莎士比亚名剧习语总结quotes.docVIP

Shakespeare Quotes | Bated breath Shylock:Go to then, you come to me, and you say,Shylock, we would have moneys, you say so. . . .Shall I bend low and in a bondmans key,With bated breath and whispring humbleness,Say this:Fair sir, you spet on me Wednesday last,You spurnd me such a day, another timeYou calld me dog; and for these courtesiesIll lend you thus much moneys? The Merchant Of Venice Act 1, scene 3, 115–116, 123–129 The Venetian merchant Antonio and his friends take a dim view of Shylock, the Jewish usurer, and his practice of charging interest on loans. For his un-Christian behavior, the Christians spit on Shylock, call him a cur, and kick him around the streets of Venice. In this speech—delivered when, as was inevitable, Antonio calls on Shylock for a loan—the usurer turns Antonios words and actions against him. Shylock asks whether, after the treatment hes received, he should now servilely bow, whisper like a bondman (slave), and put himself at Antonios disposal. He mocks the idea that he ought to respond with bated breath—a much misunderstood phrase. To bate, like to abate, means to diminish, reduce, or blunt. With bated breath, therefore, means in a hushed voice, with reduced breath (force of speech). Weve adopted the phrase to mean, most often, with ones breath held. Shakespeare Quotes | Breathe life into a stone Lafew:I have seen a medicineThats able to breathe life into a stone,Quicken a rock, and make you dance canaryWith spritely fire and motion, whose simple touchIs powerful to araise King Pippen, nay, To give great Charlemain a pen in s handAnd write to her a love-line. Alls Well That Ends Well Act 2, scene 1, 72–78 The King of France, deathly ill, has been disappointed by so many supposed remedies that hes given up on medicine and despaired of recovery. The old lord Lafew, however, insists that theres one doctor who can save the king, the heroine of the play, Helena. Helena has inherited not only her fathers potent medicines, bu