Scene Two
[A Hall in the Castle]
Enter Hamlet and two or three of the Players.
Ham. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pro-
nounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but
if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I
had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor
do not saw the air too much with your hand,
thus; but use all gently: for in the very torrent,
tempest, and—as I may say—whirlwind of
passion, you must acquire and beget a temper-
ance, that may give it smoothness. O! it offends
me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-
pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very
rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who
for the most part are capable of nothing but
inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: I would
have such a fellow whipped for o'er-doing
Termagant; it out-herods Herod: pray you,
avoid it. 17
First Play. I warrant your honour.
Ham. Be not too tame neither, but let your
own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to
the word, the word to the action; with this
special observance, that you o'erstep not the
modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is
from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at
2 trippingly: rapidly, but with neat articulation
3 mouth: speak loudly with false emphasis and indistinctness
8 beget: attain
temperance: moderation
10 robustious: boisterous
periwig-pated: wearing a wig
12 groundlings; cf. n.
13 capable of: able to receive impressions from
14 inexplicable dumb-shows; cf. n.
16 Termagant; cf. n.
out-herods Herod; cf. n.
24 from: apart from
