The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed;
The king is set from London; and the scene
Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton :
There is the playhouse now; there must you sit;
And thence to France shall we convey you safe,
And bring you back, charming the narrow seas
To give you gentle pass; for, if we may,
We'll not offend one stomach with our play.1
But, till the king come forth, and not till then,
Unto Southampton do we shift our scene.

[Exit.

SCENE I.

The same. Eastcheap.

Enter NYM and BARDOLPH.

Bar. Well met, corporal Nym.

Nym. Good morrow, lieutenant Bardolph. Bar. What, are ancient Pistol and you friends yet?

Nym. For my part, I care not: I say little; but when time shall serve, there shall be smiles ;-but that shall be as it may. I dare not fight; but I will wink, and hold out mine iron; it is a simple one; but what though? it will toast cheese; and it will endure cold as another man's sword will; and there's the humor of it.

Bar. I will bestow a breakfast, to make you

1 i. e. you shall pass the sea without the qualms of sea sickness.

friends; and we 'll be all three sworn brothers to France let it be so, good corporal Nym.

:

Nym. Faith, I will live so long as I may, that's the certain of it; and when I cannot live any longer, I will do as I may: that is my rest; that is the rendezvous of it.

Bar. It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly; and, certainly, she did you wrong; for you were troth-plight to her.

Nym. I cannot tell; things must be as they may: men may sleep, and they may have their throats about them at that time; and, some say, knives have edges. It must be as it may: though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell.

Enter PISTOL and MRS. QUICKLY.

Bar. Here comes ancient Pistol and his wife: good corporal, be patient here.-How now, mine host Pistol?

Pis. Base tike, call'st thou me host?

Now, by this hand I swear, I scorn the term;
Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers.

Mrs. Quick. No, by my troth, not long; for we cannot lodge and board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen, that live honestly by the prick of their needles, but it will be thought we keep a bawdyhouse straight. [Nym draws his sword.] O Lord!

? Dog.

What I am resolved on.

here's corporal Nym's: now shall we have wilful adultery and murder committed. Good lieutenant Bardolph,-good corporal, offer nothing here. Nym. Pish!

Pis. Pish for thee, Iceland dog! thou prick-eared cur of Iceland!

Mrs. Quick. Good corporal Nym, show the valor of a man, and put up thy sword.

Nym. Will you shog off? I would have you solus.

[sheathing his sword.

Pis. Solus, egregious dog? O viper vile!
The solus in thy most marvellous face;
The solus in thy teeth, and in thy throat,

And in thy hateful lungs, yea, in thy maw, perdy;
And, which is worse, within thy nasty mouth!
I do retort the solus in thy bowels:

For I can take; and Pistol's cock is up,

And flashing fire will follow.

:

1

Nym. I am not Barbason; 2 you cannot conjure me. I have a humor to knock you indifferently well if you grow foul with me, Pistol, I will scour you with my rapier, as I may, in fair terms: if you would walk off, I would prick your guts a little, in good terms, as I may; and that's the humor of it. Pis. O braggart vile, and damned furious wight! The grave doth gape, and doting death is near; Therefore exhale.3

[Pistol and Nym draw.

1 A corruption of par Dieu. 3 Breathe your last.

2 The name of a dæmon.

Bar. Hear me, hear me what I say:-he that strikes the first stroke, I'll run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier. [draws. Pis. An oath of mickle might; and fury shall

abate.

Give me thy fist; thy fore-foot to me give:

Thy spirits are most tall.

Nym. I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair terms; that is the humor of it.

Pis. Coupe le gorge; that's the word.-I thee defy again.

O hound of Crete,1 think'st thou my spouse to get?

No; to the spital go,

And from the powdering-tub of infamy

Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind,
Doll Tear-sheet she by name, and her espouse:
I have, and I will hold, the quondam Quickly
For the only she; and-Pauca, there's enough.

Enter BOY.

Boy. Mine host Pistol, you must come to my master, and you, hostess;-he is very sick, and I would to bed. Good Bardolph, put thy nose between his sheets, and do the office of a warmingpan faith, he's very ill.

Bar. Away, you rogue.

Mrs. Quick. By my troth, he'll yield the crow a

1 Bloodhound.

pudding one of these days: the king has killed his heart. Good husband, come home presently.

[Exeunt Mrs. Quickly and Boy.

Bar. Come, shall I make you two friends? We must to France together. Why, the devil, should we keep knives to cut one another's throats?

Pis. Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food howl on!

Nym. You'll pay me the eight shillings I won of you at betting?

Pis. Base is the slave that pays.

Nym. That now I will have; that's the humor of it.

Pis. As manhood shall compound. Push home. Bar. By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I'll kill him; by this sword, I will.

Pis. Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their

course.

Bar. Corporal Nym, an thou wilt be friends, be friends; an thou wilt not, why then be enemies with me too. Pr'ythee, put up.

Nym. I shall have my eight shillings, I won of you at betting?

Pis. A noble 1 shalt thou have, and present pay; And liquor likewise will I give to thee, And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood: I'll live by Nym, and Nym shall live by me :— Is not this just?-for I shall sutler be

1 A coin of the value of six shillings and eight pence.