Rosencrantz. Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord,

We cannot get from him.

King.

But where is he?

Rosencrantz. Without, my lord; guarded, to know your pleasure. King. Bring him before us.

Rosencrantz. Ho, Guildenstern! bring in my lord.

Enter HAMLET and GUILDENSTERN.

King. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius ?

Hamlet. At supper.

King. At supper! where ?

Hamlet. 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 variable1 service,-two dishes, but to one table: that's the end. King. Alas, alas !

Hamlet. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.

King. What dost thou mean by this?

Hamlet. Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress 2 through the body of a beggar.

King. Where is Polonius ?

Hamlet. In heaven; send thither to see: if your messenger find him not there, seek him i̇' the other place yourself. But indeed, if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.

King. Go seek him there.

Hamlet. He will stay till you come.

[To some Attendants.

[Exeunt Attendants.

King. Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety, —

Which we do tender,3 as we dearly grieve

1 Varied.

2 The journeys of state through the country by the kings of England were called "progresses."

3" Do tender," i.e., have at heart.

For that which thou hast done,- must send thee hence
With fiery quickness: therefore prepare thyself.

The bark is ready, and the wind at help,1
The associates tend,2 and everything is bent

King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes.

Hamlet. I see a cherub that sees them. But, come; for England! Farewell, dear mother.

King. Thy loving father, Hamlet.

Hamlet. My mother: father and mother is man and wife; man and wife is one flesh; and so, my mother. Come, for England!

[Exit.

King. Follow him at foot;3 tempt him with speed aboard; Delay it not; I'll have him hence to-night.

Away! for everything is seal'd and done

That else leans on the affair: pray you, make haste.

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

And, England, if my love thou hold'st at aught,4—
As my great power thereof may give thee sense,
Since yet thy cicatrice 5 looks raw and red
After the Danish sword, and thy free awe
Pays homage to us,—thou mayst not coldly set 7
Our sovereign process, which imports at full,

By letters con'juring to that effect,

The present death of Hamlet.

Do it, England;

2 "Associates tend," i.e., companions wait.

3" Follow him at foot," i.e., follow close on his footsteps.

4 "Thou hold'st at aught," i.e., has any value with you.

5 Scar.

6" Free awe," i.e., awe still felt, though Danish arms are no longer enforcing it.

་ ་་ Coldly set," i.e., treat coldly, or with indifference.

For like the hectic 1 in my blood he rages,

And thou must cure me.

Till I know 'tis done,

Howe'er my haps,2 my joys were ne'er begun.

SCENE IV. A Plain in Denmark.

[Exit.

Enter FORTINBRAS, a Captain, and Soldiers, marching. Fortinbras. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish King; Tell him that, by his license, Fortinbras

Craves the conveyance of a promis'd march
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous.
If that his Majesty would aught with us,

We shall express our duty in his eye; 3
And let him know so.

Captain.

I will do't, my lord.

[Exeunt Fortinbras and Soldiers.

Fortinbras. Go softly 4 on.

Enter HAMLET, Rosencrantz, GUILDENSTERN, and others.

Hamlet. Good sir, whose powers are these ? 5

Captain. They are of Norway, sir.

Hamlet. How purpos'd, sir, I pray you?

Captain. Against some part of Poland.
Hamlet. Who commands them, sir?

Captain. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras.
Hamlet. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir,
Or for some frontier ?

Captain. Truly to speak, and with no addition,
We go to gain a little patch of ground
That hath in it no profit but the name.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm 6 it;

1 Fever.

2 "Howe'er my haps,” i.e., whatever happens to me. 3" In his eye," i.e., in his presence.

4 Gently.

5 "Whose powers are these? i.e., whose army is this? 6 Rent.

Nor will it yield to Norway1 or the Pole

A ranker 2 rate, should it be sold in fee.3

Hamlet. Why, then the Polack 4 never will defend it.
Captain. Yes, it is already garrison'd.

Hamlet. Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
Will not debate 5 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.

Captain. God be wi' you, sir.

Rosencrantz.

Hamlet. I'll be with you straight. Go a little before.

[Exit.

Will't please you go, my lord?

[Exeunt all except Hamlet.

What is a man,

How all occasions do inform against me,

And spur my dull revenge!

If his chief good and market of his time

Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.

Sure, He that made us with such large discourse,8
Looking before and after, gave us not

That capability and godlike reason

To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple

Of thinking too precisely on the event,

A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward, - I do not know

Why yet I live to say, "This thing's to do,"

Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:

5 Fight over.

6 See Note 2, p. 76.

7 Trade; business; occupation.

8 "Large discourse," i.e., range of comprehension.

9 Grow stale.

Witness this army, of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit, with divine ambition puff'd,1
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an eggshell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,2
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw,
When honor's at the stake. How stand I, then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,3
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,4

Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent 5
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

SCENE V. Elsinore. A Room in the Castle.

Enter QUEEN, HORATIO, and a Gentleman.

Queen. I will not speak with her.

Gentleman. She is importunate, indeed distract:6
Her mood will needs be pitied.
Queen.

What would she have?

[Exit

Gentleman. She speaks much of her father; says she hears There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart;

1 Animated.

2 Cause of quarrel.

3 Passion.

4 " Fantasy and trick of fame," i.e., a deceptive appearance promising fame.

5 That which contains; receptacle.

6 Distracted.