her; Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants, Luer. Must there no more be done? Lay her i' the earth; And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest, A ministering angel shall my sister be, When thou liest howling. Ham. What! the fair Ophelia ? Queen. Sweets to the sweet: farewell! Scattering flowers. I hop'd thou should'st have been my Hamlet's wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave. Laer. O treble woe 270 Fall ten times treble on that cursed head Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense Depriv'd thee of. Hold off the earth awhile, Till I have caught her once more in mine arms. Leaps into the grave. Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead, Till of this flat a mountain you have made, To o'er-top old Pelion or the skyish head Of blue Olympus. Ham. Advancing. What is he whose grief Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of Ham. So much for this, sir: now let me see the other; You do remember all the circumstance? Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting That would not let me sleep; methought I lay With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life, Hor. Is 't possible? Ham. Here's the commission: read it at more leisure. But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed? Ham. Being thus benetted round with villanies, Ere I could make a prologue to my brains 30 Hor. It must be shortly known to him from England What is the issue of the business there. Ham. It will be short: the interim is mine; And a man's life no more than to say 'One.' But I am very sorry, good Horatio, That to Laertes I forgot myself; For, by the image of my cause, I see The portraiture of his: I'll court his favours: But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me Into a towering passion. Hor. Peace! who comes here! Enter OSRIC. Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark. Ham. I humbly thank you, sir. Dost know this water-fly? Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should impart a thing to you from his majesty. Ham. I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of spirit. Put your bonnet to his right use; 'tis for the head. Osr. I thank your lordship, 'tis very hot. Ham. No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the wind is northerly. Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. Ham. But yet methinks it is very sultry and hot for my complexion. Osr. Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry, as 'twere, I cannot tell how. But, my lord, his majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid a great wager on your head. Sir, this is the matter, Ham. I beseech you, remember HAMLET moves him to put on his hat. Osr. Nay, good my lord; for mine ease, in good faith. Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes; believe me, an absolute gentleman, ful of most excellent differences, of very soft society and great showing; indeed, to speak feelingly of him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see. Ham. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you; though, I know, to divide him inventorially would dizzy the arithmetic of memory, and yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be a soul of great article; and his infusion of such dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of him, his semblable is his mirror; 140 Osr. I know you are not ignorantHam. I would you did, sir; yet, in faith, if you did, it would not much approve me. Well, sir? Osr. You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is Ham. I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in excellence; but, to know a man well, were to know himself. Osr. I mean, sir, for his weapon; but in the imputation laid on him by them, in his meed he's unfellowed. Ham. What's his weapon? 152 Ham. That's two of his weapons; but, well. Osr. The king, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses; against the which he has imponed, as I take it, six French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so three of the carriages, in faith, are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit. Ham. What call you the carriages? Hor. I knew you must be edified by the margent ere you had done. 163 Osr. The carriages, sir, are the hangers. Ham. The phrase would be more german to the matter if we could carry cannon by our sides; I would it might be hangers till then. But, on six Barbary horses against six French swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited carriages; that's the French bet against the Danish. Why is this imponed,' as you call it ? Osr. The king, sir, hath laid, sir, that in a dozen passes between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits; he hath laid on twelve for nine, and it would come to immediate trial if your lordship would vouchsafe the Osr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial. Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall; if it please his majesty, 'tis the breathing time of day with me; let the foils be brought, the gentleman willing, and the king hold his purpose, I will win for him an I can; if not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits. Osr. Shall I re-deliver you e'en so? Ham. To this effect, sir; after what flourish your nature will. 191 Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. Ham. Yours, yours. Exit OSRIC. He does well to commend it himself; there are no tongues else for 's turn, Ham. I am constant to my purposes; they follow the king's pleasure: if his fitness speaks, mine is ready; now or whensoever, provided I be so able as now. Lord. The king and queen and all are coming down. Ham. In happy time. Lord. The queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes before you fall to play. Ham. She well instructs me. 220 Exit Lord. Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord. Ham. I do not think so; since he went into France I have been in continual practice; I shall win at the odds. But thou would'st not think how ill all's here about my heart; but it is no matter. Hor. Nay, good my lord,- Ham. It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gain-giving as would perhaps trouble a woman. Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it; I will forestall their repair hither, and say you are not fit. 233 Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come : the readiness is all. Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes? Let be. Enter KING, QUEEN, LAERTES, Lords, OSRIC, and Attendants with foils, etc. 240 King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me. The KING puts the hand of LAERTES into that of HAMLET. Ham. Give me your pardon, sir; I've done you wrong; But pardon 't, as you are a gentleman. 250 Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil Laer. I am satisfied in nature, 260 I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement, To keep my name ungor'd. But till that time, I embrace it freely; Ham. Laer. Your skill shall, like a star i̇' the darkest night, Laer. You mock me, sir. Ham. No, by this hand. King. Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet, You know the wager? 282 Нать. Very well, my lord; Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side. King. I do not fear it; I have seen you both; But since he's better'd, we have therefore odds. Laer. This is too heavy; let me see another. Ham. This likes me well. These foils have all a length? They prepare to play. Osr. Ay, my good lord. King. Set methe stoups of wine upon that table. If Hamlet give the first or second hit, Or quit in answer of the third exchange, Let all the battlements their ordnance fire; The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath; And in the cup an union shall he throw, Richer than that which four successive kings In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the 290 cups; And let the kettle to the trumpet speak, Laer. Ham. Laer. Ham. Come, my lord. They play. One. No. Here's to thy health. Give him the cup. Another hit; what say you? Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. King. Our son shall win. Queen. 301 He's fat, and scant of breath. Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows; The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. Ham. Good madam! King. Gertrude, do not drink. Ham. O villany! Ho! let the door be lock'd: Treachery! seek it out. LAERTES falls Laer. It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain; No medicine in the world can do thee good; Ham. As thou 'rt a man, Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have 't. O God! Horatio, what a wounded name, 360 Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me. If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, March afar off, and shout within. What war-like noise is this? Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland, To the ambassadors of England gives Ham. O! I die, Horatio ; That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. 389 Had it the ability of life to thank you : Are here arriv'd, give order that these bodies Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, 400 A |