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- HENRY THE FIFTH
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- Act 2 Scene 3
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- (Enter Ensign Pistol, Corporal Nim, Lieutenant Bardolph, Boy, and Hostess
- Quickly)
- l1l Hostess Prithee, honey, sweet husband, let me bring thee
- l2l to Staines.
- l3l Pistol No, for my manly heart doth erne. Bardolph,
- l4l Be blithe; Nim, rouse thy vaunting veins; boy, bristle
- l5l Thy courage up. For Falstaff he is dead,
- l6l And we must earn therefore.
- l7l Bardolph Would I were with him, wheresomeÆer he is,
- l8l either in heaven or in hell.
- l9l Hostess Nay, sure heÆs not in hell. HeÆs in ArthurÆs
- l10l bosom, if ever man went to ArthurÆs bosom. A made
- l11l a finer end, and went away an it had been any christom
- l12l child. A parted evÆn just between twelve and one, evÆn
- l13l at the turning oÆ thÆ tideùfor after I saw him fumble
- l14l with the sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon
- l15l his fingerÆs end, I knew there was but one way. For
- l16l his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a babbled of green
- l17l fields. ôHow now, Sir John?ö quoth I. ôWhat, man! Be
- l18l oÆ good cheer.ö So a cried out, ôGod, God, Godö, three
- l19l or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a should
- l20l not think of God; I hoped there was no need to trouble
- l21l himself with any such thoughts yet. So a bade me lay
- l22l more clothes on his feet. I put my hand into the bed
- l23l and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone.
- l24l Then I felt to his knees, and so upÆard and upÆard, and
- l25l all was as cold as any stone.
- l26l Nim They say he cried out of sack.
- l27l Hostess Ay, that a did.
- l28l Bardolph And of women.
- l29l Hostess Nay, that a did not.
- l30l Boy Yes, that a did, and said they were devils incarnate.
- l31l Hostess A could never abide carnation, Ætwas a colour he
- l32l never liked.
- l33l Boy A said once the devil would have him about women.
- l34l Hostess A did in some sort, indeed, handle womenùbut
- l35l then he was rheumatic, and talked of the Whore of
- l36l Babylon.
- l37l Boy Do you not remember, a saw a flea stick upon
- l38l BardolphÆs nose, and a said it was a black soul burning
- l39l in hell-fire.
- l40l Bardolph Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire.
- l41l ThatÆs all the riches I got in his service.
- l42l Nim Shall we shog? The King will be gone from
- l43l Southampton.
- l44l Pistol Come, letÆs away.ùMy love, give me thy lips.
- (He kisses her)
- l45l Look to my chattels and my movables.
- l46l Let senses rule. The word is ôPitch and payö.
- l47l Trust none, for oaths are straws, menÆs faiths are wafer-
- cakes,
- l48l And Holdfast is the only dog, my duck.
- l49l Therefore caveto be thy counsellor.
- l50l Go, clear thy crystals.ùYokefellows in arms,
- l51l Let us to France, like horseleeches, my boys,
- l52l To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!
- l53l Boy (aside) And thatÆs but unwholesome food, they say.
- l54l Pistol Touch her soft mouth, and march.
- l55l Bardolph Farewell, hostess.
- (He kisses her)
- l56l Nim I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it, but adieu.
- Pistol (to Hostess)
- l57l Let housewifery appear. Keep close, I thee command.
- l58l Hostess Farewell! Adieu!
- (Exeunt severally)
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