Student Question
What does "three leagues off" mean in Much Ado About Nothing?
Quick answer:
Since a league is three miles, the phrase "not three leagues off" means around nine miles. If the person is traveling by sea, they are 14 miles away. The passage where this phrase occurs reads: LEONATO: How near is he? CURIO: Within this half hour he was not three leagues off. He was not three leagues off when I left him; and he's coming with full sail.
The phrase you are asking about is in Act I, scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing. Leonato, the governor of Messina, reads in a letter that Don Pedro is coming to visit Messina that night. The messenger who brought him the letter confirms what Leonato says and states, "He is very near by this. He was not three leagues off when I left him."
A league is a measure of distance. On land, it is usually considered to be three miles. So if Don Pedro is traveling by land and is "not three leagues off," then he is roughly nine miles from Messina. If he is traveling by sea, however, he is slightly farther away. A nautical mile is about 5.6km. Since there are 1.6 kilometers in a mile, and a league is three nautical miles, then "not three leagues off" by sea would be about 14 miles. I'm not a math whiz, so you might want to check my multiplication!
I hope this helps you.
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