SCENE II.
Justice Shallow's seat in Glocestershire6 note.
Enter Shallow meeting Silence. Mouldy, Shadow, Wart, Feeble, and Bull-calf, Servants, &c. behind.
Shal.
Come on, come on, come on; give me
your hand, sir, give me your hand, sir: an early
-- 521 --
stirrer, 7 noteby the rood. And how doth my good cousin
Silence?
Sil8 note.
Good morrow, good cousin Shallow.
Shal.
And how doth my cousin, your bed-fellow?
and your fairest daughter, and mine, my god-daughter
Ellen?
Sil.
Alas, a black ouzel, cousin Shallow.
Shal.
By yea and nay, sir, I dare say, my cousin
William is become a good scholar: He is at Oxford
still, is he not?
Sil.
Indeed, sir; to my cost.
Shal.
He must then to the inns of court shortly: I
was once of Clement's-inn; where, I think, they will
talk of mad Shallow yet.
Sil.
You were call'd—lusty Shallow, then, cousin.
Shal.
I was call'd any thing; and I would have done
any thing, indeed, and roundly too. There was
I, and little John Doit of Staffordshire, and black
9 noteGeorge Bare, and Francis Pickbone, and 1 note
Will
Squele a Cotswold man,—you had not four such
-- 522 --
2 note
swinge-bucklers in all the inns of court again: and,
I may say to you, we knew where the bona-robas3 note
were; and had the best of them all at commandment.
Then was Jack Falstaff, now sir John, a boy; and
page to Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk4 note
.
-- 523 --
Sil.
This sir John, cousin, that comes hither anon
about soldiers?
Shal.
The same sir John, the very same. I saw him
break Skogan's head at the court gate5 note
, when he was
a crack6 note, not thus high: and the very same day I did
fight with one Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind
Gray's-inn. O, the mad days that I have spent! and
to see how many of mine old acquaintance are dead!
Sil.
We shall all follow, cousin.
Shal.
Certain, 'tis certain; very sure, very sure:
death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all; all shall
die. How a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford fair?
-- 524 --
Sil.
Truly, cousin, I was not there.
Shal.
Death is certain.—Is old Double of your town
living yet?
Sil.
Dead, sir.
Shal.
Dead!—See, see!—he drew a good bow;—
And dead!—he shot a fine shoot:—John of Gaunt
lov'd him well, and betted much money on his head.
Dead!—he would have 7 noteclapp'd i'the clout at
twelve score; and carry'd you a fore-hand shaft a
8 notefourteen, and fourteen and a half, that it would have
done a man's heart good to see.—How a score of
ewes now?
Sil.
Thereafter as they be: a score of good ewes
may be worth ten pounds.
Shal.
And is old Double dead!
Enter Bardolph and his boy.
Sil.
Here come two of sir John Falstaff's men, as
I think.
Bard.
9 noteGood morrow, honest gentlemen: I beseech
you, which is justice Shallow?
Shal.
I am Robert Shallow, sir; a poor esquire of
this county, and one of the king's justices of the peace:
What is your good pleasure with me?
Bard.
My captain, sir, commends him to you; my
captain, sir John Falstaff: a tall gentleman, by heaven,
and a most gallant leader.
Shal.
He greets me well, sir; I knew him a good
back-sword man: How doth the good knight? may
I ask, how my lady his wife doth?
-- 525 --
Bard.
Sir, pardon; a soldier is better accommodated,
than with a wife.
Shal.
It is well said, 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: 1 note
very good; a good phrase.
Bard.
Pardon, sir; I have heard the word.
Phrase, call you it? By this 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. Accommodated; That is, when a
man is, as they say, accommodated: or, when a man
is,—being,—whereby,—he may be thought to be
accommodated; which is an excellent thing.
Enter Falstaff.
Shal.
It is very just:—Look, here comes good sir
John.—Give me your good hand, give me your worship's
good hand: By my troth, you look well, and
bear your years very well: welcome, good sir John.
Fal.
I am glad to see you well, good master Robert
Shallow;—Master Sure-card, as I think.9Q0745
-- 526 --
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.
Sil.
Your good worship is welcome.
Fal.
Fie! this is hot weather.—Gentlemen, have
you provided me here half a dozen sufficient men?
Shal.
Marry, have we, sir. Will you sit?
Fal.
Let me see them, I beseech you.
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: 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.
Shal.
What think you, sir John? a good-limb'd
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 us'd.
Shal.
Ha, ha, ha! most excellent, i'faith! things,
that are mouldy, lack use: Very singular good!—
Well said, sir John; very well said.
Fal.
Prick him.
Moul.
I was prick'd 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 prick'd 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!
Shal.
Peace, fellow, peace; stand aside; Know you
where you are?—For the other, sir John:—let me
see;—Simon Shadow!
Fal.
Ay marry, let me have him to sit under: he's
like to be a cold soldier.
Shal.
Where's Shadow?
-- 527 --
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 not much of
the father's substance.
Shal.
Do you like him, sir John?
Fal.
Shadow will serve for summer,—prick him;
—for 2 notewe have a number of shadows to fill up the
muster-book.
Shal.
Thomas Wart!
Fal.
Where's he?
Wart.
Here, sir.
Fal.
Is thy name Wart?
Wart.
Yea, sir.
Fal.
Thou art a very ragged wart.
Shal.
Shall I prick him, 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!
Feeble.
Here, sir.
Fal.
What trade art thou, Feeble?
Feeble.
A woman's taylor, sir.
Shal.
Shall I prick him, sir?
Fal.
You may: but if he had been a man's taylor,
he would have prick'd you.—Wilt thou make as many
holes in an enemy's battle, as thou hast done in a woman's
petticoat?
Feeble.
I will do my good will, sir; you can have
no more.
Fal.
Well said, good woman's taylor! well said,
-- 528 --
courageous Feeble! Thou wilt be as valiant as the
wrathful dove, or most magnanimous mouse.—Prick
the woman's taylor well, master Shallow; deep, master
Shallow.
Feeble.
I would, Wart might have gone, sir.
Fal.
I would, thou wert a man's taylor; that thou
might'st 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.
Feeble.
It shall suffice, sir.
Fal.
I am bound to thee, reverend Feeble.—Who
is next?
Shal.
Peter Bull-calf of the green!
Fal.
Yea, marry, let us see Bull-calf.
Bull.
Here, sir,
Fal.
Trust me, a likely fellow!—Come, prick me
Bull-calf, 'till he roar again.
Bull.
Oh! good my lord captain,—
Fal.
What, dost thou roar before thou art prick'd?
Bull.
O lord, sir! I am a diseas'd man.
Fal.
What disease hast thou?
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?
Shal.
There is two more call'd 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, in good troth,
master Shallow.
Shal.
O, sir John, do you remember since we lay
all night in the wind-mill in saint George's fields?
Fal.
No more of that, good master Shallow, no
more of that.
-- 529 --
Shal.
Ha, it was a merry night. And is Jane
Night-work alive?
Fal.
She lives, master Shallow.
Shal.
She could never away with me8 note.
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 9 note
bona-roba. Doth she hold her own
well?
Fal.
Old, old, master Shallow.
Shal.
Nay, she must be old; she cannot chuse but
be old; certain, she's old; and had Robin Night-work
by old Night-work, before I came to Clement's-inn.
Sil.
That's fifty-five years 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.
Shal.
That we have, that we have, that we have;
in faith, sir John, we have; our watch-word was,
Hem, boys!—Come, let's to dinner; come, let's to
dinner:—O, the days that we have seen!—Come,
come.
[Exeunt Falstaff, and Justices.
Bull.
Good master corporate Bardolph, stand my
friend; and here is four Harry ten shillings in French
crowns for you. In very truth, sir, I had as lief be
hang'd, sir, as go: and yet, for mine own part, sir, I
-- 530 --
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.
Feeble.
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's
too good to serve his 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.
Feeble.
'Faith, I'll bear no base mind.
[Re-enter Falstaff, and Justices.
Fal.
Come, sir, which men shall I have?
Shal.
Four of which you please.
Bard.
Sir, a word with you:—1 noteI have three pound
to free Mouldy and Bull-calf.
Fal.
Go to; well.
Shal.
Come, sir John, which four will you have?
Fal.
Do you chuse for me.
Shal.
Marry then,—Mouldy, Bull-calf, Feeble, and
Shadow.
Fal.
Mouldy, and Bull-calf:—For you, Mouldy,
stay at home 'till you are past service2 note
:—and, for your
part, Bull-calf,—grow, 'till you come unto it; I will
none of you.
-- 531 --
Shal.
Sir John, sir John, do not yourself wrong;
they are your likeliest men, and I would have you
serv'd with the best.
Fal.
Will you tell me, master Shallow, how to
chuse a man? Care I for the limb, the thewes3 note
, the
stature, bulk and big assemblance of a man4 note? give me
the spirit, master Shallow.—Here's Wart;—you see
what a ragged appearance it is: he shall charge you,
and discharge you, with the motion of a pewterer's
hammer; come off, and on, 5 noteswifter than he that gibbet's-on
the brewer's bucket. And this same half-fac'd
fellow Shadow,—give me this man; he presents
no mark to the enemy; the foe-man may with as
great aim level at the edge of a pen-knife: And, for a
retreat,—how swiftly will this Feeble, the woman's
taylor, run off? O, give me the spare men, and spare
me the great ones.—Put me a 6 note
caliver into Wart's
hand, Bardolph.
-- 532 --
Bard.
Hold, Wart, traverse; thus, thus, thus.
Fal.
Come, manage me your caliver. So:—very
well:—go to:—very good:—exceeding good.—O,
give me always a little, lean, old, chopp'd, 7 notebald
shot.—Well said, Wart; thou'rt a good scab: hold,
there's a tester for thee.
Shal.
He is not his craft's-master, he doth not do it
right. I remember at Mile-end green8 note, when I lay at
Clement's-inn9Q0747, (9 note
I was then sir Dagonet in Arthur's
-- 533 --
show) there was a little quiver fellow, and 'a would
manage you his piece thus: and 'a would about, and
-- 534 --
about, and come you in, and come you in: rah, tah,
tah, would 'a say; bounce, would 'a say; and away
again would 'a go, and again would 'a come;—I shall
never see such a fellow.
Fal.
These fellows will do well, master Shallow.—
God keep you, master Silence; I will not use many
words with you:—Fare you well, gentlemen both: I
thank you: I must a dozen mile to-night.—Bardolph,
give the soldiers coats.
Shal.
Sir John, heaven bless you, and prosper your
affairs, and send us peace! As you return, visit my
house; let our old acquaintance be renew'd: peradventure,
I will with you to the court.
Fal.
I would you would, master Shallow.
Shal.
Go to; I have spoke, at a word. Fare you
well.
[Exeunt Shallow, and Silence.
Fal.
Fare you well, gentle gentlemen.—On,
Bardolph; lead the men away.—[Exeunt Bardolph, Recruits, &c.]
—As I return, I will fetch off these
justices: I do see the bottom of justice Shallow.
Lord, lord, how subject we old men are to this
vice of lying! This same starv'd justice hath done
nothing but prate to me of the wildness of his youth,
and the feats he hath done 9 note
about Turnbull-street;
-- 535 --
and every third word a lie, duer paid to the hearer
than the Turk's tribute. I do remember him at Clement's-inn,
like a man made after supper of a cheese-paring:
when he was naked, he was, for all the world,
like a fork'd radish, with a head fantastically carv'd
upon it with a knife: he was so forlorn, that his dimensions
to any thick sight 1 notewere invisible: he was
the very Genius of famine; yet lecherous as a monkey,
and the whores call'd him—mandrake2 note
: he came
-- 536 --
ever in the rear-ward of the fashion; and sung those
tunes to the 3 note
over-scutcht huswives, that he heard the
carmen whistle, and sware—they were his 4 notefancies, or
his good-nights.9Q0749 5 note
And now is this vice's dagger become
-- 537 --
a squire; and talks as familiarly of John of
Gaunt, as if he had been sworn brother to him: and
I'll be sworn he never saw him but once in the Tiltyard;
and then 6 note
he burst his head, for crouding
among the marshal's men. I saw it; and told John
of Gaunt, he 7 notebeat his own name: for you might
have truss'd him, and all his apparel, into an eel-skin;
the case of a treble hautboy was a mansion for
him, a court: and now hath he land and beeves.
Well; I will be acquainted with him, if I return:
and it shall go hard, but I will make him a 8 note
philosopher's
-- 538 --
two stones to me: 9 noteIf the young dace be a
bait for the old pike, I see no reason, in the law of
nature, but I may snap at him. Let time shape, and
there an end.
[Exeunt.
-- 539 --
Samuel Johnson [1778], The plays of William Shakspeare. In ten volumes. With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. The second edition, Revised and Augmented (Printed for C. Bathurst [and] W. Strahan [etc.], London) [word count] [S10901].