But not express'd in fancy: rich, not gaudy:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;

And they in France, of the best rank and station,
Are most select and generous, chief in that.
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend;
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all, To thine ownself be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell; my blessing season this in thee!

Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
Pol. The time invites you; go, your servants tend.
Laer. Farewell, Ophelia: and remember well
What I have said to you.
Oph.
'Tis in my memory lock'd,
And you yourself shall keep the key of it.
Laer. Farewell.

[Exit LAERTES.

Pol. What is't, Ophelia, he hath said to you? Oph. So please you, something touching the lord Hamlet.

Pol. Marry, well bethought:

'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late

Given private time to you and you yourself

Have of your audience been most free and boun

Pol. Affection? puh! you speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?

Oph. I do not know, my lord, what I should think, Pol. Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;

That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;

Or, (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Wronging it thus,) you'll tender me a fool.

Oph. My lord, he hath impórtun'd me with love, In honourable fashion.

Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to. Oph. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,

With almost all the holy vows of heaven.

Pol. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter, Giving more light than heat, extinct in both, Even in their promise, as it is a making, – You must not take for fire. From this time, Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence; Set your entreatments at a higher rate, Than a command to parley. For lord Hamlet, Believe so much in him, That he is young; And with a larger tether may he walk, Than may be given you: In few, Ophelia, Do not believe his vows: for they are brokers Not of that die which their investments show, But mere implorators of unholy suits, Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds, he better to beguile. This is for all, would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, Have you so alander any moment's leisure,

Hum. Ay, marry, is't:

Is it a custom?

But to my mind, though I am native here,
And to the manner born,-it is a custom
More honour'd in the breach, than the observance.
This heavy-headed revel, east and west,
Makes us traduc'd, and tax'd of other nations:
They clepe us, drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition; and, indeed, it takes
From our achievements, though perform'd at height,
The pith and marrow of our attribute.
So, oft it chances in particular men,

That for some vicious mole of nature in them,
As, in their birth, (wherein they are not guilty,
Since nature cannot choose his origin,)
By the o'ergrowth of some complexion,
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason;
Or by some habit, that too much o'er-leavens
The form of plausive manners ; —
that these men,
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect;
Being nature's livery, or fortune's star,
Their virtues else (be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergo,)

Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault: The dram of base
Doth all the noble substance often dout,
To his own scandal.

Hor.

Enter Ghost.

Look, my lord, it comes!
Ham. Angels and ministers of grace defend us!-
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd,
Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked, or charitable,

Thou com'st in such a questionable shape,
That I will speak to thee; I'll call thee, Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me :
Let me not burst in ignorance! but tell,
Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death,
Have burst their cerements! why the sepulchre,
Wherein we saw thee quietly in-urn'd,
Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again! What may this mean,
That thou, dead corse, again, in cómplete steel,
Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making night hideous; and we fools of nature,

O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursu'st this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught; leave her to heaven,
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu, adieu! remember me.

[Erit.

Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple hell?- O fye!- Hold, hold, my heart;

And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up!- Remember thee?
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee?

Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven.
O most pernicious woman!

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables, meet it is, I set it down,

That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least, I am sure, it may be so in Denmark:

Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Hic et ubique? then we'll shift our ground:

Come hither, gentlemen,

And lay your hands again upon my sword:
Swear by my sword,

Never to speak of this that you have heard.
Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear by his sword.

Ham. Well said, old mole! can'st work i'the earth so fast?

A worthy pioneer! - Once more remove, good friends.

Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
But come;

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy!
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,
As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet
To put an antick disposition on-

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall
With arms encumber'd thus, or this head-shake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As, Well, well, we know; -or, We could, and if we
would; - or, If we list to speak; or, There be, an
if they might';

Or such ambiguous giving out, to note

T

the grave, To tell us this.

Ham. Why, right; you are in the right; And so, without more circumstance at all, I hold it fit, that we shake hands, and part:

So grace and mercy at your most need help you! Ghost. Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! So, gentlemen, With all my love I do commend me to you: And what so poor a man as Hamlet is

For every man hath business, and desire, Such as it is, and for my own poor part,

Look you, I will go pray.

lord.

Nay, come, let's go together.

[Exeunt.

Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo,

Before you visit him, to make inquiry

Of his behaviour.

Rey.
My lord, I did intend it.
Pol. Marry, well said: very well said.
you, sir,

Look

Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;
And how, and who, what means, and where they
keep,

What company, at what expence; and finding,
By this encompassment and drift of question,
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
Than your particular demands will touch it:
Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of

him;

As thus, I know his father, and his friends,
And, in part, him; Do you mark this, Reynaldo?
Rey. Ay, very well, my lord.

Pol. And, in part, him ; — but, you may say, not well:

But, if't be he I mean, he's very wild;
Addicted so and so ; — and there put on him
What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank
As may dishonour him; take heed of that;
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips,
As are companions noted and most known
To youth and liberty.

As gaming, my lord.

Rey.
Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quar-

relling,

Rey. My lord, that would dishonour him.

Rey. Very good, my lord. Pol. And then, sir, does he this, - He doesWhat was I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say some something: Where did I leave? Rey. At, closes in the consequence.

Pol. At, closes in the consequence,- Ay, marry; He closes with you thus: - I know the gentleman;

:

I saw him yesterday, or t'other day,

Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say, There was he gaming; there o'ertook in his rouse : There falling out at tennis; or, perchance,

I saw him enter such a house of sale,
(Videlicet, a brothel,) or so forth. -
See you now;

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlaces, and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out;
So, by my former lecture and advice,
Shall you my son: You have me, have you not?
Rey. My lord, I have.

Pol. With what, in the name of heaven? Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet,with his doublet all unbrac'd; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle;

Marry, sir, here's my drift;
And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant :
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i'the working,
Mark you,

Your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen, in the prenominate crimes,
The youth you breath of, guilty, be assur'd,
He closes with you in this consequence;
Good sir, or so; or friend, or gentleman, -
According to the phrase, or the addition,
Of man, and country.

Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me hard; Then goes he to the length of all his arm; And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,

He falls to such perusal of my face,

As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so;
At last, a little shaking of mine arm,

And thrice his head thus waving up and down, —
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk,
And end his being: That done, he lets me go:
And, with his head over his shoulder turn'd,
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes;
For out o'doors he went without their helps,
And, to the last, bended their light on me.

Pol. Come, go with me; I will go seek the king. This is the very ecstasy of love;

Whose violent property foredoes itself,
And leads the will to desperate undertaking,

As oft as any passion under heaven,
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry,-`
What, have you given him any hard words of late?
Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did com-
mand,

I did repel his letters, and denied

His access to me.
Pol.

That hath made him mad.

I am sorry, that with better heed, and judgment,
I had not quoted him: I fear'd, he did but trifle,
And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my jealousy!
It seems, it is as proper to our age

To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions,
As it is common for the younger sort

To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king: This must be known; which, being kept close, might move

More grief to hide, than hate to utter love.
Come.

[Exeunt.

Pol. Have I, my lord? Assure you, my good liege, I hold my duty, as I hold my soul,

Both to my God, and to my gracious king:
And I do think, (or else this brain of mine
Hunts not the trail of policy so sure

As it hath us'd to do,) that I have found
The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.

King. O, speak of that; that do I long to hear.
Pol. Give first admittance to the embassadors;

and Attendants.

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern!

Morcover that we much did long to see you,
The need, we have to use you, did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard
Of Hamlet's transformation; so I call it,
Since not the exterior nor the inward man
Resembles that it was: What it should be,
More than his father's death, that thus hath put
him ;

So much from the understanding of himself,
I cannot dream of: I entreat you both,

That, -being of so young days brought up with him;

And, since, so neighbour'd to his youth and hu

King. Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in. [Exit POLONIUS. He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found The head and source of all your son's distemper. Queen. I doubt, it is no other but the main ; His father's death, and our o'erbasty marriage. Re-enter POLONIUS, with VOLTIMAND and CORNELIUS. King. Well, we shall sift him. Welcome, my good friends!

Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway?
Volt. Most fair return of greetings, and desires.
Upon our first, he sent out to suppress
His nephew's levies; which to him appear'd
To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack;
But, better look'd into, he truly found

It was against your highness: Whereat griev'd, -
That so his sickness, age, and impotence,
Was falsely borne in hand,― sends out arrests
On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys;
Receives rebuke from Norway; and, in fine,
Makes vow before his uncle, never more
To give the assay of arms against your majesty.
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy,
Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee;
And his commission, to employ those soldiers,
So levied as before, against the Polack :
With an entreaty, herein further shown,

[Gives a paper.

That it might please you to give quiet pass
Through your dominions for this enterprize;
On such regards of safety, and allowance,
As therein are set down.

King.
It likes us well;
And, at our more consider'd time, we'll read,
Answer, and think upon this business.

Mean time, we thank you for your well-took labour:
Go to your rest; at night we'll feast together;
Most welcome home!

[Exeunt VOLTIMAND and CORNELIUS. Pol. This business is well ended. My liege, and madam, to expostulate What majesty should be, what duty is, Why day is day, night, night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,➡➡