ACT V. SCENE I. A Church Yard. Enter Two Clowns, with Spades, &c. 1 Clo. Is she to be buried in christian burial, that wilfully seeks her own salvation ? 2 Clo. I tell thee, she is; therefore, make her grave straight:the crowner hath set on her, and finds it christian burial. i Clo. How can that be, unless she drowned herself in her own defence ? 2 Clo. Why, 'tis found so. 1 Clo. It must be se offendendo; b it cannot be else. For here lies the point: If I drown myself wittingly, it argues an act: and an act hath three *It is an act branches ; * it is, to act, to do, and to perform :") to doe, &c. 1623, 32. * Argal, she drowned herself wittingly. 2 Clo. Nay, but hear you, goodman delver. . 1 Clo. Give me leave. Here lies the water ; good : here stands the man ; good : If the man go to this water, and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes ;' mark you that: but if the water come * make her grave straight] i. e. straightways, forthwith; the fact next stated being a warrant for proceeding, without any further question made. b It must be se offendendo] A confusion of things as well as of terms : used for se defendendo, a finding of the jury in justifiable homicide. If the man go to this water,-it is, will he, nill he, he goes ] Still floundering and confounding himself. He means to represent it as a wilful act, and of course without any mixture of nill or nolens in it. Had he gone, as stated, whether he would of not, it would not have been of his own accord, or his act. OW W . to him, and drown him, he drowns not himself: Argal, he, that is not guilty of his own death, shortens not his own life. 2 Clo. But is this law? i Clo. Ay, marry is't ; crowner's-questa law. 2 CLO. Will you ha' the truth on't? If this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out of christian burial. 1 Clo. Why, there thou say'st :. And the more pity; that great folks shall have countenance in this world to drown or hang themselves, more than their even christian.(2) Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers; they hold up Adam's profession. 2 Clo. Was he a gentleman ? (3) I Clo. What, art a heathen? How dost thou understand thescripture? Thescripture says, Adam digged; Could he dig without arms? I'll put another question to thee: if thou answerest me not to the purpose, confess thyself 2 Clo. Go to. 1 Clo. What is he, that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter? 2 Clo. The gallows-maker; for that frame outlives a thousand tenants. 1 Clo. I like thy wit well, in good faith; the gallows does well : But how does it well? it does • crowner's quest] Coroner's inquest. Why, there thou say'st] Say'st something, speak'st to the purpose. c confess thyself— ] Admit, or by acknowledgment pass sentence upon, thyself, as a simpleton; pursuing the form and phrase of the common saying, “ confess, and be hanged.” well to those that do ill: now thou dost ill, to say, the gallows is built stronger than the church; argal, the gallows may do well to thee, To't again; come. 2 Clo. Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter? i Clo, Ay, tell me that, and unyoke. Enter HAMLET and Horatio, at a distance. 1 Clo. Cudgel thy brains no more about it; for your dull ass will not mend his pace with beating: and, when you are asked this question next, say, a grave-maker; the houses that he makes, lasts till doomsday. Go, get thee to Yaughan, and fetch me a stoup of liquor.) [Exit 2 Clown. 1 Clown digs, and sings. Methought, it was very sweet, O, methought, there was nothing meet.(5) Ham. Has this fellow no feeling of his business ? he sings at grave-making. Hor. Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness. HAM. 'Tis e'en so: the hand of little employment hath the daintier sense.b * tell me that, and unyoke] Unravel this, and your day's work is done, your team you may then unharness. the hand of little employment hath the daintier scnse] i. c. its “ palm less dulled or staled.” I, 3. Polon., i Clo. But age, with his stealing steps, Hath caught * me in his clutch, clawed, 4 tos. And hath shipped me intill * the land, • into. 4tos. As if I had never been such.(6) [Throws up a scull. Ham. That scull had a tongue in it, and could sing once: How the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder! It might be the pate of a politician, which this ass o'er-offices; (7) one that could circumvent God, might it not ? Hor. It might, my lord, HAM. Or of a courtier ; which could say, Goodmorrow, sweet lord! How dost thou, good lord ? This might be my lord such-a-one, that praised my lord such-a-one's horse, when he meant to beg it ;(8) might it not ? Hor. Ay, my lord. HAM. Why, e'en so: and now my lady Worm's ; For-and a shrouding sheet : (10) [Throws up a scull. HAM. There's another: Why may not that be the scull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddits (11) now, his quillets, (12) his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce (13) with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery? the trick] Knack, faculty. Humph! This fellow might be in's time a great Hor. Not a jot more, my lord. HAM. They are sheep, and calves, which seek out assurance (16) in that. I will speak to this fellow : (17)—Whose grave's this, sir?* 1 Clo. Mine, sir. 0, a. pit of clay for to be made [Sings. For such a guest is meet. HAM. I think it be thine, indeed; for thou liest in't. 1 Clo. You lie out on't, sir, and therefore it is not yours: for my part, I do not lie in't, yet it is mine. HAM. Thou dost lie in't, to be in't, and say it is thine: 'tis for the dead, not for 'the quick; therefore thou liest. i Clo. 'Tis a quick lie, sir; 'twill away again, from me to you. HAM. What man dost thou dig it for ? ! is this the fine of his fines] The end of, or utnost attained by, the operation of all this legal machinery. brouch him no more] Answer for, or assure him. |