Hamlet In Plain and Simple English: (A Modern Translation and the Original Version)
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Hamlet is arguably one of the greatest plays ever written; it has been staged countless times, adapted into movies, and inspired thousands of artist--but let's face it..if you don't understand it, then you are not alone.
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William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.
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Hamlet In Plain and Simple English - William Shakespeare
Act I
Scene I
Elsinore. A platform before the castle
FRANCISCO at his post. Enter to him BERNARDO
BERNARDO
Who’s there?
Who's there?
FRANCISCO
No, you answer me. Identify yourself.
Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself.
BERNARDO
I am an officer in the king’s court.
Long live the king!
FRANCISCO
Bernardo, is that you?
Bernardo?
BERNARDO
Yes.
He.
FRANCISCO
You are late.
You come most carefully upon your hour.
BERNARDO
It’s only twelve o’ clock. Go to bed already, Francisco.
'Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco.
FRANCISCO
Thanks. It’s cold and I am sick of it.
For this relief much thanks: 'tis bitter cold,
And I am sick at heart.
BERNARDO
Have things been quiet on your guard?
Have you had quiet guard?
FRANCISCO
Quiet as a mouse.
Not a mouse stirring.
BERNARDO
Well, good night. If you see Horatio and Marcellus, tell them to hurry up.
Well, good night.
If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus,
The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.
FRANCISCO
I think I hear them now. Stop! Who’s there?
I think I hear them. Stand, ho! Who's there?
Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS
HORATIO
We are friends.
Friends to this ground.
MARCELLUS
And we work for the Dane.
And liegemen to the Dane.
FRANCISCO
Be on your way then.
Give you good night.
MARCELLUS
Goodbye, soldier. Who has relieved you?
O, farewell, honest soldier:
Who hath relieved you?
FRANCISCO
Bernardo took my place. Good night.
Bernardo has my place.
Give you good night.
Exit
MARCELLUS
Hey! Bernardo!
Holla! Bernardo!
BERNARDO
What? Is that you, Horatio?
Say,
What, is Horatio there?
HORATIO
A part of me is here.
A piece of him.
BERNARDO
Welcome, Horatio and Marcellus.
Welcome, Horatio: welcome, good Marcellus.
MARCELLUS
Has that thing appeared again tonight?
What, has this thing appear'd again to-night?
BERNARDO
I haven’t seen anything.
I have seen nothing.
MARCELLUS
Horatio doesn’t believe me; says it is all in my head. We have seen the ghost twice, so I invited him to stand guard with us tonight. If the apparition comes, he will see for himself.
Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy,
And will not let belief take hold of him
Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us:
Therefore I have entreated him along
With us to watch the minutes of this night;
That if again this apparition come,
He may approve our eyes and speak to it.
HORATIO
Nonsense. It will not appear again.
Tush, tush, 'twill not appear.
BERNARDO
Let’s sit down and we will tell you, although you are skeptical, what we have seen the last two nights.
Sit down awhile;
And let us once again assail your ears,
That are so fortified against our story
What we have two nights seen.
HORATIO
Ok, let’s sit. I will listen to Bernardo’s story.
Well, sit we down,
And let us hear Bernardo speak of this.
BERNARDO
Last night, about one o’clock, with the light from that star in the west, Marcellus and I—
Last night of all,
When yond same star that's westward from the pole
Had made his course to illume that part of heaven
Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself,
The bell then beating one,--
Enter Ghost
MARCELLUS
Be quiet. Look, here it comes again!
Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again!
BERNARDO
It looks just like the dead king.
In the same figure, like the king that's dead.
MARCELLUS
You are smart, Horatio, speak to it.
Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio.
BERNARDO
It does look like the king; doesn’t it, Horatio?
Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio.
HORATIO
It does, and I’m both scared and curious.
Most like: it harrows me with fear and wonder.
BERNARDO
It acts like it wants to say something.
It would be spoke to.
MARCELLUS
Ask it something, Horatio.
Question it, Horatio.
HORATIO
What are you out at the time of night ready for war and resembling the dead king of Denmark? In the name of God, say something!
What art thou that usurp'st this time of night,
Together with that fair and warlike form
In which the majesty of buried Denmark
Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak!
MARCELLUS
It is offended.
It is offended.
BERNARDO
See, it’s going away!
See, it stalks away!
HORATIO
Wait, stay. Speak! I command you to speak!
Stay! speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!
Exit Ghost
MARCELLUS
It’s gone and would not say anything.
'Tis gone, and will not answer.
BERNARDO
What do you think now, Horatio? You look a little pale and scared. You think it’s more than some fantasy?
How now, Horatio! you tremble and look pale:
Is not this something more than fantasy?
What think you on't?
HORATIO
I swear, I never would have believed if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.
Before my God, I might not this believe
Without the sensible and true avouch
Of mine own eyes.
MARCELLUS
Doesn’t it look like the king?
Is it not like the king?
HORATIO
I know that armor as well as I know myself. He wore it during the battle with Norway when he killed the Polacks on their sleds. So strange.
As thou art to thyself:
Such was the very armour he had on
When he the ambitious Norway combated;
So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle,
He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice.
'Tis strange.
MARCELLUS
This is the second time at this very hour that it has walked around like a soldier.
Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour,
With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.
HORATIO
I don’t know what this means, but I have a funny feeling something is going to happen in our country.
In what particular thought to work I know not;
But in the gross and scope of my opinion,
This bodes some strange eruption to our state.
MARCELLUS
Okay, let’s sit down and talk about what is going on. Why do we stand guard every night, and why are cannons being made? Why are we buying foreign weapons and ships are being built every day of the week. Do you think something is about to happen?
Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that knows,
Why this same strict and most observant watch
So nightly toils the subject of the land,
And why such daily cast of brazen cannon,
And foreign mart for implements of war;
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week;
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste
Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day:
Who is't that can inform me?
HORATIO
I think I know. As you know, the king, we just saw in his ghostly form, was the enemy of Fortinbras, the king of Norway. Fortinbras dared the king to fight and was killed by the seemingly valiant Hamlet. According to a signed contract, Fortinbras forfeited his land, as well as his life, to his conqueror. Our king had signed a similar contract. Now, his son, the young Fortinbras, seeks revenge and the return of his father’s land. He has commissioned the help of some lawless men. I think that is the reason for the frenzy of activity, including our watch and the procurement of weapons.
That can I;
At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king,
Whose image even but now appear'd to us,
Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway,
Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride,
Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet--
For so this side of our known world esteem'd him--
Did slay this Fortinbras; who by a seal'd compact,
Well ratified by law and heraldry,
Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands
Which he stood seized of, to the conqueror:
Against the which, a moiety competent
Was gaged by our king; which had return'd
To the inheritance of Fortinbras,
Had he been vanquisher; as, by the same covenant,
And carriage of the article design'd,
His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimproved mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there
Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes,
For food and diet, to some enterprise
That hath a stomach in't; which is no other--
As it doth well appear unto our state--
But to recover of us, by strong hand
And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands
So by his father lost: and this, I take it,
Is the main motive of our preparations,
The source of this our watch and the chief head
Of this post-haste and romage in the land.
BERNARDO
I think you’re right. That explains why the king, responsible for these wars, comes walking around in his armor on our watch.
I think it be no other but e'en so:
Well may it sort that this portentous figure
Comes armed through our watch; so like the king
That was and is the question of these wars.
HORATIO
There is definitely trouble brewing. Even in the great city of Rome, before the murder of Julius Caesar, the dead arose from their graves and walked the streets, speaking gibberish. There were other signs and omens, too, like shooting stars and solar eclipses. The fates are warning us. But wait! Here comes the ghost again! (Enter Ghost.) I’ll go to it, even though I don’t want to. Stay, ghost. If you can, speak to me. If there is anything I can do to ease your pain, tell me. Or, if you know something that would help our country, please speak. If you have some hidden treasure here on earth, which makes you uneasy, let us help you. (The cock crows.) Stay and speak! Stop the ghost, Marcellus.
A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye.
In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets:
As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star
Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse:
And even the like precurse of fierce events,
As harbingers preceding still the fates
And prologue to the omen coming on,
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen.--
But soft, behold! lo, where it comes again!
Re-enter Ghost
I'll cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion!
If thou hast any sound, or use of voice,
Speak to me:
If there be any good thing to be done,
That may to thee do ease and grace to me,
Speak to me:
Cock crows
If thou art privy to thy country's fate,
Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid, O, speak!
Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life
Extorted treasure in the womb of earth,
For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death,
Speak of it: stay, and speak! Stop it, Marcellus.
MARCELLUS
Should I hit it with my sword?
Shall I strike at it with my partisan?
HORATIO
Yes, if it doesn’t stop.
Do, if it will not stand.
BERNARDO
It’s here!
'Tis here!
HORATIO
It’s here!
'Tis here!
MARCELLUS
It’s gone! (Exit Ghost.) We shouldn’t have used force on the ghost of the king. Anyway, it is an apparition and can’t be touched. We were stupid to think otherwise.
'Tis gone!
Exit Ghost
We do it wrong, being so majestical,
To offer it the show of violence;
For it is, as the air, invulnerable,
And our vain blows malicious mockery.
BERNARDO
It was about to speak when the cock crowed.
It was about to speak, when the cock crew.
HORATIO
And then it started to act scared like someone guilty of a crime. I have heard when the cock crows, a sign that day is approaching, ghosts must return to where their spirits are confined. We just saw that for ourselves.
And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard,
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat
Awake the god of day; and, at his warning,
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
The extravagant and erring spirit his
To his confine: and of the truth herein
This present object made probation.
MARCELLUS
It also started to fade when the cock crowed. Some say, at Christmas, the rooster crows all night long, and ghosts, fairies, and witches are too fearful to work, because the time is so sacred.
It faded on the crowing of the cock.
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
HORATIO
I have heard that, too, and partially believe it. But, the morning is near, and I think we should tell Hamlet what we have seen. The spirit does not know us, but I bet my life, he will speak to him. Do you agree we should tell Hamlet about the ghost?
So have I heard and do in part believe it.
But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastward hill:
Break we our watch up; and by my advice,
Let us impart what we have seen to-night
Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life,
This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it,
As needful in our loves, fitting our duty?
MARCELLUS
Let’s do it, and I know where he is this morning, a most convenient place.
Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning know
Where we shall find him most conveniently.
Exeunt
Scene II
A room of state in the castle
Enter KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, HAMLET, POLONIUS, LAERTES, VOLTIMAND, CORNELIUS, Lords, and Attendants
KING CLAUDIUS
Although we are still mourning our dear brother Hamlet’s death, and the country is joined by grief, we must remember to continue on in life. It is with both sadness and joy, that I have married my sister-in-law, as you all advised. For your wisdom, I thank you. Now, as you all know, the young Fortinbras thinks since the king has died, we are in vulnerable state. He has sent letters stating his desire to regain the land his father lost in battle to Hamlet. So, I have written a letter to his uncle, the poor bed-ridden fellow, to let him know what Fortinbras is planning. The letter asks his uncle, who in the head of Norway, to stop his nephew. I ask of you, Cornelius and Votimand, to deliver this letter and nothing else. Please be quick in fulfilling your duty.
Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death
The memory be green, and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with wisest sorrow think on him,
Together with remembrance of ourselves.
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,
The imperial jointress to this warlike state,
Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy,--
With an auspicious and a dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole,--
Taken to wife: nor have we