ARKCODEX
Act II, Scene 1
1A room in Polonius’ house.
2Enter Polonius and Reynaldo.
3PoloniusGive him this money and these notes, Reynaldo.
4ReynaldoI will, my lord.
5PoloniusYou shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo,
Before you visit him, to make inquire
Of his behavior.
6ReynaldoMy lord, I did intend it.
7PoloniusMarry, well said; very well said. Look you, sir,
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,
What company, at what expense; and finding
By this encompassment and drift of question
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
Than your particular demands will touch it:
Take you, as ’twere, some distant knowledge of him;
As thus, “I know his father and his friends,
And in part him:” do you mark this, Reynaldo?
8ReynaldoAy, very well, my lord.
9Polonius“And in part him; but” you may say “not well:
But, if’t be he I mean, he’s very wild;
Addicted so-and-so:” and there put on him
What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank
As may dishonour him; take heed of that;
But, sir, such wanton, wild and usual slips
As are companions noted and most known
To youth and liberty.
10ReynaldoAs gaming, my lord.
11PoloniusAy, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,
Drabbing: you may go so far.
12ReynaldoMy lord, that would dishonour him.
13Polonius’Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge.
You must not put another scandal on him,
That he is open to incontinency;
That’s not my meaning: but breathe his faults so quaintly
That they may seem the taints of liberty,
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind,
A savageness in unreclaimed blood,
Of general assault.
14ReynaldoBut, my good lord—
15PoloniusWherefore should you do this?
16ReynaldoAy, my lord,
I would know that.
17PoloniusMarry, sir, here’s my drift;
And, I believe, it is a fetch of wit:
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As ’twere a thing a little soil’d i’ the working,
Mark you,
Your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured
He closes with you in this consequence;
“Good sir,” or so, or “friend,” or “gentleman,”
According to the phrase or the addition
Of man and country.
18ReynaldoVery good, my lord.
19PoloniusAnd then, sir, does he this—he does—what was I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say something: where did I leave?
20ReynaldoAt “closes in the consequence,” at “friend or so,” and “gentleman.”
21PoloniusAt “closes in the consequence,” ay, marry;
He closes thus: “I know the gentleman;
I saw him yesterday, or t’ other day,
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say,
There was a’ gaming; there o’ertook in’s rouse;
There falling out at tennis:” or perchance,
“I saw him enter such a house of sale,”
Videlicet, a brothel, or so forth.
See you now;
Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out:
So by my former lecture and advice,
Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?
22ReynaldoMy lord, I have.
23PoloniusGod be wi’ you; fare you well.
24ReynaldoGood my lord!
25PoloniusObserve his inclination in yourself.
26ReynaldoI shall, my lord.
27PoloniusAnd let him ply his music.
28ReynaldoWell, my lord.
29PoloniusFarewell! Exit Reynaldo.
30Enter Ophelia.
31How now, Ophelia! what’s the matter?
32OpheliaO, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!
33PoloniusWith what, i’ the name of God?
34OpheliaMy lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced;
No hat upon his head; his stockings foul’d,
Ungarter’d, and down-gyved to his ankle;
Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors—he comes before me.
35PoloniusMad for thy love?
36OpheliaMy lord, I do not know;
But truly, I do fear it.
37PoloniusWhat said he?
38OpheliaHe took me by the wrist and held me hard;
Then goes he to the length of all his arm;
And, with his other hand thus o’er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face
As he would draw it. Long stay’d he so;
At last, a little shaking of mine arm
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
And end his being: that done, he lets me go:
And, with his head over his shoulder turn’d,
He seem’d to find his way without his eyes;
For out o’ doors he went without their helps,
And, to the last, bended their light on me.
39PoloniusCome, go with me: I will go seek the king.
This is the very ecstasy of love,
Whose violent property fordoes itself
And leads the will to desperate undertakings
As oft as any passion under heaven
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry.
What, have you given him any hard words of late?
40OpheliaNo, my good lord, but, as you did command,
I did repel his letters and denied
His access to me.
41PoloniusThat hath made him mad.
I am sorry that with better heed and judgment
I had not quoted him: I fear’d he did but trifle,
And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my jealousy!
By heaven, it is as proper to our age
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions
As it is common for the younger sort
To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king:
This must be known; which, being kept close, might move
More grief to hide than hate to utter love. Exeunt.