Original: Here’s neither bush nor shrub, to bear off any weather at all, and another storm brewing;
Modern: There’s no bush or shrub here to protect me from the weather, and another storm is coming;

Original: I hear it sing i’ the wind: yond same black cloud, yond huge one, looks like a foul bombard that would shed his liquor.
Modern: I can hear it whistling in the wind: that same black cloud over there, that huge one, looks like a dirty leather bottle that’s about to spill its contents.

Original: If it should thunder as it did before, I know not where to hide my head: yond same cloud cannot choose but fall by pailfuls.
Modern: If it thunders like it did before, I don’t know where I’ll hide: that cloud has no choice but to dump rain by the bucketful.

Original: What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive?
Modern: What do we have here? Is it a man or a fish? Is it dead or alive?

Original: A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-like smell; a kind of not of the newest Poor-John.
Modern: It’s a fish: he smells like a fish; a very old and fishy smell; like stale dried cod that’s not very fresh.

Original: A strange fish! Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver:
Modern: What a strange fish! If I were back in England now, like I used to be, and had just a picture of this fish, every gullible tourist would pay good money to see it:

Original: there would this monster make a man; any strange beast there makes a man:
Modern: this monster would make me rich; any weird creature there makes a person wealthy:

Original: when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lazy out ten to see a dead Indian.
Modern: when they won’t give a penny to help a disabled beggar, they’ll lazily spend ten times that to gawk at a dead native.

Original: Legged like a man and his fins like arms!
Modern: It has legs like a man and fins like arms!

Original: Warm o’ my troth! I do now let loose my opinion; hold it no longer: this is no fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffered by a thunderbolt.
Modern: It’s warm, I swear! Now I’m changing my mind; I can’t hold back this thought any longer: this isn’t a fish, but an islander who was recently struck by lightning.

Original: Alas, the storm is come again! my best way is to creep under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabouts:
Modern: Oh no, the storm is back! My best option is to crawl under his cloak; there’s no other shelter around here:

Original: misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows.
Modern: desperate times make you sleep next to strange companions.

Original: I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past.
Modern: I’ll hide here until the worst of the storm passes.

In Act II, Scene 2 of “The Tempest,” Caliban enters carrying wood and cursing Prospero, who has enslaved him and punishes him with painful cramps and torments when he disobeys. Trinculo, the jester from the shipwrecked party, then arrives and discovers Caliban, whom he initially mistakes for a strange fish-like monster. When a storm threatens, Trinculo hides under Caliban’s cloak for shelter. Stephano, the drunken butler, enters singing and carrying a bottle of wine. He discovers what appears to be a four-legged, two-headed monster (Caliban and Trinculo under the cloak) and begins pouring wine into Caliban’s mouth, thinking he can cure or tame the creature.

Eventually, Trinculo reveals himself from under the cloak, and he and Stephano are joyfully reunited, believing each other to have drowned in the shipwreck. Caliban, having tasted the wine and become intoxicated, believes Stephano to be a god descended from heaven and pledges his servitude to him, promising to show him all the qualities of the island and provide him with food and resources. Caliban expresses his desire to be free from Prospero’s rule and begs Stephano to be his new master. The three exit together, with Caliban singing drunkenly about his newfound freedom and Stephano and Trinculo marveling at their discovery of this strange servant and the possibilities the island holds.

The Tempest opens with a violent storm at sea that shipwrecks a vessel carrying Alonso, King of Naples, his son Ferdinand, his brother Sebastian, Antonio (the usurping Duke of Milan), the counselor Gonzalo, and others. The tempest has been conjured by Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, who lives in exile on an island with his daughter Miranda. Twelve years earlier, Prospero was overthrown by his brother Antonio with the help of Alonso, and set adrift at sea with the infant Miranda. They survived and reached this island, where Prospero has spent years studying magic and commanding the spirit Ariel, whom he freed from imprisonment in a tree.

The shipwreck separates the survivors into different groups across the island. Ferdinand becomes separated from the others and encounters Miranda, with whom he immediately falls in love, though Prospero tests the young man by enslaving him temporarily. Meanwhile, Antonio and Sebastian plot to murder Alonso and Gonzalo while they sleep, but Ariel awakens Gonzalo just in time. Another group, including the drunken butler Stephano and jester Trinculo, meets Caliban, Prospero’s reluctant servant who is the island’s original inhabitant. Caliban persuades them to help him kill Prospero and take control of the island.

Prospero orchestrates a series of magical interventions: he presents a banquet to Alonso’s group that vanishes when they try to eat, and Ariel appears as a harpy to remind them of their crimes against Prospero. Ariel also disrupts Caliban’s murder plot by leading the conspirators into a stinking pond and then tormenting them with spirits disguised as hunting dogs. Ferdinand proves his love for Miranda by completing the tasks Prospero sets him, and Prospero gives his blessing to their betrothal, celebrating with a masque of spirits.

In the final act, Prospero reveals himself to all the castaways, forgives his enemies, and renounces his magic, breaking his staff and freeing Ariel. Alonso repents his past actions and restores Prospero to his dukedom. Ferdinand and Miranda’s engagement is celebrated, Caliban acknowledges Prospero’s authority and promises to be wise hereafter, and Prospero prepares to return to Milan. The play concludes with Prospero’s epilogue, in which he asks the audience to free him with their applause, as he has freed Ariel.