The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare (moboreader .TXT) 📕

PRINCE JOHN. Though no man be assur’d what grace to find, You stand in coldest expectation.

I am the sorrier; would ‘twere otherwise.

CLARENCE. Well, you must now speak Sir John Falstaff fair; Which swims against your stream of quality.

CHIEF JUSTICE. Sweet Princes, what I did, I did in honour, Led by th’ impartial conduct of my soul; And never shall you see that I will beg A ragged and forestall’d remission.

If truth and upright innocency fail me, I’ll to the King my master that is dead, And tell him who hath sent me after him.

WARWICK. Here comes the Prince.

Enter KING HENRY THE FIFTH, attended CHIEF JUSTICE. Good morrow, and God save your Majesty!

KING. This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, Sits not so easy on me as you think.

Brothers, you mix your sadness with some fear.

This is the English, not the Turkish court; Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds,

But Harry Harry. Yet be sad, good brothers, For, by my faith, it very well becomes you.

Sorrow so royally in you appears

That I will deeply put the fashion on, And wear it in my heart. Why, then, be sad; But entertain no more of it, good brothers, Than a joint burden laid upon us all.

For me, by heaven, I bid you be assur’d, I’ll be your father and your brother too; Let me but bear your love, I’ll bear your cares.

Yet weep that Harry’s dead, and so will I; But Harry lives that shall convert those tears By number into hours of happiness.

BROTHERS. We hope no otherwise from your Majesty.

KING. You all look strangely on me; and you most.

You are, I think, assur’d I love you not.

CHIEF JUSTICE. I am assur’d, if I be measur’d rightly, Your Majesty hath no just cause to hate me.

KING. No?

How might a prince of my great hopes forget So great indignities you laid upon me?

What, rate, rebuke, and roughly send to prison, Th’ immediate heir of England! Was this easy?

May this be wash’d in Lethe and forgotten?

CHIEF JUSTICE. I then did use the person of your father; The image of his power lay then in me; And in th’ administration of his law, Whiles I was busy for the commonwealth, Your Highness pleased to forget my place, The majesty and power of law and justice, The image of the King whom I presented, And struck me in my very seat of judgment; Whereon, as an offender to your father, I gave bold way to my authority

And did commit you. If the deed were ill, Be you contented, wearing now the garland, To have a son set your decrees at nought, To pluck down justice from your awful bench, To trip the course of law, and blunt the sword That guards the peace and safety of your person; Nay, more, to spurn at your most royal image, And mock your workings in a second body.

Question your royal thoughts, make the case yours; Be now the father, and propose a son; Hear your own dignity so much profan’d, See your most dreadful laws so loosely slighted, Behold yourself so by a son disdain’d; And then imagine me taking your part

And, in your power, soft silencing your son.

After this cold considerance, sentence me; And, as you are a king, speak in your state What I have done that misbecame my place, My person, or my liege’s sovereignty.

KING. You are right, Justice, and you weigh this well; Therefore still bear the balance and the sword; And I do wish your honours may increase Till you do live to see a son of mine Offend you, and obey you, as I did.

So shall I live to speak my father’s words: ‘Happy am I that have a man so bold

That dares do justice on my proper son; And not less happy, having such a son That would deliver up his greatness so Into the hands of justice.’ You did commit me; For which I do commit into your hand

Th’ unstained sword that you have us’d to bear; With this remembrance-that you use the same With the like bold, just, and impartial spirit As you have done ‘gainst me. There is my hand.

You shall be as a father to my youth; My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine ear; And I will stoop and humble my intents To your well-practis’d wise directions.

And, Princes all, believe me, I beseech you, My father is gone wild into his grave, For in his tomb lie my affections;

And with his spirits sadly I survive, To mock the expectation of the world, To frustrate prophecies, and to raze out Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down After my seeming. The tide of blood in me Hath proudly flow’d in vanity till now.

Now doth it turn and ebb back to the sea, Where it shall mingle with the state of floods, And flow henceforth in formal majesty.

Now call we our high court of parliament; And let us choose such limbs of noble counsel, That the great body of our state may go In equal rank with the best govern’d nation; That war, or peace, or both at once, may be As things acquainted and familiar to us; In which you, father, shall have foremost hand.

Our coronation done, we will accite,

As I before rememb’red, all our state; And-God consigning to my good intents-No prince nor peer shall have just cause to say, God shorten Harry’s happy life one day. Exeunt

SCENE III.

Gloucestershire. SHALLOW’S orchard

Enter FALSTAFF, SHALLOW, SILENCE, BARDOLPH, the PAGE, and DAVY

SHALLOW. Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year’s pippin of mine own graffing, with a dish of caraways, and so forth. Come, cousin Silence. And then to bed.

FALSTAFF. Fore God, you have here a goodly dwelling and rich.

SHALLOW. Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all, Sir John -marry, good air. Spread, Davy, spread, Davy; well said, Davy.

FALSTAFF. This Davy serves you for good uses; he is your servingman and your husband.

SHALLOW. A good varlet, a good varlet, a very good varlet, Sir John. By the mass, I have drunk too much sack at supper. A good varlet. Now sit down, now sit down; come, cousin.

SILENCE. Ah, sirrah! quoth-a- we shall [Singing]

Do nothing but eat and make good cheer, And praise God for the merry year; When flesh is cheap and females dear, And lusty lads roam here and there, So merrily,

And ever among so merrily.

FALSTAFF. There’s a merry heart! Good Master Silence, I’ll give you a health for that anon.

SHALLOW. Give Master Bardolph some wine, Davy.

DAVY. Sweet sir, sit; I’ll be with you anon; most sweet sir, sit.

Master Page, good Master Page, sit. Proface! What you want in meat, we’ll have in drink. But you must bear; the heart’s all.

Exit

SHALLOW. Be merry, Master Bardolph; and, my little soldier there, be merry.

SILENCE. [Singing]

Be merry, be merry, my wife has all; For women are shrews, both short and tall; ‘Tis merry in hall when beards wag an; And welcome merry Shrove-tide.

Be merry, be merry.

FALSTAFF. I did not think Master Silence had been a man of this mettle.

SILENCE. Who, I? I have been merry twice and once ere now.

Re-enter DAVY

DAVY. [To BARDOLPH] There’s a dish of leather-coats for you.

SHALLOW. Davy!

DAVY. Your worship! I’ll be with you straight. [To BARDOLPH]

A cup of wine, sir?

SILENCE. [Singing]

A cup of wine that’s brisk and fine, And drink unto the leman mine;

And a merry heart lives long-a.

FALSTAFF. Well said, Master Silence.

SILENCE. An we shall be merry, now comes in the sweet o’ th’ night.

FALSTAFF. Health and long life to you, Master Silence!

SILENCE. [Singing]

Fill the cup, and let it come,

I’ll pledge you a mile to th’ bottom.

SHALLOW. Honest Bardolph, welcome; if thou want’st anything and wilt not call, beshrew thy heart. Welcome, my little tiny thief and welcome indeed too. I’ll drink to Master Bardolph, and to all the cabileros about London.

DAVY. I hope to see London once ere I die.

BARDOLPH. An I might see you there, Davy!

SHALLOW. By the mass, you’R crack a quart together-ha! will you not, Master Bardolph?

BARDOLPH. Yea, sir, in a pottle-pot.

SHALLOW. By God’s liggens, I thank thee. The knave will stick by thee, I can assure thee that. ‘A will not out, ‘a; ‘tis true bred.

BARDOLPH. And I’ll stick by him, sir.

SHALLOW. Why, there spoke a king. Lack nothing; be merry.

[One knocks at door] Look who’s at door there, ho! Who knocks?

Exit DAVY

FALSTAFF. [To SILENCE, who has drunk a bumper] Why, now you have done me right.

SILENCE. [Singing]

Do me right,

And dub me knight.

Samingo.

Is’t not so?

FALSTAFF. ‘Tis so.

SILENCE. Is’t so? Why then, say an old man can do somewhat.

Re-enter DAVY

DAVY. An’t please your worship, there’s one Pistol come from the court with news.

FALSTAFF. From the court? Let him come in.

Enter PISTOL

How now, Pistol?

PISTOL. Sir John, God save you!

FALSTAFF. What wind blew you hither, Pistol?

PISTOL. Not the ill wind which blows no man to good. Sweet knight, thou art now one of the greatest men in this realm.

SILENCE. By’r lady, I think ‘a be, but goodman Puff of Barson.

PISTOL. Puff!

Puff in thy teeth, most recreant coward base!

Sir John, I am thy Pistol and thy friend, And helter-skelter have I rode to thee; And tidings do I bring, and lucky joys, And golden times, and happy news of price.

FALSTAFF. I pray thee now, deliver them like a man of this world.

PISTOL. A foutra for the world and worldlings base!

I speak of Africa and golden joys.

FALSTAFF. O base Assyrian knight, what is thy news?

Let King Cophetua know the truth thereof.

SILENCE. [Singing] And Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John.

PISTOL. Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons?

And shall good news be baffled?

Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Furies’ lap.

SHALLOW. Honest gentleman, I know not your breeding.

PISTOL. Why, then, lament therefore.

SHALLOW. Give me pardon, sir. If, sir, you come with news from the court, I take it there’s but two ways-either to utter them or conceal them. I am, sir, under the King, in some authority.

PISTOL. Under which king, Bezonian? Speak, or die.

SHALLOW. Under King Harry.

PISTOL. Harry the Fourth-or Fifth?

SHALLOW. Harry the Fourth.

PISTOL. A foutra for thine office!

Sir John, thy tender lambkin now is King; Harry the Fifth’s the man. I speak the truth.

When Pistol lies, do this; and fig me, like The bragging Spaniard.

FALSTAFF. What, is the old king dead?

PISTOL. As nail in door. The things I speak are just.

FALSTAFF. Away, Bardolph! saddle my horse. Master Robert Shallow, choose what office thou wilt in the land, ‘tis thine. Pistol, I will double-charge thee with dignities.

BARDOLPH. O joyful day!

I would not take a knighthood for my fortune.

PISTOL. What, I do bring good news?

FALSTAFF. Carry Master Silence to bed. Master Shallow, my Lord Shallow, be what thou wilt-I am Fortune’s steward. Get on thy boots; we’ll ride all night. O sweet Pistol! Away, Bardolph!

[Exit BARDOLPH] Come, Pistol, utter more to me; and withal devise something to do thyself good. Boot, boot, Master Shallow!

I know the young King is sick for me. Let us take any man’s horses: the laws of England are at my commandment. Blessed are they that have been my friends; and woe to my Lord Chief Justice!

PISTOL. Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also!