my captain, Sir John Falstaff, a tall* gentleman, by heaven, and a most gallant leader. *Brave. Shal. He greets me well, sir. I knew him a good backsword man. How doth the good knight? may I ask how my lady his wife doth? 71 Bard. Sir, pardon; a soldier is better accommodated than with a wife. Shal. It is well said, in faith, sir; and it is well said indeed too. Better accommodated! it is good; yea, indeed, is it: good phrases are surely, and ever were, very commendable. Accommodated! it comes of 'accommodo:' very good; a good phrase. 79 Bard. Pardon me, sir; I have heard the word. Phrase call you it? by this good day, I know not the phrase; but I will maintain the word with my sword to be a soldier-like word, and a word of exceeding good command, by heaven. Accommodated; that is, when a man is, as they say, accommodated; or when a man is, being, whereby a' may be thought to be accommodated; which is an excellent thing. Shal. It is very just. Enter FALSTAFF. Look, here comes good Sir John. 89 Give me your good hand, give me your worship's good hand: by my troth, you like well and bear your years very well: welcome, good Sir John. Fal. I am glad to see you well, good Master Robert Shallow: Master Surecard, as I think? Shal. No, Sir John; it is my cousin Silence, in commission with me. Fal. Good Master Silence, it well befits you should be of the peace. 100 Sil. Your good worship is welcome. Shal. Marry, have we, sir. Will you sit? Shal. Where's the roll? where's the roll? where's the roll? Let me see, let me see, let me see. So, so, so, so, so, so, so: yea, marry, sir: Ralph Mouldy! Let them appear as I call; let them do so, let them do so. Let me see; where is Mouldy? Moul. Here, an't please you. III Shal. What think you, Sir John? a goodlimbed fellow; young, strong, and of good friends. Fal. Is thy name Mouldy? Moul. Yea, an't please you. Fal. 'Tis the more time thou wert used. Shal. Ha, ha, ha! most excellent, i' faith! things that are mouldy lack use: very singular good! in faith, well said, Sir John, very well said. Fal. Prick him. 121 Moul. I was pricked well enough before, an you could have let me alone: my old dame will be undone now for one to do her husbandry and her drudgery: you need not to have pricked me; there are other men fitter to go out than I. Fal. Go to: peace, Mouldy; you shall go. Mouldy, it is time you were spent. Moul. Spent! 129 Shal. Peace, fellow, peace; stand aside: know you where you are? For the other, Sir John: let me see: Simon Shadow! Fal. Yea, marry, let me have him to sit under: he's like to be a cold soldier. Shal. Where's Shadow? Shad. Here, sir. Fal. Shadow, whose son art thou? Shad. My mother's son, sir. Fal. Thy mother's son! like enough, and thy father's shadow: so the son of the female is the shadow of the male: it is often so, indeed; but much of the father's substance! Shal. Do you like him, Sir John? Fal. Shadow will serve for summer; prick him, for we have a number of shadows to fill up the muster-book. Fal. Thou art a very ragged wart. 150 Shal. Shall I prick him down, Sir John? Fal. It were superfluous; for his apparel is built upon his back and the whole frame stands upon pins: prick him no more. Shal. Ha, ha, ha! you can do it, sir; you can do it: I commend you well. Francis Feeble! Fee. Here, sir. Fal. What trade art thou, Feeble? Shal. Shall I prick him, sir? 160 Fal. You may: but if he had been a man's tailor, he'ld ha' pricked you. Wilt thou make as many holes in an enemy's battle as thou hast done in a woman's petticoat? Fee. I will do my good will, sir: you can have no more. Fal. Well said, good woman's tailor! well said, courageous Feeble! thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove or most magnanimous mouse. Prick the woman's tailor: well, Master Shallow; deep, Master Shallow. Fee. I would Wart might have gone, sir. Fal. I would thou wert a man's tailor, that thou mightst mend him and make him fit to go. I cannot put him to a private soldier that is the leader of so many thousands: let that suffice, most forcible Feeble. Fee. It shall suffice, sir. 180 Fal. I am bound to thee, reverend Feeble. Who is next? Shal. Peter Bullcalf o' the green! Fal. Yea, marry, let's see Bullcalf. Fal. 'Fore God, a likely fellow! Come, prick me Bullcalf till he roar again. Bull. O Lord! good my lord captain, Fal. What, dost thou roar before thou art pricked? Bull. O Lord, sir! I am a diseased man. 190 Bull. A whoreson cold, sir, a cough, sir, which I caught with ringing in the king's affairs upon his coronation-day, sir. Fal. Come, thou shalt go to the wars in a gown; we will have away thy cold; and I will take such order that thy friends shall ring for thee. Is here all ? 199 Shal. Here is two more called than your number; you must have but four here, sir: and so, I pray you, go in with me to dinner. Fal. Come, I will go drink with you, but I cannot tarry dinner. I am glad to see you, by my troth, Master Shallow. Shal. O, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all night in the windmill in Saint George's field? Fal. No more of that, good Master Shallow, no more of that. Shal. Ha! 'twas a merry night. And is Jane Nightwork alive? Fal. She lives, Master Shallow. Shal. She never could away with me. 211 Fal. Never, never; she would always say she could not abide Master Shallow. Shal. By the mass, I could anger her to the heart. She was then a bona-roba.* hold her own well? Fal. Old, old, Master Shallow. Doth she *Harlot. 219 Shal. Nay, she must be old; she cannot choose but be old; certain she's old; and had Robin Nightwork by old Nightwork before I came to Clement's Inn. Sil. That's fifty five year ago. Shal. Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen that that this knight and I have seen! Ha, Sir John, said I well? Fal. We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow. 229 Shal. That we have, that we have, that we have; in faith, Sir John, we have: our watchword was 'Hem boys!' Come, let's to dinner; come, let's to dinner: Jesus, the days that we have seen! Come, come. [Exeunt Falstaff and the Justices. Bull. Good Master Corporate Bardolph, stand my friend; and here's four Harry ten shillings in French crowns for you. In very truth, sir, I had as lief be hanged, sir, as go: and yet, for mine own part, sir, I do not care; but rather, because I am unwilling, and, for mine own part, have a desire to stay with my friends; else, sir, I did not care, for mine own part, so much. Bard. Go to; stand aside. Moul. And, good master corporal captain, for my old dame's sake, stand my friend: she has nobody to do any thing about her when I am gone; and she is old, and cannot help herself: you shall have forty, sir. Bard. Go to; stand aside. 249 Fee. By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once: we owe God a death: I'll ne'er bear a base mind: an't be my destiny, so; an't be not, so: no man is too good to serve's prince; and let it go which way it will, he that dies this year is quit for the next. Bard. Well said; thou'rt a good fellow. Re-enter FALSTAFF and the Justices. Fal. Come, sir, which men shall I have? Bard. Sir, a word with you: I have three pound to free Mouldy and Bullcalf. Fal. Go to; well. 261 Shal. Come, Sir John, which four will you have? Fal. Do you choose for me. Shal. Marry, then, Mouldy, Bullcalf, Feeble and Shadow. Fal. Mouldy and Bullcalf: for you, Mouldy, stay at home till you are past service: and for your part, Bullcalf, grow till you come unto it: I will none of you. 271 Shal. Sir John, Sir John, do not yourself wrong: they are your likeliest men, and I would have you served with the best. |