too light. For the law of writ and the liberty,' these are the only men. Hamlet. O Jephthah, judge of Israel,2 what a treasure hadst thou! Polonius. What a treasure had he, my lord? Hamlet. Why, "One fair daughter, and no more, The which he loved passing well." Polonius. [Aside] Still on my daughter. Hamlet. Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah? Polonius. If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have a daughter that I love passing well. Hamlet. Nay, that follows not. Polonius. What follows, then, my lord? Hamlet. Why, and then, you know, the first row "As by lot, God wot," "It came to pass, as most like it was,” 3 of the pious chanson 4 will show you more; for look, where my abridgment 5 comes. Enter four or five Players. You are welcome, masters; welcome, all. I am glad to see thee well. Welcome, good friends.—O, my old friend! thy face is lish and published in 1581. One comedy of Plautus translated and published in 1565.”—Warton. 1 "Law of writ," etc., i.e., adhering to their text, or extemporizing when necessary. 2 For the story of Jephthah and his daughter, see Judg. xi. 30-40. Hamlet quotes from an old ballad founded on this story. 3 Stanza. 4 "Pious chanson," i.e., a kind of Christmas carol containing some scriptural history thrown into loose rhymes, and sung about the streets by common people when they went at that season to solicit alms. 5 Further along in this scene Hamlet speaks of the players as the abstracts and brief chronicles of the time." (See p. 76.) valanc'd1 since I saw thee last: com'st thou to beard me in Denmark ? What, my young lady and mistress ! By'r lady, your ladyship is nearer to heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine.2 Pray God, your voice, like a piece of uncurrent gold, be not crack'd 3 within the ring.-Masters, you are all welcome. We'll e'en to't like French falconers, fly at anything we see: we'll have a speech straight. Come, give us a taste of your quality; come, a passionate speech. First Player. What speech, my lord? Hamlet. I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it was never acted; or, if it was, not above once, for the play, I remember, pleas'd not the million; 'twas caviare to the general: 5 but it was as I receiv'd it, and others, whose judgments in such matters cried in the top of mine 6-an excellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down with as much modesty as cunning. I remember, one said there were no sallets in the lines to make the matter savory, nor no matter in the phrase that might indict 7 the author of affection, but call'd it an honest method, as wholesome as sweet, and by very much more handsome than fine. 8 1 Fringed, referring here to the player's beard. 2 Coryat in his Crudities (1611), quoted in a note in Johnson and Steevens's Shakespeare (edition 1785), describes the "chopine," which he calls "chapiney." He says, "There is one thing used by the Venetian women which is so common that no woman whatsoever goeth without it, either in her house or abroad, -a thing made of wood covered with leather of sundry colors, some white, some redde, some yellow. It is called a chapiney, which they wear under their shoes. There are many of these chapineys of great height, . . . which maketh many of these women, which are very short, seeme much taller than the tallest women we have in England." 3 Changed too much for use. This is said to the youth who acted women's parts. There were no women on the stage in England before the reign of Charles II. 4 A Russian condiment prepared from the roes of sturgeon and other fish. It needed an acquired taste to relish it. One speech in it I chiefly lov'd: 'twas Æneas' tale to Dido,1 and thereabout of it especially, where he speaks of Priam's slaughter. If it live in your memory, begin at this line: let me see, let me see "The rugged Pyrrhus, like the Hyrcanian beast,"2_ it is not so it begins with Pyrrhus. "The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms, To their vile murders. Roasted in wrath and fire, "Æneas' tale to Dido," as related in Virgil's Æneid, is that Æneas, a Trojan prince, after the destruction of Troy by the Greeks, set sail with his followers, intending to found a colony in Italy. His vessels were driven by a storm on to the coast of Africa, where he was hospitably welcomed and entertained by Dido, Queen of Carthage, whose heart he quite won by his manly bearing and his eloquent description of incidents in the siege of Troy. According to the poem, Priam was the King of Troy, Hecuba was his Queen, and Pyrrhus was a general of the Grecian forces. 2" Hyrcanian beast," i.e., the tiger. Hyrcania was a name given by the ancients to a territory of uncertain extent lying south of the Caspian Sea. It was supposed by old writers to be a land of tigers. 3 "Ominous horse," i.e., an enormous wooden horse constructed by the Greeks, which, by an artifice, the Trojans were persuaded to bring within their walls. In the night a band of Greeks concealed in it released themselves, opened the gates of the town to the Grecian warriors waiting without, who, rushing in, pillaged and burned the city. 4 "Smear'd with heraldry," i.e., painted with colors used in heraldic devices. 5 Red. 6 Besmeared. 7" Size," or "sizing," is a kind of glue. 74 SHAKESPEARE. With eyes like carbuncles,1 the hellish Pyrrhus So, proceed you. [ACT II. Polonius. 'Fore God, my lord, well spoken, with good accent and good discretion. Striking too short at Greeks: his an'tique sword, But, as we often see, against some storm, A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still, 1 "Eyes like carbuncles," i.e., eyes blood-red as carbuncles. 2 Priam, the King of Ilium (Troy). 3 Clouds. 4 The air. 5 "The Cyclops - a large round one, 8 were Titans of gigantic stature, having but one eye each, which flamed fiercely from the middle of the forehead. They assisted Vulcan, who forged Jupiter's thunderbolts, and made armor for the gods and heroes of antiquity. 6 The god of war of classic mythology. 7 "Proof eterne," i. e., absolutely proof against all assaults. With less remorse1 than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword Out, out, inconstant Fortune! All you gods, And bowl the round nave3 down the hill of heaven, Polonius. This is too long. Hamlet. It shall to the barber's, with your beard. say on: he's for a jig, or a tale of bawdry, or he sleeps. -Say on; come to Hecuba. First Player. "But who, O, who had seen the mobled Queen". Hamlet. "The mobled Queen ?" Polonius. That's good; "mobled Queen" is good. First Player. "Run barefoot up and down, threat'ning the flames With bisson rheum; a clout upon that head 5 Where late the diadem stood, and for a robe, A blanket, in the alarm of fear caught up; Who this had seen, with tongue in venom steep'd, 'Gainst Fortune's state would treason have pronounc'd : But if the gods themselves did see her then, When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs, Unless things mortal move them not at all, Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven, Polonius. Look, whether he has not turn'd his color, and has tears in's eyes. Pray you, no more. 1 Compassion. 2 Pieces of wood on which the tire that binds the wheel is laid. 3 Hub. 4 Muffled. 5 Blinding tears. 6 Moist. 7 Pity. |