Miko: annotations

A type of apple.

Holofernes probably means “cielo” - the Italian word for the sky. In his edition of Shakespeare, Henry Irving actually changed it to “cielo”. Whether Shakespeare intentionally had Holofernes say the wrong word or the error was in the production process is unknown.

“Intestine” in this context means internal or civil. “Jars” means conflicts. So the duke is describing the conflict as internal. Scholars have speculated about why the conflict is described as internal, given that Ephesus and Syracuse were quite some distance apart, about 1,000 kilometers. However, the two cities were both part of the Roman Republic (Ephesus had ceased to exist by Shakespeare's time). So it would be reasonable to perceive the two cities as being politically connected.

I.e., she was very proud of her two boys.

They mourned in imitation of their mother because they didn't actually understand the tragedy going on.

A dog with a docked tail.

A carrect (also spelled “carrack”) was a large galleon. Carrects were used as merchant ships and warships.

Crab went to her plate (trencher) and stole her rooster's (capon's) leg.

In Shakespeare's time the word “squirrel” was sometimes used to indicate a small dog.

Here Launce uses the word “dog” to mean someone who is adept at something, in this case “all things”.