I have not been posting as mentioned earlier but I have visited my blog and saw the new numbers of hits. I am sincerely grateful for that and will do my best to return here...
I am finding my new footing and will resume soonest.
Do take care and above all, read on.
Cheers
These are my last posts for now...I am in need of rest and recuperation. I had not penned any complete tales for over six months now.... two tales are in the write but stopped as I am ...not in my creative mind. I have to stop for now. Other precedents took priority in me.
Once I read an article by a writer that says, continue a word or more every day it will come naturally the tale.... I did with short passages, to the one liner and then the single tap... but it's not for now.
Well, let me gather my words in my mind, and soon come back to here.
Take care.
Act Six
Epilogue
Horatio
stood before the graves of the young lord, the madam, and Claudius. They were
buried next to the old King. The gravediggers did a good task, the son was with
the father, and the two lovers were to one side.
“Hamlet,
my lord.” Horatio addressed the young one. “Your death was unforeseen but
events had taken their route and I was unable to stop the trail. Much had we
spent together when younger but you grew fast without me. Your father had me to
see over you, but there was little I could do without you at my side. A
fledging had to fly on its day, and you did. I had my friends watch you; your
antics were made known to me.”
“You
have your desire, not all I will have sanction but as no further harm was to
you, I was ever grateful. Doctor Freud, secured by myself, paid by the King had
given you some good medications to subvert your ailments. Did you take your
medication regularly was also monitored by my thorough aides, who fed the medicine
into your meal. I am unsure. To know you required more than observation, I need
to be with you. You have camouflaged yourself with the roles on the stage. When
are you, or when acting? It took years to know, and for me, it was from a
distance until you returned home.”
“That
was one other reason father sent you off at a tender age; you need not see the
adulterous ways of your mother. She was a …at best of times, a good mother but
she had desires that were not favorable. In contrast to Ophelia, she held no
virtues. It may hurt you to know this, or you may have kept it hidden. I would
have stopped her from death if only I knew.”
“I
do not know if you sanction my ascension to be the King, but it was an
opportunity I could not resist. A General can only serve until the rank above
is open.” Horatio sighed. “I took the insignia from your pocket when you were
asleep.”
“Madam,
I stand before thee to say I am pleased that you involve me in your schemes.
Your call to Claudius to return and the coincidence when you poisoned the King,
were remarkable. He had stepped in to see the King soon after you exited, and
all blame was on him. Then you called Hamlet back to be at your side, but
unknown to you, I had poisoned Hamlet’s mind.”
“It
was easy with my learning of filming with the projector. I needed an audience
and found them in the servants. I needed a screen, and the walls were perfect.
The rest was mine, with a hidden sound device. I had the servants convinced of
the ghost; they have not seen a moving picture as yet. Then the lies toward
Hamlet, with your naïve lover, all it needed was to create a motive,”
“It
was easy with the hidden peek holes; much you could see when others should not
see.” Horatio smiled and added in the secret. “Ophelia was beautiful. I will find
one like her myself.”
“My
King, you were a good King, ruthless but a good leader. I have my respect for
you and on seeing the act on you, I had vouch revenge but to come from me was
like a minion in the war. I found my use with Gertrude; yes, my King, we were
lovers at some time, and with her action, I created mine. In time, I placed all
the puzzle parts together but the bigger picture was set by all of your loved
ones. I was merely adding in the parts to complete the picture.”
“Claudius,
you were the fool here. You were the plaything of Gertrude, the minion to the
King, the scorn of young Hamlet, yet you tried to be the…Emperor. You shied
from being called the King because you never could be. Unfortunately, you were
made the bait, but when you turned to bite then, I was stunned. When you sued
Laertes, I had a difficult time planning but you place everything in my favor.
It was myself who gave Laertes the poison through Reynaldo. And yours was given
by me to Osric unknowingly. He rushed off when he saw you dying, bringing in
the others.”
“I
was prepared to defend my position, and thus I did. I told Osric’s friends off.
They were outnumbered and outgunned. As for Osric, he lies with Polonius in the
same hole. An ambitious man but raw to the act.”
“My
King, Madam, and young lord, I bid you farewell. Norway awaits me.”
He
left an epitaph on Hamlet’s tombstone.
“All
the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely players.”
With
sincere thanks to all these websites which I had quoted, and referenced for
this adaption.
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https://www.allgreatquotes.com/hamlet-quotes-137/
https://www.google.com/search?q=depravity+meaning&oq=despavity&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0i13i512l9.6304j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.google.com/search?q=they+say+an+old+man+is+twice+a+child+meaning&sxsrf=ALiCzsYFF5C0JSt47JjpJgLQ9JsC6QyJug%3A1671602852364&ei=pKKiY-ztFZnw4-EPhcaFyAo&oq=say+an+old+man+is+twice+a+child&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQARgAMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIFCAAQhgMyBQgAEIYDMgUIABCGAzIFCAAQhgNKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQAFgAYOQUaABwAXgAgAGsAYgBrAGSAQMwLjGYAQCgAQKgAQHAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
https://thehamletproject.com/2014/12/31/why-as-by-lot-god-wot-and-then-you-know-it-came-to-pass-as-most-like-it-was/
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https://www.google.com/search?q=jephthah+in+hamlet&oq=Jephthah+in+Hamlet&aqs=chrome.0.0i13i512j0i390l3j69i60.4805j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://myshakespeare.com/hamlet/act-2-scene-2-popup-note-index-item-digested-sallets-and-savory
https://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/hamlet/H22.html
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALiCzsYcmJhd3e654DpRpB_1HEhcrDf6pw:1671687272370&q=What+is+the+story+of+Dido+and+Aeneas+about%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj38a2wwIz8AhVTgdgFHf43D78Qzmd6BAgSEAU&biw=1242&bih=561&dpr=1.1
https://ivypanda.com/q/which-statement-best-explains-why-hamlet-alludes-to-pyrrhus-throughout-act-2-scene-2-of-hamlet/
https://myshakespeare.com/hamlet/act-2-scene-2-full-scene-modern-english
https://shakespeareanstudent.com/2015/06/25/o-fortuna/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-we-treat-others_b_5599299#:~:text=Polonius%3A%20My%20lord%2C%20I%20will,merit%20is%20in%20your%20bounty.
https://www.quora.com/What-does-this-phrase-mean-from-Hamlet-use-every-man-after-his-own-dessert-who-should-get-whipping
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/to-get-your-just-deserts
https://nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/tragic-shakespeare-moments/
https://www.google.com/search?q=like+john-a-dreams+unpregnant+of+my+cause&oq=dreams%2C+unpregnant+of+my+cause&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i22i30i625l2j0i390l3.2305j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://interestingliterature.com/2020/04/what-rogue-peasant-slave-soliloquy-hamlet-shakespeare-analysis-summary/
https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1983_num_61_3_3427
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/we-do-sugar-oer-the-devil-himself.3091329/
https://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/topic/nothing-is-but-what-is-not
https://www.google.com/search?q=No+traveler+returns%2C+puzzles+the+will+And+makes+us+rather+bear+those+ills+we+have+than+fly+to+others+that+we+know+not+of%3F%E2%80%9D+explained&oq=No+traveler+returns%2C+puzzles+the+will+And+makes+us+rather+bear+those+ills+we+have+than+fly+to+others+that+we+know+not+of%3F%E2%80%9D+explained&aqs=chrome..69i57.5476j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/king-lear-famous-quotes
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Power-Of-Love-In-Hamlet-By-FJGBV2NGQR
https://www.google.com/search?q=are+doves+mate+for+life&oq=are+doves+mate&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i22i30j0i390l3.6724j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.google.com/search?q=for+virtue+cannot+so+inoculate+meaning&sxsrf=ALiCzsZCSnELs0Zw8lryI13HKisX_xWz-A%3A1671884915393&ei=c_CmY43WF73d4-EPvpKFwAo&oq=for+virtue+cannot+so+inoculate+our+old+stock+&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQARgBMgUIABCABDIFCAAQhgNKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQAFgAYIIeaABwAXgAgAFciAFckgEBMZgBAKABAqABAcABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
https://everydaypower.com/cleopatra-quotes/
https://www.allgreatquotes.com/hamlet-quotes-177/
https://interestingliterature.com/2021/06/hamlet-ophelia-what-noble-mind-here-oerthrown-speech-summary-analysis/
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Egypt
https://www.google.com/search?q=%2C+thou+art+e%E2%80%99en+as+just+a+man&oq=%2C+thou+art+e%E2%80%99en+as+just+a+man&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i13i512j0i390l5.2386j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
http://racheligoe.blogspot.com/2011/04/quote-analysis-act-3-scene-2.html
https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/85785/could-you-please-expand-a-little-bit-and-explain-in-more-detail-what-this-quote
https://www.google.com/search?q=You+can%27t+feed+capons+so.&biw=556&bih=549&sxsrf=ALiCzsacSMcZ197OOOaaRhlAgeV5VuOzpQ%3A1672035394395&ei=QjypY8LOF-bg4-EP7-648Ao&ved=0ahUKEwjC9--d0Zb8AhVm8DgGHW83Dq4Q4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=You+can%27t+feed+capons+so.&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzoKCAAQRxDWBBCwA0oECEEYAEoECEYYAFDsBVjsBWD3EmgBcAF4AIABmgGIAZoBkgEDMC4xmAEAoAEByAEIwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeare/language/specialist-language-medical-legal-military
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https://lithum.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/03/hamlet-32192-21.html
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https://www.google.com/search?q=teh+concept+of+murder+by+Freud&oq=teh+concept+of+murder+by+Freud&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i10i160l2.10681j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://interestingliterature.com/2021/07/hamlet-tis-now-the-very-witching-time-of-night-speech-summary-analysis/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippina_the_Younger#Reign_of_Nero_and_empire_control
https://interestingliterature.com/2020/05/claudius-my-offence-is-rank-soliloquy-hamlet-analysis/
https://theplaystheblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/your-worm-is-your-only-emperor-for-diet-we-fat-all-creatures-else-to-fat-us-and-we-fat-ourselves-for-maggots/
https://www.google.com/search?q=Your+fat+emperor+and+your+lean+beggar+is+but+variable+service%E2%80%94two+dishes+but+to+one+table.%E2%80%9D&oq=Your+fat+emperor+and+your+lean+beggar+is+but+variable+service%E2%80%94two+dishes+but+to+one+table.%E2%80%9D&aqs=chrome..69i57.1227j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin
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https://shakespearequotesandplays.com/2016/06/26/when-sorrows-come/
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https://jackharris-bio.com/jack/ophelia.html#:~:text=When%20she%20re%2Denters%2C%20by,173).
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Ophelia%27s+%27false+steward%27+contextualized.-a016684122
https://htsdc.org/wp-content/uploads/Ophelias-Flowers.pdf
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https://shakespeare-navigators.com/hamlet/Five2.html
https://thehamletproject.com/2019/06/08/you-must-not-think-that-we-are-made-of-stuff-so-flat-and-dull-that-we-can-let-our-beard-be-shook-with-danger-and-think-it-pastime/
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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00043079.1942.11409347
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https://www.definify.com/word/Chapless
https://shakespeare-navigators.com/hamlet/Hamlet_Note_5_1_137.html
https://shakespeare-navigators.com/hamlet/H52.html
Act Five
Act
Five Scene Two
Sub
Scene Seven
The
land needs a new ruler; be it King or Emperor.
Osric
entered followed by the arrival of more guests, but these came with guns and
swords.
“Young
Fortinbras, with conquest, come from Polack Street to the ambassadors of
England. Give way please.” The two groups marched in and were stunned by the
bloody scene there.
“We
came to pay our respect to the Emperor but not of such respect,” Fortinbras
called out. “What happened here?”
“My
mate, Claudius. What had happened here?” Frank called out. He had come over to
congratulate the other as successor to the throne. “Am I late or to hold
revenge?”
“O,
I die, Horatio!” Hamlet looked to Horatio. “The potent poison quite overcrowds
my spirit.”
“I
cannot live to hear the news from England.” Hamlet whispered to Horatio. “They
will bring their wrath upon me, but I do prophesy th’ election lights on
Fortinbras; he has my dying voice.”
“So
tell him, with th’ occurrents, more and less, which have solicited—the rest is
silence.” Hamlet then whispered his last breath. Horatio lowered his lord and
then addressed the new arrivals.
“I
bid you a welcome if you are friendly to us.” Horatio had the guards take to
their position around the hall.
“What
was a duel of fencing had taken to lives being taken. The Emperor was
distraught when his love, the Madam was taken ill and died. Hamlet was wounded
and so was Laertes. Both had succumbed to their wounds.”
“What
of my mate, Claudius? Why is he with a wound to the heart?” Frank asked.
“He
died …from the fatal thrust of the blade…. Requested by him on the death of his
love. He could not bear to see her die alone and chose to follow her.” Horatio
explaiend it all. “I am Horatio, and now the new King of Norway. I bear the
insignia of the old King and with it his blessing to my ascension.”
“Anyone
who is against it will be answered to me as the King of Norway.” Horatio looked
toward the guests. “It was not a nice event today, but we will let the past be
the past. Norway needs a King to continue its path.. Not an Emperor or a Prince
but the real King.”
“All
of you have heard of the ghost that was said to be the old King. He appears on
the walls, and yes, I had spoken to him." Horatio saw the gasps among the
guests and servants. “He beckons me to run Norway. He told me that Norway needs
a strong King. I had declined but the ghost kept on telling me. It was with
Hamlet on his return, I asked him to meet the old King. The King told Hamlet of
the ascension and ….”
“It
made the young lord, depressed and when he saw the Emperor took the throne, he
went mad. He was with me and had found new things that Hamlet was to know
later. For that, Hamlet had to do what he did.” Horatio looked to the guests
and servant. “All of you had privy to that, and will not be revealed to the
outsides. What happens in Norway, remains in Norway.”
“Aye!’
The guests and servants agreed.
“I
thank your arrival, Fortinbras, and to you, England but the castle needs its
privacy now.” Horatio looked at the new arrivals. “What is it you would see? It
was seen. If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search. Norway takes care of
its own.”
“The
sight is dismal,” Frank said his part. “And our affairs from England come too
late. The ears are senseless that should give us hearing to tell him his
commandment is fulfilled, that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Where
should we have our thanks?”
“Not
from his mouth, Had it th’ ability of life to thank you.” Horatio pointed to
Claudius. “But I thank thee though it was not my commandment then.”
“You
from the Polack wars, are here arrived, and let me speak to the yet unknowing
world how these things came about. It was all unforeseen and thus ended the
conclusion here, accepted by all.” Horatio looked at the other.”I am sure you
will value Norway’s assistance more than their internal issues.”
The
young leader knew he was obliged to Norway, whichever was the King. He called
for his men to assist in giving honors to the dead Prince.
Let
four captains bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, for he was likely, had
he been put on, to have proved most royal; and for his passage, the soldier’s
music and the rite of war to speak loudly for him.” Four Captains of the Other
Norway carried Hamlet on their shoulders.
“Good
night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” Horatio bid
his farewell to the Prince.
“We
leave now, boys. England is still a channel away.:” Frank led his men out. The
guests took their bow before the new King and leave. The servants took the
Madam, Laertes, and Claudius to be interned later in the graves.
Act Five
Act
Five Scene Two
Sub
Scene Six
The
cuts shall tell.
“Our son shall win,” Claudius
shouted for Hamlet to encourage him to fight on. but Gertrude disbelieves in
the duel.
“I dislike the blood. And Hamlet ….
He’s fat and scant of breath.—” Gertrude was upset. She saw Hamlet was
sweating then.
“Here, Hamlet, take my napkin; rub
thy brows.” The napkin was handed over. Gertrude then took hold of the wine
that was to be for Hamlet.
“I carouse to thy fortune, Hamlet.”
Gertrude drank the wine before Claudius could stop her.
“Gertrude, do not drink.” Claudius
reached out to the wine but Gertrude turned aside.
“I will, my lord; I pray you to pardon
me.” Gertrude drank it all
“It is the poisoned cup. It is too
late.” Claudius muttered to himself when he realises the wine was the poisoned
one.
“I dare not drink yet, madam—by and
by.” Hamlet smiled at his mother. “Later, perhaps.”
“Come, let me wipe thy face.”
Gertrude looked at her son. Her face was getting pale.
“Come, for the third, Laertes. You
do but dally. I pray you to pass with your best violence. I am afraid you
make a wanton of me.” Hamlet challenged the other.
Say you so? Come on. Play”
Laertes struck then. “Have at you now!”
Laertes wounds Hamlet. The call to
break was given, and then the change of foils was done, much to the protest of
Claudius but the players did it regardless. They change foils, and Hamlet
wounds Laertes with the resumed strike.
“Part them. They are incensed.”
Claudius asked for time out.
“Nay, come again,” Hamlet called
for the resumption. It was then the Queen falls.
“Oh, my God.” Osric rushed to the
Madame. “Look to the Queen there, ho! She bleeds on both sides.”
“Called the healers!” Claudius
shouted. Laertes then fell to his knees.
“How is ’t, Laertes?” Hamlet asked.
“Why as a woodcock to mine own
springe, Hamlet.” Laertes fell to his side. “I am struck by mine own treachery.”
“What treachery?” Hamlet asked. He
was distracted by the servants attending to Gertrude.”How does the madame?”
“She is bleeding .” Claudius
cradled the lady of his love.
“No, no, the drink, the drink! O,
my dear Hamlet!” Gertrude called out. “The drink, the drink! I am poisoned.”
Gertrude collapsed onto her lover’s
arm.
“O villainy! Ho! Let the door be
locked.” Hamlet called out to Osric. “Treachery! Seek it out.”
The guests were told to remain
seated while more guards arrive to calm the situation. Hamlet approached his
mother.
“She
is dying.” Claudius was in tears. “I loved her very much. More than your father
ever did.”
“You
…” Hamlet felt the pain in his wound. It was not a normal pain but one that was
creeping into his heart. He looked at Claudius. “Did you …”
“It
is here, Hamlet,” Laertes called out from his prone on the flooring. “Hamlet,
thou art is slain by me. No medicine in the world can do thee good. In
thee, there is not half an hour’s life.”
“The
treacherous instrument is in thy hand, unabated and envenomed. The foul
practice
Hath turned itself on me.” Laertes laughed. “A twist of fate.”
Hamlet
stared at the foil in his hand; the drop of blood still on the sharpened tip.
“Lo,
here I lie, never to rise again. Thy mother’s poisoned not of my act. The Emperor
…. The Emperor is to blame.” Laertes pointed his finger at Claudius. “He
poisoned the wine.”
“The
point envenomed too!” Hamlet leveled the foil at Claudius. “You have done foul.
To my father, my mother and …even me. I will desist your other acts.”
Hamlet
thrust the foil into Claudius’ heart; “Venom, to thy work.”
“O,
yet defend me, friends! I am but hurt.” Claudius dying called out. “I am
blameless...."
“Here,
thou incestuous, murderous, damnèd demon, drink off this potion. Is thy union
here?
Forcing him to drink the poison.” Hamlet accuses Claudius.
“I
did not.” Claudius denied the act.
“No,
you will follow my mother.” Hamlet stabbed the foil once more. Claudius died
then.
“Claudius
is justly served. It is a poison tempered by himself.” Laertes still alive
looked at Hamlet. “Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. Mine and my
father’s death come not upon thee, Nor thine on me.”
It
was Laertes to draw his last breath..
“Heaven
make thee free of it. I follow thee.—” Hamlet dropped the foil from his hand.
“I am dead, Horatio.”
“Wretched
queen, adieu. Hamlet one last look at his mother. “You that look pale and
tremble at this chance, that is but mutes or audience to this act. Had I but
time … O, I could tell you— but let it be.—Horatio, I am dead.”
“Thou
livest; report me and my cause aright To the unsatisfied.
“Never
believe it. I am more an antique Roman than a friend. Here’s yet some liquor
left.” Horatio took the wine that was poisoned by Claudius to his lips.
“As
thou ’rt a man, Give me the cup. Let go!” Hamlet called out. “By heaven, I’ll
ha ’t.”
Horatio
lowered the cup that held the wine.
“O
God, Horatio, what a wounded name, Things standing thus unknown, shall I leave
behind
me! If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile and
in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain to tell my story.” Hamlet fell to
his knees, and Horatio held him there.
A
commotion was heard from outside, and the doors to the Hall opened.
Act Five
Act
Five Scene Two
Sub
Scene Five
The
foil shall determine.
France,
Spain, and Italy all claim to be responsible for modern fencing, but in truth,
the sport developed across Europe in a similar time frame, so no one can say
that they are the true first fencers. Fencing was used by the military in
Spain, and they carried it with them all over the world during their conquests.
We can see this in the legacy of fencing in the Americas and elsewhere around
the world.
Rapiers
started as military swords that slashed and thrust into opponents, but they
were used by non-military citizens for duels and self-defense. The tip of the
blade, as opposed to the edge of the blade, was the primary mode of attack. These
swords were lightweight and airy, very much recognizable as the weapons we know
today. French schools of fencing offered complexity that is still seen in our
fencing. The le fleuret, as it was known and is still called in
French, was used in the same way as the foil is now.
People
were afraid of being arrested or of committing a murder that would get them
executed as laws and culture changed in Europe. Though dueling as a form of
settling disputes dropped off, fencing gained in popularity. The epee de
terrain developed as a version of the le fleuret that had no
edge at all, so duelers poked each other with less damage.
Hamlet took swings with his foil.
He pierced a red apple with the sharpened end and took a bite of the fruit.
“Tasty, crunchy, and ….without any
poison.” Hamlet smiled, and the guests there all laughed. “Laertes, you shall
try it this way. It’s got the length and sharpness to do a clean thrust.”
“No, thanks.” Laertes looked at the
foil that was given to him. He saw the stain at the sharpened end. It was his
gift to the duel; a deadly potion to complete the vengeance.
“I’ll be your foil, Laertes; in
mine ignorance, your skill shall, like a star i’ th’ darkest night, stick fiery
off indeed,” Hamlet said to Laertes.
“You mock me, sir.” Laertes smiled.
“No, by this hand.” Hamlet returned
the smile. It was then Claudius called for the duel to begin.
“Given them the foils, now the
space to duel please, young Osric.” Claudius roared out in excitement. He then
turned to Hamlet. “You know the wager?”
“Very well, my lord. Your Grace has
laid the odds o’ th’ weaker side.” Hamlet commented.
“I do not fear it; I have seen you
both. But, since he is better, we have therefore odds.” Claudius smiled.
“For better or for worse, the duel
shall decide.” Hamlet smiled.
“This
is too long a delay. Shall we duel?” Laertes took his position. He took the
required stance with the front foot straight forward, with the back foot at an angle.
Both his legs bent at the knees, to enable the
fencer to readily move speedily to make an attack or defend. The sword arm
should be bent at also at an angle in front of the fencer, and the other arm
should be kept behind the fencer.
When moving forward in fencing, the front foot
should move first, and then be followed by the back foot. When moving backward,
the back foot should move first and then be followed by the front foot.
It was like dancing moves, with precision upon
training.
“Speech! Speech!” The guest called
out. Claudius decided to set the mood for the duel for his guests.
“Set
me the stoups of wine upon that table.— If Hamlet gives the first or second hit
or quits in answer to the third exchange. Let all the battlements their
ordnance fire. The King shall drink to Hamlet’s better breath, and in the
cup, a union shall he throw, richer than that which any successive kings to
Norway crowns to be worn.”
“Give me the cups,” Claudius called
out. “And let the kettle to the trumpet speak, the trumpet to the cannoneer
without, the cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth,”
“Come, begin. And you, the judges,
bear a wary eye. These are my sons.”
Trumpets the while.
“Come on, sir,” Hamlet called on
Laertes.
“Come,
my lord.” Laertes moved in with a low inside; an attack to the top of the
opponent made closer to the waist. Hamlet stepped back and deflected the
strike. He reciprocated with a high inside; the inside of the blade, in the
middle of the chest to the shoulder.
“Ah..
A fine move, but I was ready for it.” Laertes had retreated with the fine steps
to the rear. His words were soon drowned by the cheers of the guests when
Hamlet took first cut on the left forearm. It struck on the sleeves and not the
flesh.
“One,”
Hamlet called out.
“No.”
Laertes protested.
“Judgment?”
Hamlet called to the judge, Lampard.
“A
hit, ze was a very palpable hit.” Lampard made his call.
“Well,
again shall we?” Laertes accepted the call.
“Stay,
give me a drink.—” Claudius halted the duel and held up a glass of wine. “Hamlet,
this pearl is thine. Here’s to thy health.”
Claudius
drank the wine and soon after dropped the pearl in the cup.
“Drum,
trumpets, and shot,” Claudius called out. “Give him the cup.”
“I’ll
play this bout first. Set it by awhile the wine.” Hamlet called on Laertes to
duel. “
They
duel, move by moves, strike, and deflected the other. play.
“Alas,
I am hit.” Hamlet cursed out. “A flesh wound but a hit it was. A hit. What say
you?”
“A
touch, a touch. I do confess ’t.”
Laertes replied. “Does it burn?”
“A
little, but that scratch will not stop me.” Hamlet smiled.
Act Five
Act
Five Scene Two
Sub
Scene Four
The
hour struck then.
Osric
was constant with his visits. He appeared at the next hour with a new message.
“My
lord, his Majesty commended for you attend him in the hall. He sends to know if
your
pleasure hold to play with Laertes, or that you will take longer time.” Osric
met Horatio at the doorway.
“He
is …” Horation was to say that lord was resting but was interrupted by Hamlet.
“I
am constant to my purposes. They follow the Emperor’s pleasure. If his fitness
speaks, mine is ready now or whensoever, provided I be so able as now.”
“The
Emperor and Madam will be coming down,” Osric added on. “The madame desires you
to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes before you fall to play.”
“She
well instructs me.” Hamlet smiled while Osric took to exit. After the earshot
of Osric, Horatio cautioned Hamlet.
“You
will lose, my lord.”
“May
not will. I do not think so. Since he went to France, I have been in continual
practice. I shall win at the odds, but thou wouldst not think how ill
all’s here about my heart. But it is no matter. He could have a pound of my
flesh but not my blood.”
“Shylock;
Merchant of Venice.” Hamlet reminded Horatio.
“I
know. Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.” Horatio looked at Hamlet. “Let
me be your champion.”
“Nay,
I am good.” Hamlet smiled.
“Nay,
good my lord— it’s your..” Horatio cut in.
“It
is but foolery, but it is such a kind of gaingiving as would perhaps trouble a
woman.” Hamlet sighed. “Mother will be as juts, but fear not, I am prepared.”
“If
your mind dislikes anything, obey it. I will forestall their repair hither and
say you are not fit.” Horatio looked to reason with the lord.
“Not
a whit. We defy augury. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.
If it is now, ’tis not to come; if it is not to come, it will be now; if
it is not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all. Since no man of aught he
leaves knows, what is ’t to leave betimes? Let be.” Hamlet's assessment of the
situation of it’s to happen, it will.
“We
will leave now,” Hamlet said.
At
the castle, the hall was re-arranged with the seatings on the two sides, and
the middle section was vacated for the coming duel. A long banquet table was
placed before Claudius and Madame’s seats.
“As
a buffer there in case the duelists fought too hard and reached this end, the
table may stand as a barrier.” Osric had prepared the table.
“Good
thoughts, Osric. We have been clueless since the King died, and then the
Chamberlain, and ....his daughter... are we cursed here now?” The man-servant
who helped Osric lamented on the ill events there.
“Nay
those thoughts. It’s … only a transition. This duel might end it all.” Osric
assured the other. He was then distracted by the arrival of Hamlet and Horatio.
“Stack
the table with the food and drinks. The Emperor will bring his wine to serve
here today. Make haste now.” Osric instructed the servant.
Claudius
and Gertrude made their appearances with the guests, including the Frenchman,
Lampard. The Frenchman carried the foils in and laid them on the table for all
to see.
“These
are tournament standards>” Lampard announced to all.
“Come,
Hamlet, come and take this hand from me.” Claudius offered his hands to Hamlet.
He puts Laertes’ hand into Hamlet’s.
“Be
fair and gentlemen about it.” Claudius smiled. “We are still friends here.”
“Give
me your pardon, sir. I have done you wrong,” Hamlet conveyed his apologies to
Laertes. “But pardon ’t as you are a gentleman. This presence knows, and you
must needs have heard, how I am punished with a sore distraction.”
“What
I have done that might your nature, honor, and exception roughly awake, I
here proclaim was madness.” Hamlet admitted.
“Madness
riled me then. Was ’t Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never will Hamlet. If Hamlet from
himself be ta’en away, And when he’s not himself, does wrong Laertes, then
Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it.” Hamlet claims that he was not the one,
or himself then. “Who does it, then? His madness. If ’t be so, Hamlet is of the
faction that is wronged; His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.”
“Sir, in this audience let my
disclaiming from a purposed evil, free me so far in your most generous
thoughts that I have shot my arrow o’er the house and hurt my brother. As it
was, your father then. It was all a mistake I regretted. He was not seen for he
stood behind the curtain, hidden by sight.”
“I am satisfied in nature, whose
motive, in this case, should stir me most to my revenge; but in my terms
of honor I stand aloof and will no reconcilement.” Laertes held his vengeance.
“I may be if till by some elder
masters of known honor, I may hold a voice and precedent of peace to keep my
name ungored. But till that time I do receive your offered love like love,
and will not wrong it.” Laertes added his words. He offered solace then.
“I embrace it freely and will this
brothers’ wager frankly play.— Give us the foils. Come on.” Hamlet asked for
the foil. Horatio picked them up and saw the sharpened end. He was reluctant to
hand it over but Hamlet was insistent.
“Come, one for me,” Laertes called
out, and it was Claudius who handed him the foil.
“It suits you this one,” Claudius
said.
Act Five
Act
Five Scene Two
Sub
Scene Three
England’s
hospitality
Rosencrantz
was awed by the sight of the London Tower by the river Thames. He had handed
the letters to the England Terriers, as requested by the Emperor. Guildenstern
then recounts the incident where Hamlet was in an accident, and the others shot
him.
“He’s
dead? Did you toffs checked the body?” The leader of the England Terriers named
Frank Asked his two men. They nodded at his question.
“Without
a doubt there?” Frank asked his men. He knew them to be loyal but efficiency
was never in their works.
“I
saw the blood.” That was Gordon who drove. “Avery fired the shots to make sure.
He’s dead.”
“So
you did when I told you to take down Larry. He came back to see me at the pub
but I had him done properly then. Messy tasks, men? I don’t like to take
seconds, and above all, how could we even win the Premier if we are so shoddy
in the works.”
“Sorry,
Frank. We will go back and get it checked.” Gordon looked at Frank.
“Do
it now. But wait let me read the letters here.” Frank held them back. He took
to read the letters and then looked at Gordon. “The King’s insignia? I am
impressed. Claudius climbed the rank there.”
“You
better go there now. Check and retrieve the body.” Frank told Gorden. He then
turned to his guests.
“I
will arrange accommodations for you, and then a tour of London sights.”
It
was the next hour that they took the drive with two others. They went by the
river and even a colorful drive through the gaslit streets. They soon stopped
at the warehouse by the docks.
“The
next sight inside.” Rosencrantz was told. The duo took them in and was greeted
by half a dozen who were certainly dock workers. The place was not a huge
warehouse but it held oddities.
“This
is a store for the antiquities of the past, especially England’s seafaring
days.” The driver that took them there pointed to the boxes there and there was
also a huge hanging structure.
“That’s
the hanging gallows of the Bow Street Runners. They will hang you for any foul
deeds claimed.” The men all roared into laughter. “My paddy’s paddy brother was
hung there. I was told he stole bread.”
“Roddy,
you meant the whole bakery and the baker’s maid.” Another gathered called out.
“Well,
gentlemen. We have guests here. As we normally do, we entertain the=m. Shall
we?” Roddy looked at the others. “We are going to show them how we do things
here.”
Just
before Rosencranzt could understand the message, he was held against his will
and hog-tied then; the dock workers are as good as the sailor in the rope
knots. The two guests have then carried up the platform of the gallows.
“You
must be mistaken. We are not the ones to be hung.” Guildenstern cried out.
“My
paddy’s paddy always said the guilty cry innocent before they are done then.”
Roddy smiled. “They may escape the gallows if they hold a ‘silver piece of
eight’? Do you?”
“Silver?
I have and also gold. Please release us.” Rosencrantz pleaded. “We can pay the
eight pieces of silver.”
“Silver
piece of eight is Spanish dollar. I doubt you have that on you.” Roddy then
pulled the Spanish coin from his necklace. “We all have one around our neck.”
“I
will get one. How much?” Guildenstern asked.
“It’s
not a sale. It’s a token of the brotherhood here.” Roddy had the two guests
over the closed trap door. The noose was placed over their neck.
“If
I were you, a prayer may be said but hold your tongue on any profanities. We
have families.” Roddy told them. “You may start now.”
“Prayer?
I have …I …” Rosencrantz wanted to say his final lines.
“Oh,
shut up! Get it over.” Guildenstern was more direct.
“As
you wish, guvnor.” Roddy pulled the trap door switch and the rest recited
poetry lines.
From the moment
that Anne was brought into this world, she was embroiled in a scandal
Her father was married and her mother was his maid but their passion was too
much to handle
“That’s
all boys. They are gone. Bloody necks are too fragile to the noose.” Roddy cut
off the singing. “I say we deserve the drink now.”
Act Five
Act
Five Scene Two
Sub
Scene Two
The
wager
The
figure stepped into the humble abode of Horatio. He looked like a distinguished
gentleman in the dark suit, except he held a tray in his right hand. That made
him an apprentice of the butler staff. It’s the norm of the castle household to
assign the staff following their rank of certain peripherals.
“Your
Lordship is right welcome back to Denmark. My name is Osric of Elsinore
Castle.” The apprentice stood there with his hat still on. He glanced at the
surroundings and frowned at the untidy condition.
“I
humbly thank you, sir.” Hamlet smiled. He then looked to Horatio. “Dost know
this water fly?”
“No,
my good lord. I have not been to the pond of late.” Horatio smiled. He knew
they were making of the new arrival.
“Thy
state is the more gracious, for ’tis a vice to know him. He hath much to learn
of the land, and fertile.” Hamlet mocked the young apprentice. “Be him a beast or
be lord of beasts and his crib shall stand at the king’s mess, chomping there
with the Emperor as equal.”
“Sweet
lord, if your Lordship were at leisure, I should impart a thing to you from his
Majesty. Never!” Osric denied such ambition. “I am content to be the servant.”
“
I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of spirit. Put your bonnet to his
right use: ’tis for the head.” Hamlet told the other to remove his hat.
“I
thank your Lordship; it is very hot.” Osric smiled and removed his hat.
“No,
believe me, ’tis very cold; the wind is northerly.” Hamlet jest with the other.
“If
you say so, my lord. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed.” Osric is
uncertain about what to make of the weather.
“But
yet methinks it is very sultry and hot for my complexion” Hamlet sighed.
“Exceedingly,
my lord; it is very sultry, as ’twere—I cannot tell how.” Osric felt the fault
was at the abode. “My lord, his Majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid
a great wager on your head. Sir, this is the matter—"
“I
beseech you, remember. It's cold.” Hamlet motions to Osric put on his hat.
“Nay,
good my lord, for my ease, in good faith.” Osric wanted to get the message out.
“Sir,
here is newly come to court Laertes—believe me, an absolute gentleman, full of the
most excellent differences, of very soft society and great showing.” Osric
paused, as he felt he was out of line. “May I speak, my lord?”
Without
waiting for the reply, Osric continued.
“Indeed,
to speak feelingly of him, he is the card or calendar of the gentry, for you
shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see.” Osric
smiled.
“And
I do.” Hamlet nodded. “Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you,
though I know to divide him inventorially would dozy th’ arithmetic of memory,
and yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the the verity
of extolment,”
“Huh?”
Osric felt lost there.
“I
take him to be a soul of great article, and his infusion of such dearth and rareness as
to make true diction of him, his semblable is his mirror, and who else would
trace him, his umbrage, nothing more.” Hamlet turns to continue.
“Your
Lordship speaks most infallibly of him.” Osric laid praise on Hamlet although
he undertstand nothing then.
“The
concernancy, sir? Why do we wrap the gentleman in our rawer breath?”
Hamlet asked.
“Sir?”
Osric was uneasy then.
“Perhaps,
it’s not possible to understand in another tongue? You will to ’t, sir?”
Horatio came to the rescue.
“What
imports the nomination of this gentleman?” Hamlet asked Osric.
“Of
Laertes?” Osric remained baffled.
“His
purse is empty already; all ’s golden words are spent.”
“Of
him, sir.’ Hamlet referred to Laertes. “He may be short of ducats.”
“I
know you are not ignorant—” Osric spoke out of turn.
“ I
would you did, sir. Yet, in faith, if you did, it would not much approve me.
Well, sir?”
“You
are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is—” Osric remained praising
Laertes.
“I
dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in excellence. But to
know a man well
were to know himself.” Hamlet sighed.
“I
mean, sir, for his weapon.” Osric felt the topic had gone off tangent. “But in
the imputation
laid on him by them, in his meed, he’s unfellowed.”
“What’s
of his weapon?” Hamlet was curious.
“Foils
and dagger.”
“That’s
two of his weapons. But, well—” Hamlet looked at Horatio. He was trained in
both but his excellence remains to be tested.
“The
Majesty, the sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses, against the
which he has impawned, as I
take it, six French foils and poniards, with their assigns, as girdles,
hangers, and so. Three of the carriages, in faith, are very dear to fancy, very
responsive to the hilts, most delicate carriages, and of very liberal
conceit.”
“His
Emperor’ or as if of Norway?” Hamlet felt that Claudius may be overextending his
possession to that of the old King.
“I…Norway,
I think.” Osric caught off the footing again.
“What
call you the “carriages”?”
“The
carriages, sir, are the hangers, my lord.”
“And
horses fly…indeed.” Hamlet smiled.
“Six
Barbary horses against six French swords, their assigns, and three
liberal-conceited carriages—” Hamlet did the mental calculations. “ That’s the
French bet against Norway. Why is this all “impawned,” as you call it?”
“The
Emperor, sir, that Laertes hath laid, sir, that in a dozen passes between
yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits. He hath laid on twelve
for nine, and it would come to immediate trial if your Lordship would
vouchsafe the answer.”
“How
if I answer no?” Hamlet skewed the question to Osric.
“I
mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial.” Osric was sweating
beneath his collar then. “You are the trial, my Lord.”
“Sir,
I will walk here in the hall.” Hamlet saw Horatio's pained expression. He
smiled. “I will be fine.”
“If
it please his …Emperor, generous is the offerings. It will be the breathing
time of day with me. Let
the foils are brought, the gentleman willing, and the King holds his purpose, I
will win for him, and I can.
If not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits.”
“Shall
I deliver you e’en so?” Osric smiled. “Can I leave now please?”
“To
this effect, sir, after what flourishes your nature will.” Hamlet nodded.
“I
commend my duty to your Lordship.” Osric exits.
“He
does well to commend it himself. There are no tongues else for ’s turn.” Hamlet
smiled at the departing servant. “Give him time, he may replace the
Chamberlain.”
“Oh,
did I tell you that Ophelia is now mine? We took our commitments just before I
left for England.” Hamlet smiled. “Finally, I dared to say yes. I need to sleep
now.”
Act Five
Act
Five Scene Two
Sub
Scene One
Confessional
times.
Horatio had Hamlet back to his
abode and shared a drink with the young lord. Hamlet was silent while Horatio
remained muted not to stir up the madness.
“Was I unwell just now, Horatio?”
Hamlet asked. “I felt as I was.”
“No, my lord. None whatsoever. You were
upset at Laertes who attacked you, as anyone would, retaliate in kind.” Horatio
said.
“So much for this, sir. Now shall
you see the other. You do remember all the circumstance?”
“Remember it, my lord!” Horatio
nodded.
“Sir, in my heart …no, it was in my
head, there was a kind of fighting that would not let me sleep.” Hamlet
confesses.
“Did you take your medication
prescribed?” Horatio asked. Hamlet has a list of medications to take since
young. During his care, he had to administer the medication daily as
prescribed.
“Yes, I do.” Hamlet lied. He was
off them for a while. “I thought I lay worse than the mutines in the bilboes.
Rashly— And praised be rashness for it: let us know, our indiscretion sometime
serves us well when our deep plots do pall; and that should learn us there’s
a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will—”
“That is most certain.” Horatio
smiled. “God smile on the good.”
“Here take this now, my lord. It
will calm you.” Horatio handed over the powdered medication to Hamlet.
“I …”
“None took, my lord. Drink up.”
Horatio told Hamlet who took the drink voluntarily. The medicine took its
effect and Hamlet was talking again, not ranting.
“Up from my cabin, at sea
across the channel, I scarfed about me, in the dark, groped I to find out them;
had my desire, fingered their packet,” Hamlet was interrupted by Horatio.
“Of whom were they?”
“My traveling associates;
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.” Hamlet gave the names. “ And in fine withdrew to
mine own room again, making so bold to unfold their grand commission.”
“How did you know of the
commission?” Horatio asked.
“It was Rosencrantz who told me. He
was cranky that evening after he saw Guidenstern talking to another sailor. I
played him along, and he spewed more than his bodily fluid.”
“What did you read?” Horatio asked.
“A royal knavery—an exact command,
larded with many several sorts of reasons Importing Denmark’s health and
England’s too; such group of bugs and goblins in my life, that on the
supervise, no leisure bated, no, not to stay the grinding of the ax, my head
should be struck off.
“Is ’t possible? They want to
behead you?” Horatio looked at Hamlet. “Are you surely sure of that?”
“Here’s the commission. Read it at
more leisure.” Hamlet pulled the paper from his tunic pocket. ‘But wilt thou
hear now how I did proceed?”
“I beseech you.” Horatio encouraged
the explanation.
“Being thus be netted round with
villainies, Or I could make a prologue to my brain that they had begun the
play. I sat down, devised a new commission, wrote it fair— I once did hold
it, as our statists do, a baseness to write fair, and labored much. How to
forget that learning; but, sir, now it did me yeoman’s service. Wilt thou
know th’ effect of what I wrote?”
“Ay, good my lord.” Horatio waited
for the news.
“An earnest conjuration from the Emperor,
as England was his faithful tributary, as love between them like the palm might
flourish, as close as the fish and chips in one serving.” Hamlet went into
his tributes. “As peace should still her wheaten garland wear and stand a comma
’tween their amities, and many suchlike cases of great charge, that, on the
view and knowledge of these contents, without debatement further, more or
less, he should those bearers put to sudden death, without delay.”
“Will they believe you? You hold no
seal of your own?” A seal was then like an attestation to the validity of the
sender of the mail.
“I have. I have King Hamlet’s seal.
I took out from the castle when I left last. I had it sealed over the wax on
the new letter. It was returned to the other pocket.” Hamlet smiled.
“So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz taken
your place?” Horatio asked. “But why them?”
“Why, man, they did make love to
this employment. They are not near my conscience. Their defeat does by
their insinuation growth. They deserve their fate.”
“My challenge with the Emperor is dangerous
when the baser nature comes between the pass and fell incensèd points of mighty
opposites.” Hamlet thinks of himself as the equal foe. “I may be with less of
resources, but I can draw from Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae. But my
conclusion will not be my death but his.”
“Why, what a king is that? My
academics are of the entrants since then.”
“Does it not, think thee, stand me
now upon— I am talking of the Emperor here against me. He that hath killed my
king and whored my mother, popped in between th’ election and my hopes, thrown
out his angle for my proper life, and with such cozenage—is ’t not
perfect conscience to quit him with this arm? And is ’t not to be damned to
let this canker of our nature come in further evil?”
“It must be shortly known to him
from England what is the issue of the business there?” Horatio cautioned
Hamlet. “They do communicate from there.”
“It will be short. The interim’s
mine, and a man’s life’s no more than to say “one.” Hamlet thought of the two
friends in England.
“But I am very sorry, good Horatio.
That to Laertes I forgot myself, for by the image of my cause I see the
portraiture of his. I’ll court his favors. but, sure, the bravery of his grief
did put me into a tow’ring passion.”
Horatio smiled. The medication was
working once more. He heard then the approaching steps.
“Peace, who comes here?” Horatio
called out.
