The Wager

When we had arrived back at Elsinore, Hamlet told me about the letters Claudius had sent with him on his forced voyage to England. The letters were orders for Hamlet's English recipients, whose meaning were basically "chop my nephew's head off, if you please". I cannot express in words how screwed up I think that is. Anyway, Hamlet turned the tables on his captors by taking the orders for his execution and converting them into orders for the executions of his captors, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I thought that was screwed up in its own way, but Hamlet justified himself by saying that the two of them had brought it on themselves. But still, they are going to arrive in England with executioners' blades for their greeting. After I contemplated this disturbing prospect for a while, one of the king's habitual brown-nosers came and told Hamlet about the wager that he had been made an unwitting part of. We made fun of the courtier for a few minutes before the he left, at which time I told Hamlet that he was going to get his guts cut out of him by Laertes. Hamlet didn't seemed particularly concerned though, so we headed towards the throne room. The duel that the king wagered on is to take place shortly.