L. 2 E.
Quick. (L.C.)
Pr'ythee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring
thee to Staines.17 note
-- 17 --
Pist. (C.)
No; for my manly heart doth yearn.—
Bardolph, be blithe;—Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins;
Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead,
And we must yearn therefore.
Bard. (R.)
'Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is!
Quick. (C.)
Sure, he's in Arthur's bosom,18 note if ever man went
to Arthur's bosom. 'A made a finer end,19 note and went away,
an it had been any christom child;20 note 'a parted even just
between twelve and one, e'en at turning o' the tide:21 note for
after I saw him fumble with the sheets,22 note and play with
flowers, and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was
but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a'
babbled of green fields. How now, Sir John! quoth I:
what, man! be of good cheer. So a' cried out—Heaven,
Heaven, Heaven! three or four times. Now I, to comfort
him, bid him 'a should not think of Heaven; 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 stone.
Nym. (R.C.)
They say be cried out of sack.
Quick.
Ay, that 'a did.
Bard.
And of women.
Quick.
Nay, that 'a did not.
-- 18 --
Boy. (L.)
Yes, that 'a did, and said they were devils incarnate.
Quick. (crosses L.C.)
'A could never abide carnation;23 note
'twas a colour he never liked.
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?
Bard.
Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire:
that's all the riches I got in his service.
Nym.
Shall we shog off?24 note the king will be gone from
Southampton.
Pist.
Come, let's away.—My love, give me thy lips.
Look to my chattels and my moveables:
Let senses rule;25 note the word is, Pitch and pay;26 note
Trust none;
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes,
And hold-fast is the only dog,27 note my duck:
Therefore, caveto be thy counsellor.28 note
Go, clear thy crystals.29 note—Yoke-fellows in arms,
[Crosses L.H.
Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys,
To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!
[Crosses R.H.
Boy.
And that is but unwholesome food, they say.
Pist.
Touch her soft mouth, and march.
Bard.
Farewell, hostess.
[Kissing her.
Nym.
I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it; but adieu.
-- 19 --
Pist.
Let housewifery appear: keep close, I thee command.
Quick.
Farewell; adieu.
[Exeunt Bardolph, Pistol, Nym, R.H., and Dame Quickly, L.H.
Boy.
As young as I am, I have observed these three
swashers. I am boy to them all three: but all they three,
though they would serve me, could not be a man to me;
for, indeed, three such anticks do not amount to a man.
For Bardolph,—he is white-livered and red-faced; by the
means whereof 'a faces it out, but fights not. For Pistol,
—he hath a killing tongue and a quiet sword; by the
means whereof 'a breaks words, and keeps whole weapons.
For Nym,—he hath heard that men of few words are the
best men; and therefore he scorns to say his prayers, lest
'a should be thought a coward: but his few bad words
are match'd with as few good deeds; for 'a never broke
any man's head but his own, and that was against a post
when he was drunk. They will steal any thing, and call
it—purchase. They would have me as familiar with men's
pockets as their gloves or their handkerchiefs: which makes
much against my manhood, if I should take from another's
pocket to put into mine; for it is plain pocketing up of
wrongs. I must leave them, and seek some better service:
their villainy goes against my weak stomach, and therefore
I must cast it up.
[Distant March heard. Exit Boy, R.H.
END OF FIRST ACT.
-- 20 --
Charles Kean [1859], Shakespeare's play of King Henry the Fifth, arranged for representation at the Princess's Theatre, with historical and explanatory notes, by Charles Kean, F.S.A., as first performed On Monday, March 28th, 1859 (Printed by John K. Chapman and Co. [etc.], London) [word count] [S35800].
