The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)

by William Shakespeare

  Two nights together had these gentlemen,Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch,In the dead vast and middle of the night,Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father,Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe,Appears before them, and with solemn marchGoes slow and stately by them: thrice he walk'dBy their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes,Within his truncheon's length; whilst they, distilledAlmost to jelly with the act of fear,Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to meIn dreadful secrecy impart they did;And I with them the third night kept the watch;Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time,Form of the thing, each word made true and good,The apparition comes: I knew your father;These hands are not more like.

  HAMLET

  But, where was this?

  But where was this?

  MARCELLUS

  My lord, from the platform where they keep watch.

  My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd.

  HAMLET

  Did you speak to it?

  Did you not speak to it?

  HORATIO

  I did, my lord. But it did not answer. Although, I thought it lifted up its head and acted as if it were going to speak. Then, the morning cock crowed and the ghost quickly walked away and vanished from our sight.

  My lord, I did;But answer made it none: yet once methoughtIt lifted up its head and did addressItself to motion, like as it would speak;But even then the morning cock crew loud,And at the sound it shrunk in haste away,And vanish'd from our sight.

  HAMLET

  This is very strange.

  'Tis very strange.

  HORATIO

  It is, but it is true, my lord. We thought it our duty to let you know.

  As I do live, my honour'd lord, 'tis true;And we did think it writ down in our dutyTo let you know of it.

  HAMLET

  Yes, indeed, gentlemen, but this troubles me. Are you on watch tonight?

  Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me.Hold you the watch to-night?

  MARCELLUS BERNARDO

  Yes, my lord.

  We do, my lord.

  HAMLET

  And you say he wore his armor?

  Arm'd, say you?

  MARCELLUS BERNARDO

  Yes, my lord.

  Arm'd, my lord.

  HAMLET

  From head to toe.

  From top to toe?

  MARCELLUS BERNARDO

  My lord, completely.

  My lord, from head to foot.

  HAMLET

  Then you didn’t see his face.

  Then saw you not his face?

  HORATIO

  Oh, yes, my lord. He wore his helmet up.

  O, yes, my lord; he wore his beaver up.

  HAMLET

  Did he look angry?

  What, look'd he frowningly?

  HORATIO

  He looked more sad than angry.

  A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.

  HAMLET

  Was he pale or red?

  Pale or red?

  HORATIO

  He was very pale.

  Nay, very pale.

  HAMLET

  And he looked right at you?

  And fix'd his eyes upon you?

  HORATIO

  He stared at us.

  Most constantly.

  HAMLET

  I wish I would have been there.

  I would I had been there.

  HORATIO

  You would have been amazed.

  It would have much amazed you.

  HAMLET

  Likely so. Did it stay long?

  Very like, very like. Stay'd it long?

  HORATIO

  Only a few minutes.

  While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred.

  MARCELLUS BERNARDO

  It was longer than that.

  Longer, longer.

  HORATIO

  I don’t think so.

  Not when I saw't.

  HAMLET

  Was his beard gray?

  His beard was grizzled--no?

  HORATIO

  It was just as I remember it, a silvery gray.

  It was, as I have seen it in his life,A sable silver'd.

  HAMLET

  I will watch tonight and perhaps it will walk again.

  I will watch to-night;Perchance 'twill walk again.

  HORATIO

  I think it will.

  I warrant it will.

  HAMLET

  If it looks like my noble father, I’ll speak to it even if it is a sin and I should be quiet. I ask you if you have not told anyone else, to keep this a secret. Also, whatever happens tonight must remain between us. I require your faithfulness. So, goodbye. I will see you at the platform between eleven and twelve.

  If it assume my noble father's person,I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gapeAnd bid me hold my peace. I pray you all,If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight,Let it be tenable in your silence still;And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,Give it an understanding, but no tongue:I will requite your loves. So, fare you well:Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve,I'll visit you.

  All

  It is our duty and our honor.

  Our duty to your honour.

  HAMLET

  It is my honor, too. Goodbye.

  Your loves, as mine to you: farewell.

  Exeunt all but HAMLET

  My father’s spirit in arms! It must mean things are not well and something terrible has happened. I wish the night were here. Until then, I must wait patiently. Bad things are surely coming.

  My father's spirit in arms! all is not well;I doubt some foul play: would the night were come!Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise,Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes.

  Exit

  A room in Polonius' house

  Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA

  LAERTES

  It is time for me to return home, but do keep in touch, sister.

  My necessaries are embark'd: farewell:And, sister, as the winds give benefitAnd convoy is assistant, do not sleep,But let me hear from you.

  OPHELIA

  Do you doubt that I will?

  Do you doubt that?

  LAERTES

  Do not believe Hamlet’s ramblings of love. It is not permanent. It is sweet, but not everlasting. It will only last a minute.

  For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour,Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,A violet in the youth of primy nature,Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more.

  OPHELIA

  So what?

  No more but so?

  LAERTES

  It is natural for him to feel the way he does. Although, he is next in line to be king and he is beginning to think of the people of this state as his responsibility. He must prove his love to the queen mother to keep peace throughout the land. It is safer to be cautious, and lose his love. Just be weary, my dear sister, he is young and his ways are still inconsistent and unknown.

  Think it no more;For nature, crescent, does not grow aloneIn thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes,The inward service of the mind and soulGrows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now,And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirchThe virtue of his will: but you must fear,His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;For he himself is subject to his birth:He may not, as unvalued persons do,Carve for himself; for on his choice dependsThe safety and health of this whole state;And therefore must his choice be circumscribedUnto the voice and yielding of that bodyWhereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you,It fits your wisdom so far to believe itAs he in his particular act and placeMay give his saying deed; which is no furtherThan the main voice of Denmark goes withal.Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,If with too credent ear you list his songs,Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure openTo his unmaster'd importunity.Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,And keep you in the rear of your affection,Out of the shot and danger of desire.The chariest maid is prodigal enough,If she unmask
her beauty to the moon:Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes:The canker galls the infants of the spring,Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,And in the morn and liquid dew of youthContagious blastments are most imminent.Be wary then; best safety lies in fear:Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.

  OPHELIA

  I shall keep what you say in mind. But, good brother, do not tell me one thing and turn around and do something else.

  I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,And recks not his own rede.

  LAERTES

  Oh, you need not fear me. I have stayed too long; here comes my father.

  O, fear me not.I stay too long: but here my father comes.

  Enter POLONIUS

  I am doubly blessed. It is time for me to leave.

  A double blessing is a double grace,Occasion smiles upon a second leave.

  LORD POLONIUS

  Are you still here, Laertes? Shame on you! Everything is ready for your departure and you are still in Fortinbras. There, I give you my blessing! Keep these thoughts in mind. Be careful what you say and how you act. Be friendly, but not too friendly. Keep your old friends close, and be careful how you make new friends. Do not be quick to argue, but do not let anyone take you for a coward. Listen to your fellow man, but do not believe everything you hear. Dress your best, but do not overspend on fancy or gaudy clothes. Even the French dress according to their station. Do not borrow or lend money, because you will always lose, either the money or the friend or your sense of pride. And, most importantly, be true to yourself. That way no one can accuse you of being fake. Farewell and know you have my blessing!

  Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!And these few precepts in thy memorySee thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,Nor any unproportioned thought his act.Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;But do not dull thy palm with entertainmentOf each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. BewareOf entrance to a quarrel, but being in,Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,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 stationAre of a 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!

  LAERTES

  I am most humble as I leave, my lord.

  Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.

  LORD POLONIUS

  It is time. Go ahead. Your servants are waiting.

  The time invites you; go; your servants tend.

  LAERTES

  Goodbye, Ophelia, and remember what I said.

  Farewell, Ophelia; and remember wellWhat I have said to you.

  OPHELIA

  It is locked in my memory and only you have the key to unlock it.

  'Tis in my memory lock'd,And you yourself shall keep the key of it.

  LAERTES

  Goodbye.

  Farewell.

  Exit

  LORD POLONIUS

  What did he say to you, Ophelia?

  What is't, Ophelia, be hath said to you?

  OPHELIA

  If you must know, he said something about Lord Hamlet.

  So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet.

  LORD POLONIUS

  Just as I thought. I have been told he has been spending time with you. But, I must tell you be careful and protect yourself. What is going on between you? Tell me the truth.

  Marry, well bethought:'Tis told me, he hath very oft of lateGiven private time to you; and you yourselfHave of your audience been most free and bounteous:If it be so, as so 'tis put on me,And that in way of caution, I must tell you,You do not understand yourself so clearlyAs it behoves my daughter and your honour.What is between you? give me up the truth.

  OPHELIA

  He has, my lord, shown me how much he loves me, lately.

  He hath, my lord, of late made many tendersOf his affection to me.

  LORD POLONIUS

  Love! That’s worthless! You sound like a foolish girl who has no experience with danger. Do you believe him?

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

  OPHELIA

  I don’t know what to think, my lord.

  I do not know, my lord, what I should think.

  LORD POLONIUS

  Love! That’s worthless! You sound like a foolish girl who has no experience with danger. Do you believe him?

  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,Running it thus--you'll tender me a fool.

  OPHELIA

  Father, he has treated me with love in an honorable fashion.

  My lord, he hath importuned me with loveIn honourable fashion.

  LORD POLONIUS

  Yes, you can call it fashion, something that changes often. Go ahead.

  Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to.

  OPHELIA

  He swears he is being honest.

  And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,With almost all the holy vows of heaven.

  LORD POLONIUS

  Bologna! I know when lust burns in the blood, how quickly one is to take vows of any kind. His heart may burn for you, but do not be deceived by what stokes the fire. Act like a grown woman and don’t believe Lord Hamlet’s vows. Do not be alone with him anymore. I demand you listen to me and change your ways.

  Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,When the blood burns, how prodigal the soulLends 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 timeBe somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;Set your entreatments at a higher rateThan a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,Believe so much in him, that he is youngAnd with a larger tether may he walkThan may be given you: in few, Ophelia,Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,Not of that dye which their investments show,But mere implorators of unholy suits,Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,The better to beguile. This is for all:I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,Have you so slander any moment leisure,As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.Look to't, I charge you: come your ways.

  OPHELIA

  I will obey, my lord.

  I shall obey, my lord.

  Exeunt

  The platform

  Enter HAMLET, HORATIO, and MARCELLUS

  HAMLET

  The air is bitterly cold.

  The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold.

  HORATIO

  It is nippy in the air.

  It is a nipping and an eager air.

  HAMLET

  What time is it now?

  What hour now?

  HORATIO

  I think it is almost twelve.

  I think it lacks of twelve.

  HAMLET

  No, it is already struck twelve.

  No, it is struck.

  HORATIO

  It is? I didn’t hear it. Then, the time is near for the spirit to hold his walk.

  Indeed? I heard it not: then it draws near the seasonWherein the spirit held his wont to walk.

  A flourish of trumpets, and ordnance shot off, within

  What is that? What do
es it mean, my lord?

  What does this mean, my lord?

  HAMLET

  It means the king is awake tonight and is up drinking. The drum and trumpet play to show a pledge to be triumphant.

  The king doth wake to-night and takes his rouse,Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring reels;And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down,The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray outThe triumph of his pledge.

  HORATIO

  Is it a custom?

  Is it a custom?

  HAMLET

  Yes, it is. But, although I am from here, I don’t think it is a good one. Many countries think we are drunks. They do not think we are capable of great achievements, like someone who is born with an affliction they cannot control or someone with a bad habit. It is unfortunate, but people are judged by these things. A little problem can mar a whole man’s life.

  Ay, marry, is't:But to my mind, though I am native hereAnd to the manner born, it is a customMore honour'd in the breach than the observance.This heavy-headed revel east and westMakes us traduced and tax'd of other nations:They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phraseSoil our addition; and indeed it takesFrom 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-leavensThe 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 corruptionFrom that particular fault: the dram of ealeDoth all the noble substance of a doubtTo his own scandal.