Modern Translation

HAMLET:
Speak the part, I beg you, as I read it to you,
lightly on your tongue. But if you just repeat it, as many
actors do, I would prefer the town crier spoke my lines.
And dont saw the air too much with your hands, like this,
but use your gestures gently. Because, in the very strong
storm, and, as I may say, whirlwind of passion, you must
acuire and make an easy style that may give it
smoothness. !, it offends me to the soul to hear a hefty
fellow with a wig tear an emotion to tatters, to very rags,
to split the ears of the cheap seats, who, for the most
part, are capable of nothing but confusing pantomime
and noise. I would have such a fellow whipped for
overdoing a "oslem god, it out#herods $erod. %lease
avoid it.
FIRST PLAYER:
I assure you.
HAMLET:
But dont be too tame either, but let your own discretion
be your teacher. &it the action to the word, the word to the
action, with this special rule, that you dont overstep the
simplicity of being natural, for anything so overdone is not
the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and
now, was and is, to hold, as it were, the mirror up to
nature, to show truth in reality, scorn her falseness, and
his form and force to the very age and body of the time.
'ow, this overacting, or lateness, though it make the
ignorant laugh, can only make the e(perienced grieve, in
whose opinion, you must outdo a whole theatre of other
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audiences in your performance. !, there are actors that I
have seen perform and heard others praise, and highly
too, not to speak too harshly, that, having neither the
accent of )hristians, nor the walk of a )hristian, a pagan,
or a man, have so strutted and yelled that I have thought
some of nature*s hired help had made them and not
made them well, they imitated mankind so dreadfully.
FIRST PLAYER:
I hope we have calmly overcome those problems, sir.
HAMLET:
!, overcome them with +eal. And let those that play your
clowns speak no more than is written for them, because
there are clowns who will laugh themselves, to make a
number of stupid spectators to laugh too, although in the
meantime some serious issue of the play needs
to be considered then. ,hat*s horrible and shows very
bad manners in the fool that uses it. -o get ready.
$ow are you, my lord. /ill the king hear this piece of work0
POLONIUS:
And the ueen too, and they should be here presently.
HAMLET:
,ell the players to hurry up.
/ill you two help to hurry them up0
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN:
/e will, my lord.
HAMLET:
/hat, here, $oratio.
HORATIO:
$ere, sweet lord, at your service.
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HAMLET:
$oratio, you are just like the man
,hat my conversation just now praised.
HORATIO:
!, my dear lord,
HAMLET:
'o, dont think I flatter you,
Because what promotion may I hope to get from you,
/ho has no money, e(cept your good spirits
,hat feed and clothe you0 /hy should the poor be flattered0
'o, let the sweet tongue lick ridiculous vain glory,
And bend the obvious hinges of the knee
/here poverty may follow flattery. 1o you hear me0
Since my dear soul controlled her choice,
And could recogni+e men of truth, her choice
$as taken you for herself. Because you have been
As one, that in suffering all, that suffers nothing,
A man that &ortune*s feasts and rewards
$ave taken with eual thanks, and blessed are those
/hose blood and judgment are so well blended
,hat they are not an instrument for &ortune*s finger
,o play whatever song she pleases. -ive me that man
,hat is not passion*s slave, and I will wear him
In my heart*s core, yes, in my heart of heart,
As I do you. !2, enough of that.
,here is a play tonight before the king.
!ne scene of it comes near the circumstances,
/hich I have told you, of my father*s death.
I beg you, when you see that act begin,
3ven with the very criticism of your soul
/atch my uncle. If his hidden guilt
1ont show itself in that one speech,
It is a false ghost that we have seen,
And my imaginations are as unstable
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As god of fires anvil. /atch him carefully,
Because I will have my eyes riveted on his face,
And, after the play, we will combine our observations
In condemning of his actions.
HORATIO:
/ell, my lord.
If he steals anything the while this play is going on,
And he escapes detection, I will pay for the theft.
HAMLET:
,hey are coming to the play. I must be idle.
-o get yourself a seat.
KING:
$ows our cousin $amlet0
HAMLET:
3(cellent, really, of the chameleon*s dish. I eat the air,
crammed with promises. 4ou cant eat capons that way.
KING:
I dont understand this answer, $amlet, these words are
not meant for me.
HAMLET:
'o, for me now. "y lord, you acted once when you were
in the university, you say0
POLONIUS:
,hat did I, my lord, and I was accounted a good actor.
HAMLET:
/hat did you enact0
POLONIUS:
I did enact 5ulius )aesar, I was killed in the )apitol,
Brutus killed me.
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HAMLET:
It was a brute part of him to kill so capital a stupid fellow
there. Are the players ready0
ROSENCRANTZ:
4es, my lord, theyre waiting for you.
QUEEN:
)ome hear, my dear $amlet, sit by me.
HAMLET:
'o, good mother, here*s a more attractive place.
POLONIUS:
!, ho. 1o you see that0
HAMLET:
6ady, shall I lie in your lap0
OPHELIA:
'o, my lord.
HAMLET:
I mean, lay my head on your lap0
OPHELIA:
4es, my lord.
HAMLET:
1o you think I meant se(ual matters0
OPHELIA:
I think nothing, my lord.
HAMLET:
,hat*s a fair thought to lie between maids* legs.
OPHELIA:
/hat is, my lord0
HAMLET:
'othing.
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OPHELIA:
4ou are merry, my lord.
HAMLET:
/ho, me0
OPHELIA:
4es, my lord.
HAMLET:
!, your only dancer. /hat should a man do but be
merry0 Because look how cheerfully my mother looks,
and my father died within these two hours.
OPHELIA:
'o, it is four months, my lord.
HAMLET:
So long0 'o then, let the devil wear black, for Ill have a
suit of black fur. ! heavens. 1ied two months ago and
not forgotten yet0 ,hen there*s hope that a great man*s
memory may outlive his life at least si( months, but, by
our 6ady, then he must build churches or else he wont
be remembered with the prostitute, whose epitaph is
7&or, !, for, !, the prostitute is forgotten.8
OPHELIA:
/hat does this mean, my lord0
HAMLET:
By "ary, this is miching mallecho, it means mischief.
OPHELIA:
Its as if this show describes the argument of the play.
HAMLET:
/e shall know by this fellow. ,he players cannot keep a
secret, they*ll tell all.
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OPHELIA:
/ill he tell us what this show meant0
HAMLET:
4es, or any show that you*ll show him. If you are not
ashamed to show, he wont be ashamed to tell you what
it means.
OPHELIA:
2eep uiet, keep uiet. Ill watch the play.
PROLOGUE:
&or us and for our tragedy,
$ere stooping to your clemency,
/e beg you listen patiently.
HAMLET:
Is this a prologue or a ring of flowers0
OPHELIA:
It is short, my lord.
HAMLET:
As woman*s love.
P. KING:
,he Sun#gods cart has gone around the earth thirty
,imes. ,he !cean#gods salt wash and the 3arth#gods
ground, and three hundred si(ty moons, with borrowed
light, has been around the world have twelve times thirty,
Since love, our hearts, and the "arriage#god united our
hands, mutually in the holy bands of matrimony.
P. QUEEN:
So many journeys may the sun and moon
"ake us count again before love is finished.
But, woe is me, you are so sick of late,
So far from cheer and from your former state.
,hat I dont trust you. 4et, though I distrust,
1ont worry, my lord, it is nothing.
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&or women*s fear and love hold everything,
In having nothing, or having it all.
'ow, you know how I love you has been proven to you,
And as my love is cannot be measured, so is my fear.
/here love is great, the littlest doubts are very fearful,
/here little fears grow great, great love also grows there.
P. KING:
I believe I must leave you, love, and soon too,
,he powers that work in my body are shutting down,
And you shall live in this fair world after me,
$onored, beloved, and maybe you shall have
A new man to be your husband.
P. QUEEN:
!, confound the rest.
Such love must be treason in my breast.
6et me be cursed if I marry again.
'o one marries the second without killing the first love.
HAMLET:
Bitter to the soul, bitter to the soul.
P. QUEEN:
,he reasons for a second marriage
Are low respects of saving money, but not for love.
I kill my husband dead a second time
/hen second husband kisses me in bed.
P. KING:
I believe you believe what you say now,
But what we determine to, often we dont.
%romises are only good when you remember them,
Born of violence but poor truth,
/hich now, like unripe fruit, stays on the tree,
But fall without shaking them off when they are ripe.
It is very necessary that we forget
,o pay ourselves what we owe to ourselves.
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/hat we promise ourselves in a fit of passion,
/hen the passion ends, so does the promise.
,he violence of either grief or joy
1estroys their own keeping of them with themselves.
/here joy celebrates, grief mourns greatly,
-rief joys, joy griefs, on a very slender event.
,his world doesnt say yes, and its not strange at all
,hat even our loves should change with our fortunes,
Because its a uestion we have to prove,
/hen love leads fortune, or if fortune leads love.
,he great man dead, you see all his favorite little things,
,he poor promoted to a higher place makes friends of
3nemies, and here love waits on fortune.
Because those with money shall never be without a
&riend, and those in poverty try a hollow friend,
Immediately makes him his enemy.
But, to go back to where I started,
!ur wills and fates run in so much in different directions,
,hat our plans are still turned upside down,
!ur thoughts are ours, but their results arent ours.
So you think you wont marry again,
But youll change your mind when your first lord is dead.
P. QUEEN:
3arth wont me give food, or heaven light.
I will avoid leisure and rest day and night.
"y trust and hope will turn to desperation.
An anchor*s cheer in prison will be my aim.
3very opposite feeling that makes the face of joy blink,
)onnect with what I would do well, and destroy it.
Both here and hereafter unending pain follow me,
If, once I am a widow, I ever become a wife.
HAMLET:
If she should break the moment now.
P. KING:
It is a very deep oath. Sweetheart, leave me here a while,
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"y spirits grow tired, and I would gladly pass
,he long, boring day with some sleep.
P. QUEEN:
Sleep rock your brain,
And may misfortune never mischance between us two.
HAMLET:
"adam, how like you this play0
QUEEN:
,he lady protests too much, I think.
HAMLET:
!, but she*ll keep her word.
KING:
$ave you heard the story0 Its not offensive, is it0
HAMLET:
'o, no. ,hey only pretend, pretend to poison, no offense
in the world.
KING:
/hats the name of the play0
HAMLET:
The Mousetrap. By "ary, how0 A metaphor. ,his play is
the image of a murder done in 9ienna. -on+ago is the
duke*s name, his wife, Baptista: you shall see her soon,
it is a bold piece of work. but what o* that0 : your
majesty, and we that have free souls cant be touched by
it. 6et the bitter hussy kick, our saddles dont pinch.
,his is one 6ucianus, nephew to the 2ing.
OPHELIA:
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4ou are a good chorus, my lord.
HAMLET:
I could translate between you and your love, if I could see
the toys flirting.
OPHELIA:
4ou are forward, my lord, you are forward.
HAMLET:
It would cost you a night in bed to take the edge off me.
OPHELIA:
3ven better, and worse.
HAMLET:
And thats how you must take your husbands. Begin,
murderer, argh. 3nough with the bad faces, and begin.
)ome on. 7,he croaking raven bellows for revenge.8
LUCIANUS:
Black thoughts, hands ready, proper drugs, and the time
is right, everything !2, no other creatures around,
4ou mi(ture rotten, collected from midnight weeds,
/ith witchs curse said three times, three times cursed,
4our natural magic and evil deed
/ill attack wholesome life immediately.
HAMLET:
$e poisons him in the garden for his estate. $is name*s
-on+ago. ,he story is current, and written in very choice
Italian, you shall eventually see how the murderer gets
the love of -on+ago*s wife.
OPHELIA:
,he 2ing rises.
HAMLET:
/hat, frightened by false fire.
QUEEN:
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$ow are you, my lord0
POLONIUS:
Stop the play.
KING:
-ive me some light. 6ets go.
ALL:
6ights, lights, lights.
HAMLET:
/hy, let the stricken deer go weep,
,he uninjured stag play,
&or some must watch, while some must sleep.
So runs the world away.
/ouldnt this do it, sir, together with a forest of feathers if
the rest of my fortunes turn against with me, with two
%rovincial roses on my shoes I took off, to get me a
fellowship for writing with a pack of players, sir0
HORATIO:
$alf a share.
HAMLET:
I think a whole one.
&or you know, ! dear Spice,
,his kingdom was taken apart
By 5ove himself, and a peacock now rules here,
A very, very peacock.
HORATIO:
4ou might have rhymed those lines.
HAMLET:
! good $oratio, Ill take the ghost*s word for as real as a
thousand dollars. 1id you see0
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HORATIO:
9ery well, my lord.
HAMLET:
/hen the talk was about the poisoning0
HORATIO:
I watched him very well.
HAMLET:
Ah, ha. )ome, some music. )ome, the pipes.
&or if the king didnt like the comedy,
/hy then, he wont like music either, indeed.
)ome, some music.
GUILDENSTERN:
"y good my lord, may I a word with you.
HAMLET:
Sir, Ill give you a whole history.
GUILDENSTERN:
,he king, sir
HAMLET:
4es, sir, what about him0
GUILDENSTERN:
$es, in his retirement to bed, e(ceedingly upset.
HAMLET:
/ith drink, sir0
GUILDENSTERN:
'o, my lord, rather with anger.
HAMLET:
4oud be wiser and look better if you told all this to the
doctor, because for me to try to purge him of anger would
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probably make him more angry.
GUILDENSTERN:
"y good lord, please re#phrase what youre saying, and
dont give me answers so far away from my uestion.
HAMLET:
I am calm, sir. Ask away.
GUILDENSTERN:
,he ueen, your mother, in most great affliction of spirit,
has sent me to you.
HAMLET:
4ou are welcome.
GUILDENSTERN:
'o, good my lord, this courtesy is not the right answer.
If it pleases you to make me a sensible answer, I will
fulfill your mother*s order. If not, your pardon and my
return home shall be the end of what I was asked to do.
HAMLET:
Sir, I cannot.
GUILDENSTERN:
/hat, my lord0
HAMLET:
"ake you a wholesome answer, my minds diseased.
but, sir, such answer as I can make, you shall command,
or rather, as you say, my mother shall command. !2, Ill
say no more but to the problem. "y mother, you say.
ROSENCRANTZ:
,hen this is what she says. 4our behavior has pushed
her into ama+ement and surprise.
HAMLET:
! wonderful son, that can so astonish a mother. But isnt
there a seuel that follows this mother*s surprise0
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ROSENCRANTZ:
She wants to speak with you in her bedroom before you
go to bed.
HAMLET:
/e shall obey, if she were ten times our mother. $ave
you any else to tell me0
ROSENCRANTZ:
"y lord, you loved me once.
HAMLET:
And I still do, by these thieves and robbers.
ROSENCRANTZ:
"y good lord, what is your cause of your problem0 4ou
certainly bar the door to your own freedom if you dont tell
your problems to your friend.
HAMLET:
Sir, I dont have a promotion.
ROSENCRANTZ:
$ow can that be, when the king himself says you will
succeed him to the throne in 1enmark0
HAMLET:
4es, sir, but 7/hile the grass grows8: the proverb is a
bit old#fashioned.
!, the pipes. 6et me see one. ,o divert your attention,
why do you go about trying to figure me out, as if youre
to pick a fight0
GUILDENSTERN:
! my lord, if my duty is too bold, its because my love has
no manners.
HAMLET:
I dont understand that at all. /ill you play on this pipe0
GUILDENSTERN:
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"y lord, I cant.
HAMLET:
I beg you.
GUILDENSTERN:
Believe me, I cant.
HAMLET:
Im begging you.
GUILDENSTERN:
I dont know how to play it, my lord.
HAMLET:
Its as easy as lying. 5ust close up these holes with your
finger and thumb, put it in your mouth and blow, and it will
yield the most elouent music. 6ook you, these are
the holes to cover.
GUILDENSTERN:
But I cannot make music that has any sound of harmony,
I dont have the skill.
HAMLET:
/hy, look here, at what an unworthy a thing you make of
me. 4ou would play me, you would seem to know
my holes to cover, you want to pick out the heart of my
mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the
my highest note, and there is much music,
e(cellent voice, in this little pipe, yet you cant play it.
-ods blood. 1o you think it is easier to play me than a
pipe0 )all me whatever instrument you want to, although
you can try to cover my holes me, you cant play me.
-od bless you, sir.
POLONIUS:
"y lord, the ueen wants to speak with you right now.
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HAMLET:
1o you see that cloud over there that*s almost in shape of
a camel0
POLONIUS:
By the mass, it is indeed like a camel.
HAMLET:
I think it is like a weasel.
POLONIUS:
It is shaped like a weasel.
HAMLET:
!r like a whale.
POLONIUS:
9ery like a whale.
HAMLET:
,hen I will go to my mother by and by. ,hey fool me to
the limits of my capacity. I will come by and by.
POLONIUS:
I will say so.
HAMLET:
By#and#by is easily said.
6eave me, friends.
'ow, its the very witching time of night,
/hen churchyards awake, and hell itself breathes out
1isease to this world. 'ow I could drink hot blood,
And do such wicked deed that the day
/ould shake nervously to see. 6isten. now to my mother.
! heart, dont give up now, dont ever let the soul of
'ero, the cra+y emperor, enter this determined heart.
6et me be cruel, not unnatural,
I will speak like knives to her, but use none,
"y tongue and soul shall be hypocrites in this talk,
$ow, whenever she is confused in my words,
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,o stop saying them, my soul, never agree.
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