400

› counterfeit dying, when a
to be no counterfeit, but the
of life indeed. The better
retion; in the which better
life. Zounds, I am afraid
rey, though he be dead:
terfeit too, and rise? I am
better counterfeit. There-
yea, and I'll swear I kill-
ot he rise, as well as I?
ut eyes, and nobody sees
Stabbing him.] with a new
me you along with me.
akes Hotspur on his back.
nry and Prince John.
er John, full bravely hast

oft! whom have we here?
fat man was dead?
him dead, breathless and

antasy

sight? I pr'ythee, speak;
, without our ears:-
Pem'st.

I am not a double man.
staff, then am I a Jack.
ring the body down.] if
ny honour, so; if not, let
imself. I look to be either
you.

I killed myself, and saw

rd, lord, how this world is you, I was down, and out he: but we rose both at an long hour by Shrewsbury eved, so; if not, let them, our, bear the sin rpon their it upon my death, I gave thigh: if the man were

it, I would make him eat a

the strangest tale that e'er I

the strangest fellow, brother

luggage nobly on your back:
He may do thee grace,
Be happiest terms I have.

[A retreat is sounded

Punds retreat, the day is ours.

r, let's to the highest of the field,
friends are living, who are dead.
Exeunt Prince Henry and Prince John.
follow, as they say, for reward. He
ards me, God reward him! If I do grow
I'll grow less; for I'll purge, and leave sack,
live cleanly, as a nobleman should do.
[Exit, bearing off the body.

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.

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

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

Hot. O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon 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.

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 :-

My lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.
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,

Hot. This, Douglas? no, I know this face full And rebels' arms triumph in massacres!

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

Doug. 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.
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.

Hot.

Up, and away;
Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day. [Exeunt.
Other alarums. Enter Falstaff.

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,

I 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

Alarums. Enter Douglas.

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 they are peppered: there's but three of my hundred and fifty left alive; and they are for the town's end, to beg during life. But who comes here?

Enter Prince Henry.

[Ezil.

Doug. Another king! they grow like Hydra's

heads:

That wear those colours on them. - What art thou,
That counterfeit'st the person of a king?

K. Hen. The king himself; who, Douglas, grieves
at heart,

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

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

P. Hen. What, stand'st thou idle here? lend me Seek Percy, and thyself, 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.

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

[They fight; the King being in danger, enter Prince Henry.

art like

P. Hen. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou Never to hold it up again! the spirits Fal. Nay, before God, Hal, if Percy be alive, Of Shirly, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms: thou get'st not my sword; but take my pistol, if It is the prince of Wales, that threatens thee; thou wilt. Who never promiseth, but he means to pay.P. Hen. Give it me: What, is it in the case? [They fight; Douglas Ries. Fal. Ay, Hal; 'tis hot, 'tis hot; there's that will Cheerly, my lord; How fares your grace?sack a city. 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; 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 carbonado of me. P. Hen. O heaven! they did me too much in I 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

jury,

[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.

K. Hen. I pr'ythee,

(1) In resemblance.

(2) A piece of meat cut crosswise for the gridiron.

And sav'd the treacherous labour of your son.
K. Hen. Make up to Clifton, I'll to sir Nicholas
Gawsey.
[Erit King Henry.

(3) Reputation.

Enter Hotspur.

life of a man: but to counterfeit dying, when a man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth. true and perfect image of life indeed. The better P. Hen. Thou speak'st as if I

name.

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

would deny my

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:
Two 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.

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? [They fight. Did you not tell me, this fat man was dead?

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,

I should not make so dear a show of zeal:-
But let my favours1 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!-

[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.
O, 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.

[Exit.

P. Hen. I did; I 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.

[Exeunt Prince Henry and Prince John. Fal. I'll follow, as they say, for reward. He 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.

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

Fal. [Rising slowly.] Embowell'd! If thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder 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 counterfeit: To die, is to be a counterfeit; for he 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.

K. Hen. Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke.Ill-spirited Worcester!-did we not send grace, Pardon, and terms of love to all of you ?

(2) Salt.

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