Codes
+ + = emendation; <> = First Folio; [ ] = Second Quarto only


+1.5+
                    Enter Horatio and Marcellus.
HORATIO   My lord, my lord!                                      120

MARCELLUS Lord Hamlet.

HORATIO  Heavens secure him!

HAMLET    So be it.

MARCELLUS Illo, ho, ho, my lord!

HAMLET Hillo, ho, ho, boy! Come, <bird,> come!

MARCELLUS

          How is 't, my noble lord?                              125

HORATIO                        What news, my lord?

HAMLET O, wonderful!

HORATIO

          Good my lord, tell it.

HAMLET                              No, you will reveal it.      130

HORATIO

          Not I, my lord, by heaven.

MARCELLUS                      Nor I, my lord.

HAMLET

          How say you, then? Would heart of man once think

               it?

          But you'll be secret?                                  135

HORATIO / MARCELLUS                 Ay, by heaven, <my lord.>

HAMLET

          There's never a villain dwelling in all Denmark

          But he's an arrant knave.

HORATIO

          There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave

          To tell us this.                                       140

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,               145

          Such as it is), and for my own poor part,

          I will go pray.

HORATIO

          These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.

HAMLET

          I am sorry they offend you, heartily;

          Yes, faith, heartily.                                  150

HORATIO                        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,            155

          O'ermaster 't as you may. And now, good friends,

          As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,

          Give me one poor request.

HORATIO   What is 't, my lord? We will.

HAMLET

          Never make known what you have seen tonight.           160

HORATIO / MARCELLUS My lord, we will not.

HAMLET    Nay, but swear 't.

HORATIO   In faith, my lord, not I.

MARCELLUS Nor I, my lord, in faith.

HAMLET

          Upon my sword.                                         165

MARCELLUS           We have sworn, my lord, already.

HAMLET    Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.

GHOST cries under the stage Swear.

HAMLET

          Ha, ha, boy, sayst thou so? Art thou there,

               truepenny?                                        170

          Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage.

          Consent to swear.

HORATIO                        Propose the oath, my lord.

HAMLET

          Never to speak of this that you have seen,

          Swear by my sword.                                     175

GHOST, +beneath+ Swear.

HAMLET

         Hic et ubique? Then we'll shift our ground.

          Come hither, gentlemen,

          And lay your hands again upon my sword.

          Swear by my sword                                      180

          Never to speak of this that you have heard.

GHOST, +beneath+ Swear by his sword.

HAMLET

          Well said, old mole. Canst work i' th' earth so fast?

          A worthy pioner! Once more remove, good friends.

HORATIO

          O day and night, but this is wondrous strange.         185

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, never, so help you mercy,

          How strange or odd some'er I bear myself               190

          (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 headshake,

          Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,             195

          As "Well, well, we know," or "We could an if we

               would,"

          Or "If we list to speak," or "There be an if they

               might,"

          Or such ambiguous giving-out, to note                  200

          That you know aught of me--this do swear,

          So grace and mercy at your most need help you.

GHOST, +beneath+ Swear.

HAMLET

          Rest, rest, perturbèd spirit.--So, gentlemen,

          With all my love I do commend me to you,               205

          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. O cursèd spite               210

          That ever I was born to set it right!

          Nay, come, let's go together.

                                         They exit.
 



1.5.125   Hillo, ho . . . bird, come: Hamlet mocks Marcellus's
                call, as if it were the call of a falconer.

1.5.138   arrant: complete

1.5.142   circumstance: ceremony

1.5.154   honest: genuine

1.5.165   Upon my sword: an appropriate object on which to swear
                an oath, in that the hilts form a cross

1.5.170   truepenny: honest fellow

1.5.177   Hic et ubique: here and everywhere

1.5.184   pioner: a foot-soldier who marches in advance of the
                army to dig trenches and clear the way; a digger

                or miner; remove: move to another spot

1.5.186   as a stranger give it welcome: welcome it as one should
                welcome a stranger

1.5.188   your philosophy: i.e., philosophy in general

1.5.189-202 never . . . help you: i.e., swear never to note, even
     through gestures and hints, that you know anything about

     me, no matter how strangely I act

1.5.190   How . . . some'er: howsoever

1.5.191-192 As I . . . on: since I may in the future think it
           appropriate to act bizarrely

1.5.194   With arms . . . headshake: with your arms folded or
                shaking your head in a knowing way

1.5.195   doubtful: ambiguous

1.5.196   an if: if

1.5.198   list: should choose

1.5.200   giving-out: expression; note: indicate

1.5.204   Rest, rest, perturbèd spirit: These words suggest that
     Horatio and Marcellus have sworn the oath demanded by

     Hamlet and the Ghost; Q2 and F give no stage direction

     to indicate when they do so.

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