Hamlet (Inarch Celenius trans.)/Act V - Wikisource (2023)

Scene I[To edit]

GRAVEDIGER 1 GRAVEDIGER 2

Cemetery next to a church.

Gravedigger 1st

And is it the one to (192) be buried in sacred ground, the one who has deliberately conspired against her own salvation?

Gravedigger 2nd

I tell you yes, so quickly make the hole. The judge has already recognized the corpse and has ordered that it be buried in sacred.

Gravedigger 1st

I don't understand how that's going... Even if he had drowned making efforts to free himself, he walks with God.

Gravedigger 2nd

That is how they judged it to be.

Gravedigger 1st

No, no, that was offending; nor could it have been otherwise: because... See here the point of the difficulty. If I drown myself voluntarily, this argues an action of course, and every action consists of three parts, which are: do, act and execute, from which it can be inferred, friend Rasura, that she drowned voluntarily.

Gravedigger 2nd

That! But listen to me now, Uncle Socaba.

Gravedigger 1st

No, stop, I'll tell you. Look, here is the water. Good. Here is a man. Very well... Well sir, if this man goes and gets into the water, he drowns himself, because, by fas or nefas, it is that he goes... But, he listens to what I say . If the water comes towards him and surprises him and drowns him, then he does not drown himself... Compadre Rasura, whoever does not want his death does not shorten his life.

Gravedigger 2nd

And what are there laws for that?

Gravedigger 1st

It is already seen that there are, and the judge who examines these cases is guided by them.

Gravedigger 2nd

Do you want me to tell you the true? Well look, if the dead woman were not a lady, I assure you that they would not bury her in a sacred place.

Gravedigger 1st

In fact, you say well and it is a pity that great people in this world have to have a special privilege, among all the other Christians, to drown and hang themselves when they want, without anyone telling them anything... Let's go there (193) with the hoe... This is that there are no older noblemen than gardeners, gravediggers and diggers, who are those who exercise the profession of Adam.

Gravedigger 2nd

So what, Adam was a knight (194)?

Gravedigger 1st

Take! It's like he was the first to carry weapons... But, I'm going to ask you a question and if you don't answer me, you have to confess that you're a...

Gravedigger 2nd

Forward.

Gravedigger 1st

Who is the one who builds stronger buildings, than those made by masons and carpenters of houses and ships?

Gravedigger 2nd

The one who makes the gallows, because that factory outlives a thousand tenants.

Gravedigger 1st

You are sharp, for my life. Good building is the gallows; but how is it good? It is good for those who do wrong; Now, you are wrong to say that the gallows is a stronger factory than a church, so the gallows could be good for you... Let's go back to the question.

Gravedigger 2nd

What is the one that makes more durable rooms than those made by masons, house and shipwrights?

Gravedigger 1st

Yes, tell me and you'll get out of trouble.

Gravedigger 2nd

It looks like I'll tell you.

Gravedigger 1st

So let's go.

Gravedigger 2nd

Well I can't say.

Gravedigger 1st

Wow, don't rack your head about it... You're a dull donkey, who won't get out of his way no matter how much they beat him up. When they ask you this question, you have to answer: the Gravedigger. Don't you see that the houses he makes last until judgment day? Go, go there to Juanillo's house and bring me a glass of brandy.

scene II[To edit]

HAMLET, HORATIO, GRAVEDIGER 1st

Gravedigger 1st

I loved in my early years (195),

sweet thing I judged it;

but get married, that's not it,

that I was not well.

Hamlet

How little (196) does that man feel what he does, that he opens a grave and sings.

Horacio

Custom has already made this occupation familiar to him.

Hamlet

Such is the truth. The hand that works the least has the most delicate touch.

Gravedigger 1st

The quiet age in the bone (197)

he sank me with a cruel hand,

and everything was destroyed

the existence that I enjoyed

Hamlet

That skull would have a tongue in another time, and with it it could also sing... How the rogue throws it to the ground! As if it were the jaw with which Cain committed the first murder. And the one that that brute is mistreating now could very well be the head of some statesman, who perhaps tried to deceive Heaven itself. Don't you think?

Horacio

Well it can be.

Hamlet

Or that of some courtier, who would say: happy days, Most Excellent Lord, how is your health, my revered Lord? This may be that of Knight So-and-so, who praised Knight Zutano's colt, only to ask him to borrow it later. Can't it be like that?

Horacio

Yes sir.

Hamlet

Oh! Yes indeed, and now it is in the power of Mr. Worm, battered and torn to pieces with a gravedigger's mattock... Great revolutions are made here, if only we had the means to observe them... But did it cost so little? the formation of these bones to nature, that they have to serve so that these people (198) have fun in their gambling dens with them?... Hey! Mine shudder to consider it.

Gravedigger 1st

A pickaxe (199)

with a hoe,

a canvas where

scrambled go,

and a hole in the ground

that they prepare:

for such a guest

that's enough for you

Hamlet

And that other one, why couldn't it be the skull of a lawyer? Where did his mistakes and subtleties go, his disputes, his interpretations, his confusion? Why does he now suffer when that rude scoundrel hits him against the wall with a hoe full of mud?... And he won't say a word about such a criminal act! This would be, perhaps, while he lived, a great buyer of land, with its obligations and acknowledgments, transactions, mutual assurances, payments, receipts... See here the lease of his leases, and the collection of his collections; everything has ended up in a skull full of mud. The title deeds to the assets he owned would hardly fit in his coffin. And, despite that, all the guarantees and reciprocal assurances of his acquisitions have not been able to assure him of another possession than that of a small space, capable of being covered with a couple of his deeds... Oh! And his opulent successor will have no more left either!

Horacio

It is true, sir.

Hamlet

Isn't parchment made of ram's skin?

Horacio

Yes sir, and calfskin too.

Hamlet

Well, I tell you, those who base their happiness on the possession of such parchments are more irrational than calves and rams. I'm going to hatch a conversation with this man. Whose grave is that, good piece? (200)

Gravedigger 1st

Mine, sir (201).

and a hole in the ground (202)

that they prepare:

for such a guest

that's enough for you

Hamlet

Yes, I believe that it is yours because you are now inside it... But the grave is for the dead, not for the living: so you have lied.

Gravedigger 1st

He sees there a lie that is too lively; but I will return to you.

Hamlet

For what dead do you dig that grave?

Gravedigger 1st

It's not a man, sir.

Hamlet

Well, for what woman?

Gravedigger 1st

It is not that either.

Hamlet

Well, what is it that has to be buried there?

Gravedigger 1st

A corpse that was a woman; but she already died ... God forgive her.

Hamlet

How devious he is! Let's talk to him clearly and simply, because if not, he is capable of confusing us into mistakes. From three years to this part I have observed how subtle the age in which we live is becoming... By my life, Horacio, the villain is already following the gentleman so closely that very soon he will skin his heel. How long have you been a gravedigger?

Gravedigger 1st

All my life, you can say. I started the trade, the day our last King Hamlet defeated Fortinbrás.

Hamlet

And how long will there be?

Gravedigger 1st

Take! Don't you know? Well, even the kids will tell you. That happened the same day that young Hamlet was born, the one who is mad and has gone to England.

Hamlet

Listen! And why has she gone to England?

Gravedigger 1st

Because..., because he is crazy, and there he will receive his judgment; And if he doesn't charge you well, it doesn't matter.

Hamlet

Because?

Gravedigger 1st

Because everyone there is just as crazy as he is, and it won't be fixed.

Hamlet

And how has it been to go crazy?

Gravedigger 1st

In a very strange way, they say.

Hamlet

In what way?

Gravedigger 1st

Having lost understanding.

Hamlet

But what reason gave rise to that? (203)

Gravedigger 1st

What place? Here in Denmark, where I am an undertaker, and have been as a boy and as an adult, for thirty years.

Hamlet

How long can a man be buried without being corrupted?

Gravedigger 1st

In such a way that if he did not already corrupt while alive (as happens to us every day with many galicated bodies, that there is nowhere to hold them), he could last for about eight or nine years. A tanner will last nine years, surely.

Hamlet

Well, what does he have more than any other?

Gravedigger 1st

What it has is a skin so tanned by exercise, that it can resist water for a long time; And water, my lord, is the thing that most quickly destroys any dead whore. See here a skull that has been underground for twenty-three years.

Hamlet

Whose is it?

Gravedigger 1st

Major hideout, crazy! Whose do you think it will be?

Hamlet

How am I to know?

Gravedigger 1st

Bad stench on him and his pranks!... Once he poured a bottle of Rhine wine over my big heads... Well, sir, this skull is the skull of Yorick, the King's jester (204).

Hamlet

This?

Gravedigger 1st

The same.

Hamlet

Oh! Poor Yorick! I met him, Horacio..., he was an extremely funny man with the most fertile imagination. I remember that when I was a child he carried me a thousand times on his shoulders... and now the sight of him fills me with horror; and oppressed his chest throbs... Here were those lips where I gave kisses without number. What became of your jokes, your jumps, your songs and those sudden jokes that ordinarily animated the table with a joyous noise? Now, completely lacking in muscles, you can't even laugh at your own deformity... Go to the dressing room of one of our ladies and tell him, to excite his laughter, that he should put an inch of shaving on his face; in the end it will have to experience this same transformation... (205) Tell me something, Horacio.

Horacio

What is it, sir?

Hamlet

Do you think that Alexander, stuck underground, would have that horrible shape?

Horacio

It really is.

Hamlet

And exhale that same stench... Uh!

Horacio

No difference (206).

Hamlet

In what despondency we have to stop, Horace! And why could not the imagination follow the illustrious ashes of Alexander, until finding it covering the mouth of some barrel?

Horacio

In faith, it would be excessive curiosity to go and examine it.

Hamlet

No, not by the way. All you have to do is follow him until you lead him there, with probability and without any violence. As if we were to say: Alejandro died, Alejandro was buried, Alejandro was reduced to dust, dust is earth, we make clay from the earth... and why couldn't they have covered a barrel with this clay into which he is already converted? of beer? Emperor Caesar, dead and turned to earth, can cover a hole to prevent the passage of air... Oh!... And that earth, which had the world in fear, will perhaps serve to repair the cracks in a partition, against the bad weather of winter... But, let's shut up... let's stand aside, that... yes... Here comes the King, the Queen, the Great Ones... Who are you accompanying? What an incomplete ceremonial is this! All of this announces to me that the deceased they are leading ended his life with a desperate hand... Without a doubt he was a person of quality... Let's hide a bit, and he observes.

Scene III[To edit]

CLAUDIO, GERTRUDIS, HAMLET, LAERTES, HORACIO, A PRIEST, TWO GRAVEDIVERS. Accompaniment of Ladies, Gentlemen and Servants. (207)

Laertes

What other ceremony is missing? (208)

Hamlet

Look, that is Laertes, a very illustrious young man.

Laertes

What ceremony is missing?

heals him

His obsequies have already been celebrated with all possible decency. His death gives rise to many doubts, and if the supreme authority that modifies the laws had not intervened, he would have been placed in a profane place, there he would remain until the final trumpet sounded, and instead of pious prayers, pebbles would have fallen on his corpse, stones and rubble. Notwithstanding this, they have been granted virginal garments and adornments, the clamor of bells, and burial.

Laertes

With what should not be done more?

heals him

No more. We would desecrate the sacred honors of the deceased by singing a requiem to implore the rest of their soul, as is done by those who leave this life with a more Christian disposition.

Laertes

Give her land, then (209). Its beautiful and intact members will perhaps produce soft violets. And to you, uncouth cleric, I announce that my sister will be an angel of the Lord, while you will be bellowing in the abysses.

Hamlet

That! The beautiful Ophelia!

Gertrude

Sweet gifts to my sweet friend (210). To God... I wished you had been my Hamlet's wife, gracious maiden, and I hoped to cover your bridal bed with flowers... but not your grave.

Laertes

Oh! Cursed a thousand times over, the one whose inhuman action deprived you of the most sublime understanding!... No... wait a minute, don't cast the earth yet... No..., until the earth hold her in my arms... (211) Throw her now over the dead and the living, until you make a mountain of this plain that towers over ancient Pelion or over the blue extremity of Olympus that touches the heavens.

Hamlet

Who is it that gives his sorrows such an emphatic language? (212) He who thus invokes the wandering stars in his affliction, making them stop in wonder to hear him?... I am Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

Laertes

The devil take your soul.

Hamlet

It's not fair what you're asking for... Take those (213) fingers off my neck, because although I'm not hasty or angry; there is some risk in offending me, and if you are prudent, you should avoid him. Get that hand out of there.

Claudio

Separadlos.

Gertrude

¡Hamlet! ¡Hamlet!

All

Sirs!

Horacio

Moderate yourselves, sir.

Hamlet

No, for such a just cause I will deal with him, until death closes my eyelids.

Gertrude

What cause can there be, my son...

Hamlet

I have loved Ofelia and four thousand brothers together will not be able, with all their love, to exceed mine... What do you want to do for her? Gave.

Claudio

Laertes, look how crazy he is.

Gertrude

For God's sake, Laertes, let him.

Hamlet

Tell me what you're trying to do (214). Do you want to cry, fight, deny yourself sustenance, tear yourself to pieces, drink all the Esil (215), devour an alligator? I'll do it too... Are you coming here to lament her death, to insult me ​​by rushing into her grave, to be buried alive with her? land innumerable, until these fields toast their forehead in the torrid zone, and the high Ossa seems in their comparison a small clod... If you speak to me with pride, I will use a language as haughty as yours.

Gertrude

They are all effects of his frenzy, the violence of which may agitate you for some time; but later, similar to the meek dove when she feels the twin young animated, you will see him without movement and mute.

Hamlet

Listen to me: what is the reason for acting like this with me? I've always loved you well... But nothing matters. Although Hercules himself, with all his power, wants to hinder him, the cat will meow and the dog will win (216).

Claudio

Horacio, go, don't abandon him... Laertes, our conversation the night before will fortify your patience, while I arrange what is important on the present occasion... Beloved Gertrudis, it will be good if someone takes care of your son's custody. This grave will be adorned with a durable monument. I hope we will briefly enjoy quieter hours; but, in the meantime, it is convenient to suffer.

scene IV[To edit]

HAMLET, HORATIO

Hall of the Palace. (217)

Hamlet

Enough of what has been said on this matter. Now I would like to inform you of the rest; but do you remember all the circumstances well?

Horacio

Shouldn't I remember, sir?

Hamlet

Well, you know (218) friend, that my heart, continually agitated in a kind of combat, did not allow me to fall asleep, and in such a situation I judged myself more unhappy than the criminal charged with prisons. A recklessness... Well, I must give thanks to this recklessness, because it is because of it that I exist. Yes, let's confess that perhaps our indiscretion is often useful to us; while the plans arranged with the greatest sagacity fail, very certain proof that the hand of God leads all our actions to an end, no matter how man orders them without intelligence.

Horacio

Such is the truth.

Hamlet

So I left my cabin, poorly dressed in a sailor's dress, and feeling my way, favored by the darkness, I reached where they were. I get my wish, I take possession of his papers, and I go back to my room. There, forgetting my suspicions all consideration, I had the audacity to open his offices, and in them I find, friend, a treachery of the King. A precise order, supported by various reasons, to be important to the tranquility of Denmark, and even to that of England and oh! a thousand fears and evil announcements, if they let me live... In short, it said: that after it was read, without delay, not even to sharpen the edge, they cut off my head.

Horacio

It's possible!

Hamlet

Look at the order here (219), you will be able to read it at a better time; but do you want to know what I did?

Horacio

Yes, I beg you.

Hamlet

You see how surrounded by betrayals like that, they had already started the drama, even before I had understood the prologue. However, I sit down at the office, I imagine a different order, and I immediately write it in a good hand... I believed for some time (like all great gentlemen) that writing well was a disgrace; and I still did not stop making many efforts to forget this ability; but now I know, Horacio, how useful it has been to me to have it. Do you want to know what the writing contained?

Horacio

Yes sir.

Hamlet

A plea from the King addressed with great urgency to the King of England, as to his obedient feudatory, telling him that their mutual friendship would blossom like the stout palm; that peace, crowned with spikes, would maintain the stillness of both empires, uniting them in lasting love, with other no less affectionate expressions. Asking him, finally, that seeing that it was that letter, without further examination, make the two messengers perish with speedy death; not giving them time even to confess their crime.

Horacio

And how could you seal it?

Hamlet

Even that also seems to have been arranged by Heaven, because happily it treats me with my father's seal, for which it was made the one that the King uses today. I close the sheet in the same way as the previous one, I put the same address on it, the same stamp, I drive it without being seen to the same place and nobody notices the change... The following day the naval combat occurred, what happened later, I already knew You know.

Horacio

In this way, Guillermo and Ricardo walk straight to death.

Hamlet

You see that they have requested this assignment, my conscience does not accuse me of their punishment... They themselves have brought about their ruin... It is very dangerous for the inferior to get between the points of the swords, when two powerful enemies fight.

Horacio

Oh! What a King this!

Hamlet

Do you judge that I am not obliged to continue what is missing? He, who assassinated my father and my King, who has dishonored my mother, who has sneaked between the throne, and my just rights, who has conspired against my life, using such nefarious means... Isn't it most righteous justice to punish him with this hand? Isn't it my fault to tolerate that this monster exists, to commit atrocious evils like up to now?

Horacio

You will soon be notified in England of the success of your application.

Hamlet

Yes, soon you will know; but in the meantime time is mine and to take a man's life, an instant is enough... The only thing that disgusts me, friend Horacio, is the incident that occurred with Laertes, in which, forgetting myself, I did not see in my feelings the image and likeness of his. I will seek his friendship, yes... But, certainly, that threatening tone that he gave to his complaints irritated my anger excessively.

Horacio

Shut up... Who's coming here?

Scene V.[To edit]

HAMLET, HORATIO, HENRY

Enrique

In happy hour (220) your Highness has returned to Denmark.

Hamlet

Thank you very much, gentleman... Do you know this fly?

Horacio

No sir.

Hamlet

Nothing is given to you, that knowing him is certainly not very pleasant. This is the lord of many lands and very fertile, and even though he is a beast that commands others as beasts as him; It is already known, he has his manger fixed on the King's table... He is the most chatty crow I have ever seen; but as I have already told you, it has a large portion of dust.

Enrique

Kind Prince, if your greatness has no occupation to hinder you, I would tell you something from the King.

Hamlet

I am prepared to listen to it with the greatest attention... But, use the hat in the use for which it was destined. The hat was made for the head.

Enrique

Thank you very much, sir... Hey! The weather is hot.

Hamlet

No, on the contrary, very cold. The wind is north.

Enrique

It is true that it is quite cold.

Hamlet

Before I think... at least for my complexion, it's scorchingly hot.

Enrique

Oh! Extremely... Extremely strong, like... I don't know how to say... Well, sir, the King orders me to inform you that he has made a great bet in your favor. This is the matter.

Hamlet

Keep in mind that the hat is...

Enrique

Oh! Sir... I do it for comfort... True... Well, that's it, Laertes has just arrived at Court... Oh! He is a perfect gentleman, no doubt about it. Excellent qualities, a very sweet treatment, very well liked by all... True, speaking without passion, it is necessary to confess that he is the cream and flower of nobility, because in him are all the garments that can be seen in a gentleman.

Hamlet

The painting that you do of him does not detract from anything in your mouth; although I thought that, when making an inventory of his virtues, arithmetic and memory would be confused and both would be insufficient for such a long sum. But, without exaggerating the praise of him, I consider him a man of great spirit, and of such a particular and extraordinary nature, that (speaking with all possible accuracy) the likeness of him will not be found except in his own mirror. of the; for whoever presumes to look for it elsewhere, he will only find formless sketches.

Enrique

Your Highness has just done impartial justice in what you have said about him.

Hamlet

Yes, but you know why we're getting hoarse now, interfering in our conversation with the praises of that gallant.

Enrique

How do you say, sir?

Horacio

Wouldn't it be better if you spoke to him more clearly? I believe, sir, that it would not be difficult for you.

Hamlet

I mean, what's the point of talking about that gentleman now?

Enrique

From Laertes?

Horacio

Hey! She already emptied what she had, and her supply of brilliant phrases ran out.

Hamlet

Yes sir, from that one.

Enrique

I think you are not ignorant of...

Hamlet

I would like you not to have me for ignorant; good that your opinion does not add a great concept to me... Well, what else?

Enrique

I was saying that you cannot ignore the merit of Laertes.

Hamlet

I will not dare to confess it, for not equaling myself with him; being ascertained that in order to know another well, it is necessary to know oneself well.

Enrique

I was saying it because of his skill in the weapon, since according to the general voice, he is not known as a partner.

Hamlet

And what weapon is yours?

Enrique

Sword and dagger.

Hamlet

Those are two weapons... Go ahead.

Enrique

Well sir, the King has bet against him six barbarian horses, and he has imposed for his part, (as I have learned) six French swords with their daggers and corresponding fittings, as belts, pendants, and so on... Three of these carriages in particular they are the most well made thing that can be given. Caries like them!... Oh! It is a work of great taste and beauty.

Hamlet

And what do you call gun carriages?

Horacio

I was already suspicious and that without the help of marginal specks you could not finish the dialogue.

Enrique

Sir, by carriages I understand, like this, the... The belts.

Hamlet

The expression would be much more appropriate, if we could carry an artillery cannon next to it; but as long as this use is not introduced, we will call them belts... Anyway, and let's get to the point. Six barbarian horses, against six French swords, with their belts, and among them three exquisite gun carriages. So this is what the French bet against the Dane? And to what end have all these things been imposed (as you say)?

Enrique

The King has bet that if you battle with Laertes, in twelve moves he will give you no more than three button presses, and he says that in the same twelve, he will give you nine at least, and he wants this to be judged immediately: if you deign to answer.

Hamlet

And if I answer no?

Enrique

I mean, if you accept the party that proposes to you.

Hamlet

Well, sir, I still have to walk around in this room, because if Your Majesty hasn't done it out of anger, this is the critical hour when I usually breathe the atmosphere. Bring the foils here, and if that gentleman wants it that way, and the King sticks to what he said, I'll make him win the bet, if I can; and if I can't, what I will gain will be shame and blows.

Enrique

How can I say it in those terms?

Hamlet

This is the substance; then you can decorate it with all the flowers of your ingenuity.

Enrique

Sir, I once again recommend my respects to your greatness.

Hamlet

Always yours, always.

scene 6[To edit]

HAMLET, HORATIO

Hamlet

He does very well recommending himself, because if he didn't, I highly doubt anyone would do it for him.

Horacio

This seems to me a swift, which began to fly and squeal, with the shell attached to the feathers.

Hamlet

Yes, and even before suckling, he was already complimenting the breast. This is one of the many that in our corrupted age are esteemed, solely because they know how to accommodate themselves to the taste of the day, with that flattering and obsequious exteriority. And with her perhaps they usually surprise the appreciation of prudent men; but they look too much like foam; that no matter how much it boils and bulges, when you take a breath, you recognize what it is: all the hollow blisters melt, and there is nothing left in the glass.

scene 7[To edit]

HAMLET, HORACE, A GENTLEMAN

Caballero

Sir, it seems that His Majesty sent you a message with young Henry, and he has returned saying that you were waiting in this room. The King sends me to know if you like to do battle with Laertes immediately, or if you want it to be delayed.

Hamlet

I am constant in my resolution and I subject it to the will of the King. If this hour were comfortable for him, it is also comfortable for me, so let it be done instantly or whenever you like; as long as I find myself in the good disposition that I am now.

Caballero

The King and Queen are coming down now, with all the Court.

Hamlet

Very good.

Caballero

The Queen wishes that before beginning the battle, you would speak to Laertes with sweetness and expressions of friendship.

Hamlet

It is a very prudent warning.

Scene VIII[To edit]

HAMLET, HORATIO

Horacio

I fear you must lose, sir.

Hamlet

No, I think not. Since he left for France, I haven't stopped exercising, and I think I'll be ahead of him... But... You won't be able to imagine the anguish I feel here in my heart. And about what? .. There is no reason.

Horacio

With all that, sir...

Hamlet

Vain illusions! Kind of premonitions, capable only of disturbing a feminine soul.

Horacio

If you internally feel some repugnance, there is no reason to get involved. I will go ahead to meet them, and I will tell them that you are indisposed.

Hamlet

No, no... I make fun of such omens. Even in the death of a bird an irresistible providence intervenes. If my hour has arrived, there is no need to wait for it, if it is not to come now, a sign that it is now, and if it were not now, it will be later: everything consists in being prepared for when it comes. If man, at the end of his life, always ignores what could happen next, what does it matter if he loses it sooner or later? He knows how to die (221).

Scene IX[To edit]

HAMLET, HORACIO, CLAUDIO, GERTRUDIS, LAERTES, ENRIQUE, Gentlemen, Ladies and accompaniment.

Claudio

Come, Hamlet, come, and receive this hand that I present to you (222).

Hamlet

Laertes, if you are (223) offended by me, I beg your pardon. Forgive me as a gentleman. How many are present know, and even you yourself will have heard, the disorder that my reason suffers. Whatever he has done insulting the tenderness of your heart, your nobility, or your honor, any action in short, capable of irritating you; I solemnly declare in this place that it has been the effect of my madness. Could Hamlet have offended Laertes? No, it was not Hamlet, because he was out of his mind, and if on such an occasion (in which he himself was unknown) he offended Laertes, Hamlet was not the aggressor, because Hamlet disapproves and denies it. So who could he be? His insanity alone of him... This being so, the unfortunate Hamlet is in favor of the offended, while in his own madness he recognizes the greatest opposite of him. Allow me, then, in front of this assembly to justify myself from all sinister intentions and hope that your generous spirit will forget my mistakes. I was shooting the harpoon over the walls of that building, and by mistake I hit my brother.

Laertes

My heart, whose natural impulses were the first to ask me for revenge in this case, is satisfied. My honor does not allow me to go ahead or admit any reconciliation; until the fact is examined by old and virtuous arbitrators, it is declared that my pundonor is without stain. Until this case arrives, I accept with reciprocal affection what you announce to me, and I promise not to offend him.

Hamlet

I sincerely receive that offer, and as for the battle that is about to start, I will deal with you as if my competitor was my brother... Come on. Give us florets.

Laertes

Yeah, come on.. One to me.

Hamlet

Victory will not be difficult for you, your skill will shine over my ignorance, like a shining star in the darkness of the night.

Laertes

Don't mock, sir.

Hamlet

No, I'm not mocking.

Claudio

Give them foils, young Henry. Hamlet, you know what the conditions are.

Hamlet

Yes, sir, and indeed you have bet on the underdog. (224)

Claudio

I'm not afraid of losing. I have already seen you wield both and although he has advanced later; For this reason, the prize is greater in our favor.

Laertes

This one is very heavy. Let me see another. (225)

Hamlet

This looks good to me... Are they all the same?

Enrique

Yes sir.

Claudio

Cover this table with glasses, full of wine. If Hamlet gives the first or second thrust, or in the third luck he gives the opponent a quite, fire all the artillery from the battlements. The King will drink to Hamlet's health, pouring into the cup a pearl more precious than the last four Danish sovereigns have worn in his crown. Bring the glasses, and the kettledrum say to the trumpets, the trumpets to the distant artilleryman, the cannons to the sky, and the sky to the earth; now offers the King of Denmark to Hamlet's health... Begin, and you who are to judge them, watch attentively.

Hamlet

Come on (226).

Laertes

Come on sir. (227)

Hamlet

A.

Laertes

No.

Hamlet

let them judge

Enrique

A lunge, no doubt.

Laertes

Good; to another.

Claudio

Wait... Give me a drink. (228) Hamlet, this pearl is for you, and I toast your health with it. Give him the cup.

Hamlet

Wait a bit. (229) I want to give this boat first. Come on. Another lunge. What are you saying?

Laertes

Yes, it touched me, I confess.

Claudio

Oh! Our son will win.

Gertrude

He's thick, and he gets too tired. Come here, Hamlet, take this canvas, and wipe your face. The Queen toasts your good fortune dear Hamlet. (230)

Hamlet

Thank you so much Mrs.

Claudio

No, don't drink.

Gertrude

Oh! Lord forgive me. I have to drink.

Claudio

The poisoned cup!.. But... There is no remedy.

Hamlet

No, I don't drink now, wait a minute.

Gertrude

Come, my son, I will wipe the sweat from your face.

Laertes

Now you'll see if I'm right. (231)

Claudio

I do not think so.

Laertes

I don't know what repugnance I feel when going to execute it.

Hamlet

Let's go to the third, Laertes... But, it is clear that you take it to party, fight, I beg you, with more zeal. I am very afraid that you mock me.

Laertes

Is that what you say, sir? Come on. (232)

Enrique

Nothing, neither one nor the other.

Laertes

Now... (233) This...

Claudio

They seem to get too hot. separate them.

Hamlet

No, no, let's go again.

Enrique

See what the Queen has. Heavens!

Horacio

Both wounded! What is this, sir?

Enrique

How has it been, Laertes?

Laertes

This is having fallen into the bond that I prepared, I just die a victim of my own betrayal.

Hamlet

What does the Queen have?

Claudio

He fainted when he saw you wounded.

Gertrude

No, no... The drink!... Dear Hamlet! The drink! They have poisoned me! (2. 3. 4)

Hamlet

Oh! What treachery!.. Oh!.. Close the doors... Betrayal... Search everywhere (235)...

Laertes

No, the traitor is here. (236) Hamlet, you are dead... there is no medicine that can save you, you will live half an hour, barely... In your hand is the treacherous instrument, the sharp point of it bathed with poison. Turned into my damage, the unworthy plot! See me here prostrate to never get up. Your mother has had a cough... I can't go on... The King, the King is the delinquent. (237)

Hamlet

This tip is poisoned! Well, poison, produce your effects.

All

Betrayal, betrayal.

Claudio

Friends, I am hurt... Defend me.

Hamlet

Incestuous villain, murderer! Drink this poison Is the pearl here? Yes, take (238), accompany my mother.

Laertes

Just punishment!... He himself prepared the deadly potion... Forget everything, generous Hamlet and... Oh! Do not fall on you the death of my father and mine, nor on me yours!

Hamlet

Heaven forgive you... I'm going to follow you. I am dying, Horatio... Farewell, unhappy Queen... (239) You who attend pale and dumb with fear of this terrible event... If I had time. (240) Death is an inexorable minister who does not delay the execution... I could tell you... but it is not possible. Horace, I die. You, who will live, refer the truth and the reasons for my conduct, to those who ignore them.

Horacio

Live? Don't believe it. I have a Roman soul, and part of the poison has still remained here. (241)

Hamlet

Give me that cup... quick... for God's sake I ask you. Oh! Dear Horace! If this remains hidden, what a tarnished reputation I will leave after my death! If you ever gave me a place in your heart, delay a little that happiness that you want; lengthen for some time the tiring life in this world full of miseries, and spread my story through it... What military noise is this? (242)

Scene X[To edit]

HAMLET, HORATIO, HENRY, A GENTLEMEN and accompaniment.

Caballero

The young Fortinbrás who returns victorious from Poland, salutes with the martial salute that you hear from the Ambassadors of England.

Hamlet

I expire, Horatio, the active poison already suffocates my breath... I cannot live to hear news of England; but I dare (243) to announce that Fortinbrás will be elected by that nation. As a dying man, I give him my vote... You tell him, and inform him of what has just happened... Oh!... For me there is only... eternal silence. (244)

Horacio

Anyway, that big heart breaks! Farewell, farewell, beloved Prince. (245) May the angelic choirs accompany you to heavenly rest!... But how does the roar of drums get here?

Scene XI[To edit]

FORTIMBRAS, TWO AMBASSADORS, HORACIO, ENRIQUE, SOLDIERS, accompaniment.

fortinbras

Where is that show (246)?

Horacio

What are you looking for here? If you want to see frightful misfortunes, go no further.

fortinbras

Oh! This destruction calls for bloody revenge... Superb death! What feast do you have in your infernal dwelling, that thus you have wounded with a single blow so many illustrious victims?

Ambassador 1º

It is horrifying to see it!... We arrived late with the messages from England. The ears to whom we should address them are already insensitive. His orders were promptly executed: Ricardo and Guillermo lost their lives... But who will thank us for our obedience?

Horacio

You would not receive them from his mouth, even if he were still alive, for he never gave orders for such deaths. But since you, coming victorious from the war against Poland, and you envoys from England, are together in this place and I see you eager to find out about this tragic event: order that these corpses be exposed on a raised grave in public view, and then I will let the world know that the reason for these misfortunes is unknown. You will hear me speak (because I will know how to relate everything faithfully) of cruel, barbaric actions, atrocious sentences handed down by chance, unforeseen havoc, deaths carried out with violence and treacherous cunning, and finally, unsuccessful projects that have made their authors perish.

fortinbras

I look forward to hearing from you, and it will be convenient for the nobility of the nation to meet for this purpose. I cannot look without horror at the gifts that fortune offers me; but I have very old claims to this crown, and on such an occasion it is just to claim them.

Horacio

I can also speak in this regard, declaring the vow that that mouth pronounced, that it will no longer form any sound... But, now that spirits are in dangerous movement, the execution should not be delayed for a single moment: to avoid the evils that could cause malice or error.

fortinbras

Four of my captains carry Hamlet's body to the mound with the insignia befitting a warrior. oh! If he had occupied the throne, without a doubt he would have been an excellent Monarch... Let military music resound wherever the funeral pomp passes, and do him all the honors of war... Get rid of, get rid of those corpses. Such a bloody spectacle, more typical of a battlefield than of this place... And you, make the whole army salute with volleys.

Obtained from "»