William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (232 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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Enter Prince Harry and Harvey, marching; and Sir John Oldcastle meets them, playing upon his truncheon like a fife
How now, lad, is the wind in that door, i’faith? Must
we all march?
we all march?
RUSSELL Yea, two and two, Newgate fashion.
HOSTESS My lord, I pray you hear me.
PRINCE HARRY
What sayst thou, Mistress Quickly? How doth thy
husband?
I love him well; he is an honest man.
husband?
I love him well; he is an honest man.
HOSTESS Good my lord, hear me!!
SIR JOHN Prithee, let her alone, and list to me.
PRINCE HARRY What sayst thou, Jack?
SIR JOHN The other night I fell asleep here behind the arras, and had my pocket picked. This house is turned bawdy-house: they pick pockets.
PRINCE HARRY What didst thou lose, Jack? 100
SIR JOHN Wilt thou believe me, Hal, three or four bonds of forty pound apiece, and a seal-ring of my grandfather’s.
PRINCE HARRY A trifle, some eightpenny matter.
HOSTESS So I told him, my lord; and I said I heard your grace say so; and, my lord, he speaks most vilely of you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is, and said he would cudgel you. 108
PRINCE HARRY What? He did not !
HOSTESS There’s neither faith, truth, nor womanhood in me else.
SIR JOHN There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune, nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn fox; and, for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the deputy’s wife of the ward to thee. Go, you thing, go!
HOSTESS Say, what thing, what thing?
SIR JOHN What thing? Why, a thing to thank God on.
HOSTESS I am no thing to thank God on. I would thou shouldst know it, I am an honest man’s wife; and setting thy knighthood aside, thou art a knave to call me so.
SIR JOHN Setting thy womanhood aside, thou art a beast to say otherwise.
HOSTESS Say, what beast, thou knave, thou?
sIR JOHN What beast? Why, an otter.
PRINCE HARRY An otter, Sir John? Why an otter?
SIR JOHN Why? She’s neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have her.
HOSTESS Thou art an unjust man in saying so. Thou or any man knows where to have me, thou knave, thou.
PRINCE HARRY Thou sayst true, Hostess, and he slanders thee most grossly.
HOSTESS So he doth you, my lord, and said this other day you owed him a thousand pound.
PRINCE HARRY (
to Sir John
) Sirrah, do I owe you a thousand pound?
to Sir John
) Sirrah, do I owe you a thousand pound?
SIR JOHN A thousand pound, Hal? A million! Thy love is worth a million; thou owest me thy love.
HOSTESS Nay, my lord, he called you ’jack’ and said he would cudgel you.
SIR JOHN Did I, Russell?
RUSSELL Indeed, Sir John, you said so.
SIR JOHN Yea, if he said my ring was copper.
PRINCE HARRY I say ’tis copper; darest thou be as good as thy word now?
SIR JOHN Why, Hal, thou knowest as thou art but man I dare, but as thou art prince, I fear thee as I fear the roaring of the lion’s whelp.
PRINCE HARRY And why not as the lion?
SIR JOHN The King himself is to be feared as the lion. Dost thou think I’ll fear thee as I fear thy father? Nay, an I do, I pray God my girdle break.
PRINCE HARRY O, if it should, how would thy guts fall about thy knees! But sirrah, there’s no room for faith, truth, nor honesty in this bosom of thine; it is all filled up with guts and midriff. Charge an honest woman with picking thy pocket? Why, thou whoreson impudent embossed rascal, if there were anything in thy pocket but tavern reckonings, memorandums of bawdy-houses, and one poor pennyworth of sugar-candy to make thee long-winded-if thy pocket were enriched with any other injuries but these, I am a villain. And yet you will stand to it, you will not pocket up wrong. Art thou not ashamed?
SIR JOHN Dost thou hear, Hal? Thou knowest in the state of innocency Adam fell, and what should poor Jack Oldcastle do in the days of villainy? Thou seest I have more flesh than another man, and therefore more frailty. You confess, then, you picked my pocket.
PRINCE HARRY It appears so by the story.
SIR JOHN Hostess, I forgive thee. Go make ready breakfast. Love thy husband, look to thy servants, cherish thy guests. Thou shalt find me tractable to any honest reason; thou seest I am pacified still. Nay, prithee, be gone. Exit Hostess Now, Hal, to the news at court. For the robbery, lad, how is that answered?
PRINCE HARRY O, my sweet beef, I must still be good angel to thee. The money is paid back again.
SIR JOHN O, I do not like that paying back; ’tis a double labour. 181
PRINCE HARRY I am good friends with my father, and may do anything.
SIR JOHN Rob me the exchequer the first thing thou dost, and do it with unwashed hands too.
RUSSELL Do, my lord.
PRINCE HARRY I have procured thee, Jack, a charge of foot.
SIR JOHN I would it had been of horse ! Where shall I find one that can steal well? O, for a fine thief of the age of two-and-twenty or thereabouts! I am heinously unprovided. Well, God be thanked for these rebels-they offend none but the virtuous. I laud them, I praise them.
PRINCE HARRY Russell.
RUSSELL My lord?
PRINCE HARRY (
giving letters
)
giving letters
)
Go bear this letter to Lord John of Lancaster,
To my brother John; this to my lord of Westmorland.
To my brother John; this to my lord of Westmorland.
Exit Russell
Go, Harvey, to horse, to horse, for thou and I
Have thirty miles to ride yet ere dinner time.
Have thirty miles to ride yet ere dinner time.
Exit Harvey
Jack, meet me tomorrow in the Temple Hall
At two o’clock in the afternoon.
There shalt thou know thy charge, and there receive
Money and order for their furniture.
The land is burning, Percy stands on high,
And either we or they must lower lie.
Exit
At two o’clock in the afternoon.
There shalt thou know thy charge, and there receive
Money and order for their furniture.
The land is burning, Percy stands on high,
And either we or they must lower lie.
Exit
SIR JOHN
Rare words I Brave world! (
Calling
) Hostess, my
breakfast, come!—
O, I could wish this tavern were my drum! Exit
4.1Calling
) Hostess, my
breakfast, come!—
O, I could wish this tavern were my drum! Exit
Enter Hotspur and the Earls of,Worcester and Douglas
HOTSPUR
Well said, my noble Scot ! If speaking truth
In this fine age were not thought flattery,
Such attribution should the Douglas have
As not a soldier of this season’s stamp
Should go so general current through the world.
By God, I cannot flatter, I do defy
The tongues of soothers, but a braver place
In my heart’s love hath no man than yourself.
Nay, task me to my word, approve me, lord.
In this fine age were not thought flattery,
Such attribution should the Douglas have
As not a soldier of this season’s stamp
Should go so general current through the world.
By God, I cannot flatter, I do defy
The tongues of soothers, but a braver place
In my heart’s love hath no man than yourself.
Nay, task me to my word, approve me, lord.
DOUGLAS Thou art the king of honour.
No man so potent breathes upon the ground
But I will beard him.
But I will beard him.
HOTSPUR Do so, and ’tis well
.
.
Enter a Messenger with letters
What letters hast thou there? I can but thank you.
MESSENGER These letters come from your father.
HOTSPUR
Letters from him? Why comes he not himself? 15
MESSENGER
He cannot come, my lord, he is grievous sick.
HOTSPUR
Zounds, how has he the leisure to be sick
In such a jostling time? Who leads his power?
Under whose government come they along?
In such a jostling time? Who leads his power?
Under whose government come they along?
MESSENGER
His letters bears his mind, not I, my lord.
Hotspur reads the letter
WORCESTER
I prithee tell me, doth he keep his bed?
MESSENGER
He did, my lord, four days ere I set forth;
And at the time of my departure thence
He was much feared by his physicians.
And at the time of my departure thence
He was much feared by his physicians.
WORCESTER
I would the state of time had first been whole
Ere he by sickness had been visited.
His health was never better worth than now.
Ere he by sickness had been visited.
His health was never better worth than now.
HOTSPUR
Sick now? Droop now? This sickness doth infect
The very life-blood of our enterprise.
’Tis catching hither, even to our camp.
He writes me here that inward sickness stays him,
And that his friends by deputation
Could not so soon be drawn; nor did he think it meet
To lay so dangerous and dear a trust
On any soul removed but on his own.
Yet doth he give us bold advertisement
That with our small conjunction we should on,
To see how fortune is disposed to us;
For, as he writes, there is no quailing now,
Because the King is certainly possessed 40
Of all our purposes. What say you to it?
The very life-blood of our enterprise.
’Tis catching hither, even to our camp.
He writes me here that inward sickness stays him,
And that his friends by deputation
Could not so soon be drawn; nor did he think it meet
To lay so dangerous and dear a trust
On any soul removed but on his own.
Yet doth he give us bold advertisement
That with our small conjunction we should on,
To see how fortune is disposed to us;
For, as he writes, there is no quailing now,
Because the King is certainly possessed 40
Of all our purposes. What say you to it?
WORCESTER
Your father’s sickness is a maim to us.
HOTSPUR
A perilous gash, a very limb lopped off.
And yet, in faith, it is not. His present want
Seems more than we shall find it. Were it good
To set the exact wealth of all our states
All at one cast, to set so rich a main
On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour?
It were not good, for therein should we read
The very bottom and the sole of hope,
The very list, the very utmost bound,
Of all our fortunes.
Seems more than we shall find it. Were it good
To set the exact wealth of all our states
All at one cast, to set so rich a main
On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour?
It were not good, for therein should we read
The very bottom and the sole of hope,
The very list, the very utmost bound,
Of all our fortunes.
DOUGLAS
Faith, and so we should, where now remains
A sweet reversion—we may boldly spend
Upon the hope of what is to come in.
A comfort of retirement lives in this.
A sweet reversion—we may boldly spend
Upon the hope of what is to come in.
A comfort of retirement lives in this.
HOTSPUR
A rendezvous, a home to fly unto,
If that the devil and mischance look big
Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.
If that the devil and mischance look big
Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.
WORCESTER
But yet I would your father had been here. 60
The quality and hair of our attempt
Brooks no division. It will be thought
By some that know not why he is away
That wisdom, loyalty, and mere dislike
Of our proceedings kept the Earl from hence;
And think how such an apprehension
May turn the tide of fearful faction,
And breed a kind of question in our cause.
For, well you know, we of the off’ring side
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement,
And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence
The eye of reason may pry in upon us.
This absence of your father’s draws a curtain
That shows the ignorant a kind of fear
Before not dreamt of.
The quality and hair of our attempt
Brooks no division. It will be thought
By some that know not why he is away
That wisdom, loyalty, and mere dislike
Of our proceedings kept the Earl from hence;
And think how such an apprehension
May turn the tide of fearful faction,
And breed a kind of question in our cause.
For, well you know, we of the off’ring side
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement,
And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence
The eye of reason may pry in upon us.
This absence of your father’s draws a curtain
That shows the ignorant a kind of fear
Before not dreamt of.
HOTSPUR You strain too far.
I rather of his absence make this use:
It lends a lustre, and more great opinion,
A larger dare to our great enterprise,
Than if the Earl were here; for men must think
If we without his help can make a head 80
To push against a kingdom, with his help
We shall o’erturn it topsy-turvy down.
Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.
It lends a lustre, and more great opinion,
A larger dare to our great enterprise,
Than if the Earl were here; for men must think
If we without his help can make a head 80
To push against a kingdom, with his help
We shall o’erturn it topsy-turvy down.
Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.
DOUGLAS
As heart can think, there is not such a word
Spoke of in Scotland as this term of fear.
Spoke of in Scotland as this term of fear.
Enter Sir Richard Vernon
HOTSPUR
My cousin Vernon! Welcome, by my soul!
VERNON
Pray God my news be worth a welcome, lord.
The Earl of Westmorland, seven thousand strong,
Is marching hitherwards; with him Prince John.
The Earl of Westmorland, seven thousand strong,
Is marching hitherwards; with him Prince John.
HOTSPUR
No harm. What more?
VERNON And further I have learned
The King himself in person is set forth,
Or hitherwards intended speedily,
With strong and mighty preparation.
Or hitherwards intended speedily,
With strong and mighty preparation.
HOTSPUR
He shall be welcome too. Where is his son,
The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales,
And his comrades that daffed the world aside
And bid it pass?
The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales,
And his comrades that daffed the world aside
And bid it pass?
VERNON All furnished, all in arms,
All plumed like ostriches, that with the wind
⌈ ⌉
Baiting like eagles having lately bathed,
Glittering in golden coats like images,
As full of spirit as the month of May,
And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer;
Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.
I saw young Harry with his beaver on, 105
His cuishes on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, 110
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
⌈ ⌉
Baiting like eagles having lately bathed,
Glittering in golden coats like images,
As full of spirit as the month of May,
And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer;
Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.
I saw young Harry with his beaver on, 105
His cuishes on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, 110
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
HOTSPUR
No more, no more! Worse than the sun in March,
This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come!
They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war 115
All hot and bleeding will we offer them.
The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit
Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire
To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh,
And yet not ours! Come, let me taste my horse,
Who is to bear me like a thunderbolt
Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales.
Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse,
Meet and ne’er part till one drop down a corpse.
O, that Glyndwr were come!
This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come!
They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war 115
All hot and bleeding will we offer them.
The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit
Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire
To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh,
And yet not ours! Come, let me taste my horse,
Who is to bear me like a thunderbolt
Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales.
Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse,
Meet and ne’er part till one drop down a corpse.
O, that Glyndwr were come!
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