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Three times they breath'd, and three times did

they drink,

Upon 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,
Blood-stained with these valiant combatants.
Never did bare and rotten policy

Colour her working with such deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer
Receive so many, and all willingly:
Then let him not be slander'd with revolt.
K. Hen. Thou 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.
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 Northumber-
land,

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.
North. What, drunk with choler? stay, and
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;

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

But shall it be, that you,-that set the crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man;
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,* Boling
[ken,

broke?

And shall it, in more shame, be further spo-
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,-

Wor. Peace, cousin, say no more:
And now I will unclasp a secret book,
And to your quick-conceiving discontents
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.

swim:

Hot. If he fall in, good night:-or sink 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 [stirs, To rouse a lion, than to start a hare. 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,

ground,

Where fathom-line could never touch the 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.
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.

Wor. You start away,

And lend no ear unto my purposes.-
Those prisoners you shall keep.

Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat:-
He said, he would not ransom Mortimer;
Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer;
But I will find him when he lies asleep,
And in his ear I'll holla-Mortimer!

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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 mis-
chance,

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.
In Richard's time,--What do you call the
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. 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

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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

Wor. Then once more to your Scottish pris-as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor

oners.

Deliver 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 assur'd, Will easily be granted.-You, my lord,

[To NORTHUMBERLAND. Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,Shall secretly into the bosom creep Of that same noble prelate, well belov'd, The archbishop.

Hot. Of York, is't not?

Wor. True; 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;
And only stays but to behold the face
Of that occasion that shall bring it on.
Hot. I smell it; upon my life, it will do well.
North. Before the game's a-foot, thou still
let'st slip.

Hot. Why, it cannot choose but be a noble

plot:And then the power of Scotland, and of York,— To join with Mortimer, ha?

Wor. And so they shall.

Hot. In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.

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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.**

Cur. 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 jor den, 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. Worms. **Spotted like a tench.

+ A small fish supposed to breed fleas.

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1 Car. I think it be two o'clock.

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding in the stable.

1 Car. Nay, soft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i'faith.

Guds. I pr'ythee, lend me thine.

2 Car. Ay, when? canst tell?-Lend me thy lantern, quoth a?-marry, I'll see thee hanged first.

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

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.

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Fal. 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. Fal. 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 Cham. Good morrow, master Gadshill. It shall break my wind. Well, I doubt not but holds current, that I told you yesternight: to die a fair death for all this, if I 'scape hangThere's a franklint in the wild of Kent, hathing for killing that rogue. I have forsworn 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?

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. Guds. She will, she will; justice. hath li- An I have not ballads made on you all, and quored her.** We steal us in a castle, cock-sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my sure; we have the receipt of fern-seed, we poison: When a jest is so forward, and afoot walk invisible. too, I hate it.

Chum. 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. + Freeholder. 1 Cant term for highwaymen. Footpads. Public accountants,

Booty.

In what we acquire.

* Oiled, smoothed her over.
‡‡ Honest.

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there's money of the king's coming down the hill; 'tis going to the king's exchequer.

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

Gads. There's enough to make us all.
Fal. To be hanged.

P. Hen. 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?
Gads. Some eight, or ten.

Fal. 'Zounds! will they not rob us?

P. Hen. What, a coward, Sir John Paunch? Fal. Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather; but yet no coward, Hal.

P. Hen. Well, 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.
Fal. Now cannot I strike him, if I should be
hanged.

P. Hen. Ned, where are our disguises?
Poins. Here, hard by; stand close.

[Exeunt P. HENRY and POINS. Ful. Now, my masters, happy man be his dole,* say I; every man to his business.

Enter TRAVELLERS.

1 Trav. Come, neighbour; the boy shall lead our horses down the hill: we'll walk afoot a while, and ease our legs. Thieves. Stand.

Trav. Jesu bless us !

Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death,
And lards the lean earth as he walks along:
Wer't not for laughing, I should pity him.
[Exeunt.
Poins. How the rogue roar'd!
SCENE III.-Warkworth. A Room in the
Castle.

Enter HOTSPUR, reading a Letter.

- 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:-he 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 nettle, 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 What a lackso? I say unto you again, you are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie.

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, 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. 'Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I could brain h with his lady's fan. Is there not my father, my uncle, and myself? lord Edward Morting, my lord of York, and Owen Glendower? l 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 Fal. Hang ye, gorbelliedt knaves; Are ye them, set forward already? What a pagan undone? No, yet fat chuffs; I would, your rascal is this! an infidel! Ha! you shall see store were here! On, bacons, on! What, ye now, in very sincerity of fear and cold heart, knaves? young men must live: You are grand-will he to the king, and lay open all our projurors are ye? We'll jure ye, i'faith.

Fal. Strike; down with them; cut the vilains 'throats: Ah! whoreson caterpillars! bacon-fed knaves! they hate us youth: down with them; fleece them.

1 Trav. Ó, we are undone, both we and ours,

for ever.

[Exeunt FALSTAFF, &c. driving the TRA

VELLERS out.

Re-enter Prince HENRY and POINS.

P. Hen. The thieves have bound the true men: Now could thou and I rob the thieves, and go merrily to London, it would be arguments for a week, laughter for a month, and a good jest for ever.

Poins. Stand close, I hear them coming.

Re-enter THIEVES.

Fal. 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.

P. Hen. Your money. [Rushing out upon them.
Poins. Villains.

[As they are sharing, the PRINCE and POINS
set upon them. FALSTAFF, after a blow or
two, and the rest, run away, leaving their
booty behind them.]

P. Hen. Got with much ease. Now merrily

to horse:

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

So strongly, that they dare not meet each other;
Each takes his fellow for an officer.

* Portion. Fat, corpulent. Clowns. A subject.

ceedings. 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 sit'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, culverin;

* Drops his fat.

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Hot. That roan shall be my throne.
Well, I will back him straight: O esperance!-
Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.
[Exit SERVANT.

Lady. But hear you, my lord.
Hot. What say'st, my lady?
Lady. What is it carries you away?
Hot. 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 faith,
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 lines his enterprize: But if you go-

[me

Hot. So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.
Lady. Come, come, you paraquito,|| answer
Directly to this question that I ask.
In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
Hot. Away,

Away, you trifler!-Love?--I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world;
To play with mammets, and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses, and crack'd

crowns,

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

What say'st thou, Kate? what would'st 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 o'horse-back, 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 secresy,
No lady closer; for I well believe,

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

Enter Prince HENRY and POINS.

P. Hen. Ned, pr'ythee, 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 draw. ers; and can call them all by their Christian names, as-Tom, Dick, and Francis. They. take it already upon their salvation, that, 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,t 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 in 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 Half-moon, or so. But, Ned, to drive away the time till Falstaff come, I pr'ythee, 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!

Enter FRANCIS.

[Exit POINS.

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 year, and as much as

to

Poins. [Within.] Francis!
Fran. Anon, anon, Sir.

P. Hen. Five years! by'rlady, a long lease for the clinking of pewter. But, Francis, darest thou be so valiant, as to play the coward with thy indenture, and to 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 heartPoins. [Within.] Francis!

* Three.

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