For.
Go, captain; from me greet the Danish king:
Tell him, that by his licence Fortinbras
Claims the conveyance^{6 note} of a promis'd march
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous.
If that his majesty would aught with us,
We shall express our duty in his eye;
And let him know so.

Cap.
I will do't, my lord.

For.
Go softly on^{7 note}. [Exeunt Fortinbras and Forces.

Enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, &c.^{8 note}

Ham.
Good sir, whose powers are these?

Cap.
They are of Norway, sir.

Ham.
How purpos'd, sir,
I pray you?

Cap.
Against some part of Poland.

Ham.
Who
Commands them, sir?

Cap.
The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras.

Ham.
Goes it against the main of Poland, sir,
Or for some frontier?

Cap.
Truly to speak, and with no addition,
We go to gain a little patch of ground,
That hath in it no profit but the name.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it;
Nor will it yield to Norway, or the Pole,
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee.

Ham.
Why, then the Polack never will defend it.

Cap.
Yes, 'tis already garrison'd.

Ham.
Two thousand souls, and twenty thousand ducats,
Will not debate the question of this straw:
This is th' imposthume of much wealth and peace,
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without
Why the man dies.—I humbly thank you, sir.

Cap.
God be wi'you, sir. [Exit Captain.

Ros.
Will't please you go, my lord?

Ham.
I'll be with you straight. Go a little before. [Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good, and market of his time,
Be but to sleep, and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, he, that made us with such large discourse,

Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason,
To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th' event,—
A thought, which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom,
And ever three parts coward^{9 note},—I do not know
Why yet I live to say, “This thing's to do;”
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means,
To do't. Examples, gross as earth, exhort me:
Witness this army, of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit, with divine ambition puff'd,
Makes mouths at the invisible event;
Exposing what is mortal, and unsure,
To all that fortune, death, and danger, dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great,
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw,
When honour's at the stake. How stand I, then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason, and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That for a fantasy, and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds; fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause;
Which is not tomb enough, and continent,
To hide the slain?—O! from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! [Exit.

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