The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (877 page)

And will he not come again?
And will he not come again?
No, no, he is dead:
Go to thy death-bed:
He never will come again.
His beard was as white as snow,
All flaxen was his poll:
He is gone, he is gone,
And we cast away moan:
God ha' mercy on his soul!
And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God be wi' ye.

Exit

LAERTES

Do you see this, God?

Do you see this, O God?

KING CLAUDIUS

Laertes, don’t deny me my grief. Go and find your wisest friends to listen to both of us and judge between you and me. If they find me at fault for your father’s death, then I will give you the kingdom. If they find me innocent, then I will work to satisfy your need to know about your father’s death. But, you must be patient.

Laertes, I must commune with your grief,
Or you deny me right. Go but apart,
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will.
And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me:
If by direct or by collateral hand
They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give,
Our crown, our life, and all that we can ours,
To you in satisfaction; but if not,
Be you content to lend your patience to us,
And we shall jointly labour with your soul
To give it due content.

LAERTES

Fine, but I need to know how he died and why there wasn’t a proper funeral. Why was it kept so quiet?

Let this be so;
His means of death, his obscure funeral--
No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones,
No noble rite nor formal ostentation--
Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth,
That I must call't in question.

KING CLAUDIUS

And, so you shall. May justice prevail. Go with me, now.

So you shall;
And where the offence is let the great axe fall.
I pray you, go with me.

Exeunt

Another room in the castle

Enter HORATIO and a Servant

HORATIO

Who are the people who want to speak with me?

What are they that would speak with me?

Servant

Sailors, sir. They have letters for you.

Sailors, sir: they say they have letters for you.

HORATIO

Let them come in.

Let them come in.

Exit Servant

I do not know who else would be sending me a letter from abroad, except Hamlet.

I do not know from what part of the worldI should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet.

Enter Sailors

First Sailor

God bless you, sir.

God bless you, sir.

HORATIO

May he bless you, too.

Let him bless thee too.

First Sailor

He will, sir, if it pleases him. Here is a letter for you, sir. It comes from the ambassador, Lord Hamlet. If you are Horatio, let me know.

He shall, sir, an't please him. There's a letter foryou, sir; it comes from the ambassador that wasbound for England; if your name be Horatio, as I amlet to know it is.

HORATIO

[Reads]

“Dear Horatio, when you have looked at this letter send the message to the king. We were at sea only two days when a pirate ship overtook us. We tried to escape, but were too slow, so we fought. I am now the lone prisoner on board. They have treated me well, and want me to do them a favor. Please come to me as quickly as you can. I have much to tell you. These messengers will bring you to me. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are still on their way to England. I have much to tell you about them. Yours truly, Hamlet.” Come men. I’ll show you where to take these letters, so you can take me to Hamlet.

 'Horatio, when thou shalt have overlookedthis, give these fellows some means to the king:they have letters for him. Ere we were two days oldat sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave uschase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put ona compelled valour, and in the grapple I boarded
them: on the instant they got clear of our ship; so
I alone became their prisoner. They have dealt with
me like thieves of mercy: but they knew what they
did; I am to do a good turn for them. Let the king
have the letters I have sent; and repair thou to me
with as much speed as thou wouldst fly death. I
have words to speak in thine ear will make thee
dumb; yet are they much too light for the bore of
the matter. These good fellows will bring thee
where I am. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold their
course for England: of them I have much to tell
thee. Farewell.
'He that thou knowest thine, HAMLET.'
Come, I will make you way for these your letters;
And do't the speedier, that you may direct me
To him from whom you brought them.

Exeunt

Another room in the castle

Enter KING CLAUDIUS and LAERTES

KING CLAUDIUS

Now you must believe that I am your friend, since the man who killed your father was trying to kill me.

Now must your conscience my acquaintance seal,
And you must put me in your heart for friend,
Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear,
That he which hath your noble father slain
Pursued my life.

LAERTES

It appears so, but tell me why didn’t you do anything about it.

It well appears: but tell me
Why you proceeded not against these feats,
So crimeful and so capital in nature,
As by your safety, wisdom, all things else,
You mainly were stirr'd up.

KING CLAUDIUS

I have two reasons, but you may think they are weak. First the queen is his mother, and she is devoted to him. She is a great part of my life, and I don’t think I could live without her. The other reason is the people of Denmark love him. I could not do anything to him without them revolting.

O, for two special reasons;
Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd,
But yet to me they are strong. The queen his mother
Lives almost by his looks; and for myself--
My virtue or my plague, be it either which--
She's so conjunctive to my life and soul,
That, as the star moves not but in his sphere,
I could not but by her. The other motive,
Why to a public count I might not go,
Is the great love the general gender bear him;
Who, dipping all his faults in their affection,
Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone,
Convert his gyves to graces; so that my arrows,
Too slightly timber'd for so loud a wind,
Would have reverted to my bow again,
And not where I had aim'd them.

LAERTES

So, I have lost a noble father, and my sister has been driven insane. I will get my revenge in the end.

And so have I a noble father lost;
A sister driven into desperate terms,
Whose worth, if praises may go back again,
Stood challenger on mount of all the age
For her perfections: but my revenge will come.

KING CLAUDIUS

Don’t worry about that. You mustn’t think that I am so old and dull that I can sit idly by while being threatened. You will soon hear more about my plans. I loved your father and I love myself enough to…

Break not your sleeps for that: you must not think
That we are made of stuff so flat and dull
That we can let our beard be shook with danger
And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more:
I loved your father, and we love ourself;
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine--

Enter a Messenger

What’s going on? Do you have news for me?

How now! what news?

Messenger

Letters, my lord, from Hamlet. This is for the queen.

Letters, my lord, from Hamlet:
This to your majesty; this to the queen.

KING CLAUDIUS

Letters from Hamlet? Who brought them?

From Hamlet! who brought them?

Messenger

Sailors, my lord, although I didn’t see them. The letters were brought by Claudio.

Sailors, my lord, they say; I saw them not:
They were given me by Claudio; he received them
Of him that brought them.

KING CLAUDIUS

Laertes, you can listen. Leave us.

Laertes, you shall hear them. Leave us.

Exit Messenger

Reads

“High and mighty, You will know that I am returning to Denmark and I ask that you will see me. I apologize for my actions. I will tell you how I came back to Denmark so suddenly. Hamlet.” What does this mean? Is everyone back or is this some joke?

'High and mighty, You shall know I am set naked on
your kingdom. To-morrow shall I beg leave to see
your kingly eyes: when I shall, first asking your
pardon thereunto, recount the occasion of my sudden
and more strange return. 'HAMLET.'
What should this mean? Are all the rest come back?
Or is it some abuse, and no such thing?

LAERTES

Do you recognize the handwriting?

Know you the hand?

KING CLAUDIUS

It’s Hamlet’s. Here he states he wants to see me alone. What do you think?

'Tis Hamlets character. 'Naked!
And in a postscript here, he says 'alone.'
Can you advise me?

LAERTES

I don’t understand it, my lord. But let him come. It warms my heart and sets my soul ablaze to know that I will live to tell him to his face what he has done.

I'm lost in it, my lord. But let him come;
It warms the very sickness in my heart,
That I shall live and tell him to his teeth,
'Thus didest thou.'