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. the Tragical History of . H A M L E T . Prince of Denmark .
(In the original language with modernized spelling)
- Scene 5 [~ Murder Most Foul ~] (Act 1 Scene 5)
Setting: Near the Graveyard;- A few minutes later.
(the Ghost and Hamlet enter)
Hamlet: Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak, I'll go no further.- Ghost: Mark me!
- Hamlet: I will.
- Ghost: My hour is almost come
- When I to sulphrous and tormenting flames
Must render up myself.
- Hamlet: Alas, poor Ghost.
- Ghost: Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing
- To what I shall unfold.
- Hamlet: Speak, I am bound to hear.
- Ghost: So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.
- Hamlet: What?
- Ghost: I am thy father's spirit,
- Doomed for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
'Til the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away; but that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fearful porcupine;
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood; list, list, oh list,
If thou didst ever thy dear father love . . .
- Hamlet: Oh, God!
- Ghost: . . . Revenge his foul, and most unnatural, murder.
- Hamlet: Murder?!
- Ghost: Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
- But this, most foul: strange and unnatural.
- Hamlet: Haste me to know it, that I, with wings as swift
- As meditation, or the thoughts of love
May sweep to my revenge.
- Ghost: I find thee apt,
- And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That 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 Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abused; but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.
- Hamlet: Oh, my prophetic soul! My uncle?
- Ghost: Aye, that incestuous, that adulterate beast;
- With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts,
(Oh wicked wit, and gifts that have the power
So to seduce,) won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming virtuous Queen;
Oh, Hamlet, what falling off was there
From me, whose love was of that dignity
That it went hand-in-hand, even with the vow
I made to her in marriage, and to decline
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor,
To those of mine; but virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So, but though to a radiant angel linked,
Will sort itself in a celestial bed,
And pray 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 Hebona in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leprous distilment, whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man,
That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body,
And with a sudden vigor it doth posset
And curd, like aigre droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine,
And a most instant tetter barked about,
Most lazarlike, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body;
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand
Of life, of crown, of Queen, at once dispatched;
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled,
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head;
Oh horrible; Oh horrible, most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not!
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest;
But, howsomever thou pursues this act,
Taint not thy mind nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother, aught; leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge
To prick and sting her; fare thee well, at once;
The glowworm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire;
Adieu, adieu, adieu; remember me!
(the Ghost exits)
Hamlet: Oh, all you host of heaven! Oh earth! What else?- And shall I couple hell? Oh, fie! Hold, hold my heart;
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me swiftly up; remember thee?
Aye, thou poor Ghost, whiles memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe, remember thee!
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'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 live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmixed with baser matter; yes, by heaven!
Oh, most pernicious woman!
Oh, 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 am sure it may be so in Denmark;
So, uncle, there you are; now to my word,
It is: "adieu, adieu, remember me!"
I have sworn it.
(Horatio and Marcellus enter)
Horatio: My Lord, my Lord!- Marcellus: Lord Hamlet!
- Hora: Heavens secure him.
- Hamlet (aside): So be it.
- Marc: Hillo, ho, ho, my Lord!
- Hamlet: Hillo, ho, ho, boy come, and come!
- Marc: How is it, my noble Lord?
- Hora: What news, my Lord?
- Hamlet: Oh, wonderful!
- Hora: Good, my Lord, tell it.
- Hamlet: No, you will reveal it.
- Hora: Not I, my Lord, by heaven.
- Marc: Nor I, my Lord.
- Hamlet: How say you, then, (would heart of man once think it,)
- But you'll be secret?
- (Both reply): Aye, by heaven.
- Hamlet: There's never a villain,
- Dwelling in all Denmark . . .
But he's an arrant knave.
- Hora: There needs no Ghost, my Lord, come from the grave
- To tell us this.
- Hamlet: Why, right, you are in 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 hath business and desire,
Such as it is,) and for my own poor part,
I will go pray.
- Hora: These are but wild and whirling words, my Lord.
- Hamlet: I am sorry they offend you; heartily,
- Yes, faith, heartily.
- Hora: There's no offense, my Lord.
- Hamlet: Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio,
- And much offense, 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 it as you may; and now, good friends,
As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,
Give me one poor request.
- Hora: What is't, my Lord? We will.
- Hamlet: Never make known what you have seen tonight.
- (They both reply): My lord, we will not.
- Hamlet: Nay, but swear it.
- Hora: In faith, my Lord, not I.
- Marc: Nor I, my Lord, in faith.
- Hamlet: Upon my sword!
- Marc: We have sworn, my Lord, already.
- Hamlet: Indeed? Upon my sword, indeed!
(the Ghost cries out from the earth)
Ghost: Swear!- Hamlet: Ha, ha, boy, say'st thou so? Art thou there, Truepenny?
- Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellerage;
Consent to swear.
- Horatio: Propose the oath, my Lord.
- Hamlet: Never to speak of this that you have seen;
- Swear by my sword.
- Ghost: Swear!
- Hamlet: Hic, and ubique? Then we'll shift our ground;
- Come hither, gentlemen,
And lay your hands again upon my sword;
Swear by my sword,
Never to speak of this that you have heard.
- Ghost: Swear by his sword!
- Hamlet: Well said, old mole! Canst work i'the earth so fast?
- A worthy pioneer; once more remove good friends.
- Hora: Oh, day and night, but this is wonderous strange!
- Hamlet: And therefore, as a stranger, give it welcome;
- There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy; but come
Here as before.
(Hamlet puts his sword away)
(Hamlet continues): Never, so help you mercy,- How strange or odd some'er I bear myself,
(As I perchance hereafter shall think meet,
To put an antic disposition on,)
That you, at such times seeing me, never shall
With arms encumbered, thus, or this head shake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As, "well, well, we know," or, "we could, if we would,"
Or, "if we list to speak," or, "there be, and if they might,"
Or such ambiguous giving out, to note
That you know ought of me, this do swear;
So grace and mercy, at your most need, help you.
- Ghost: Swear!
- Hamlet: Rest, rest, perturbed spirit. So, gentlemen,
- With all my love I do commend me to you,
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is,
May do t'express his love and friending to you
God willing, shall not lack; let us go in together,
And still, your fingers on your lips, I pray;
The time is out of joint, oh curs'd spite,
That ever I was born, to set things right;
Nay, come, let's go together.
(they exit)
End of Scene 5
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. The Tragedy of . H A M L E T . Prince of Denmark .
(In simplified modern English translation)
- Scene 5 [~ Murder Most Foul ~] (Act 1 Scene 5)
Setting: Near the Graveyard;- A few minutes later.
(the Ghost and Hamlet enter)
Hamlet: Where will you lead me? Speak to me, I'll go no farther.- Ghost: Pay attention to what I say!
- Hamlet: I will.
- Ghost: The time is almost here
- When I, to sulfurous and tormenting flames,
Must give myself up.
- Hamlet: Oh dear, poor ghost.
- Ghost: Do not pity me, but instead listen seriously
- To what I will reveal.
- Hamlet: Speak. I am bound to hear you.
- Ghost: You'll also be bound to revenge, when you hear my story.
- Hamlet: What?
- Ghost: I am your father's spirit,
- Condemned for a certain period of time to walk in the night
And in the daytime confined to suffer in fires,
Until the wicked sins that I committed in my life
Are burned and purged away. Except that I am forbidden
To tell you the secrets of my imprisonment
I could relate you a story whose softest word
Would uproot your soul from your body, freeze your young blood,
Make your eyes bulge from their sockets, cause
Your braided and tied locks of hair to loosen,
And each individual hair to stand on end
Like the quills on a frightened porcupine.
But this description of eternity must not be told
To ears of flesh and blood. Listen, listen, oh, listen,
If you ever really did love your dear father . . .
- Hamlet: Oh, God!
- Ghost: . . . Revenge his foul, and highly unnatural murder.
- Hamlet: Murder?!
- Ghost: Murder most foul, (as any murder is, at best,)
- But this one, the most foul, so strange and unnatural.
- Hamlet: Quickly, tell me, so that I, with wings as swift
- As I can cogitate, with the thoughts of my love,
I may sweep to my revenge.
- Ghost: I see you're ready,
- And you would be drowsier than the fat weed
That grows beside the river of forgetfulness
If you did not act upon this. Now, Hamlet, hear me.
The story is told that while I was sleeping in my garden,
A serpent bit me, and so the whole country of Denmark
Is, by this false story about my death,
Offensively deceived. But know this, noble youth,
The serpent that bit away your father's life
Now wears his crown.
- Hamlet: Oh, my prophetic soul! My uncle?
- Ghost: Yes, that incestuous and adulterate beast,
- With the witchcraft of his wits, and with traitorous gifts,
(Oh wicked wits, and gifts that have the power
To seduce into wickedness,) he won to serve his shameful lust
The consent of my Queen who seems so virtuous.
Oh, Hamlet, what a great descent it was -
As she went from me, whose love was of such dignity
That it went hand-in-hand with the vow
I made to her in marriage - to descend
Upon that wretch whose nature was so poor
Compared to mine. But virtue can never be altered,
Even if evil courts it in a shape from Heaven.
So, despite being linked to the radiant angel, Lucifer,
Virtue will make its way to a heavenly resting place
And pray over things that are thrown away.
But easy now, I think I sense the morning air.
I will be brief. While I was asleep in my orchard, which was
My habit, always, in the afternoon, when I had
A private hour to myself, your uncle snuck up to me
Carrying Hebona juice in a vial
And into the openings of my ears he poured
That poisonous, diseased extract. The effect of the poison
Is so hateful to the blood of man
That it flowed like quicksilver through
The natural pores and pathways of my body,
And, with a sudden force, it curdled
And coagulated, (like when acid is dropped into milk,)
In my normally thin and wholesome blood. So it did to me,
And in only an instant, a skin disease like tree bark spread,
Like leprosy, with a vile and loathsome crust
Over all my formerly-smooth body.
Thus, as I was sleeping, I was by my own brother's hand
Deprived of life, my crown, and my Queen.
I was cut off at the height of my sins,
Denied last rites and the services of a priest,
No reckoning of my sins made, but sent to my reward
With all my religious offenses still on my own head.
Oh, it was horrible, horrible, most horrible!
If you have any natural affection in you, don't tolerate it.
Don't let the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for lust, and damnable incest.
But however you pursue this revenge,
Do not darken your mind, or let your spirit contrive
Against your mother, at all. Leave her to Heaven,
And to the thorns in her own heart
That prick and sting her. Fare thee well now,
The firefly shows the dawn to be near
As he begins to dampen his cool fire.
Adieu.... adieu.... adieu. Remember me!
(the Ghost exits)
Hamlet: Oh, all the host of Heaven! Oh, earth! What else?- Should I also add Hell? Oh, shame! Be strong, be strong my heart;
And my sinews, don't become instantly old and weak,
But bear me readily up. Remember you?
Yes, you poor Ghost, while there is any memory left
In my distracted head, I'll remember you!
Yes, from the catalog of my memory
I'll erase all the trivial, foolish entries,
All the quotations from books, all the shapes, and impressions of the past,
That youthful curiosity and observation have copied there.
And I shall live by your commandment alone
Written in the books and volumes of my brain,
Unmixed with any less noble subject - yes, by Heaven!
Oh, most wicked woman!
Oh, villain, villain, smiling damned villain!
Where is my writing tablet - it's proper I write down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
At least I'm sure it's true in Denmark.
So, uncle, there you are, in writing. Now as to my promise,
It is: "adieu, adieu, remember me!"
I have sworn it!
(Horatio and Marcellus enter)
Horatio: My Lord! My Lord!- Marcellus: Lord Hamlet!
- Hora: Heaven protect him.
- Hamlet (aside): Amen.
- Marc: Hello! Ho! Ho! My Lord!
- Hamlet: Hello! Ho! Ho! My boy, come here, and you come, too.
- Marc: How are you, my noble Lord?
- Hora: What news, my Lord, what's happened?
- Hamlet: Oh, it's wonderful.
- Hora: Good, my Lord, tell us.
- Hamlet: No, you'll tell somebody.
- Hora: Not I, my Lord, I swear.
- Marc: Nor I, my Lord.
- Hamlet: What do you say then, would the heart of a man
- ever think such a thing . . . But you'll be secret?
- (They both reply): Yes, we swear by Heaven.
- Hamlet: There's never been a villain
- Dwelling in the whole of Denmark . . .
Except he's a wicked knave.
- Hora: My Lord, it takes no ghost from the grave
- To tell us this.
- Hamlet: Right. Why, yes, you are right.
- And so, without anything further, at all,
I think it's best we shake hands and part.
You may go as your business and desire send you,
(Since every man has his own business and his own desires,
Such as they are,) and for my own poor part in events,
I will go pray.
- Hora: These are only wild and whirling words, my Lord.
- Hamlet: I am sorry if they offend you, very sincerely I am.
- Yes I am, sincerely.
- Hora: There's no offense, my Lord.
- Hamlet: Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio.
- And great offense, too, concerning this vision we saw.
It's honestly a ghost, I'll tell you that.
As for your curiosity to know what was said between us
Overcome that curiosity as best you can. Now, good friends,
Since you are my friends, scholars, and soldiers,
Grant me one simple request.
- Hora: What is it, my Lord? We will grant it.
- Hamlet: Never tell anybody what you have seen tonight.
- (Both together): My Lord, we will not tell.
- Hamlet: No, but you must swear to it.
- Hora: In faith, my Lord, I will never tell.
- Marc: Nor I, my Lord, in all faith.
- Hamlet: Upon my sword!
- Marc: We have already sworn, my Lord.
- Hamlet: Indeed, but you must swear upon my sword.
(the Ghost cries out from the earth)
Ghost: Swear!- Hamlet: Ha-ha, boy, you don't say so! Are you there, Truepenny?
- Come now, you hear this fellow in the cellar,
Agree to swear on my sword.
- Hor: Tell us what the oath is, my Lord.
- Hamlet: Never to speak of what you have seen tonight.
- Swear by my sword.
- Ghost: Swear!
- Hamlet: Here and everywhere, eh? Then we'll move.
- Come over here, gentlemen.
And put your hands again upon my sword.
Swear by my sword
Never to tell what you've heard.
- Ghost: Swear by his sword!
- Hamlet: Well said, old mole! Can you move in the earth so fast?
- You are a praiseworthy miner. Let's move again, my friends.
- Hora: I don't know if it's day or night, this is all so amazingly strange!
- Hamlet: Therefore welcome it as you would a stranger.
- There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamed of in academic philosophy. But come with me
Back over here, where we were.
(Hamlet puts his sword away)
(Hamlet continues): Now, never, so help you mercy,- However strangely or oddly I may act,
(Since I might think it proper after this,
To pretend I have an antic state of mind,)
That you, if you see me at such times, will not
Put your hands out with your palms upward, or shake your head slowly,
Or, by saying some doubtful phrase,
Such as "well, well, we know," or "we could tell, if we would,"
Or "if we wanted to talk . . ." or "there are those, if they might . . ."
Or by such ambiguous statement revealing, for others to notice,
That you know anything about me, swear this.
And may grace and mercy help you when you need it most.
- Ghost: Swear!
- Hamlet: Rest, rest, perturbed spirit. So, gentlemen,
- With all my love I do recommend myself to you,
And however poor a man Hamlet is,
Whatever I may do to express my love and friendship to you,
God willing, you will not lack that. Let's go in together,
And still, please keep your fingers to your lips, and say nothing.
The time is out of joint, oh cursed spite,
That I was ever born to set things right.
No, don't separate from me, let's walk close together.
(they exit)
End of Scene 5
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(Regained)