Polonius
And then, sir, does he this—he does—what was I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say something: where did I leave?
Reynaldo
At “closes in the consequence,” at “friend or so,” and “gentleman.”
Polonius
He closes thus: “I know the gentleman;
I saw him yesterday, or t’ other day,
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say,
There was a’ gaming; there o’ertook in’s rouse;
There falling out at tennis:” or perchance,
“I saw him enter such a house of sale,”
Videlicet, a brothel, or so forth.
See you now;
Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out:
So by my former lecture and advice,
Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?