King. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners But with proviso and exception That we at our own charge shall ransom straight 80 His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer; Whose daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March Hot. Revolted Mortimer! 90 North. What, drunk with choler? Stay and pause a while. Here comes your uncle. 129 And when I urg'd the ransom once again 140 Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale, And on my face he turn'd an eye of death, 145 165 But shall it be, that you, that set the crown 160 rose, 170 175 And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke? And shall it in more shame be further spoken, That you are fool'd, discarded, and shook off By him for whom these shames ye underwent ? No; yet time serves wherein you may redeem 180 185 Your banish'd honours and restore yourselves 190 Hot. If he fall in, good night! or sink or swim. 195 Send Danger from the east unto the west, North. Imagination of some great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience. 200 Hot. By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap, To pluck bright Honour from the pale-fac'd moon, Or dive into the bottom of the deep, And pluck up drowned Honour by the locks; 205 Wor. He apprehends a world of figures here, That are your prisoners, Those same noble Scots I'll keep them all! By God, he shall not have a Scot of them; 214 No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not! I'll keep them, by this hand. Wor. You start away And lend no ear unto my purposes. Those prisoners you shall keep. Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat. He said he would not ransom Mortimer; Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer; But I will find him when he lies asleep, And in his ear I'll holla " Mortimer!' Nay, 220 I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak Nothing but. "Mortimer," and give it him, 225 To keep his anger still in motion. Wor. Hear you, cousin; a word. Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy, Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke; And that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales, 230 But that I think his father loves him not Gads. What, ho! chamberlain ! Cham. At hand, quoth pick-purse. Gads. That's even as fair as- at hand, quoth the chamberlain; for thou variest no more from picking of purses than giving direction doth from labouring; thou lay'st the plot how. 67 Cham. Good morrow, Master Gadshill. It holds current that I told you yesternight: there's a franklin in the wild of Kent hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold. I heard him tell it to one of his company last night at supper; a kind of auditor; one that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what. They are up already, and call for eggs and butter. They will away presently. 66 Gads. Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas' clerks, I'll give thee this neck. Cham. No, I'll none of it. I pray thee, keep that for the hangman; for I know thou worshipp'st Saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may. 72 Gads. What talkest thou to me of the hangman? If I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows; for if I hang, old Sir John hangs with me, and thou know'st he is no starveling. Tut there are other Troians that thou dream'st not of, the which for sport sake are content to do the profession some grace, [78 that would, if matters should be look'd into, for their own credit sake, make all whole. I am joined with no foot land-rakers, no longstaff sixpenny strikers, none of these mad mustachio purple-hued malt-worms; but with nobility and tranquillity, burgomasters and great oneyers; such as can hold in, such as will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner [85 than drink, and drink sooner than pray; and yet, 'zounds, I lie; for they pray continually to their saint, the commonwealth; or rather, not pray to her, but prey on her, for they ride up and down on her and make her their boots. 91 Fal. Poins! Poins, and be hang'd! Poins! Prince. [Coming forward.] Peace, ye fat-kidney'd rascal! what a brawling dost thou keep! Fal. Where's Poins, Hal? Prince. He is walk'd up to the top of the hill; I'll go seek him. [Withdraws.] Fal. I am accurs'd to rob in that thief's company. The rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know not where. If I travel but four foot by the squire further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt not but to die a fair death for all this, if I scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have forsworn his [15 company hourly any time this two and twenty years, and yet I am bewitch'd with the rogue's company. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, I'll be hang'd. It could not be else; I have drunk medi- [20 cines. Poins! Hal! a plague upon you both! Bardolph! Peto! I'll starve ere I'll rob a foot further. An 't were not as good a deed as drink, to turn true man and to leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever [25 chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me; and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough. A plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another! (They whistle.) Whew! A plague upon you all! Give me [30 my horse, you rogues; give me my horse, and be hang'd! Prince. [Coming forward.] Peace, ye fat-guts! lie down. Lay thine ear close to the ground and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers. 35 Fal. So I do, against my will. Poins. [Coming forward.] O, 't is our setter; I know his voice. Bardolph, what news? 54 Bard. Case ye, case ye; on with your vizards. There's money of the King's coming down the hill; 't is going to the King's exchequer. Fal. You lie, ye rogue; 't is going to the King's tavern. Gads. There's enough to make us all. Prince. Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane; Ned Poins and I will walk lower. If they scape from your encounter, then they light on us. Peto. How many be there of them? Fal. 'Zounds, will they not rob us? Prince. What, a coward, Sir John Paunch? Fal. Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather; but yet no coward, Hal. 71 Prince. Well, we leave that to the proof. Poins. Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge; when thou need'st him, there thou shalt find him. Farewell, and stand fast. Fal. Now cannot I strike him, if I should be hang'd. Prince. [Aside.] Ned, where are our disguises. Poins. [Aside.] Here, hard by. Stand close. [Exeunt Prince and Poins.] Fal. Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I. Every man to his business. Enter the TRAVELLERS. 81 Fal. Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? No, ye fat chuffs; I would your store were here! On, bacons, on! What, ye knaves! young men must live. You are grandjurors, are ye? We'll jure ye, faith. 97 [Here they rob them and bind them. Exeunt. Re-enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS [in buck ram]. Prince. The thieves have bound the true men. Now, could thou and I rob the thieves and go merrily to London, it would be argu The thieves are all scatt'red and possess'd with fear So strongly that they dare not meet each other; SCENE III. [Warkworth Castle.] Enter HOTSPUR, solus, reading a letter. Hot. "But, for mine own part, my lord, I could be well contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear your house." He could be contented: why is he not, then? In respect of the love he bears our house: he shows in this, he loves his own barn better than he loves [s our house. Let me see some more. "The purpose you undertake is dangerous; " - why, that 's certain. 'Tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this [10 flower, safety. "The purpose you undertake is dangerous; the friends you have named uncertain; the time itself unsorted; and your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition." Say you so, say you so? say unto you again, you are a shallow, [15 cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our friends true and constant: a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation; an excellent plot, very good friends. [20 What a frosty-spirited rogue is this! Why, my Lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action. 'Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I could brain him with his lady's fan. Is there not my father, my uncle, [25 and myself? Lord Edmund Mortimer, my Lord of York, and Owen Glendower? Is there not besides the Douglas? Have I not all their letters to meet me in arms by the ninth of the next month? and are they not some of them set forward already? What a pagan rascal [s0 is this! an infidel! Ha! you shall see now in very sincerity of fear and cold heart, will he to the King and lay open all our proceedings. O, Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents, Some heavy business hath my lord in hand, [Enter SERVANT.] now. Hot. What horse? Roan, a crop-ear, is it not? Serv. It is, my lord. Lady. But hear you, my lord. 75 |