Hamlet had always liked to talk. Horatio didn't remember much
about being small—his memory didn't work like Hamlet's, who had
been able to tell you in detail about the frustration he'd felt
as a toddler about not being able to express himself. To
Horatio, childhood and, indeed, early adulthood was a blur of
vague, intangible sense memories with the occasional sharp image
scattered here and there. Most of those images were of Hamlet
talking. Hamlet talking about his mother, his father, about how
he would become king one day and conquer the world. Hamlet
imitating Yorick's jesting monologues, arms flailing, making up
with volume for lack of amusing content. Later, at Wittenberg,
Hamlet arguing with the teachers. Hamlet talking to Horatio
about school, about Denmark, about women. Maybe Horatio didn't
remember much about being young, but he did remember that Hamlet
had always liked to talk. It ran in the family. Horatio's father
had been a high-ranking soldier in King Hamlet's army, a good
friend of the monarch w