William Shakespeare (15641616). The Oxford Shakespeare. 1914. | | |
The Life of King Henry the Fifth | | Act II. Scene III. |
| London. Before a Tavern in Eastcheap. | |
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Enter PISTOL, Hostess, NYM, BARDOLPH, and Boy. | |
Host. Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring thee to Staines. | |
Pist. No; for my manly heart doth yearn. | |
Bardolph, be blithe; Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins; | 5 |
Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead, | |
And we must yearn therefore. | |
Bard. Would I were with him, wheresomeer he is, either in heaven or in hell! | |
Host. Nay, sure, hes not in hell: hes in Arthurs bosom, if ever man went to Arthurs bosom. A made a finer end and went away an it had been any christom child; a parted even just between twelve and one, even at the turning o the tide: for after I saw him fumble with the sheets 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 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 stone; then I felt to his knees, and so upward, and upward, and all was as cold as any stone. | |
Nym. They say he cried out of sack. | 10 |
Host. Ay, that a did. | |
Bard. And of women. | |
Host. Nay, that a did not. | |
Boy. Yes, that a did; and said they were devils incarnate. | |
Host. A could never abide carnation; twas a colour he never liked. | 15 |
Boy. A said once, the devil 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 Bardolphs nose, and a said it was a black soul burning in hell-fire? | |
Bard. Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire: thats all the riches I got in his service. | |
Nym. Shall we shog? the king will be gone from Southampton. | 20 |
Pist. Come, lets away. My love, give me thy lips. | |
Look to my chattels and my moveables: | |
Let senses rule, the word is, Pitch and pay; | |
Trust none; | |
For oaths are straws, mens faiths are wafercakes, | 25 |
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck: | |
Therefore, caveto be thy counsellor. | |
Go, clear thy crystals. Yoke-fellows in arms, | |
Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys, | |
To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck! | 30 |
Boy. And thats 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. | |
Pist. Let housewifery appear: keep close, I thee command. | 35 |
Host. Farewell; adieu. [Exeunt. | | |
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