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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

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 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.

P. Hen. What, stand'st thou idle here? lend
me 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.

[The Prince draws out a bottle of sack. P. Hen. What, is't a time to jest and dally now? [Throws it at him and exit. Fal. Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do come in my way, so if he do not, if I come in his willingly, let him make a carbonado of me. I like not such grinning bonour as Sir Walter hath: Give me life: which if I can save, so; if not, honour comes unlooked for, [Exit.

Thou crossest me? what honour dost thou seek and there's an end.
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. [Scot,
Blunt. I was not born a yielder, thou proud
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.

SCENE IV.-Another part of the Field. Alarums. Excursions. Enter the KING, Prince HENRY, Prince JOHN, and WEST

MORELAND.

K. Hen. I pr'ythee,
[much :-
Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too
Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.
P. John. Not 1, 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:

Doug. All's done, all's won; here breathless And heaven forbid a shallow scratch should

lies the king.

Hot. Where?

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drive

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[Exeunt.

P. Hen. Oh! this boy
Lends mettle to us all!

Alarums.-Enter DouCLAS.

Other Alarums.-Enter FALSTAFF.

Fal Though I could 'scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here; here's no scoring,

[Exit.

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but upon the pate.--Soft! who art thou? Sir I am the Douglas, fatal to all those

In resemblance.

1 piece of meat cut crossways for the gridror.

That wear those colours on them.-What art
That counterfeit'st the person of a king? [thou,
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,"
Seek Percy and thyself about the field:
Bat, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,
I will assay thee; so defend thyself.

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, who'er thou be,
And thus I win thee.

[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
Of Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:
It is the prince of Wales that threatens thee;
Who never promiseth, but he means to pay.—
[They fight; DOUGLAS flies.
Cheerly, my lord; How fares your grace?-
Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent,
And so hath Clifton; I'll to Clifton straight.
K. Hen. Stay, and breathe a while :-
Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion; [life,
And show'd thou mak'st some tender of my
In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.
P. Hen. O heaven! they did me too much
injury,

P. Hen. For worms, brave Percy: Fare thes
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
Bears not alive so stout a gentleman. [dead,
If thou wert sensible of courtesy,

I 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.
Adien, and take thy praise with thee to heaven!
Thy ignomy sleep with thee in the grave,
But not remembered in thy epitaph !—

[Exit.

[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. 01 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.] Embowelled! 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, am no counterfeit: To die, is to be a counterfeit; for he is but the counterfeit of a man, who hath not the 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 Nich-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. Therefore I'll make him sure: yea, and I'll swear I killed 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

That ever said I hearken'd for your death.
If it were so, I might have let alone
The insulting hand of Douglas over you;
Which would have been as speedy in your end,
As all the poisonous potions in the world,
And sav'd the treacherous labour of your son.
K. Hen. Make up to Clifton, I'll to Sir
olas Gawsey. [Exit King HENRY.
Enter HOTSPUR.

Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry
mouth.

Mon

P. Hen. Thou speak'st as if I would deny
my name.

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:
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
And all the budding honours on thy crest [thee;
I'll crop to make a garland for my head.
Hot. I can no longer brook thy vanities.
[They fight.

Enter EALSTAFF.

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. HOTSPUR is wounded, and jalls.

Hot. O Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my
I better brook the loss of brittle life, [youth,
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
They wound my thoughts, worse than thy sword
my flesh;--
[fool
But thought's the slave of life, and life time's
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,
[Dies.

And food for-

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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; I saw him dead, breathless,
Upon the ground.-
[and bleeding
Art thou alive? or is it fantasy
[speak;
That plays upon our eyesight? I pr'ythee
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. 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 arose 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.

⚫ Scarf, with which he covers Percy's face.

+ Selt

410

FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV.

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 our's.
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.

P. Hen. Thus ever did rebellion find re-
buke.-

Ill-spirited Worcester! did we not send grace,
Pardon, and terms of love to all of you?
And would'st thou turn our offers contrary?
Misuse the tenor of thy kinsman's trust?
Three knights upon our party slain to-day,
A noble earl, and many a creature else,
Had been alive this hour,

If, like a Christian, thou hadst truly borne
Betwixt our armies true intelligence.

Act V.

K. Hen. Bear Worcester to the death, and
Vernon too :

Other offenders we will pause upon.-
[Exeunt WORCESTER and VERNON, guarded
How goes the field?

P. Hen. The noble Scot, -lord Douglas, when

he saw

The fortune of the day quite turn'd from him,
The noble Percy slain and all his men
Upon the foot of fear,-fled with the rest;
At my tent
And, falling from a hill, he was so bruis'd,
That the pursuers took him.
The Douglas is; And I beseech your grace,
I may dispose of him.

K. Hen. With all my heart.

P. Hen. Then, brother John of Lancaster to
[you
This honourable bounty shall belong :
Go to the Douglas and deliver him
Up to his pleasure, ransomless, and free:
His valour, shown upon our crests to-day,
Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds,
Even in the bosom of our adversaries.

K. Hen. Then this remains, that we divide
our power.-

You, son John, and my cousin Westmoreland, Towards York shall bend you, with your dearest speed,

Το

meet Northumberland and
Scroop,

the prelate

Who, as we hear, are busily in arms :

Myself and you, son Harry, will towards Wales,
To fight with Glendower and the earl of March.
Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway,

Wor. What I have done, my safety urged me Meeting the check of such another day:

to ;

And I embrace this fortune patiently,

Since not to be avoided it fails on me.

And since this business so fair is done,
Let us not leave till all our own be won.

[Exeunt,

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