Status Updates From Hamlet

I’m getting closer and closer and closer to tackling Ulysses and I’m very scared!

Saying I reached "page 284" kinda feels like cheating since this edition has several introductory essays, and I haven't read all of them (yet?), but oh well, who cares

The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath, And in the cup an union shall he throw Richer than that which four successive kings In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the cups.
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak, The trumpet to the cannoneer without, The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth,
"Now the king dunks to Hamlet." Come, begin.— And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.

I thumb my nose at superstitions. God controls everything- even something as trivial as a sparrow's death. Everything will work out as it is destined. If something is supposed to happen now, it will. If it's supposed to happen later, it won't happen now. What's important is to be prepared. Since nobody knows anything about what he leaves behind, then what does it mean to leave early? Let it be.