The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 4 of 9]

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't; in your conscience, now, is it not?[5218]

Gow. 'Tis certain there's not a boy left alive; and the
cowardly rascals that ran from the battle ha' done this5
slaughter: besides, they have burned and carried away all [5219]
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.10
What call you the town's name where Alexander the Pig
was born?

Gow. Alexander the Great.

Flu. Why, I pray you, is not pig great? the pig, or
the great, or the mighty, or the huge, or the magnanimous,15
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.20
I tell you, captain, if you look in the maps of the 'orld, I
warrant you sall find, in the comparisons between Macedon [5220]
and Monmouth, that the situations, look you, is both
alike. There is a river in Macedon; and there is also moreover [5221]
a river at Monmouth: it is called Wye at Monmouth;25
but it is out of my prains what is the name of the other
river; but 'tis all one, 'tis alike as my fingers is to my fingers,[5222]
and there is salmons in both. If you mark Alexander's
life well, Harry of Monmouth's life is come after
it indifferent well; for there is figures in all things. Alexander,30
God knows, and you know, in his rages, and his
furies, and his wraths, and his cholers, and his moods, and
his displeasures, and his indignations, and also being a
little intoxicates in his prains, did, in his ales and his angers,
look you, kill his best friend, Cleitus.[5223]35

Gow. Our king is not like him in that: he never killed
any of his friends.

Flu. It is not well done, mark you now, to take the
tales out of my mouth, ere it is made and finished. I [5224]
speak but in the figures and comparisons of it: as Alexander [5225]40
killed his friend Cleitus, being in his ales and his[5223]
cups; so also Harry Monmouth, being in his right wits and
his good judgements, turned away the fat knight with the [5226]
great belly-doublet: he was full of jests, and gipes, and
knaveries, and mocks; I have forgot his name.[5227]45

Gow. Sir John Falstaff.

Flu. That is he: I'll tell you there is good men porn
at Monmouth.

Gow. Here comes his majesty.

Alarum. Enter King Henry, and forces; Warwick, Gloucester, Exeter, and others.[5228]

K. Hen. I was not angry since I came to France [5229][5230]50
Until this instant. Take a trumpet, herald;[5230]
Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill:[5230]
If they will fight with us, bid them come down,[5230]
Or void the field; they do offend our sight:[5230]
If they'll do neither, we will come to them,[5230]55
And make them skirr away, as swift as stones[5230][5231]
Enforced from the old Assyrian slings:[5230]
Besides, we'll cut the throats of those we have,[5230]
And not a man of them that we shall take[5230]
Shall taste our mercy. Go and tell them so.[5230]60

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

Glo. His eyes are humbler than they used to be.

K. Hen. How now! what means this, herald? know'st thou not [5232]
That I have fined these bones of mine for ransom?
Comest thou again for ransom?

Mont. No, great king:65
I come to thee for charitable license,
That we may wander o'er this bloody field
To look our dead, and then to bury them;[5233]
To sort our nobles from our common men.
For many of our princes—woe the while!—70
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 [5234]
Fret fetlock deep in gore and with wild rage
Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters,75
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 [5235]80
And gallop o'er the field.

Mont. The day is yours.

K. Hen. Praised be God, and not our strength, for it!
What is this castle call'd that stands hard by?

Mont. They call it Agincourt.

K. Hen. Then call we this the field of Agincourt,85
Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.

Flu. Your grandfather of famous memory, an't please
your majesty, and your great-uncle Edward the Plack
Prince of Wales, as I have read in the chronicles, fought a
most prave pattle here in France.90

K. Hen. They did, Fluellen.

Flu. Your majesty says very true: if your majesties [5236]
is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a
garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth
caps; which, your majesty know, to this hour is an [5237]95
honourable badge 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 majesty's100
Welsh plood out of your pody, I can tell you that: God
pless it and preserve it, as long as it pleases his grace, and [5238]
his majesty too!

K. Hen. Thanks, good my countryman.[5239]

Flu. By Jeshu, I am your majesty's countryman, I105
care not who know it; I will confess it to all the 'orld: I
need not to be ashamed of your majesty, praised be God,
so long as your majesty is an honest man.

K. Hen. God keep me so! Our heralds go with him:[5240]
Bring me just notice of the numbers dead110
On both our parts. Call yonder fellow hither.

Exe. Soldier, you must come to the king.[5242]

K. Hen. Soldier, why wearest thou that glove in thy cap?

Will. An't please your majesty, 'tis the gage of one [5243]
that I should fight withal, if he be alive.115

K. Hen. An Englishman?

Will. An't please your majesty, a rascal that swaggered[5243]
with me last night; who, if alive and ever dare to challenge [5244]
this glove, I have sworn to take him a box o' th' ear: or if I [5245]
can see my glove in his cap, which he swore, as he was a120
soldier, 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 [5246]
majesty, in my conscience.125

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 good a gentleman as the devil is,
as Lucifer and Belzebub himself, it is necessary, look your
grace, that he keep his vow and his oath: if he be perjured,130
see you now, his reputation is as arrant a villain and a
Jacksauce, as ever his black shoe trod upon God's ground [5247]
and his earth, in my conscience, la!

K. Hen. Then keep thy vow, sirrah, when thou meetest
the fellow.135

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 good captain, and is good knowledge
and literatured in the wars.[5248]140

K. Hen. Call him hither to me, soldier.

Will. I will, my liege. [Exit.

K. Hen. Here, Fluellen; wear thou this favour for me
and stick it in thy cap: when Alençon and myself were
down together, I plucked this glove from his helm: if any145
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 me love.[5249]

Flu. Your grace doo's me as great honours as can be [5250]
desired in the hearts of his subjects: I would fain see the150
man, that has but two legs, that shall find himself aggriefed [5251]
at this glove; that is all; but I would fain see it once,[5252]
an please God of his grace that I might see.[5253]

K. Hen. Knowest thou Gower?

Flu. He is my dear friend, an please you.[5254]155

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 Gloucester,
Follow Fluellen closely at the heels:160
The glove which I have given him for a favour
May haply purchase him a box o' th' ear;[5245]
It is the soldier's; I by bargain should
Wear it myself. Follow, good cousin Warwick:
If that the soldier strike him, as I judge165
By his blunt bearing he will keep his word,[5255]
Some sudden mischief may arise of it;
For I do know Fluellen valiant
And, touched with choler, hot as gunpowder,
And quickly will return an injury:[5256]170
Follow, and see there be no harm between them.[5257]
Go you with me, uncle of Exeter.[5258] [Exeunt.

Scene VIII. Before King Henry's pavilion.[5259]

Will. I warrant it is to knight you, captain.

Flu. God's will and his pleasure, captain, I beseech you
now, come apace to the king: there is more good toward
you peradventure than is in your knowledge to dream of.

Will. Sir, know you this glove?5

Flu. Know the glove! I know the glove is a glove.

Will. I know this; and thus I challenge it.

Flu. 'Sblood! an arrant traitor as any is in the universal [5260]
world, or in France, or in England![5261]

Gow. How now, sir! you villain!10

Will. Do you think I'll be forsworn?

Flu. Stand away, Captain Gower; I will give treason
his payment into plows, I warrant you.[5262]

Will. I am no traitor.

Flu. That's a lie in thy throat. I charge you in his15
majesty's name, apprehend him: he's a friend of the Duke
Alençon's.

War. How now, how now! what's the matter?

Flu. My Lord of Warwick, here is—praised be God for
it!—a most contagious treason come to light, look you, as20
you shall desire in a summer's day. Here is his majesty.[5263]

K. Hen. How now! what's the matter?

Flu. My liege, here is a villain and a traitor, that, look
your grace, has struck the glove which your majesty is
take out of the helmet of Alençon.25

Will. My liege, this was my glove; here is the fellow
of it; and he that I gave it to in change promised to wear
it in his cap: I promised to strike him, if he did: I met
this man with my glove in his cap, and I have been as [5264]
good as my word.30

Flu. Your majesty hear now, saving your majesty's
manhood, what an arrant, rascally, beggarly, lousy knave
it is: I hope your majesty is pear me testimony and witness,[5265]
and will avouchment, that this is the glove of Alençon,[5265]
that your majesty is give me; in your conscience, now?35

K. Hen. Give me thy glove, soldier: look, here is the [5266][5267]
fellow of it.[5266]
'Twas I, indeed, thou promised'st to strike;[5268][5269]
And thou hast given me most bitter terms.[5268]

Flu. An please your majesty, let his neck answer for [5270]40
it, if there is any martial law in the world.

K. Hen. How canst thou make me satisfaction?

Will. All offences, my lord, come from the heart:[5271]
never came any from mine that might offend your majesty.

K. Hen. It was ourself thou didst abuse.45

Will. Your majesty came not like yourself: you appeared
to me but as a common man; witness the night, your
garments, your lowliness; and what your highness suffered
under that shape, I beseech you take it for your own fault [5272]
and not mine: for had you been as I took you for, I made [5273]50
no offence; therefore, I beseech your highness, pardon me.

K. Hen. Here, uncle Exeter, fill this glove with crowns,
And give it to this fellow. Keep it, fellow;[5274]
And wear it for an honour in thy cap
Till I do challenge it. Give him the crowns:55
And, captain, you must needs be friends with him.

Flu. By this day and this light, the fellow has mettle
enough in his belly. Hold, there is twelve pence for you;[5275]
and I pray you to serve Got, and keep you out of prawls,
and prabbles, and quarrels, and dissensions, and, I warrant60
you, it is the better for you.

Will. I will none of your money.

Flu. It is with a good will; I can tell you, it will serve
you to mend your shoes: come, wherefore should you be
so pashful? your shoes is not so good: 'tis a good silling, 65
I warrant you, or I will change it.

K. Hen. Now, herald, are the dead number'd?[5277]

Her. Here is the number of the slaughter'd French.[5278]

K. Hen. What prisoners of good sort are taken, uncle?

Exe. Charles Duke of Orleans, nephew to the king;70
John Duke of Bourbon, and Lord Bouciqualt:[5279]
Of other lords and barons, knights and squires,
Full fifteen hundred, besides common men.

K. Hen. This note doth tell me of ten thousand French
That in the field lie slain: of princes, in this number,[5280]75
And nobles bearing banners, there lie dead
One hundred twenty six: added to these,
Of knights, esquires, and gallant gentlemen,
Eight thousand and four hundred; of the which,
Five hundred were but yesterday dubb'd knights:80
So that, in these ten thousand they have lost,
There are but sixteen hundred mercenaries;
The rest are princes, barons, lords, knights, squires,
And gentlemen of blood and quality.
The names of those their nobles that lie dead:85
Charles Delabreth, high constable of France;
Jaques of Chatillon, admiral of France;[5281]
The master of the cross-bows, Lord Rambures;
Great Master of France, the brave Sir Guichard Dolphin,
John Duke of Alençon, Anthony Duke of Brabant,[5282]90
The brother to the Duke of Burgundy,
And Edward Duke of Bar: of lusty earls,
Grandpré and Roussi, Fauconberg and Foix,[5283]
Beaumont and Marie, Vaudemont and Lestrale.[5284]
Here was a royal fellowship of death!95
Where is the number of our English dead?

Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk,[5286]
Sir Richard Ketly, Davy Gam, esquire:[5286]
None else of name; and of all other men[5286]
But five and twenty. O God, thy arm was here;[5286][5287]100
And not to us, but to thy arm alone,
Ascribe we all! When, without stratagem,
But in plain shock and even play of battle,
Was ever known so great and little loss [5288]
On one part and on th' other? Take it, God,[5288]105
For it is none but thine![5289]

Exe. 'Tis wonderful!

K. Hen. Come, go we in procession to the village:[5290]
And be it death proclaimed through our host
To boast of this or take that praise from God
Which is his only.110

Flu. Is it not lawful, an please your majesty, to tell [5291]
how many is killed?

K. Hen. Yes, captain; but with this acknowledgement,
That God fought for us.

Flu. Yes, my conscience, he did us great good.115

K. Hen. Do we all holy rites;
Let there be sung 'Non nobis' and 'Te Deum;'
The dead with charity enclosed in clay:[5292]
And then to Calais; and to England then;[5293]
Where ne'er from France arrived more happy men.[5294]120

Scene VIII. Before King Henry's pavilion.[5259]