L. Bard. We all that are engaged to this loss 180

Knew that we ventur’d on such dangerous seas That if we wrought out life ’twas ten to one;
And yet we ventur’d^ for the gain propos’d Chok’d the respect of likely peril fear’d; 184
And since we are o’erset, venture again.
Come, we will all put forth, body and goods.
Mor. ’Tis more than time: and, my most noble lord,
I hear for certain, and do speak the truth, 188
The gentle Archbishop of York is up,
With well-appointed powers: he is a man Who with a double surety binds his followers.
My lord your son had only but the corpse, 192
But shadows and the shows of men to fight;
For that same word, rebellion, did divide The action of their bodies from their souls;
[66-179 Cf.n. 166 cast the event : considered the outcome
168 make head % raise an army 169 dole: distribution
170 edge: dangerous narrow pa>th 172 advis d: aware
177 stiff-borne: obstinately carried out
180 engaged to : involved in __ 184 srespect: consideration
190 well-appointed : well-equipped
10
The Second Part of
And they did fight with queasiness, constrain’d, 196 As men drink potions, that their weapons only Seem’d on our side: but, for their spirits and souls, This word, rebellion, it had froze them up,
As fish are in a pond. But now the bishop 200 Turns insurrection to religion:
Suppos’d sincere and holy in his thoughts,
He’s follow’d both with body and with mind,
And doth enlarge his rising with the blood 204
Of fair King Richard, scrap’d from Pomfret stones; Derives from heaven his quarrel and his cause;
Tells them he doth bestride a bleeding land.
Gasping for life under great Bolingbroke; 208
And more and less do flock to follow him.
North. X knew of this before; but, to speak truth. This present grief had wip’d it from my mind.
Go in with me; and counsel every man 212
The aptest way for safety and revenge:
Get posts and letters, and make friends with speed: Never so few, and never yet more need. Exeunt.
Scene Two [ London . A Street ]
Enter Sir John [ Falstaff ,] with his Page hearing his sword and buckler.
Fal. Sirrah, you giant, what says the doctor to my water?
Page. He said, sir, the water it.self was a good healthy water; but, for the party that owed it 4 he might have moe diseases than he knew for.
196 queasiness: squeamishness 204, 205 Cf. n.
204 enlarge: widen the scope or appeal 208 Bolingbroke; cf. n.
209 moi e and less: high and low 214 make: cotfecf
4 owed: owned
King H enry the Fourth, I. ii
11
Fal. Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at me: the brain of this foolish-compounded clay, man, is not able to invent anything that tends 8 to laughter, more than I invent or is invented on me: I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men. I do here walk before thee like a sow that hath overwhelmed all 12 her litter but one. If the prince put thee into my service for any other reason than to set me off, why then I have no judgment. Thou whore¬ son mandrake, thou art fitter to be worn in my 16 cap than to wait at my heels. I was never manned with an agate till now; but I will set you neither in gold nor silver, but in vile apparel, and send you back again to your master, for a 20 jewel; the juvenal, the prince your master, whose chin is not yet fledged. I will sooner have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than he shall get one on his cheek; and yet he will not stick 24 to say, his face is a face-royal: God may finish it when he will, it is not a hair amiss yet: he may keep it still as a face-royal, for a barber shall never earn sixpence out of it ; and yet he’ll 28 be crowing as if he had writ man ever since his father was a bachelor. He may keep his own grace, but he is almost out of mine, I can assure him. What said Master Dombledon about the 32 satin for my short cloak and my slops?
Page. He said, sir, you should procure him better assurance than Bardolph; he would not
6 gird: jeer
15 whoreson: a coarse term of endearment ( as here) or of con¬ tempt (as in l. 39)
16 mandrake: a poisonous plant whose forked root was supposed to
resemble the human form 18 manned with an agate; cf. n.
21 juvenal : used jocularly for ‘youth* 25 face-royal; cf. . n.
29 writ man: enrolled himself a man 33 slops: loose breeches
12
The Second Part of
take his bond and yours : he liked not the 36 security.
Fal. Let him be damned like the glutton ! Pray God his tongue be hotter ! A whoreson Achito- phel ! a rascally yea-forsooth knave ! to bear a 40 gentleman in hand, and then stand upon security. The whoreson smooth-pates do now wear noth¬ ing but high shoes, and bunches of keys at their girdles; and if a man is through with them in 44 honest taking up, then they must stand upon security. I had as lief they would put ratsbane in my mouth as offer to stop it with security. I looked a’ should have sent me two and twenty 48 yards of satin, as I am a true knight, and he sends me security. Well, he may sleep in secur¬ ity; for he hath the horn of abundance, and the lightness of his wife shines through it: and yet 62 cannot he see, though he have his own lanthorn to light him. Where’s Bardolph?
Page. Pie’s gone into Smithfield to buy your worship a horse. 66
Fal. I bought him in Paul’s, and he’ll buy me a horse in Smithfield: an I could get me but a wife in the stews, I were manned, horsed, and wived. 60
Enter Chief Justice and Servant.
Page. Sir, here comes the nobleman that committed the prince for striking him about Bardolph.
Fal. Wait close; I will not see him. 64
38 glutton; cf. n. 39 Achitophel; cf. n.
40 yea-forsooth knave; cf. n.
bear . . . in hand: delude with false hopes 42 smooth-pates: round-heads, or Puritanical citizen class 44 through: serious 45 taking up: obtaining goods on trust
48 a ’ : he 51-54 Cf.n. 57 Paul’s; cf. n. 61,62 Cf. tu
13
King Henry the Fourth, I. ii
Ch.Just. What’s he that goes there?
Ser. Falstaff, an ’t please your lordship.
Ch.Just. He that was in question for the robbery ? c8
Ser. He, my lord; but he hath since done good service at Shrewsbury, and, as I hear, is now going with some charge to the Lord John of Lancaster. 72
Ch.Just. What, to York? Call him back again.
Ser. Sir John Falstaff!
Fal. Boy, tell him I am deaf. 78
Page. You must speak louder, my master is deaf.
Ch.Just. I am sure he is, to the hearing of anything good. Go, pluck him by the elbow; I 80 must speak with him.
Ser. Sir John!
Fal. What! a young knave, and beg! Is there not wars ? is there not employment ? doth not 84 the king lack subjects? do not the rebels want soldiers ? Though it be a shame to be on any side but one, it is worse shame to beg than to be on the worst side, were it worse than the name 88 of rebellion can tell how to make it.
Ser. You mistake me, sir.
Fal. Why, sir, did I say you were an honest man ? setting my knighthood and my soldier- 92 ship aside, I had lied in my throat if I had said so.
Ser. I pray you, sir, then set your knighthood and your soldiership aside, and give me leave to 98
71 charge: military command
14
The Second Part of
tell you you lie in your throat if you say I am any other than an honest man.
Fal. I give thee leave to tell me so ! I lay aside that which grows to me! If thou gett’st 100 any leave of me, hang me: if thou takest leave, thou wert better be hanged. You hunt counter: hence ! avaunt !
Ser. Sir, my lord would speak with you. 104
Ch.Just. Sir John FalstafF, a word with you.
Fal. My good lord! God give your lordship good time of day. I am glad to see your lord- 108 ship abroad; I heard say your lordship was sick:
I hope your lordship goes abroad by advice. Your lordship, though not clean past your youth, hath yet some smack of age in you, some relish 112 of the saltness of time; and I most humbly be¬ seech your lordship to have a reverend care of your health.
Ch. Just. Sir John, I sent for you before your 116 expedition to Shrewsbury.
Fal. An ’t please your lordship, I hear his majesty is returned with some discomfort from Wales. 120
Ch.Just. I talk not of his majesty. You would not come when I sent for you.
Fal. And I hear, moreover, his highness is fallen into this same whoreson apoplexy. 124
Ch.Just. Well, God mend him! I pray you, let me speak with you.
Fal. This apoplexy is, as I take it, a kind of lethargy, an ’t please your lordship; a kind of 128 sleeping in the blood, a whoreson tingling.
102 hunt counter ; c/. n.
King Henry the Fourth, I. ii
15
Ch. Just. What tell you me of it? be it as it is.
Fal. It hath it original from much grief, 132 from study and perturbation of the brain. I have read the cause of hi3 effects in Galen: it is a kind of deafness.
Ch. J ust. I think you are fallen into the dis- 138 ease, for you hear not what I say to you.
Fal. Very well, my lord, very well: rather, an ’t please you, it is the disease of not listening, the malady of not marking, that I am troubled 140 withal.
Ch.Just. To punish you by the heels would amend the attention of your ears; and I care not if I do become your physician. 144
Fal. I am as poor as Job, my lord, but not so patient: your lordship may minister the potion of imprisonment to me in respect of poverty; but how I should be your patient to follow your 148 prescriptions, the wise may make some dram of a scruple, or indeed a scruple itself.
Ch. Just. I sent for you, when there were matters against you for your life, to come speak 152 with me.
Fal. As I was then advised by my learned counsel in the laws of this land-service, I did not come. 156
Ch.Just. Well, the truth is, Sir John, you live in great infamy.
Fal. He that buckles him in my belt cannot live in less. 160
130 What: why 132 it: its 134 his: its
142 punish by the heels: commit to prison; originally, to the stocks 147 in respect of: on account of 155 land-service: military senna
16
The Second Part of
Ch.Just . Your means are very slender, and your waste is great.
Fal. I would it were otherwise: I would my means were greater and my waist slenderer. 164
Ch. Just . You have misled the youthful prince.
Fah The young prince hath misled me: I am the fellow with the great belly, and he my dog. 168
Ch. Just . Well, I am loath to gall a new -healed wound: your day’s service at Shrewsbury hath a little gilded over your night’s exploit on Gads- hill : you may thank the unquiet time for your 172 quiet o’er-posting that action.
Fal. My lord!
Ch.Just . But since all is well, keep it so: wake not a sleeping wolf. 176
Fal . To wake a wolf is as bad as to smell a fox.
Ch.Just . What! you are as a candle, the better part burnt out. 180
Fal. A wassail candle, my lord; all tallow: if I did say of wax, my growth would approve the truth.
Ch . Just. There is not a white hair on your 184 face but should have his effect of gravity.
Fal. His effect of gravy, gravy, gravy.
Ch.Just. You follow the young prince up and down, like his ill angel. 188
Fal. Not so, my lord; your ill angel is light, but I hope he that looks upon me will take me without weighing: and yet, in some respects, I grant, I cannot go, I cannot tell. Virtue is of 192
166-168 Cf.n, 173 o’ev-vosting: getting over rapidly
181 wassail candle: targe candle used at
182 wax ; c/. k. approve: prove
188 ill: evil
189-192 Cf. n.
King Henry the Fourth , I . ii
17
so little regard in these costermonger times that true valour is turned bear-herd: pregnancy is made a tapster, and hath his quick wit wasted in giving reckonings: all the other gifts apperti- 196 nent to man, as the malice of this age shapes them, are not worth a gooseberry. You that are old consider not the capacities of us that are young; you measure the heat of our livers with 200 the bitterness of your galls ; and we that are in the vaward of our youth, I must confess, are wags too.
Ch.Just. Do you set down your name in the 204 scroll of youth, that are written down old with all the characters of age? Have you not a moist eye, a dry hand, a yellow cheek, a white beard, a decreasing leg, an increasing belly? Is not 208 your voice broken, your wind short, your chin double, your wit single, and every part about you blasted with antiquity, and will you yet call yourself young? Fie, fie, fie. Sir John! 212
Fal. My lord, I was born about three of the clock in the afternoon, with a white head, and something a round belly. For my voice, I have lost it with hollaing, and singing of anthems. 215 To approve my youth further, I will not: the truth is, I am only old in j udgment and under¬ standing; and he that will caper with me for a thousand marks, let him lend me the money, 22« and have at him! For the box o’ the ear that the prince gave you, he gave it like a rude prince, and you took it like a sensible lord. I have
193 costermonger: commercial
194 bear-herd: one who leads about a tame bear
pregnancy : readiness of wit 196 reckonings: bills
202 vaward: vanguard _ _ _ 210 single: thin
220 marks: a mark was worth about thirteen shillings
18
The Second Part of
checked him for it, and the young lion repents ; 224 marry, not in ashes and sackcloth, but in new silk and old sack.
Ch. Just. Well, God send the prince a better companion ! 228
Fal. God send the companion a better prince!
1 cannot rid my hands of him.
Ch. Just. Well, the king hath severed you and Prince Harry. I hear you are going with 232 Lord John of Lancaster against the archbishop and the Earl of Northumberland.
Fal. Yea; I thank your pretty sweet wit for it. But look you pray, all you that kiss my lady 236 Peace at home, that our armies join not in a hot day; for, by the Lord, I take but two shirts out with me, and I mean not to sweat extraordinarily: if it be a hot day, and I brandish anything but 240 my bottle, I would I might never spit white again. There is not a dangerous action can peep out his head but I am thrust upon it. Well, I can¬ not last ever. But it was always yet the trick of 244 our English nation, if they have a good thing, to make it too common. If you will needs say I am an old man, you should give me rest. I would to God my name were not so terrible to the 248 enemy as it is : I were better to be eaten to death with rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpetual motion.
Ch.Just. Well, be honest, be honest; and 252 God bless your expedition.
Fal. Will your lordship lend me a thousand pound to furnish me forth?
Ch. Just. Not a penny; not a penny; you are 256
226 sack: Spanish wine
241 spit white: cf. *
19
King Henry the Fourth, /. ii
too impatient to bear crosses. Fare you well: commend me to my cousin Westmoreland.
[ Exeunt Chief Justice and Servant .] Fal. If I do, fillip me with a three-man beetle.
A man can no more separate age and c ness than a’ can part young limbs and lechery; but the gout galls the one, and the pox pinches the other; and so both the degrees prevent my curses. Boy ! 264
Page . Sir!
Fal. What money is in my purse?
Page . Seven groats and twopence.
Fal. I can get no remedy against this con- 268 sumption of the purse: borrowing only lingers and lingers it out, but the disease is incurable. Go bear this letter to my Lord of Lancaster; this to the prince; this to the Earl of Westmore- 272 land; and this to old Mistress Ursula, whom I have weekly sworn to marry since I perceived the first white hair on my chin. About it: you know where to find me. A pox of this gout ! 276 or, a gout of this pox ! for the one or the other plays the rogue with my great toe. ’Tis no matter if I do halt; I have the wars for my colour, and my pension shall seem the more 280 reasonable. A good wit will make use of any¬ thing; I will turn diseases to commodity. Exeunt.
257 Cf.n. 259 Cf.n. 263 prevent: anticipate
26 7 groat: a coin worth fourpence 279 halt: limp
280 colour: excuse
282 commodity: merchandise (9 be sold at
The Second Part of
Scene Three
[York . The Archbishop’s Palace ]
Enter Archbishop, Hastings, Mowbray , and Lord Bardolph.
Arch. Thus have you heard our cause and known our means;
And, my most noble friends, I pray you all,
Speak plainly your opinions of our hopes:
And first, Lord Marshal, what say you to it? 4 Mowb . I well allow the occasion of our arms;
But gladly would be better satisfied
How in our means we should advance ourselves
To look with forehead bold and big enough 8
Upon the power and puissance of the king.
Hast. Our present musters grow upon the file To five-and-twenty thousand men of choice;
And our supplies live largely in the hope 13
Of great Northumberland, whose bosom burns With an incensed fire of injuries.