TEXT:
HAMLET
What man dost thou dig it for?
First Clown
For no man, sir.
HAMLET
What woman, then?
First Clown
For none, neither.
HAMLET
Who is to be buried in't?
First Clown
One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her soul, she's dead.
HAMLET
How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the
card, or equivocation will undo us. By the Lord,
Horatio, these three years I have taken a note of
it; the age is grown so picked that the toe of the
peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he
gaffs his kibe. How long hast thou been a
grave-maker?
First Clown
Of all the days i' the year, I came to't that day
that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras.
HAMLET
How long is that since?
NOTES:
Kibe
As promised in the episode! I actually fell down a rabbit hole of podiatrics and curiosities and found that a kibe is not another word for a heel at all. (My bad!) It’s actually a chilblain or a bunion: so the person whose foot complain is being physically galled by this proximity is the peasant, not the courtier. (Doubtless the courtier is metaphorically galled too…) Every picture I found was unpleasant, and so I haven’t shared any here. Rest assured, it’s ok not to know. Remarkably, chilblains have been noted as a symptom of Covid-19 - hopefully none of you dear readers will have been beset by Covid-kibes.