COMEDIAN. My beloved one, I had to take in consideration both the quality of the whiskey and the size of my pocket.
"Old Woman." If only there's enough of it to go round.
INGENUE. Oh, I'm feeling sad again.
COMEDIAN. Cheer up, there will be enough for us all. Cheer up. Here, smell it again.
[They smell again and cheerfulness reappears. They join hands and dance and sing, forming a circle, the Comedian applauding.
COMEDIAN. Good! If you are so cheered after a mere smell of it, what won't you feel like after a drink. Wait, I'll join you. [He hides the whiskey flask in his pocket.] I'll show you a new roundel which we will perform in our next presentation of Hamlet, to the great edification of our esteemed audience. [Kicking the Villain's bundles out of the way.] The place is clear, now for dance and play. Join hands and form a circle, but you, Villain, stay on the outside of it. You are to try to get in and we dance and are not to let you in, without getting out of step. Understand? Now then!
[The circle is formed in the following order—Comedian, Heroine, Tragedian, "Old Woman," "Old Man," Ingenue.
Comedian. [Singing.]
| To be or not to be, that is the question. |
| That is the question, that is the question. |
| He who would enter in, |
| Climb he must over us, |
| If over he cannot, |
| He must get under us. |
| REFRAIN |
| Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, |
| Over us, under us. |
| Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, |
| Under us, over us. |
| Now we are jolly, jolly are we. |