us not: let the galled jade wince, our withers are
unwrung. 257
Enter [Player as] Lucianus.
This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king.
Oph. You are a good chorus, my lord.
Ham. I could interpret between you and
your love, if I could see the puppets dallying. 261
Oph. You are keen, my lord, you are keen.
Ham. It would cost you a groaning to take
off my edge. 264
Oph. Still better, and worse.
Ham. So you must take your husbands.
Begin, murderer; pox, leave thy damnable
faces, and begin. Come; the croaking raven
doth bellow for revenge. 269
Luc. Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and time agreeing;
Confederate season, else no creature seeing;
Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected,
With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected,
Thy natural magic and dire property, 274
On wholesome life usurp immediately.
(Pours the poison in his ears.)
Ham. He poisons him i' the garden for 's
estate. His name's Gonzago; the story is extant,
and writ in very choice Italian. You shall see
anon how the murderer gets the love of Gon-
zago's wife. 280
256 galled jade: horse sore from chafing
withers: shoulders
257 unwrung: not galled
259 chorus: in Elizabethan drama one who speaks a prologue summarising the action
260 interpret; cf. n.
267 pox: small-pox, used frequently as an imprecation
268 the croaking . . . revenge; cf. n.
271 Confederate: conspiring to assist
273 Hecate; cf. n.
