Hamlet: Act 4, Scene 2 Translation

A side-by-side translation of Act 4, Scene 2 of Hamlet from the original Shakespeare into modern English.

Original Text	Translated Text
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
Enter Hamlet. HAMLET Safely stowed. GENTLEMEN, within Hamlet! Lord Hamlet! HAMLET But soft, what noise? Who calls on Hamlet? O, here they come. Enter Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and others. ROSENCRANTZ What have you done, my lord, with the dead body? 5 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? 10 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? ROSENCRANTZ Take you me for a sponge, my lord?	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern catch up to Hamlet and try to convince him to give up Polonius' body, which Hamlet has hidden. Hamlet is uncooperative, and then he calls Rosencrantz a sponge. A sponge? Rosencrantz asks.
HAMLET Ay, sir, that soaks up the King’s countenance, 15 his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the King best service in the end. He keeps them like an ape an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you 20 shall be dry again.	Yep, a sponge, Hamlet says. They're soaking up Claudius' favors now, but Claudius is sure to wring them dry again as soon as he's done.
ROSENCRANTZ I understand you not, my lord. HAMLET I am glad of it. A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear. ROSENCRANTZ My lord, you must tell us where the 25 body is and go with us to the King. HAMLET The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body. The King is a thing— GUILDENSTERN A “thing,” my lord? HAMLET Of nothing. Bring me to him. Hide fox, and 30 all after! They exit.	Rosencrantz doesn't get it, which suits Hamlet just fine. They ask him again where the body is, and Hamlet answers with a riddle. he's making a reference to a law that says the king has the right to enforce the laws, but that the laws don't just go away when the king dies. Hamlet starts to explain himself, but he trails off, leading Guildenstern to interrupt. This probably exactly what Hamlet wanted, because it lets him deliver the punchline that the king is nothing—nothing at all. Not a king, not a ruler, maybe not even alive when Hamlet's through with him. Then Hamlet runs off, like a kid playing tag.