SCENE II——A Hall in the Castle.
Enter HAMLET and HORATIO.
HAMLET So much for this, sir: now shall you see the other;
You do remember all the circumstance?
HORATIO Remember it, my lord?
HAMLET Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,
That would not let me sleep; methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly,
And prais’d be rashness for it, let us know,
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall: and that should teach us
There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will,—
HORATIO That is most certain.
HAMLET Up from my cabin,
My sea-gown scarf’d about me in the dark
Grop’d I to find out them; had my desire,
Finger’d 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,
O royal knavery!—an exact command,
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,
My head should be struck off.
HORATIO Is’t possible?
HAMLET Here’s the commission: read it at more leisure.
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed?
HORATIO I beseech you.
HAMLET Being thus benetted round with villanies,—
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains
They had begun the play, —I sat me down,
Devis’d a new commission, wrote it fair;
I once did hold it, as our statists do,
A baseness to write fair; and labour’d much
How to forget that learning; but, sir, now
It did me yeoman’s service. Wilt thou know
The effect of what I wrote?
HORATIO Ay, good my lord.
HAMLET An earnest conjuration from the king,
As England was his faithful tributary,
As love between them like the palm might flourish,
As peace should stiff 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 knowing of these contents,
Without debatement further, more or less,
He should the bearers put to sudden death,
Not shriving-time allow’d.
HORATIO How was this seal’d?
HAMLET Why, even in that was heaven ordinant.
I had my father’s signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal;
Folded the writ up in form of the other,
Subscrib’d it, gave’t the impression, plac’d it safely,
The changeling never known. Now, the next day
Was our sea-fight, and what to this was sequent
Thou know’st already.
HORATIO So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to’t.
HAMLET Why, man, they did make love to this employment;
They are not near my conscience; their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow:
’Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell, incensed points
Of mighty opposites.
HORATIO Why, what a king is this!
HAMLET Does it not, thinks’t thee, stand me now upon—
He that has kill’d my king and whor’d my mother,
Popp’d in between the election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,
And with such cozenage—is’t not perfect conscience
To quit him with this arm? and is’t not to be damn’d
To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil?
HORATIO It must be shortly known to him from England
What is the issue of the business there.
HAMLET It will be short: the interim is mine;
And a man’s life’s no more than to say ‘One. ’
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
Into a towering passion.
HORATIO Peace! who comes here?
Enter OSRIC
OSRIC Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.
HAMLET I humbly thank you, sir. ［Aside to HORATIO.］ Dost know
this water-fly?
HORATIO No, my good lord.
HAMLET ［Aside to HORATIO.］ 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 chough; but,
as I say, spacious in the possession of dirt.
OSRIC Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should impart a
thing to you from his majesty.
HAMLET I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of
spirit. Your bonnet to his right use; ‘tis for the head.
OSRIC I thank your lordship, it is very hot.
HAMLET No, believe me ‘tis very cold; the wind is northerly.
OSRIC It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed.
HAMLET But yet methinks it is very sultry and hot for my complexion.
OSRIC Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry, —as ’twere, I cannot tell
how. But, my lord, his majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid
a great wager on your head: sir, this is the matter, —
HAMLET I beseech you, remember—
HAMLET moves him to put on his hat.
OSRIC Nay, good my lord; for mine ease, in good faith.
Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes; believe me, an absolute
gentleman, full of most excellent differences, of very soft society and
great showing; indeed, to speak feelingly of him, he is the card or
calendar of gentry, for you shall find in him the continent of what part
a gentleman would see.
HAMLET Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you; though, I know,
to divide him inventorially would dizzy the arithmetic of memory,
and yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the verity
of extolment, I take him to be a soul of great article; and his infusion
of such dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of him, his semblable
is his mirror; and who else would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more.
OSRIC Your lordship speaks most infallibly of him.
HAMLET The concernancy, sir? why do we wrap the gentleman
in our more rawer breath?
OSRIC Sir?
HORATIO Is’t not possible to understand in another tongue?
You will do’t, sir, really.
HAMLET What imports the nomination of this gentleman?
OSRIC Of Laertes?
HORATIO His purse is empty already; all’s golden words are spent.
HAMLET Of him, sir.
OSRIC I know you are not ignorant—
HAMLET I would you did, sir; in faith, if you did, it would not much
approve me. Well, sir.
OSRIC You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is—
HAMLET I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in
excellence; but, to know a man well, were to know himself.
OSRIC I mean, sir, for his weapon; but in the imputation laid on him
by them, in his meed he’s unfellowed.
HAMLET What’s his weapon?
OSRIC Rapier and dagger.
HAMLET That’s two of his weapons; but, well.
OSRIC The king, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses; against
the which he has imponed, as I take it, six French rapiers and poniards,
with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so: three of the carriages,
in faith, are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most delicate
carriages, and of very liberal conceit.
HAMLET What call you the carriages?
HORATIO I knew you must be edified by the margent, ere you had
done.
OSRIC The carriages, sir, are the hangers.
HAMLET The phrase would be more german to the matter, 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; that’s the French bet against the
Danish. Why is this ‘imponed, ’ as you call it?
OSRIC The king, sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes between yourself
and him, he shall not exceed you three hits; he hath laid on twelve for
nine, and it would come to immediate trial, if your lordship would
vouchsafe the answer.
HAMLET How if I answer ‘no’?
OSRIC I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial.
HAMLET Sir, I will walk here in the hall; if it please his majesty, ’tis the
breathing time of day with me; let the foils be brought, the gentleman
willing, and the king hold his purpose, I will win for him an I can; if
not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits.
OSRIC Shall I re-deliver you so?
HAMLET To this effect, sir; after what flourish your nature will.
OSRIC I commend my duty to your lordship.
HAMLET Yours, yours.
［Exit OSRIC.］ He does well to commend it himself; there are no
tongues else for’s turn.
HORATIO This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.
HAMLET He did comply with his dug before he sucked it.
Thus has he—and many more of the same bevy, that I know the
dressy age dotes on—only got the tune of the time and outward habit
of encounter, a kind of yesty collection which carries them through and
through the most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but blow them
to their trial, the bubbles are out.
Enter a Lord.
LORD My lord, his majesty commended him, to you by young Osric,
who brings back to him that you attend him in the hall; he sends to
know if your pleasure hold to play with Laertes, or that you will take
longer time.
HAMLET I am constant to my purpose; they follow the king’s pleasure:
if his fitness speaks, mine is ready; now or whensoever, provided I be
so able as now.
LORD The king, and queen and all are coming down.
HAMLET In happy time.
LORD The queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes
before you fall to play.
HAMLET She well instructs me. ［Exit Lord.］
HORATIO
You will lose this wager, my lord.
HAMLET I do not think so; since he went into France, I have been in
continual practise; I shall win at the odds. But thou wouldst not think
how ill all’s here about my heart; but it is no matter.
HORATIO Nay, good my lord, —
HAMLET It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gain-giving as would
perhaps trouble a woman.
HORATIO If your mind dislike any thing, obey it; I will forestall their
repair hither, and say you are not fit.
HAMLET Not a whit, we defy augury; there’s a special 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?
Let be.
Enter KING, QUEEN, LAERTES, Lords, OSRIC, and Attendants with foils, & c.
KING Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.
［The KING CLAUDIUS puts the hand of LAERTES into that of HAMLET.］
HAMLET 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 punish’d
With sore distraction. What I have done,
That might your nature, honour and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was’t Hamlet wrong’d Laertes? Never Hamlet:
If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away,
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 wrong’d;
His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.
Sir, in this audience,
Let my disclaiming from a purpos’d evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot mine arrow o’er the house,
And hurt my brother.
LAERTES I am satisfied in nature,
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,
To keep my name ungor’d. But till that time,
I do receive your offer’d love like love,
And will not wrong it.
HAMLET I embrace it freely;
And will this brother’s wager frankly play.
Give us the foils. Come on.
LAERTES Come, one for me.
HAMLET I’ll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ignorance
Your skill shall, like a star i’ the darkest night,
Stick fiery off indeed.
LAERTES You mock me, sir.
HAMLET No, by this hand.
KING Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet,
You know the wager?
HAMLET Very well, my lord;
Your grace hath laid the odds o’ the weaker side.
KING I do not fear it; I have seen you both;
But since he is better’d, we have therefore odds.
LAERTES This is too heavy; let me see another.
HAMLET This likes me well. These foils have all a length?
OSRIC Ay, my good lord.
［They prepare to play.］
KING Set me the stoops of wine upon that table.
If Hamlet give the first or second hit,
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
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 heavens to earth,
‘Now the king drinks to Hamlet!’ Come, begin;
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.
HAMLET Come on, sir.
LAERTES Come, my lord. ［They play.］
HAMLET One.
LAERTES No.
HAMLET Judgment.
OSRIC A hit, a very palpable hit.
LAERTES Well; again.
KING Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
Here’s to thy health. Give him the cup. ［Trumpets sound; and cannon shot off within.］
HAMLET I’ll play this bout first; set it by awhile. Come. —［They play］. Another hit; what say you?
LAERTES A touch, a touch, I do confess.
KING Our son shall win.
QUEEN He’s fat, and scant of breath.
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows;
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
HAMLET Good madam!
KING Gertrude, do not drink.
QUEEN I will, my lord; I pray you, pardon me.
KING ［Aside］ It is the poison’d cup! it is too late.
HAMLET I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.
QUEEN Come, let me wipe thy face.
LAERTES My lord, I’ll hit him now.
KING I do not think’t.
LAERTES ［Aside.］ And yet ’tis almost ’gainst my conscience.
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.
LAERTES Say you so? come on.［They play.］
OSRIC Nothing, neither way.
LAERTES Have at you now.
［LAERTES wounds HAMLET; then, in scuffling, they change rapiers, and HAMLET wounds LAERTES.］
KING Part them! they are incens’d.
HAMLET Nay, come, again. ［The QUEEN falls.］
OSRIC Look to the queen there, ho!
HORATIO They bleed on both sides. How is it, my lord?
OSRIC How is’t, Laertes?
LAERTES Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric;
I am justly kill’d with mine own treachery.
HAMLET How does the queen?
KING She swounds to see them bleed.
QUEEN No, no, the drink, the drink, —O my dear Hamlet!
The drink, the drink! I am poison’d. Dies.
HAMLET O villany! Ho! let the door be lock’d:
Treachery! Seek it out. ［LAERTES falls.］
LAERTES
It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain;
No medicine 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 envenom’d. The foul practise
Hath turn’d itself on me; lo! here I lie,
Never to rise again. Thy mother’s poison’d:
I can no more. The king, the king’s to blame.
HAMLET
The point envenom’d too!—
Then, venom, to thy work. ［Stabs the KING.］
ALL Treason! treason!
KING O! yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt.
HAMLET Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,
Drink off this potion; Is thy union here?
Follow my mother. ［KING dies.］
LAERTES He is justly serv’d:
It is a poison temper’d by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me! ［Dies］
HAMLET Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu!
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time, —as this fell sergeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest, —O, I could tell you—
But let it be. Horatio, I am dead;
Thou liv’st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
HORATIO Never believe it:
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:
Here’s yet some liquor left.
HAMLET As thou’rt a man,
Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I’ll have’t.
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 awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story. ［March afar off, and shot within.］
﹝英﹞莎士比亚（Willian Shakespeare）
