Ham. Two thousand souls, and twenty thou- | Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in sand ducats, Will not debate the question of this straw: This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace; That inward breaks, and shows no cause without Why the man dies.-I humbly thank you, sir. Cap. God be wi' you, sir. [Exit Captain. Ros. Will't please you go, my lord? Ham. I will be with you straight. Go a little To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be And, ever, three parts coward,-I do not know means, To do't. Examples, gross as earth, exhort me: To all that fortune, death, and danger, dare, then, That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, SCENE V.-Elsinore. [Exit. A room in the castle. Enter Queen and HORATIO. Queen. -I will not speak with her. Her mood will needs be pitied. Hor. She speaks much of her father; says, she hears, There's tricks i'the world; and hems, and beats her heart; doubt, That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing, Yet the unshaped use of it doth move Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them, Indeed would make one think, there might be thought, Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily. Queen. "Twere good, she were spoken with; for she may strew Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds: To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, Re-enter HORATIO, with OPHELIA. Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark? Queen. How now, Ophelia ? Oph. How should I your true love know By his cockle hat and staff, Singing. when they ask you what it means, say you Like to a murdering piece, in many places this: Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine: Then up he rose, and don'd his clothes, And dupp'd the chamber door; Let in the maid, that out a maid King. Pretty Ophelia ! Gives me superfluous death! LA noise within. What is the matter? Gent. Save yourself, my lord; The ocean, overpeering of his list, Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste, Oph. Indeed, without an oath, I'll make an And, as the world were now but to begin, end on't: By Gis, and by Saint Charity, Quoth she, before you tumbled me, [He answers.] So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, King. How long hath she been thus? Oph. I hope, all will be well. We must be patient: but I cannot choose but weep, to think, they should lay him i'the cold ground: My brother shall know of it, and so I thank you for your good counsel. Come, my coach! Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies; good night, good night. Exit. King. Follow her close; give her good watch, For good Polonius' death; and we have done In hugger-mugger to inter him: Poor Ophelia Last, and as much containing as all these, VOL. II. Antiquity forgot, custom not known, Laertes shall be king, Laertes king! Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs. Dan. No, let's come in. Laer. I pray you, give me leave. Dan. We will, we will. [They retire without the door. Laer. I thank you :-keep the door.-O thou vile king, Give me my father. Queen. Calmly, good Laertes. Laer. That drop of blood, that's calm, pro- Cries, cuckold, to my father; brands the harlot King. What is the cause, Laertes, King. Who shall stay you? Laer. My will, not all the world's: ence. There's a daisy :-I would give you some violets; but they withered all, when my father And, for my means, I'll husband them so well, died:-They say, he made a good end, They shall go far with little. King. Good Laertes, If you desire to know the certainty Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your my arms; And, like the kind life-rend'ring pelican, King. Why, now you speak Like a good child, and a true gentleman. Danes. [Within.] Let her come in. Enter OPHELIA, fantastically dressed with straws and flowers. O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt, Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!— By heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight, Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May! Oph. They bore him barefac'd on the bier; Hey no nonny, nonny hey nonny : Fare you well, my dove! Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge, It could not move thus. Oph. You must sing, Down a-down, an you call him a-down-a. O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, that stole his master's daughter. Laer. This nothing's more than matter. Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for thoughts. Laer. Á document in madness; thoughts and remembrance fitted. Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines-there's rue for you; and here's some for me:-we may call it, herb of grace o’Sundays-you may wear your rue with a differ Hor. Let him bless thee too. 1 Sail. He shall, sir, an't please him. There's a letter for you, sir; it comes from the ambassador that was bound for England; if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. Hor. [Reads. Horatio, when thou shalt have overlooked this, give these fellows some means to the king; they have letters for him. Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us chase: Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour; and in the grapple I boarded them: on the instant, they got clear of our ship; so I alone became their prisoner. They have dealt with me like thieves of mercy; but they knew what they did; I am to do a good turn for them. Let the king have the letters I have sent; and repair thou to me with as much haste as thou wouldst fly death. I have words to speak in thine ear, will make thee dumb; yet are they much too light for the bore of the matter. These good fellows will bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold their course for England; of them I have much to tell thee. Farewell. He that thou knowest thine, Hamlet. Come, I will give you way for these your letters; And do't the speedier, that you may direct me To him, from whom you brought them. [Exeunt. SCENE VII.-Another room in the same. Enter King and LAERTES. King. Now must your conscience my acquittance seal, And you must put me in your heart for friend; Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear, That he, which hath your noble father slain, Pursu'd my life. Laer. It well appears :-But tell me, Why you proceeded not against these feats, So crimeful and so capital in nature, As by your safety, greatness, wisdom, all things else, You mainly were stirr'd up. King. O, for two special reasons; Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd, But yet to me they are strong. The queen, his mother, Lives almost by his looks; and for myself, Mess. Letters, my lord, from Hamlet: This to your majesty; this to the queen. King. From Hamlet! who brought them? Mess. Sailors, my lord, they say: I saw them not; They were given me by Claudio, he receiv'd them Of him that brought them. King. Laertes, you shall hear them: Leave us. [Exit Messenger. [Reads. High and mighty, you shall know, I am set naked on your kingdom. To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes: when I shall, first asking your pardon thereunto, recount the occasion of my sudden and more strange return. Hamlet. Laer. Ay, my lord; So you will not o'er-rule me to a peace. As checking at his voyage, and that he means Laer. My lord, I will be rul'd The rather, if you could devise it so, That I might be the organ. King. It falls right. You have been talk'd of since your travel much, Laer. What part is that, my lord? King. A very ribband in the cap of youth, Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes The light and careless livery that it wears, Than settled age his sables, and his weeds, Importing health and graveness.-Two months since, Here was a gentleman of Normandy, I have seen myself, and serv'd against, the French, Laer. A Norman, was't? King. A Norman. Laer. Upon my life, Lamord. King. The very same. As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents; And then this should is like a spendthrift sigh, That hurts by easing. But, to the quick o' the ulcer: Hamlet comes back; What would you undertake, To show yourself in deed your father's son, More than in words? Laer. To cut his throat i'the church. King. No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize; Revenge should have no bounds. But, good Will you do this, keep close within your chamber: And wager o'er your heads: he, being remiss, Laer. I will do't: And, for the purpose, I'll anoint my sword. Laer. I know him well: he is the brooch, in- Collected from all simples that have virtue deed, And gem of all the nation. King. He made confession of you ; He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye, Laer. What out of this, my lord? King. Laertes, was your father dear to you? Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, A face without a heart? Laer. Why ask you this? King. Not that I think, you did not love your father; A chalice for the nonce; whereon but sipping, If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck, Our purpose may hold there. But stay, what noise? Enter Queen. How now, sweet queen? Queen. One woe doth tread upon another's heel, So fast they follow:-Your sister's drown'd, Laertes. Laer. Drown'd! O, where? |