Original: Brother, adieu: good fortune come to thee!
Modern: Goodbye, brother—I wish you good luck!

Original: For thou wast got i’ the way of honesty.
Modern: You were conceived in an honest, legitimate way.

Original: A foot of honour better than I was;
Modern: I’ve risen a step in honor from what I was before;

Original: But many a many foot of land the worse.
Modern: But I’ve lost many acres of land in the process.

Original: Well, now can I make any Joan a lady.
Modern: Well, now I have the power to make any common woman a noblewoman.

Original: ‘Good den, sir Richard!’—‘God-a-mercy, fellow!’—
Modern: “Good day, Sir Richard!” “Thank you, my good man!”

Original: And if his name be George, I’ll call him Peter;
Modern: And if someone’s name is George, I’ll call him Peter;

Original: For new-made honour doth forget men’s names;
Modern: Because the newly knighted forget people’s names;

Original: ‘Tis too respective and too sociable
Modern: It’s too polite and too friendly

Original: For your conversion. Now your traveller,
Modern: For someone who’s just changed status. Now take your world traveler—

Original: He and his toothpick at my worship’s mess,
Modern: He’ll dine with his toothpick at my table,

Original: And when my knightly stomach is sufficed,
Modern: And when I’ve eaten my fill as a knight,

Original: Why then I suck my teeth and catechise
Modern: Then I’ll pick my teeth and question

Original: My picked man of countries: ‘My dear sir,’
Modern: My well-traveled companion: “My dear sir,”

Original: Thus, leaning on mine elbow, I begin,
Modern: And so, leaning casually on my elbow, I’ll start,

Original: ‘I shall beseech you’—that is question now;
Modern: “May I ask you”—that’s how the question goes;

Original: And then comes answer like an Absey book:
Modern: And then the answer comes as predictably as an ABC primer:

Original: ‘O sir,’ says answer, ‘at your best command;
Modern: “Oh sir,” the answer says, “whatever you command;

Original: At your employment; at your service, sir;’
Modern: I’m at your disposal; at your service, sir;”

Original: ‘No, sir,’ says question, ‘I, sweet sir, at yours:’
Modern: “No, sir,” the question replies, “I, dear sir, am at yours:”

Original: And so, ere answer knows what question would,
Modern: And so, before the answer even knows what the question wants,

Original: Saving in dialogue of compliment,
Modern: Except for exchanging polite compliments,

Original: And talking of the Alps and Apennines,
Modern: And chatting about the Alps and Apennine mountains,

Original: The Pyrenean and the river Po,
Modern: The Pyrenees and the Po River,

Original: It draws toward supper in conclusion so.
Modern: All this talk carries on until it’s time for dinner.

Original: But this is worshipful society
Modern: But this is the respectable society

Original: And fits the mounting spirit like myself,
Modern: And it suits an ambitious person like me,

Original: For he is but a bastard to the time
Modern: Because anyone is illegitimate to this age

Original: That doth not smack of observation;
Modern: Who doesn’t show signs of being observant and shrewd;

Original: And so am I, whether I smack or no;
Modern: And that’s what I am, whether I show it or not;

Original: And not alone in habit and device,
Modern: And not just in clothing and appearance,

Original: Exterior form, outward accoutrement,
Modern: Outer form and external trappings,

Original: But from the inward motion to deliver
Modern: But from an inner impulse to deliver

Original: Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age’s tooth:
Modern: Appealing, attractive, seductive flattery that this age craves:

Original: Which, though I will not practise to deceive,
Modern: Even though I won’t use these skills to deceive others,

Original: Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;
Modern: Still, to protect myself from being deceived, I intend to learn them;

Original: For it shall strew the footsteps of my rising.
Modern: Because these skills will pave the way for my climb to success.

Original: But who comes in such haste in riding-robes?
Modern: But who’s coming here so quickly in traveling clothes?

Original: What woman-post is this? hath she no husband
Modern: What female messenger is this? Doesn’t she have a husband

Original: That will take pains to blow a horn before her?
Modern: Who would bother to announce her arrival?

Original: O me! it is my mother. How now, good lady!
Modern: Oh my! It’s my mother. Hello there, good lady!

Original: What brings you here to court so hastily?
Modern: What brings you to court in such a hurry?

In Act 1, Scene 1 of “King John,” the English court gathers as King John receives a French ambassador who delivers a demand from King Philip of France that John surrender his throne to Arthur, Duke of Brittany, whom Philip claims is the rightful heir as the son of John’s deceased elder brother Geoffrey. John flatly refuses this demand and prepares for war with France. The scene then shifts to a dispute between Robert Faulconbridge and his brother Philip (later called the Bastard) over their father’s inheritance. Robert claims that Philip is illegitimate and therefore has no right to their late father Sir Robert Faulconbridge’s lands.

Queen Eleanor, King John’s mother, observes that Philip bears a striking resemblance to her late son King Richard the Lionheart, suggesting he may be Richard’s illegitimate son rather than Sir Robert’s. When given the choice between keeping his inheritance as Robert Faulconbridge’s legitimate son or giving it up to be acknowledged as King Richard’s bastard son, Philip chooses the latter, renouncing his claim to the Faulconbridge lands in favor of the more prestigious lineage. King John knights him as Sir Richard Plantagenet, and Eleanor takes him under her wing. The newly knighted Bastard celebrates his decision in a soliloquy, acknowledging that ambition and social advancement matter more to him than land and legitimacy.

King John opens with King Philip of France supporting Arthur, the young son of John’s deceased brother Geoffrey, as the rightful heir to the English throne. John’s mother, Queen Eleanor, and the French court engage in heated disputes over legitimacy. Meanwhile, the Bastard (Philip Faulconbridge), illegitimate son of Richard the Lionheart, joins John’s cause after being legitimized. War breaks out between England and France, with the strategic town of Angiers caught between the two armies.

The conflict temporarily resolves when John’s niece Blanche marries the French Dauphin Lewis, uniting the two kingdoms. However, Cardinal Pandulph arrives from Rome and excommunicates John for refusing to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Cardinal persuades France to break the peace and resume war against the excommunicated English king. In the ensuing battle, Arthur is captured by John’s forces.

John orders Hubert to kill the young Arthur, but Hubert cannot bring himself to murder the child and instead hides him. When Arthur later dies attempting to escape from his prison tower, the English nobles believe John has murdered him and defect to join the invading French forces led by the Dauphin. As John faces rebellion from within and invasion from without, he submits to the Pope’s authority to regain legitimacy. However, he falls ill and is poisoned by a monk at Swinstead Abbey.

The Bastard rallies the remaining English forces and discovers that the French nobles plan to kill their English allies after victory. This intelligence helps reconcile the English lords to their king. John dies, and his young son Henry is crowned King Henry III. The Dauphin withdraws his forces, and Cardinal Pandulph negotiates peace. The play concludes with the Bastard delivering a patriotic speech about England’s strength when united against foreign threats.