Henry IV

ACT II

SCENE I. Rochester. An inn yard.

Enter a Carrier with a lantern in his hand

First Carrier

Heigh-ho! an it be not four by the day, I'll be

hanged: Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and

yet our horse not packed. What, ostler!

Ostler

[Within] Anon, anon.

First Carrier

I prithee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks

in the point, poor jade, is wrung in the withers out

of all cess.

Enter another Carrier

Second Carrier

Peas and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that

is the next way to give poor jades the bots: this

house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died.

First Carrier

Poor fellow, never joyed since the price of oats

rose, it was the death of him.

Second Carrier

I think this be the most villanous house in all

London road for fleas: I am stung like a tench.

First Carrier

Like a tench! by the mass, there is ne'er a king

christen could be better bit than I have been since

the first cock.

Second Carrier

Why, they will allow us ne'er a jordan, and then we

leak in your chimney, and your chamber-lie breeds

fleas like a loach.

First Carrier

What, ostler! come away and be hanged!

Second Carrier

I have a gammon of bacon and two razors of ginger,

to be delivered as far as Charing-cross.

First Carrier

God's body! the turkeys in my pannier are quite

starved. What, ostler! A plague on thee! hast thou

never an eye in thy head? canst not hear? An

'twere not as good deed as drink, to break the pate

on thee, I am a very villain. Come, and be hanged!

hast thou no faith in thee?

Enter GADSHILL

GADSHILL

Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock?

First Carrier

I think it be two o'clock.

GADSHILL

I pray thee lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding

in the stable.

First Carrier

Nay, by God, soft, I know a trick worth two of that, i' faith.

GADSHILL

I pray thee, lend me thine.

Second Carrier

Ay, when? can'st tell? Lend me thy lantern, quoth

he? marry, I'll see thee hanged first.

GADSHILL

Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?

Second Carrier

Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant

thee. Come, neighbour Mugs, we'll call up the

gentleman: they will along with company, for they

have great charge.

Exeunt carriers

GADSHILL

What, ho! chamberlain!

Chamberlain

[Within] At hand, quoth pick-purse.

GADSHILL

That's even as fair as--at hand, quoth the

chamberlain, for thou variest no more from picking

of purses than giving direction doth from labouring,

thou layest the plot how.

Enter Chamberlain

Chamberlain

Good morrow, Master Gadshill. It holds current that

I told you yesternight: there's a franklin in the

wild of Kent hath brought three hundred marks with

him in gold: I heard him tell it to one of his

company last night at supper, a kind of auditor, one

that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what.

They are up already, and call for eggs and butter,

they will away presently.

GADSHILL

Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas'

clerks, I'll give thee this neck.

Chamberlain

No, I'll none of it: I pray thee keep that for the

hangman, for I know thou worshippest St. Nicholas

as truly as a man of falsehood may.

GADSHILL

What talkest thou to me of the hangman? if I hang,

I'll make a fat pair of gallows, for if I hang, old

Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he is no

starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou

dreamest not of, the which for sport sake are

content to do the profession some grace, that would,

if matters should be looked into, for their own

credit sake, make all whole. I am joined with no

foot-land rakers, no long-staff sixpenny strikers,

none of these mad mustachio purple-hued malt-worms,

but with nobility and tranquillity, burgomasters and

great oneyers, such as can hold in, such as will

strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than

drink, and drink sooner than pray: and yet, zounds,

I lie, for they pray continually to their saint, the

commonwealth, or rather, not pray to her, but prey

on her, for they ride up and down on her and make

her their boots.

Chamberlain

What, the commonwealth their boots? will she hold

out water in foul way?

GADSHILL

She will, she will, justice hath liquored her. We

steal as in a castle, cocksure, we have the receipt

of fern-seed, we walk invisible.

Chamberlain

Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholding to

the night than to fern-seed for your walking invisible.

GADSHILL

Give me thy hand: thou shalt have a share in our

purchase, as I am a true man.

Chamberlain

Nay, rather let me have it, as you are a false thief.

GADSHILL

Go to, 'homo' is a common name to all men. Bid the

ostler bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewell,

you muddy knave.

Exeunt

SCENE II. The highway, near Gadshill.

Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS

POINS

Come, shelter, shelter: I have removed Falstaff's

horse, and he frets like a gummed velvet.

PRINCE HENRY

Stand close.

Enter FALSTAFF

FALSTAFF

Poins! Poins, and be hanged! Poins!

PRINCE HENRY

Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal! what a brawling dost

thou keep!

FALSTAFF

Where's Poins, Hal?

PRINCE HENRY

He is walked up to the top of the hill: I'll go seek him.

FALSTAFF

I am accursed to rob in that thief's company: the

rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know

not where. If I travel but four foot by the squier

further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt

not but to die a fair death for all this, if I

'scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have

forsworn his company hourly any time this two and

twenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the

rogue's company. If the rascal hath not given me

medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged, it

could not be else: I have drunk medicines. Poins!

Hal! a plague upon you both! Bardolph! Peto!

I'll starve ere I'll rob a foot further. An 'twere

not as good a deed as drink, to turn true man and to

leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that

ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven

ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me,

and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough:

a plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another!

They whistle

Whew! A plague upon you all! Give me my horse, you

rogues, give me my horse, and be hanged!

PRINCE HENRY

Peace, ye fat-guts! lie down, lay thine ear close

to the ground and list if thou canst hear the tread

of travellers.

FALSTAFF

Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down?

'Sblood, I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot

again for all the coin in thy father's exchequer.

What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?

PRINCE HENRY

Thou liest, thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.

FALSTAFF

I prithee, good Prince Hal, help me to my horse,

good king's son.

PRINCE HENRY

Out, ye rogue! shall I be your ostler?

FALSTAFF

Go, hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent

garters! If I be ta'en, I'll peach for this. An I

have not ballads made on you all and sung to filthy

tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison: when a jest

is so forward, and afoot too! I hate it.

Enter GADSHILL, BARDOLPH and PETO

GADSHILL

Stand.

FALSTAFF

So I do, against my will.

POINS

O, 'tis our setter: I know his voice. Bardolph,

what news?

BARDOLPH

Case ye, case ye, on with your vizards: there 's

money of the king's coming down the hill, 'tis going

to the king's exchequer.

FALSTAFF

You lie, ye rogue, 'tis going to the king's tavern.

GADSHILL

There's enough to make us all.

FALSTAFF

To be hanged.

PRINCE HENRY

Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane,

Ned Poins and I will walk lower: if they 'scape

from your encounter, then they light on us.

PETO

How many be there of them?

GADSHILL

Some eight or ten.

FALSTAFF

'Zounds, will they not rob us?

PRINCE HENRY

What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?

FALSTAFF

Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather,

but yet no coward, Hal.

PRINCE HENRY

Well, we leave that to the proof.

POINS

Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge:

when thou needest him, there thou shalt find him.

Farewell, and stand fast.

FALSTAFF

Now cannot I strike him, if I should be hanged.

PRINCE HENRY

Ned, where are our disguises?

POINS

Here, hard by: stand close.

Exeunt PRINCE HENRY and POINS

FALSTAFF

Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I:

every man to his business.

Enter the Travellers

First Traveller

Come, neighbour: the boy shall lead our horses down

the hill, we'll walk afoot awhile, and ease our legs.

Thieves

Stand!

Travellers

Jesus bless us!

FALSTAFF

Strike, down with them, cut the villains' throats:

ah! whoreson caterpillars! bacon-fed knaves! they

hate us youth: down with them: fleece them.

Travellers

O, we are undone, both we and ours for ever!

FALSTAFF

Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? No, ye

fat chuffs: I would your store were here! On,

bacons, on! What, ye knaves! young men must live.

You are Grand-jurors, are ye? we'll jure ye, 'faith.

Here they rob them and bind them. Exeunt

Re-enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS

PRINCE HENRY

The thieves have bound the true men. Now could thou

and I rob the thieves and go merrily to London, it

would be argument for a week, laughter for a month

and a good jest for ever.

POINS

Stand close, I hear them coming.

Enter the Thieves again

FALSTAFF

Come, my masters, let us share, and then to horse

before day. An the Prince and Poins be not two

arrant cowards, there's no equity stirring: there's

no more valour in that Poins than in a wild-duck.

PRINCE HENRY

Your money!

POINS

Villains!

As they are sharing, the Prince and Poins set upon them, they all run away, and Falstaff, after a blow or two, runs away too, leaving the booty behind them

PRINCE HENRY

Got with much ease. Now merrily to horse:

The thieves are all scatter'd and possess'd with fear

So strongly that they dare not meet each other,

Each takes his fellow for an officer.

Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death,

And lards the lean earth as he walks along:

Were 't not for laughing, I should pity him.

POINS

How the rogue roar'd!

Exeunt

SCENE III. Warkworth castle

Enter HOTSPUR, solus, reading a letter

HOTSPUR

'But for mine own part, my lord, I could be well

contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear

your house.' He could be contented: why is he not,

then? In respect of the love he bears our house:

he shows in this, he loves his own barn better than

he loves our house. Let me see some more. 'The

purpose you undertake is dangerous,'--why, that's

certain: 'tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to

drink, but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this

nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. 'The

purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you

have named uncertain, the time itself unsorted, and

your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so

great an opposition.' Say you so, say you so? I say

unto you again, you are a shallow cowardly hind, and

you lie. What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord,

our plot is a good plot as ever was laid, our

friends true and constant: a good plot, good

friends, and full of expectation, an excellent plot,

very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is

this! Why, my lord of York commends the plot and the

general course of action. 'Zounds, an I were now by

this rascal, I could brain him with his lady's fan.

Is there not my father, my uncle and myself? lord

Edmund Mortimer, My lord of York and Owen Glendower?

is there not besides the Douglas? have I not all

their letters to meet me in arms by the ninth of the

next month? and are they not some of them set

forward already? What a pagan rascal is this! an

infidel! Ha! you shall see now in very sincerity

of fear and cold heart, will he to the king and lay

open all our proceedings. O, I could divide myself

and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of

skim milk with so honourable an action! Hang him!

let him tell the king: we are prepared. I will set

forward to-night.

Enter LADY PERCY

How now, Kate! I must leave you within these two hours.

LADY PERCY

O, my good lord, why are you thus alone?

For what offence have I this fortnight been

A banish'd woman from my Harry's bed?

Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from thee

Thy stomach, pleasure and thy golden sleep?

Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth,

And start so often when thou sit'st alone?

Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks,

And given my treasures and my rights of thee

To thick-eyed musing and cursed melancholy?

In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch'd,

And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars,

Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed,

Cry 'Courage! to the field!' And thou hast talk'd

Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents,

Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets,

Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin,

Of prisoners' ransom and of soldiers slain,

And all the currents of a heady fight.

Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war

And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep,

That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow

Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream,

And in thy face strange motions have appear'd,

Such as we see when men restrain their breath

On some great sudden hest. O, what portents are these?

Some heavy business hath my lord in hand,

And I must know it, else he loves me not.

HOTSPUR

What, ho!

Enter Servant

Is Gilliams with the packet gone?

Servant

He is, my lord, an hour ago.

HOTSPUR

Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?

Servant

One horse, my lord, he brought even now.

HOTSPUR

What horse? a roan, a crop-ear, is it not?

Servant

It is, my lord.

HOTSPUR

That roan shall by my throne.

Well, I will back him straight: O esperance!

Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.

Exit Servant

LADY PERCY

But hear you, my lord.

HOTSPUR

What say'st thou, my lady?

LADY PERCY

What is it carries you away?

HOTSPUR

Why, my horse, my love, my horse.

LADY PERCY

Out, you mad-headed ape!

A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen

As you are toss'd with. In faith,

I'll know your business, Harry, that I will.

I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir

About his title, and hath sent for you

To line his enterprise: but if you go,--

HOTSPUR

So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.

LADY PERCY

Come, come, you paraquito, answer me

Directly unto this question that I ask:

In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,

An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.

HOTSPUR

Away,

Away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not,

I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world

To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:

We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,

And pass them current too. God's me, my horse!

What say'st thou, Kate? what would'st thou

have with me?

LADY PERCY

Do you not love me? do you not, indeed?

Well, do not then, for since you love me not,

I will not love myself. Do you not love me?

Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.

HOTSPUR

Come, wilt thou see me ride?

And when I am on horseback, I will swear

I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate,

I must not have you henceforth question me

Whither I go, nor reason whereabout:

Whither I must, I must, and, to conclude,

This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.

I know you wise, but yet no farther wise

Than Harry Percy's wife: constant you are,

But yet a woman: and for secrecy,

No lady closer, for I well believe

Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know,

And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.

LADY PERCY

How! so far?

HOTSPUR

Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate:

Whither I go, thither shall you go too,

To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.

Will this content you, Kate?

LADY PERCY

It must of force.

Exeunt

SCENE IV. The Boar's-Head Tavern, Eastcheap.

Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS

PRINCE HENRY

Ned, prithee, come out of that fat room, and lend me

thy hand to laugh a little.

POINS

Where hast been, Hal?

PRINCE HENRY

With three or four loggerheads amongst three or four

score hogsheads. I have sounded the very

base-string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother

to a leash of drawers, and can call them all by

their christen names, as Tom, Dick, and Francis.

They take it already upon their salvation, that

though I be but the prince of Wales, yet I am king

of courtesy, and tell me flatly I am no proud Jack,

like Falstaff, but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a

good boy, by the Lord, so they call me, and when I

am king of England, I shall command all the good

lads in Eastcheap. They call drinking deep, dyeing

scarlet, and when you breathe in your watering, they

cry 'hem!' and bid you play it off. To conclude, I

am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour,

that I can drink with any tinker in his own language

during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost

much honour, that thou wert not with me in this sweet

action. But, sweet Ned,--to sweeten which name of

Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped

even now into my hand by an under-skinker, one that

never spake other English in his life than 'Eight

shillings and sixpence' and 'You are welcome,' with

this shrill addition, 'Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint

of bastard in the Half-Moon,' or so. But, Ned, to

drive away the time till Falstaff come, I prithee,

do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my

puny drawer to what end he gave me the sugar, and do

thou never leave calling 'Francis,' that his tale

to me may be nothing but 'Anon.' Step aside, and

I'll show thee a precedent.

POINS

Francis!

PRINCE HENRY

Thou art perfect.

POINS

Francis!

Exit POINS

Enter FRANCIS

FRANCIS

Anon, anon, sir. Look down into the Pomgarnet, Ralph.

PRINCE HENRY

Come hither, Francis.

FRANCIS

My lord?

PRINCE HENRY

How long hast thou to serve, Francis?

FRANCIS

Forsooth, five years, and as much as to--

POINS

[Within] Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, anon, sir.

PRINCE HENRY

Five year! by'r lady, a long lease for the clinking

of pewter. But, Francis, darest thou be so valiant

as to play the coward with thy indenture and show it

a fair pair of heels and run from it?

FRANCIS

O Lord, sir, I'll be sworn upon all the books in

England, I could find in my heart.

POINS

[Within] Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, sir.

PRINCE HENRY

How old art thou, Francis?

FRANCIS

Let me see--about Michaelmas next I shall be--

POINS

[Within] Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, sir. Pray stay a little, my lord.

PRINCE HENRY

Nay, but hark you, Francis: for the sugar thou

gavest me,'twas a pennyworth, wast't not?

FRANCIS

O Lord, I would it had been two!

PRINCE HENRY

I will give thee for it a thousand pound: ask me

when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it.

POINS

[Within] Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, anon.

PRINCE HENRY

Anon, Francis? No, Francis, but to-morrow, Francis,

or, Francis, o' Thursday, or indeed, Francis, when

thou wilt. But, Francis!

FRANCIS

My lord?

PRINCE HENRY

Wilt thou rob this leathern jerkin, crystal-button,

not-pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, caddis-garter,

smooth-tongue, Spanish-pouch,--

FRANCIS

O Lord, sir, who do you mean?

PRINCE HENRY

Why, then, your brown bastard is your only drink,

for look you, Francis, your white canvas doublet

will sully: in Barbary, sir, it cannot come to so much.

FRANCIS

What, sir?

POINS

[Within] Francis!

PRINCE HENRY

Away, you rogue! dost thou not hear them call?

Here they both call him, the drawer stands amazed, not knowing which way to go

Enter Vintner

Vintner

What, standest thou still, and hearest such a

calling? Look to the guests within.

Exit Francis

My lord, old Sir John, with half-a-dozen more, are

at the door: shall I let them in?

PRINCE HENRY

Let them alone awhile, and then open the door.

Exit Vintner

Poins!

Re-enter POINS

POINS

Anon, anon, sir.

PRINCE HENRY

Sirrah, Falstaff and the rest of the thieves are at

the door: shall we be merry?

POINS

As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark ye, what

cunning match have you made with this jest of the

drawer? come, what's the issue?

PRINCE HENRY

I am now of all humours that have showed themselves

humours since the old days of goodman Adam to the

pupil age of this present twelve o'clock at midnight.

Re-enter FRANCIS

What's o'clock, Francis?

FRANCIS

Anon, anon, sir.

Exit

PRINCE HENRY

That ever this fellow should have fewer words than a

parrot, and yet the son of a woman! His industry is

upstairs and downstairs, his eloquence the parcel of

a reckoning. I am not yet of Percy's mind, the

Hotspur of the north, he that kills me some six or

seven dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his

hands, and says to his wife 'Fie upon this quiet

life! I want work.' 'O my sweet Harry,' says she,

'how many hast thou killed to-day?' 'Give my roan

horse a drench,' says he, and answers 'Some

fourteen,' an hour after, 'a trifle, a trifle.' I

prithee, call in Falstaff: I'll play Percy, and

that damned brawn shall play Dame Mortimer his

wife. 'Rivo!' says the drunkard. Call in ribs, call in tallow.

Enter FALSTAFF, GADSHILL, BARDOLPH, and PETO, FRANCIS following with wine

POINS

Welcome, Jack: where hast thou been?

FALSTAFF

A plague of all cowards, I say, and a vengeance too!

marry, and amen! Give me a cup of sack, boy. Ere I

lead this life long, I'll sew nether stocks and mend

them and foot them too. A plague of all cowards!

Give me a cup of sack, rogue. Is there no virtue extant?

He drinks

PRINCE HENRY

Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of butter?

pitiful-hearted Titan, that melted at the sweet tale

of the sun's! if thou didst, then behold that compound.

FALSTAFF

You rogue, here's lime in this sack too: there is

nothing but roguery to be found in villanous man:

yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime

in it. A villanous coward! Go thy ways, old Jack,

die when thou wilt, if manhood, good manhood, be

not forgot upon the face of the earth, then am I a

shotten herring. There live not three good men

unhanged in England, and one of them is fat and

grows old: God help the while! a bad world, I say.

I would I were a weaver, I could sing psalms or any

thing. A plague of all cowards, I say still.

PRINCE HENRY

How now, wool-sack! what mutter you?

FALSTAFF

A king's son! If I do not beat thee out of thy

kingdom with a dagger of lath, and drive all thy

subjects afore thee like a flock of wild-geese,

I'll never wear hair on my face more. You Prince of Wales!

PRINCE HENRY

Why, you whoreson round man, what's the matter?

FALSTAFF

Are not you a coward? answer me to that: and Poins there?

POINS

'Zounds, ye fat paunch, an ye call me coward, by the

Lord, I'll stab thee.

FALSTAFF

I call thee coward! I'll see thee damned ere I call

thee coward: but I would give a thousand pound I

could run as fast as thou canst. You are straight

enough in the shoulders, you care not who sees your

back: call you that backing of your friends? A

plague upon such backing! give me them that will

face me. Give me a cup of sack: I am a rogue, if I

drunk to-day.

PRINCE HENRY

O villain! thy lips are scarce wiped since thou

drunkest last.

FALSTAFF

All's one for that.

He drinks

A plague of all cowards, still say I.

PRINCE HENRY

What's the matter?

FALSTAFF

What's the matter! there be four of us here have

ta'en a thousand pound this day morning.

PRINCE HENRY

Where is it, Jack? where is it?

FALSTAFF

Where is it! taken from us it is: a hundred upon

poor four of us.

PRINCE HENRY

What, a hundred, man?

FALSTAFF

I am a rogue, if I were not at half-sword with a

dozen of them two hours together. I have 'scaped by

miracle. I am eight times thrust through the

doublet, four through the hose, my buckler cut

through and through, my sword hacked like a

hand-saw--ecce signum! I never dealt better since

I was a man: all would not do. A plague of all

cowards! Let them speak: if they speak more or

less than truth, they are villains and the sons of darkness.

PRINCE HENRY

Speak, sirs, how was it?

GADSHILL

We four set upon some dozen--

FALSTAFF

Sixteen at least, my lord.

GADSHILL

And bound them.

PETO

No, no, they were not bound.

FALSTAFF

You rogue, they were bound, every man of them, or I

am a Jew else, an Ebrew Jew.

GADSHILL

As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon us--

FALSTAFF

And unbound the rest, and then come in the other.

PRINCE HENRY

What, fought you with them all?

FALSTAFF

All! I know not what you call all, but if I fought

not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish: if

there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old

Jack, then am I no two-legged creature.

PRINCE HENRY

Pray God you have not murdered some of them.

FALSTAFF

Nay, that's past praying for: I have peppered two

of them, two I am sure I have paid, two rogues

in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal, if I tell

thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse. Thou

knowest my old ward, here I lay and thus I bore my

point. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me--

PRINCE HENRY

What, four? thou saidst but two even now.

FALSTAFF

Four, Hal, I told thee four.

POINS

Ay, ay, he said four.

FALSTAFF

These four came all a-front, and mainly thrust at

me. I made me no more ado but took all their seven

points in my target, thus.

PRINCE HENRY

Seven? why, there were but four even now.

FALSTAFF

In buckram?

POINS

Ay, four, in buckram suits.

FALSTAFF

Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else.

PRINCE HENRY

Prithee, let him alone, we shall have more anon.

FALSTAFF

Dost thou hear me, Hal?

PRINCE HENRY

Ay, and mark thee too, Jack.

FALSTAFF

Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These nine

in buckram that I told thee of--

PRINCE HENRY

So, two more already.

FALSTAFF

Their points being broken,--

POINS

Down fell their hose.

FALSTAFF

Began to give me ground: but I followed me close,

came in foot and hand, and with a thought seven of

the eleven I paid.

PRINCE HENRY

O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two!

FALSTAFF

But, as the devil would have it, three misbegotten

knaves in Kendal green came at my back and let drive

at me, for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst

not see thy hand.

PRINCE HENRY

These lies are like their father that begets them,

gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou

clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou

whoreson, obscene, grease tallow-catch,--

FALSTAFF

What, art thou mad? art thou mad? is not the truth

the truth?

PRINCE HENRY

Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal

green, when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy

hand? come, tell us your reason: what sayest thou to this?

POINS

Come, your reason, Jack, your reason.

FALSTAFF

What, upon compulsion? 'Zounds, an I were at the

strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would

not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on

compulsion! If reasons were as plentiful as

blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon

compulsion, I.

PRINCE HENRY

I'll be no longer guilty of this sin, this sanguine

coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker,

this huge hill of flesh,--

FALSTAFF

'Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried

neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you stock-fish! O

for breath to utter what is like thee! you

tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bowcase, you vile

standing-tuck,--

PRINCE HENRY

Well, breathe awhile, and then to it again: and

when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons,

hear me speak but this.

POINS

Mark, Jack.

PRINCE HENRY

We two saw you four set on four and bound them, and

were masters of their wealth. Mark now, how a plain

tale shall put you down. Then did we two set on you

four, and, with a word, out-faced you from your

prize, and have it, yea, and can show it you here in

the house: and, Falstaff, you carried your guts

away as nimbly, with as quick dexterity, and roared

for mercy and still run and roared, as ever I heard

bull-calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword

as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight!

What trick, what device, what starting-hole, canst

thou now find out to hide thee from this open and

apparent shame?

POINS

Come, let's hear, Jack, what trick hast thou now?

FALSTAFF

By the Lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye.

Why, hear you, my masters: was it for me to kill the

heir-apparent? should I turn upon the true prince?

why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules: but

beware instinct, the lion will not touch the true

prince. Instinct is a great matter, I was now a

coward on instinct. I shall think the better of

myself and thee during my life, I for a valiant

lion, and thou for a true prince. But, by the Lord,

lads, I am glad you have the money. Hostess, clap

to the doors: watch to-night, pray to-morrow.

Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles

of good fellowship come to you! What, shall we be

merry? shall we have a play extempore?

PRINCE HENRY

Content, and the argument shall be thy running away.

FALSTAFF

Ah, no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me!

Enter Hostess

Hostess

O Jesu, my lord the prince!

PRINCE HENRY

How now, my lady the hostess! what sayest thou to

me?

Hostess

Marry, my lord, there is a nobleman of the court at

door would speak with you: he says he comes from

your father.

PRINCE HENRY

Give him as much as will make him a royal man, and

send him back again to my mother.

FALSTAFF

What manner of man is he?

Hostess

An old man.

FALSTAFF

What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight? Shall

I give him his answer?

PRINCE HENRY

Prithee, do, Jack.

FALSTAFF

'Faith, and I'll send him packing.

Exit FALSTAFF

PRINCE HENRY

Now, sirs: by'r lady, you fought fair, so did you,

Peto, so did you, Bardolph: you are lions too, you

ran away upon instinct, you will not touch the true

prince, no, fie!

BARDOLPH

'Faith, I ran when I saw others run.

PRINCE HENRY

'Faith, tell me now in earnest, how came Falstaff's

sword so hacked?

PETO

Why, he hacked it with his dagger, and said he would

swear truth out of England but he would make you

believe it was done in fight, and persuaded us to do the like.

BARDOLPH

Yea, and to tickle our noses with spear-grass to

make them bleed, and then to beslubber our garments

with it and swear it was the blood of true men. I

did that I did not this seven year before, I blushed

to hear his monstrous devices.

PRINCE HENRY

O villain, thou stolest a cup of sack eighteen years

ago, and wert taken with the manner, and ever since

thou hast blushed extempore. Thou hadst fire and

sword on thy side, and yet thou rannest away: what

instinct hadst thou for it?

BARDOLPH

My lord, do you see these meteors? do you behold

these exhalations?

PRINCE HENRY

I do.

BARDOLPH

What think you they portend?

PRINCE HENRY

Hot livers and cold purses.

BARDOLPH

Choler, my lord, if rightly taken.

PRINCE HENRY

No, if rightly taken, halter.

Re-enter FALSTAFF

Here comes lean Jack, here comes bare-bone.

How now, my sweet creature of bombast!

How long is't ago, Jack, since thou sawest thine own knee?

FALSTAFF

My own knee! when I was about thy years, Hal, I was

not an eagle's talon in the waist, I could have

crept into any alderman's thumb-ring: a plague of

sighing and grief! it blows a man up like a

bladder. There's villanous news abroad: here was

Sir John Bracy from your father, you must to the

court in the morning. That same mad fellow of the

north, Percy, and he of Wales, that gave Amamon the

bastinado and made Lucifer cuckold and swore the

devil his true liegeman upon the cross of a Welsh

hook--what a plague call you him?

POINS

O, Glendower.

FALSTAFF

Owen, Owen, the same, and his son-in-law Mortimer,

and old Northumberland, and that sprightly Scot of

Scots, Douglas, that runs o' horseback up a hill

perpendicular,--

PRINCE HENRY

He that rides at high speed and with his pistol

kills a sparrow flying.

FALSTAFF

You have hit it.

PRINCE HENRY

So did he never the sparrow.

FALSTAFF

Well, that rascal hath good mettle in him, he will not run.

PRINCE HENRY

Why, what a rascal art thou then, to praise him so

for running!

FALSTAFF

O' horseback, ye cuckoo, but afoot he will not budge a foot.

PRINCE HENRY

Yes, Jack, upon instinct.

FALSTAFF

I grant ye, upon instinct. Well, he is there too,

and one Mordake, and a thousand blue-caps more:

Worcester is stolen away to-night, thy father's

beard is turned white with the news: you may buy

land now as cheap as stinking mackerel.

PRINCE HENRY

Why, then, it is like, if there come a hot June and

this civil buffeting hold, we shall buy maidenheads

as they buy hob-nails, by the hundreds.

FALSTAFF

By the mass, lad, thou sayest true, it is like we

shall have good trading that way. But tell me, Hal,

art not thou horrible afeard? thou being

heir-apparent, could the world pick thee out three

such enemies again as that fiend Douglas, that

spirit Percy, and that devil Glendower? Art thou

not horribly afraid? doth not thy blood thrill at

it?

PRINCE HENRY

Not a whit, i' faith, I lack some of thy instinct.

FALSTAFF

Well, thou wert be horribly chid tomorrow when thou

comest to thy father: if thou love me, practise an answer.

PRINCE HENRY

Do thou stand for my father, and examine me upon the

particulars of my life.

FALSTAFF

Shall I? content: this chair shall be my state,

this dagger my sceptre, and this cushion my crown.

PRINCE HENRY

Thy state is taken for a joined-stool, thy golden

sceptre for a leaden dagger, and thy precious rich

crown for a pitiful bald crown!

FALSTAFF

Well, an the fire of grace be not quite out of thee,

now shalt thou be moved. Give me a cup of sack to

make my eyes look red, that it may be thought I have

wept, for I must speak in passion, and I will do it

in King Cambyses' vein.

PRINCE HENRY

Well, here is my leg.

FALSTAFF

And here is my speech. Stand aside, nobility.

Hostess

O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i' faith!

FALSTAFF

Weep not, sweet queen, for trickling tears are vain.

Hostess

O, the father, how he holds his countenance!

FALSTAFF

For God's sake, lords, convey my tristful queen,

For tears do stop the flood-gates of her eyes.

Hostess

O Jesu, he doth it as like one of these harlotry

players as ever I see!

FALSTAFF

Peace, good pint-pot, peace, good tickle-brain.

Harry, I do not only marvel where thou spendest thy

time, but also how thou art accompanied: for though

the camomile, the more it is trodden on the faster

it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted the

sooner it wears. That thou art my son, I have

partly thy mother's word, partly my own opinion,

but chiefly a villanous trick of thine eye and a

foolish-hanging of thy nether lip, that doth warrant

me. If then thou be son to me, here lies the point,

why, being son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shall

the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher and eat

blackberries? a question not to be asked. Shall

the sun of England prove a thief and take purses? a

question to be asked. There is a thing, Harry,

which thou hast often heard of and it is known to

many in our land by the name of pitch: this pitch,

as ancient writers do report, doth defile, so doth

the company thou keepest: for, Harry, now I do not

speak to thee in drink but in tears, not in

pleasure but in passion, not in words only, but in

woes also: and yet there is a virtuous man whom I

have often noted in thy company, but I know not his name.

PRINCE HENRY

What manner of man, an it like your majesty?

FALSTAFF

A goodly portly man, i' faith, and a corpulent, of a

cheerful look, a pleasing eye and a most noble

carriage, and, as I think, his age some fifty, or,

by'r lady, inclining to three score, and now I

remember me, his name is Falstaff: if that man

should be lewdly given, he deceiveth me, for, Harry,

I see virtue in his looks. If then the tree may be

known by the fruit, as the fruit by the tree, then,

peremptorily I speak it, there is virtue in that

Falstaff: him keep with, the rest banish. And tell

me now, thou naughty varlet, tell me, where hast

thou been this month?

PRINCE HENRY

Dost thou speak like a king? Do thou stand for me,

and I'll play my father.

FALSTAFF

Depose me? if thou dost it half so gravely, so

majestically, both in word and matter, hang me up by

the heels for a rabbit-sucker or a poulter's hare.

PRINCE HENRY

Well, here I am set.

FALSTAFF

And here I stand: judge, my masters.

PRINCE HENRY

Now, Harry, whence come you?

FALSTAFF

My noble lord, from Eastcheap.

PRINCE HENRY

The complaints I hear of thee are grievous.

FALSTAFF

'Sblood, my lord, they are false: nay, I'll tickle

ye for a young prince, i' faith.

PRINCE HENRY

Swearest thou, ungracious boy? henceforth ne'er look

on me. Thou art violently carried away from grace:

there is a devil haunts thee in the likeness of an

old fat man, a tun of man is thy companion. Why

dost thou converse with that trunk of humours, that

bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel

of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed

cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with

the pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that

grey iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in

years? Wherein is he good, but to taste sack and

drink it? wherein neat and cleanly, but to carve a

capon and eat it? wherein cunning, but in craft?

wherein crafty, but in villany? wherein villanous,

but in all things? wherein worthy, but in nothing?

FALSTAFF

I would your grace would take me with you: whom

means your grace?

PRINCE HENRY

That villanous abominable misleader of youth,

Falstaff, that old white-bearded Satan.

FALSTAFF

My lord, the man I know.

PRINCE HENRY

I know thou dost.

FALSTAFF

But to say I know more harm in him than in myself,

were to say more than I know. That he is old, the

more the pity, his white hairs do witness it, but

that he is, saving your reverence, a whoremaster,

that I utterly deny. If sack and sugar be a fault,

God help the wicked! if to be old and merry be a

sin, then many an old host that I know is damned: if

to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh's lean kine

are to be loved. No, my good lord, banish Peto,

banish Bardolph, banish Poins: but for sweet Jack

Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff,

valiant Jack Falstaff, and therefore more valiant,

being, as he is, old Jack Falstaff, banish not him

thy Harry's company, banish not him thy Harry's

company: banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.

PRINCE HENRY

I do, I will.

A knocking heard

Exeunt Hostess, FRANCIS, and BARDOLPH

Re-enter BARDOLPH, running

BARDOLPH

O, my lord, my lord! the sheriff with a most

monstrous watch is at the door.

FALSTAFF

Out, ye rogue! Play out the play: I have much to

say in the behalf of that Falstaff.

Re-enter the Hostess

Hostess

O Jesu, my lord, my lord!

PRINCE HENRY

Heigh, heigh! the devil rides upon a fiddlestick:

what's the matter?

Hostess

The sheriff and all the watch are at the door: they

are come to search the house. Shall I let them in?

FALSTAFF

Dost thou hear, Hal? never call a true piece of

gold a counterfeit: thou art essentially mad,

without seeming so.

PRINCE HENRY

And thou a natural coward, without instinct.

FALSTAFF

I deny your major: if you will deny the sheriff,

so, if not, let him enter: if I become not a cart

as well as another man, a plague on my bringing up!

I hope I shall as soon be strangled with a halter as another.

PRINCE HENRY

Go, hide thee behind the arras: the rest walk up

above. Now, my masters, for a true face and good

conscience.

FALSTAFF

Both which I have had: but their date is out, and

therefore I'll hide me.

PRINCE HENRY

Call in the sheriff.

Exeunt all except PRINCE HENRY and PETO

Enter Sheriff and the Carrier

Now, master sheriff, what is your will with me?

Sheriff

First, pardon me, my lord. A hue and cry

Hath follow'd certain men unto this house.

PRINCE HENRY

What men?

Sheriff

One of them is well known, my gracious lord,

A gross fat man.

Carrier

As fat as butter.

PRINCE HENRY

The man, I do assure you, is not here,

For I myself at this time have employ'd him.

And, sheriff, I will engage my word to thee

That I will, by to-morrow dinner-time,

Send him to answer thee, or any man,

For any thing he shall be charged withal:

And so let me entreat you leave the house.

Sheriff

I will, my lord. There are two gentlemen

Have in this robbery lost three hundred marks.

PRINCE HENRY

It may be so: if he have robb'd these men,

He shall be answerable, and so farewell.

Sheriff

Good night, my noble lord.

PRINCE HENRY

I think it is good morrow, is it not?

Sheriff

Indeed, my lord, I think it be two o'clock.

Exeunt Sheriff and Carrier

PRINCE HENRY

This oily rascal is known as well as Paul's. Go,

call him forth.

PETO

Falstaff!--Fast asleep behind the arras, and

snorting like a horse.

PRINCE HENRY

Hark, how hard he fetches breath. Search his pockets.

He searcheth his pockets, and findeth certain papers

What hast thou found?

PETO

Nothing but papers, my lord.

PRINCE HENRY

Let's see what they be: read them.

PETO

[Reads] Item, A capon,. . 2s. 2d.

Item, Sauce,. . . 4d.

Item, Sack, two gallons, 5s. 8d.

Item, Anchovies and sack after supper, 2s. 6d.

Item, Bread, ob.

PRINCE HENRY

O monstrous! but one half-penny-worth of bread to

this intolerable deal of sack! What there is else,

keep close, we'll read it at more advantage: there

let him sleep till day. I'll to the court in the

morning. We must all to the wars, and thy place

shall be honourable. I'll procure this fat rogue a

charge of foot, and I know his death will be a

march of twelve-score. The money shall be paid

back again with advantage. Be with me betimes in

the morning, and so, good morrow, Peto.

Exeunt

PETO

Good morrow, good my lord.