So Benedick should conceal his emotions. Like a fire that gets
covered up, Benedick should smother his love and waste away. It
would be better to die that way than to die from being mocked, which
is as bad as being killed by tickling.
URSULA
Yet tell her of it. Hear what she will say.
URSULA
But you should tell her about this, and hear what she has to
say.
HERO
85
No, rather I will go to Benedick
And counsel him to fight against his passion;
And truly I'll devise some honest slanders
To stain my cousin with. One doth not know
How much an ill word may empoison liking.
HERO
No, instead I'll go to Benedick and advise him to fight
his emotions. I'll make up some awful things about my
cousin and ruin her reputation. You don't know how
quickly affection can be killed with a single nasty word.
URSULA
90
O, do not do your cousin such a wrong!
She cannot be so much without true judgment,
Having so swift and excellent a wit
As she is prized to have, as to refuse
So rare a gentleman as Signior Benedick.
URSULA
Oh, don't injure your cousin like that! With the quick,
intelligent wit she's rumored to have, she
can't really be such a bad judge of character that
she'd refuse a man as exceptional as Signior
Benedick.
HERO
95
He is the only man of Italy,
Always excepted my dear Claudio.
HERO
He's the only worthy man in Italy, aside from my dear
Claudio.
URSULA
I pray you, be not angry with me, madam,
Speaking my fancy. Signor Benedick,
For shape, for bearing, argument and valor,
100
Goes foremost in report through Italy.
URSULA
Don't be angry with me for speaking my mind, but
throughout Italy, Benedick is considered the best man in looks,
bearing, intelligence, and bravery.
HERO
Indeed, he hath an excellent good name.
HERO
True, he has an excellent reputation.
URSULA
His excellence did earn it, ere he had it.
When are you married, madam?
URSULA
And he deserves it, having been excellent before he had a
reputation for it. When are you getting married, madam?
