Contents
-BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
Scene IV
Act I
[A hall in the same]
Enter KENT [disguised]
Kent.If but as well I other accents borrow,That can my speech defuse, my good intentMay carry through itself to that full issueFor which I raz’d my likeness. Now, banish’d Kent,If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemn’d,So may it come, thy master, whom thou lov’st,Shall find thee full of labours.Horns within. Enter LEAR, [Knights] and Attendants
Lear.Let me not stay a jot for dinner; go get it ready. [Exit an attendant.] How now! what art thou?Kent.A man, sir.Lear.What dost thou profess? What wouldst thou with us?Kent.I do profess to be no less than I seem; to serve him truly that will put me in trust; to love him that is honest; to converse with him that is wise and says little; to fear judgement; to fight when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish.Lear.What art thou?Kent.A very honest-hearted fellow, and as poor as the King.Lear.If thou be’st as poor for a subject as he’s for a king, thou art poor enough. What wouldst thou?Kent.Service.Lear.Who wouldst thou serve?Kent.You.Lear.Dost thou know me, fellow?Kent.No, sir; but you have that in your countenance which I would fain call master.Lear.What’s that?Kent.Authority.Lear.What services canst thou do?Kent.I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, mar a curious tale in telling it, and deliver a plain message bluntly. That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is diligence.Lear.How old art thou?Kent.Not so young, sir, to love a woman for singing, nor so old to dote on her for anything. I have years on my back forty-eight.Lear.Follow me; thou shalt serve me. If I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part from thee yet. Dinner, ho, dinner! Where’s my knave, my Fool? Go you, and call my Fool hither.Exit an Attendant.Enter Steward [OSWALD]
You, you, sirrah, where’s my daughter?