P. Hen. Or an old lion; or a lover's lute. Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe.t

P. Hen. What sayest 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 marked him not: and yet he talked very wisely; but I regarded him not: and yet he taked wisely, and in the street too.

P. Hen. Thou did'st 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 damned for never a king's son in Christendom.

P. Hen. Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, 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 hath 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 man.

P. Hen. 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 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 damned for keeping thy

word with the devil.

P. Hen. 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 riding to London with fat purses: I have visors** for you all, you have horses for yourselves; Gadshill lies tonight 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, tar. ry at home, and be hanged.

Ful. 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.

Ful. 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.*

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 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.

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, Bar dolph, Peto, and Gadshill, shall rob those men that we have already way-laid; 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.

P. Hen. But how shall we part from 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.

P. Hen. 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 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 this, lies the jest.

P. Hen. Well, I'll go with thee; provide us all things necessary, and meet me to-morrow night in Eastcheap, there I'll sup. Farewell.

* The value of a coin called real or royal. + Fine weather at All-hallown-tide, (1. c. All Saints, Nov. 1st,) is called a All-hallown summer. ‡ Ocension.

Confutation.

Poins. Farewell, my lord.
[Exit POINS.
P. Hen. I know you all, and will a while
uphold

The unyok'd 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,
Being 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;
But, when they seldom come, they wish'd-for

come,

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
So, when this loose behaviour I throw off,
And pay the debt I never promised,
By how much better than my word I am,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;*
And, like bright metal on a sullent 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.
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;
Redeeming time, when men think least I will.
[Exit.

SCENE III. The same. Another Room in the
Palace.

Enter King HENRY, NORTHUMBERLAND, WORCESTER, HOTSPUR, Sir Walter Blunt, and

others.

K. Hen. My blood hath been too cold and Unapt to stir at these indignities, [temperate, And you have found me; for accordingly, You tread upon my patience: but, be sure, I 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.

Wor. Our house, my sovereign liege, little deserves

The scourge of greatness to be used on it; And that same greatness too which our own Have holp to make so portly.

North. My lord,

[hands

K. Hen. Worcester, get thee gone, for I see

danger

And disobedience in thine eye: O, Sir,
Your presence is too bold and peremptory,
And majesty might never yet endure

The moody frontiers of a servant brow. [need
You have good leave|| to leave us; when we
Your use and counsel, we shall send for
[Exit WORCESTER.

[To NORTH. [manded,

you.You were about to speak. spea North. Yea, my good lord. Those prisoners in your highness' name deWhich Harry Percy here at Holmedon took, Were, as he says, not with such strength deAs is deliver'd to your majesty: Either envy, therefore, or misprision Is guilty of this fault, and not my son.

[nied

Hot. My 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, trimly dress'd, Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin, new reap'd, Show'd like a stubble-land at harvest home;

Expectations, + Dull ‡ Disposition.
Forebend.

|| Ready assent,

there,

[ly,

He was perfumed like a milliner;
And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon
He gave his nose, and took't away again ;-
Who, therewith angry, when it next came
[talk'd;
Took it in snuff:-and still he smil'd, and
And, as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,
He call'd them-untaught knaves, unmanner-
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
With many holiday and lady terms
He question'd me; among the rest demanded
My prisoners, in your majesty's behalf.
I then, all smarting, with my wounds being
To be so pester'd with a popinjay,t
[cold,
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,

To 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;
And that it was great pity, so it was,
That villanous saltpetre should be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good talls fellow had destroy'd
So cowardly; and, but for these vile guns,
He 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 this report
Come current for an accusation,
Betwixt my love and your high majesty.
Blunt. The circumstance consider'd, good

my lord,

Whatever Harry Percy then hath said,
To such a person, and in such a place,
At such a time, with all the rest re-told,
May reasonably die, and never rise
To do him wrong, or any way impeach
What then he said, so he unsay it now.

K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prisonBut with proviso, and exception,[ers; That we, at our own charge, shall ransom straight

dower;

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 the great magician, damn'd Glen-
[March
Whose daughter, as we hear, the earl of
Hath lately married. Shall our coffers then
Be emptied, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treason? and indent|| with fears,
When they have lost and forfeited themselves?
No, 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.

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.

Art 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,

We license your departure with your son :Send us your prisoners, or you'll hear of it.

[Exeunt King HENRY, BLUNT, and Train. Hot. And 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, Although it be with hazard of my head.

That wish'd him on the barren mountains starv'd.

Upon the head of this forgetful man; But shall it be, that you, that set the crown And, for his sake, wear the detested blot Of murd'rous subordination,-shall it be, That you a world of curses undergo; Being the agents, or base second means, The 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, Or 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, And plant this thorn, this canker,* BolingAnd shall it, in more shame, be further spo[ken, 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 Your 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 To answer all the debt he owes to you, [night, Even with the bloody payment of your deaths. Therefore, I say,

broke?

Wor. Peace, cousin, say no more: And now I will unclasp a secret book,

pause awhile; Here comes your uncle.

Re-enter WORCESTER.

Hot. Speak of Mortimer? 'Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul Want 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 i'the But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer [dust, As high i'the air as this unthankful king, As this ingratet and canker'd Bolingbroke. North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew mad. [TO WORCESTER. Wor. Who struck this heat up, after I was _gone? Hot. He will, forsooth, have all my prisonAnd when I urg'd the ransom once again [ers; Of 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.

Wor. I cannot blame him: Was he not proclaim'd,

By Richard that dead is, the next of blood?
North. He was; I heard the proclamation:
And then it was, when the unhappy king
(Whose wrongs in us God pardon!) did set
Upon his Irish expedition;
[forth
From whence he, intercepted, did return
To be depos'd, and shortly, murdered.

Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's

wide mouth

Live scandaliz'd, and foully spoken of.

ard then

Hot. But, soft, I pray you; Did king Rich

Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer
Heir to the crown?

North. He did; myself did hear it.

I'll read you matter deep and dangerous; As full of peril, and advent'rous spirit, As to o'er-walk a current, roaring loud, On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.

Hot. If he fall in, good night:-or sink

swim:

Send danger from the east unto the west,
So honour cross it from the north to south,
And let them grapple;-O! the blood more
To rouse a lion, than to start a hare. [stirs,
North. Imagination of some great exploit
Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.
Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy
leap,
[moon;
To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd
Or dive unto the bottom of the deep,

Where fathom-line could never touch the
ground,
And pluck up drowned honour by the locks;
So he, that doth redeem her thence, might
Without corrival, all her dignities: [wear,
But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship!

Wor. He apprehends a world of figures||

here,

But not the form of what he should attend.-. Good cousin, give me audience for a while. Hot. I cry you mercy.

Wor. Those same noble Scots,

That are your prisoners,
Hot. I'll keep them all;

By heaven 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.

king,

And in his ear I'll holla-Mortimer!

Cousin; a word.

Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy,* Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke: And that same sword-and-bucklert Prince of Wales.

But that I think his father loves him not, And would be glad he met with some mischance,

I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale.
Wor. Farewell, kinsman! I will talk to you,
When you are better temper'd to attend.
North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impa-
tient fool

Art thou, to break into this woman's mood;
Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own?
Hot. Why, look you, I am whipp'd and

scourg'd with rods,

Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke. you call the

In Richard's

place?

A plague upon't!-it is in Gloustershire;-
'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 candys 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 for-

give me!

Good uncle, tell your tale, for I have done.
Wor. Nay, if you have not, to't again;

We'll stay your leisure.
Hot. I have done, i'faith.

Wor. Then once more to your Scottish pris

oners.

Deliver them up without their ransom straight, And make the Douglas' son your only mean For powers in Scotland; which, for divers

Wor. And 'tis no little reason bids us speed,

To save our heads by raising of a head :*
For, bear ourselves as even as we can,
The king we always think him in our debt;
And think we think ourselves unsatisfied,
Till he hath found a time to pay us home.
And see already, how he doth begin
To make us strangers to his looks of love.
Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd
on him.

Wor. Cousin, farewell :---No further go in this,

Than I by letters shall direct your course. When 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, Which now we hold at much uncertainty.

North. Farewell, good brother: we shall

thrive, I trust.

Hot. Uncle, adieu:-O, 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.

1 Car. Heigh ho! An't be not four by the day, I'll be hanged: Charles' waint is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not packed. What, ostler!

Ost. [Within.] Anon, anon.

1 Car. I pry'thee Tom, beat Cut's‡ saddle, put a few flocks in the point; the poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess.§

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 turned upside down, since Robin ostler died.

1 Car. Poor fellow! never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him.

2 Car. I think, this be the most villanous 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.tt

1 Car. What, ostler! come away and be hanged, come away.

2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon, and two razes of ginger, to be delivered as far as Charingcross.

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 hanged:-Hast no faith

in thee?

Enter GADSHILL.

Gads. Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock? A body of forces. The constellation Ursa major. + Name of his horse. Measure. | Wet. 1. Worms, ** Spotted like a tench.

A small fish supposed to breed fleas.

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 ho! 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 labouring; thou lay'st the plot how.

Enter CHAMBERLAIN.

Cham. Good morrow, master Gadshill. It holds current, that I told you yesternight: There's a franklint 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 already, 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 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's no starveling. 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 foot land-rakers, no long-staff, sixpenny strikers; none of these mad, mustachio purplehued 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 drink, and drink sooner than pray: And yet 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.

Cham. What, the commonwealth their boots? will she hold out water in foul way?

Gads. She will, she will; justice. hath liquored her.** We steal us in a castle, cocksure; we have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk invisible.

Cham. Nay, by my faith? I think you are more beholden to the night, than to fern-seed, for your walking invisible.

Gads. Give me thy hand: thou shalt have a share in our purchase, tt as I am a true‡‡ man. Cham. Nay, rather let me have it, as you are a false thief.

* A proverb, from the pick-purse being always ready. Cant term for highwaymen. || Public accountants. ** Oiled, smoothed her over. ‡‡ Honest.

Freeholder.
Footpads.
Booty.

# In what we acquire.

Ful. Poins! Poins, and be hanged! Poins! P. Hen. Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal; What a brawling dost thou keep?

Fal. Where's Poins, Hal?

P. Hen. He is walked up to the top of the hill; I'll go seek him. [Pretends to seek POINS.

Ful. I am accursed to rob in that thief's company: the rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know not where. If I travel but four foot by the squire 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 forsworn his company hourly any time this two-andtwenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the rogue's company. If the rascal have not given me medicinest to make me love him, I'll be hanged; it could not be else; I have drunk medicines.-Poins! - Hal! -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 leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground, is threescore and ten miles afoot with me; and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough: A plague upon't, when thieves cannot be true to one another! [They whistle.] Whew! A plague upon you all! Give me my horse, you rogues; give me my horse, and be hanged.

P. Hen. Peace, ye fat-guts! lie down; lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers.

Fal. Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down? 'Sblood, I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot again, for all the coin in thy father's exchequer. What a plague mean ye to colts me thus?

P. Hen. Thou liest, thou art not colted, thou art uncolted. Fal. I pr'ythee, good prince Hal, help me to my horse; good king's son.

P. Hen. Out, you rogue! shall I be your ostler!

Fal. Go, hang thyself in thy 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 is so forward, and afoot too, I hate it.