ACT I.

Scene I. London. The palace.

Enter King Henry, Lord John of Lancaster, the Earl of Westmoreland, Sir Walter Blunt, and others.[1971]

King. So shaken as we are, so wan with care,[1972]
 Find we a time for frighted peace to pant,
 And breathe short-winded accents of new broils
 To be commenced in stronds afar remote.[1973]
 No more the thirsty entrance of this soil[1974]5
 Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood;[1975]
 No more shall trenching war channel her fields,
 Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs[1976][1977]
 Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,[1977][1978]
 Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,10
 All of one nature, of one substance bred,
 Did lately meet in the intestine shock
 And furious close of civil butchery
 Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,[1979]
 March all one way and be no more opposed15
 Against acquaintance, kindred and allies:[1980]
 The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
 No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends,
 As far as to the sepulchre of Christ,
 Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross[1981]20
 We are impressed and engaged to fight,
 Forthwith a power of English shall we levy;[1982]
 Whose arms were moulded in their mothers' womb[1983]
 To chase these pagans in those holy fields[1984]
 Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet25
 Which fourteen hundred years ago were nail'd
 For our advantage on the bitter cross.
 But this our purpose now is twelve month old,[1985]
 And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go:
 Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear30
 Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland,
 What yesternight our council did decree
 In forwarding this dear expedience.[1986]
West. My liege, this haste was hot in question,
 And many limits of the charge set down35
 But yesternight: when all athwart there came
 A post from Wales loaden with heavy news;
 Whose worst was, that the noble Mortimer,
 Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight[1987]
 Against the irregular and wild Glendower,40
 Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,[1988]
 A thousand of his people butchered;[1989]
 Upon whose dead corpse there was such misuse,[1990]
 Such beastly shameless transformation,[1991]
 By those Welshwomen done, as may not be45
 Without much shame retold or spoken of.[1992]
King. It seems then that the tidings of this broil
 Brake off our business for the Holy Land.
West. This match'd with other did, my gracious lord;[1993]
 For more uneven and unwelcome news[1994]50
 Came from the north and thus it did import:[1995]
 On Holy-rood day, the gallant Hotspur there,
 Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald,
 That ever-valiant and approved Scot,
 At Holmedon met,[1996][1997]55
 Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour;[1996]
 As by discharge of their artillery,
 And shape of likelihood, the news was told;[1998]
 For he that brought them, in the very heat[1999]
 And pride of their contention did take horse,60
 Uncertain of the issue any way.
King. Here is a dear, a true industrious friend,[2000]
 Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse,
 Stain'd with the variation of each soil[2001]
 Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours;[2002]65
 And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news.[2003]
 The Earl of Douglas is discomfited:
 Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,[2004]
 Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see[2005]
 On Holmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hotspur took[2006]70
 Mordake the Earl of Fife, and eldest son[2007]
 To beaten Douglas; and the Earl of Athol,[2008][2009]
 Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith:[2009][2010]
 And is not this an honourable spoil?
 A gallant prize? ha, cousin, is it not?[2011]75
West. In faith,[2011]
 It is a conquest for a prince to boast of.[2011]
King. Yea, there thou makest me sad and makest me sin
 In envy that my Lord Northumberland
 Should be the father to so blest a son,[2012]80
 A son who is the theme of honour's tongue;
 Amongst a grove, the very straightest plant;
 Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride:
 Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
 See riot and dishonour stain the brow85
 Of my young Harry. O that it could be proved[2013]
 That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged
 In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,[2014]
 And call'd mine Percy, his Plantagenet![2015]
 Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.90
 But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz,[2016]
 Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners,
 Which he in this adventure hath surprised,
 To his own use he keeps; and sends me word,
 I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.95
West. This is his uncle's teaching: this is Worcester,
 Malevolent to you in all aspects;
 Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up[2017]
 The crest of youth against your dignity.
King. But I have sent for him to answer this;100
 And for this cause awhile we must neglect
 Our holy purpose to Jerusalem.
 Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we[2018]
 Will hold at Windsor; so inform the lords:[2018][2019]
 But come yourself with speed to us again;105
 For more is to be said and to be done[2020]
 Than out of anger can be uttered.
West. I will, my liege. [Exeunt.

Scene II. London. An apartment of the Prince's.

Enter the Prince of Wales and Falstaff.[2021]

Fal. Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?
Prince. Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old[2022]
 sack and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon
 benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand[2023]
 that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What a devil5
 hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours
 were cups of sack and minutes capons and clocks the
 tongues of bawds and dials the signs of leaping-houses
 and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured
 taffeta, I see no reason why thou shouldst be so[2024]10
 superfluous to demand the time of the day.
Fal. Indeed, you come near me now, Hal; for we that[2025]
 take purses go by the moon and the seven stars, and not[2026]
 by Phœbus, he, 'that wandering knight so fair.' And, I
 prithee, sweet wag, when thou art king, as, God save[2027]15
 thy grace,—majesty I should say, for grace thou wilt have
 none,—
Prince. What, none?
Fal. No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to[2028]
 be prologue to an egg and butter.20
Prince. Well, how then? come, roundly, roundly.
Fal. Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let
 not us that are squires of the night's body be called thieves
 of the day's beauty: let us be Diana's foresters, gentlemen[2029]
 of the shade, minions of the moon; and let men say we25
 be men of good government, being governed, as the sea
 is, by our noble and chaste mistress the moon, under whose
 countenance we steal.[2030]
Prince. Thou sayest well, and it holds well too; for
 the fortune of us that are the moon's men doth ebb and30
 flow like the sea, being governed, as the sea is, by the
 moon. As, for proof, now: a purse of gold most resolutely[2031]
 snatched on Monday night and most dissolutely spent on
 Tuesday morning; got with swearing 'Lay by' and spent[2032]
 with crying 'Bring in;' now in as low an ebb as the foot of35
 the ladder and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of[2033]
 the gallows.
Fal. By the Lord, thou sayest true, lad. And is not[2034]
 my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?[2035]
Prince. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the[2036]40
 castle. And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of
 durance?
Fal. How now, how now, mad wag! what, in thy
 quips and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with
 a buff jerkin?45
Prince. Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess
 of the tavern?
Fal. Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many[2037]
 a time and oft.
Prince. Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?50
Fal. No; I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all
 there.
Prince. Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would
 stretch; and where it would not, I have used my credit.
Fal. Yea, and so used it that, were it not here apparent[2038]55
 that thou art heir apparent—But, I prithee, sweet[2039]
 wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou
 art king? and resolution thus fobbed as it is with the rusty[2040]
 curb of old father antic the law? Do not thou, when thou
 art king, hang a thief.[2041]60
Prince. No; thou shalt.
Fal. Shall I? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave[2042]
 judge.
Prince. Thou judgest false already: I mean, thou
 shalt have the hanging of the thieves and so become a65
 rare hangman.
Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with
 my humour as well as waiting in the court, I can tell you.
Prince. For obtaining of suits?
Fal. Yea, for obtaining of suits, whereof the hangman70
 hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as melancholy as a[2043]
 gib cat or a lugged bear.[2044]
Prince. Or an old lion, or a lover's lute.
Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe.[2045]
Prince. What sayest thou to a hare, or the melancholy75
 of Moor-ditch?
Fal. Thou hast the most unsavoury similes and art[2046]
 indeed the most comparative, rascalliest, sweet young[2047]
 prince. But, Hal, I prithee, trouble me no more with
 vanity. I would to God thou and I knew where a commodity[2048]80
 of good names were to be bought. An old lord of
 the council rated me the other day in the street about you,[2049]
 sir, but I marked him not; and yet he talked very[2049]
 wisely, but I regarded him not; and yet he talked wisely,[2050]
 and in the street too.[2051]85
Prince. Thou didst well; for wisdom cries out in the[2052]
 streets, and no man regards it.[2052][2053]
Fal. O, thou hast damnable iteration and art indeed[2054]
 able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon[2055]
 me, Hal; God forgive thee for it! Before I knew thee,90
 Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man should[2056]
 speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must
 give over this life, and I will give it over: by the Lord, an[2057]
 I do not, I am a villain: I'll be damned for never a king's
 son in Christendom.95
Prince. Where shall we take a purse to-morrow, Jack?
Fal. 'Zounds, where thou wilt, lad; I'll make one; an[2058]
 I do not, call me villain and baffle me.
Prince. I see a good amendment of life in thee; from
 praying to purse-taking.100
Fal. Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no sin for
 a man to labour in his vocation.

Enter Poins.[2059]

Poins! Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match.[2060][2061]
 O, if men were to be saved by merit, what hole in hell
 were hot enough for him? This is the most omnipotent105
 villain that ever cried 'Stand' to a true man.
Prince. Good morrow, Ned.
Poins. Good morrow, sweet Hal. What says Monsieur
 Remorse? what says Sir John Sack and Sugar?[2062]
 Jack! how agrees the devil and thee about thy soul, that[2062][2063]110
 thou soldest him on Good-Friday last for a cup of Madeira
 and a cold capon's leg?
Prince. Sir John stands to his word, the devil shall
 have his bargain; for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs:[2064]
 he will give the devil his due.[2065]115
Poins. Then art thou damned for keeping thy word
 with the devil.
Prince. Else he had been damned for cozening the[2066]
 devil.
Poins. But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning, by120
 four o'clock, early at Gadshill! there are pilgrims going to[2067]
 Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London
 with fat purses: I have vizards for you all; you have
 horses for yourselves: Gadshill lies to-night in Rochester:
 I have bespoke supper to-morrow night in Eastcheap: we[2068]125
 may do it as secure as sleep. If you will go, I will stuff
 your purses full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home[2069]
 and be hanged.
Fal. Hear ye, Yedward; if I tarry at home and go[2070]
 not, I'll hang you for going.130
Poins. You will, chops?
Fal. Hal, wilt thou make one?
Prince. Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith.[2071]
Fal. There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship
 in thee, nor thou earnest not of the blood royal, if[2072]135
 thou darest not stand for ten shillings.[2073]
Prince. Well then, once in my days I'll be a madcap.
Fal. Why, that's well said.
Prince. Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home.
Fal. By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then, when thou[2074]140
 art king.
Prince. I care not.
Poins. Sir John, I prithee, leave the prince and me[2075]
 alone: I will lay him down such reasons for this adventure
 that he shall go.145
Fal. Well, God give thee the spirit of persuasion and[2076]
 him the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may[2076]
 move and what he hears may be believed, that the true[2077]
 prince may, for recreation sake, prove a false thief; for the
 poor abuses of the time want countenance. Farewell: you150
 shall find me in Eastcheap.
Prince. Farewell, thou latter spring! farewell, Allhallown[2078]
 summer! [Exit Falstaff.[2079]
Poins. Now, my good sweet honey lord, ride with us
 to-morrow: I have a jest to execute that I cannot manage155
 alone. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto and Gadshill shall rob[2080]
 those men that we have already waylaid; yourself and I
 will not be there; and when they have the booty, if you
 and I do not rob them, cut this head off from my shoulders.[2081]
Prince. How shall we part with them in setting[2082]160
 forth?
Poins. Why, we will set forth before or after them, and
 appoint them a place of meeting, wherein it is at our pleasure
 to fail, and then will they adventure upon the exploit
 themselves; which they shall have no sooner achieved, but[2083]165
 we'll set upon them.
Prince. Yea, but 'tis like that they will know us by[2084]
 our horses, by our habits and by every other appointment,
 to be ourselves.
Poins. Tut! our horses they shall not see; I'll tie170
 them in the wood; our vizards we will change after we[2085]
 leave them: and, sirrah, I have cases of buckram for the[2086]
 nonce, to immask our noted outward garments.
Prince. Yea, but I doubt they will be too hard for us.[2087]
Poins. Well, for two of them, I know them to be as[2088][2089]175
 true-bred cowards as ever turned back; and for the third,[2089]
 if he fight longer than he sees reason, I'll forswear arms.
 The virtue of this jest will be, the incomprehensible lies
 that this same fat rogue will tell us when we meet at supper:[2090]
 how thirty, at least, he fought with; what wards, what[2091]180
 blows, what extremities he endured; and in the reproof of[2092]
 this lies the jest.[2093]
Prince. Well, I'll go with thee: provide us all things
 necessary and meet me to-morrow night in Eastcheap;[2094]
 there I'll sup. Farewell.185
Poins. Farewell, my lord. [Exit.
Prince. I know you all, and will awhile uphold
 The unyoked humour of your idleness:
 Yet herein will I imitate the sun,
 Who doth permit the base contagious clouds190
 To smother up his beauty from the world,
 That, when he please again to be himself,
 Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,
 By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
 Of vapours that did seem to strangle him.195
 If all the year were playing holidays,
 To sport would be as tedious as to work;
 But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come,
 And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
 So, when this loose behaviour I throw off200
 And pay the debt I never promised,
 By how much better than my word I am,
 By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;[2095]
 And like bright metal on a sullen ground,
 My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,205
 Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
 Than that which hath no foil to set it off.[2096]
 I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;
 Redeeming time when men think least I will. [Exit.[2097]

Scene III. London. The palace.[2098]

Enter the King, Northumberland, Worcester, Hotspur, Sir Walter Blunt, with others.