I Gads. As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon us Fal. And unbound the rest, and then come in Prince. What, fought you with them all? I fought not with fifty of them, I am a Prince. Pray God you have not murdered some 210 Fal. Nay, that's past praying for: I have peppered two of them; two I am sure I have 220 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 mePrince. What, four? thou saidst but two even now. Fal. Four, Hal; I told thee four. Poins. Aye, aye, he said four. Fal. These four came all a-foot, and mainly 230 thrust at me. I made me no more ado but took all their seven points in my target, Prince. Seven? why, there were but four even now. Fal. In buckram? 230. "mainly," violently.-C. H. H. I Poins. Aye, four, in buckram suits Fal. Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else. more anon. Fal. Dost thou hear me, Hal? Prince. Aye, and mark thee too, Jack. Fal. Do so, for it is worth the listening to. 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. Prince. O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two! Fal. 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. 240 250 246. "Their points being broken"; the jest lies in a quibble upon "points," "Falstaff using the word for the sharp end of a weapon, Poins for the tagged lace with which garments were then fastened.H. N. H. 248. "followed me”; “me” is “ethical," expressing his keen concern in the pursuit.-C. H. H. 253-257. We cannot persuade ourselves that Falstaff thinks of deceiving anybody by this string of "incomprehensible lies." He tells them, surely, not expecting or intending them to be believed, but partly for the pleasure he takes in the excited play of his faculties, partly for the surprise he causes by his still more incomprehensible feats of dodging; that is, they are studied self-exposures to invite an attack; that he may provoke his hearers to come down upon him, and then witch them with his facility and felicity in extricating himself. Thus his course here is all of a piece with his usual practice I Prince. These lies are like their father that begets them; gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou clay-brained guts, thou 260 knotty-pated fool, thou whoreson, obscene, greasy tallow-catch, Fal. What, art thou mad? art thou mad? is not the truth the truth? Prince. 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. Fal. What, upon compulsion? 'Zounds, an I 270 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. I'll be no longer guilty of this sin; this of surrounding himself with difficulties, the better to exercise and evince his incomparable fertility and alertness of thought; as knowing that the more he entangles himself in his talk, the richer will be the effect when by a word he slips off the entanglement. We shrewdly suspect that he knew the truth all the while, but determined to fall in with and humor the joke, on purpose to make sport for himself and the prince; and at the same time to retort their deception by pretending to be ignorant of their doings and designs. At all events, we must needs think it were a huge impeachment of his sense, to suppose that in telling such gross and palpable lies he has any thought of being believed.-H. N. H. 261. "knotty-pated"; so Qq., Ff. But it is probably only a misspelling for "not-pated," which the prince has previously used (1. 81 above).-C. H. H. 273. "if reasons were as plenty as blackberries"; a play upon "raisins," then almost identical in pronunciation with "reasons."C. H. H. I sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back-breaker, this huge hill of flesh,— Fal. 'Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you 280 stock-fish! O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing-tuck,— Prince. Well, breathe a while, and then to it again: and when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons, hear me speak but this. Poins. Mark, Jack. it Prince. We two saw you four set on four and bound them, and were masters of their wealth. Mark now, how a plain tale shall 290 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 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 bullcalf. 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 300 starting-hole, canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame? 279. "you elf-skin"; so the Qq. and Ff.; Hanmer, "eel-skin" (cp. 2 Henry IV, III, ii. 366); Johnson, "elfkin.”—I. G. 289. "bound them," i. e. "you bound them"; a mixture of two constructions-the infinitive “bind" depending on "saw" and the direct indicative "you bound," the one being uncolloquial and the other not expressing that what happened was seen.—C. H. H. I Poins. Come, let's hear, Jack; what trick hast thou now? Fal. By the Lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye. Why, hear you, my masters: was kill the heir-apparent? should I it for me to turn upon the truc prince? why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules: but beware instinct; the lion will not touch the true 310 prince. Instinct is a great matter; I was now a coward on instinct. 1-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-morro w. Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all th titles of good fellowship come to you What, shall we be merry? shall we have a 320 play extempore? e Prince. Content; and the argument shall be thy running away. Fal. Ah, no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me! Enter Hostess. Host. O Jesu, my lord the prince! 314. "and thou for a true prince"; the logic of this passage even beats the wit, fine as is the latter. The prince was not the true prince, according to the settled rule of succession. The logic is, that none but a man composed and framed of royalty could inspire a lion with such fear; and on the other hand no beast but the lion is brave and gentle enough to feel this instinctive respect for royalty. So that Falstaff's running from him proves him to be what he is not, and is alike honorable to them both.-H. N. H. |