Rudyard Kipling
First published in Strand Magazine, April 1934
A fanciful scene in which Kipling imagines Shakespeare consulted by the translators of the magisterial King James Bible. Set in 1610 or 1611, it opens with Shakespeare sitting with his old friend Ben Jonson in his garden at Stratford-upon-Avon. When a messenger delivers proof pages of chapter 60 of Isaiah for Shakespeare’s review, the two argue about the best way to express the sense of the text, line by line, with Jonson exhibiting his learning and Shakespeare showing his humanity. Jonson ultimately admits defeat—but only when he is sure Shakespeare has dozed off. The title comes from Othello, III.3. —VH