GERTRUDE     Did he receive you well?

ROSENCRANTZ          Most like a gentleman.

GUILDENSTERN        But with much forcing of his disposition.

ROSENCRANTZ          Niggard of question, but of our demands

Most free in his reply.

GERTRUDE     Did you assay him to any pastime?

ROSENCRANTZ          Madam, it so fell out that certain players

We o’erraught on the way. Of these we told him

And there did seem in him a kind of joy

To hear of it. They are here about the Court

And, as I think, they have already order

This night to play before him.          (3.1.10-21)

Did he receive you well? Gertrude’s so anxious here, more about Hamlet’s well-being than anything else. How was he, was he pleased to see you? Most like a gentleman, reassures Rosencrantz, which isn’t exactly what she was asking—and in any case, Hamlet wasn’t especially polite, or welcoming, at least not all the time. And Guildenstern’s more upfront, less non-committal (and less canny): but with much forcing of his disposition. He was making an effort—but he wasn’t going to give anything away, he put us on the spot alright. Yes, concedes Rosencrantz, he was niggard of question, but of our demands most free in his reply. This doesn’t really make sense: Hamlet ran rings around them, made them tell him stuff without revealing very much at all. Is this Rosencrantz deliberately hedging, or just something odd with the text? In any case, Gertrude doesn’t seem to notice (Claudius and Polonius might, could exchange a glance); she has a new tack to try. Did you assay him to any pastime? Could you get him DOING something, distract him? Suggest that he take up a hobby, perhaps, some gentle exercise? (Gertrude’s potentially heart-breaking here, as the desperately worried parent of a young person who seems to be both seriously unwell and also unreachable.) And Rosencrantz falls on this with some relief; here, at last, he can say something positive. Madam, it so fell out that certain players we o’erraught on the way. We passed a touring acting company on the road! Of these we told him and there did seem in him a kind of joy to hear of it. THAT cheered him up properly! They are here about the Court and, as I think, they have already order this night to play before him. The actors are here and he’s already asked them to put on a show tonight! Guildenstern can exhale; they might get away with their bungling and ineffectual incompetence, at least in the eyes of Hamlet’s mother.