Original: As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion bequeathed me by will but poor a thousand crowns, and, as thou sayest, charged my brother on his blessing, to breed me well: and there begins my sadness.
Modern: As I recall, Adam, my father’s will left me only a measly thousand crowns, and as you said, he commanded my brother to raise me properly on pain of losing God’s blessing—and that’s where my troubles begin.

Original: My brother Jaques he keeps at school, and report speaks goldenly of his profit: for my part, he keeps me rustically at home, or, to speak more properly, stays me here at home unkept; for call you that keeping for a gentleman of my birth, that differs not from the stalling of an ox?
Modern: My brother Jacques gets to stay at university, and everyone speaks glowingly of how well he’s doing—but me, he keeps here at home like a peasant, or more accurately, he keeps me here completely neglected; do you call that proper care for a gentleman of my noble birth, when it’s no different from keeping an ox in a stall?

Original: His horses are bred better; for, besides that they are fair with their feeding, they are taught their manage, and to that end riders dearly hired: but I, his brother, gain nothing under him but growth, for the which his animals on his dunghills are as much bound to him as I.
Modern: His horses are treated better than I am—not only are they well-fed and healthy, but they’re trained in proper horsemanship with expensive trainers hired for that purpose; but me, his own brother, I get nothing from him except the basic ability to grow up, and for that his farm animals owe him just as much as I do.

Original: Besides this nothing that he so plentifully gives me, the something that nature gave me, his countenance seems to take from me: he lets me feed with his hinds, bars me the place of a brother, and, as much as in him lies, mines my gentility with my education.
Modern: On top of this “nothing” that he so generously gives me, he seems determined to take away the noble qualities that nature gave me at birth—he makes me eat with his servants, denies me my rightful place as his brother, and as much as he can, he’s destroying my gentlemanly status through this terrible education.

Original: This is it, Adam, that grieves me; and the spirit of my father, which I think is within me, begins to mutiny against this servitude.
Modern: This is what breaks my heart, Adam; and my father’s spirit, which I believe lives on in me, is starting to rebel against this slavery.

Original: I will no longer endure it, though yet I know no wise remedy how to avoid it.
Modern: I won’t put up with it anymore, even though I still don’t know of any smart way to escape it.

In Act I, Scene i of “As You Like It,” Orlando de Boys confronts his older brother Oliver about the mistreatment he has suffered since their father Sir Rowland de Boys died. Orlando complains that while Oliver has properly educated their middle brother Jaques, he has kept Orlando in poverty and denied him the education and upbringing befitting a gentleman’s son, essentially treating him no better than a servant. The brothers argue, and their dispute escalates into a physical altercation when Orlando grabs Oliver by the throat.

The family’s old servant Adam intervenes to break up the fight, and Oliver dismissively sends Orlando away. After Orlando leaves, Oliver reveals his hatred for his younger brother to Adam, admitting that Orlando’s noble qualities and gentle nature, inherited from their father, make him despise Orlando even more. When the wrestler Charles enters seeking Oliver, he informs him about Duke Frederick’s usurpation of his brother Duke Senior’s throne and the banishment of most of Duke Senior’s followers to the Forest of Arden. Charles also mentions that Rosalind, Duke Senior’s daughter, has been allowed to remain at court as a companion to Duke Frederick’s daughter Celia. Charles reveals he is scheduled to wrestle Orlando the next day and asks Oliver’s opinion of his brother’s character, whereupon Oliver treacherously lies about Orlando, portraying him as a dangerous schemer, hoping that Charles will seriously injure or kill Orlando in their match.

As You Like It follows the story of Rosalind, daughter of the banished Duke Senior, who lives at court with her cousin Celia under the rule of the usurping Duke Frederick. When the young nobleman Orlando defeats the court wrestler Charles, Rosalind and Orlando fall instantly in love. However, Duke Frederick suddenly banishes Rosalind, fearing her popularity threatens his power. Celia chooses to flee with her beloved cousin, and together they escape to the Forest of Arden where Rosalind’s father lives in exile with his loyal followers.

To ensure their safety during their journey and life in the forest, Rosalind disguises herself as a young man named Ganymede, while Celia takes the identity of a shepherdess called Aliena. Meanwhile, Orlando, having been warned by the faithful servant Adam that his jealous older brother Oliver plans to kill him, also flees to the forest. In Arden, Orlando encounters “Ganymede” and, not recognizing his beloved Rosalind, agrees to cure his lovesickness by wooing the disguised young man as if he were Rosalind herself.

The forest becomes a place of romantic confusion and resolution, populated by various couples including the melancholy Jaques, the fool Touchstone (who pursues the country wench Audrey), and the shepherdess Phebe (who falls for “Ganymede” while spurning her devoted Silvius). The play’s complications multiply when Oliver arrives in the forest, transformed by Orlando’s heroic rescue of him from a lioness, and immediately falls in love with Celia. In the final act, Rosalind orchestrates the resolution of all romantic entanglements by revealing her true identity, leading to multiple marriages. Duke Frederick experiences a religious conversion and restores his brother to power, allowing the court characters to choose between returning to civilization or remaining in the pastoral world of Arden.