Mouldy, Shadow, Wart, Feeble, Bullcalf, a Servant or two with them.
Shal.
Come on, come on, come on, sir note; give me your
hand, sir, give me your hand, sir note: an early stirrer, by the
rood! And how doth my good cousin Silence note?
Sil.
Good morrow, good cousin Shallow.
Shal.
And how doth my cousin, your bedfellow? and
your fairest daughter and mine, my god-daughter Ellen?
Sil.
Alas, a black ousel note, cousin Shallow!
Shal.
By yea and nay note, 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.
A' must, then, to the inns o' note court shortly: I was
once of Clement's Inn, where I think they will talk of mad
Shallow yet.
Sil.
You were called ‘lusty Shallow’ then, cousin.
Shal.
By the mass note, I was called any thing; and I would
have done any thing indeed too note, and roundly too. There
was I, and little John Doit of Staffordshire, and black George
Barnes note, and Francis Pickbone, and Will Squele, a Cotswold
man note; you had not four note such swinge-bucklers in all the inns
-- 418 --
o' notecourt again: and I may say to you, we knew where the
bona-robas note were and had the best of them all at commandment.
Then was Jack Falstaff, now Sir John, a boy note, and
page to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk.
Sil.
This Sir John, cousin note, that comes hither anon about
soldiers?
Shal.
The same Sir John, the very same. I see note him
break Skogan's note head at the court-gate, when a'was was a crack
not thus high: and the very same day did I note fight with one
Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind Gray's Inn. Jesu,
Jesu note, the mad days that I have spent! and to see how many
of my note old acquaintance are dead!
Sil.
We shall all follow, cousin.
Shal.
Certain, 'tis certain; very sure, very sure: death,
as the Psalmist saith note, is certain to all; all shall die. How
a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford note fair?
Sil.
By my troth note, I was not there.
Shal.
Death is certain. Is old Double of your town
living yet?
Sil.
Dead, sir.
Shal.
Jesu, Jesu, dead! note a' drew a good bow; and
dead! a' shot a fine shoot: John a Gaunt note loved him well,
and betted much money on his head. Dead! a' would have
clapped i' the clout at twelve score; and carried you a forehand
shaft a fourteen note 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.
-- 419 --
Shal.
And is old Double dead?
note
Sil.
Here come two of Sir John Falstaff's men, as I think.
Enter note Bardolph and one with him.
Bard.
Good morrow, honest gentlemen: I beseech note you,
which is Justice Shallow?
Shal.
I am Robert Shallow, sir; a poor esquire of this
county note, and one note of the king's justices of the peace: what is
your good note pleasure with me?
Bard.
My captain, sir, commends him to you; my captain,
Sir John Falstaff, a tall gentleman, by heaven note, and a
most gallant leader.
Shal.
He greets me well, sir. note I knew him a good backsword
man. How doth the good knight? may I ask how
my lady his wife doth?
Bard.
Sir, pardon; a soldier is better accommodated note
than with a wife.
Shal.
It is well said, in faith note, sir; and it is well said indeed
too. Better accommodated note! it is good; yea, indeed,
is it: good phrases are surely note, and ever were, very note commendable.
Accommodated note! it comes of ‘accommodo:’
very good; a good phrase.
Bard.
Pardon me note, sir; I have heard the word. Phrase
call you it? by this good note 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, by heaven note.
Accommodated note; that is, when a man is, as they say,
-- 420 --
accommodated note; or when a man is, being, whereby a' may be
thought note to be accommodated note; which is an excellent thing.
note
Shal.
It is very just.
Enter Falstaff. note
Look, here comes good Sir John. Give me your good note hand,
give me your worship's good hand: by my troth note, you like note
well and bear your years very well: welcome, good Sir
John.
Fal.
I am glad to see you well, good Master Robert
Shallow: Master Surecard note, as I think?
Shal.
No, Sir John; it is my cousin Silence note, in commission
with me.
Fal.
Good Master Silence note, it well befits you should be
of the peace.
Sil.
Your good worship is welcome.
Fal.
Fie! this is hot weather, gentlemen. Have note you
provided me here half a dozen note 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 note, let me see, let me see. So note, so, so, so, so,
so, so: yea, marry, sir: Ralph note 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 note please you.
Shal.
What think you, Sir John? a good-limbed fellow;
young, strong, and of good friends.
Fal.
Is thy name Mouldy?
-- 421 --
Moul.
Yea, an't note please you.
Fal.
'Tis the more time thou wert used.
Shal.
Ha, ha, ha! most excellent, i' faith note! things that
are mouldy lack use: very singular good! in faith note, well
said, Sir John; very well said.
Fal.
Prick him note.
Moul.
I was pricked well enough before, an note 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 pricked 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 note, Sir John: let me see:
Simon note Shadow!
Fal.
Yea note, marry, let me have him to sit under: he's
like to be a cold soldier.
Shal.
Where's Shadow?
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 much of the father's substance! note
Shal.
Do you like him, Sir John?
Fal.
Shadow will serve for summer note; prick him, for we
have a number of shadows to fill note up the muster-book.
Shal.
Thomas Wart!
-- 422 --
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 down note, Sir John?
Fal.
It were superfluous; for his note 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!
Fee.
Here, sir.
Fal.
What trade art thou, Feeble?
Fee.
A woman's tailor, sir.
Shal.
Shall I prick him, sir?
Fal.
You may: but if he had been a man's tailor,
he'ld ha' note pricked you. Wilt thou make as many holes in an
enemy's battle as thou hast done in a woman's petticoat?
Fee.
I will do my good will, sir: you can have no more.
Fal.
Well said, good woman's tailor! well said, courageous
Feeble! thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful
dove or most magnanimous mouse. Prick the woman's
tailor: well note, Master Shallow; deep, Master Shallow.
Fee.
I would Wart might have gone, sir.
Fal.
I would thou wert a man's tailor, that thou mightst
mend him and make him fit to go. I cannot put him to a note
private soldier, that is the leader of so many thousands: let
that suffice, most forcible Feeble.
Fee.
It shall suffice, sir note.
Fal.
I am bound to thee, reverend Feeble. Who is
next note?
Shal.
Peter Bullcalf o' the green!
Fal.
Yea, marry, let's see Bullcalf.
Bull.
Here, sir.
-- 423 --
Fal.
'Fore God note, a likely fellow! Come, prick me note Bullcalf
till he roar again.
Bull.
O Lord note! good my lord captain,—
Fal.
What, dost thou roar before thou art note pricked?
Bull.
O Lord note, sir! I am a diseased 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.
Here note is two note more called 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, by my note troth, Master
Shallow.
Shal.
O, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all
night in the windmill in Saint George's field note?
Fal.
No more of that, good Master Shallow, no more
of that. note
Shal.
Ha! 'twas a merry night. And is Jane Nightwork
alive?
Fal.
She lives, Master Shallow.
Shal.
She never could note away with me.
Fal.
Never, never; she would always say she could not
abide Master Shallow.
Shal.
By the mass note, I could anger her to the heart. She
was then a bona-roba. Doth she hold her own well?
Fal.
Old, old, Master Shallow.
Shal.
Nay, she must be old; she cannot choose but be
-- 424 --
old; certain she's old; and had Robin Nightwork by old
Nightwork before I came to note Clement's Inn note.
Sil.
That's fifty five year note 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 note, that we have, that we have; in
faith, Sir John, we have: our watch-word note was ‘Hem boys!’
Come, let's to dinner note; come, let's to dinner: Jesus note, the
days that we have seen! Come, come.
[Exeunt note Falstaff and the Justices.
Bull.
Good Master Corporate Bardolph, stand my
friend; and here's four Harry ten shillings in French
crowns for you. In very truth, sir, I had as lief be hanged,
sir, as go: and yet, for mine own part, sir, I 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 note
dame's sake, stand my friend: she has note nobody to do any
thing about her when I am gone; and she is old, and cannot
help herself: you shall have forty, sir note.
Bard.
Go to; stand aside.
Fee.
By my troth note, I care not; a man can die but once:
we owe God note a death: I'll ne'er note bear a base mind: an't note
-- 425 --
be my destiny, so; an't note be not, so: no man is too good to
serve's note prince; and let it go which way it will, he that dies
this year is quit for the next.
Bard.
Well said; thou'rt note a good fellow.
Fee.
Faith, I'll note bear no base mind.
Re-enter note Falstaff and the Justices.
Fal.
Come, sir, which men shall I have?
Shal.
Four of which you please.
Bard.
Sir, a word with you: I have three pound to
free Mouldy and Bullcalf.
Fal.
Go to; well.
Shal.
Come, Sir John, which four will you have?
Fal.
Do you choose for me.
Shal.
Marry, then, Mouldy, Bullcalf, Feeble and
Shadow note.
Fal.
Mouldy and Bullcalf: for you, Mouldy, stay note at
home till you note are past service: and for your part, Bullcalf,
grow till you come unto it: I will none of you.
Shal.
Sir John, Sir John, do not yourself wrong: they
are your likeliest men, and I would have you served with
the best.
Fal.
Will you tell me, Master Shallow, how to choose
a man? Care I for the limb, the thewes, the stature, bulk,
and big assemblance note of a man! Give me the spirit, Master
Shallow. Here's Wart; note you see what a ragged appearance
it is: a' shall charge you and discharge you with the motion
of a pewterer's hammer, come off and on swifter than
he that gibbets on the brewer's bucket. And this same half-faced
fellow, Shadow; give me this man: he presents no
mark to the enemy; the foeman may with as great aim
-- 426 --
level at the edge of a penknife. And for a retreat note; how
swiftly will this Feeble the woman's tailor run off! O, give
me the spare men, and spare me the great ones. Put me a
caliver into Wart's hand, Bardolph.
Bard.
Hold, Wart, traverse; thus, thus, thus note.
Fal.
Come, manage me your caliver. So: very well:
go to: very good, exceeding good. O, give me always a
little, lean, old, chapt note, bald shot note. Well said, i' faith note, Wart;
thou'rt note a good scab: hold, there's a tester for thee.
Shal.
He is not his craft's-master note; he doth not do it
right. I remember at Mile-end Green, when I lay at Clement's
Inn,—I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's show,—
there was a little quiver fellow, and a' note would manage you
his piece thus; and a' note would about and about, and come
you in and come you in: ‘rah, tah, tah,’ would a' note say;
‘bounce’ would a' note say; and away again would a' go, and
again would a' note come: I shall ne'er note see such a fellow.
Fal.
These fellows will do well, Master Shallow. God
keep you, Master Silence note: I will note not use many words with
you. note Fare you well, gentlemen both: I thank you: I must
a dozen mile to-night. Bardolph, give the soldiers coats.
Shal.
Sir John, the Lord note bless you! God prosper note your
affairs! God send note us peace! At your return note visit our
house note; let our old acquaintance be renewed: peradventure
I will with ye note to the court.
-- 427 --
Fal.
'Fore God, I would you would, Master Shallow. note
Shal.
Go to; I have spoke at a word. God keep you. note
Fal.
Fare you well, gentle note gentlemen. [Exeunt note Justices.]
On, note Bardolph; lead the men away. [Exeunt Bardolph, note
Recruits, &c.] As I return, I will fetch off these
justices: I do see the bottom of Justice Shallow. Lord,
Lord note, how subject we old men are to this vice of lying!
This same starved justice hath done nothing but prate note to
me of the wildness of his youth, and the feats he hath done
about Turnbull note Street; and every third word a lie, duer note
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 a' was naked, he was, for all the
world, like a forked radish, with a head fantastically carved
upon it with a knife: a' was so forlorn, that his dimensions
to any thick sight were invincible note: a' was the very genius note
of famine; yet lecherous as a monkey, and the whores
called him mandrake note: a' came ever note in the rearward of the
fashion, and sung those tunes to the overscutched note huswives
that he heard the carmen whistle, and sware they were his
fancies or his good-nights. note And now is this note Vice's dagger
become a squire, and talks as familiarly of John a Gaunt note
as if he had been sworn brother to him; and I'll be sworn
a' ne'er note saw him but once in the Tilt-yard; and then he
burst note his head for crowding among the marshal's men.
I saw it, and told John a Gaunt he beat his own name;
-- 428 --
for you might have thrust note him and all his apparel into an
eel-skin; the case of a treble hautboy was a mansion for
him, a court: and now has note he land and beefs note. Well, I'll note
be acquainted with him, if I return; and it note shall go hard
but I will make him a philosopher's two stones note to me:
if 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 note
time shape, and there note an end.
[Exit. note
William Aldis Wright [1863–1866], The works of William Shakespeare edited by William George Clark... and John Glover [and William Aldis Wright] (Macmillan and Co., London) [word count] [S10701].
