Original: What! my young master? O my gentle master!
Modern: What! My young master! Oh, my noble master!

Original: O my sweet master! O you memory
Modern: Oh, my dear master! You remind me so much

Original: Of old Sir Rowland! why, what make you here?
Modern: Of your late father, Sir Rowland! Why are you here?

Original: Why are you virtuous? Why do people love you?
Modern: Why do you have to be so good? Why does everyone love you?

Original: And wherefore are you gentle, strong, and valiant?
Modern: And why are you so kind, strong, and brave?

Original: Why would you be so fond to overcome
Modern: Why were you so foolish to defeat

Original: The bony priser of the humorous duke?
Modern: The Duke’s skinny wrestling champion?

Original: Your praise is come too swiftly home before you.
Modern: News of your victory has already arrived here ahead of you.

Original: Know you not, master, to some kind of men
Modern: Don’t you know, master, that for some men

Original: Their graces serve them but as enemies?
Modern: Their good qualities only work against them?

Original: No more do yours: your virtues, gentle master,
Modern: Yours are no different: your virtues, kind master,

Original: Are sanctified and holy traitors to you.
Modern: Are blessed traitors working against you.

Original: O, what a world is this, when what is comely
Modern: Oh, what kind of world is this, when someone’s good looks

Original: Envenoms him that bears it!
Modern: Poison the person who has them!

Original: O unhappy youth!
Modern: Oh, you unfortunate young man!

Original: Come not within these doors; within this roof
Modern: Don’t come inside these doors; under this roof

Original: The enemy of all your graces lives.
Modern: The enemy of all your good qualities lives.

Original: Your brother,’no, no brother; yet the son,.
Modern: Your brother—no, he’s no brother; yet he is the son—

Original: Yet not the son, I will not call him son
Modern: Yet not the son, I won’t call him the son

Original: Of him I was about to call his father,.
Modern: Of the man I was about to call his father.

Original: Hath heard your praises, and this night he means
Modern: Has heard about your triumph, and tonight he plans

Original: To burn the lodging where you use to lie,
Modern: To burn down the room where you usually sleep,

Original: And you within it: if he fail of that,
Modern: With you inside it. If that plan fails,

Original: He will have other means to cut you off.
Modern: He has other ways to kill you.

Original: I overheard him and his practices.
Modern: I overheard him and his plots.

Original: This is no place; this house is but a butchery:
Modern: This is no safe place; this house is nothing but a slaughterhouse.

Original: Abhor it, fear it, do not enter it.
Modern: Hate it, fear it, don’t go inside!

In Act II, Scene 3 of “As You Like It,” Orlando returns to his brother Oliver’s house, where he is met by the old servant Adam. Adam warns Orlando not to enter the house, revealing that Oliver is plotting to burn down Orlando’s lodging that very night with Orlando inside it. Adam explains that Oliver’s hatred has grown more intense following Orlando’s victory in the wrestling match, as Orlando’s virtue and the praise he has received from others have only increased his brother’s malice. The faithful servant urges Orlando to flee immediately, as remaining would mean certain death.

Adam then offers Orlando his life savings of five hundred crowns, which he has saved throughout his long years of service. Despite his advanced age of nearly eighty years, Adam pledges to accompany Orlando into exile and serve him faithfully, preferring to spend his final years in honest service to a worthy master rather than remain in a household corrupted by wickedness. Orlando accepts both Adam’s money and his devoted service, expressing gratitude for the old man’s loyalty and love. The two depart together, with Orlando acknowledging Adam’s goodness and vowing that they will face whatever hardships lie ahead as master and servant united in their flight from Oliver’s treachery.

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.