not?

EXTON

Twice he said, “Don’t I have any friends?” didn’t he?

SERVANT

He did.

SERVANT

He did.

EXTON

And speaking it, he wistly look’d on me,
And who should say, ‘I would thou wert the man’
10 That would divorce this terror from my heart;’
Meaning the king at Pomfret. Come, let’s go:
I am the king’s friend, and will rid his foe.

EXTON

And when he said it, he looked at me intently, as if he were saying, “I wish you were the man who would take this fear away from me.” He means the king at Pomfret. Come, let’s go. I am the king’s friend, and I’ll get rid him of his enemy.
Exeunt
They exit.

Original Text

Modern Text

The same.
The same palace.
Enter EXTON and Servant.
EXTON and a Servant enter.

EXTON

Didst thou not mark the king, what words he spake,
‘Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?’
Was it not so?

EXTON

Didn’t you notice the king and hear what he said? “Don’t I have any friends who will rid me of this constant fear?” Didn’t he say that?

SERVANT

These were his very words.

SERVANT

Those were his exact words.

EXTON

5 ‘Have I no friend?’ quoth he: he spake it twice,
And urged it twice together, did he not?

EXTON

Twice he said, “Don’t I have any friends?” didn’t he?

SERVANT

He did.

SERVANT

He did.

EXTON

And speaking it, he wistly look’d on me,
And who should say, ‘I would thou wert the man’
10 That would divorce this terror from my heart;’
Meaning the king at Pomfret. Come, let’s go:
I am the king’s friend, and will rid his foe.

EXTON

And when he said it, he looked at me intently, as if he were saying, “I wish you were the man who would take this fear away from me.” He means the king at Pomfret. Come, let’s go. I am the king’s friend, and I’ll get rid him of his enemy.
Exeunt
They exit.

Popular pages: Richard II