ACT III.

Scene I. Westminster. The palace.

Enter the King in his nightgown, with a Page.[3811]

King. Go call the Earls of Surrey and of Warwick;
 But, ere they come, bid them o'er-read these letters,
 And well consider of them: make good speed. [Exit Page.[3812]
 How many thousand of my poorest subjects[3813]
 Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep,[3814]5
 Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
 That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down,
 And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
 Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
 Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee,[3815]10
 And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,[3816]
 Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
 Under the canopies of costly state,[3817]
 And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody?[3818]
 O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile15
 In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch
 A watch-case or a common 'larum-bell?[3819]
 Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast[3820]
 Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains
 In cradle of the rude imperious surge,20
 And in the visitation of the winds,
 Who take the ruffian billows by the top,[3821]
 Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them
 With deafening clamour in the slippery clouds,[3822]
 That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?25
 Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose[3823]
 To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude;[3824]
 And in the calmest and most stillest night,[3825]
 With all appliances and means to boot,
 Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down![3826]30
 Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

Enter Warwick and Surrey.[3827]

War. Many good morrows to your majesty![3828]
King. Is it good morrow, lords?[3829]
War. 'Tis one o'clock, and past.
King. Why, then, good morrow to you all, my lords.[3830]35
 Have you read o'er the letters that I sent you?[3831]
War. We have, my liege.
King. Then you perceive the body of our kingdom
 How foul it is; what rank diseases grow,
 And with what danger, near the heart of it.40
War. It is but as a body yet distemper'd;[3832]
 Which to his former strength may be restored
 With good advice and little medicine:
 My Lord Northumberland will soon be cool'd.[3833]
King. O God! that one might read the book of fate,[3834]45
 And see the revolution of the times
 Make mountains level, and the continent,
 Weary of solid firmness, melt itself
 Into the sea! and, other times, to see
 The beachy girdle of the ocean50
 Too wide for Neptune's hips; how chances mock,[3835]
 And changes fill the cup of alteration
 With divers liquors! O, if this were seen,[3836]
 The happiest youth, viewing his progress through,[3836][3837]
 What perils past, what crosses to ensue,[3836]55
 Would shut the book, and sit him down and die.[3836][3838]
 'Tis not ten years gone[3839]
 Since Richard and Northumberland, great friends,[3840]
 Did feast together, and in two years after[3841]
 Were they at wars: it is but eight years since60
 This Percy was the man nearest my soul;
 Who like a brother toil'd in my affairs,
 And laid his love and life under my foot;
 Yea, for my sake, even to the eyes of Richard
 Gave him defiance. But which of you was by—[3842]65
 You, cousin Nevil, as I may remember— [To Warwick.
 When Richard, with his eye brimful of tears,[3843]
 Then check'd and rated by Northumberland,
 Did speak these words, now proved a prophecy?
 'Northumberland, thou ladder by the which70
 My cousin Bolingbroke ascends my throne;'
 Though then, God knows, I had no such intent,[3844]
 But that necessity so bow'd the state,
 That I and greatness were compell'd to kiss:
 'The time shall come,' thus did he follow it,[3845]75
 'The time will come, that foul sin, gathering head,[3845]
 Shall break into corruption:' so went on,[3846]
 Foretelling this same time's condition,
 And the division of our amity.
War. There is a history in all men's lives,80
 Figuring the nature of the times deceased;[3847]
 The which observed, a man may prophesy,
 With a near aim, of the main chance of things
 As yet not come to life, which in their seeds[3848]
 And weak beginnings lie intreasured.[3849]85
 Such things become the hatch and brood of time;
 And by the necessary form of this[3850]
 King Richard might create a perfect guess
 That great Northumberland, then false to him,
 Would of that seed grow to a greater falseness;90
 Which should not find a ground to root upon,
 Unless on you.
King. Are these things then necessities?[3851]
 Then let us meet them like necessities:[3852]
 And that same word even now cries out on us:
 They say the bishop and Northumberland95
 Are fifty thousand strong.
War. It cannot be, my lord;[3853]
 Rumour doth double, like the voice and echo,
 The numbers of the fear'd. Please it your grace
 To go to bed. Upon my soul, my lord,[3854]
 The powers that you already have sent forth100
 Shall bring this prize in very easily.[3855]
 To comfort you the more, I have received
 A certain instance that Glendower is dead.
 Your majesty hath been this fortnight ill;
 And these unseason'd hours perforce must add105
 Unto your sickness.
K. Hen. I will take your counsel:
 And were these inward wars once out of hand,
 We would, dear lords, unto the Holy Land. [Exeunt.[3856]

Scene II. Gloucestershire. Before Justice Shallow's house.

Enter Shallow and Silence, meeting; Mouldy, Shadow, Wart, Feeble, Bullcalf, a Servant or two with them.[3857]

Shal. Come on, come on, come on, sir; give me your[3858]
 hand, sir, give me your hand, sir: an early stirrer, by the[3859]
 rood! And how doth my good cousin Silence?[3859][3860]
Sil. Good morrow, good cousin Shallow.
Shal. And how doth my cousin, your bedfellow? and5
 your fairest daughter and mine, my god-daughter Ellen?
Sil. Alas, a black ousel, cousin Shallow![3861]
Shal. By yea and nay, sir, I dare say my cousin William[3862]
 is become a good scholar: he is at Oxford still, is he not?
Sil. Indeed, sir, to my cost.10
Shal. A' must, then, to the inns o'court shortly: I was[3863]
 once of Clement's Inn, where I think they will talk of mad
 Shallow yet.
Sil. You were called 'lusty Shallow' then, cousin.
Shal. By the mass, I was called any thing; and I would[3864]15
 have done any thing indeed too, and roundly too. There[3865]
 was I, and little John Doit of Staffordshire, and black George
 Barnes, and Francis Pickbone, and Will Squele, a Cotswold[3866][3867]
 man; you had not four such swinge-bucklers in all the inns[3867][3868]
 o'court again: and I may say to you, we knew where the[3869]20
 bona-robas were and had the best of them all at[3870]
 commandment. Then was Jack Falstaff, now Sir John, a boy, and[3871]
 page to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk.
Sil. This Sir John, cousin, that comes hither anon about[3872]
 soldiers?25
Shal. The same Sir John, the very same. I see him[3873]
 break Skogan's head at the court-gate, when a' was a crack[3874]
 not thus high: and the very same day did I fight with one[3875]
 Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind Gray's Inn. Jesu,[3876]
 Jesu, the mad days that I have spent! and to see how many[3876]30
 of my old acquaintance are dead![3877]
Sil. We shall all follow, cousin.
Shal. Certain, 'tis certain; very sure, very sure: death,
 as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all; all shall die. How[3878]
 a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford fair?[3879]35
Sil. By my troth, I was not there.[3880]
Shal. Death is certain. Is old Double of your town
 living yet?
Sil. Dead, sir.
Shal. Jesu, Jesu, dead! a' drew a good bow; and[3881]40
 dead! a' shot a fine shoot: John a Gaunt loved him well,[3882]
 and betted much money on his head. Dead! a' would have
 clapped i' the clout at twelve score; and carried you a fore-hand
 shaft a fourteen and fourteen and a half, that it would[3883]
 have done a man's heart good to see. How a score of ewes45
 now?
Sil. Thereafter as they be: a score of good ewes may
 be worth ten pounds.
Shal. And is old Double dead?
Sil. Here come two of Sir John Falstaff's men, as I think.50

Enter Bardolph and one with him.[3884]

Bard. Good morrow, honest gentlemen: I beseech you,[3885]
 which is Justice Shallow?
Shal. I am Robert Shallow, sir; a poor esquire of this
 county, and one of the king's justices of the peace: what is[3886]
 your good pleasure with me?[3887]55
Bard. My captain, sir, commends him to you; my
 captain, Sir John Falstaff, a tall gentleman, by heaven, and a[3888]
 most gallant leader.
Shal. He greets me well, sir. I knew him a good backsword[3889]
 man. How doth the good knight? may I ask how60
 my lady his wife doth?
Bard. Sir, pardon; a soldier is better accommodated[3890]
 than with a wife.
Shal. It is well said, in faith, sir; and it is well said[3891]
 indeed too. Better accommodated! it is good; yea, indeed,[3892]65
 is it: good phrases are surely, and ever were, very commendable.[3893]
 Accommodated! it comes of 'accommodo:'[3892]
 very good; a good phrase.
Bard. Pardon me, sir; I have heard the word. Phrase[3894]
 call you it? by this good day, I know not the phrase; but[3895]70
 I will maintain the word with my sword to be a soldier-like
 word, and a word of exceeding good command, by heaven.[3896]
 Accommodated; that is, when a man is, as they say, accommodated;[3892]
 or when a man is, being, whereby a' may be[3892][3897]
 thought to be accommodated; which is an excellent thing.[3892][3897]75
Shal. It is very just.

Enter Falstaff.[3898]

Look, here comes good Sir John. Give me your good hand,[3899]
 give me your worship's good hand: by my troth, you like[3900]
 well and bear your years very well: welcome, good Sir
 John.80
Fal. I am glad to see you well, good Master Robert
 Shallow: Master Surecard, as I think?[3901]
Shal. No, Sir John; it is my cousin Silence, in commission[3902]
 with me.
Fal. Good Master Silence, it well befits you should be[3902]85
 of the peace.
Sil. Your good worship is welcome.
Fal. Fie! this is hot weather, gentlemen. Have you[3903]
 provided me here half a dozen sufficient men?[3904]
Shal. Marry, have we, sir. Will you sit?90
Fal. Let me see them, I beseech you.
Shal. Where's the roll? where's the roll? where's the
 roll? Let me see, let me see, let me see. So, so, so, so, so,[3905]
 so, so: yea, marry, sir: Ralph Mouldy! Let them appear as[3906]
 I call; let them do so, let them do so. Let me see; where95
 is Mouldy?
Moul. Here, an't please you.[3907]
Shal. What think you, Sir John? a good-limbed fellow;
 young, strong, and of good friends.
Fal. Is thy name Mouldy?100
Moul. Yea, an't please you.[3908]
Fal. 'Tis the more time thou wert used.
Shal. Ha, ha, ha! most excellent, i' faith! things that[3909]
 are mouldy lack use: very singular good! in faith, well[3910]
 said, Sir John; very well said.105
Fal. Prick him.[3911]
Moul. I was pricked well enough before, an you could[3912]
 have let me alone: my old dame will be undone now, for
 one to do her husbandry and her drudgery: you need not
 to have pricked me; there are other men fitter to go out110
 than I.
Fal. Go to: peace, Mouldy; you shall go. Mouldy, it
 is time you were spent.
Moul. Spent!
Shal. Peace, fellow, peace; stand aside: know you115
 where you are? For the other, Sir John: let me see:[3913][3914]
 Simon Shadow![3914]
Fal. Yea, marry, let me have him to sit under: he's[3915]
 like to be a cold soldier.
Shal. Where's Shadow?120
Shad. Here, sir.
Fal. Shadow, whose son art thou?
Shad. My mother's son, sir.
Fal. Thy mother's son! like enough, and thy father's
 shadow: so the son of the female is the shadow of the male:125
 it is often so, indeed; but much of the father's substance![3916]
Shal. Do you like him, Sir John?
Fal. Shadow will serve for summer; prick him, for we[3917]
 have a number of shadows to fill up the muster-book.[3918]
Shal. Thomas Wart!130
Fal. Where's he?
Wart. Here, sir.
Fal. Is thy name Wart?
Wart. Yea, sir.
Fal. Thou art a very ragged wart.135
Shal. Shall I prick him down, Sir John?[3919]
Fal. It were superfluous; for his apparel is built upon[3920]
 his back, and the whole frame stands upon pins: prick him
 no more.
Shal. Ha, ha, ha! you can do it, sir; you can do it: I140
 commend you well. Francis Feeble!
Fee. Here, sir.
Fal. What trade art thou, Feeble?
Fee. A woman's tailor, sir.
Shal. Shall I prick him, sir?145
Fal. You may: but if he had been a man's tailor,
 he'ld ha' pricked you. Wilt thou make as many holes in an[3921]
 enemy's battle as thou hast done in a woman's petticoat?
Fee. I will do my good will, sir: you can have no more.
Fal. Well said, good woman's tailor! well said,150
 courageous Feeble! thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful
 dove or most magnanimous mouse. Prick the woman's
 tailor: well, Master Shallow; deep, Master Shallow.[3922]
Fee. I would Wart might have gone, sir.
Fal. I would thou wert a man's tailor, that thou mightst155
 mend him and make him fit to go. I cannot put him to a[3923]
 private soldier, that is the leader of so many thousands: let
 that suffice, most forcible Feeble.
Fee. It shall suffice, sir.[3924]
Fal. I am bound to thee, reverend Feeble. Who is160
 next?[3925]
Shal. Peter Bullcalf o' the green!
Fal. Yea, marry, let's see Bullcalf.
Bull. Here, sir.
Fal. 'Fore God, a likely fellow! Come, prick me[3926]165
 Bullcalf till he roar again.
Bull. O Lord! good my lord captain,—[3927]
Fal. What, dost thou roar before thou art pricked?[3928]
Bull. O Lord, sir! I am a diseased man.[3927]
Fal. What disease hast thou?170
Bull. A whoreson cold, sir, a cough, sir, which I caught
 with ringing in the king's affairs upon his coronation-day,
 sir.
Fal. Come, thou shalt go to the wars in a gown; we
 will have away thy cold; and I will take such order that175
 thy friends shall ring for thee. Is here all?
Shal. Here is two more called than your number; you[3929]
 must have but four here, sir: and so, I pray you, go in with
 me to dinner.
Fal. Come, I will go drink with you, but I cannot180
 tarry dinner. I am glad to see you, by my troth, Master[3930]
 Shallow.
Shal. O, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all
 night in the windmill in Saint George's field?[3931]
Fal. No more of that, good Master Shallow, no more[3932]185
 of that.[3932]
Shal. Ha! 'twas a merry night. And is Jane
 Nightwork alive?
Fal. She lives, Master Shallow.
Shal. She never could away with me.[3933]190
Fal. Never, never; she would always say she could not
 abide Master Shallow.
Shal. By the mass, I could anger her to the heart. She[3934]
 was then a bona-roba. Doth she hold her own well?
Fal. Old, old, Master Shallow.195
Shal. Nay, she must be old; she cannot choose but be
 old; certain she's old; and had Robin Nightwork by old
 Nightwork before I came to Clement's Inn.[3935]
Sil. That's fifty five year ago.[3936]
Shal. Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen that200
 that this knight and I have seen! Ha, Sir John, said I
 well?
Fal. We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master
 Shallow.
Shal. That we have, that we have, that we have; in[3937]205
 faith, Sir John, we have: our watch-word was 'Hem boys!'[3938]
 Come, let's to dinner; come, let's to dinner: Jesus, the[3939]
 days that we have seen! Come, come.

[Exeunt Falstaff and the Justices.[3940]