Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/82

Hor.^{[a 1]} [Within.] Illo,^{[b 1]} ho, ho, my lord! 115

Ham. Hillo,^{[b 2]} ho, ho, boy! come, bird,^{[a 2]} come.

Enter Horatio and Marcellus.^{[a 3]}

Mar. How is 't, my noble lord?

Hor. What news, my lord?^{[a 4]}

Ham. O, wonderful!

Hor. Good my lord, tell it.

Ham.^{[a 5]} No; you will^{[a 6]} reveal it.

Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven.

Mar. Nor I, my lord. 120

Ham. How say you, then; would heart of man once^{[b 3]} think it?^{[a 7]}
But you'll be secret?^{[a 8]}

Hor., Mar. Ay, by heaven, my lord.^{[a 9]}

Ham. There's ne'er^{[a 10]} a villain dwelling in all Denmark^{[b 4]}
But he's an arrant knave.

Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave 125

1. 115. Hor.] Q 1, F; Mar. Q.
2. 116. bird] F, and Q, boy Q 1.
3. Enter Horatio and Marcellus] Capell; placed after Hamlet's I have sworn 't in Q, after My lord, my lord! in F.
4. 117. Hor. What news, my lord?] omitted Qq 4–6.
5. 118. Ham.] Hora. Qq 4, 5.
6. 119. you will] Q, you'l F.
7. 121. it?] Q 1, F; it. Q.
8. 122. secret?] F, secret. Q.
9. 122. my lord.] Q 1, F; omitted Q.
10. 123. ne'er] F, never Q.

1. 115. Illo] Capell considered this speech "too light for Horatio," and assigned it with Q to Marcellus. The call, answered by Hamlet in falconer's fashion, is not meant as such by the speaker, whether he be Marcellus or Horatio. In The Birth of Merlin, Prince Uter's "So ho, boy, so, ho, illo ho!" is a mere halloo.
2. 116. Hillo . . . come] The cry of a falconer to his birds. Steevens quotes from Tyro's Roaring Megge, 1598: "Iie go see the kyte: Come, come bird, come."
3. 121. once] ever, as in Ant. and Cleop. V. ii. 50.
4. 123. Denmark] Seymour suggests that Hamlet at this word breaks off his intended disclosure, pauses, and gives it a jesting turn. Sir H. Irving adopts this rendering, glancing at Marcellus, as if his presence rendered the confidence unwise.