4

Horatio   

Let the king have the letters I have sent, and repair thou to 
me with as much haste as thou wouldest fly death. I have
words to speak in your ear will make thee dumb, yet they are
much too light for the bore of the matter. These good    
fellows will bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern hold their course for England. Of them I
have much to tell thee. Farewell.
[Enter Claudius alone]

Claudius

I have sent to seek him and to find the body. 
How dangerous is it that this man goes loose;
Yet, must not we put the strong law on him.
He's loved of the distracted multitude,
Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes;
And where 'tis so, th' offender's scourge is weighed,
But ne'er the offense. To bear all smooth and even, 
This sudden sending him away must seem
Deliberate pause. Diseases desperate grown
By desperate appliance are relieved
Or not at all.    

Claudius   

Now Hamlet, where's Polonius?

Hamlet

At supper.

Claudius   

At supper? Where?

Hamlet

Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain 
convocation of worms are e'en at him. Your worm
is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to    
fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and
your lean beggar is but variable service to dishes but
to one table. That's the end.

Rosencrantz

What have you done, my lord, with the dead body?

Hamlet

Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin.

Rosencrantz

Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence
And bear it to the chapel.

Hamlet   

Do not believe it.

Rosencrantz   

Believe what?

Hamlet

That I can keep your counsel and not mine own.
Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication
should be made by the son of a king?

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