TEXT:
Captain
Truly to speak, and with no addition,
We go to gain a little patch of ground
That hath in it no profit but the name.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it;
Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee.
HAMLET
Why, then the Polack never will defend it.
Captain
Yes, it is already garrisoned.
HAMLET
Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
Will not debate the question of this straw.
This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace,
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir.
Captain
God be wi' you, sir.
Exit
ROSENCRANTZ
Wilt please you go, my lord?
HAMLET
I'll be with you straight. Go a little before.
Exeunt all except HAMLET
NOTES:
George Hibbard edited a major edition of Hamlet for the Oxford Shakespeare in the late 1980s. His focus was very much on the Folio text of the play and anything that didn’t appear there appeared only as an appendix. For a very brief overview of who’s done what in recent editions of the play, check out this review of the Arden Shakespeare 3rd edition: click here.