Wor. O, no, my nephew must not know, sir
Richard,

that honour? Air. A trim reckoning!-Who hath Did hear a challenge urg'd more modestly, it? He that died o'Wednesday. Doth he feel it? Unless a brother should a brother dare No. Doth he hear it? No. Is it insensible then? To gentle exercise and proof of arms. Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the He gave you all the duties of a man; living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it :- Trimm'd up your praises with a princely tongue; therefore I'll none of it: Honour is a mere scutch- Spoke your deservings like a chronicle; eon,' and so ends my catechism. [Exit. Making you ever better than his praise, SCENE II.-The rebel camp. Enter Worcester And, which became him like a prince indeed, By still dispraising praise, valued with you: and Vernon. He made a blushing cital of himself; And chid his truant youth with such a grace, As if he master'd there a double spirit, Of teaching, and of learning, instantly. There did he pause: But let me tell the world,If he outlive the envy of this day, England did never owe so sweet a hope, So much misconstrued in his wantonness. Hot. Cousin, I think, thou art enamour'd Upon his follies; never did I hear Of any prince, so wild, at liberty:But, be he as he will, yet once ere night I will embrace him with a soldier's arm, That he shall shrink under my courtesy.Arm, arm, with speed :--And, fellows, sol friends,

The liberal kind offer of the king.

Ver. 'Twere best he did.
Wor.

Then are we all undone.
It is not possible, it cannot be,
The king should keep his word in loving us;
He will suspect us still, and find a time
To punish this offence in other faults:
Suspicion shall be all stuck full of eyes:
For treason is but trusted like the fox;
Who, ne'er so tame, so cherish'd, and lock'd up,
Will have a wild trick of his ancestors.
Look how we can, or sad, or merrily,
Interpretation will misquote our looks;
And we shall feed like oxen at a stall,
The better cherish'd, still the nearer death.
My nephew's trespass may be well forgot,
It hath the excuse of youth, and heat of blood;
And an adopted name of privilege,--

A hair-brain'd Hotspur, govern'd by a spleen:
All his offences live upon my head,
And on his father's;-we did train him on;
And, his corruption being ta'en from us,
We, as the spring of all, shall pay for all.
Therefore, good cousin, let not Harry know,
In any case, the offer of the king.

Ver. Deliver what you will, I'll say, 'tis so.
Here comes your cousin.

Enter Hotspur and Douglas; and officers and
soldiers, behind.

Hot. My uncle is return'd:-Deliver up
My lord of Westmoreland.-Uncle, what news?
Wor. The king will bid you battle presently.
Doug. Defy him by the lord of Westmoreland.
Hot. Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so.
Doug. Marry, and shall, and very willingly.

[Exit.

Wor. There is no seeming mercy in the king.
Hot. Did you beg any? God forbid !
Wor. I told him gently of our grievances,
Of his oath-breaking; which he mended thus,--
By now forswearing that he is forsworn:
He calls us rebels, traitors; and will scourge
With haughty arms this hateful name in us.
Re-enter Douglas.

Doug. Arm, gentlemen; to arms! for I have

thrown

A brave defiance in king Henry's teeth,
And Westmoreland, that was engag'd, did bear it;
Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on.
Wor. The prince of Wales stepp'd forth before
the king,

And, nephew, challeng'd you to single fight.

Hot. O, 'would the quarrel lay upon our heads;
And that no man might draw short breath to-day,
But I, and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me,
How show'd his tasking? seemed it in contempt?
Ver. No, by soul; I never in my life

(1) Painted heraldry in funerals.
(2) Recital. (3) Own.

Better consider what you have to do,
Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,
Can lift your blood up with persuasion.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord, here are letters for you.
Hot. I cannot read them now.-

O gentlemen, the time of life is short;
To spend that shortness basely, were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial's point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour.
An if we live, we live to tread on kings;
If die, brave death, when princes die with us!
Now for our conscience,-the arms are fair,
When the intent of bearing them is just.

Enter another Messenger.

Mess. My lord, prepare; the king comes on apace.
Hot. I thank him, that he cuts me from my tale,
For I profess not talking; Only this-
Let each man do his best: and here draw I
A sword, whose temper I intend to stain
With the best blood that I can meet withal
In the adventure of this perilous day.
Now,-Esperance !-Percy!--and set on.
Sound all the lofty instruments of war,
And by that music let us all embrace:
For, heaven to earth, some of us never shall
A second time do such a courtesy.

[The trumpets sound. They embrace,
and exeunt.]

SCENE III-Plain near Shrewsbury. Excursions, and parties fighting. Alarum to the battle. Then enter Douglas and Blunt, meeting.

Blunt. What is thy name, that in the battle thus
Thou crossest me? what honour dost thou seek
Upon my head?

Doug. Know then, my name is Douglas;
And I do haunt thee in the battle thus,
Because some tell me that thou art a king.
Blunt. They tell thee true.
Doug. The lord of Stafford dear to-day hath
bought

Thy likeness; for, instead of thee, king Harry,
This sword hath ended him: so shall it thee,
Unless thou yield thee as my prisoner.

(4) The motto of the Percy family.

Blunt. I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot;
And thou shalt find a king that will revenge
Lord Stailord's death.

[They fight, and Blunt is slain.
Enter Hotspur.

Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much:-
Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.

P. John. Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.
P. Hen. I do beseech your majesty, make up,
Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.
K. Hen. I will do so :-

Hot. O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holme- My lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.

don thus,

I never had triumph'd upon a Scot.

Doug. All's done, all's won; here breathless lies the king.

Hot. Where?
Doug. Here.

Hot. This, Douglas? no, I know this face full
well:

A gallant knight he was, his name was Blunt;
Semblably furnish'd like the king himself.

Drug. A fool go with thy soul, whither it goes!
A borrow'd title hast thou bought too dear.
Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
Hot. The king hath many marching in his coats. I
Doug. Now, by my sword, I will kill all his coats;
I'll murder all his wardrobe, piece by piece,
Until I meet the king.

Up, and away;

Hot..
Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day. [Exeunt.
Other alarums. Enter Falstaff.

West. Come, my lord, I will lead you to your tent.
P. Hen. Lead me, my lord? I do not need your

help:

And heaven forbid, a shallow scratch should drive
The prince of Wales from such a field as this;
Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,
And rebels' arms triumph in massacres!

P. John. We breathe too long:-Come, cousin
Westmoreland,

Our duty this way lies; for God's sake, come.
[Exeunt Prince John and Westmoreland.
P. Hen. By heaven, thou hast deceiv'd me,
Lancaster,

did not think thee lord of such a spirit:
Before, I lov'd thee as a brother, John;
But now, I do respect thee as my soul.

K. Hen. I saw him hold lord Piercy at the point,
With lustier maintenance than I did look for
Of such an ungrown warrior.

P. Hen.

Lends mettle to us all!

O, this boy

[Erit.

Alarums. Enter Douglas.

Doug. Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads:

Fal. Though I could 'scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here; here's no scoring, but upon the pate.-Soft! who art thou? Sir Walter Blunt:there's honour for you: Here's no vanity!--I am as hot as molten lead, and as heavy too: God keep lead out of me: I need no more weight than mine I am the Douglas, fatal to all those own bowels. I have led my raggamuffins where That wear those colours on them.-What art thou, they are peppered: there's but three of my hundred That counterfeit'st the person of a king? and fifty left alive; and they are for the town's end, K. Hen. The king himself; who, Douglas, grieves

to beg during life. But who comes here?

Enter Prince Henry.

at heart,

So many of his shadows thou hast met,
And not the very king. I have two boys,

P. Hen. What, stand'st thou idle here? lend me Seek Percy, and 'hyself, about the field:

thy sword:

Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff,
Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies,
Whose deaths are unreveng'd: Pr'ythee, lend thy

sword.

Fal. O Hal, I pr'ythee, give me leave to breathe a while.-Turk Gregory never did such deeds in arms, as I have done this day. I have paid Percy, I have made him sure.

P. Hen. He is, indeed; and living to kill thee. Lend me thy sword, I pr'ythee.

Fal. Nay, before God, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou get'st not my sword; but take my pistol, if

thou wilt.

P. Hen. Give it me: What, is it in the case? Fal. Ay, Hal; 'tis hot, 'tis hot; there's that will sack a city.

Bat, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,
I will assay thee; so defend thyself.

Dong. I fear, thou art another counterfeit ;
And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:
And thus I win thee.
But mine, I am sure thou art, whoe'er thou be,

[They fight; the King being in danger,
enter Prince Henry.
P. Hen. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou
art like

Never to hold it up again! the spirits

Shirly, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms: is the prince of Wales, that threatens thee; Who never promiseth, but he means to pay.Cheerly, my lord; How fares your grace?— [They fight; Douglas flies. Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent, [The Prince draws out a bottle of sack. And so hath Clifton; I'll to Clifton straight. P. Hen. What, is't a time to jest and dally now? K. Hen. Stay, and breathe awhile:Throws it at him, and exit. Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion;3 Fal. Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If And show'd, thou mak'st some tender of my life, he do come in my way, so if he do not, if I come in this fair rescue thou has brought to me. in his, willingly, let him make a carbonado2 of me. P. Hen. O heaven! they did me too much inI like not such grinning honour as sir Walter hath : Give me life which if I can save, so; if not, That ever said, I hearken'd for your death. honour comes unlooked for, and there's an end. If it were so, I might have let alone [Exit. The insulting hand of Douglas over you; SCENE IV.-Another part of the field. Alarums. Which would have been as speedy in your end, Excursions. Enter the King, Prince Henry, As all the poisonous potions in the world, Prince John, and Westmoreland.

Hot. My name is Harry Percy.
P. Hen.

Why, then I see

A very valiant rebel of the name.
I am the prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,
To share with me in glory any more:
I wo stars keep not their motion in one sphere;
Nor can one England brook a double reign,
Of Harry Percy, and the prince of Wales.

Hot. Nor shall it, Harry, for the hour is come
To end the one of us; And 'would to God,
Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!
P. Hen. I'll make it greater, ere I part from thee;
And all the budding honours on thy crest
I'll crop, to make a garland for my head.
Hot. I can no longer brook thy vanities.

Enter Falstaff.

[They fight.

Fal. Well said, Hal! to it, Hal!-Nay, you shall
find no boy's play here, I can tell you.
Enter Douglas; he fights with Falstaff, who falls
down as if he were dead, and exit Douglas. Hot-
spur is wounded, and falls.

Hot. O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth:
I better brook the loss of brittle life,
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
They wound my thoughts, worse than thy sword
my flesh :-

But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool;
And time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. O, I could prophesy,
But that the earthy and cold hand of death
Lies on my tongue :-No, Percy, thou art dust,
And food for-

[Dies. P. Hen. For worms, brave Percy: Fare thee well, great heart!

Ill-weav'd ambition, how much art thou shrunk!
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound;
But now, two paces of the vilest earth

Is room enough:-This earth, that bears thee dead,
Bears not alive so stout a gentleman.

If thou wert sensible of courtesy,

should not make so dear a show of zeal:-
But let my favours' hide thy mangled face;
And, even in thy behalf, I'll thank myself
For doing these fair rites of tenderness.
Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven!
Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave,
But not remember'd in thy epitaph!-

life of a man: but to counterfeit dying, when a
man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the
true and perfect image of life indeed. The better
part of valour is-discretion; in the which better
part, I have saved my life. Zounds, I am afraid
of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead:
How, if he should counterfeit too, and rise? I am
afraid he would prove the better counterfeit. There-
fore I'll make him sure: yea, and I'll swear I kill-
ed him. Why may not he rise, as well as I?
Nothing confutes me but eyes, and nobody sees
me. Therefore, sirrah, [Stabbing him.] with a new
wound in your thigh, come you along with me.
[Takes Hotspur on his back.

Re-enter Prince Henry and Prince John.
P. Hen. Come, brother John, full bravely hast
thou flesh'd

Thy maiden sword.

P. John.

But soft! whom have we here?
Did you not tell me, this fat man was dead?
P. Hen. I did; Í saw him dead, breathless and
bleeding
Upon the ground.-

Art thou alive? or is it phantasy
That plays upon our eye-sight? I pr'ythee, speak;
We will not trust our eyes, without our ears:-

Thou art not what thou seem'st.

Fal. No, that's certain; I am not a double man: but if I be not Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy: [Throwing the body down.] if your father will do me any honour, so; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself. I look to be either earl or duke, I can assure you.

P. Hen. Why, Percy I killed myself, and saw thee dead.

Fal. Didst thou?-Lord, lord, how this world is given to lying!-I grant you, I was down, and out of breath; and so was he: but we rose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock. If I may be believed, so; if not, let them, that should reward valour, bear the sin upon their own heads. I'll take it upon my death, I gave him this wound in the thigh: if the man were alive, and would deny it, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.

P. John. This is the strangest tale that e'er I
heard.

P. Hen. This is the strangest fellow, brother
John.-

Come, bring your luggage nobly on your back:
For my part, if a lie may do thee grace,
I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.

[A retreat is sounded.
The trumpet sounds retreat, the day is ours.
Come, brother, let's to the highest of the field,
To see what friends are living, who are dead.

He

[He sees Falstaff on the ground. What! old acquaintance! could not all this flesh Keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell! I could have better spar'd a better man. Q, I should have a heavy miss of thee, If I were much in love with vanity. Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day, Though many dearer, in this bloody fray: Embowell'd will I see thee by and by; Till then, in blood by noble Percy lie. Fal. [Rising slowly.] Embowell'd! If thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder2 me, and eat me too, to-morrow. 'Sblood, 'twas time to counterfeit, or that hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too. Counterfeit? I lie, I am no Ill-spirited Worcester !-did we not send grace, counterfeit: To die, is to be a counterfeit; for he Pardon, and terms of love to all of you?

[Exeunt Prince Henry and Prince John. Fal. I'll follow, as they say, for reward. that rewards me, God reward him! If I do grow great, I'll grow less; for I'll purge, and leave sack, and live cleanly, as a nobleman should do. [Exit, bearing off the body.

[Exit.

The

SCENE V.-Another part of the field. trumpets sound. Enter King Henry, Prince Henry, Prince John, Westmoreland, and others; with Worcester, and Vernon, prisoners.

K. Hen. Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke.

is but the counterfeit of a man, who hath not the And would'st thou turn our offers contrary?

(1) Scarf with which he covers Percy's face.

(2) Salt.

1

Wor. What I have done, my safety urg'd me to; Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds,