Hamlet
ACT IV, Sc. 3, Lines 17-32: In which lines is a metaphor established and extended? Describe the meanings of this metaphor.
King. Bring him before us.
Rosencrantz. Ho! Bring in the lord.
[Enter Hamlet with the guards]
King. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
Hamlet. At supper.
King. At supper? Where?
Hamlet. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain
convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is
your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us,
and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your
lean beggar is but variable service - two dishes, but to one
table. That's the end.
King. Alas, alas.
Hamlet. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a
king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.
King. What dost thou mean by this?