Original Text
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Modern Text
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ROMEO
Why, then is my pump well flowered.
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ROMEO
Well, then my
pump
is well decorated with flowers. |
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MERCUTIO
30Sure wit, follow me this jest now till thou hast worn out thy
pump, that when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain,
after the wearing solely singular.
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MERCUTIO
Alright my witty friend, this joke has worn out your pump. Its
thin skin is all worn out. The joke is all you have left.
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ROMEO
O single-soled jest, solely singular for the singleness.
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ROMEO
This is a bad joke. It’s all silliness.
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MERCUTIO
Come between us, good Benvolio. My wits faints.
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MERCUTIO
Come break this up, Benvolio. I’m losing this duel of
wits.
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ROMEO
Switch and spurs, switch and spurs, or I’ll cry a
match.
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ROMEO
Keep going, keep going, or I’ll declare myself the
winner.
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MERCUTIO
Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou
hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I
have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?
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MERCUTIO
Now, if our jokes go on a wild-goose chase, I’m finished.
You have more wild goose in one of your jokes than I have in five of
mine. Was I even close to you in the chase for the goose?
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ROMEO
35Thou wast never with me for anything when thou wast not there for
the goose.
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ROMEO
You were never with me for anything if you weren’t there
for the goose.
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MERCUTIO
I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.
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MERCUTIO
I’ll bite you on the ear for that joke.
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ROMEO
Nay, good goose, bite not.
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ROMEO
No, good goose, don’t bite me.
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MERCUTIO
Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting. It is a most sharp
sauce.
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MERCUTIO
Your joke is a very bitter apple. Your humor is a spicy
sauce.
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ROMEO
And is it not well served into a sweet goose?
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ROMEO
Then isn’t it just the right dish for a sweet
goose?
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MERCUTIO
40Oh, here’s a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an inch
narrow to an ell broad!
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MERCUTIO
Oh, that’s a joke made out of leather that spreads itself
thin, from the width of an inch to as fat as a yard.
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