Great Britain -- History -- Henry IV, 1399-1413 -- Drama; Henry IV, King of England, 1367-1413 -- Drama; Historical drama
I will not love myself. Do you not love me?
Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.
Hot. Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am a-horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitely. But hark you. Kate:
I must not have you henceforth question me
Whither I go, nor reason whereabout.
Whither I must, I must; and to conclude,
This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.
I know you wise; but yet no farther wise
Than Harry Percy's wife; constant you are,
But yet a woman; and for secrecy,
No lady closer, for I well believe
Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know,
And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.
Lady. How? so far?
Hot. Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate:
Whither I go, thither shall you go too;
To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.
Will this content you, Kate?
Lady. It must of force. Exeunt.
Scene IV.
Eastcheap. The Boar's Head Tavern.
Enter Prince and Poins.
Prince. Ned, prithee come out of that fat-room and lend me thy
hand
to laugh a little.
Poins. Where hast been, Hal?
Prince. With three or four loggerheads amongst three or
fourscore hogsheads. I have sounded the very bass-string of
humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother to a leash of drawers
and
can call them all by their christen names, as Tom, Dick, and
Francis. They take it already upon their salvation that,
though
I be but Prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy; and
tell
me flatly I am no proud Jack like Falstaff, but a Corinthian,
a
lad of mettle, a good boy (by the Lord, so they call me!),
and
when I am King of England I shall command all the good lads
Eastcheap. They call drinking deep, dying scarlet; and when
you breathe in your watering, they cry 'hem!' and bid you
play it
off. To conclude, I am so good a proficient in one quarter of
an
hour that I can drink with any tinker in his own language
during
my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost much honour that
thou
wert not with me in this action. But, sweet Ned- to sweeten
which
name of Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapp'd
even
now into my hand by an under-skinker, one that never spake
other
English in his life than 'Eight shillings and sixpence,' and
'You
are welcome,' with this shrill addition, 'Anon, anon, sir!
Score
a pint of bastard in the Half-moon,' or so- but, Ned, to
drive
away the time till Falstaff come, I prithee do thou stand in
some
by-room while I question my puny drawer to what end he gave
me
the sugar; and do thou never leave calling 'Francis!' that
his
tale to me may be nothing but 'Anon!' Step aside, and I'll
show
thee a precedent.
Poins. Francis!
Prince. Thou art perfect.
Poins. Francis! [Exit Poins.]
Enter [Francis, a] Drawer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account