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an opposition."-Say you so, say you so? I say unto you again, you are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lack-brain is this! I protest, our plot is as good a plot as ever was laid: our friends true and constant: a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation: an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is this! Why, my lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action. By this hand, if 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 Edmund 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 infidel! 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 skimmed milk with so honourable an action! hang him! Let him tell the king: We are prepared: I will set forward to-night.

Enter Lady PERCY.

How now, Kate? I must leave you within these two hours.
LADY. O, my good lord, why are you thus alone?

For what offence have I, this fortnight, been
A 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 sitt'st alone?
Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks;
And given my treasures, and my rights of thee,
To thick-ey'd musing and curs'd melancholy?
In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch'd,
And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars :
Speak 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, culverin13;
Of prisoners' ransom, and of soldiers slain,

And all the current of a heady fight.

Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war,
And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep,

a Retires-retreats.

Frontiers. A frontier is something standing in front. Thus the frontier of a territory is the part opposed to, fronting, another territory; and in this way a fort is a frontier, as in this passage. © Current. So the folio. Some editions read 'currents, for occurrents, occurrences. "the current of a heady fight "-the course, the rush-presents no difficulty.

But surely

That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow,

Like 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,

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

HOT. What, ho! is Gilliams with the packet gone?

Enter Servant.

SERV. He is, my lord, an hour ago.

HOT. Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?
SERV. One horse, my lord, he brought even now.
HOT. What horse? a roan, a crop-ear, is it not?
SERV. It is, my lord.

HOT.

That roan shall be my throne. Well, I will back him straight: Esperancé!]

Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.

LADY. But hear you, my lord.

Hor. What say'st thou, my lady?

?

LADY. What is it carries you away
HOT. Why, my horse, my love, my horse.
LADY. Out, you mad-headed ape!

A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen
As you are toss'd with. In sooth,
I'll know your business, Harry, that I will.
I fear, my brother Mortimer doth stir
About his title; and hath sent for you,
To line his enterprise: But if you go-
HOT. So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.
LADY. Come, come, you paraquito, answer me
Directly to this question that I shall ask ".
In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.

[Exit Servant.

Hest. So the first quarto. Subsequent editions haste. We restore the original word hest— behest-commend-in accordance with Mr. Collier's reading.

Ago. So the quartos. The folio agone, which makes an unpleasant jingle with the gone of the preceding line.

• Esperance. This is the motto of the Percy family. Hotspur pictures himself on his roan,— his throne, and leading on his men with the family war-cry. The passage is generally printed O Esperance; but not so in all the old editions. The passage is printed as prose in the early copies. But it is evidently metrical; and, omitting the 0, Esperance must be read as four syllables, as in Act V., scene 2, according to the rule of French metre, that e final always forms a syllable.

a Shall ask. So the folio. Modern editions omit shall. This, and the previous speech of the lady, are also printed as prose in the early copies.

[blocks in formation]

We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,

And pass them current too.-Gods me, my horse!—

What say'st thou, Kate? what wouldst thou have with me? LADY. Do 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.
HOT. Come, wilt thou see me ride?

And when I am a'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,
This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.
I know you wise; but yet no further wise
Than Harry Percy's wife: constant you are,
But yet a woman: and for secrecy,

No lady closer; for I will believe

Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know;
And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate!

LADY. HOW! so far?

Hor. Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate:
Whither I go thither shall you go too;

To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.—
Will this content you, Kate?

LADY.

It must of force.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-Eastcheap. A Room in the Boar's Head Tavern ".

Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS.

P. HEN. Ned, prithee come out of that fat room, and lend me thy hand to laugh a little.

POINS. Where hast been, Hal?

P. HEN. With three or four loggerheads, amongst three or four score 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 christian names, as— Tom, Dick, and Francis". They take it already upon their salvation, that,

a Mammets-puppets.

a

though I be but prince of Wales, yet I am the 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 lads in Eastcheap. They call drinking deep, dying 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 during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost much honour that thou wert not with me in this 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 never 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 Halfmoon," or so. But, Ned, to drive away time till Falstaff come, I prithee do 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. Francis!

P. HEN. Thou art perfect.

POINS. Francis!

[Exit POINS.

Enter FRANCIS.

FRAN. Anon, anon, sir.-Look down into the Pomegranate, Ralph.

P. HEN. Come hither, Francis.

FRAN. My lord.

P. HEN. How long hast thou to serve, Francis?

FRAN. Forsooth, five years, and as much as to

POINS. [Within] Francis!

FRAN. Anon, anon, sir.

P. HEN. Five years! 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?

FRAN. O lord, sir, I'll be sworn upon all the books in England I could find in my heart

POINS. [Within] Francis!

FRAN. Anon, anon, sir.

And tell. The folio, telling.

The folio omits this parenthetical expression of the Prince, which is found in the earlier quartos.

• Breathe in your watering. To take breath when you are drinking. To water was a common word for to drink, as we still say to water a horse. Some mechanics have still their watering-time in the afternoon.

a Pennyworth of sugar-to sweeten the wine. (See Illustration to Act I.)

• Under-skinker-an under-drawer, or waiter-one that supplies skink or drink. Ben Jonson calls the landlord of the Devil Tavern, "Old Sim, the king of skinkers."

P. HEN. How old art thou, Francis ?

FRAN. Let me see,--About Michaelmas next I shall be

POINS. [Within] Francis!

FRAN. Anon, sir.-Pray you stay a little, my lord.

P. HEN. Nay, but hark you, Francis: For the sugar thou gavest me,-'t was a pennyworth, was 't not?

FRAN. O lord, sir! I would it had been two.

P. HEN. I will give thee for it a thousand pound: ask me when thou wilt and thou shalt have it.

POINS. [Within] Francis!

FRAN. Anon, anon.

P. HEN. Anon, Francis? No, Francis: but to-morrow, Francis; or, Francis, on Thursday; or, indeed, Francis, when thou wilt. But, Francis,—

FRAN. My lord?

P. HEN. Wilt thou rob this leathern jerkin, crystal button, nott-pated", agatering, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish-pouch,— FRAN. O lord, sir, who do you mean?

P. HEN. 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.

FRAN. What, sir?

POINS. [Within] Francis!

P. HEN. 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.

VINT. What! stand'st thou still and hear'st such a calling? Look to the guests within. [Exit FRANCIS.] My lord, old sir John, with half a dozen more, are at the door; Shall I let them in ?

P. HEN. Let them alone awhile, and then open the door.

[Exit Vintner.

Poins!

Re-enter POINS.

POINS. Anon, anon, sir.

P. HEN. Sirrah, 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 cunning match have you made with this jest of the drawer; come, what's the issue?

P. HEN. I am now of all humours that have showed themselves humours, since

a

Nott-pated with the hair cut close. A word of contempt equivalent to the roundhead of the next half-century.

b Puke-stocking. Puke, puce, is a sober brown colour. The Prince describes the drawer's master as a person whose dress and appearance were entirely opposite to those of the gay courtiers who frequented his house. The caddis-garter, the garter of ferret, matches the puce-stocking.

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