SparkNotes Preferences  |  Shopping Cart  |     |  Checkout  |  Help

No Fear Shakespeare
brought to you by Barnes & Noble
Read the Study Guide: Much Ado About Nothing
Get the book: Buy it online at Barnes & Noble
Tell a friend: Email this page
Much Ado About Nothing
No Fear Shakespeare
NAVIGATE  

 Previous Page Next Page 
Original Text Modern Text
Enter DON PEDRO, CLAUDIO BENEDICK, and LEONATO
DON PEDRO, CLAUDIO,BENEDICK, and LEONATO enter.
 DON PEDRO
  I do but stay till your marriage be consummate, and then go
  I toward Aragon.
DON PEDRO
I'll stay in Messina until you're married, and then I'll go to Aragon.
 CLAUDIO
  I'll bring you thither, my lord, if you'll vouchsafe me.
CLAUDIO
I'll go with you, my lord, if you'll allow me.
 DON PEDRO
  Nay, that would be as great a soil in the new gloss of your
5 marriage as to show a child his new coat and forbid him to
  wear it. I will only be bold with Benedick for his company,
  for from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot he is all
  mirth. He hath twice or thrice cut Cupid's bow-string, and
  the little hangman dare not shoot at him. He hath a heart as
10 sound as a bell, and his tongue is the clapper, for what his
  heart thinks, his tongue speaks.
DON PEDRO
No, taking you away from your new marriage would be like showing a child a new coat and then not letting him wear it. I'll ask only Benedick to come with me, for from the top of his head to the soles of his feet he's a joker. He's evaded love once or twice, and since then Cupid doesn't dare to shoot at him. Benedick's heart is like a bell, with his tongue as the clapper: everything his heart thinks, his tongue speaks.
 BENEDICK
  Gallants, I am not as I have been.
BENEDICK
Gentleman, I am not the same man I was before.
 LEONATO
  So say I. Methinks you are sadder.
LEONATO
I agree. I think you seem more serious.
 CLAUDIO
  I hope he be in love.
CLAUDIO
I hope he's in love.
 DON PEDRO
15 Hang him, truant! There's no true drop of blood in him to
  be truly touched with love. If he be sad, he wants money.
DON PEDRO
Come off it, man! There isn't a single drop of sincerity in him that could be touched with love. If he looks serious, he must need money.
 BENEDICK
  I have the toothache.
BENEDICK
I have a toothache .
 DON PEDRO
  Draw it.
DON PEDRO
Draw it.
 BENEDICK
  Hang it!
BENEDICK
Hang it!
 CLAUDIO
20 You must hang it first, and draw it afterwards.
CLAUDIO
You have to hang it first. Then you can draw it.

 Previous Page Next Page 
IPOD SPARKNOTES
Read SparkNotes on your iPod.
More...
Study Guides
Learn more about the subject you're studying with these related SparkNotes.
Much Ado About Nothing

Message Boards
Ask a question on the SparkNotes community boards.
Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare
Staging Shakespeare's Plays

SparkCharts
Printable, portable charts on this subject.
Shakespeare

 
 
You'll flip over our English Grammar Study Cards—writing out flashcards is now a thing of the past
More...
 
Beat the ACT with the latest book from the experts at SparkNotes.
More...
 
 
No Fear Shakespeare
NAVIGATE