But if thou wilt needes marry, marry a foole, For wisemen know well enough, What monsters you make of them, to a Nunnery goe.
Ofel. Pray God restore him.
Ham. Nay, I haue heard of your paintings too, God hath giuen you one face, And you make your selues another, You fig, and you amble, and you nickname Gods creatures, Making your wantonnesse, your ignorance, A pox, t'is scuruy, Ile no more of it, It hath made me madde: Ile no more marriages, All that are married but one, shall liue, The rest shall keepe as they are, to a Nunnery goe, To a Nunnery goe.
exit.[E2]
Ofe. Great God of heauen, what a quicke change is this? The Courtier, Scholler, Souldier, all in him, All dasht and splinterd thence, O woe is me, To a seene what I haue seene, see what I see.
exit. King Loue? No, no, that's not the cause,
Enter King and Some deeper thing it is that troubles him.
Corambis. Cor. Wel, something it is: my Lord, content you a while, I will my selfe goe feele him; let me worke, Ile try him euery way: see where he comes, Send you those Gentlemen, let me alone To finde the depth of this, away, be gone.
exit King. Now my good Lord, do you know me?
Enter Hamlet. Ham. Yea very well, y'are a fishmonger.
Cor. Not I my Lord.
Ham. Then sir, I would you were so honest a man, For to be honest, as this age goes, Is one man to be pickt out of tenne thousand.
Cor. What doe you reade my Lord?
Ham. Wordes, wordes.
Cor. What's the matter my Lord?
Ham. Betweene who?
Car. I meane the matter you reade my Lord.
Ham. Mary most vile heresie: For here the Satyricall Satyre writes, That olde men haue hollow eyes, weake backes, Grey beardes, pittifull weake hammes, gowty legges, All which sir, I most potently beleeue not: For sir, your selfe shalbe olde as I am, If like a Crabbe, you could goe backeward.
Cor. How pregnant his replies are, and full of wit: Yet at first he tooke me for a fishmonger: All this comes by loue, the vemencie of loue, And when I was yong, I was very idle, And suffered much extasie in loue, very neere this: Will you walke out of the aire my Lord?
Ham. Into my graue. [E2v]
Cor. By the masse that's out of the aire indeed, Very shrewd answers, My lord I will take my leaue of you.
Enter Gilderstone, and Rossencraft. Ham. You can take nothing from me sir, I will more willingly part with all, Olde doating foole.
Cor, You seeke Prince Hamlet, see, there he is.
exit. Gil. Health to your Lordship.
Ham. What, Gilderstone, and Rossencraft, Welcome kinde Schoole-fellowes to
Elsanoure.
Gil. We thanke your Grace, and would be very glad You were as when we were at
Wittenberg.
Ham. I thanke you, but is this visitation free of Your selues, or were you not sent for? Tell me true, come, I know the good King and Queene Sent for you, there is a kinde of confession in your eye: Come, I know you were sent for.
Gil. What say you?
Ham. Nay then I see how the winde sits, Come, you were sent for.
Ross. My lord, we were, and willingly if we might, Know the cause and ground of your discontent.
Ham. Why I want preferment.
Ross. I thinke not so my lord.
Ham. Yes faith, this great world you see contents me not, No nor the spangled heauens, nor earth, nor sea, No nor Man that is so glorious a creature, Contents not me, no nor woman too, though you laugh.
Gil. My lord, we laugh not at that.
Ham. Why did you laugh then, When I said, Man did not content mee?
Gil. My Lord, we laughed when you said, Man did not content you. What entertainment the Players shall haue, We boorded them a the way: they are comming to you. [E3]
Ham. Players, what Players be they?
Ross. My Lord, the Tragedians of the Citty, Those that you tooke delight to see so often. (stie?
Ham. How comes it that they trauell? Do they grow re-
Gil. No my Lord, their reputation holds as it was wont.
Ham. How then?
Gil. Yfaith my Lord, noueltie carries it away, For the principall publike audience that Came to them, are turned to priuate playes, And to the humour of children.
Ham. I doe not greatly wonder of it, For those that would make mops and moes At my vncle, when my father liued, Now giue a hundred, two hundred pounds For his picture: but they shall be welcome, He that playes the King shall haue tribute of me, The ventrous Knight shall vse his foyle and target, The louer shall sigh gratis, The clowne shall make them laugh (for't, That are tickled in the lungs, or the blanke verse shall halt And the Lady shall haue leaue to speake her minde freely.
The Trumpets sound, Enter Corambis. Do you see yonder great baby? He is not yet out of his swadling clowts.
Gil. That may be, for they say an olde man Is twice a childe. (Players,
Ham. Ile prophecie to you, hee comes to tell mee a the You say true, a monday last, t'was so indeede.
Cor. My lord, I haue news to tell you.
Ham. My Lord, I haue news to tell you: When
Rossios was an Actor in
Rome.
Cor. The Actors are come hither, my lord.
Ham. Buz, buz.
Cor. The best Actors in Christendome, Either for Comedy, Tragedy, Historie, Pastorall, Pastorall, Historicall, Historicall, Comicall, [E3v] Comicall historicall, Pastorall, Tragedy historicall:
Seneca cannot be too heauy, nor
Plato too light: For the law hath writ those are the onely men.
Ha. O
Iepha Iudge of
Israel! what a treasure hadst thou?
Cor. Why what a treasure had he my lord?
Ham. Why one faire daughter, and no more, The which he loued passing well.
Cor. A, stil harping a my daughter! well my Lord, If you call me
Iepha, I hane a daughter that I loue passing well.
Ham. Nay that followes not.
Cor. What followes then my Lord?
Ham. Why by lot, or God wot, or as it came to passe, And so it was, the first verse of the godly Ballet Wil tel you all: for look you where my abridgement comes: Welcome maisters, welcome all,
Enter players. What my olde friend, thy face is vallanced Since I saw thee last, com'st thou to beard me in
Denmarke? My yong lady and mistris, burlady but your (you were: Ladiship is growne by the altitude of a chopine higher than Pray God sir your voyce, like a peece of vncurrant Golde, be not crack't in the ring: come on maisters, Weele euen too't, like French Falconers, Flie at any thing we see, come, a taste of your Quallitie, a speech, a passionate speech.
Players What speech my good lord?
Ham. I heard thee speake a speech once, But it was neuer acted: or if it were, Neuer aboue twice, for as I remember, It pleased not the vulgar, it was cauiary To the million: but to me And others, that receiued it in the like kinde, Cried in the toppe of their iudgements, an excellent play, Set downe with as great modestie as cunning: One said there was no sallets in the lines to make thê sauory, But called it an honest methode, as wholesome as sweete. [E4] Come, a speech in it I chiefly remember Was
Æneas tale to
Dido, And then especially where he talkes of Princes slaughter, If it liue in thy memory beginne at this line, Let me see. The rugged
Pyrrus, like th'arganian beast: No t'is not so, it begins with
Pirrus: O I haue it. The rugged
Pirrus, he whose sable armes, Blacke as his purpose did the night resemble, When he lay couched in the ominous horse, Hath now his blacke and grimme complexion smeered With Heraldry more dismall, head to foote, Now is he totall guise, horridely tricked With blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sonnes, Back't and imparched in calagulate gore, Rifted in earth and fire, olde grandsire
Pryam seekes: So goe on. (accent.
Cor. Afore God, my Lord, well spoke, and with good
Play. Anone he finds him striking too short at Greeks, His antike sword rebellious to this Arme, Lies where it falles, vnable to resist.
Pyrrus at
Pryam driues, but all in rage, Strikes wide, but with the whiffe and winde Of his fell sword, th' unnerued father falles.
Cor. Enough my friend, t'is too long.
Ham. It shall to the Barbers with your beard: A pox, hee's for a Iigge, or a tale of bawdry, Or else he sleepes, come on to
Hecuba, come.
Play. But who O who had seene the mobled Queene?
Cor. Mobled Queene is good, faith very good.
Play. All in the alarum and feare of death rose vp, And o're her weake and all ore-teeming loynes, a blancket And a kercher on that head, where late the diademe stoode, Who this had seene with tongue inuenom'd speech, Would treason haue pronounced, [E4v] For if the gods themselues had seene her then, When she saw
Pirrus with malitious strokes, Mincing her husbandes limbs, It would haue made milch the burning eyes of heauen, And passion in the gods.
Cor. Looke my lord if he hath not changde his colour, And hath teares in his eyes: no more good heart, no more.
Ham. T'is well, t'is very well, I pray my lord, Will you see the Players well bestowed, I tell you they are the Chronicles And briefe abstracts of the time, After your death I can tell you, You were better haue a bad Epiteeth, Then their ill report while you liue.
Cor. My lord, I will vse them according to their deserts.
Ham. O farre better man, vse euery man after his deserts, Then who should scape whipping? Vse them after your owne honor and dignitie, The lesse they deserue, the greater credit's yours.
Cor. Welcome my good fellowes.
exit. Ham. Come hither maisters, can you not play the mur- der of
Gonsago?
players Yes my Lord.
Ham. And could'st not thou for a neede study me Some dozen or sixteene lines, Which
