And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses”,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. "Twere good, you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib°,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense, and secresy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top,
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.

Queen. Be thou assur’d, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.

Ham. I must to England; you know that.
Queen.

Alack !
I had forgot : 'tis so concluded on.
Ham. There's letters seal'd, and my two school-

fellows-
Whom I will trust, as I will adders fang’d, -
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way,
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;
For 'tis the sport, to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petar, and it shall go hard,
But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon. 0! 'tis most sweet,
When in one line two crafts directly meet'.-
This man shall set me packing :

7

a pair of reechy kisses,] “Reechy” is properly smoky. See Vol. ii. p. 235, and Vol. vi. 178: in the latter instance it seems to mean dirty from perspiration, and here it is rather used for heated or sweltering. It is an adjective formed from reek, smoke or vapour.

I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room.-
Mother, good night.-Indeed, this counsellor
Is now most still, most secret, and most grave,
Who was in life a foolish, prating knave.
Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you.
Good night, mother.

[Exeunt severally; Hamlet dragging in Polonius'.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

The Same.

Enter King, Queen, ROSENCRANTZ, and GUILDENSTERN?.
King. There's matter in these sighs : these profound

heaves
You must translate; 'tis fit we understand them.
Where is your son ?
Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while?:-

[Excunt ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN. Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!

King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?
Queen. Mad as the sea, and wind, when both con-

tend
Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit,
Behind the arras hearing something stir,

1

10 Who was in life a foolish-] The quarto, 1604, has, “ Who was in life a most foolish,” &c. Boswell tells us that “ the quarto ” (he does not say which) reads,“ in ’s life :" he seems to have consulted only the undated quarto.

Hamlet DRAGGING in Polonius.] The folio has " tugging in," and the quarto, 1603, “ Exit Hamlet with the dead body.” The other quartos have merely Exit.

2 Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.] In the folio it is only “ Enter King," the Queen even not being mentioned. Our stage-direction is from the quarto, 1604: that of 1603 has “Enter the King and Lordes."

3 Bestow this place on us a little while.] This line is omitted in the folio, because it does not appear that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern came on the stage. In the next line the quartos read, “ Ah! my own lord.”

99

He whips his rapier out, and cries “, “ A rat! a rat!"
And in his brainish apprehension kills
The unseen good old man.
K’ing.

O heavy deed!
It had been so with us, had we been there.
His liberty is full of threats to all ;
To you yourself, to us, to every one.
Alas! how shall this bloody deed be answer'd ?
It will be laid to us, whose providence
Should have kept short, restrain’d, and out of haunt,
This mad young man; but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit,
But, like the owner of a foul disease,
To keep it from divulging, let it feed
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?

Queen. To draw apart the body he hath kill’d;
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore
Among a mineral of metals base,
Shows itself pure : he weeps for what is done.

King. O, Gertrude! come away.
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence; and this vile deed
We must, with all our majesty and skill,
Both countenance and excuse.-Ho! Guildenstern!

Enter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN.

Friends both, go join you with some farther aid.
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg’d him :
Go, seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.

[Exeunt Ros. and Guil. Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends; And let them know, both what we mean to do,

• He whips his rapier out, and crics,] The quartos read merely,“ Whips out his rapier, cries,” &c. In the next line, they have this for “his,” of the folio.

And what's untimely done: so, haply, slander',-
Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter,
As level as the cannon to his blank,
Transports his poison’d shot,—may miss our name,
And hit the woundless air.—0, come away!
My soul is full of discord, and dismay. [Excunt.

SCENE II.

Another Room in the Same.

Enter HAMLET. Ham. Safely stowed.—[Ros. &c. within. Hamlet! lord Hamlet !] But soft®!—what noise ? who calls on Hamlet? O! here they come.

Enter RosENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN.

Ros. What have you done, my lord, with the dead

body? Ham. Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin.

Ros. Tell us where 'tis; that we may take it thence, And bear it to the chapel.

Ham. Do not believe it.
Ros. Believe what?

Ham. That I can keep your counsel, and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication should be made by the son of a king ?

5

- so, haply, slander,] These words are of Theobald's introducing, in order to make the sense complete : no part of the passage down to “ And hit the woundless air,” is to be found in the folio, and it was perhaps omitted, because without some addition, like that of Theobald, it was unintelligible.

Ros. Take you me for a sponge, my lord ?

Ham. Ay, sir; that soaks up the king's countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the king best service in the end : he keeps them, like an ape', in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed: when he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again.

Ros. I understand you not, my lord.

Ham. I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear.

Ros. My lord, you must tell us where the body is, and go with us to the king.

Ham. The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is a thing

Guil. A thing, my lord !

Ham. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide fox, and all after

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

Another Room in the Same.

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;