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the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere,

the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own

feature, scorn her own image, and the very age

and body of the time his form and pressure.

Now, this overdone, or come tardy off, though it

make the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the

judicious grieve; the censure of which one must

in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre of

others. O! there be players that I have seen

play, and heard others praise, and that highly,

not to speak it profanely, that, neither having

the accent of Christians nor the gait of Christian,

pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed

that I have thought some of nature's journey-

men had made men and not made them well,

they imitated humanity so abominably.

First Play. I hope we have reformed that

indifferently with us, sir.

Ham. O! reform it altogether. And let those

that play your clowns speak no more than is

set down for them; for there be of them that

will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of

barren spectators to laugh too, though in the

mean time some necessary question of the play

be then to be considered; that's villainous, and

shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that

uses it. Go, make you ready.

How now, my lord! will the king hear this piece of work?

 28 pressure: impressed character, stamp

29 come tardy off: inadequately done

31 which one: one of whom

32 allowance: acknowledgment

38 journeymen: laborers not yet masters of their trade

45 there be of them: there are some; cf. n.

47 barren: barren of wit

