ACT IV. | |
Scene III. Another room in the Castle. | |
| [Enter King,attended.] |
King. | |
| I have sent to seek him and to find the body. |
| How dangerous is it that this man goes loose! |
| Yet must not we put the strong law on him: |
| He's lov'd of the distracted multitude, |
| Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes; |
| And where 'tis so, the offender's scourge is weigh'd, |
| But never the offence. To bear all smooth and even, |
| This sudden sending him away must seem |
| Deliberate pause: diseases desperate grown |
| By desperate appliance are reliev'd, |
| Or not at all. |
| [Enter Rosencrantz.] |
| How now! what hath befall'n? |
Ros. | |
| Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord, |
| We cannot get from him. |
King. | |
| But where is he? |
Ros. | |
| Without, my lord; guarded, to know your pleasure. |
King. | |
| Bring him before us. |
Ros. | |
| Ho, Guildenstern! bring in my lord. |
| [Enter Hamlet and Guildenstern.] |
King. | |
| Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius? |
Ham. | |
| At supper. |
King. | |
| At supper! where? |
Ham. | |
| Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain |
| convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your |
| only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us, and |
| we fat ourselves for maggots: your fat king and your lean beggar |
| is but variable service,--two dishes, but to one table: that's |
| the end. |
King. | |
| Alas, alas! |
Ham. | |
| A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat |
| of the fish that hath fed of that worm. |
King. | |
| What dost thou mean by this? |
Ham. | |
| Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through |
| the guts of a beggar. |
King. | |
| Where is Polonius? |
Ham. | |
| In heaven: send thither to see: if your messenger find him not |
| there, seek him i' the other place yourself. But, indeed, if you |
| find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up |
| the stairs into the lobby. |
King. | |
| Go seek him there. [To some Attendants.] |
Ham. | |
| He will stay till you come. |
| [Exeunt Attendants.] |
King. | |
| Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety,-- |
| Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve |
| For that which thou hast done,--must send thee hence |
| With fiery quickness: therefore prepare thyself; |
| The bark is ready, and the wind at help, |
| The associates tend, and everything is bent |
| For England. |
Ham. | |
| For England! |
King. | |
| Ay, Hamlet. |
Ham. | |
| Good. |
King. | |
| So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes. |
Ham. | |
| I see a cherub that sees them.--But, come; for England!-- |
| Farewell, dear mother. |
King. | |
| Thy loving father, Hamlet. |
Ham. | |
| My mother: father and mother is man and wife; man and wife is |
| one flesh; and so, my mother.--Come, for England! |
| [Exit.] |
King. | |
| Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed aboard; |
| Delay it not; I'll have him hence to-night: |
| Away! for everything is seal'd and done |
| That else leans on the affair: pray you, make haste. |
| [Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.] |
| And, England, if my love thou hold'st at aught,-- |
| As my great power thereof may give thee sense, |
| Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red |
| After the Danish sword, and thy free awe |
| Pays homage to us,--thou mayst not coldly set |
| Our sovereign process; which imports at full, |
| By letters conjuring to that effect, |
| The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England; |
| For like the hectic in my blood he rages, |
| And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done, |
| Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. |
| [Exit.] |