Gads. 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 road by Gadshill. Enter Prince Henry and Poins; Bardolph and Peto, narrow lane; Ned Poins, and I, will walk lower: at some distance. if they 'scape from your encounter, then they light

1 Trav. O, we are undone, both we and ours infidel! Ha! you shall see now, in very sincerity for ever. of fear and cold heart, will he to the king, and lay Fal. Hang ye, gorbellied knaves; Are ye un-open all our proceedings. O, I could divide mydone? No, ye fat chuffs;2 I would, your store self, and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of were here! On, bacons, on! What, ye knaves?skimmed milk with so honourable an action! Hang young men must live: You are grand-jurors, are him! let him tell the king: We are prepared: ye? We'll jure ye, i'faith. will set forward to-night.

[Exeunt Fal. &c driving the Travellers out.

Re-enter Prince Henry and Poins.

P. Hen. The thieves have bound the true men: Now could thou and I rob the thieves, and go merrily to London, it would be arguments for a week, laughter for a month, and a good jest for ever. Poins. Stand close, I hear them coming.

Re-enter Thieves.

Fal. 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.

P. Hen. Your money. [Rushing out upon them.
Poins. Villains.

[As they are sharing, the Prince and Poins
set upon them. Falstaff, after a blow or
two, and the rest, run away, leaving their
booty behind them.]

P. Hen. Got with much ease. Now merrily to

horse:

Enter Lady Percy.

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

Lady. 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-ey'd musing, and curs'd 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. The thieves are scatter'd, and possess'd with fear Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war, So strongly, that they dare not meet each other; And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep, Each takes his fellow for an officer. That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow, Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death, Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream: And lards the lean earth as he walks along : And in thy face strange motions have appear'd, Wer't not for laughing, I should pity him. Such as we see when men restrain their breath Poins. How the rogue roar'd!" [Exeunt. On some great sudden haste. O, what portents are these? SCENE III-Warkworth. A room in the cas-Some heavy business hath my lord in hand, tle. Enter Hotspur, reading a letter. And I must know it, else he loves me not. -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 That roan shall be my throne. flower, safety. The purpose you undertake, is dan-|| Well, I will back him straight: O esperance!— gerous; the friends you have named, uncertain; the Bid Butler lead him forth into the park. [Ex. Serv. time itself unsorted; and your whole plot too light, Lady. But hear you, my lord. for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.— Hot. What say'st, my lady? Say you so, say you so? I say unto you again, you Lady. What is it carries you away? are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie. What Hot. My horse, a lackbrain is this? By the Lord, our plot is a good My love, my horse. plot as ever was laid; our friends true and constant: Lady. Out, you mad-headed ape! a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation: A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen, an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty-As you are toss'd with. In faith, spirited rogue is this! Why, my lord of York com-I'll know your business, Harry, that I will. mends the plot, and the general course of the I fear, my brother Mortimer doth stir action. Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I About his title; and hath sent for you, could brain him with his lady's fan. Is there not To lines his enterprize: But if you go-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

Hot. What, ho! is Gilliams with the packet gone?
Enter Servant.

Serv. He is, my lord, an hour ago.
Hot. Hath Butler brought those horses from the
sheriff?

Serv. One horse, my lord, he brought, even now.
Hot. What horse? a roan, a crop-ear, is it not?
Serv. It is, my lord.
Hot.

Hot. So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.
Lady. Come, come, you paraquito,9 answer me
Directly to this question that I ask.
In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
Hot. Away,
Away, you trifler!-Love?--I love thee not,

(7) Motto of the Percy family.
Strengthen. (9) Parrot.

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.-Gods me, my horse!-
What say'st thou, Kate? what would'st thou have
with me?

Lady. 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.

Hot. Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am o'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 further 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. How! so far?

Hot. Not an inch further.

Kate;

P. Hen. How old art thou, Francis? Fran. Let me see,-About Michaelmas next I shall be

Poins. [Within.] Francis!

Fran. Anon, sir.-Pray you, stay a little, my lord. P. Hen. Nay, but hark you, Francis: For the But hark you, sugar thou gavest me,-'twas a pennyworth, was't

Whither I go, thither shall you go too;
To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.-
Will this content you, Kate?
It must, of force.

Lady.

[Exeunt SCENE IV-Eastcheap. A room in the Boar's Head Tavern. Enter Prince Henry and Poins. P. Hen. Ned, pr'ythee, come out of that fat room, and lend me thy hand to laugh a little. Poins. Where hast been, Hal?

P. Hen 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 leash2 of drawers; and can call them

all by their Christian names, as-Tom, Dick, and Francis. They take it already upon their salvation, that though I be but prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy; and tell me flatly I am noproud Jack, like Falstaff; but a Corinthian,3 a fad of j 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, dying 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 action. But, sweet Ned,to sweeten which name of Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped even now in my hand by an under-skinker;4 one that never spake other English in his life, than-Eight shillings and sixpence, and-You are welcome; with this shrill

not?

P. Hen. Wilt thou rob this leather-jerkin, cryscaddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish-pouch,— tal-button, nott-pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, Fran. O lord, sir, who do you mean?

P. Hen. Why then, your brown bastards is your only drink: for, look you, Francis, your white canvass doublet will sully; in Barbary, sir, it cannot

come to so much.

Fran. What, sir?

Poins. [Within.] Francis!

P. Hen. 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.

Vint. What! stand'st thou still, and hear'st such a calling? Look to the guests within. [Ex. Fran.] My lord, old sir John, with half a dozen more, are at the door; Shall I let them in?

P. Hen. Let them alone a while, and then open the door. [Exit Vintner.] Poins! Re-enter Poins.

Poins. Anon, anon, sir.

P. Hen. Sirrah, Falstaff and the rest of the addition,-Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint of bas-thieves are at the door; Shall we be merry? tard in the Half-moon, or so. But, Ned, to drive Poins. As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark away the time till Falstaff come, I pr'y thee, do thouye: What cunning match have you made with this 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!

P. Hen. Thou art perfect.
Poins. Francis!

(1) Puppets. (2) Three

[Exit Poins.

(3) A wencher.

jest of the drawer? come, what's the issue?

P. Hen. I am now of all humours, that have show'd themselves humours, since the old days of goodman Adam, to the pupil age of this present twelve o'clock at midnight. [Re-enter Francis with wine] What's o'clock, Francis?

Fran. Anon, anon, sir.

FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV.

Act II.

'scap'd 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 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.

words than a parrot, and yet the son of a woman!-
His industry is-up-stairs, and down-stairs; his elo-with a dozen of them two hours together. I have
quence,
Fal. I am a rogue, if I were not at half-sword
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 be
and answers, Some fourteen an hour after, a trifle,
a trifle. I pr'y thee, call in Falstaff; I'll play Percy,
and that damned brawn shalt play dame Mortimer,
nis wife. Rivo, says the drunkard. Call in ribs,
call in tallow.

Enter Falstaff, Gadshill, Bardolph, and Peto.
Poins. Welcome, Jack. Where hast thou been?
Fal. A plague of all cowards, I say, and a ven-
geance too! marry,
sack, boy.-Ere I lead this life long, I'll sew
and amen!-Give me a cup of
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?
P. Hen. Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish
[He drinks
of butter? pitiful-hearted Titan, that melted at the
sweet tale of the son! if thou didst, then behold
that compound.

Fal. You rogue, here's lime in this sack too
There is nothing but roguery to be found in villa-
nous 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;
could sing psalms, or any thing: A plague of all
cowards, I say still.

P. Hen. How now, wool-sack? what mutter you? Fal. 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!

P. Hen. Why, you whoreson round man! what's the matter?

Fal. Are you not a coward? answer me to that; and Poins there?

Poins. Zounds, ye fat paunch, an ye call me coward, I'll stab thee.

Fal. 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 I am a rogue, if I drunk to-day. of sack..

P. Hen. O, villain! thy lips are scarce wiped since thou drunk'st last.

Fal. All's one for that. A plague of all cowards, still say I. [He drinks.

P. Hen. What's the matter? Fal. What's the matter? there be four of us here have ta'en a thousand pound this morning. P. Hen. Where is it, Jack? where is it? Fal. Where is it? taken from us it is: a hundred upon poor four of us.

P. Hen. What, a hundred, man?

(1) Stockings.

(2) A town in Westmoreland, famous for making cloth.

P. Hen. Speak, sirs; how was it?
Gads. We four set upon some dozen,-
Fal. Sixteen, at least, my lord.
Gads. And bound them.

of them: or I am a Jew else, an Ebrew Jew.
Fal. You rogue, they were bound, every man
fresh men set upon us,————
Gads. As we were sharing, some six or seven

Peto. No, no, they were not bound.

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

I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of rad-
P. Hen. What, fought ye with them all?
ish: if there were not two or three and fifty upon
Fal. All? I know not what ye call, all; but if
poor old Jack, then I am no two-legged creature.
Poins. Pray God, you have not murdered some

of them.

peppered two of them: two, I am sure, I have paid; two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee Fal. Nay, that's past praying for: for I have 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 mc,

now.
P. Hen. What, four? thou said'st but two, even

Fal. Four, Hal; I told thee four.

Poins. Ay, ay, he said four.

thrust at me. I made me no more ado, but took all
their seven points in my target, thus.
Fal. These four came all a-front, and mainly

P. Hen. Seven? why, there were but four, even

now.

Fal. In buckram.

Poins. Ay, four, in buckram suits.

Fal. Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain elsc.
P. Hen. Pr'ythee, let him alone; we shall have

more anon.

Fal. Dost thou hear me, Hal?

nine men in buckram, that I told thee of,-
P. Hen. Ay, and mark thee too, Jack.
Fal. Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These
P. Hen. So, two more already.
Fal. Their points being broken,-
Poins. Down fell their hose.

Fal. 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.

P. Hen. O, monstrous! eleven buckram men
grown out of two!

begotten knaves, in Kendal2 green, came at my
Fal. But, as the devil would have it, three mis-
Hal, that thou could'st not see thy hand.
back, and let drive at me;-for it was so dark,

Why, thou clay-brained guts; thou knotty-pated
P. Hen. These lies are like the father that be-
gets them; gross as a mountain, open, palpable.
fool; thou whoreson, obscene, greasy, tallow-
keech.3.

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

(3) A round lump of fat.

P. Hen. Why, how could'st thou know these men in Kendal green, when it was so dark thou could'st not see thy hand? come, tell us your reason; What sayest thou to this?

Poins. Come, your reason, Jack, your reason. Fal. What, upon compulsion? No; were I 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 plenty as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.

P. Hen. Pr'ythee, do, Jack.

Fal. 'Faith, and I'll send him packing. [Exit. P. Hen. 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!

Bard. 'Faith, I ran when I saw others run.
P. Hen. 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 P. Hen. I'll be no longer guilty of this sin: this would make you believe it was done in fight; and sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back-persuaded us to do the like. breaker, this huge hill of flesh;

Bard. Yea, and to tickle our noses with spear

Fal. Away, you starveling, you elf-skin, you grass, to make them bleed; and then to beslubber dried neat's-tongue, bull's pizzle, you stock-fish, our garments with it, and to swear it was the blood O, for breath to utter what is like thee!-you tai-of true men. I did that I did not this seven year lor's yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile before, I blushed to hear his monstrous devices. standing tuck;P. Hen. O villain, thou stolest a cup of sack P. Hen. Well, breathe a while, and then to it eighteen years ago, and wert taken with the managain: and when thou hast tired thyself in basener, and ever since thou hast blushed extempore; comparisons, hear me speak but this.

Poins. Mark, Jack.

Thou hadst fire and sword on thy side, and yet
thou ran'st away; What instinct hadst thou for it?
Bard. My lord, do you see these meteors? do
you behold these exhalations?
P. Hen. I do.

Bard. What think you they portend?
P. Hen. Hot livers and cold purses.2
Bard. Choler, my lord, if rightly taken.
P. Hen. No, if rightly taken, halter.
Re-enter Falstaff.

P. Hen. We two saw you four set on four; you bound them, and were masters of their wealth.Mark now, how plain a 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 ran and roared, as ever I heard bull-calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou || Here comes lean Jack, here comes bare-bone. How hast done; and then say, it was in fight! What now, my sweet creature of bombast? How long trick, what device, what starting-hole, canst thouis't ago, Jack, since thou sawest thine own knee? now find out, to hide thee from this apparent shame? Poins. Come, let's hear, Jack; What trick hast thou now?

open and

Fal. 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 Fal. By the Lord, I knew ye, as well as he that like a bladder. There's villanous news abroad': made ye. Why, hear ye, my masters: Was it for here was sir John Bracy from your father; you me to kill the heir apparent? Should I turn upon must to the court in the morning. That same mad the true prince? Why, thou knowest, I am as val- fellow of the north, Percy; and he of Wales, that iant as Hercules: but beware instinct; the lion will gave Amaimon4 the bastinado, and made Lucifer not touch the true prince. Instinct is a great mat-cuckold, and swore the devil his true liegeman upon ter; I was a coward on instinct. I shall think the the cross of a Welsh hook,-What, a plague, call better of myself and thee, during my life; I, for a you him?valiant lion, and thou for a true prince. But, by the Lord, lads, I am glad you have the money.Fal. Owen, Owen; the same;-and his son-inHostess, clap to the doors: watch to-night, pray law, Mortimer; and old Northumberland; and to-morrow.-Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, that sprightly Scot of Scots, Douglas, that runs all the titles of good fellowship come to you!o'horseback up a hill perpendicular. What, shall we be merry? shall we have a play extempore?

P. Hen. Content;—and the argument shall be, thy running away.

Fal. Ah! no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me.
Enter Hostess.

Host. My lord the prince,

P. Hen. How now, my lady the hostess? what say'st thou to me?

Host. Marry, my lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door, would speak with you: he says, he comes from your father.

P. Hen. Give him as much as will make him a
royal man, and send him back again to my mother.
Fal. What manner of man is he?
Host. An old man.

Fal. What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight?-Shall I give him his answer?

(1) In the fact. (2) Drunkenness and poverty. (3) Bombast is the stuffing of clothes.

Poins. O, Glendower.

P. Hen. He that rides at high speed, and with his pistol kills a sparrow flying.

Fal. You have hit it.

sparrow.

P. Hen. So did he never the Fal. Well, that rascal hath good mettle in him; he will not run.

P. Hen. Why, what a rascal art thou then, to praise him so for running?

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

P. Hen. Yes, Jack, upon instinct.

Fal. I grant ye, upon instinct. Well, he is there too, and one Mordake, and a thousand blue-caps5 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 mackarel. P. Hen. Why then, 'tis like, if there come a hot

(4) A demon; who is described as one of the four kings, who rule over all the demons in the world.

(5) Scotsmen in blue bonnets.