Original: How! of adultery! Wherefore write you not
Modern: What! Adultery! Why don’t you write down

Original: What monster’s her accuser? Leonatus!
Modern: Who this monster is that’s accusing her? Leonatus!

Original: O master! what a strange infection
Modern: Oh master! What a weird sickness

Original: Is fall’n into thy ear! What false Italian.
Modern: Has gotten into your ear! What lying Italian,

Original: As poisonous-tongu’d as handed’hath prevail’d
Modern: With words as poisonous as his actions, has convinced you

Original: On thy too ready hearing? Disloyal! No:
Modern: Because you were too willing to believe him? Disloyal! No:

Original: She’s punish’d for her truth, and undergoes,
Modern: She’s being punished for her faithfulness, and she’s enduring,

Original: More goddess-like than wife-like, such assaults
Modern: More like a goddess than an ordinary wife, such attacks

Original: As would take in some virtue. O my master!
Modern: That would break down even the most virtuous person. Oh my master!

Original: Thy mind to her is now as low as were
Modern: Your opinion of her is now as low as

Original: Thy fortunes. How! that I should murder her?
Modern: Your fortunes once were. What! That I should murder her?

Original: Upon the love and truth and vows which I
Modern: Based on the love and loyalty and promises that I

Original: Have made to thy command? I, her? her blood?
Modern: Have made to obey you? Me, kill her? Shed her blood?

Original: If it be so to do good service, never
Modern: If this is what good service means, then never

Original: Let me be counted serviceable. How look I,
Modern: Let me be considered a good servant. How do I appear,

Original: That I should seem to lack humanity
Modern: That I should seem to lack basic human compassion

Original: So much as this fact comes to?’Do ‘t: the letter
Modern: As much as this deed requires? “Do it: the letter

Original: That I have sent her by her own command
Modern: That I have sent her, following your orders,

Original: Shall give thee opportunity:’O damn’d paper!
Modern: Will give you the opportunity.” Oh, cursed letter!

Original: Black as the ink that’s on thee. Senseless bauble,
Modern: As black as the ink written on you. Unfeeling object,

Original: Art thou a feodary for this act, and look’st
Modern: Are you an accomplice to this crime, and yet you look

Original: So virgin-like without? Lo! here she comes.
Modern: So pure and innocent on the outside? Look! Here she comes.

Original: I am ignorant in what I am commanded.
Modern: I don’t understand what I’m being ordered to do.

In Act III, Scene 2 of “Cymbeline,” Pisanio receives two letters—one from his master Posthumus and one from Imogen. Posthumus’s letter commands Pisanio to murder Imogen at Milford Haven, falsely believing she has been unfaithful with Iachimo. The letter reveals Posthumus’s rage and conviction that Imogen has betrayed him. Pisanio is deeply troubled by this order, struggling to reconcile his loyalty to his master with his knowledge of Imogen’s virtue and his own moral conscience. He questions how he could possibly carry out such a heinous act against the innocent princess.

Imogen enters, excited about the prospect of meeting Posthumus at Milford Haven, as promised in her letter. She is eager to travel and urges Pisanio to make haste. Imogen’s enthusiasm contrasts sharply with Pisanio’s inner turmoil, as she remains completely unaware of the deadly plot against her. She speaks joyfully of the journey and her anticipated reunion with her husband, while Pisanio can only respond in troubled asides, expressing his anguish at the impossible position in which he finds himself. The scene ends with Imogen pressing forward with travel plans, oblivious to the danger, while Pisanio wrestles with how to handle Posthumus’s murderous command.

Cymbeline tells the story of King Cymbeline of Britain, whose daughter Imogen secretly marries Posthumus Leonatus against her father’s wishes. Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Rome, where he boasts of Imogen’s virtue and fidelity. The cunning Iachimo wagers that he can seduce Imogen and prove her unfaithful. When his direct attempts fail, Iachimo hides in a trunk in Imogen’s bedchamber, emerges while she sleeps, and steals her bracelet while noting intimate details of her body and room.

Returning to Rome with his false evidence, Iachimo convinces Posthumus that Imogen has been unfaithful. Enraged, Posthumus orders his servant Pisanio to kill Imogen. Instead, Pisanio reveals the plot to Imogen and helps her escape by disguising her as a young man named Fidele. She flees to the Welsh mountains, where she unknowingly encounters her long-lost brothers, Guiderius and Arviragus, who were kidnapped as infants and raised by the banished lord Belarius.

Meanwhile, Cymbeline’s evil Queen (Imogen’s stepmother) plots to poison Imogen and place her own son Cloten on the throne. Cloten pursues Imogen to Wales, where Guiderius kills him in combat. The Queen’s physician Cornelius has secretly given her a sleeping potion instead of poison, but when Imogen takes it believing it to be medicine, she falls into a death-like sleep beside Cloten’s headless corpse, whom she mistakes for Posthumus upon awakening.

The play culminates when Roman forces invade Britain. During the battle, the disguised Imogen serves the Romans while her unknown brothers and Belarius fight for Britain. After Britain’s victory, all deceptions are revealed: Iachimo confesses his lies, the Queen dies after admitting her evil plots, Imogen’s true identity and virtue are established, the royal brothers are restored to their father, and Posthumus and Imogen are reunited. Cymbeline makes peace with Rome and pardons all offenders.