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- $Unique_ID{SSP00757}
- $Title{King Henry V: Act II, Scene III}
- $Author{Shakespeare, William}
- $Subject{}
- $Log{Dramatis Personae*00750.txt}
-
- Portions copyright (c) CMC ReSearch, Inc., 1989
-
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
-
- KING HENRY V
-
-
- ACT II
- ................................................................................
-
-
- SCENE III: London. Before a tavern.
- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-
- {Enter PISTOL, Hostess, NYM, BARDOLPH, and Boy.}
-
- Hostess: Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring thee to
- Staines.
-
- PISTOL: No; for my manly heart doth yearn.
- Bardolph, be blithe: Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins:
- Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead,
- And we must yearn therefore.
-
- BARDOLPH: Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in
- heaven or in hell!
-
- Hostess: Nay, sure, he's not in hell: he's in Arthur's
- bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made 10
- 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 o' good
- cheer.' So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or
- four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a' 20
- 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
- they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and
- upward, and all was as cold as any stone.
-
- NYM: They say he cried out of sack.
-
- Hostess: Ay, that a' did.
-
- BARDOLPH: And of women. 30
-
- Hostess: Nay, that a' did not.
-
- Boy: Yes, that a' did; and said they were devils
- incarnate.
-
- Hostess: A' could never abide carnation; 'twas a color he
- never liked.
-
- Boy: A' said once, the devil would have him about women.
-
- Hostess: 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 40
- Bardolph's nose, and a' said it was a black soul
- burning in hell-fire?
-
- BARDOLPH: Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire:
- that's all the riches I got in his service.
-
- NYM: Shall we shog? the king will be gone from
- Southampton.
-
- PISTOL: Come, let's away. My love, give me thy lips.
- Look to my chattels and my movables:
- Let senses rule; the word is 'Pitch and Pay:'
- Trust none; 50
- For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes,
- 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!
-
- Boy: And that's but unwholesome food they say.
-
- PISTOL: Touch her soft mouth, and march.
-
- BARDOLPH: Farewell, hostess.
-
- [Kissing her.]
-
- NYM: I cannot kiss, that is the humor of it; but, adieu. 60
-
- PISTOL: Let housewifery appear: keep close, I thee command.
-
- Hostess: Farewell; adieu.
-
- [Exeunt.]
-