The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed; The Chorus plainly says,-after having described the treason which is to take place "in Southampton,"-not till the king come forth do we shift our scene to that place. The previous scene in Eastcheap occurs before the King does come forth.-This intimation of the Chorus was to prevent the scene in Eastcheap coming abruptly upon the audience. The first "till," however, should be "when," to make the sense clear. BARD. Well met, corporal Nym. NYM. Good morrow, lieutenant Bardolph ". BARD. What, are ancient Pistol and you friends yet? NYM. For my part, I care not: I say little; but when time shall serve, there shall be smiles; but that shall be as it may. I dare not fight; but I will wink, and hold out mine iron It is a simple one; but what though? It • Bardolph, according to the commentators, ought to be "corporal," and not "lieutenant." This, of course, according to their creed, is a mistake of the poet. Bardolph, then, could not be promoted. They have overlooked the tone of authority which Bardolph uses both to Pistol and Nym. The "corporal" would hardly threaten to run the "ancient" up to the hilts. will toast cheese; and it will endure cold as another man's sword will: and there's an end. BARD. I will bestow a breakfast to make you friends; and we 'll be all three sworn brothers to France; let it be so, good corporal Nym. NYM.. 'Faith, I will live so long as I may, that's the certain of it; and when I cannot live any longer, I will do as I maya: that is my rest, that is the rendezvous of it. BARD. It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly: and, certainly, she did you wrong; for you were troth-plight to herb. may NYM. I cannot tell; things must be as they may: men may sleep, and they have their throats about them at that time; and, some say, knives have edges. It must be as it may: though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell. Enter PISTOL and Mrs. QUICKLY. BARD. Here comes ancient Pistol, and his wife :-good corporal, be patient here. How now, mine host Pistol? PIST. Base tiked, call'st thou me host? Now, by this hand I swear, I scorn the term; Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers. QUICK. No, by my troth, not long: for we cannot lodge and board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen, that live honestly by the prick of their needles, but it will be thought we keep a bawdy-house straight. [NY draws his sword.] O well-a-day, Lady, if he be not drawn! Now we shall see wilful adultery and murther committed. Good lieutenant Bardolph BARD. Good corporal, offer nothing here. Nr. Pish! PIST. Pish for thee, Iceland dog! thou prick-eared cur of Iceland3. NYM. Will you shog off? I would have you solus. The solus in thy most marvellous face; And in thy hateful lungs, yea, in thy maw, perdy; [Sheathing his sword. • Mason would read "die as I may." It is not necessary, we think, to make Nym's commonplaces antithetical. ⚫ In the office of Matrimony, the man says, "I plight thee my troth." • The folio, by a typographical error, has name instead of mare. We find the true word in the quartos. This shows the proper use of those incomplete editions—the correction of printers' mistakes, but not the abolition of the author's improvements. Tike. We have still the word, which signifies a common dog-a mongrel. The bull-terrier in Landseer's admirable picture of "Low Life" is a tike. In Lear' we have "bob-tail tike.” The "ploughman's collie" of Burns is "a gash an' faithfu' tyke." . The folio reads thus: "O well-a-day, Lady, if he be not hewne now, we shall see," &c. We adopt drawn, upon the suggestion of Mr. Dyce, who quotes an authority from Romeo and Juliet,' Act I., Scene 1 "What! art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?" And, which is worse, within thy nasty mouth! I do retort the solus in thy bowels; For I can take, and Pistol's cock is up, And flashing fire will follow. NYM. I am not Barbason, you cannot conjure me. I have an humour to knock you indifferently well: If you grow foul with me, Pistol, I will scour you with my rapier, as I may say, in fair terms: if you would walk off, I would prick your guts a little, in good terms, as I may say; and that's the humour of it. PIST. O braggard vile, and damned furious wight! The grave doth gape, and doting death is near; [PISTOL and NYм draw. BARD. Hear me, hear me what I say:-be that strikes the first stroke, I'll run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier. PIST. An oath of mickle might; and fury shall abate. Give me thy fist, thy fore-foot to me give; Thy spirits are most tall. [Draws. NYM. I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair terms; that is the humour of it. PIST. Coupe le gorge, that's the word ?—I defy thee again. O hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get? No; to the spital go, And from the powdering tub of infamy Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind, Doll Tear-sheet she by name, and her espouse: I have, and I will hold the quondam Quickly For the only she: and-Pauca, there 's enough. Go to. Enter the Boy. Boy. Mine host Pistol, you must come to my master, and you, hostess ;—he is very sick, and would to bed.-Good Bardolph, put thy face between his sheets, and do the office of a warming-pan; 'faith, he 's very ill. BARD. Away, you rogue. QUICK. By my troth, he'll yield the crow a pudding one of these days; the king has killed his heart.-Good husband, come home presently. [Exeunt Mrs. QUICKLY and Boy. BARD. Come, shall I make you two friends? We must to France together. Why the devil should we keep knives to cut one another's throats? ⚫ I can take. Malone considers that take is a corruption, and that we should follow the quarto, talk. Is there any more difficulty in "I can take" than in the familiar expression "Do you take?" Mason says Pistol means "I can take fire." He, in his obscure language, only means, "I understand you"-"I know what you are about." Barbason is the name of an evil spirit in the Dæmonology.' • The speeches of Pistol, in this play, as in The Second Part of Henry IV.,' are printed in the original copies as prose. PIST. Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food howl on! NYм. You'll pay me the eight shillings I won of you at betting? PIST. Base is the slave that pays. NYM. That now I will have; that's the humour of it. PIST. As manhood shall compound: push home. BARD. By this sword, he that makes the first thrust I'll kill him; by this sword, I will. PIST. Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their course. BARD. Corporal Nym, an thou wilt be friends, be friends: an thou wilt not, And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood: Unto the camp, and profits will accrue. NYM. I shall have my noble? PIST. In cash most justly paid. NYM. Well, then, that's the humour of it. Re-enter Mrs. QUICKLY. QUICK. As ever you come of women, come in quickly to sir John: Ah, poor heart! he is so shaked of a burning quotidian tertian, that it is most lamentable to behold. Sweet men, come to him. NYм. The king hath run bad humours on the knight, that's the even of it. His heart is fracted, and corroborate. NYM. The king is a good king: but it must be as it may; he passes some humours, and careers. PIST. Let us condole the knight; for, lambkins, we will lives. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Southampton. A Council Chamber. Enter EXETER, BEDFORD, and WESTMORELAND. BED. 'Fore God, his grace is bold, to trust these traitors. WEST. How smooth and even they do bear themselves! * The whole of this scene, in the folio, exhibits the greatest care in remodelling the text of the quarto. |
