I do repent; but Heaven hath pleas'd it so,
To punish me with this, and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow 1 him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:

Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.

Queen.

What shall I do ?

Hamlet. Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: Let the bloat King pinch wanton on your cheek; Make you to ravel all this matter out,

That I essentially am not in madness,

But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock,2 from a bat, a gib,3
Such dear concernings hide ? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,

Unpeg the basket on the house's top,

Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,

Queen. Be thou assur'd, if words be made of breath, And breath of life, I have no life to breathe

What thou hast said to me.

Hamlet. I must to England; you know that?

Queen.

I had forgot: 'tis so concluded on.

Alack,

Hamlet. There's letters seal'd; and my two schoolfellows,

Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd,5

They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way,

And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;

1 Find a place for.

4 Experiments.

5 Still having their fangs.

2 A toad.

3 A cat.

For 'tis the sport to have the enginer 1
Hoist 2 with his own petar: 3 and't shall go

hard

But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon. O, 'tis most sweet,

When in one line two crafts directly meet!
This man shall set me packing:

I'll lug the corse into the neighbor 4 room.
Mother, good night. Indeed this counselor
Is now most still, most secret, and most grave,
Who was in life a foolish, prating knave.—
Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you.
Good night, mother.

[Exeunt severally; Hamlet dragging in Polonius.

ACT IV.

SCENE I. A Room in the Castle.

Enter KING, Queen, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. King. There's matter in these sighs: these profound heaves You must translate; 'tis fit we understand them.

Where is your son ?

Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while.

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Ah, mine own lord, what have I seen to-night!
King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet ?
Queen. Mad as the sea and wind when both contend
Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit,
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
Whips out his rapier, cries, "A rat, a rat !"
And in this brainish 5 apprehension kills
The unseen good old man.

1 Engineer.
4 Neighboring.

2 Hoisted; blown up.
5 Crazy.

3 Petard.

King.

O heavy deed!

It had been so with us, had we been there.

His liberty is full of threats to all;

To you yourself, to us, to everyone.

Alas! how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?

It will be laid to us, whose providence 2

Should have kept short, restrain'd, and out of haunt,3
This mad young man: but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit;

But like the owner of a foul disease,

To keep it from divulging, let it feed
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?
Queen. To draw apart 4 the body he hath kill'd;
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore 5
Among a mineral of metals base,

Shows itself pure.

He weeps for what is done.

King. O Gertrude, come away!

The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch

But we will ship him hence; and this vile deed

We must, with all our majesty and skill,

Both countenance and excuse. - Ho, Guildenstern!

Reënter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTern.

Friends both, go join you with some further aid.
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him.
Go seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends,

1 "To us," i.e., to myself; the King using the royal style. 2 Precaution.

3 "Out of haunt," i.e., in seclusion; away from company.

4 Aside.

5 Precious ore; gold.

6 Mine.

7 Gently.

And let them know both what we mean to do,
And what's untimely done: so, haply, slander,
Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter,

As level as the cannon to his blank,1

Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name,
And hit the woundless air. O, come away!

My soul is full of discord and dismay.

SCENE II. Another Room in the Castle.

Enter HAMLET.

[Exeunt.

Hamlet. Safely stowed.

Rosencrantz.

Guildenstern.

} [Within] Hamlet! Lord Hamlet !

Hamlet. But soft, what noise? who calls on Hamlet? O, here they come.

Enter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN.

Rosencrantz. What have you done, my lord, with the dead body?

Hamlet. Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin.

Rosencrantz. Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence, And bear it to the chapel.

Hamlet. Do not believe it.

Rosencrantz. Believe what?

Hamlet. That I can keep your counsel, and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication 2 should be made by the son of a king?

Rosencrantz. Take you me for a sponge, my lord?

Hamlet. Ay, sir, that soaks up the King's countenance,3 his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the King best service

1 The white spot in the center of the target; from the French blanc ("white").

2 Reply; a legal term in the course of pleading.

3 Favor.

in the end: he keeps them, like an ape doth nuts, in the corner of his jaw; first mouth'd, to be last swallowed: when he needs what you have glean'd, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again.

Rosencrantz. I understand you not, my lord.

Hamlet. I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear. Rosencrantz. My lord, you must tell us where the body is, and go with us to the King.

Hamlet. The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body. The King is a thing—

Guildenstern. A thing, my lord!

Hamlet. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide, fox, and all after.2

[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 'tis so, the offender's scourge 3 is weigh'd,
But never the offense. To bear all smooth and even,
This sudden sending him away must seem
Deliberate pause: diseases desperate grown,
By desperate appliance are reliev'd,

Or not at all.

Enter ROSENCRANTZ.

How now! what hath befall'n ?

1 " Ape doth nuts," etc. "It is the way of monkeys in eating to throw that part of their food which they take up first into a pouch they are provided with on the side of the jaw, and there they keep it till they have done with the rest."-JOHNSON.

2 The children's game of "whoop," or "hide and seek." 3 Punishment.