No Fear Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Get this No Fear to go!

Act 1, Scene 1

Original Text

Modern Text

Enter BARNARDO and FRANCISCO, two sentinels
BARNARDO and FRANCISCO, two watchmen, enter.

BARNARDO
Who’s there?
BARNARDO
Who’s there?

FRANCISCO
Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself.
FRANCISCO
No, who are you? Stop and identify yourself.

BARNARDO
Long live the king!
BARNARDO
Long live the king!

FRANCISCO
  Barnardo?
FRANCISCO
Is that Barnardo?

BARNARDO
    He.
BARNARDO
Yes, it’s me.

FRANCISCO
You come most carefully upon your hour.
FRANCISCO
You’ve come right on time.

5
BARNARDO
'Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco.
BARNARDO
The clock’s just striking twelve. Go home to bed, Francisco.


FRANCISCO
For this relief much thanks. 'Tis bitter cold,
And I am sick at heart.
FRANCISCO
Thanks for letting me go. It’s bitterly cold out, and I’m depressed.

BARNARDO
    Have you had quiet guard?
BARNARDO
Has it been a quiet night?

FRANCISCO
Not a mouse stirring.
FRANCISCO
I haven’t even heard a mouse squeak.



10
BARNARDO
    Well, good night.
If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus,
The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.
BARNARDO
Well, good night. If you happen to see Horatio and Marcellus, who are supposed to stand guard with me tonight, tell them to hurry.

FRANCISCO
I think I hear them.—Stand, ho! Who’s there?
FRANCISCO
I think I hear them. —Stop! Who’s there?
Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS
MARCELLUS and HORATIO enter.

More Help

Watch the Video SparkNote

A quick and easy plot summary of Hamlet.

Read the Hamlet SparkNote

Summary, analysis, themes, essay topics, and more

Buy No Fear Hamlet at BN.com

Get the No Fear Shakespeare you can hold in your hand at BN.com

EVEN MORE HELP! ↓

Take a Study Break

SparkLife

Star Trek gets SEXY

Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana heat up the red carpet!

SparkLife

Are you afraid of relationships?

Auntie SparkNotes can help!

SparkLife

Wanna get JLaw's gorgeous glow?

Click here for simple, sexy makeup tricks!

SparkLife

Sexy starlet style

See every single look from the Met Gala!

SparkLife

Who'd be on your zombie-apocalypse crew?

We already dib'sed Genghis Khan.

Geek out!

The MindHut

Geeky Actresses: Then and Now

Before the fame!

The MindHut

9 Scientific Inaccuracies in Iron Man 3

Click to see what they got wrong.

The MindHut

Top 10 Predictions Sci-Fi Got WRONG

So wrong, they're WRONG.

The MindHut

The 15 Most Awesome Robots, Ever

These Robots Rock!

The MindHut

If You Like Game of Thrones...

...Then you'll LOVE these books!