Boy. Escoutez; Comment estes vous appellé !
Fr. Sol. Monsieur le Fer.

Boy. He says, his name is-master Fer. Pist. Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him :-Discuss the same in French unto him. Boy. I do not know the French for Fer, and ferret, and firk.

Pist. Bid him prepare, for I will cut his throat. Fr. Sol. Que dit-il, monsieur?

Boy. Il me commande de vous dire que vous faites vous prest; car ce soldat icy est disposé tout à cette heure de couper vostre gorge.

Pist. Ouy, couper gorge, par ma foy, pesant,
Unless thou give me crowns, brave crowns;
Or mangled shalt thou be by this my sword.

Fr. Sol. O, je vous supplie pour l'amour de Dieu, me pardonner! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne maison; gardez ma vie, et je vous donneray deux cents

escus.

Pist. What are his words?

Boy. He prays you to save his life: he is a gentleman of a good house; and, for his ransome, he will give you two hundred crowns.

Pist. Tell him,-my fury shall abate, and I The crowns will take.

Fr. Sol. Petit monsieur, que dit-il? Boy. Encore qu'il est contre son jurement, de pardonner aucun prisonnier ; neantmoins, pour les escus que vous lavez promis, il est content de vous donner la liberté, le franchisement.

Fr. Sol. Sur mes genoux, je vous donne mille re. merciemens: et je m'estime hereux que je suis tombé entre les mains d'un chevalier, je pense, le plus brave, valiant, et tres distingué seigneur d'Angleterre. Pist. Expound unto me, boy.

Boy. He gives you, upon his knees, a thousand thanks: and he esteems himself happy that he hath fallen into the hands of (as he thinks) the most brave, valorous, and thrice-worthy signicur of England.

Pist. As I suck blood, I will some mercy shew. Follow me, cur. [Exit Pistol. Boy. Suivez vous le grand capitaine. [Exit French Soldier. I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart: but the saying is true,-The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. Bardolph, and Nym, had ten times more valour than this roaring devil i' the old play, that every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger; and they are both hang'd; and so would this be, if he durst steal any thing adventurously. I must stay with the lackeys, with the luggage of our camp: the French might have a good prey of us, if he knew of it; for there is none to guard it, but boys. [Exit.

SCENE V.-Another Part of the Field of Battle. Alarums. Enter DAUPHIN, ORLEANS, BOURBON, CONSTABLE, RAMBURES, and others.

Con. O diable!

shame!

Let life be short; else, shame will be too long. [Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-Another Part of the Field. Alarums.—Enter King HENRY and Forces; ExETER, and others.

K. Hen. Well have we done, thrice-valiant coun trymen :

But all's not done, yet keep the French the field, Exe. The duke of York commends him to your

majesty.

K. Hen. Lives he, good uncle, thrice within this hour,

I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting;
From helmet to the spur, all blood he was.

Exe. In which array, (brave soldier) doth he lie,
Larding the plain and by his bloody side,
(Yoke-fellow to his honour-owing wounds,)
The noble earl of Suffolk also lies.
Suffolk first died: and York, all haggled over,
Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteep'd,
And takes him by the beard; kisses the gashes
That bloodily did yawn upon his face!
And cries aloud,-Turry, dear cousin Suffolk!
My soul shall thine keep company to heaven:
Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly a-breast;
As, in this glorious and well-foughten field,
We kept together in our chivalry!
Upon these words I came, and cheer'd him up:
He smiled me in the face, raught me his hand,
And, with a feeble gripe, says,-Dear my lord,
Commend my service to my sovereign.
So did he turn, and over Suffolk's neck
He threw his wounded arm, aud kiss'd his lips;
And so, espoused to death, with blood he seal'd
A testainent of noble-ending love.
The pretty and sweet manner of it forced
Those waters from me, which I would have stopp'd;
But I had not so much of man in me,
But all my mother came into mine eyes,
And gave me up to tears.

K. Hen. I blame you not;
For, hearing this, I must perforce compound
With mistful eyes, or they will issue too.-

[Alarum.

But, hark! what new alarm is this same ?-
The French have reinforced their scatter'd men:-
Then every soldier kill his prisoners;
Give the word through.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VII.-Another Part of the Field. Alarums.-Enter FLUELLEN and Gower. Flu. Kill the poys and the luggage! 'Tis expressly against the law of arms: 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be offer'd, in the 'orld: In your conscience now, is it not?

Gow. 'Tis certain, there's not a boy left alive; and the cowardly rascals, that ran from the bat tle, have done this slaughter: besides, they have burn'd and carried away all that was in the king's tent; wherefore the king, most worthily, hath caused every soldier to cut his prisoner's throat. O, 'tis a gallant king.

Flu. Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, captain Gower: what call you the town's name, where Alexander the pig was born?

Gow. Alexander the great.

pig, or the great, or the mighty, or the huge, or Flu. Why, I pray you, is not pig, great? The the magnanimous, are all one reckonings, save the phrase is a little variations.

Gow. I think, Alexander the great was born in Macedon; his father was called-Philip of Macedon, as I take it.

Flu. I think, it is in Macedon, where Alexander is porn. I tell you, captain,-If you look in the maps of the 'orld, I warrant, you shall find, in the comparisons between Macedon and Monmouth; is a river in Macedon; and there is also moreover that the situations, look you, is both alike. There a river at Monmouth: it is call'd Wye, at Monmouth; but it is out of my prains, what is the name of the other river; but 'tis all one, 'tis so like as my fingers is to my fingers, and there is salmons in both. If you mark Alexander's life well, Harry of Monmouth's life is come after it

• Reached.

Gow. Our king is not like him in that; he never kill'd any of his friends.

Flu. It is not well done, mark you now, to take tales out of my mouth, ere it is made an end and finish'd. I speak but in the figures and comparisons of it: as Alexander is kill his friend Clytus, being in his ales and his cups; so also Harry Monmouth, being in his right wits and his goot judgments, is turn away the fat knight with the great pelly-doublet: he was full of jests, and gipes, and knaveries, and mocks; I am forget his

K. Hen. I was not angry since I came to France, Until this instant.-Take a trumpet, herald; Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill; If they will fight with us, bid them come down, Or void the field; they do offend our sight: If they'll do neither, we will come to them; And make them skirr away, as swift as stones Enforced from the old Assyrian slings: Besides, we'll cut the throats of those we have, And not a man of them, that we shall take, Shall taste our mercy :-Go, and tell them so. Enter MONTJOY.

Exe. Here comes the herald of the French, my liege.

Glo. His eyes are humbler than they used to be. K. Hlen. How now! what means this, herald ?

know'st thou not,

That I have fined these bones of mine for ransome? Comest thou again for ransome?

Mont. No, great king:

I come to thee for charitable licence,
That we may wander o'er this bloody field
To book our dead, and then to bury them;
To sort our nobles from our common men ;
For many of our princes (woe the while !)
Lie drown'd and soak'd in mercenary blood;
(So do our vulgar drench their peasant limbs
In blood of princes ;) and their wounded steeds
Fret fetlock deep in gore, and, with wild rage,
Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters,
Killing them twice. O, give us leave, great king,
To view the field in safety, and dispose
Of their dead bodies.

K. Hen. I tell thee truly, herald,

I know not, if the day be ours or no;

For yet a many of your horsemen peer,

And gallop o'er the field,

Mont. The day is yours.

K. Hen. Praised be God, and not our strength

K. Hen. They did, Fluellen.

Flu. Your majesty says very true: if your majesties is remember'd of it, the Welshmen did goot service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which your majesty knows, to this hour is an honourable padge of the service: and, I do believe, your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy's day. K. Hen. I wear it for a memorable honour, For I am Welsh, you know, good countryman. Flu. All the water in Wye cannot wash your majesties Welsh plood out of your pody, I can tell

• Scour.

it pleases his grace, and his majesty too! K. Hen. Thanks, good my countryman. Flu. By Cheshu, I am your majesty's countryman, I care not who know it; I will confess it to all the 'orld: I need not to be ashamed of your majesty, praised be Got, so long as your majesty is an honest man.

K. Hen. God keep me so !-Our heralds go with him;

Bring me just notice of the numbers dead On both our parts.- Call yonder fellow hither. [Points to Williams.-Exeunt Montjoy,

and others.

Exe. Soldier, you must come to the king. K. Hen. Soldier, why wearest thou that glove in thy cap? Will. An't please your majesty, 'tis the gage of one that I should fight withal, if he be alive. K. Hen. An Englishman?

Will. An't please your majesty, a rascal, that swagger'd with me last night: who, if a' live, and ever dare to challenge this glove, I have sworn to take him a box o' the ear: or, if I can see my glove in his cap, (which he swore as he was a sol dier, he would wear, if alive,) I will strike it out

soundly.

K. Hen. What think you, captain Fluellen? Is it fit this soldier keep his oath?

Flu. He is a craven and a villain else, an't please your majesty, in my conscience.

K. Hen. It may be, his enemy is a gentleman of great sort, quite from the answer of his degree.

Flu. Though he be as goot a gentlemen as the tevil is, as Lucifer and Belzebub himself, it is necessary, look your grace, that he keep his vow and his oath: if he be perjured, see you now, his reputation is as arrant a villain, and a Jack-sauce ‡, as ever his plack shoe trod upon Got's ground and his earth, in my conscience, la.

K. Hen. Then keep thy vow, sirrah, when thou meet'st the fellow.

Will. So I will, my liege, as I live.

K. Hen. Who servest thou under?

Will. Under captain Gower, my liege.

Flu. Gower is a goot captain; and is good knowledge and literature in the wars.

K. Hen. Call him hither, to me, soldier.
Will. I will, my liege.

[Exit.

K. Hen. Here, Fluellen; wear thou this favour for me, aud stick it in thy cap: when Alençon and myself were down together, I pluck'd this glove from his helm: if any man challenge this, he is a friend to Alençon and an enemy to our person; if thou encounter any such, apprehend him, an thou dost love me.

Flu. Your grace does me as great honours, as can be desired in the hearts of his subjects: I would fain see the man, that has but two legs, that shall find himself aggriefed at this glove, that is all; but I would fain see it once; an please Got of his grace, that I might see it.

K. Hen. Knowest thou Gower?

Flu. He is my dear friend, an please you.

K. Hen. Pray thee, go seek him, and bring him to my tent.

Flu. I will fetch him.

[Exit.

K. Hen. My lord of Warwick,-and my brother
Gloster,

Follow Fluellen closely at the heels:
The glove, which I have given him for a favour,
May, haply, purchase him a box o' the ear;
It is the soldier's; I, by bargain, should
Wear it myself. Follow, good cousin Warwick:
If that the soldier strike him, (as, I judge
By his blunt bearing, he will keep his word,)
Some sudden mischief may arise of it;
For I do know Fluellen valiant,
And touch'd with choler, hot as gunpowder,
And quickly will return an injury :
Follow, and see there be no harm between them.—
Go you with me, uncle of Exeter. [Exeunt.

SCENE VIII.-Before King HENRY's Pavilion.
Enter GowER and WILLIAMS,
Will. I warrant, it is to knight you, captain.
Enter FLUELLEN.
Flu. Got's will and his pleasure, captain, I pe
• Coward.
+ High rank.

t For

saucy Jack.

Put forth disorder'd twigs: her fallow leas
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory,
Doth root upon; while that the coulter⚫ rusts,
That should deracinate such savagery:
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover,
Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank,
Conceives by idteness; and nothing teems,
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs,
Losing both beauty and utility.

And as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures, grow to wildness;
Even so our houses, and ourselves and children,
Have lost, or do not learn, for want of time,
The sciences that should become our country;
But grow, like savages,-as soldiers will,
That nothing do but meditate on blood,—
To swearing, and stern looks, diffused ‡ attire,
And every thing that seems unnatural.
Which to reduce into our former favour,
You are assembled and my speech entreats,
That I may know the let why gentle peace
Should not expel these inconveniencies,
And bless us with her former qualities.

K. Hen. If, duke of Burgundy, you would the peace,

Whose want gives growth to the imperfections
Which you have cited, you must buy that peace
With full accord to all our just demands;
Whose tenours and particular effects
You have, enscheduled briefly in your hands.
Bur. The king hath heard them; to the which,
as yet,

There is no answer made.

K. Hen. Well then, the peace,
Which you before so urged, lies in his answer.

Fr. King. I have but with a cursorary eye
O'er-glanced the articles; pleaseth your grace
To appoint some of your council presently
To sit with us once more, with better beed
To re-survey them, we will suddenly,
Pass our accept, and peremptory answer.

K. Hen. Brother, we shall.-Go, uncle Exeter,
And brother Clarence,-and you, brother Gloster,-
Warwick, and Huntingdon,-go with the king:
And take with you free power, to ratify,
Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best
Shall see advantageable for our dignity,
Any thing in, or out of, our demands;
And we'll consign thereto.-Will you, fair sister,
Go with the princes, or stay here with us?

Q. Isa. Our gracious brother, I will go with them;
Haply, a woman's voice may do some good,
When articles, too nicely urged, be stood on.
K. Hen. Yet leave our cousin Katharine here
with us;

She is our capital demand, comprised
Within the fore-rank of our articles.
Q. Isa She hath good leave.

[Exeunt all but Henry, Katharine, and her
Gentlewoman.

K. Hen. Fair Katharine, and most fair! Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms, Such as will enter at a lady's ear, And plead his love-suit to her gentle heart? Kath. Your majesty shall mock at me; I cannot speak your England.

K. Hen. O fair Katharine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokerly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?

Kath. Pardonnez moy, I cannot tell vat is-like

nie.

K. Hen. An angel is like you, Kate; and you are like an angel.

Kath. Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable à les anges? Alice. Ouy, vrayment, (sauf vostre grace) ainsi dit-il.

K. Hen. I said so, dear Katharine; and I must not blush to affirm it.

Kath. O bon Dieu! Les langues des hommes sont pleines des tromperies.

K. Hen. What says she, fair one? That the tongues of men are full of deceits.

Alice. Ouy; dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits dat is de princess.

K. Hen. The princess is the better English. woman. ' faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy

• Plonghshare.

♦ To deracinate is to force up the roots.

Vasant. Appearance. Hinderance.

understanding: I am glad, thou canst speak no better English; for, if thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king, that thou wouldst think, I had sold my farm to buy my crown. I know now no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say-I love you: then, if you urge me further than to say-Do you in faith? I wear out my suit. Give me your answer; i' faith, do; and so clap hands, and a bargain: How say you, lady? Kath. Sauf rostre honneur, me understand well. K. Hen. Marry, if you would put me to verses, or to dance for your sake, Kate, why you undid me for the one, I have neither words nor mea sure; and for the other, I have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable measure in strength. If I could win a lady at leap-frog, or by vaulting into my saddle with my armour on my back, under the correction of bragging be it spoken, I should quickly leap into a wife. Or, if I might buffet for my love, or bound my horse for her favours, I could lay on like a butcher, and sit like a jackan-apes, never off: but, before God, I cannot look greenly, nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation; only downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sun-burning, that never looks in his glass for love of any thing he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain soldier: If thou canst love me for this, take me: if not, to say to thee-that I shall die, is true; but-for thy love, by the Lord, no; yet I love thee too. And while thou livest, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoin'd constancy; for he perforce must do thee right, be cause he hath not the gift to woo in other places! for these fellows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into ladies' favours,-they do always reason themselves out again. What a speaker is but a prater; a rhyme is but a ballad. A good leg will fall; a straight back will stoop; a black beard will turn white; a curl'd pate will grow bald; a fair face will wither; a full eye will wax hollow but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and moon; or, rather, the sun, and not the moon; for it shines bright, and never changes, but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me and take me, take a soldier; take a soldier, take a king: And what say'st thou then to my love? Speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee.

Kath. Is it possible dat I should love de enemy of France ?

K. Hen. No; it is not possible, you should love the enemy of France, Kate: but, in loving me, you should love the friend of France; for I love France so well, that I will not part with a village of it; I will have it all mine: and, Kate, when France is mine, and I am yours, then yours is France, and you are mine.

Kath. I cannot tell vat is dat.

K. Hen. No, Kate? I will tell thee in French; which, I am sure, will hang upon my tongue like a new-married wife about her husband's neck, hardly to be shook off. Quand j'ay la possession de France, & quand vous avez le possession de moi, (let me see, what then? Saint Dennis be my speed!)donc vostre & France, & vous estes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom, as to speak so much more French; I shall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me.

Kath. Sauf vostre honneur, le François que vous parlez, est meilleur que l'Anglois lequel je parle.

K. Hen. No, 'faith, is't not, Kate: but thy speak ing of my tongue, and I thine, most truly falsely, must needs be granted to be much at one. But Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?

Kath. I cannot tell.

K. Hen. Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate! I'll ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me: and at night when you come into your closet, you'll question this gentlewoman about me; and I know, Kate, you will, to her, dispraise those parts in me, that you love with your heart: but, good Kate, mock me mercifully; the rather, gentle princess, because I love thee cruelly. If ever thou be'st