Shal. Be not dismayed. Slen. No, she shall not dismay me: I care not for that, but that I am afeard. Mrs. Quick. Hark ye; master Slender would speak a word with you. Anne. I come to him.-This is my father's choice. O, what a world of vile ill-favor'd faults Looks handsome in three hundred pounds a year! [aside. Mrs. Quick. And how does good master Fenton ? Pray you, a word with you. Shal. She's coming; to her, coz. O boy, thou hadst a father! Slen. I had a father, mistress Anne;-my uncle can tell you good jests of him.-Pray you, uncle, tell mistress Anne the jest, how my father stole two geese out of a pen, good uncle. Shal. Mistress Anne, my cousin loves you. Slen. Ay, that I do, as well as I love any woman in Glocestershire. Shal. He will maintain you like a gentlewoman. Slen. Ay, that I will, come cut and long-tail,1 under the degree of a squire. a short, thick one. In this place the fool's bolt is probably alluded to. 1 Come poor or rich to offer himself as my rival. According to the forest laws,' says Steevens, a man who had no right to the privilege of chase, was obliged to cut his dog, by depriving him of his tail. 'Cut and long-tail' therefore signify the dog of a clown and the dog of a gentleman.' Shal. He will make you a hundred and fifty pounds jointure. Anne. Good master Shallow, let him woo for himself. Shal. Marry, I thank you for it; I thank you for that good comfort. She calls you, coz : I'll leave you. Anne. Now, master Slender. Slen. Now, good mistress Anne. Anne. What is your will? Slen. My will? od's heartlings, that's a pretty jest, indeed! I ne'er made my will yet, I thank Heaven: I am not such a sickly creature, I give Heaven praise. Anne. I mean, master Slender, what would you with me? Slen. Truly, for mine own part, I would little or nothing with you. Your father, and my uncle, have made motions: 1 if it be my luck, so; if not, happy man be his dole! 2 They can tell you how things go, better than I can. You may ask your father; here he comes. Enter PAGE and MRS. PAGE. Page. Now, master Slender!-Love him, daughter Anne. Proposals. 2 A proverbial expression, frequent in Shakspeare; signifying here Happy may that man be whom you choose for a husband!' Why, how now! what does master Fenton here? You wrong me, sir, thus still to haunt my house : I told you, sir, my daughter is disposed of. child. Page. She is no match for you. Fen. Sir, will you hear me? Page. No, good master Fenton. Come, master Shallow; come, son Slender; in :— Knowing my mind, you wrong me, master Fenton. [Exeunt Page, Shallow, and Slender. Mrs. Quick. Speak to mistress Page. Fen. Good mistress Page, for 1 that I love your daughter In such a righteous fashion as I do, Perforce, against all checks, rebukes, and manners, I must advance the colors of my love, And not retire. Let me have your good will. Anne. Good mother, do not marry me to yond' fool. Mrs. Page. I mean it not; I seek you a better husband. Mrs. Quick. That's my master, master doctor. Anne. Alas, I had rather be set quick i' the earth, And bowl'd to death with turnips. Mrs. Page. Come, trouble not yourself. Good master Fenton, I will not be your friend, nor enemy: My daughter will I question how she loves you, 'Till then, farewell, sir.—She must needs go in ; [Exeunt Mrs. Page and Anne. Fen. Farewell, gentle mistress; farewell, Nan. Mrs. Quick. This is my doing now.-Nay, said I, will you cast away your child on a fool, and 1 a physician? Look on master Fenton :-this is my doing. Fen. I thank thee; and I pray thee, once to night Give my sweet Nan this ring: there's for thy pains. [Exit. Mrs. Quick. Now Heaven send thee good fortune! A kind heart he hath: a woman would run through fire and water for such a kind heart. But yet, I would my master had mistress Anne; or I would master Slender had her; or, in sooth, I would master Fenton had her: I will do what I can for them all three; for so I have promised, and I'll be as good as my word; but speciously 3 for master Fenton. Well, I must of another errand to sir John Falstaff from my two mistresses; what a beast am I to slack it! [Exit. 1 Or. 2 Some time. • Especially. 4 Neglect. SCENE V. A room in the Garter Inn. Enter FALSTAFF and BARDOLPH. Fal. Bardolph, I say, Bar. Here, sir. 1 Fal. Go, fetch me a quart of sack; put a toast in't. [Exit Bar.] Have I lived to be carried in a basket, like a barrow of butcher's offal; and to be thrown into the Thames? Well; if I be served such another trick, I'll have my brains ta'en out, and buttered, and give them to a dog for a new year's gift. The rogues slighted 1 me into the river with as little remorse as they would have drowned a bitch's blind puppies, fifteen i'the litter; and you may know by my size, that I have a kind of alacrity in sinking; if the bottom were as deep as hell, I should down. I had been drowned, but that the shore was shelvy and shallow; a death that I abhor; for the water swells a man; and what a thing should I have been, when I had been swelled! I should have been a mountain of mummy. Re-enter BARDOLPH, with the wine. Bar. Here's mistress Quickly, sir, to speak with you. Fal. Come, let me pour in some sack to the SHAK. Carelessly threw. 11. F |