SCENE I-London.-A Room in the Palace. Enter King HENRY, WESTMORELAND, Sir WALTER BLUNT, and Others. K. Hen. So shaken as we are, so wan with care, Find we a time for frighted peace to pant, And breathe short winded accents of new broils To be commenced in stronds afar remote. No more the thirsty Erinnys + of this soil Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood; No more shall trenching war channel her fields; Nor bruise her flowrets with the armed hoofs Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes, Which,-ike the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bred,Did lately meet in the intestine shock And furious close of civil butchery, Shall now, in mutual well-beseening ranks, March all one way; and be no more opposed Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies: The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife, No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, As far as to the sepulchre of Christ, (Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross We are impressed and engaged to fight,) Forthwith a power of English shall we levy; Whose arms were moulded in their mother's womb To chase these pagans, in those holy fields, Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet, Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail'd For our advantage, on the bitter cross. But this our purpose is a twelve-month old, And bootless 'tis to tell you-we will go; Therefore we meet not now:-Then let me hear Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland, What yesternight our council did decree, In forwarding this dear expedience. West. My lege, this haste was hot in question, And many limits of the charge set down But yesternight: when, all athwart there came A post from Wales, loaden with heavy news; Whose worst was,-that the noble Mortimer, Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight Against the irregular and wild Glendower, Was by the rude hand of that Welshman taken, And a thousand of his people butchered: Upon whose dead corps there was such misuse, Such beastly, shameless transformation, • Strands, banks of the sea. The fury of discord. Force, army. » Needless. Estimates. Expedition. By those Welshwomen done, as may not be, Brake off our business for the Holy land. lord; 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 friend, Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, It is a conquest for a prince to boast of. mak'st me sin In envy that my lord Northumberland Of my young Harry. O, that it could be proved, * September 14. + Covered with dirt of different colours. Piled up in a heap. But let him from my thoughts :-What think you, coz', Of this young Percy's pride? The prisoners, ther antic 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 Wor-shalt have the hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hangman. Malevolent to you in all aspects; K. Ilen. But I have sent for him to answer this; Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we [Exeunt SCENE II.-The same.-Another Room in the Palace 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 wouldst 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 Lame-colour'd taffata; I see no reason, why thou shouldst 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 call'd thieves of the day's beanty; let us beDiana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon: and let men say, we be men of good government; being govern'd 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 govern'd as the sea is, by the moon. As, for proof, now:-A purse of gold most resolutely snatch'd 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 call'd 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 pythee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standng in England when thou art king? And resolution thus fobb'd as it is, with the rusty curb of old fa 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 lugg'd 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 similes; 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 mark'd him not: and yet he talk'd very wisely; but I regarded him not: and yet he talk'd wisely, and in the street too. P. Hen. Thou didst 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 damn'd 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 baffles 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 T man. P. Hen. Good morrow, Ned. Poins. Good morrow, sweet Hal.-Wha 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. P. Hen. Else he had been damn'd for cozening the devil. Poins. But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning by four o'clock, early at Gadshill: there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses: have visors for you all, you have horses for your selves; 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 hang'd. 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 Gib-cat, should be lib-cat,-a Scotch term at this day for a gelded cat. Croak of a frog. Citation of holy text. • Masks. 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 be lieved, that the true prince may (for recreation sake,) prove a false thief: for the poor abuses of the time want countenance. Farewell: you shall find me 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 1, 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 turn'd back; and for the third, if he fight longer than he sees reason, 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 blows, what extremities he endured; and, in the reproofs of thi, lies the jest. P. fen. Well, I'll go with thee; provide us all [Exit Poins. P. Hen. I know you all, and will a while up hold. The unyoked humour of your idleness: But, when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come, [Exit. The value of a coin called real or royal. + Fire weather at All-hallown-tide (i. e. All Saints, Nov. 1st) is called a All-hallown summer. 1 Cecasion. Confutation. Dull. Tectations. SCENE 111.-The same.-Another Room in the Palace. Enter King HENRY, NORTHUMBERLAND, WORCES Unapt to stir at these indignities, And you have found me; for accordingly, K. Hen. Worcester, get thee gone, for I see danger [To Northumberland. North. Yea, my good lord. Hot. My liege, I did deny no prisoners. then, all smarting, with my wounds being cold, To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, And telling me, the sovereign'st thing on earth Whatever Harry Percy then had said, • Disposition. + Forehead. • Brave, K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners; That we, at our own charge, shall ransome straight Hot. Revolted Mortimer! He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, But by the chance of war:-To prove that true, He did confound the best part of an hour Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks, Colour her working with such deadly wounds; He never did encounter with Glendower; He durst as well have met the devil alone, Hot. But, soft, I pray you; did king Richard then North. He did; myself did hear it. Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king,. Wor. Peace, cousin, say no more: Send me your prisoners with the speediest means, [Exeunt King Henry, Blunt, and Train. 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, moon; Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, North. What, drunk with choler? Stay, and pause So he, that doth redeem her thence, might wear, awhile; Here comes your uncle. Re-enter WORCESTER. Hot. Speak of Mortimer? Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul mad. By Richard that dead is, the next of blood? From whence he, intercepted, did return Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's Live scandalized, and foully spoken of. Without corrival, all her dignities: But out upon this half-faced fellowship! Wor. He apprehends a world of figures || here, Wor. Those same noble Scots, By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them: Wor. You start away, Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat :- I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak Cousin; a word. Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy ¶, But that I think his father loves him not, Wor. Farewell, kinsman! I will talk to you, North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool, Art thou, to break into this woman's mood⚫ ; Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear In Richard's time,-What do you call the place?- Twas where the mad-cap duke his uncle kept; His uncle York ;-where I first bow'd my knee Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke, When you and he came back from Ravenspurg. North. At Berkley castle. Hot. You say true: Why, what a candy + deal of courtesy This fawning greyhound then did proffer me! Hot. I have done, i' faith. Wor. 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 assured, Will easily be granted.-You, my lord, [To Northumberland. Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,Shall secretly into the bosom creep Of that same noble prelate, well beloved, The archbishop. Hot. Of York, is't not? Wor. True; who bears hard His brother's death at Bristol, the lord Scroop. I speak not this in estimation 1, As what I think might be, but what I know And only stays but to behold the face 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 :To join with, Mortimer, ha? Wor. And so they shall. Hot. In faith it is exceedingly well aim'd. Hot. He does, he does; we'll be revenged on him. I trust. Hot. Uncle, adieu :-0, 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. A Car. Heigh ho! An't be not four by the day, I'll be hang'd: Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not pack'd. What, ostler! 1 Conjecture. 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 t. Enter another CARRIER. 2 Car. Pease and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the bots: this house is turn'd upside down, since Robin ostler died. 1 Car. Poor fellow! never joy'd 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 T. 1 Car. What, ostler! come away, and be hang'd, come away. 2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon, and two razes of ginger, to be deliver'd as far as Charing-cross. 1 Car. 'Odsbody! the turkies 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 a deed as drink, to break the pate of thee, I am a very villain.-Come, and be hang'd :-Hast no faith in thee? Enter GADS HILL. Gads. Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock? 1 Car. I think it be two o'clock. Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding in the stable. 1 Car. Nay, soft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i' faith. Cads. I pr'ythee, lend me thine. 2 Car. Ay, when? Canst tell?-Lend me thy lan tern, quoth at-Marry, I'll see thee hang'd first. Gads. Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London? 2 Car. Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee. Come, neighbour Mugs, we'll call up the gentlemen; they will along with company, for they have great charge. [Exeunt Carriers. Gads. What, hol chamberlain ! Cham. [Within.] At hand, quoth pick-purse **. Gads. 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 la bouring; thou lay'st the plot how. Enter CHAMBERLAIN. Cham. 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 al ready, and call for eggs and butter: they will away presently. Gads. Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas' clerks, I'll give thee this neck. Cham. No, I'll none of it: I pr'ythee, keep that for the hangman; for, I know, thou worship'st Saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may. Gads. What talk'st 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 know'st, he's no starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou dream'st not of, the which, for sport sake, are content to do the profession some grace; that would, if matters should be look'd into, for their own credit sake, make all whole. I am join'd 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 will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than drink, and drink sooner than pray and Mind, humour. + Sugared. A body of forces. ready. The constellation ursa major. Cant term for highwaymen. Public accountants. +Freeholder. Footpads. |