Prince. 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? Prince. 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. Prince. Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part? Fal. No; I'll give thee thy due; thou hast paid all there. Prince. Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not I have us'd my credit. Fal. Yea, and so us'd 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 fobb'd as it is with the rusty curb of old father antic the law? Do not thou, when thou art King, hang a thief. Prince. No; thou shalt. Fal. Shall I? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge. Prince. Thou judgest false already: I mean, thou shalt have the hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hang man. Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my humour; as well as waiting in the Court, I can tell you. Prince. For obtaining of suits? Fal. Yea, for obtaining of suits; whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe." 'Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gibcat or a lugg'd bear.9 5 Shakespeare has several allusions to the classical honey of Hybla, the name of a district in Sicily where the honey, ce ebrated by the poets for its superior quality, was found. Thus, in Julius Cæsar, v. 1: "But, for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, and leave them honeyless." It is certain that in this play, as originally written, Falstaff bore the name of Oldcastle; and old lad of the castle" is no doubt a relic of that naming. See the Introduction. 6 A buff jerkin was a jerkin or coat made of ox-hide, and was commonly worn by sheriff's officers. It seems to have been called a robe of durance, both because of its great durability, and because it was the wearer's business to put debtors and criminals in durance. 7 There is a quibble here between suits in the sense of petitions, and the suits of clothes, which the hangman inherited from those whom he executed. Waiting in the Court for the granting of one's petitions used to be as tedious as "the law's delay." 8 As a sort of compromise between reverence and profanity, various oaths became so curtailed and disguised in the use, that their original meaning was almost lost. Among these, 'Sblood and Zounds were very common, the original forms being "God's blood" and God's wounds." "Slight, "God's light," was another. 9 A gib-cat is a male cat. Tom cat is now the usual term. Ray has th proverbial phrase, as melancholy as a gibd cat.' In Sherwood's Englis Prince. Or an old lion, or a lover's lute. Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe.10 Prince. What say'st thou to a hare, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch? 11 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. Prince. Thou didst well; for wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man regards it. Fal. O, thou hast damnable iteration,13 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. Prince. Where shall we take a purse to-morrow, Jack? Fal. Zounds, where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an I do not, call me villain, and baffle me.1* Prince. I see a good amendment of life in thee; from praying to purse-taking. Enter POINTZ at some distance. Fal. Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal: 'tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation. [Sees POINTZ coming.] Pointz! and French Dictionary we have "a gibbe or old male cat." It was certainly a name not bestowed upon a cat early in life, as we may be assured by the melancholy character ascribed to it.-A lugg'd bear was probably a bear made cross by having his ears pulled or plucked. 10 Lincolnshire bagpipes is a proverbial saying; the allusion is as yet unexplained. il The hare was esteemed a melancholy animal, from her solitary sitting in her form; and, according to the physic of the times, the flesh of it was supposed to generate melancholy.-Moorditch, a part of the ditch surrounding the city of London, opened to an unwholesome morass, and therefore had an air of melancholy. Thus in Taylor's Pennylesse Pilgrimage, 1618: My body being tired with travel, and my mind attired with moody muddy, Moore-ditch melancholy." 12 Comparative is used here for one who is fond of making comparisons. 13 That is, a naughty trick of repetition, referring, no doubt, to what the Prince keeps doing throughout this scene; namely, iterating, retorting, and distorting Falstaff's words. 14 To baffle is to use contemptuously, or treat with ignominy; to unknight. It was originally a punishment of infamy inflicted on recreant knights, one part of which was hanging them up by the heels. "I'll make one" is the same as "I'll be one." Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match.15 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. Prince. Good morrow, Ned. Pointz. Good morrow, sweet Hal. -What says Monsieur Remorse? What says Sir John Sack-and-Sugar? 16 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? Prince. 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. Pointz. Then art thou damn'd for keeping thy word with the Devil. Prince. Else he had been damn'd for cozening the Devil. Pointz. But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning, by four o'clock, early at Gads-hill!17 There are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses: I have visards 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 hang'd. Fal. Hear ye, Yedward: 18 if I tarry at home, and go not, I'll hang you for going. Pointz. You will, chops? Fal. Hal, wilt thou make one? Prince. Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith. Fal. There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou cam'st not of the blood royal, if thou dar'st not stand for ten shillings.19 Prince. Well then, once in my days I'll be a madcap. 15 Setting a match appears to have been one of the technicalities of thievery. Thus in Ratsey's Ghost, a tract printed about 1606: "I have been many times beholding to tapsters and chamberlains for directions and setting of matches." 16 A deal of learned ink has been shed in discussing what Sir John's favourite beverage might be. Nares has pretty much proved it to have been the Spanish wine now called Sherry. Thus in Blount's Glossographia: "Sherry sack, so called from Xeres, a town of Corduba in Spain, where that kind of sack is made." And in Gervase Markham's English Housewife. "Your best sacks are of Seres in Spaine." And indeed Falstaff expressly calls it sherris-sack. The latter part of the name, sack, is thought to have come from its being a dry wine, rin sec; and it was formerly written seck. 17 Gads-hill was a wooded place on the road from London to Rochester, much noted as a resort of highwaymen. 18 Yedward was a familiar corruption of Edward. 19 Falstaff is quibbling on the word royal. The real or royal was of the value of ten shillings. Fal. Why, that's well said. Prince. Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home. Fal. By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then, when thou art King. Prince. I care not. Pointz. 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, God give thee the spirit of persuasion, and him 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 want countenance. Farewell: you shall find me in Eastcheap. Prince. Farewell, thou latter Spring! Farewell, All-hallown Summer! 20 [Exit FALSTAFF. Pointz. Now, my good sweet honey lord, ride with us tomorrow: I have a jest to execute that I cannot manage alone. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill shall rob those men that we have already waylaid: 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. Prince. How shall we part with them in setting forth? Pointz. 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. Prince. Ay, but 'tis like that they will know us by our horses, by our habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves. Pointz. Tut! our horses they shall not see; I'll tie them in the wood: our visards we will change, after we leave them; and, sirrah,21 I have cases of buckram for the nonce,22 to immask our noted outward garments. Prince. But I doubt they will be too hard for us. Pointz. Well, for two of them, I know them to be as truebred 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 20 That is, late Summer; All-hallown meaning All-saints, which festival is the 1st of November. 21 This passage shows that sirrah was sometimes used merely in a play ful, fam liar way, without implying any lack of respect. 22 For the nonce signified for the occasion, for the once. 24 least, he fought with; what wards,28 what blows, what extrem ities he endured; and in the reproof of this lies the jest. Prince. Well, I'll go with thee: provide us all things necessary, and meet me to-morrow night in Eastcheap; there I'll sup. Farewell. [Exit POINTZ. Pointz. Farewell, my lord 25 Prince. I know you all, and will awhile uphold Who doth permit the base contagious clouds But, when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come, Redeeming time when men think least I will. SCENE III. The Same. A Room in the Palace. [Exit. Enter the KING, NORTHUMBERLAND, WORCESTER, HOTSPUR. BLUNT, and Others. King. My blood hath been too cold and temperate. Unapt to stir at these indignities, And you have found me; for, accordingly, You tread upon my patience: but be sure 23 Wards is guards; that is, modes or postures of defence. 24 Reproof is confutation. To refute, to refell, to disallow, were ancient synonymes of to reprove. 25 Editors generally have thought this should be to-night, as referring to the time when the robbery is to be committed; whereas it plainly refers to the night after, when the Prince is to enjoy "the virtue of the jest," which is the matter that most interests him and invites him onward. 28 Hopes is used simply for expectations, no uncommon use of the word even at the present day. |