Enter King, Queen, LAERTES, Lords, OSRIC, and Attendants, with foils, &c.

King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.

[The King puts the hand of LAERtes into that of HAMLET.

Ham. Give me your pardon, sir.

wrong;

But pardon it, as you are a gentleman.

1

I have done you

This presence knows, and you must needs have heard, How I am punished with a sore distraction.

What I have done,

That might your nature, honor, and exception,
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wronged 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 wronged;
His madness is Hamlet's enemy.

poor

Sir, in this audience,2

Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot my arrow o'er the house,

And hurt my brother.

Laer.
I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge; but in my terms of honor,
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honor,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,
To keep my name ungorged.

But till that time,

I do receive your offered love like love,
And will not wrong it.

Ham.

1. e. the king and queen.

I embrace it freely,

2 This line is not in the quarto

3 i. e. unwounded.

And will this brother's wager frankly play.—
Give us the foils; come on.

Laer.

Come, one for me.

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ignorance Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night,

Stick fiery off indeed.

Laer.

You mock me, sir.

Ham. No, by this hand.

King. Give them the foils, young Osric.-Cousin
Hamlet,

You know the wager?

Ham. 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's bettered, we have therefore odds. Laer. This is too heavy; let me see another. Ham. This likes me well. These foils have all a [They prepare to play.

length?

Osr. Ay, my good lord.

2

King. Set me the stoups 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 heaven to earth,
Now the king drinks to Hamlet.-Come, begin ;-
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.

1 The king had wagered six Barbary horses to a few rapiers, poniards, &c.; that is, about twenty to one.-These are the odds here meant. The odds the king means in the next speech were twelve to nine in favor of Hamlet, by Laertes giving him three.

2 Stoup is a common word in Scotland at this day, and denotes a pewter vessel resembling our wine measures; but of no determinate quantity.

3 An union is a precious pearl, remarkable for its size. Under pretence of throwing a pearl into the cup, the king may be supposed to drop some poisonous drug into the wine. Hamlet subsequently asks him tauntingly, "Is the union here?"

Enter King, Queen, LAERTES, Lords, OSRIC, and Attendants, with foils, &c.

King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.

[The King puts the hand of LAERTES into that

of HAMLET.

Ham. Give me your pardon, sir. I have done you

wrong;

But pardon it, as you are a gentleman.

1

This presence knows, and you must needs have heard, How I am punished with a sore distraction.

What I have done,

That might your nature, honor, and exception,
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wronged 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 wronged;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.

Sir, in this audience,2

Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot my arrow o'er the house,
And hurt my brother.

Laer.
I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge; but in my terms of honor,
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honor,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,

To keep my name ungorged. But till that time,
I do receive your offered love like love,

And will not wrong it.

Ham.

1. e. the king and queen.

I embrace it freely,

2 This line is not in the quarto

3 i. e. unwounded.

And will this brother's wager frankly play.—
Give us the foils; come on.

Laer.

Come, one for me.

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ignorance Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night,

Stick fiery off indeed.

Laer.

You mock me, sir.

Ham. No, by this hand.

King. Give them the foils, young Osric.-Cousin Hamlet,

You know the wager?

Ham.

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's bettered, we have therefore odds. Laer. This is too heavy; let me see another. Ham. This likes me well.

length?

Osr. Ay, my good lord.

These foils have all a [They prepare to play.

King. Set me the stoups 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 heaven to earth,
Now the king drinks to Hamlet.-Come, begin;—
And you, the judges, bear a wary eyc.

1 The king had wagered six Barbary horses to a few rapiers, poniards, &c.; that is, about twenty to one.-These are the odds here meant. The odds the king means in the next speech were twelve to nine in favor of Hamlet, by Laertes giving him three.

2 Stoup is a common word in Scotland at this day, and denotes a pewter vessel resembling our wine measures; but of no determinate quantity.

3 An union is a precious pearl, remarkable for its size. Under pretence of throwing a pearl into the cup, the king may be supposed to drop some poisonous drug into the wine. Hamlet subsequently asks him tauntingly, "Is the union here?"

Mine and my father's death come not upon thee;
Nor thine on me!

[Dies.

Ham. 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.

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane,
Here's yet some liquor left.

As thou'rt a man,

Ham. Give me the cup; let go; by Heaven, I'll have it.— 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.
What warlike noise is this?
Os Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from
Poland,

To the ambassadors of England gives

This warlike volley.

Ham.

O, I die, Horatio;

The potent poison quite o'ercrows my spirit.
I cannot live to hear the news from England;
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;

So tell him, with the occurrents, more or less,
Which have solicited,3-The rest is silence.

[Dies.

Hor. Now cracks a noble heart.-Good night, sweet

prince ;

1 A sergeant was a bailiff or sheriff's officer.

2 To overcrow is to overcome, to subdue.

3 "The occurrents which have solicited"—the occurrences or incidents which have incited. The sentence is left unfinished.