Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd, Queen. 178 [A noise within. Alack! what noise is this? | Enter a Gentleman. 179 King. Attend! Where are my Switzers? Let them guard the door. Gent. Save yourself, my lord; The ocean, overpeering of his list, Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste, Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, O'erbears your officers! The rabble call him, lord; Antiquity forgot, custom not known, The ratifiers and props of every word, They cry, "Choose we; Laertes shall be king!" Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry! King. Enter LAERTES, armed; Dan. We will, we will. [Noise within. | Danes following. I pray you, give me leave. [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 proclaims me bastard; Cries, cuckold, to my father; brands the harlot Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brow Of my true mother. King. Why thou art thus incens'd Let him go, Gertrude. Dead. But not by him. Laer. Where is my father? King. Queen. King. Let him demand his fill. Laer. How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with. To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience, and grace to the profoundest pit! King. Who shall stay you? King. Good Laertes, If you desire to know the certainty Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge, Laer. None but his enemies. King. Will you know them, then? Laer. To his good friends thus wide I 'll ope my arms; And, like the kind life- rendering pelican, Repast them with my blood. King. Danes. [Within.] Let her come in. Re-enter OPHELIA. - O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt, O heavens is 't possible, a young maid's wits 180 181 182 183 It sends some precious instance of itself Oph. They bore him barefac'd on the bier; And in his grave rain'd many a tear; 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. A document in madness; thoughts and remembrance fitted. there's Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines: 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 difThere's a daisy: I would give you some vio ference. For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy, 184 Laer. Oph. And will he not come again? And will he not come again? No, no, he is dead; His beard as white as snow, He is gone, he is gone, They [Sings. [Sings. And of all christian souls! I pray God. God be wi' you! 185 Laer. Do you see this, O God? [Exit OPHELIA. | King. Laertes, I must commune with your grief, Or you deny me right. Go but apart, They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give, Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours, Be you content to lend your patience to us, Let this be so: Laer. No trophy, sword, nor hatchment, o'er his bones, Cry to be heard, as 't were from heaven to earth, King. So you shall; And, where th' offence is, let the great axe fall. SCENE VI. Another Room in the Same. Enter HORATIO, and a Servant. [Exeunt. 186 Hor. What are they, that would speak with me? I do not know from what part of the world 1 Sail. Enter Sailors. God bless you, Sir. Hor. Let him bless thee too. [Exit Servant. 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. [Reuds.] "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 our- 187 selves 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 would'st 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 164 165 Ros. My lord, you must tell us where the body is, and go with us to the king. Ham. The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is a thing Guil. A thing, my lord! Ham. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide fox, and all after. SCENE III. Another Room in the Same. Enter King, attended. [Exeunt. | King. I have sent to seek him, and to find the body. How dangerous is it, that this man goes loose! Yet must not we put the strong law on him: He's lov'd of the distracted multitude, Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes; And where 't is so, th' offender's scourge is weigh'd, Enter ROSENCRANTZ. Or not at all. How now! what hath befallen? King. But where is he? Ros. Without, my lord; guarded, to know your pleasure. Ros. Ho, Guildenstern! bring in my lord. | Enter HAMLET and GUILDENSTERN. King. Now, Hamlet, where 's Polonius? Ham. At supper. King. At supper! Where? Ham. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots: your fat king, and your lean beggar, is but variable service; two dishes, but to one table: that 's the end. King, Alas, alas! Ham. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king; and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. |