_Fal._ Peace, good pint-pot; 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[2537] 385 youth, the more it is wasted the sooner it wears. That thou[2538] art my son, I have partly thy mother's word, partly my own opinion, but chiefly a villanous trick of thine eye and[2539] a foolish hanging of thy nether lip, that doth warrant me.[2540] If then thou be son to me, here lies the point; why, being[2541] 390 son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shall the blessed sun[2542] of heaven prove a micher and eat blackberries? a question not to be asked. Shall the son of England prove a thief and take purses? a question to be asked. There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast often heard of and it is known to 395 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 400 whom I have often noted in thy company, but I know not his name. _Prince._ What manner of man, an it like your majesty?[2543] _Fal._ A goodly portly man, i' faith, and a corpulent; of[2544] a cheerful look, a pleasing eye and a most noble carriage; 405 and, as I think, his age some fifty, or, by'r lady, inclining to three score; and now I remember me, his name is Falstaff: if that man should be lewdly given, he deceiveth me; for,[2545] Harry, I see virtue in his looks. If then the tree may be[2546] known by the fruit, as the fruit by the tree, then,[2546] 410 peremptorily I speak it, there is virtue in that Falstaff: him keep with, the rest banish. And tell me now, thou naughty[2547] 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. 415 _Fal._ Depose me? if thou dost it half so gravely, so[2548] majestically, both in word and matter, hang me up by the[2549] heels for a rabbit-sucker or a poulter's hare.[2550] _Prince._ Well, here I am set. _Fal._ And here I stand: judge, my masters. 420 _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[2551] for a young prince, i' faith.[2552] 425