K. Hen. It seems then, that the tidings of this | SCENE II. The same. broil Brake off our business for the Holy land. West. This, match'd with other, did, my gracious For more uneven and unwelcome news Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour; And shape of likelihood, the news was told; K. Hen. Here is a dear and true-industrious Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, Betwixt that Hoinedon and this seat of ours; Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights, On Holmedon's plains: Of prisoners, Hotspur Mordake the earl of Fife, and eldest son It is a conquest for a prince to boast of. K. Hen. Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and In envy that my lord Northumberland A son, who is the theme of honour's tongue; Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners, Malevolent to you in all aspects; K. Hen. But I have sent for him to answer Palace. Another Room in the Enter HENRY, Prince of Wales, and FALSTAFF. Fal. Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad? P. Hen. Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou would'st truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame colour'd taffata; I see no reason, why thou should'st be so superfluous to demand the time of the day. Fal. Indeed, you come near me, now, Hal: for we, that take purses, go by the moon and seven stars; and not by Phoebus, he, that wandering knight so fair. And, I pray thee, sweet wag, when thou art king,-as, God save thy grace, (majesty, I should say; for grace thou wilt have none,) P. Hen. What! none? Fal. No, by my troth; not so much as will serve to be prologue to an egg and butter. P. Hen. Well, how then? come, roundly, roundly. Fal. Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us, that are squires of the night's body, be called thieves of the day's beauty; let us be-Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon: And let men say, we be men of good government; being governed as the sea is, by our noble and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we- -steal. P. Hen. Thou say'st well; and it holds well too: for the fortune of us, that are the moon's men, doth ebb and flow like the sea; being governed as the sea is, by the moon. As, for proof, now: A purse of gold most resolutely snatched on Monday night, and most dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning; got with swearing-lay by; and spent with crying bring in: now, in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder: and, by and by, in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows. Fal. By the lord, thou say'st true, lad. And is not my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench? P. Hen. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance? Fal. How now, how now, mad wag? what, in thy quips, and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin? P. Hen. Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess of the tavern? Fal. Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning, many a time and oft. P. Hen. Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part? Fal. No; I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there. P. Hen. Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch; and, where it would not, I have used my credit. Fal. Yea, and so used it, that were it not here apparent that thou art heir apparent,— But, I pr'ythee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king? and resolution thus fobbed as it is, with the rusty curb of old father antick the law? Do not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief. P. Hen. No; thou shalt. Fal. Shall I? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge. P. Hen. Thou judgest false already; I mean, thou shalt have the hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hangman. Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my humour, as well as waiting in the court, I can tell you. P. Hen. For obtaining of suits? Fal. Yea, for obtaining of suits: whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gib cat, or a lugged bear. P. Hen. Or an old lion; or a lover's lute. Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. P. Hen. What say'st thou to a hare, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch? Fal. Thou hast the most unsavoury similies; and art, indeed, the most comparative, rascalliest, — sweet young prince, But, Hal, I pr'ythee, trouble me no more with vanity. I would to God, thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought: An old lord of the council rated me the other day in the street about you, sir; but I marked him not and yet he talked very wisely; but I regarded him not: and yet he talked wisely, and in the street too. P. Hen. Thou did'st well; for wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man regards it. Fal. O, thou hast damnable iteration: and art, indeed, able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal, God forgive thee for it! Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give it over; by the Lord, an I do not, I am a villain; I'll be damned, for never a king's son in Christendom. P. Hen. Where shall we take a purse to-morrow, Jack? Fal. Where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an I do not, call me villain, and baffle me. P. Hen. I see a good amendment of life in thee; from praying, to purse-taking. Enter POINS, at a distance. Fal. Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation. Poins! Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match. O, if men were to be saved by merit, what hole in hell were hot enough for him? This is the most omnipotent villain that ever cried, Stand to a true man. - P. Hen. Good morrow, Ned. Poins. Good morrow, sweet Hal. What says monsieur Remorse? What says sir John Sack-andSugar? Jack, how agrees the devil and thee about thy soul, that thou soldest him on Good-friday last, for a cup of Madeira, and a cold capon's leg? P. Hen. Sir John stands to his word, the devil shall have his bargain; for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs, he will give the devil his due. Poins. Then art thou damn'd for keeping thy word with the devil.. traders riding to London with fat purses: I have visors for you all, you have horses for yourselves; Gadshill lies to-night in Rochester; I have bespoke supper to-morrow night in Eastcheap; we may do it as secure as sleep: If you will go, I will stuff your purses full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home, and be hanged. Fal. Hear me, Yedward; if I tarry at home and go not, I'll hang you for going. Poins. You will, chops? Fal. Hal, wilt thou make one? P. Hen. Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith. Fal. There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou camest not of the blood royal, if thou darest not stand for ten shillings. P. Hen. Well, then, once in my days I'll be a mad-cap. Fal. Why, that's well said. P. Hen. Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home. Fal. By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then, when thou art king. P. Hen. I care not. Poins. Sir John, I pr'ythee, leave the prince and me alone; I will lay him down such reasons for this adventure, that he shall go. Fal. Well, may'st thou have the spirit of persuasion, and he the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may move, and what he hears may be believed, that the true prince may (for recreation sake) prove a false thief; for the poor abuses of the time Farewell: You shall find me want countenance. in Eastcheap. P. Hen. Farewell, thou latter spring! Farewell All-hallown summer! [Exit FALSTAFF. Poins. Now, my good sweet honey lord, ride with us to-morrow; I have a jest to execute, that I cannot manage alone. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill, shall rob those men that we have already way-laid; yourself, and I, will not be there: and when they have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut this head from my shoulders. P. Hen. But how shall we part with them in setting forth? Poins. Why, we will set forth before or after them, and appoint them a place of meeting, wherein it is at our pleasure to fail: and then will they adventure upon the exploit themselves: which they shall have no sooner achieved, but we'll set upon them. P. Hen. Ay, but 'tis like, that they will know us, by our horses, by our habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves. Poins. Tut! our horses they shall not see, I'll tie them in the wood; our visors we will change, after we leave them; and, sirrah, I have cases of buckram for the nonce, to immask our noted outward garments. us. P. Hen. But, I doubt, they will be too hard for Poins. Well, for two of them, I know them to be as true-bred cowards as ever turned back; and for the third, if he fight longer than he sees resson, I'll forswear arms. The virtue of this jest will be, the incomprehensible lies that this same fat rogue will tell us, when we meet at supper: how thirty, at least, he fought with; what wards, what Poins. But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morn-blows, what extremities he endured; and, in the ing, by four o'clock, early at Gadshill: There are reproof of this, lies the jest. pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and P. Hen. Else he had been damn'd for cozening the devil. P. Hen. Well, I'll go with thee; provide us all things necessary, and meet me to-morrow night in | Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, Eastcheap, there I'll sup. Farewell. Peins. Farewell, my lord. [Exit POINS. But, when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come, By how much better than my word I am, Shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes, [Exit. The same. Another Room in the K. Hen. My blood hath been too cold and temperate, Unapt to stir at these indignities, And you have found me; for, accordingly, K. Hen. Worcester, get thee gone, for I see danger And disobedience in thine eye: O, sir, You have good leave to leave us; when we need You were about to speak. Hot. My liege, I did deny no prisoners. Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd, And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held He gave his nose, and took't away again; With many holiday and lady terms He question'd me; among the rest, demanded I then, all smarting, with my wounds being cold, Out of my grief and my impatience, He should, or he should not; · for he made me mad, To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (God save the mark !) And telling me, the sovereign'st thing on earth Blunt. The circumstance consider'd, good my Whatever Harry Percy then had said, K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners; But with proviso, and exception, That we, at our own charge, shall ransome straight He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, In single opposition, hand to hand, He did confound the best part of an hour Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; Colour her working with such deadly wounds; Receive so many, and all willingly: North. He did; myself did hear it. K. Hen. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost That men of your nobility and power, belie him, He never did encounter with Glendower; I tell thee, He durst as well have met the devil alone, [Exeunt KING HENRY, BLUNT, and Train. Did 'gage them both in an unjust behalf, Wor. Peace, cousin, say no more; And now I will unclasp a secret book, North. What, drunk with choler? stay, and pause And to your quick-conceiving discontents 'Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul Wor. I cannot blame him: Was he not pro- By Richard that dead is, the next of blood? North. He was; I heard the proclamation: And then it was, when the unhappy king (Whose wrongs in us God pardon !) did set forth From whence he, intercepted, did return I'll read you matter deep and dangerous; Hot. If he fall in, good night: - or sink or Send danger from the east unto the west, North. Imagination of some great exploit Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, Wor. He apprehends a world of figures bere, That are your prisoners, Hot. Those same noble Scots I'll keep them all; Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's I'll keep them, by this hand. wide mouth Wor. You start away, Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat: He said, he would not ransome Mortimer; Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer; Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy, Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke : And that same sword-and-buckler prince of Wales, But that I think his father loves him not, And would be glad he met with some mischance, I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale. For. Farewell, kinsman! I will talk to you, When you are better temper'd to attend. North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool Art thou, to break into this woman's mood; Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own? Het. Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourg'd with rods, Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear In Richard's time,- What do you call the place?· Hot. You say true: Why, what a candy deal of courtesy This fawning greyhound then did proffer me! Good uncle, tell your tale, for I have done. Wor. Nay, if you have not, to't again; We'll stay your leisure. Hot. I have done, i'faith. Wer. Then once more to your Scottish prisoners. Deliver them up without their ransome straight, And make the Douglas' son your only mean For powers in Scotland; which,—for divers reasons, Which I shall send you written, -be assur'd, Will easily be granted.-You, my lord, [To NORTHUMBERLAND, Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd, — Of that same noble prelate, well belov'd, Hot. Of York, is't not? Wor. True; who bears hard His brother's death at Bristol, the lord Scroop. As what I think might be, but what I know Hot. I smell it; upon my life, it will do well. North. Before the game's a-foot, thou still let'st slip. Hot. Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot : And then the power of Scotland, and of York, Wor. Cousin, farewell; - No further go in this, Hot. Uncle, adieu: - O, let the hours be short, Till fields, and blows, and groans applaud our sport! [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE I.- Rochester. An Inn Yard. Enter a Carrier, with a lantern in his hand. 1 Car. Heigh ho! An't 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! Ost. [Within.] Anon, anon. 1 Car. I pr'ythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks in the point; the poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess. 1 Car. Poor fellow! never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him. 2 Car. I think, this be the most villainous house in all London road for fleas : I am stung like a tench. 1 Car. Like a tench? by the mass, there is ne'er a king in Christendom could be better bit than I have been since the first cock. 2 Car. Why, they will allow us ne'er a jorden, and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleas like a loach. 1 Car. What, ostler! come away, and be hanged, |