Host.

Prithee, honey-sweet ^note husband, let me bring thee to Staines.

Pist.
No; for my manly heart doth yearn ^note.
Bardolph, be blithe: Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins: ^note
Boy ^note, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead,
And we must yearn ^note therefore ^note.

Bard.

Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in heaven or in hell ^note!

Host.

Nay, sure, he's not in hell ^note: he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made a finer ^note end and went away an it ^note had been any christom ^note child; a' parted even just ^note between twelve and one, even at the ^note turning o' ^note the tide: for after I saw him fumble with the sheets and play with ^note flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends ^note, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. ^note

‘How now, Sir John!’ quoth I: ‘what, man! be o' good ^note cheer.’ So a' cried out ‘God, God, God!’ three or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a' should not think of God; I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any ^note stone; then I felt to his knees, and they were as cold as any stone, and so ^note upward and upward ^note, and all was as cold as any stone.

Nym.

They say he cried out of ^note sack.

Host.

Ay, that a' did.

Bard. ^note

And of women.

Host.

Nay, that a' did not.

Boy.

Yes, that a' did; and said they were devils ^note incarnate.

Host. ^note

A' could never abide carnation; 'twas a colour he never liked.

Boy.

A' said once, the devil ^note would have him about women.

Host.

A' did in some sort, indeed, handle women; but then he was rheumatic, and talked of the whore of Babylon.

Boy.

Do you not remember, a' saw a flea stick upon Bardolph's nose, and a' said it was a black soul burning in hell-fire ^note?

Bard.

Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire: that's all the riches I got in his service.

Nym.

Shall we shog? the king will be gone from Southampton.

Pist.
Come, let's away. My love, give me thy lips.
Look to my chattels and my movables:
Let senses rule ^note; the word ^note is ‘Pitch ^note and Pay:’
Trust none;
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes,
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck:
Therefore, Caveto ^note be thy counsellor.
Go, clear thy crystals. Yoke-fellows ^note in arms,
Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys,
To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck! ^note

Boy.
And that's ^note but unwholesome food, they say.

Pist.
Touch her soft mouth, and march.

Bard.
Farewell, hostess. [Kissing her. ^note

Nym.
I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it; but, adieu.

Pist.
Let housewifery appear: keep close, I thee command.

Host.
Farewell; adieu. [Exeunt. ^note

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