Great Britain -- History -- Henry IV, 1399-1413 -- Drama; Henry IV, King of England, 1367-1413 -- Drama; Historical drama
O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i' faith!
Fal. Weep not, sweet queen, for trickling tears are vain.
Host. O, the Father, how he holds his countenance!
Fal. For God's sake, lords, convey my tristful queen!
For tears do stop the floodgates of her eyes.
Host. O Jesu, he doth it as like one of these harlotry players
as
ever I see!
Fal. Peace, good pintpot. Peace, good tickle-brain.- Harry, I
do
not only marvel where thou spendest thy time, but also how
thou
art accompanied. For though the camomile, the more it is
trodden
on, the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted,
the
sooner it wears. That thou art my son I have partly thy
mother's
word, partly my own opinion, but chiefly a villanous trick of
thine eye and a foolish hanging of thy nether lip that doth
warrant me. If then thou be son to me, here lies the point:
why,
being son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shall the blessed
sun of
heaven prove a micher and eat blackberries? A question not to
be
ask'd. Shall the son of England prove a thief and take
purses? A
question to be ask'd. There is a thing, Harry, which thou
hast
often heard of, and it is known to many in our land by the
name
of pitch. This pitch, as ancient writers do report, doth
defile;
so doth the company thou keepest. For, Harry, now I do not
speak
to thee in drink, but in tears; not in pleasure, but in
passion;
not in words only, but in woes also: and yet there is a
virtuous
man whom I have often noted in thy company, but I know not
his
name.
Prince. What manner of man, an it like your Majesty?
Fal. A goodly portly man, i' faith, and a corpulent; of a
cheerful
look, a pleasing eye, and a most noble carriage; and, as I
think,
his age some fifty, or, by'r Lady, inclining to threescore;
and
now I remember me, his name is Falstaff. If that man should
be
lewdly, given, he deceiveth me; for, Harry, I see virtue in
his
looks. If then the tree may be known by the fruit, as the
fruit
by the tree, then, peremptorily I speak it, there is virtue
in
that Falstaff. Him keep with, the rest banish. And tell me
now,
thou naughty varlet, tell me where hast thou been this month?
Prince. Dost thou speak like a king? Do thou stand for me, and
I'll
play my father.
Fal. Depose me? If thou dost it half so gravely, so
majestically,
both in word and matter, hang me up by the heels for a
rabbit-sucker or a poulter's hare.
Prince. Well, here I am set.
Fal. And here I stand. Judge, my masters.
Prince. Now, Harry, whence come you?
Fal. My noble lord, from Eastcheap.
Prince. The complaints I hear of thee are grievous.
Fal. 'Sblood, my lord, they are false! Nay, I'll tickle ye for
a
young prince, i' faith.
Prince. Swearest thou, ungracious boy? Henceforth ne'er look on
me.
Thou art violently carried away from grace. There is a devil
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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