Fal. And unbound the rest, and then come in the other. Prince. What, fought you with them all? Fal. All I know not what you call all; but if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish if there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old Jack, then am I no two-legged creature. Prince. Pray God you have not murdered some of them. Fal. Nay, that's past praying for: I have peppered two of them; two I am sure I have paid, two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse. Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I bore my point. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me— Prince. What, four? thou saidst but two even now. Fal. Four, Hal; I told thee four. Poins. Ay, ay, he said four. Fal. These four came all a-front, and mainly thrust at me. I made me no more ado but took all their seven points in my target, thus. Prince. Seven? why, there were but four even now. Fal. In buckram? Poins. Ay, four, in buckram suits. Fal. Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else. Prince. Prithee, let him alone; we shall have more anon. Fal. Dost thou hear me, Hal? Prince. Ay, and mark thee too, Jack. 215. ward, posture of defence. posture. ib. here I lay, this was my 222. mainly, violently. 210 220 230 Fal. Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These nine in buckram that I told thee ofPrince. So, two more already. Fal. Their points being broken, Poins. Down fell their hose. Fal. Began to give me ground: but I followed 240 me close, came in foot and hand; and with a thought seven of the eleven I paid. Prince. O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two! Fal. But, as the devil would have it, three misbegotten knaves in Kendal green came at my back and let drive at me; for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst not see thy hand. Prince. These lies are like their father that begets them; gross as a mountain, open, palp- 250 able. Why, thou clay-brained guts, thou knottypated fool, thou whoreson, obscene, greasy tallowcatch, Fal. What, art thou mad? art thou mad? is not the truth the truth? Prince. Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal green, when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy hand? come, tell us your reason: what sayest thou to this? Poins. Come, your reason, Jack, your reason. 238, 239. points, (1) swordpoints, (2) the tagged laces which fastened the hose to the doublet. 240. followed me; 'me' is 'ethical,' expressing his keen concern in the pursuit. 251. knotty-pated. So Qq Ff. But it is probably only a misspelling for 'not-pated,' 'Zounds, an 260 which the prince has previously used (1. 78 above). 252. tallow-catch, either 'tallow-ketch,' a tub filled with tallow, or tallow-keech,' the lump of fat supplied by the butcher to the tallow - maker; 'keech' thus supplying a common Elizabethan nickname for butchers (cf. 2 Henry IV. ii. 1. 103). I were at the strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on compulsion! if reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I. Prince. I'll be no longer guilty of this sin; this sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker, this huge hill of flesh, Fal. 'Sblood, you starveling, you eel's-skin, you 270 dried neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you stockfish! O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck, Prince. Well, breathe awhile, and then to it again and when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons, hear me speak but this. Poins. Mark, Jack. Prince. We two saw you four set on four and bound them, and were masters of their wealth. 280 Mark now, how a plain tale shall put you down. Then did we two set on you four; and, with a 262. strappado, a military punishment, in which the culprit was dropped from a height with ropes attached to his arms, which were broken or dislocated by the shock. 264. if reasons were as plenty as blackberries, a play upon 'raisins,' then almost identical in pronunciation with 'reasons. 270. eel's-skin. Ff read elfskin. If this reading is right, the delicately built prince is compared, not merely to the diminutive fairy, but to its cast skin. But Q appears to read 'elf-skin,' i.e. eel's-skin, and this reading, which Hanmer inserted in the text, accords better with word, out-faced you from your prize, and have it; yea, and can show it you here in the house: and, Falstaff, you carried your guts away as nimbly, with as quick dexterity, and roared for mercy and still run and roared, as ever I heard bull-' calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight! What trick, what device, what starting-hole, 29 canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame? Poins. Come, let's hear, Jack; what trick hast thou now? Fal. By the Lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye. Why, hear you, my masters: was it for me to kill the heir-apparent? should I turn upon the true prince? why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules: but beware instinct; the lion will not touch the true prince. Instinct is a 300 great matter; I was now a coward on instinct.' I shall think the better of myself and thee during my life; I for a valiant lion, and thou for a true prince. But, by the Lord, lads, I am glad you have the money. Hostess, clap to the doors : watch to-night, pray to-morrow. Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of good fellowship come to you! What, shall we be merry? shall we have a play extempore? Prince. Content; and the argument shall be 310 thy running away. Fal. Ah, no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me! 290. starting-hole, shelter, subterfuge. 299. the lion will not touch the true prince. This belief, current in the Middle Ages, was the basis of a recurring motif in the early English Ro mances. Enter Hostess. Host. O Jesu, my lord the prince! Prince. How now, my lady the hostess! what sayest thou to me? Host. Marry, my lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you: he says he comes from your father. Prince. Give him as much as will make him 320 a royal man, and send him back again to my mother. Fal. What manner of man is he? Host. An old man. Fal. What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight? Shall I give him his answer? Prince. Prithee, do, Jack. Fal. 'Faith, and I'll send him packing. [Exit. Prince. Now, sirs: by 'r lady, you fought fair; so did you, Peto; so did you, Bardolph: you are 330 lions too, you ran away upon instinct, you will not touch the true prince; no, fie! Bard. 'Faith, I ran when I saw others run. Prince. 'Faith,, tell me now in earnest, how came Falstaff's sword so hacked? Peto. Why, he hacked it with his dagger, and said he would swear truth out of England but he would make you believe it was done in fight, and persuaded us to do the like. Bard. Yea, and to tickle our noses with spear- 340 grass to make them bleed, and then to beslubber our garments with it and swear it was the blood of true men. I did that I did not this seven year before, I blushed to hear his monstrous devices. 321. a royal man. The hostess is to give the nobleman' as much as will turn a 'noble' (6s. 8d.) into a 'royal' (10s.), i.e. 3s. 4d. |