The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 524
HORATIO
Look, my lord, here it comes!
Look, my lord, it comes!
Enter Ghost
HAMLET
God help us! Whether you are an angel or demon, from heaven or hell, good or bad, I will speak to you. I’ll call you Hamlet, King, father, royal Dane. Oh, answer me! Tell me why you are here. What does it mean the dead walking? Why are you in your battle armor and making us doubt our minds? Why? What do you want?
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 comest in such a questionable shapeThat I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet,King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!Let me not burst in ignorance; but tellWhy thy canonized bones, hearsed in death,Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre,Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd,Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws,To cast thee up again. What may this mean,That thou, dead corse, again in complete steelRevisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon,Making night hideous; and we fools of natureSo horridly to shake our dispositionWith thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do?
Ghost beckons HAMLET
HORATIO
It beckons for you to go with it, as if it wants to be with you alone.
It beckons you to go away with it,As if it some impartment did desireTo you alone.
MARCELLUS
Look, it wants you to go over there, but don’t go!
Look, with what courteous actionIt waves you to a more removed ground:But do not go with it.
HORATIO
No, by no means.
No, by no means.
HAMLET
It will not speak, if I don’t follow.
It will not speak; then I will follow it.
HORATIO
Do not, my lord.
Do not, my lord.
HAMLET
Why not? What do I have to fear? It cannot hurt me or take my soul. It waves at me, again. I’ll follow.
Why, what should be the fear?I do not set my life in a pin's fee;And for my soul, what can it do to that,Being a thing immortal as itself?It waves me forth again: I'll follow it.
HORATIO
What if it tempts you toward the water, my lord, or to the end of the cliff or assumes some other horrible form which drives you insane.
What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,Or to the dreadful summit of the cliffThat beetles o'er his base into the sea,And there assume some other horrible form,Which might deprive your sovereignty of reasonAnd draw you into madness? think of it:The very place puts toys of desperation,Without more motive, into every brainThat looks so many fathoms to the seaAnd hears it roar beneath.
HAMLET
It still waves at me. Go on. I’ll follow you.
It waves me still.Go on; I'll follow thee.
MARCELLUS
You will not, my lord.
You shall not go, my lord.
HAMLET
Take your hands off of me.
Hold off your hands.
HORATIO
Be sensible. You will not go.
Be ruled; you shall not go.
HAMLET
This is my fate and I am not afraid. Now, take your hands off, gentlemen. I swear, I’ll make a ghost of you, if you don’t. I say, go on. I’ll follow you.
My fate cries out,And makes each petty artery in this bodyAs hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve.Still am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen.By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me!I say, away! Go on; I'll follow thee.
Exeunt Ghost and HAMLET
HORATIO
He is desperate and not thinking sensibly.
He waxes desperate with imagination.
MARCELLUS
Let’s follow him. It is not right for us to let him go alone.
Let's follow; 'tis not fit thus to obey him.
HORATIO
Go ahead. What good can come of this?
Have after. To what issue will this come?
MARCELLUS
Something terrible is definitely happening in Denmark.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
HORATIO
God will protect him.
Heaven will direct it.
MARCELLUS
No, let’s follow him.
Nay, let's follow him.
Exeunt
SCENE V. Another part of the platform.
Enter GHOST and HAMLET
HAMLET
Where are you leading me? Speak or I’ll stop.
Where wilt thou lead me? speak; I'll go no further.
Ghost
Listen to me.
Mark me.
HAMLET
I will.
I will.
Ghost
My time is almost up, and I have to return to the sulfurous fire and tormenting flames.
My hour is almost come,When I to sulphurous and tormenting flamesMust render up myself.
HAMLET
You poor ghost!
Alas, poor ghost!
Ghost
Don’t pity me, but listen to what I have to say.
Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearingTo what I shall unfold.
HAMLET
Speak. I am listening.
Speak; I am bound to hear.
Ghost
You will want revenge when you hear my story.
So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.
HAMLET
What?
What?
Ghost
I am the spirit of your father, and I am doomed to walk the night and confined by day to waste in the fires, until I have paid for the crimes of my life. But, I am forbidden to tell the secrets of hell, although I could tell a small story that would freeze your blood, make your eyes pop out of your head, or make your hair stand on end like the quills of a porcupine. However, I cannot tell you. Listen, if you ever loved your dear father--
I am thy father's spirit,Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,And for the day confined to fast in fires,Till the foul crimes done in my days of natureAre burnt and purged away. But that I am forbidTo tell the secrets of my prison-house,I could a tale unfold whose lightest wordWould harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,Thy knotted and combined locks to partAnd each particular hair to stand on end,Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:But this eternal blazon must not beTo ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!If thou didst ever thy dear father love--
HAMLET
Oh, God!
O God!
Ghost
You will seek revenge for his foul murder.
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
HAMLET
Murder!
Murder!
Ghost
Yes, murder, in the most unnatural sense.
Murder most foul, as in the best it is;But this most foul, strange and unnatural.
HAMLET
Hurry and tell me, so I can seek revenge quickly.
Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swiftAs meditation or the thoughts of love,May sweep to my revenge.
Ghost
I know you are capable and no one would suspect you. Now, listen Hamlet. It was told throughout Denmark that while I was sleeping in my orchard, I was bitten by a serpent, but I want you to the serpent that bit me now wears my crown.
I know you are capable and no one would suspect you. Now, listen Hamlet. It was told throughout Denmark that while I was sleeping in my orchard, I was bitten by a serpent, but I want you to the serpent that bit me now wears my crown.
I find thee apt;And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weedThat roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of DenmarkIs by a forged process of my deathRankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,The
serpent that did sting thy father's lifeNow wears his crown.
HAMLET
I knew it! My uncle!
O my prophetic soul! My uncle!
Ghost
Yes, that incestuous beast of adultery and witchcraft. He is traitorous and has the powers of seduction, which won him my most seemingly virtuous queen. Oh, Hamlet, what a terrible blow. My wife, whom I loved with dignity from the day we married, falls for the likes of him. But, perhaps her virtue was not as solid as I thought to fall so quickly into the bed of another. Wait! I think the morning is approaching, and I must be brief. Your uncle, while I was sleeping in the orchard like every afternoon, came and poured some poison into my ear. The poison worked quickly and my body became crusty with death, and I was not given the opportunity to confess my sins. Oh, horrible! Horrible! Most horrible! Protect yourself against sin, and however you go about getting your revenge, leave your mother alone. Let heaven deal with her. Living with the truth will prick and sting her enough. Now, I must go. The sun is rising. Goodbye. Goodbye. Hamlet, remember me!
Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,--O wicked wit and gifts, that have the powerSo to seduce!--won to his shameful lustThe will of my most seeming-virtuous queen:O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!From me, whose love was of that dignityThat it went hand in hand even with the vowI made to her in marriage, and to declineUpon a wretch whose natural gifts were poorTo those of mine!But virtue, as it never will be moved,Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,Will sate itself in a celestial bed,And prey on garbage.But, soft! methinks I scent the morning air;Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,My custom always of the afternoon,Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,And in the porches of my ears did pourThe leperous distilment; whose effectHolds such an enmity with blood of manThat swift as quicksilver it courses throughThe natural gates and alleys of the body,And with a sudden vigour doth possetAnd curd, like eager droppings into milk,The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;And a most instant tetter bark'd about,Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,All my smooth body.Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's handOf life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd:Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd,No reckoning made, but sent to my accountWith all my imperfections on my head:O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;Let not the royal bed of Denmark beA couch for luxury and damned incest.But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contriveAgainst thy mother aught: leave her to heavenAnd 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! Hamlet, remember me.
Exit
HAMLET
Oh, God of heaven and earth! What else can I bear? I swear! Be still, my heart and body give me strength. Remember you! You poor ghost, I will remember you. I will think of nothing else. Oh, villainous woman! Oh, villain, damned villain! How can one sit and smile and know he is a villain? I know it is possible in Denmark.
O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?And shall I couple hell? O, fie! 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 seatIn this distracted globe. Remember thee!Yea, from the table of my memoryI'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 liveWithin 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'm sure it may be so in Denmark:
Writing
So, uncle, there you are. I will keep my word and remember my father. I have sworn it.
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.'I have sworn 't.
MARCELLUS HORATIO
[Within]
My lord, my lord,--
My lord, my lord,--
MARCELLUS
[Within]
Lord Hamlet,--
Lord Hamlet,--
HORATIO
[Within]
Heaven protect him!
Heaven secure him!
HAMLET
So be it!
So be it!
HORATIO
[Within]
Hello, my lord!
Hillo, ho, ho, my lord!
HAMLET
Hello, boy! Come here, come.
Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come.
Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS
MARCELLUS
How are you, my noble lord?
How is't, my noble lord?
HORATIO
What happened, my lord?
What news, my lord?
HAMLET
It was wonderful!
O, wonderful!
HORATIO
Good my lord, tell us.
Good my lord, tell it.
HAMLET
No, you’ll tell someone.
No; you'll reveal it.
HORATIO
Not me, my lord, I swear.
Not I, my lord, by heaven.
MARCELLUS
Nor me, my lord.
Nor I, my lord.
HAMLET
Can you keep a secret?
How say you, then; would heart of man once think it?But you'll be secret?
HORATIO MARCELLUS
Yes, we swear, my lord.
Ay, by heaven, my lord.
HAMLET
There’s a villain living in Denmark, an awful scoundrel.
There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all DenmarkBut he's an arrant knave.
HORATIO
No ghost needed to tell us that, my lord.
There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the graveTo tell us this.
HAMLET
You are so right. So, I think we should shake hands and go our separate ways, you to your business and me, well, I need to go pray.
Why, right; you are i' the right;And so, without more circumstance at all,I hold it fit that we shake hands and part:You, as your business and desire shall point you;For every man has business and desire,Such as it is; and for mine own poor part,Look you, I'll go pray.
HORATIO
You aren’t making much sense, my lord.
These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.
HAMLET
I’m sorry they offend you. I truly am.
I'm sorry they offend you, heartily;Yes, 'faith heartily.
HORATIO
I’m not offended, my lord.
There's no offence, my lord.
HAMLET
Oh, but there has been an offense, I swear by Saint Patrick, Horatio. From what the honest ghost says, a large offense, too. I know you want to know what was said, but I must keep it to myself. Now, good friends, you are friends, scholars, and soldiers; I ask but one thing.
Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio,And much offence too. Touching this vision here,It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you:For your desire to know what is between us,O'ermaster 't as you may. And now, good friends,As you are friends, scholars and soldiers,Give me one poor request.
HORATIO
What is it, my lord? We will.
What is't, my lord? we will.
HAMLET
Never tell anyone what you have seen tonight.
Never make known what you have seen to-night.
HORATIO MARCELLUS
My lord, we will not tell anyone.
My lord, we will not.
HAMLET
No, swear it.
Nay, but swear't.
HORATIO
I swear, my lord, I will never tell.
In faith,My lord, not I.
MARCELLUS
Nor I, my lord, I swear.
Nor I, my lord, in faith.
HAMLET
Swear upon my sword.
Upon my sword.
MARCELLUS
We have already sworn, my lord.
We have sworn, my lord, already.
HAMLET
You have, but I want you to swear upon my sword.
Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.
Ghost
[Beneath]
Swear.
Swear.
HAMLET
Ha, ha boy! Is that right? Aren’t you helpful? Come on! You hear the fellow down below. Swear.
Ah, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there,truepenny?Come on--you hear this fellow in the cellarage--Consent to swear.
HORATIO
Say the oath, my lord.
Propose the oath, my lord.