Act 4
Scene 1
A Room in the Castle.
[Enter King and Queen.]
queen. My dear, you won't believe what I've seen tonight.
king. What, Gertrude? How's Hamlet?
queen. As mad as the sea and wind in a storm. He heard somebody behind the curtain and, without looking, killed the good old man with his sword.
king. Oh no! Poor Polonius! Hamlet can't be free anymore. We've loved this mad, young man too much and look what has happened. He's a danger for all of us. How am I going to explain this murder to the people of Denmark without them going against me? Where's he gone?
queen. To take the body away.
king. Oh Gertrude! We'll send him away tomorrow morning. Guildenstern!
[Enter Guildenstern and Rosencrantz.]
king. My friends, I've got bad news; Hamlet has killed Polonius. He's now trying to throw away the body. Go and find him. Be nice to him and bring the body back to the small church in the castle.
[Exit Guildenstern and Rosencrantz.]
king. Come, Gertrude, we'll go and ask our friends for some advice. We must tell the world of this murder and keep Denmark safe.
[Exit all.]
Scene 2
Another Room in the Castle. [Enter Hamlet.]
hamlet. I've put the body in a safe place where nobody can find it. Oh! Here's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
[Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.]
rosencrantz. Dear Hamlet, what have you done with the body?
hamlet. It's gone.
rosencrantz. Please tell us and we'll take it to the church.
hamlet. Do you really think I'll tell you? You're full of the King's words and do all he says. He's using you. He'll forget you soon.
rosencrantz. I don't understand you. Please, tell us where the body is and come with us to the King.
hamlet. The body is with the King, but the King isn't with the body. The King is nothing. Bring me to him.
[Exit all.]
Scene 3
Another Room in the Castle. [Enter King with two men.]
king. I've told them to bring Hamlet here and to find the body. Then, we'll send him to England. The problem is, the people of Denmark love him, so they mustn't see us too happy to see him go.
[Enter Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Hamlet.]
king. Where's the dead body?
rosencrantz. He won't tell us.
king. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
hamlet. At supper.
king. At supper! Where?
hamlet. Not where he eats, but where he's eaten by worms.
king. Oh no! Where's Polonius?
hamlet. Why don't you send a message to Heaven. Maybe he's there or maybe not. Find him this month; if not, you'll smell him from under the stairs in the hall.
king. My good men, go and look for the body there.
hamlet. You don't need to hurry; he'll wait for you.
[Exit two men.]
king. Hamlet, I'm afraid we must send you to England where you'll be safe. The ship is waiting for you.
hamlet. England? Good! Goodbye, dear mother.
king. And me, your father, Hamlet?
hamlet. It's the same. Come! Let's go to England!
[Exit Hamlet.]
king. Take him to the ship without delay. He must leave tonight.
[Exit Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.]
king. Rosencrantz has a letter for the King of England asking his country to kill Hamlet for Polonius' murder. We can't do it here in Denmark. Then I'll be happy again.
[Exit all.]
Scene 4
The countryside of Denmark. [Enter Fortinbras with one of his men.]
fortinbras. Go to the King of Denmark and ask him if we can pass through his country to get to Poland. I'll stay with the others.
man. I'll go now.
[Exit all.]
[Enter Hamlet and Fortinbras's man.]
hamlet. Who does this army belong to?
man. It belongs to Norway, to young Fortinbras, whose uncle is King of Norway. We're going to make war with Poland. We want to win a part of their country.
hamlet. It must be an important part, if you have such a big army.
man. Not really, but Poland has an army of two thousand men. Many will die, but that's the way with war. Now, I must go.
[Exit man.]
hamlet. Look at these men. They go to war for so little; they die for so little. And I? Have I done anything yet about my father's murder? No! And I've got so much more to win; a crown, a country. I only eat and sleep but do nothing useful. All these men are going to die for a small piece of Poland. I must think like them from now on. Ah! Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are waiting for me.
[Exit Hamlet.]
Scene 5
Elsinore. A Room in the Castle. [Enter Queen and Horatio.]
horatio. My Queen, please speak to Ophelia. She's very upset.
queen. I don't want to see her, but if I have to... Ophelia!
[Enter Ophelia.]
ophelia. Where's the beautiful Queen of Denmark?
queen. Here I am, Ophelia. How are you?
[Ophelia starts to sing a song whose words nobody can understand.]
queen. Ophelia! What's the matter?
[Enter King.]
queen. Oh my King! Look at her!
king. Dear Ophelia, how are you?
ophelia. Well. They say the rabbit was the daughter of a clown.
king. She's mad for her dead father.
ophelia. I hope all will be well. We must wait. But I can only choose to cry, when I think of him, cold and alone. Thank you all. My brother must know. Good night.
[Exit Ophelia.]
king. Follow her, Horatio. Look after her.
[Exit Horatio.]
king. Poor Ophelia! First, Hamlet becomes mad, then her father is killed. It's all too much for her. The people of Denmark are also upset by all these things. Laertes, her brother, has come back from France and he's very angry. But what's that noise from outside?
[Enter Laertes with a crowd. They've broken the door.]
laertes. Where's the King? Good people of Denmark, leave me to speak.
[Exit crowd.]
laertes. Where's my father?
king. Dead.
queen. But not by the hands of your King.
laertes. How did he die? I'll kill the man who murdered my father.
king. Believe me, Laertes, I had nothing to do with the murder of your dear father and as you can see I'm very sad for it.
[Noise outside. Enter Ophelia with flowers. She's singing.]
laertes. Oh! Sweet sister, what has happened to you? You've become mad! I'll kill the person who has done this to you.
ophelia. Take some of my flowers. I had some nice purple ones but they all died when my father died. They say he made a good end.
[Exit Ophelia.]
laertes. Did you see her? Oh, my poor sister!
king. I too am sad for her, and I'll help you in any way I can.
laertes. Then, tell me everything about my father.
king. Come with me and you'll hear it all.
[Exit all.]
Scene 6
A Room in the Castle. [Enter Horatio and sailors.]
horatio. What can I do for you, good men?
sailor. Here's a letter for you from your friend, Hamlet.
[In the letter, Hamlet says he's back in Denmark, after some pirates took him from the ship which was going to England. The others got away. The pirates were good to him and Horatio has to be kind to them. They've got letters for the King and they'll take Horatio to Hamlet.]
horatio. Come, I'll take you to the King, then we'll go to Hamlet.
[Exit all.]
Scene 7
Another Room in the Castle. [Enter King and Laertes.]
king. Now I've told you all about Hamlet, you can understand that I'm your friend.
laertes. Yes, but why hasn't Hamlet paid for what he did?
king. For two special reasons, the Queen loves her son very much, and the people of Denmark love Hamlet too. I didn't want to upset them.
laertes. So, I've lost my father; my sister has become mad, but you haven't done anything about it, is that right? But I will.
[Enter man with letters.]
king. What news do you bring?
man. Letters from Hamlet. One for you, and one for the Queen.
king. From Hamlet! Who brought them?a
man. Some sailors, but I didn't speak to them.
[The man leaves the letters with the King. Exit man.]
king. Listen Laertes. Hamlet says he's back in Denmark and will come to see me tomorrow, when he'll explain what happened to him. What does this mean?
laertes. I don't know, but I'm glad, because I can kill him for all he's done.
king. I'll help you, Laertes, but his mother and the people must believe that Hamlet's death is an accident. There'll be a sword competition between you and Hamlet, one against the other. Hamlet will want to show he's better than you with a sword, so he'll agree to it. In a friendly competition, the swords usually can't cut, but your sword will be very sharp so you can kill Hamlet.
laertes. I'll do it; and to make sure he dies, I'll put poison on the end of my sword.
king. We must also have another plan if, for some reason, Hamlet wins the competition. I'll prepare a glass of wine with poison in it and I'll offer it to Hamlet at the end of the competition.
laertes. Good idea! But, what's that noise?
[Enter Queen.]
king. What's the matter, sweet Queen?
queen. Another terrible thing has happened. Laertes, your sister, Ophelia, is dead. They found her in the river. There's a tree near the river; they think she fell into the water as she was trying to put some of her flowers on the tree.
laertes. Oh! My poor, sweet sister! I must go to her.
[Exit Laertes.]
king. Let's follow him, Gertrude. It's dangerous to leave him on his own.
[Exit all.]
