Ham. Thou dost lie in 't, to be in 't, and say it is thine: 'tis for the dead, and not for the quick; therefore thou liest.

1st Clo. 'Tis a quick lie, sir; 't will away again, from me to you.

Ham. What man dost thou dig it for? 1st Clo. For no man, sir.

Ham. What woman, then? 1st Clo. For none, neither.

Ham. Who is to be buried in 't?

1st Clo. One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her soul, she's dead.

Ham. How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo

Hor. What's that, my lord?

Ham. Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this

fashion i' the earth?

Hor. E'en so.

Ham. And smelt so? pah!

[Throws down the skull.

Hor. E'en so, my lord. Ham. To what base uses we may return, Horatio? Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bunghole?

Hor. "Twere to consider too curiously, to consider so.

Ham. No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it—as thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam: and why of that loam whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?

Imperial Cæsar, dead, and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away: O, that that earth which kept the world in awe, Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw! But soft; but soft! aside:-here comes the king,

Enter Priests, &c., in procession; the corpse of OPHELIA; LAERTES, and Mourners, following; KING, QUEEN, their Trains, &c.

The queen, the courtiers: who is this they follow? And with such maiméd rites! This doth betoken, The corse they follow did with desperate hand Foredo its own life. "Twas of some estate: Couch we awhile, and mark.

[Retiring with Horatio. Laer. What ceremony else? Ham.

That is Laertes,

A very noble youth: mark.
Laer. What ceremony else?

1st Priest. Her obsequies have been as far

enlarged

Fall ten times treble on that cursed head
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense
Deprived thee of!-Hold off the earth awhile,
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms:
[Leaps into the grave.

Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead;
Till of this flat a mountain you have made
To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.

Ham. [advancing]. What is he whose grief Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow Conjures the wondering stars, and makes them stand

Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I,
Hamlet the Dane.

Laer.

[Leaps into the grave.

The devil take thy soul!
[Grappling with him.

Ham. Thou pray'st not well.

I pr'y thee take thy fingers from my throat;
For though I am not splenetive and rash,
Yet have I in me something dangerous,
Which let thy wisdom fear: hold off thy hand.
King. Pluck them asunder.

Hor.

Good my lord, be quiet.

[The Attendants part them, and they come out of the grave.

Ham. Why, I will fight with him upon this theme,

Until my eyelids will no longer wag.

Queen. O my son! what theme? Ham. I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum.- -What wilt thou do for her? King. O, he is mad, Laertes.

Queen. For love of God, forbear him.
Ham. 'Zounds, shew me what thou 'lt do:
Would't weep? would't fight? would't fast!
would't tear thyself?

Would't drink up Esil? eat a crocodile ?
I'll do 't.-Dost thou come here to whine?
To outface me with leaping in her grave?
Be buried quick with her, and so will I:
And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw

Enter HAMLET and HORATIO. Ham. So much for this, sir: now shall you see the other;

You do remember all the circumstance?

Hor. Remember it, my lord?

Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,

That would not let me sleep: methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly,
And praised be rashness for it,-let us know,
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall; and that should
teach us,

There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
That is most certain.

Hor.

Ham. Up from my cabin, My sea-gown scarfed about me, in the dark Groped I to find out them: had my desire; Fingered their packet; and, in fine, withdrew To mine own room again: making so bold, My fears forgetting manners, to unseal Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio, A royal knavery; an exact command,— Larded with many several sorts of reasons, Importing Denmark's health, and England's too, With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life,— That, on the supervise, no leisure bated,

But wilt thou hear now how I did proceed?
Hor. Ay, 'beseech you.

Ham. Being thus benetted round with villanies,
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains,
They had begun the play :-I sat me down;
Devised a new commission; wrote it fair:
I once did hold it, as our statists do,

A baseness to write fair, and laboured much
How to forget that learning; but, sir, now
It did me yeoman's service. Wilt thou know
The effect of what I wrote?

Hor. It must be shortly known to him from England

What is the issue of the business there.

Ham. It will be short: the interim is mine; And a man's life's no more than to say, one. But I am very sorry, good Horatio,

That to Laertes I forgot myself;'
For by the image of my cause, I see

The portraiture of his. I'll count his favours:
But sure the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.
Hor.

Peace; who comes here?

Enter OSRIC.

Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.

Ham. I humbly thank you, sir.-Dost know this water-fly?

Hor. No, my good lord.

Ham. Thy state is the more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him. He hath much land, and fertile let a beast be lord of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's mess. 'Tis a chough; but, as I say, spacious in the possession of dirt.

Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should impart a thing to you from his majesty.

Ham. I will receive it, sir, with all diligence

of spirit. Your bonnet to his right use; 't is for the head.

Osr. I thank your lordship, 't is very hot. Ham. No, believe me, 't is very cold; the wind is northerly.

Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. Ham. But yet, methinks, it is very sultry and hot; or my complexion

Osr. Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry,as 't were,-I cannot tell how.-My lord, his majesty bade me signify to you, that he has laid a great wager on your head: sir, this is the matter,