RALPH:  So Claudius snuck up on King Hamlet while he was having his afternoon siesta in the garden, and put some poison in his ear that caused his blood to curdle.

SARAH:  That’s right, Ralph.  And as soon as the poison took effect, a tetter, or a kind of skin disease, formed like the bark on a tree, making the King resemble the biblical character Lazarus, who had leprosy.

RALPH:  This passage seems denser than much of what the ghost says, with lots of unfamiliar terms.

SARAH:  It certainly is, Ralph — this helps give the act of poisoning a mysterious, arcane atmosphere, almost as if it were black magic in action.

RALPH:  It’s also quite visual — almost a kind of verbal flashback for the audience, so that they could see, as vividly as possible, the horrible poison taking effect.