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The First Part of Henry the Fourth

by William Shakespeare

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1-1

Enter KING HENRY, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, the EARL of WESTMORELAND, SIR WALTER BLUNT, and others

KING HENRY IV

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 strands afar remote.

5No more the thirsty entrance of this soil

Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood;

Nor more shall trenching war channel her fields,

Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs

Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,

10Which, like 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-beseeming ranks,

15March 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,

20Whose 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 mothers' womb

To chase these pagans in those holy fields

25Over 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 now is twelve month old,

And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go:

30Therefore 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.

WESTMORELAND

My liege, this haste was hot in question,

35And 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

40Against the irregular and wild Glendower,

Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,

A thousand of his people butchered;

Upon whose dead corpse there was such misuse,

Such beastly shameless transformation,

45By those Welshwomen done as may not be

Without much shame retold or spoken of.

KING HENRY IV

It seems then that the tidings of this broil

Brake off our business for the Holy Land.

WESTMORELAND

This match'd with other did, my gracious lord;

50For more uneven and unwelcome news

Came from the north and thus it did import:

On Holy-rood day, the gallant Hotspur there,

Young Harry Percy and brave Archibald,

That ever-valiant and approved Scot,

55At Holmedon met,

Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour,

As by discharge of their artillery,

And shape of likelihood, the news was told;

For he that brought them, in the very heat

60And pride of their contention did take horse,

Uncertain of the issue any way.

KING HENRY IV

Here is a dear, a true industrious friend,

Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse.

Stain'd with the variation of each soil

65Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours;

And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news.

The Earl of Douglas is discomfited:

Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,

Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see

70On Holmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hotspur took

Mordake the Earl of Fife, and eldest son

To beaten Douglas; and the Earl of Athol,

Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith:

And is not this an honourable spoil?

75A gallant prize? ha, cousin, is it not?

WESTMORELAND

In faith,

It is a conquest for a prince to boast of.

KING HENRY IV

Yea, there thou makest me sad and makest me sin

In envy that my Lord Northumberland

80Should be the father to so blest a son,

A son who is the theme of honour's tongue;

Amongst a grove, the very straightest plant;

Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride:

Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,

85See riot and dishonour stain the brow

Of my young Harry. O that it could be proved

That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged

In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,

And call'd mine Percy, his Plantagenet!

90Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.

But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz,

Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners,

Which he in this adventure hath surprised,

To his own use he keeps; and sends me word,

95I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.

WESTMORELAND

This is his uncle's teaching; this is Worcester,

Malevolent to you in all aspects;

Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up

The crest of youth against your dignity.

KING HENRY IV

100But I have sent for him to answer this;

And for this cause awhile we must neglect

Our holy purpose to Jerusalem.

Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we

Will hold at Windsor; so inform the lords:

105But come yourself with speed to us again;

For more is to be said and to be done

Than out of anger can be uttered.

WESTMORELAND

I will, my liege.

Exeunt

1-2

Enter the PRINCE OF WALES and FALSTAFF

FALSTAFF

Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?

PRINCE HENRY

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

5demand 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

10a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta, I see no

reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand

the time of the day.

FALSTAFF

Indeed, you come near me now, Hal; for we that take

purses go by the moon and the seven stars, and not

15by Phoebus, he,'that wandering knight so fair.' And,

I prithee, sweet wag, when thou art king, as, God

save thy grace,--majesty I should say, for grace

thou wilt have none,--

PRINCE HENRY

What, none?

FALSTAFF

20No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to

prologue to an egg and butter.

PRINCE HENRY

Well, how then? come, roundly, roundly.

FALSTAFF

Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not

us that are squires of the night's body be called

25thieves 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.

PRINCE HENRY

30Thou sayest 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

35dissolutely 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.

FALSTAFF

By the Lord, thou sayest true, lad. And is not my

40hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?

PRINCE HENRY

As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. And

is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?

FALSTAFF

How now, how now, mad wag! what, in thy quips and

thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a

45buff jerkin?

PRINCE HENRY

Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess of the tavern?

FALSTAFF

Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a

time and oft.

PRINCE HENRY

Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?

FALSTAFF

50No; I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there.

PRINCE HENRY

Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch;

and where it would not, I have used my credit.

FALSTAFF

Yea, and so used it that were it not here apparent

that thou art heir apparent--But, I prithee, sweet

55wag, 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 antic the law? Do

not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief.

PRINCE HENRY

No; thou shalt.

FALSTAFF

60Shall I? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge.

PRINCE HENRY

Thou judgest false already: I mean, thou shalt have

the hanging of the thieves and so become a rare hangman.

FALSTAFF

Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my

humour as well as waiting in the court, I can tell

65you.

PRINCE HENRY

For obtaining of suits?

FALSTAFF

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.

PRINCE HENRY

70Or an old lion, or a lover's lute.

FALSTAFF

Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe.

PRINCE HENRY

What sayest thou to a hare, or the melancholy of

Moor-ditch?

FALSTAFF

Thou hast the most unsavoury similes and art indeed

75the most comparative, rascalliest, sweet young

prince. But, Hal, I prithee, 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

80street 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.

PRINCE HENRY

Thou didst well; for wisdom cries out in the

streets, and no man regards it.

FALSTAFF

85O, 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

90wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give

it over: by the Lord, and I do not, I am a villain:

I'll be damned for never a king's son in

Christendom.

PRINCE HENRY

Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack?

FALSTAFF

95'Zounds, where thou wilt, lad; I'll make one; an I

do not, call me villain and baffle me.

PRINCE HENRY

I see a good amendment of life in thee; from praying

to purse-taking.

FALSTAFF

Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no sin for a

100man 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

105a true man.

PRINCE HENRY

Good morrow, Ned.

POINS

Good morrow, sweet Hal. What says Monsieur Remorse?

what says Sir John Sack and Sugar? Jack! how

agrees the devil and thee about thy soul, that thou

110soldest him on Good-Friday last for a cup of Madeira

and a cold capon's leg?

PRINCE HENRY

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

115Then art thou damned for keeping thy word with the devil.

PRINCE HENRY

Else he had been damned 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

120riding to London with fat purses: I have vizards

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

125your purses full of crowns; if you will not, tarry

at home and be hanged.

FALSTAFF

Hear ye, Yedward; if I tarry at home and go not,

I'll hang you for going.

POINS

You will, chops?

FALSTAFF

130Hal, wilt thou make one?

PRINCE HENRY

Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith.

FALSTAFF

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.

PRINCE HENRY

135Well then, once in my days I'll be a madcap.

FALSTAFF

Why, that's well said.

PRINCE HENRY

Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home.

FALSTAFF

By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then, when thou art king.

PRINCE HENRY

I care not.

POINS

140Sir John, I prithee, leave the prince and me alone:

I will lay him down such reasons for this adventure

that he shall go.

FALSTAFF

Well, God give thee the spirit of persuasion and him

the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may

145move 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 HENRY

Farewell, thou latter spring! farewell, All-hallown summer!

Exit Falstaff

POINS

150Now, 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 waylaid:

yourself and I will not be there; and when they

155have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut

this head off from my shoulders.

PRINCE HENRY

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

160our 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 HENRY

Yea, but 'tis like that they will know us by our

horses, by our habits and by every other

165appointment, to be ourselves.

POINS

Tut! our horses they shall not see: I'll tie them

in the wood; our vizards we will change after we

leave them: and, sirrah, I have cases of buckram

for the nonce, to immask our noted outward garments.

PRINCE HENRY

170Yea, but I doubt they will be too hard for us.

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 reason, I'll

forswear arms. The virtue of this jest will be, the

175incomprehensible 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 reproof of this

lies the jest.

PRINCE HENRY

180Well, I'll go with thee: provide us all things

necessary and meet me to-morrow night in Eastcheap;

there I'll sup. Farewell.

POINS

Farewell, my lord.

Exit Poins

PRINCE HENRY

I know you all, and will awhile uphold

185The unyoked humour of your idleness:

Yet herein will I imitate the sun,

Who doth permit the base contagious clouds

To smother up his beauty from the world,

That, when he please again to be himself,

190Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,

By breaking through the foul and ugly mists

Of vapours that did seem to strangle him.

If all the year were playing holidays,

To sport would be as tedious as to work;

195But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come,

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.

So, when this loose behavior I throw off

And pay the debt I never promised,

By how much better than my word I am,

200By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;

And like bright metal on a sullen ground,

My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,

Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes

Than that which hath no foil to set it off.

205I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;

Redeeming time when men think least I will.

Exit

1-3

Enter the KING, NORTHUMBERLAND, WORCESTER, HOTSPUR, SIR WALTER BLUNT, with others

KING HENRY IV

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

5I will from henceforth rather be myself,

Mighty and to be fear'd, than my condition;

Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down,

And therefore lost that title of respect

Which the proud soul ne'er pays but to the proud.

EARL OF WORCESTER

10Our house, my sovereign liege, little deserves

The scourge of greatness to be used on it;

And that same greatness too which our own hands

Have holp to make so portly.

NORTHUMBERLAND

My lord.--

KING HENRY IV

15Worcester, get thee gone; for I do see

Danger and disobedience in thine eye:

O, sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory,

And majesty might never yet endure

The moody frontier of a servant brow.

20You have good leave to leave us: when we need

Your use and counsel, we shall send for you.

Exit Worcester

KING HENRY IV

You were about to speak.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Yea, my good lord.

Those prisoners in your highness' name demanded,

25Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took,

Were, as he says, not with such strength denied

As is deliver'd to your majesty:

Either envy, therefore, or misprison

Is guilty of this fault and not my son.

HOTSPUR

30My liege, I did deny no prisoners.

But I remember, when the fight was done,

When I was dry with rage and extreme toil,

Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,

Came there a certain lord, neat, and trimly dress'd,

35Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin new reap'd

Show'd like a stubble-land at harvest-home;

He was perfumed like a milliner;

And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held

A pouncet-box, which ever and anon

40He gave his nose and took't away again;

Who therewith angry, when it next came there,

Took it in snuff; and still he smiled and talk'd,

And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,

He call'd them untaught knaves, unmannerly,

45To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse

Betwixt the wind and his nobility.

With many holiday and lady terms

He question'd me; amongst the rest, demanded

My prisoners in your majesty's behalf.

50I then, all smarting with my wounds being cold,

To be so pester'd with a popinjay,

Out of my grief and my impatience,

Answer'd neglectingly I know not what,

He should or he should not; for he made me mad

55To see him shine so brisk and smell so sweet

And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman

Of guns and drums and wounds,--God save the mark!--

And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth

Was parmaceti for an inward bruise;

60And that it was great pity, so it was,

This villanous salt-petre should be digg'd

Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,

Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd

So cowardly; and but for these vile guns,

65He would himself have been a soldier.

This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord,

I answer'd indirectly, as I said;

And I beseech you, let not his report

Come current for an accusation

70Betwixt my love and your high majesty.

SIR WALTER BLUNT

The circumstance consider'd, good my lord,

Whate'er Lord Harry Percy then had said

To such a person and in such a place,

At such a time, with all the rest retold,

75May reasonably die and never rise

To do him wrong or any way impeach

What then he said, so he unsay it now.

KING HENRY IV

Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners,

But with proviso and exception,

80That we at our own charge shall ransom straight

His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer;

Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betray'd

The lives of those that he did lead to fight

Against that great magician, damn'd Glendower,

85Whose daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March

Hath lately married. Shall our coffers, then,

Be emptied to redeem a traitor home?

Shall we but treason? and indent with fears,

When they have lost and forfeited themselves?

90No, on the barren mountains let him starve;

For I shall never hold that man my friend

Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost

To ransom home revolted Mortimer.

HOTSPUR

Revolted Mortimer!

95He never did fall off, my sovereign liege,

But by the chance of war; to prove that true

Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds,

Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took

When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank,

100In single opposition, hand to hand,

He did confound the best part of an hour

In changing hardiment with great Glendower:

Three times they breathed and three times did

they drink,

105Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood;

Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks,

Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,

And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank,

Bloodstained with these valiant combatants.

110Never did base and rotten policy

Colour her working with such deadly wounds;

Nor could the noble Mortimer

Receive so many, and all willingly:

Then let not him be slander'd with revolt.

KING HENRY IV

115Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him;

He never did encounter with Glendower:

I tell thee,

He durst as well have met the devil alone

As Owen Glendower for an enemy.

120Art thou not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth

Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer:

Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,

Or you shall hear in such a kind from me

As will displease you. My Lord Northumberland,

125We licence your departure with your son.

Send us your prisoners, or you will hear of it.

Exeunt King Henry, Blunt, and train

HOTSPUR

An if the devil come and roar for them,

I will not send them: I will after straight

And tell him so; for I will ease my heart,

130Albeit I make a hazard of my head.

NORTHUMBERLAND

What, drunk with choler? stay and pause awhile:

Here comes your uncle.

Re-enter WORCESTER

HOTSPUR

Speak of Mortimer!

'Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul

135Want mercy, if I do not join with him:

Yea, on his part I'll empty all these veins,

And shed my dear blood drop by drop in the dust,

But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer

As high in the air as this unthankful king,

140As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Brother, the king hath made your nephew mad.

EARL OF WORCESTER

Who struck this heat up after I was gone?

HOTSPUR

He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners;

And when I urged the ransom once again

145Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale,

And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,

Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.

EARL OF WORCESTER

I cannot blame him: was not he proclaim'd

By Richard that dead is the next of blood?

NORTHUMBERLAND

150He was; I heard the proclamation:

And then it was when the unhappy king,

--Whose wrongs in us God pardon!--did set forth

Upon his Irish expedition;

From whence he intercepted did return

155To be deposed and shortly murdered.

EARL OF WORCESTER

And for whose death we in the world's wide mouth

Live scandalized and foully spoken of.

HOTSPUR

But soft, I pray you; did King Richard then

Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer

160Heir to the crown?

NORTHUMBERLAND

He did; myself did hear it.

HOTSPUR

Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king,

That wished him on the barren mountains starve.

But shall it be that you, that set the crown

165Upon the head of this forgetful man

And for his sake wear the detested blot

Of murderous subornation, shall it be,

That you a world of curses undergo,

Being the agents, or base second means,

170The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?

O, pardon me that I descend so low,

To show the line and the predicament

Wherein you range under this subtle king;

Shall it for shame be spoken in these days,

175Or fill up chronicles in time to come,

That men of your nobility and power

Did gage them both in an unjust behalf,

As both of you--God pardon it!--have done,

To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,

180An plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke?

And shall it in more shame be further spoken,

That you are fool'd, discarded and shook off

By him for whom these shames ye underwent?

No; yet time serves wherein you may redeem

185Your banish'd honours and restore yourselves

Into the good thoughts of the world again,

Revenge the jeering and disdain'd contempt

Of this proud king, who studies day and night

To answer all the debt he owes to you

190Even with the bloody payment of your deaths:

Therefore, I say--

EARL OF WORCESTER

Peace, cousin, say no more:

And now I will unclasp a secret book,

And to your quick-conceiving discontents

195I'll read you matter deep and dangerous,

As full of peril and adventurous spirit

As to o'er-walk a current roaring loud

On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.

HOTSPUR

If he fall in, good night! or sink or swim:

200Send danger from the east unto the west,

So honour cross it from the north to south,

And let them grapple: O, the blood more stirs

To rouse a lion than to start a hare!

NORTHUMBERLAND

Imagination of some great exploit

205Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.

HOTSPUR

By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap,

To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon,

Or dive into the bottom of the deep,

Where fathom-line could never touch the ground,

210And pluck up drowned honour by the locks;

So he that doth redeem her thence might wear

Without corrival, all her dignities:

But out upon this half-faced fellowship!

EARL OF WORCESTER

He apprehends a world of figures here,

215But not the form of what he should attend.

Good cousin, give me audience for a while.

HOTSPUR

I cry you mercy.

EARL OF WORCESTER

Those same noble Scots

That are your prisoners,--

HOTSPUR

220I'll keep them all;

By God, he shall not have a Scot of them;

No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not:

I'll keep them, by this hand.

EARL OF WORCESTER

You start away

225And lend no ear unto my purposes.

Those prisoners you shall keep.

HOTSPUR

Nay, I will; that's flat:

He said he would not ransom Mortimer;

Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer;

230But I will find him when he lies asleep,

And in his ear I'll holla 'Mortimer!'

Nay,

I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak

Nothing but 'Mortimer,' and give it him

235To keep his anger still in motion.

EARL OF WORCESTER

Hear you, cousin; a word.

HOTSPUR

All studies here I solemnly defy,

Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke:

And that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales,

240But that I think his father loves him not

And would be glad he met with some mischance,

I would have him poison'd with a pot of ale.

EARL OF WORCESTER

Farewell, kinsman: I'll talk to you

When you are better temper'd to attend.

NORTHUMBERLAND

245Why, 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!

HOTSPUR

Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourged with rods,

Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear

250Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.

In Richard's time,--what do you call the place?--

A plague upon it, it is in Gloucestershire;

'Twas where the madcap duke his uncle kept,

His uncle York; where I first bow'd my knee

255Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke,--

'Sblood!--

When you and he came back from Ravenspurgh.

NORTHUMBERLAND

At Berkley castle.

HOTSPUR

You say true:

260Why, what a candy deal of courtesy

This fawning greyhound then did proffer me!

Look,'when his infant fortune came to age,'

And 'gentle Harry Percy,' and 'kind cousin;'

O, the devil take such cozeners! God forgive me!

265Good uncle, tell your tale; I have done.

EARL OF WORCESTER

Nay, if you have not, to it again;

We will stay your leisure.

HOTSPUR

I have done, i' faith.

EARL OF WORCESTER

Then once more to your Scottish prisoners.

270Deliver them up without their ransom 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,

275Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,

Shall secretly into the bosom creep

Of that same noble prelate, well beloved,

The archbishop.

HOTSPUR

Of York, is it not?

EARL OF WORCESTER

280True; who bears hard

His brother's death at Bristol, the Lord Scroop.

I speak not this in estimation,

As what I think might be, but what I know

Is ruminated, plotted and set down,

285And only stays but to behold the face

Of that occasion that shall bring it on.

HOTSPUR

I smell it: upon my life, it will do well.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Before the game is afoot, thou still let'st slip.

HOTSPUR

Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot;

290And then the power of Scotland and of York,

To join with Mortimer, ha?

EARL OF WORCESTER

And so they shall.

HOTSPUR

In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.

EARL OF WORCESTER

And 'tis no little reason bids us speed,

295To save our heads by raising of a head;

For, bear ourselves as even as we can,

The king will always think him in our debt,

And think we think ourselves unsatisfied,

Till he hath found a time to pay us home:

300And see already how he doth begin

To make us strangers to his looks of love.

HOTSPUR

He does, he does: we'll be revenged on him.

EARL OF WORCESTER

Cousin, farewell: no further go in this

Than I by letters shall direct your course.

305When time is ripe, which will be suddenly,

I'll steal to Glendower and Lord Mortimer;

Where you and Douglas and our powers at once,

As I will fashion it, shall happily meet,

To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms,

310Which now we hold at much uncertainty.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Farewell, good brother: we shall thrive, I trust.

HOTSPUR

Uncle, Adieu: O, let the hours be short

Till fields and blows and groans applaud our sport!

Exeunt

2-1

Enter a Carrier with a lantern in his hand

FIRST CARRIER

Heigh-ho! an it 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!

OSTLER

Anon, anon.

FIRST CARRIER

5I prithee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks

in the point; poor jade, is wrung in the withers out

of all cess.

Enter another Carrier

SECOND CARRIER

Peas and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that

is the next way to give poor jades the bots: this

10house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died.

FIRST CARRIER

Poor fellow, never joyed since the price of oats

rose; it was the death of him.

SECOND CARRIER

I think this be the most villanous house in all

London road for fleas: I am stung like a tench.

FIRST CARRIER

15Like a tench! by the mass, there is ne'er a king

christen could be better bit than I have been since

the first cock.

SECOND CARRIER

Why, they will allow us ne'er a jordan, and then we

leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds

20fleas like a loach.

FIRST CARRIER

What, ostler! come away and be hanged!

SECOND CARRIER

I have a gammon of bacon and two razors of ginger,

to be delivered as far as Charing-cross.

FIRST CARRIER

God's body! the turkeys in my pannier are quite

25starved. What, ostler! A plague on thee! hast thou

never an eye in thy head? canst not hear? An

'twere not as good deed as drink, to break the pate

on thee, I am a very villain. Come, and be hanged!

hast thou no faith in thee?

Enter GADSHILL

GADSHILL

30Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock?

FIRST CARRIER

I think it be two o'clock.

GADSHILL

I pray thee lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding

in the stable.

FIRST CARRIER

Nay, by God, soft; I know a trick worth two of that, i' faith.

GADSHILL

35I pray thee, lend me thine.

SECOND CARRIER

Ay, when? can'st tell? Lend me thy lantern, quoth

he? marry, I'll see thee hanged first.

GADSHILL

Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?

SECOND CARRIER

Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant

40thee. Come, neighbour Mugs, we'll call up the

gentleman: they will along with company, for they

have great charge.

Exeunt carriers

GADSHILL

What, ho! chamberlain!

CHAMBERLAIN

At hand, quoth pick-purse.

GADSHILL

45That's even as fair as--at hand, quoth the

chamberlain; for thou variest no more from picking

of purses than giving direction doth from labouring;

thou layest the plot how.

Enter Chamberlain

CHAMBERLAIN

Good morrow, Master Gadshill. It holds current that

50I 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.

55They are up already, and call for eggs and butter;

they will away presently.

GADSHILL

Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas'

clerks, I'll give thee this neck.

CHAMBERLAIN

No, I'll none of it: I pray thee keep that for the

60hangman; for I know thou worshippest St. Nicholas

as truly as a man of falsehood may.

GADSHILL

What talkest 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 knowest he is no

65starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou

dreamest not of, the which for sport sake are

content to do the profession some grace; that would,

if matters should be looked into, for their own

credit sake, make all whole. I am joined with no

70foot-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 can hold in, such as will

strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than

75drink, and drink sooner than pray: and yet, zounds,

I lie; for they pray continually to their saint, the

commonwealth; or rather, not pray to her, but prey

on her, for they ride up and down on her and make

her their boots.

CHAMBERLAIN

80What, the commonwealth their boots? will she hold

out water in foul way?

GADSHILL

She will, she will; justice hath liquored her. We

steal as in a castle, cocksure; we have the receipt

of fern-seed, we walk invisible.

CHAMBERLAIN

85Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholding to

the night than to fern-seed for your walking invisible.

GADSHILL

Give me thy hand: thou shalt have a share in our

purchase, as I am a true man.

CHAMBERLAIN

Nay, rather let me have it, as you are a false thief.

GADSHILL

90Go to; 'homo' is a common name to all men. Bid the

ostler bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewell,

you muddy knave.

Exeunt

2-2

Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS

POINS

Come, shelter, shelter: I have removed Falstaff's

horse, and he frets like a gummed velvet.

PRINCE HENRY

Stand close.

Enter FALSTAFF

FALSTAFF

Poins! Poins, and be hanged! Poins!

PRINCE HENRY

5Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal! what a brawling dost

thou keep!

FALSTAFF

Where's Poins, Hal?

PRINCE HENRY

He is walked up to the top of the hill: I'll go seek him.

FALSTAFF

I am accursed to rob in that thief's company: the

10rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know

not where. If I travel but four foot by the squier

further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt

not but to die a fair death for all this, if I

'scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have

15forsworn his company hourly any time this two and

twenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the

rogue's company. If the rascal hath not given me

medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged; it

could not be else: I have drunk medicines. Poins!

20Hal! a plague upon you both! Bardolph! Peto!

I'll starve ere I'll rob a foot further. An 'twere

not as good a deed as drink, to turn true man and to

leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that

ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven

25ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me;

and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough:

a plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another!

Whew! A plague upon you all! Give me my horse, you

rogues; give me my horse, and be hanged!

PRINCE HENRY

30Peace, ye fat-guts! lie down; lay thine ear close

to the ground and list if thou canst hear the tread

of travellers.

FALSTAFF

Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down?

'Sblood, I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot

35again for all the coin in thy father's exchequer.

What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?

PRINCE HENRY

Thou liest; thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.

FALSTAFF

I prithee, good Prince Hal, help me to my horse,

good king's son.

PRINCE HENRY

40Out, ye rogue! shall I be your ostler?

FALSTAFF

Go, hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent

garters! If I be ta'en, I'll peach for this. An I

have not ballads made on you all and sung to filthy

tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison: when a jest

45is so forward, and afoot too! I hate it.

Enter GADSHILL, BARDOLPH and PETO

GADSHILL

Stand.

FALSTAFF

So I do, against my will.

POINS

O, 'tis our setter: I know his voice. Bardolph,

what news?

BARDOLPH

50Case ye, case ye; on with your vizards: there 's

money of the king's coming down the hill; 'tis going

to the king's exchequer.

FALSTAFF

You lie, ye rogue; 'tis going to the king's tavern.

GADSHILL

There's enough to make us all.

FALSTAFF

55To be hanged.

PRINCE HENRY

Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane;

Ned Poins and I will walk lower: if they 'scape

from your encounter, then they light on us.

PETO

How many be there of them?

GADSHILL

60Some eight or ten.

FALSTAFF

'Zounds, will they not rob us?

PRINCE HENRY

What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?

FALSTAFF

Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather;

but yet no coward, Hal.

PRINCE HENRY

65Well, we leave that to the proof.

POINS

Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge:

when thou needest him, there thou shalt find him.

Farewell, and stand fast.

FALSTAFF

Now cannot I strike him, if I should be hanged.

PRINCE HENRY

70Ned, where are our disguises?

POINS

Here, hard by: stand close.

Exeunt PRINCE HENRY and POINS

FALSTAFF

Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I:

every man to his business.

Enter the Travellers

FIRST TRAVELLER

Come, neighbour: the boy shall lead our horses down

75the hill; we'll walk afoot awhile, and ease our legs.

FALSTAFF, PETO, GADSHILL, BARDOLPH

Stand!

TRAVELLERS

Jesus bless us!

FALSTAFF

Strike; down with them; cut the villains' throats:

ah! whoreson caterpillars! bacon-fed knaves! they

80hate us youth: down with them: fleece them.

TRAVELLERS, FIRST TRAVELLER

O, we are undone, both we and ours for ever!

FALSTAFF

Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? No, ye

fat chuffs: I would your store were here! On,

bacons, on! What, ye knaves! young men must live.

85You are Grand-jurors, are ye? we'll jure ye, 'faith.

Here they rob them and bind them. Exeunt

Re-enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS

PRINCE HENRY

The thieves have bound the true men. Now could thou

and I rob the thieves and go merrily to London, it

would be argument for a week, laughter for a month

and a good jest for ever.

POINS

90Stand close; I hear them coming.

Enter the Thieves again

FALSTAFF

Come, my masters, let us share, and then to horse

before day. An the Prince and Poins be not two

arrant cowards, there's no equity stirring: there's

no more valour in that Poins than in a wild-duck.

PRINCE HENRY

95Your money!

POINS

Villains!

As they are sharing, the Prince and Poins set upon them; they all run away; and Falstaff, after a blow or two, runs away too, leaving the booty behind them

PRINCE HENRY

Got with much ease. Now merrily to horse:

The thieves are all scatter'd and possess'd with fear

So strongly that they dare not meet each other;

100Each takes his fellow for an officer.

Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death,

And lards the lean earth as he walks along:

Were 't not for laughing, I should pity him.

POINS

How the rogue roar'd!

Exeunt

2-3

Enter HOTSPUR, solus, reading a letter

HOTSPUR

'But for mine own part, my lord, I could be well

contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear

your house.' He could be contented: why is he not,

then? In respect of the love he bears our house:

5he shows in this, he loves his own barn better than

he loves our house. Let me see some more. 'The

purpose you undertake is dangerous;'--why, that's

certain: 'tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to

drink; but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this

10nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. 'The

purpose you undertake is dangerous; the friends you

have named uncertain; the time itself unsorted; and

your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so

great an opposition.' Say you so, say you so? I say

15unto you again, you are a shallow cowardly hind, and

you lie. What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord,

our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our

friends true and constant: a good plot, good

friends, and full of expectation; an excellent plot,

20very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is

this! Why, my lord of York commends the plot and the

general course of action. 'Zounds, an I were now by

this rascal, I could brain him with his lady's fan.

Is there not my father, my uncle and myself? lord

25Edmund Mortimer, My lord of York and Owen Glendower?

is there not besides the Douglas? have I not all

their letters to meet me in arms by the ninth of the

next month? and are they not some of them set

forward already? What a pagan rascal is this! an

30infidel! Ha! you shall see now in very sincerity

of fear and cold heart, will he to the king and lay

open all our proceedings. O, I could divide myself

and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of

skim milk with so honourable an action! Hang him!

35let him tell the king: we are prepared. I will set

forward to-night.

How now, Kate! I must leave you within these two hours.

LADY PERCY

O, my good lord, why are you thus alone?

For what offence have I this fortnight been

40A banish'd woman from my Harry's bed?

Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from thee

Thy stomach, pleasure and thy golden sleep?

Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth,

And start so often when thou sit'st alone?

45Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks;

And given my treasures and my rights of thee

To thick-eyed musing and cursed melancholy?

In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch'd,

And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars;

50Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed;

Cry 'Courage! to the field!' And thou hast talk'd

Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents,

Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets,

Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin,

55Of prisoners' ransom and of soldiers slain,

And all the currents of a heady fight.

Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war

And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep,

That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow

60Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream;

And in thy face strange motions have appear'd,

Such as we see when men restrain their breath

On some great sudden hest. O, what portents are these?

Some heavy business hath my lord in hand,

65And I must know it, else he loves me not.

HOTSPUR

What, ho!

Is Gilliams with the packet gone?

SERVANT

He is, my lord, an hour ago.

HOTSPUR

Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?

SERVANT

70One horse, my lord, he brought even now.

HOTSPUR

What horse? a roan, a crop-ear, is it not?

SERVANT

It is, my lord.

HOTSPUR

That roan shall by my throne.

Well, I will back him straight: O esperance!

75Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.

Exit Servant

LADY PERCY

But hear you, my lord.

HOTSPUR

What say'st thou, my lady?

LADY PERCY

What is it carries you away?

HOTSPUR

Why, my horse, my love, my horse.

LADY PERCY

80Out, you mad-headed ape!

A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen

As you are toss'd with. In faith,

I'll know your business, Harry, that I will.

I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir

85About his title, and hath sent for you

To line his enterprise: but if you go,--

HOTSPUR

So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.

LADY PERCY

Come, come, you paraquito, answer me

Directly unto this question that I ask:

90In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,

An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.

HOTSPUR

Away,

Away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not,

I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world

95To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:

We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,

And pass them current too. God's me, my horse!

What say'st thou, Kate? what would'st thou

have with me?

LADY PERCY

100Do you not love me? do you not, indeed?

Well, do not then; for since you love me not,

I will not love myself. Do you not love me?

Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.

HOTSPUR

Come, wilt thou see me ride?

105And when I am on horseback, I will swear

I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate;

I must not have you henceforth question me

Whither I go, nor reason whereabout:

Whither I must, I must; and, to conclude,

110This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.

I know you wise, but yet no farther wise

Than Harry Percy's wife: constant you are,

But yet a woman: and for secrecy,

No lady closer; for I well believe

115Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know;

And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.

LADY PERCY

How! so far?

HOTSPUR

Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate:

Whither I go, thither shall you go too;

120To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.

Will this content you, Kate?

LADY PERCY

It must of force.

Exeunt

2-4

Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS

PRINCE HENRY

Ned, prithee, come out of that fat room, and lend me

thy hand to laugh a little.

POINS

Where hast been, Hal?

PRINCE HENRY

With three or four loggerheads amongst three or four

5score hogsheads. I have sounded the very

base-string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother

to a leash of drawers; and can call them all by

their christen names, as Tom, Dick, and Francis.

They take it already upon their salvation, that

10though I be but the prince of Wales, yet I am king

of courtesy; and tell me flatly I am no proud Jack,

like Falstaff, but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a

good boy, by the Lord, so they call me, and when I

am king of England, I shall command all the good

15lads in Eastcheap. They call drinking deep, dyeing

scarlet; and when you breathe in your watering, they

cry 'hem!' and bid you play it off. To conclude, I

am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour,

that I can drink with any tinker in his own language

20during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost

much honour, that thou wert not with me in this sweet

action. But, sweet Ned,--to sweeten which name of

Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped

even now into my hand by an under-skinker, one that

25never spake other English in his life than 'Eight

shillings and sixpence' and 'You are welcome,' with

this shrill addition, 'Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint

of bastard in the Half-Moon,' or so. But, Ned, to

drive away the time till Falstaff come, I prithee,

30do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my

puny drawer to what end he gave me the sugar; and do

thou never leave calling 'Francis,' that his tale

to me may be nothing but 'Anon.' Step aside, and

I'll show thee a precedent.

POINS

35Francis!

PRINCE HENRY

Thou art perfect.

POINS

Francis!

Exit POINS

Enter FRANCIS

FRANCIS

Anon, anon, sir. Look down into the Pomgarnet, Ralph.

PRINCE HENRY

Come hither, Francis.

FRANCIS

40My lord?

PRINCE HENRY

How long hast thou to serve, Francis?

FRANCIS

Forsooth, five years, and as much as to--

POINS

Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, anon, sir.

PRINCE HENRY

45Five year! by'r lady, a long lease for the clinking

of pewter. But, Francis, darest thou be so valiant

as to play the coward with thy indenture and show it

a fair pair of heels and run from it?

FRANCIS

O Lord, sir, I'll be sworn upon all the books in

50England, I could find in my heart.

POINS

Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, sir.

PRINCE HENRY

How old art thou, Francis?

FRANCIS

Let me see--about Michaelmas next I shall be--

POINS

55Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, sir. Pray stay a little, my lord.

PRINCE HENRY

Nay, but hark you, Francis: for the sugar thou

gavest me,'twas a pennyworth, wast't not?

FRANCIS

O Lord, I would it had been two!

PRINCE HENRY

60I will give thee for it a thousand pound: ask me

when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it.

POINS

Francis!

FRANCIS

Anon, anon.

PRINCE HENRY

Anon, Francis? No, Francis; but to-morrow, Francis;

65or, Francis, o' Thursday; or indeed, Francis, when

thou wilt. But, Francis!

FRANCIS

My lord?

PRINCE HENRY

Wilt thou rob this leathern jerkin, crystal-button,

not-pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, caddis-garter,

70smooth-tongue, Spanish-pouch,--

FRANCIS

O Lord, sir, who do you mean?

PRINCE HENRY

Why, then, your brown bastard is your only drink;

for look you, Francis, your white canvas doublet

will sully: in Barbary, sir, it cannot come to so much.

FRANCIS

75What, sir?

POINS

Francis!

PRINCE HENRY

Away, you rogue! dost thou not hear them call?

Here they both call him; the drawer stands amazed, not knowing which way to go

Enter Vintner

VINTNER

What, standest thou still, and hearest such a

calling? Look to the guests within.

80My lord, old Sir John, with half-a-dozen more, are

at the door: shall I let them in?

PRINCE HENRY

Let them alone awhile, and then open the door.

Poins!

Re-enter POINS

POINS

Anon, anon, sir.

PRINCE HENRY

85Sirrah, Falstaff and the rest of the thieves are at

the door: shall we be merry?

POINS

As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark ye; what

cun