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- {\rtf0\ansi{\fonttbl{\f0\froman Times Roman;}{\f1\fmodern Courier;}}
- {\pard\f0\fs28{\fs48 Hamlet
- }\
- \
- {\b\fs36 5.2}
- \
- {\i Enter Prince Hamlet and Horatio\
- }{\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } So much for this, sir. Now, let me see, the other.\
- You do remember all the circumstance?\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Remember it, my lord!\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting\
- That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay {\fs20 5}\
- Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly\'b1\'b1\
- And praised be rashness for it: let us know\
- Our indiscretion sometime serves us well\
- When our dear plots do pall, and that should teach us\
- There's a divinity that shapes our ends, {\fs20 10}\
- Rough-hew them how we will\'b1\'b1\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} That is most certain.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} Up from my cabin,\
- My sea-gown scarfed about me in the dark,\
- Groped I to find out them, had my desire, {\fs20 15}\
- Fingered their packet, and in fine withdrew\
- To mine own room again, making so bold,\
- My fears forgetting manners, to unseal\
- Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio\'b1\'b1\
- O royal knavery!\'b1\'b1an exact command, {\fs20 20}\
- Larded with many several sorts of reasons\
- Importing Denmark's health, and England's, too,\
- With ho! such bugs and goblins in my life,\
- That on the supervise, no leisure bated,\
- No, not to stay the grinding of the axe, {\fs20 25}\
- My head should be struck off.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Is't possible?\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET}{\i (giving it to him)\
- } Here's the commission. Read it at more leisure.\
- But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed?\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} I beseech you.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Being thus benetted round with villainies\'b1\'b1 {\fs20 30}\
- Ere I could make a prologue to my brains,\
- They had begun the play\'b1\'b1I sat me down,\
- Devised a new commission, wrote it fair.\
- I once did hold it, as our statists do,\
- A baseness to write fair, and laboured much {\fs20 35}\
- How to forget that learning; but, sir, now\
- It did me yeoman's service. Wilt thou know\
- Th'effect of what I wrote?\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Ay, good my lord.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } An earnest conjuration from the King,\
- As England was his faithful tributary, {\fs20 40}\
- As love between them like the palm should flourish,\
- As peace should still her wheaten garland wear\
- And stand a comma 'tween their amities,\
- And many such like `as'es of great charge,\
- That on the view and know of these contents, {\fs20 45}\
- Without debatement further more or less,\
- He should the bearers put to sudden death,\
- Not shriving-time allowed.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} How was this sealed?\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Why, even in that was heaven ordinant.\
- I had my father's signet in my purse, {\fs20 50}\
- Which was the model of that Danish seal;\
- Folded the writ up in the form of th'other,\
- Subscribed it, gave't th'impression, placed it safely,\
- The changeling never known. Now the next day\
- Was our sea-fight; and what to this was sequent {\fs20 55}\
- Thou know'st already.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO\
- } So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to't.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Why, man, they did make love to this employment.\
- They are not near my conscience. Their defeat\
- Doth by their own insinuation grow. {\fs20 60}\
- 'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes\
- Between the pass and fell incense\'c1d points\
- Of mighty opposites.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Why, what a king is this!\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Does it not, think'st thee, stand me now upon\'b1\'b1\
- He that hath killed my king and whored my mother, {\fs20 65}\
- Popped in between th'election and my hopes,\
- Thrown out his angle for my proper life,\
- And with such coz'nage\'b1\'b1is't not perfect conscience\
- To quit him with this arm? And is't not to be damned\
- To let this canker of our nature come {\fs20 70}\
- In further evil?\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO\
- } It must be shortly known to him from England\
- What is the issue of the business there.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } It will be short. The interim's mine,\
- And a man's life's no more than to say `one'. {\fs20 75}\
- 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 {\fs20 80}\
- Into a tow'ring passion.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Peace, who comes here?\
- {\i Enter young Osric, a courtier, [taking off his hat]\
- }{\b \fs24 OSRIC\
- } Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} I humbly thank you, sir.{\i (To Horatio)} Dost know\
- this water-fly?\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} No, my good lord. {\fs20 85}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} Thy state is the more gracious, for 'tis a vice to\
- know him. He hath much land, and fertile. Let a beast\
- be lord of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's\
- mess. 'Tis a chuff, but, as I say, spacious in the\
- possession of dirt. {\fs20 90}\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} Sweet lord, if your friendship were at leisure I\
- should impart a thing to you from his majesty.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of spirit.\
- Put your bonnet to his right use; 'tis for the head.\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} I thank your lordship, 'tis very hot. {\fs20 95}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} No, believe me, 'tis very cold. The wind is\
- northerly.\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} Methinks it is very sultry and hot for my\
- complexion. {\fs20 100}\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} Exceedingly, my lord. It is very sultry, as 'twere\'b1\'b1\
- I cannot tell how. But, my lord, his majesty bade me\
- signify to you that a has laid a great wager on your\
- head. Sir, this is the matter.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} I beseech you, remember. {\fs20 105}\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} Nay, good my lord, for mine ease, in good faith.\
- Sir, you are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is\
- at his weapon.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} What's his weapon?\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} Rapier and dagger. {\fs20 110}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} That's two of his weapons. But well.\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} The King, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary\
- horses, against the which he imponed, as I take it, six\
- French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns as\
- girdle, hanger, or so. Three of the carriages, in faith, {\fs20 115}\
- are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts,\
- most delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} What call you the carriages?\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} The carriages, sir, are the hangers.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} The phrase would be more germane to the matter {\fs20 120}\
- 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\'b1\'b1that's the French bet against the\
- Danish. Why is this `imponed', as you call it? {\fs20 125}\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} The King, sir, hath laid, sir, that in a dozen passes\
- between you and him he shall not exceed you three\
- hits. He hath on't twelve for nine, and it would come\
- to immediate trial if your lordship would vouchsafe the\
- answer. {\fs20 130}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} How if I answer no?\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in\
- trial.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} Sir, I will walk here in the hall. If it please his\
- majesty, 'tis the breathing time of day with me. Let the {\fs20 135}\
- foils be brought; the gentleman willing, an the King\
- hold his purpose, I will win for him an I can. If not,\
- I'll gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits.\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} Shall I re-deliver you e'en so?\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} To this effect, sir; after what flourish your nature {\fs20 140}\
- will.\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} I commend my duty to your lordship.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} Yours, yours.\
- {\i Exit Osric\
- } He does well to commend it himself; there are no\
- tongues else for 's turn. {\fs20 145}\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} This lapwing runs away with the shell on his\
- head.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} A did comply with his dug before a sucked it.\
- Thus has he\'b1\'b1and many more of the same bevy that I\
- know the drossy age dotes on\'b1\'b1only got the tune of {\fs20 150}\
- the time and outward habit of encounter, a kind of\
- yeasty collection which carries them through and\
- through the most fanned and winnowed opinions; and\
- do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} You will lose this wager, my lord. {\fs20 155}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} I do not think so. Since he went into France, I\
- have been in continual practice. I shall win at the odds.\
- But thou wouldst not think how all here about my\
- heart\'b1\'b1but it is no matter.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Nay, good my lord\'b1\'b1 {\fs20 160}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} It is but foolery, but it is such a kind of gain-\
- giving as would perhaps trouble a woman.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} If your mind dislike anything, obey it. I will\
- forestall their repair hither, and say you are not fit.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} Not a whit. We defy augury. There's a special {\fs20 165}\
- 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? {\fs20 170}\
- {\i Enter King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, and\
- lords, with Osric and other attendants with\
- [trumpets, drums, cushions], foils, and gauntlets; a\
- table, and flagons of wine on it\
- }{\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS\
- } Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET}{\i (to Laertes)\
- } Give me your pardon, sir. I've done you wrong;\
- But pardon't as you are a gentleman.\
- This presence knows,\
- And you must needs have heard, how I am punished {\fs20 175}\
- With sore distraction. What I have done\
- That might your nature, honour, and exception\
- Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.\
- Was't Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet.\
- If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, {\fs20 180}\
- And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,\
- Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.\
- Who does it then? His madness. If't be so,\
- Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged.\
- His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. {\fs20 185}\
- Sir, in this audience\
- Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil\
- Free me so far in your most generous thoughts\
- That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house\
- And hurt my brother.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES} I am satisfied in nature, {\fs20 190}\
- Whose motive in this case should stir me most\
- To my revenge. But in my terms of honour\
- I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement\
- Till by some elder masters of known honour\
- I have a voice and precedent of peace {\fs20 195}\
- To keep my name ungored; but till that time\
- I do receive your offered love like love,\
- And will not wrong it.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} I do embrace it freely,\
- And will this brothers' wager frankly play.\'b1\'b1\
- {\i (To attendants)} Give us the foils. Come on.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES}{\i (to attendants)} Come, one for me. {\fs20 200}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } I'll be your foil, Laertes. In mine ignorance\
- Your skill shall, like a star i'th' darkest night,\
- Stick fiery off indeed.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES} You mock me, sir.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} No, by this hand. {\fs20 205}\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS\
- } Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet,\
- You know the wager?\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} Very well, my lord.\
- Your grace hath laid the odds o'th' weaker side.\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS\
- } I do not fear it; I have seen you both.\
- But since he is bettered, we have therefore odds. {\fs20 210}\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES}{\i (taking a foil)\
- } This is too heavy; let me see another.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET}{\i (taking a foil)\
- } This likes me well. These foils have all a length?\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} Ay, my good lord.\
- {\i Hamlet and Laertes prepare to play\
- }{\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS}{\i (to attendants)\
- } Set me the stoups of wine upon that table.\
- If Hamlet give the first or second hit, {\fs20 215}\
- 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 {\fs20 220}\
- In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the cups,\
- And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,\
- The trumpet to the cannoneer without,\
- The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth,\
- `Now the King drinks to Hamlet'.\
- {\i Trumpets the while he drinks\
- } Come, begin. {\fs20 225}\
- And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET}{\i (to Laertes)} Come on, sir.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES} Come, my lord.\
- {\i They play\
- }{\b \fs24 HAMLET} One.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES} No. {\fs20 230}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET}{\i (to Osric)} Judgement.\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} A hit, a very palpable hit.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES} Well, again.\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS\
- } Stay. Give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine.\
- Here's to thy health.\'b1\'b1 {\fs20 235}\
- {\i [Drum and] trumpets sound, and shot goes off\
- } Give him the cup.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } I'll play this bout first. Set it by a while.\'b1\'b1\
- Come.\
- {\i They play again\
- } Another hit. What say you?\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES\
- } A touch, a touch, I do confess.\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS\
- } Our son shall win.\
- {\b \fs24 QUEEN GERTRUDE} He's fat and scant of breath.\'b1\'b1 {\fs20 240}\
- Here, Hamlet, take my napkin. Rub thy brows.\
- The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Good madam.\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS} Gertrude, do not drink.\
- {\b \fs24 QUEEN GERTRUDE\
- } I will, my lord, I pray you pardon me.\
- {\i She drinks, then offers the cup to Hamlet\
- }{\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS}{\i (aside)\
- } It is the poisoned cup; it is too late. {\fs20 245}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.\
- {\b \fs24 QUEEN GERTRUDE}{\i (to Hamlet)} Come, let me wipe thy face.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES}{\i (aside to Claudius)} My lord, I'll hit him now.\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS}{\i (aside to Laertes)} I do not think't.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES}{\i (aside)\
- } And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience. {\fs20 250}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Come for the third, Laertes, you but dally.\
- I pray you pass with your best violence.\
- I am afeard you make a wanton of me.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES\
- } Say you so? Come on.\
- {\i They play\
- }{\b \fs24 OSRIC} Nothing neither way.\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES}{\i (to Hamlet)\
- } Have at you now!\
- {\i [Laertes wounds Hamlet.] In scuffling, they change\
- rapiers, [and Hamlet wounds Laertes]\
- }{\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS}{\i (to attendants)} Part them, they are incensed. {\fs20 255}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET}{\i (to Laertes)\
- } Nay, come again.\
- {\i [The Queen falls down]\
- }{\b \fs24 OSRIC} Look to the Queen there, ho!\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO\
- } They bleed on both sides.{\i (To Hamlet)} How is't, my lord?\
- {\b \fs24 OSRIC} How is't, Laertes?\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES\
- } Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric.\
- I am justly killed with mine own treachery. {\fs20 260}\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } How does the Queen?\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS} She swoons to see them bleed.\
- {\b \fs24 QUEEN GERTRUDE\
- } No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet,\
- The drink, the drink\'b1\'b1I am poisoned.\
- {\i [She dies]\
- }{\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } O villainy! Ho! Let the door be locked!\
- {\i [Exit Osric]\
- } Treachery, seek it out. {\fs20 265}\
- {\b \fs24 LAERTES\
- } It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain.\
- No med'cine in the world can do thee good.\
- In thee there is not half an hour of life.\
- The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,\
- Unbated and envenomed. The foul practice {\fs20 270}\
- Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie,\
- Never to rise again. Thy mother's poisoned.\
- I can no more. The King, the King's to blame.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } The point envenomed too? Then, venom, to thy work.\
- {\i He hurts King Claudius\
- }{\b \fs24 ALL THE COURTIERS} Treason, treason! {\fs20 275}\
- {\b \fs24 KING CLAUDIUS\
- } O yet defend me, friends! I am but hurt.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damne\'c1d Dane,\
- Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?\
- Follow my mother.\
- {\i King Claudius dies\
- }{\b \fs24 LAERTES} He is justly served.\
- It is a poison tempered by himself. {\fs20 280}\
- Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.\
- Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,\
- Nor thine on me.\
- {\i He dies\
- }{\b \fs24 HAMLET\
- } Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.\
- I am dead, Horatio. Wretched Queen, adieu! {\fs20 285}\
- You that look pale and tremble at this chance,\
- That are but mutes or audience to this act,\
- Had I but time\'b1\'b1as this fell sergeant Death\
- Is strict in his arrest\'b1\'b1O, I could tell you\'b1\'b1\
- But let it be. Horatio, I am dead, {\fs20 290}\
- Thou liv'st. Report me and my cause aright\
- To the unsatisfied.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Never believe it.\
- I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.\
- Here's yet some liquor left.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} As thou'rt a man,\
- Give me the cup. Let go. By heaven, I'll ha't. {\fs20 295}\
- O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,\
- Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!\
- If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,\
- Absent thee from felicity a while,\
- And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain {\fs20 300}\
- To tell my story.\
- {\i March afar off, and shout within\
- } What warlike noise is this?\
- {\i Enter Osric\
- }{\b \fs24 OSRIC\
- } Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,\
- To th'ambassadors of England gives\
- This warlike volley.\
- {\b \fs24 HAMLET} O, I die, Horatio!\
- The potent poison quite o'ercrows my spirit. {\fs20 305}\
- I cannot live to hear the news from England,\
- But I do prophesy th'election lights\
- On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.\
- So tell him, with th'occurrents, more and less,\
- Which have solicited. The rest is silence. {\fs20 310}\
- O, O, O, O!\
- {\i He dies\
- }{\b \fs24 HORATIO\
- } Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,\
- And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.\'b1\'b1\
- Why does the drum come hither?\
- {\i Enter Fortinbras with the English [Ambassadors],\
- with a drummer, colours, and attendants\
- }{\b \fs24 FORTINBRAS} Where is this sight? {\fs20 315}\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} What is it ye would see?\
- If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.\
- {\b \fs24 FORTINBRAS\
- } This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death,\
- What feast is toward in thine eternal cell\
- That thou so many princes at a shot {\fs20 320}\
- So bloodily hast struck!\
- {\b \fs24 AMBASSADOR} The sight is dismal,\
- And our affairs from England come too late.\
- The ears are senseless that should give us hearing\
- To tell him his commandment is fulfilled,\
- That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. {\fs20 325}\
- Where should we have our thanks?\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO} Not from his mouth,\
- Had it th'ability of life to thank you.\
- He never gave commandment for their death.\
- But since so jump upon this bloody question\
- You from the Polack wars, and you from England, {\fs20 330}\
- Are here arrived, give order that these bodies\
- High on a stage be place\'c1d to the view;\
- And let me speak to th' yet unknowing world\
- How these things came about. So shall you hear\
- Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, {\fs20 335}\
- Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters,\
- Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause;\
- And, in this upshot, purposes mistook\
- Fall'n on th'inventors' heads. All this can I\
- Truly deliver.\
- {\b \fs24 FORTINBRAS} Let us haste to hear it, {\fs20 340}\
- And call the noblest to the audience.\
- For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune.\
- I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,\
- Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.\
- {\b \fs24 HORATIO\
- } Of that I shall have also cause to speak, {\fs20 345}\
- And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more.\
- But let this same be presently performed,\
- Even whiles men's minds are wild, lest more\
- mischance\
- On plots and errors happen.\
- {\b \fs24 FORTINBRAS} Let four captains\
- Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, {\fs20 350}\
- For he was likely, had he been put on,\
- To have proved most royally; and for his passage,\
- The soldiers' music and the rites of war\
- Speak loudly for him.\
- Take up the body. Such a sight as this {\fs20 355}\
- Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.\
- Go, bid the soldiers shoot.\
- {\i Exeunt, marching, with the bodies; after the\
- which, a peal of ordnance are shot off\
- \
-