1 HENRY IV

1 HENRY IV THE play described in the 1623 Folio as The First Part of Henry the Fourth had been entered on the Stationers’ Register on 25 February 1598 as The History of Henry the Fourth, and that is the title of the first surviving edition, of the same year. An earlier edition, doubtless also printed in 1598, is known only from a single, eight-page fragment. Five more editions appeared before the Folio. The printing of at least two editions within a few months, and the fact that one of them was read almost out of existence, reflect a matter of exceptional topical interest. The earliest title-page advertises the play’s portrayal of ‘the humorous conceits of Sir John Falstaff’; but when it was first acted, probably in 1596 or 1597, this character bore the name of his historical counterpart, the Protestant martyr Sir John Oldcastle. Shakespeare changed his surname as the result of protests from Oldcastle’s descendants, the influential Cobham family, one of whom—William Brooke, 7th Lord Cobham—was Elizabeth I’s Lord Chamberlain from August 1596 till he died on 5 March 1597. Our edition restores Sir John’s original surname for the first time in printed texts (though there is reason to believe that even after the earliest performances the name ’Oldcastle’ was sometimes used on the stage), and also restores Russell and Harvey, names Shakespeare was probably obliged to alter to Bardolph and Peto. Shakespeare had already shown Henry IV’s rise to power, and his troubled state of mind on achieving it, in Richard II; that play also shows Henry’s dissatisfaction with his wayward son, Prince Harry, later Henry V. 1 Henry IV continues the story, but in a very different dramatic style. A play called The Famous Victories of Henry V, entered in the Stationers’ Register in 1594, was published anonymously, in a debased and shortened text, in 1598. This text—which also features Oldcastle as a reprobate—gives a sketchy version of the events portrayed in 1 and 2 Henry IV and Henry V. Shakespeare must have known the original play, but in the absence of a full text we cannot tell how much he depended on it. The surviving version contains nothing about the rebellions against Henry IV, for which Shakespeare seems to have gone to IIolinshed’s, and perhaps other, Chronicles; he draws also on Samuel Daniel’s poem The First Four Books of the Civil Wars (1595). 1 Henry IV is the first of Shakespeare’s history plays to make extensive use of the techniques of comedy. On a national level, the play shows the continuing problems of Henry Bolingbroke, insecure in his hold on the throne, and the victim of rebellions led by Worcester, Hotspur (Harry Percy), and Glyndwr. These scenes are counterpointed by others, written mainly in prose, which, in the manner of a comic sub-plot, provide humorous diversion while also reflecting and extending the concerns of the main plot. Henry suffers not only public insurrection but the personal rebellion of Prince Harry, in his unprincely exploits with the reprobate old knight, Oldcastle. Sir John has become Shakespeare’s most famous comic character, but Shakespeare shows that the Prince’s treatment of him as a surrogate father who must eventually be abandoned has an intensely serious side.

THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

The History of Henry the Fourth

Atto 1, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter King Henry, Lord John of Lancaster, and the Earl of Westmorland, with other lords
KING HENRY	So shaken as we are, so wan with care, Find we a time for frighted peace to pant And breathe short-winded accents of new broils To be commenced in strands afar remote. No more the thirsty entrance of this soil Shall daub her lips with her own children’s blood. No more shall trenching war channel her fields, Nor bruise her flow‘rets with the armed hoofs Of hostile paces. Those opposed eyes, Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bred, Did lately meet in the intestine shock And furious close of civil butchery, Shall now in mutual well-beseeming ranks March all one way, and be no more opposed Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies. The edge of war, like an ill-sheathèd knife, No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, As far as to the sepulchre of Christ— Whose soldier now, under whose blessèd cross We are impressèd and engaged to fight— Forthwith a power of English shall we levy, Whose arms were moulded in their mothers’ womb To chase these pagans in those holy fields Over whose acres walked those blessed feet Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed, For our advantage, on the bitter cross. But this our purpose now is twelve month old, And bootless ’tis to tell you we will go. Therefor we meet not now. Then let me hear Of you, my gentle cousin Westmorland, What yesternight our Council did decree In forwarding this dear expedience.
WESTMORLAND	My liege, this haste was hot in question, And many limits of the charge set down But yesternight, when all athwart there came A post from Wales, loaden with heavy news, Whose worst was that the noble Mortimer, Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight Against the irregular and wild Glyndwr, Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken, A thousand of his people butcherèd, Upon whose dead corpse’ there was such misuse, Such beastly shameless transformation, By those Welshwomen done as may not be Without much shame retold or spoken of.
KING HENRY	It seems then that the tidings of this broil Brake off our business for the Holy Land.
WESTMORLAND	This matched with other did, my gracious lord, For more uneven and unwelcome news Came from the north, and thus it did import: On Holy-rood day the gallant Hotspur there— Young Harry Percy—and brave Archibald, That ever valiant and approvèd Scot, At Holmedon met, Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour, As by discharge of their artillery And shape of likelihood the news was told; For he that brought them in the very heat And pride of their contention did take horse, Uncertain of the issue any way.
KING HENRY	Here is a dear, a true industrious friend, Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, Stained with the variation of each soil Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours; And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news. The Earl of Douglas is discomfited. Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights, Balked in their own blood did Sir Walter see On Holmedon’s plains. Of prisoners Hotspur took Mordake the Earl of Fife and eldest son To beaten Douglas, and the Earl of Athol, Of Moray, Angus, and Menteith; And is not this an honourable spoil, A gallant prize? Ha, cousin, is it not?
WESTMORLAND	In faith, it is a conquest for a prince to boast of.
KING HENRY	Yea, there thou mak‘st me sad, and mak’st me sin In envy that my lord Northumberland Should be the father to so blest a son— A son who is the theme of honour’s tongue, Amongst a grove the very straightest plant, Who is sweet Fortune’s minion and her pride— Whilst I by looking on the praise of him See riot and dishonour stain the brow Of my young Harry. O, that it could be proved That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged In cradle clothes our children where they lay, And called mine Percy, his Plantagenet! Then would I have his Harry, and he mine. But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz, Of this young Percy’s pride? The prisoners Which he in this adventure hath surprised To his own use he keeps, and sends me word I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.
WESTMORLAND	This is his uncle’s teaching. This is Worcester, Malevolent to you in all aspects, Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up The crest of youth against your dignity.
KING HENRY	But I have sent for him to answer this; And for this cause awhile we must neglect Our holy purpose to Jerusalem. Cousin, on Wednesday next our Council we Will hold at Windsor. So inform the lords. But come yourself with speed to us again, For more is to be said and to be done Than out of anger can be uttered.
WESTMORLAND	I will, my liege.
(didascalia)	Exeunt King Henry, Lancaster, and other lords at one door; Westmorland at another door

Atto 1, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Harry Prince of Wales and Sir John Oldcastle SIR JOHN Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?
PRINCE HARRY	Thou art so fat-witted with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta, I see no reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time of the day.
SIR JOHN	Indeed you come near me now, Hal, for we that take purses go by the moon and the seven stars, and not ‘By Phoebus, he, that wand’ring knight so fair’. And I prithee, sweet wag, when thou art a king, as God save thy grace—‘majesty’ I should say, for grace thou wilt have none—
PRINCE HARRY	What, none?
SIR JOHN	No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to be prologue to an egg and butter.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, how then? Come, roundly, roundly.
SIR JOHN	Marry then, sweet wag, when thou art king let not us that are squires of the night’s body be called thieves of the day’s beauty. Let us be ‘Diana’s foresters’, ‘gentlemen of the shade’, ‘minions of the moon’, and let men say we be men of good government, being governed, as the sea is, by our noble and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou sayst well, and it holds well too, for the fortune of us that are the moon’s men doth ebb and flow like the sea, being governed as the sea is by the moon. As for proof now: a purse of gold most resolutely snatched on Monday night, and most dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning; got with swearing ‘lay by!’, and spent with crying ‘bring in!’; now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder, and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows.
SIR JOHN	By the Lord, thou sayst true, lad; and is not my Hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?
PRINCE HARRY	As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle; and is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?
SIR JOHN	How now, how now, mad wag? What, in thy quips and thy quiddities? What a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin?
PRINCE HARRY	Why, what a pox have I to do with my Hostess of the tavern?
SIR JOHN	Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a time and oft.
PRINCE HARRY	Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?
SIR JOHN	No, I’ll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there.
PRINCE HARRY	Yea, and elsewhere so far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not, I have used my credit.
SIR JOHN	Yea, and so used it that were it not here apparent that thou art heir apparent—but I prithee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king, and resolution thus fubbed as it is with the rusty curb of old father Antic the law? Do not thou when thou art king hang a thief.
PRINCE HARRY	No, thou shalt.
SIR JOHN	Shall I? O, rare! By the Lord, I’ll be a brave judge!
PRINCE HARRY	Thou judgest false already. I mean thou shalt have the hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hangman.
SIR JOHN	Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my humour as well as waiting in the court, I can tell you.
PRINCE HARRY	For obtaining of suits?
SIR JOHN	Yea, for obtaining of suits, whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe. ’Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gib cat, or a lugged bear.
PRINCE HARRY	Or an old lion, or a lover’s lute.
SIR JOHN	Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe.
PRINCE HARRY	What sayst thou to a hare, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch?
SIR JOHN	Thou hast the most unsavoury similes, and art indeed the most comparative, rascalliest sweet young Prince. But Hal, I prithee trouble me no more with vanity. I would to God thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought. An old lord of the Council rated me the other day in the street about you, sir, but I marked him not; and yet he talked very wisely, but I regarded him not; and yet he talked wisely, and in the street too.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou didst well, for wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man regards it.
SIR JOHN	O, thou hast damnable iteration, and art indeed able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal, God forgive thee for it. Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give it over. By the Lord, an I do not, I am a villain. I’ll be damned for never a king’s son in Christendom.
PRINCE HARRY	Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack?
SIR JOHN	Zounds, where thou wilt, lad! I’ll make one; an I do not, call me villain and baffle me.
PRINCE HARRY	I see a good amendment of life in thee, from praying to purse-taking.
SIR JOHN	Why, Hal, ‘tis my vocation, Hal. ’Tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation.
(didascalia)	Enter Poins
SIR JOHN	Poins! Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match. O, if men were to be saved by merit, what hole in hell were hot enough for him? This is the most omnipotent villain that ever cried ‘Stand!’ to a true man.
PRINCE HARRY	Good morrow, Ned. no
POINS	Good morrow, sweet Hal. (To Sir John) What says Monsieur Remorse? What says Sir John, sack-and-sugar Jack? How agrees the devil and thee about thy soul, that thou soldest him on Good Friday last, for a cup of Madeira and a cold capon’s leg?
PRINCE HARRY	Sir John stands to his word, the devil shall have his bargain, for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs: he will give the devil his due.
POINS	(to Sir John) Then art thou damned for keeping thy word with the devil.
PRINCE HARRY	Else he had been damned for cozening the devil.
POINS	But my lads, my lads, tomorrow morning by four o’clock early, at Gads Hill, there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses. I have visors for you all; you have horses for yourselves. Gadshill lies tonight in Rochester. I have bespoke supper tomorrow night in Eastcheap. We may do it as secure as sleep. If you will go, I will stuff your purses full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home and be hanged.
SIR JOHN	Hear ye, Edward, if I tarry at home and go not, I’ll hang you for going.
POINS	You will, chops?
SIR JOHN	Hal, wilt thou make one?
PRINCE HARRY	Who, I rob? I a thief? Not I, by my faith.
SIR JOHN	There’s neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou earnest not of the blood royal, if thou darest not stand for ten shillings.
PRINCE HARRY	Well then, once in my days I’ll be a madcap.
SIR JOHN	Why, that’s well said.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, come what will, I’ll tarry at home.
SIR JOHN	By the Lord, I’ll be a traitor then, when thou art king.
PRINCE HARRY	I care not.
POINS	Sir John, I prithee leave the Prince and me alone. I will lay him down such reasons for this adventure that he shall go.
SIR JOHN	Well, God give thee the spirit of persuasion and him the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may move and what he hears may be believed, that the true prince may, for recreation’ sake, prove a false thief; for the poor abuses of the time want countenance. Farewell. You shall find me in Eastcheap.
PRINCE HARRY	Farewell, the latter spring; farewell, Allhallown summer. Exit Sir John
POINS	Now, my good sweet honey lord, ride with us tomorrow. I have a jest to execute that I cannot manage alone. Oldcastle, Harvey, Russell, and Gadshill shall rob those men that we have already waylaid—yourself and I will not be there—and when they have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut this head off from my shoulders.
PRINCE HARRY	But how shall we part with them in setting forth?
POINS	Why, we will set forth before or after them and appoint them a place of meeting, wherein it is at our pleasure to fail. And then will they adventure upon the exploit themselves, which they shall have no sooner achieved but we’ll set upon them.
PRINCE HARRY	Ay, but ’tis like that they will know us by our horses, by our habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves.
POINS	Tut, our horses they shall not see—I’ll tie them in the wood; our visors we will change after we leave them; and, sirrah, I have cases of buckram for the nonce, to immask our noted outward garments.
PRINCE HARRY	But I doubt they will be too hard for us.
POINS	Well, for two of them, I know them to be as true-bred cowards as ever turned back; and for the third, if he fight longer than he sees reason, I’ll forswear arms. The virtue of this jest will be the incomprehensible lies that this same fat rogue will tell us when we meet at supper: how thirty at least he fought with, what wards, what blows, what extremities he endured; and in the reproof of this lives the jest.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, I’ll go with thee. Provide us all things necessary, and meet me tomorrow night in Eastcheap; there I’ll sup. Farewell.
POINS	Farewell, my lord. Exit
PRINCE HARRY	I know you all, and will a while uphold The unyoked humour of your idleness. Yet herein will I imitate the sun, Who doth permit the base contagious clouds To smother up his beauty from the world, That when he please again to be himself, Being wanted he may be more wondered at By breaking through the foul and ugly mists Of vapours that did seem to strangle him. If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work; But when they seldom come, they wished-for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. So when this loose behaviour I throw off And pay the debt I never promised, By how much better than my word I am, By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes; And like bright metal on a sullen ground, My reformation, glitt‘ring o’er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off. I’ll so offend to make offence a skill, Redeeming time when men think least I will. Exit

Atto 1, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter the King, the Earls of Northumberland and Worcester, Hotspur, Sir Walter Blunt, with other lords
KING HENRY	(to Hotspur, Northumberland, and Worcester) My blood hath been too cold and temperate, Unapt to stir at these indignities, And you have found me, for accordingly You tread upon my patience; but be sure I will from henceforth rather be myself, Mighty and to be feared, than my condition, Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down, And therefore lost that title of respect Which the proud soul ne’er pays but to the proud.
WORCESTER	Our house, my sovereign liege, little deserves The scourge of greatness to be used on it, And that same greatness too, which our own hands Have holp to make so portly.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to the King) My lord—
KING HENRY	Worcester, get thee gone, for I do see Danger and disobedience in thine eye. O sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory, And majesty might never yet endure The moody frontier of a servant brow. You have good leave to leave us. When we need Your use and counsel we shall send for you.
(didascalia)	Exit Worcester
KING HENRY	You were about to speak.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Yea, my good lord. Those prisoners in your highness’ name demanded, Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took, Were, as he says, not with such strength denied As was delivered to your majesty, Who either through envy or misprision Was guilty of this fault, and not my son.
HOTSPUR	(to the King) My liege, I did deny no prisoners; But I remember, when the fight was done, When I was dry with rage and extreme toil, Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, Came there a certain lord, neat and trimly dressed, Fresh as a bridegroom, and his chin, new-reaped, Showed like a stubble-land at harvest-home. He was perfumed like a milliner, And ‘twixt his finger and his thumb he held A pouncet-box, which ever and anon He gave his nose and took’t away again— Who therewith angry, when it next came there Took it in snuff—and still he smiled and talked; And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by, He called them untaught knaves, unmannerly To bring a slovenly unhandsome corpse Betwixt the wind and his nobility. With many holiday and lady terms He questioned me; amongst the rest demanded My prisoners in your majesty’s behalf. I then, all smarting with my wounds being cold— To be so pestered with a popinjay!— Out of my grief and my impatience Answered neglectingly, I know not what— He should, or should not—for he made me mad To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman Of guns, and drums, and wounds, God save the mark! And telling me the sovereign’st thing on earth Was parmacity for an inward bruise, And that it was great pity, so it was, This villainous saltpetre should be digged Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, Which many a good tall fellow had destroyed So cowardly, and but for these vile guns He would himself have been a soldier. This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord, Made me to answer indirectly, as I said, And I beseech you, let not his report Come current for an accusation Betwixt my love and your high majesty.
BLUNT	(to the King) The circumstance considered, good my lord, Whate’er Lord Harry Percy then had said To such a person, and in such a place, At such a time, with all the rest retold, May reasonably die, and never rise To do him wrong or any way impeach What then he said, so he unsay it now.
KING HENRY	Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners, But with proviso and exception That we at our own charge shall ransom straight His brother-in-law the foolish Mortimer, Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betrayed The lives of those that he did lead to fight Against that great magician, damned Glyndŵr— Whose daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March Hath lately married. Shall our coffers, then, Be emptied to redeem a traitor home? Shall we buy treason, and indent with fears When they have lost and forfeited themselves? No, on the barren mountains let him starve; For I shall never hold that man my friend Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost To ransom home revolted Mortimer—
HOTSPUR	Revolted Mortimer? He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, But by the chance of war. To prove that true Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds, Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took When on the gentle Severn’s sedgy bank, In single opposition, hand to hand, He did confound the best part of an hour In changing hardiment with great Glyndwr. Three times they breathed, and three times did they drink, Upon agreement, of swift Severn’s flood, Who, then affrighted with their bloody looks, Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds, And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank, Bloodstainèd with these valiant combatants. Never did bare and rotten policy Colour her working with such deadly wounds, Nor never could the noble Mortimer Receive so many, and all willingly. Then let not him be slandered with revolt.
KING HENRY	Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him. He never did encounter with Glyndŵr. I tell thee, He durst as well have met the devil alone As Owain Glyndŵr for an enemy. Art thou not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer. Send me your prisoners with the speediest means, Or you shall hear in such a kind from me As will displease you.—My lord Northumberland, We license your departure with your son. (To Hotspur) Send us your prisoners, or you’ll hear of it.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Hotspur and Northumberland
HOTSPUR	An if the devil come and roar for them I will not send them. I will after straight And tell him so, for I will ease my heart, Although it be with hazard of my head.
NORTHUMBERLAND	What, drunk with choler? Stay and pause awhile.
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Worcester
NORTHUMBERLAND	Here comes your uncle.
HOTSPUR	Speak of Mortimer? Zounds, I will speak of him, and let my soul Want mercy if I do not join with him. In his behalf I’ll empty all these veins, And shed my dear blood drop by drop in the dust, But I will lift the downfall Mortimer As high in the air as this unthankful King, As this ingrate and cankered Bolingbroke.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to Worcester) Brother, the King hath made your nephew mad.
WORCESTER	Who struck this heat up after I was gone?
HOTSPUR	He will forsooth have all my prisoners; And when I urged the ransom once again Of my wife’s brother, then his cheek looked pale, And on my face he turned an eye of death, Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.
WORCESTER	I cannot blame him: was not he proclaimed By Richard, that dead is, the next of blood?
NORTHUMBERLAND	He was; I heard the proclamation. And then it was when the unhappy King, Whose wrongs in us God pardon, did set forth Upon his Irish expedition, From whence he, intercepted, did return To be deposed, and shortly murdered.
WORCESTER	And for whose death we in the world’s wide mouth Live scandalized and foully spoken of.
HOTSPUR	But soft, I pray you; did King Richard then Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer Heir to the crown?
NORTHUMBERLAND	He did; myself did hear it.
HOTSPUR	Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin King That wished him on the barren mountains starve. But shall it be that you that set the crown Upon the head of this forgetful man, And for his sake wear the detested blot Of murderous subornation, shall it be That you a world of curses undergo, Being the agents or base second means, The cords, the ladder, or the hangman, rather? O, pardon me that I descend so low To show the line and the predicament Wherein you range under this subtle King! Shall it for shame be spoken in these days, Or fill up chronicles in time to come, That men of your nobility and power Did gage them both in an unjust behalf, As both of you, God pardon it, have done: To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose, And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke? And shall it in more shame be further spoken That you are fooled, discarded, and shook off By him for whom these shames ye underwent? No; yet time serves wherein you may redeem Your banished honours, and restore yourselves Into the good thoughts of the world again, Revenge the jeering and disdained contempt Of this proud King, who studies day and night To answer all the debt he owes to you Even with the bloody payment of your deaths. Therefore, I say—
WORCESTER	Peace, cousin, say no more. And now I will unclasp a secret book, And to your quick-conceiving discontents I’ll read you matter deep and dangerous, As full of peril and adventurous spirit As to o’erwalk a current roaring loud On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.
HOTSPUR	If he fall in, good night, or sink or swim. Send danger from the east unto the west, So honour cross it from the north to south; And let them grapple. O, the blood more stirs To rouse a lion than to start a hare!
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to Worcester) Imagination of some great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.
(didascalia)	HOTSPUR
NORTHUMBERLAND	By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon, Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, And pluck up drowned honour by the locks, So he that doth redeem her thence might wear, Without corrival, all her dignities. But out upon this half-faced fellowship!
WORCESTER	(to Northumberland) He apprehends a world of figures here, But not the form of what he should attend. (To Hotspur) Good cousin, give me audience for a while, And list to me.
HOTSPUR	I cry you mercy.
WORCESTER	Those same noble Scots That are your prisoners—
HOTSPUR	I’ll keep them all. By God, he shall not have a Scot of them; No, if a scot would save his soul he shall not. I’ll keep them, by this hand.
WORCESTER	You start away, And lend no ear unto my purposes. Those prisoners you shall keep.
HOTSPUR	Nay, I will; that’s flat. He said he would not ransom Mortimer, Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer; But I will find him when he lies asleep, And in his ear I’ll hollo ‘Mortimerl’ Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak Nothing but ‘Mortimer’, and give it him To keep his anger still in motion.
WORCESTER	Hear you, cousin, a word.
HOTSPUR	All studies here I solemnly defy, Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke. And that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales— But that I think his father loves him not And would be glad he met with some mischance— I would have him poisoned with a pot of ale.
WORCESTER	Farewell, kinsman. I’ll talk to you When you are better tempered to attend.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to Hotspur) Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool Art thou to break into this woman’s mood, Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own I
HOTSPUR	Why, look you, I am whipped and scourged with rods, Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear Of this vile politician Bolingbroke. In Richard’s time—what d‘ye call the place? A plague upon’t, it is in Gloucestershire. ‘Twas where the madcap Duke his uncle kept— His uncle York—where I first bowed my knee Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke. ’Sblood, when you and he came back from Ravenspurgh.
NORTHUMBERLAND	At Berkeley castle.
HOTSPUR	You say true. Why, what a candy deal of courtesy This fawning greyhound then did proffer me! ‘Look when his infant fortune came to age’, And ‘gentle Harry Percy’, and ‘kind cousin’. O, the devil take such cozeners!—God forgive me. Good uncle, tell your tale; I have done.
WORCESTER	Nay, if you have not, to’t again. We’ll stay your leisure.
HOTSPUR	I have done, i’faith.
WORCESTER	Then once more to your Scottish prisoners. Deliver them up without their ransom straight; And make the Douglas’ son your only mean For powers in Scotland, which, for divers reasons Which I shall send you written, be assured Will easily be granted. (To Northumberland) You, my lord, Your son in Scotland being thus employed, Shall secretly into the bosom creep Of that same noble prelate well-beloved, The Archbishop.
HOTSPUR	Of York, is’t not?
WORCESTER	True, who bears hard His brother’s death at Bristol, the Lord Scrope. I speak not this in estimation, As what I think might be, but what I know Is ruminated, plotted, and set down, And only stays but to behold the face Of that occasion that shall bring it on.
HOTSPUR	I smell it; upon my life, it will do well!
NORTHUMBERLAND	Before the game is afoot thou still lett’st slip.
HOTSPUR	Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot— And then the power of Scotland and of York To join with Mortimer, ha?
WORCESTER	And so they shall.
HOTSPUR	In faith, it is exceedingly well aimed.
WORCESTER	And ’tis no little reason bids us speed To save our heads by raising of a head; For, bear ourselves as even as we can, The King will always think him in our debt, And think we think ourselves unsatisfied Till he hath found a time to pay us home. And see already how he doth begin To make us strangers to his looks of love.
HOTSPUR	He does, he does. We’ll be revenged on him.
WORCESTER	Cousin, farewell. No further go in this Than I by letters shall direct your course. When time is ripe, which will be suddenly, I’ll steal to Glyndŵr and Lord Mortimer, Where you and Douglas and our powers at once, As I will fashion it, shall happily meet, To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms, Which now we hold at much uncertainty.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Farewell, good brother. We shall thrive, I trust.
HOTSPUR	(to Worcester) Uncle, adieu. O, let the hours be short Till fields and blows and groans applaud our sport!
(didascalia)	Exeunt Worcester at one door, Northumberland and Hotspur at another door

Atto 2, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter a Carrier, with a lantern in his hand
FIRST CARRIER	Heigh-ho! An’t be not four by the day, I’ll be hanged. Charles’s Wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not packed. What, ostler!
OSTLER	(within) Anon, anon!
FIRST CARRIER	I prithee, Tom, beat cut’s saddle, put a few flocks in the point. Poor jade is wrung in the withers, out of all cess.
(didascalia)	Enter another Carrier
SECOND CARRIER	Peas and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the bots. This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died.
FIRST CARRIER	Poor fellow never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him.
SECOND CARRIER	I think this be the most villainous house in all London road for fleas. I am stung like a tench.
FIRST CARRIER	Like a tench? By the mass, there is ne’er a king christen could be better bit than I have been since the first cock.
SECOND CARRIER	Why, they will allow us ne’er a jordan, and then we leak in your chimney, and your chamber-lye breeds fleas like a loach.
FIRST CARRIER	What, ostler! Come away, and be hanged, come away!
SECOND CARRIER	I have a gammon of bacon and two races of ginger to be delivered as far as Charing Cross.
FIRST CARRIER	God’s body, the turkeys in my pannier are quite starved! What, ostler! A plague on thee, hast thou never an eye in thy head? Canst not hear? An ’twere not as good deed as drink to break the pate on thee, I am a very villain. Come, and be hanged! Hast no faith in thee?
(didascalia)	Enter Gadshill
GADSHILL	Good morrow, carriers. What’s o’clock?
FIRST CARRIER	I think it be two o’clock.
GADSHILL	I prithee lend me thy lantern to see my gelding in the stable.
FIRST CARRIER	Nay, by God, soft. I know a trick worth two of that, i’faith.
GADSHILL	(to Second Carrier) I pray thee, lend me thine.
SECOND CARRIER	Ay, when? Canst tell? ‘Lend me thy lantern,’ quoth a. Marry, I’ll see thee hanged first.
GADSHILL	Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?
SECOND CARRIER	Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.—Come, neighbour Mugs, we’ll call up the gentlemen. They will along with company, for they have great charge. Exeunt Carriers
GADSHILL	What ho, chamberlain!
(didascalia)	Enter Chamberlain
CHAMBERLAIN	’At hand’ quoth Pickpurse.
GADSHILL	That’s even as fair as ‘ “At hand” quoth the chamberlain’, for thou variest no more from picking of purses than giving direction doth from labouring: thou layest the plot how.
CHAMBERLAIN	Good morrow, Master Gadshill. It holds current that I told you yesternight. There’s a franklin in the Weald of Kent hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold. I heard him tell it to one of his company last night at supper—a kind of auditor, one that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what. They are up already, and call for eggs and butter; they will away presently.
GADSHILL	Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas’s clerks, I’ll give thee this neck.
CHAMBERLAIN	No, I’ll none of it; I pray thee keep that for the hangman, for I know thou worshippest Saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may.
GADSHILL	What talkest thou to me of the hangman? If I hang, I’ll make a fat pair of gallows, for if I hang, old Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he’s no starveling. Tut, there are other Trojans that thou dreamest not of, the which for sport’ sake are content to do the profession some grace, that would, if matters should be looked into, for their own credit’ sake make all whole. I am joined with no foot-landrakers, no long-staff sixpenny strikers, none of these mad mustachio purple-hued maltworms, but with nobility and tranquillity, burgomasters and great ‘oyez’-ers; such as can hold in, such as will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than drink, and drink sooner than pray. And yet, zounds, I lie, for they pray continually to their saint the commonwealth; or rather, not pray to her, but prey on her; for they ride up and down on her and make her their boots.
CHAMBERLAIN	What, the commonwealth their boots? Will she hold out water in foul way?
GADSHILL	She will, she will, justice hath liquored her. We steal as in a castle, cocksure; we have the recipe of fern-seed, we walk invisible.
CHAMBERLAIN	Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholden to the night than to fern-seed for your walking invisible.
GADSHILL	Give me thy hand; thou shalt have a share in our purchase, as I am a true man.
CHAMBERLAIN	Nay, rather let me have it as you are a false thief.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Go to, ‘homo’ is a common name to all men. Bid the ostler bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewell, you muddy knave. Exeunt severally

Atto 2, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry, Poins, Harvey, and Russell
POINS	Come, shelter, shelter!
(didascalia)	Exeunt Harvey and Russell at another door
POINS	I have removed Oldcastle’s horse, and he frets like a gummed velvet.
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY Stand close! Exit Poins
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Poins ! Poins, and be hanged! Poins !
PRINCE HARRY	Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal ! What a brawling dost thou keep !
SIR JOHN	Where’s Poins, Hal?
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY He is walked up to the top of the hill. I’ll go seek him. Exit
SIR JOHN	I am accursed to rob in that thief’s company. The rascal hath removed my horse and tied him I know not where. If I travel but four foot by the square further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt not but to die a fair death, for all this—if I scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have forsworn his company hourly any time this two-and-twenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the rogue’s company. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, I’ll be hanged. It could not be else: I have drunk medicines. Poins ! Hal ! A plague upon you both ! Russell ! Harvey ! I’ll starve ere I’ll rob a foot further. An ’twere not as good a deed as drink to turn true man and to leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me, and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough. A plague upon’t when thieves cannot be true one to another !
(didascalia)	They whistle. Enter Prince Harry, Poins, Harvey, and Russell
SIR JOHN	Whew !A plague upon you all !Give me my horse, you rogues, give me my horse, and be hanged!
PRINCE HARRY	Peace, ye fat-guts. Lie down, lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers.
SIR JOHN	Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down ? ’Sblood, I’ll not bear my own flesh so far afoot again for all the coin in thy father’s exchequer. What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?
PRINCE HARRY	Thou liest : thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.
SIR JOHN	I prithee, good Prince Hal, help me to my horse, good king’s son.
PRINCE HARRY	Out, ye rogue, shall I be your ostler?
SIR JOHN	Hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent garters ! If I be ta’en, I’ll peach for this. An I have not ballads made on you all and sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison. When a jest is so forward, and afoot too ! I hate it.
(didascalia)	Enter Gadshill visored
GADSHILL	Stand!
SIR JOHN	So I do, against my will.
POINS	O, ’tis our setter, I know his voice. Gadshill, what news?
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Case ye, case ye, on with your visors ! There’s money of the King’s coming down the hill; ’tis going to the King’s exchequer.
SIR JOHN	You lie, ye rogue, ’tis going to the King’s tavern.
GADSHILL	There’s enough to make us all.
SIR JOHN	To be hanged.
(didascalia)	They put on visors
PRINCE HARRY	Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane. Ned Poins and I will walk lower. If they scape from your encounter, then they light on us.
HARVEY	How many be there of them?
GADSHILL	Some eight or ten.
SIR JOHN	Zounds, will they not rob us?
PRINCE HARRY	What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?
SIR JOHN	Indeed I am not John of Gaunt your grandfather, but yet no coward, Hal.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, we leave that to the proof.
POINS	Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge. When thou needest him, there thou shalt find him. Farewell, and stand fast.
SIR JOHN	Now cannot I strike him if I should be hanged.
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) Ned, where are our disguises?
POINS	(aside to the Prince) Here, hard by. Stand close.
(didascalia)	Exeunt the Prince and Poins
SIR JOHN	Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I; every man to his business.
(didascalia)	They stand aside.]
(didascalia)	Enter the Travellers, amongst them the Carriers l
FIRSTI TRAVELLER	Come, neighbour, the boy shall lead our horses down the hill. We’ll walk afoot a while, and ease their legs.
(didascalia)	THIEVES coming forward Stand !
(didascalia)	SECOND TRAVELLER Jesus bless us !
SIR JOHN	Strike, down with them, cut the villains’ throats ! Ah, whoreson caterpillars, bacon-fed knaves ! They hate us youth. Down with them, fleece them !
(didascalia)	FIRST TRAVELLER O, we are undone, both we and ours for ever!
SIR JOHN	Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone ? No, ye fat chuffs; I would your store were here. On, bacons, on ! What, ye knaves! Young men must live. You are grand-jurors, are ye? We’ll jure ye, faith. Here they rob them and bind them. Exeunt the thieves with the travellers

Atto 2, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and Poins, disguised in buckram suits
PRINCE HARRY	The thieves have bound the true men; now could thou and I rob the thieves, and go merrily to London. It would be argument for a week, laughter for a month, and a good jest for ever.
POINS	Stand close; I hear them coming. They stand aside.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle, Russell, Harvey, and Gadshill, with the travellers’ money
SIR JOHN	Come, my masters, let us share, and then to horse before day. An the Prince and Poins be not two arrant cowards, there’s no equity stirring. There’s no more valour in that Poins than in a wild duck. As they are sharing, the Prince and Poins set upon them
PRINCE HARRY	Your money!
POINS	Villains!
(didascalia)	Gadshill, Russell, and Harvey run away severally, and Oldcastle, after a blow or two, roars and runs away too, leaving the booty behind them
PRINCE HARRY	Got with much ease. Now merrily to horse. The thieves are all scattered, and possessed with fear So strongly that they dare not meet each other. Each takes his fellow for an officer. Away, good Ned. Oldcastle sweats to death, And lards the lean earth as he walks along. Were’t not for laughing, I should pity him.
POINS	How the fat rogue roared! Exeunt with the booty

Atto 2, Scena 4

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur, reading a letter
HOTSPUR	‘But for mine own part, my lord, I could be well contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear your house.’—He could be contented; why is he not then? In respect of the love he bears our house ! He shows in this he loves his own barn better than he loves our house. Let me see some more.—‘The purpose you undertake is dangerous’—Why, that’s certain: ‘tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle danger we pluck this flower safety.—‘The purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you have named uncertain, the time itself unsorted, and your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.’—Say you so, say you so? I say unto you again, you are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was laid, our friends true and constant; a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation; an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is this! Why, my lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action. Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I could brain him with his lady’s fan! Is there not my father, my uncle, and myself? Lord Edmund Mortimer, my lord of York, and Owain Glyndwr? Is there not besides the Douglas? Have I not all their letters, to meet me in arms by the ninth of the next month? And are they not some of them set forward already? What a pagan rascal is this, an infidel ! Ha, you shall see now, in very sincerity of fear and cold heart will he to the King, and lay open all our proceedings! O, I could divide myself and go to buffets for moving such a dish of skim-milk with so honourable an action Hang him ! Let him tell the King we are prepared; I will set forward tonight.
(didascalia)	Enter Lady Percy
HOTSPUR	How now, Kate? I must leave you within these two hours.
LADY PERCY	Omy good lord, why are you thus alone ? For what offence have I this fortnight been A banished woman from my Harry’s bed? Tell me, sweet lord, what is’t that takes from thee Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth, And start so often when thou sitt‘st alone? Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks, And given my treasures and my rights of thee To thick-eyed musing and curst melancholy? In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watched, And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars, Speak terms of manège to thy bounding steed, Cry ‘Courage! To the field!’ And thou hast talked Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents, Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets, Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin, Of prisoners ransomed, and of soldiers slain, And all the currents of a heady fight. Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war, And thus hath so bestirred thee in thy sleep, That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream; And in thy face strange motions have appeared, Such as we see when men restrain their breath On some great sudden hest. O,what portents are these? Some heavy business hath my lord in hand, And I must know it, else he loves me not.
HOTSPUR	What ho!
(didascalia)	Enter Servant
HOTSPUR	Is Gilliams with the packet gone?
SERVANT	He is, my lord, an hour ago.
HOTSPUR	Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?
SERVANT	One horse, my lord, he brought even now.
HOTSPUR	What horse? A roan, a crop-ear, is it not?
SERVANT	It is, my lord.
HOTSPUR	That roan shall be my throne. Well, I will back him straight.—O,Esperance!— Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.
LADY PERCY	But hear you, my lord.
HOTSPUR	What sayst thou, my lady?
LADY PERCY	What is it carries you away?
HOTSPUR	Why, my horse, My love, my horse.
LADY PERCY	Out, you mad-headed ape! A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen As you are tossed with. In faith, I’ll know your business, Harry, that I will. I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir About his title, and hath sent for you To line his enterprise; but if you go—
HOTSPUR	So far afoot? I shall be weary, love.
LADY PERCY	Come, come, you paraquito, answer me Directly to this question that I ask. In faith, I’ll break thy little finger, Harry, An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
HOTSPUR	Away, away, you trifler! Love ? I love thee not, I care not for thee, Kate. This is no world To play with maumets and to tilt with lips. We must have bloody noses and cracked crowns, And pass them current, too. God’s me, my horse!— What sayst thou, Kate? What wouldst thou have with me?
LADY PERCY	Do you not love me? Do you not indeed? Well, do not, then, for since you love me not I will not love myself. Do you not love me? Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.
HOTSPUR	Come, wilt thou see me ride ? And when I am a-horseback, I will swear I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate. I must not have you henceforth question me Whither I go, nor reason whereabout. Whither I must, I must; and, to conclude, This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate. I know you wise, but yet no farther wise Than Harry Percy’s wife; constant you are, But yet a woman; and for secrecy No lady closer, for I well believe Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know. And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.
LADY PERCY	How, so far?
HOTSPUR	Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate, Whither I go, thither shall you go too. Today will I set forth, tomorrow you. Will this content you, Kate?
LADY PERCY	It must, of force. Exeunt

Atto 2, Scena 5

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry
PRINCE HARRY	Ned, prithee come out of that fat room, and lend me thy hand to laugh a little.
(didascalia)	Enter Poins at another door
POINS	Where hast been, Hal?
PRINCE HARRY	With three or four loggerheads, amongst three or fourscore hogsheads. I have sounded the very bass-string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother to a leash of drawers, and can call them all by their christen names, as ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’, and ‘Francis’. They take it already, upon their salvation, that though I be but Prince of Wales yet I am the king of courtesy, and tell me flatly I am no proud jack like Oldcastle, but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy—by the Lord, so they call me; and when I am King of England I shall command all the good lads in Eastcheap. They call drinking deep ‘dyeing scarlet’, and when you breathe in your watering they cry ‘Hem!’ and bid you ‘Play it off!’ To conclude, I am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour that I can drink with any tinker in his own language during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost much honour that thou wert not with me in this action. But, sweet Ned—to sweeten which name of Ned I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped even now into my hand by an underskinker, one that never spake other English in his life than ‘Eight shillings and sixpence’, and ‘You are welcome’, with this shrill addition, ‘Anon, anon, sir ! Score a pint of bastard in the Half-moon!’ or so. But, Ned, to drive away the time till Oldcastle come, I prithee do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my puny drawer to what end he gave me the sugar, and do thou never leave calling ‘Francis!’, that his tale to me may be nothing but ‘Anon!’ Step aside, and I’ll show thee a precedent.
(didascalia)	Exit Poins
POINS	(within) Francis!
PRINCE HARRY	Thou art perfect.
POINS	(within) Francis!
(didascalia)	Enter Francis, a drawer
FRANCIS	Anon, anon, sir!—Look down into the Pomegranate, Ralph !
PRINCE HARRY	Come hither, Francis.
FRANCIS	My lord.
PRINCE HARRY	How long hast thou to serve, Francis?
FRANCIS	Forsooth, five years, and as much as to—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, anon, sir!
PRINCE HARRY	Five year! By’r Lady, a long lease for the clinking of pewter. But Francis, darest thou be so valiant as to play the coward with thy indenture, and show it a fair pair of heels, and run from it?
FRANCIS	O Lord, sir, I’ll be sworn upon all the books in England, I could find in my heart—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, sir!
PRINCE HARRY	How old art thou, Francis ?
FRANCIS	Let me see, about Michaelmas next I shall be—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, sir! (To the Prince) Pray, stay a little, my lord.
PRINCE HARRY	Nay, but hark you, Francis. For the sugar thou gavest me, ’twas a pennyworth, was’t not?
FRANCIS	O Lord, I would it had been two I
PRINCE HARRY	I will give thee for it a thousand pound. Ask me when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, anon!
PRINCE HARRY	Anon, Francis? No, Francis, but tomorrow, Francis; or, Francis, o’ Thursday; or, indeed, Francis, when thou wilt. But Francis.
FRANCIS	My lord.
PRINCE HARRY	Wilt thou rob this leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish-pouch?
FRANCIS	O Lord, sir, who do you mean ?
PRINCE HARRY	Why, then, your brown bastard is your only drink ! For look you, Francis, your white canvas doublet will sully. In Barbary, sir, it cannot come to so much.
FRANCIS	What, sir?
POINS	(within) Francis !
PRINCE HARRY	Away, you rogue ! Dost thou not hear them call ?
(didascalia)	As he departs Poins and the Prince both call him.
PRINCE HARRY	The Drawer stands amazed, not knowing which way to go.
(didascalia)	Enter Vintner
VINTNER	What, standest thou still, and hearest such a calling? Look to the guests within. Exit Francis My lord, old Sir John with half a dozen more are at the door. Shall I let them in?
PRINCE HARRY	Let them alone a while, and then open the door. Exit Vintner Poins !
(didascalia)	POINS within Anon, anon, sir!
(didascalia)	Enter Poins
PRINCE HARRY	Sirrah, Oldcastle and the rest of the thieves are at the door. Shall we be merry?
POINS	As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark ye, what cunning match have you made with this jest of the drawer? Come, what’s the issue?
PRINCE HARRY	I am now of all humours that have showed themselves humours since the old days of goodman Adam to the pupil age of this present twelve o’clock at midnight.
(didascalia)	Enter Francis
PRINCE HARRY	What’s o’clock, Francis?
(didascalia)	FRANCIS Anon, anon, sir ! Exit at another door
PRINCE HARRY	That ever this fellow should have fewer words than a parrot, and yet the son of a woman ! His industry is upstairs and downstairs, his eloquence the parcel of a reckoning. I am not yet of Percy’s mind, the Hotspur of the North—he that kills me some six or seven dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife, ‘Fie upon this quiet life ! I want work.’ ‘O my sweet Harry,’ says she, ‘how many hast thou killed today?’ Give my roan horse a drench,’says he, and answers, ‘Some fourteen,’ an hour after; ‘a trifle, a trifle.’ I prithee call in Oldcastle. I’ll play Percy, and that damned brawn shall play Dame Mortimer his wife. ‘Rivo!’ says the drunkard. Call in Ribs, call in Tallow.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle, with sword and buckler, Russell, Harvey, and Gadshill, followed by Francis, with wine
POINS	Welcome, Jack. Where hast thou been?
SIR JOHN	A plague of all cowards, I say, and a vengeance too, marry and amen!—Give me a cup of sack, boy.—Ere I lead this life long, I’ll sew netherstocks, and mend them and foot them too. A plague of all cowards!—Give me a cup of sack, rogue. Is there no virtue extant? He drinketh
PRINCE HARRY	Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of butter—pitiful hearted Titan—that melted at the sweet tale of the sun’s? If thou didst, then behold that compound.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN (to Francis) You rogue, here’s lime in this sack too. There is nothing but roguery to be found in villainous man, yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime in it. Exit Francis A villainous coward ! Go thy ways, old Jack, die when thou wilt. If manhood, good manhood, be not forgot upon the face of the earth, then am I a shotten herring. There lives not three good men unhanged in England, and one of them is fat and grows old, God help the while. A bad world, I say. I would I were a weaver—I could sing psalms, or anything. A plague of all cowards, I say still.
PRINCE HARRY	How now, woolsack, what mutter you?
SIR JOHN	A king’s son ! If I do not beat thee out of thy kingdom with a dagger of lath, and drive all thy subjects afore thee like a flock of wild geese, I’ll never wear hair on my face more. You, Prince of Wales!
PRINCE HARRY	Why, you whoreson round man, what’s the matter?
SIR JOHN	Are not you a coward? Answer me to that. And Poins there?
POINS	Zounds, ye fat paunch, an ye call me coward, by the Lord I’ll stab thee.
SIR JOHN	I call thee coward? I’ll see thee damned ere I call thee coward, but I would give a thousand pound I could run as fast as thou canst. You are straight enough in the shoulders; you care not who sees your back. Call you that backing of your friends ? A plague upon such backing! Give me them that will face me. Give me a cup of sack. I am a rogue if I drunk today.
PRINCE HARRY	O villain, thy lips are scarce wiped since thou drunkest last.
SIR JOHN	All is one for that. He drinketh A plague of all cowards, still say I.
PRINCE HARRY	What’s the matter?
SIR JOHN	What’s the matter? There be four of us here have ta’en a thousand pound this day morning.
PRINCE HARRY	Where is it, Jack, where is it?
SIR JOHN	Where is it? Taken from us it is. A hundred upon poor four of us.
PRINCE HARRY	What, a hundred, man?
SIR JOHN	I am a rogue if I were not at half-sword with a dozen of them, two hours together. I have scaped by miracle. I am eight times thrust through the doublet, four through the hose, my buckler cut through and through, my sword hacked like a handsaw. Ecce signum.
(didascalia)	He shows his sword
SIR JOHN	I never dealt better since I was a man. All would not do. A plague of all cowards! (Pointing to Gadshill, Harvey, and Russell) Let them speak. If they speak more or less than truth, they are villains and the sons of darkness.
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY Speak, sirs, how was it?
(didascalia)	GADSHILL We four set upon some dozen—
SIR JOHN	(to the Prince) Sixteen at least, my lord.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL And bound them.
HARVEY	No, no, they were not bound.
SIR JOHN	You rogue, they were bound every man of them, or I am a Jew else, an Hebrew Jew.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon us.
SIR JOHN	And unbound the rest; and then come in the other.
PRINCE HARRY	What, fought you with them all?
SIR JOHN	All? I know not what you call all, but if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish. If there were not two- or three-and-fifty upon poor old Jack, then am I no two-legged creature.
PRINCE HARRY	Pray God you have not murdered some of them.
SIR JOHN	Nay, that’s past praying for. I have peppered two of them. Two I am sure I have paid—two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse. Thou knowest my old ward—
(didascalia)	He stands as to fight
SIR JOHN	here I lay, and thus I bore my point. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me.
PRINCE HARRY	What, four? Thou saidst but two even now.
SIR JOHN	Four, Hal, I told thee four.
POINS	Ay, ay, he said four.
SIR JOHN	These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me. I made me no more ado, but took all their seven points in my target, thus.
(didascalia)	He wards himself with his buckler
PRINCE HARRY	Seven? Why, there were but four even now.
SIR JOHN	In buckram?
POINS	Ay, four in buckram suits.
SIR JOHN	Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else.
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) Prithee, let him alone. We shall have more anon.
SIR JOHN	Dost thou hear me, Hal?
PRINCE HARRY	Ay, and mark thee too, Jack.
SIR JOHN	Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These nine in buckram that I told thee of—
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) So, two more already.
SIR JOHN	Their points being broken—
(didascalia)	POINS aside to the Prince Down fell their hose.
SIR JOHN	Began to give me ground. But I followed me close, came in foot and hand, and, with a thought, seven of the eleven I paid.
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) O monstrous! Eleven buckram men grown out of two!
SIR JOHN	But, as the devil would have it, three misbegotten knaves in Kendal green came at my back and let drive at me; for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst not see thy hand.
PRINCE HARRY	These lies are like their father that begets them—gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou whoreson obscene greasy tallow-catch-
SIR JOHN	What, art thou mad? Art thou mad? Is not the truth the truth?
PRINCE HARRY	Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal green when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy hand? Come, tell us your reason. What sayst thou to this?
POINS	Come, your reason, Jack, your reason.
SIR JOHN	What, upon compulsion? Zounds, an I were at the strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on compulsion? If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.
PRINCE HARRY	I’ll be no longer guilty of this sin. This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back-breaker, this huge hill of flesh—
SIR JOHN	’Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stock-fish—O, for breath to utter what is like thee!—you tailor’s yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck—
PRINCE HARRY	Well, breathe awhile, and then to’t again, and when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons, hear me speak but this.
POINS	Mark, Jack.
PRINCE HARRY	We two saw you four set on four, and bound them, and were masters of their wealth.—Mark now how a plain tale shall put you down.—Then did we two set on you four, and, with a word, outfaced you from your prize, and have it; yea, and can show it you here in the house. And Oldcastle, you carried your guts away as nimbly, with as quick dexterity, and roared for mercy, and still run and roared, as ever I heard bull-calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight! What trick, what device, what starting-hole canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?
POINS	Come, let’s hear, Jack; what trick hast thou now?
SIR JOHN	By the Lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye. Why, hear you, my masters. Was it for me to kill the heir-apparent? Should I turn upon the true prince? Why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules; but beware instinct. The lion will not touch the true prince—instinct is a great matter. I was now a coward on instinct. I shall think the better of myself and thee during my life—I for a valiant lion, and thou for a true prince. But by the Lord, lads, I am glad you have the money.—(Calling) Hostess, clap to the doors.—Watch tonight, pray tomorrow. Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of good fellowship come to you! What, shall we be merry, shall we have a play extempore?
PRINCE HARRY	Content, and the argument shall be thy running away.
SIR JOHN	Ah, no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me.
(didascalia)	Enter Hostess
HOSTESS	O Jesu, my lord the Prince!
PRINCE HARRY	How now, my lady the Hostess, what sayst thou to me?
HOSTESS	Marry, my lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you. He says he comes from your father.
PRINCE HARRY	Give him as much as will make him a royal man, and send him back again to my mother.
SIR JOHN	What manner of man is he?
HOSTESS	An old man.
SIR JOHN	What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight? Shall I give him his answer?
PRINCE HARRY	Prithee do, Jack.
SIR JOHN	Faith, and I’ll send him packing. Exit
PRINCE HARRY	Now, sirs; (to Gadshill) by’r Lady, you fought fair—so did you, Harvey, so did you, Russell. You are lions too—you ran away upon instinct, you will not touch the true prince; no, fie!
RUSSELL	Faith, I ran when I saw others run.
PRINCE HARRY	Faith, tell me now in earnest, how came Oldcastle’s sword so hacked?
HARVEY	Why, he hacked it with his dagger, and said he would swear truth out of England but he would make you believe it was done in fight, and persuaded us to do the like.
RUSSELL	Yea, and to tickle our noses with speargrass, to make them bleed; and then to beslubber our garments with it, and swear it was the blood of true men. I did that I did not this seven year before—I blushed to hear his monstrous devices.
PRINCE HARRY	O villain, thou stolest a cup of sack eighteen years ago, and wert taken with the manner, and ever since thou hast blushed extempore. Thou hadst fire and sword on thy side, and yet thou rannest away. What instinct hadst thou for it?
RUSSELL	(indicating his face) My lord, do you see these meteors? Do you behold these exhalations?
PRINCE HARRY	I do.
RUSSELL	What think you they portend?
PRINCE HARRY	Hot livers, and cold purses.
(didascalia)	RUSSELL Choler, my lord, if rightly taken. Exit
PRINCE HARRY	No, if rightly taken, halter.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
PRINCE HARRY	Here comes lean Jack; here comes bare-bone. How now, my sweet creature of bombast? How long is’t ago, Jack, since thou sawest thine own knee?
SIR JOHN	My own knee? When I was about thy years, Hal, I was not an eagle’s talon in the waist; I could have crept into any alderman’s thumb-ring. A plague of sighing and grief—it blows a man up like a bladder. There’s villainous news abroad. Here was Sir John Bracy from your father; you must to the court in the morning. That same mad fellow of the North, Percy, and he of Wales that gave Amamon the bastinado, and made Lucifer cuckold, and swore the devil his true liegeman upon the cross of a Welsh hook—what a plague call you him?
POINS	Owain Glyndwr.
SIR JOHN	Owain, Owain, the same; and his son-in-law Mortimer, and old Northumberland, and that sprightly Scot of Scots Douglas, that runs a-horseback up a hill perpendicular—
PRINCE HARRY	He that rides at high speed and with his pistol kills a sparrow flying.
SIR JOHN	You have hit it.
PRINCE HARRY	So did he never the sparrow.
SIR JOHN	Well, that rascal hath good mettle in him; he will not run.
PRINCE HARRY	Why, what a rascal art thou, then, to praise him so for running!
SIR JOHN	A-horseback, ye cuckoo, but afoot he will not budge a foot.
PRINCE HARRY	Yes, Jack, upon instinct.
SIR JOHN	I grant ye, upon instinct. Well, he is there too, and one Mordake, and a thousand blue-caps more. Worcester is stolen away tonight. Thy father’s beard is turned white with the news. You may buy land now as cheap as stinking mackerel.
PRINCE HARRY	Why then, it is like, if there come a hot June and this civil buffeting hold, we shall buy maidenheads as they buy hobnails: by the hundreds.
SIR JOHN	By the mass, lad, thou sayst true; it is like we shall have good trading that way. But tell me, Hal, art not thou horrible afeard? Thou being heir-apparent, could the world pick thee out three such enemies again as that fiend Douglas, that spirit Percy, and that devil Glyndŵr? Art thou not horribly afraid? Doth not thy blood thrill at it?
PRINCE HARRY	Not a whit, i’faith. I lack some of thy instinct. 375
SIR JOHN	Well, thou wilt be horribly chid tomorrow when thou comest to thy father. If thou love me, practise an answer.
PRINCE HARRY	Do thou stand for my father, and examine me upon the particulars of my life.
SIR JOHN	Shall I? Content. This chair shall be my state, this dagger my sceptre, and this cushion my crown. He sits
PRINCE HARRY	Thy state is taken for a joint-stool, thy golden sceptre for a leaden dagger, and thy precious rich crown for a pitiful bald crown.
SIR JOHN	Well, an the fire of grace be not quite out of thee, now shalt thou be moved. Give me a cup of sack to make my eyes look red, that it may be thought I have wept; for I must speak in passion, and I will do it in King Cambyses’ vein.
PRINCE HARRY	(bowing) Well, here is my leg.
SIR JOHN	And here is my speech. (To Harvey, Poins, and Gadshill) Stand aside, nobility.
HOSTESS	O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i’faith.
SIR JOHN	Weep not, sweet Queen, for trickling tears are vain.
HOSTESS	O the Father, how he holds his countenance!
SIR JOHN	For God’s sake, lords, convey my tristful Queen, For tears do stop the floodgates of her eyes.
HOSTESS	O Jesu, he doth it as like one of these harlotry players as ever I see!
SIR JOHN	Peace, good pint-pot; peace, good tickle-brain.— Harry, I do not only marvel where thou spendest thy time, but also how thou art accompanied. For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it wears. That thou art my son I have partly thy mother’s word, partly my own opinion, but chiefly a villainous trick of thine eye, and a foolish hanging of thy nether lip, that doth warrant me. If then thou be son to me, here lies the point. Why, being son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher, and eat btackberries?—A question not to be asked. Shall the son of England prove a thief, and take purses?—A question to be asked. There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast often heard of, and it is known to many in our land by the name of pitch. This pitch, as ancient writers do report, doth defile. So doth the company thou keepest. For Harry, now I do not speak to thee in drink, but in tears; not in pleasure, but in passion; not in words only, but in woes also. And yet there is a virtuous man whom I have often noted in thy company, but I know not his name.
PRINCE HARRY	What manner of man, an it like your majesty?
SIR JOHN	A goodly, portly man, i‘faith, and a corpulent; of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye, and a most noble carriage; and, as I think, his age some fifty, or, by’r Lady, inclining to threescore. And now I remember me, his name is Oldcastle. If that man should be lewdly given, he deceiveth me; for, Harry, I see virtue in his looks. If, then, the tree may be known by the fruit, as the fruit by the tree, then peremptorily I speak it—there is virtue in that Oldcastle. Him keep with; the rest banish. And tell me now, thou naughty varlet, tell me, where hast thou been this month?
PRINCE HARRY	Dost thou speak like a king? Do thou stand for me, and I’ll play my father.
SIR JOHN	(standing) Depose me. If thou dost it half so gravely, so majestically both in word and matter, hang me up by the heels for a rabbit sucker, or a poulter’s hare.
PRINCE HARRY	(sitting) Well, here I am set.
SIR JOHN	And here I stand. (To the others) Judge, my masters.
PRINCE HARRY	Now, Harry, whence come you?
SIR JOHN	My noble lord, from Eastcheap.
PRINCE HARRY	The complaints I hear of thee are grievous.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN ’Sblood, my lord, they are false. To
(didascalia)	the others
PRINCE HARRY	Nay, I’ll tickle ye for a young prince, i’faith.
PRINCE HARRY	Swearest thou, ungracious boy? Henceforth ne’er look on me. Thou art violently carried away from grace. There is a devil haunts thee in the likeness of an old fat man; a tun of man is thy companion. Why dost thou converse with that trunk of humours, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly, that reverend Vice, that grey Iniquity, that father Ruffian, that Vanity in Years? Wherein is he good, but to taste sack and drink it? Wherein neat and cleanly, but to carve a capon and eat it? Wherein cunning, but in craft? Wherein crafty, but in villainy? Wherein villainous, but in all things? Wherein worthy, but in nothing?
SIR JOHN	I would your grace would take me with you. Whom means your grace?
PRINCE HARRY	That villainous, abominable misleader of youth, Oldcastle; that old white-bearded Satan.
SIR JOHN	My lord, the man I know.
PRINCE HARRY	I know thou dost.
SIR JOHN	But to say I know more harm in him than in myself were to say more than I know. That he is old, the more the pity, his white hairs do witness it. But that he is, saving your reverence, a whoremaster, that I utterly deny. If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked. If to be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damned. If to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh’s lean kine are to be loved. No, my good lord, banish Harvey, banish Russell, banish Poins, but for sweet Jack Oldcastle, kind Jack Oldcastle, true Jack Oldcastle, valiant Jack Oldcastle, and therefore more valiant being, as he is, old Jack Oldcastle, Banish not him thy Harry’s company, Banish not him thy Harry’s company. Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.
PRINCE HARRY	I do; I will.
(didascalia)	Knocking within. Exit Hostess.
(didascalia)	Enter Russell, running
RUSSELL	O my lord, my lord, the sheriff with a most monstrous watch is at the door!
SIR JOHN	Out, ye rogue! Play out the play! I have much to say in the behalf of that Oldeastle.
(didascalia)	Enter the Hostess
HOSTESS	O Jesu! My lord, my lord!
PRINCE HARRY	Heigh, heigh, the devil rides upon a fiddlestick! What’s the matter?
HOSTESS	The sheriff and all the watch are at the door. They are come to search the house. Shall I let them in?
SIR JOHN	Dost thou hear, Hal? Never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit—thou art essentially made, without seeming so.
PRINCE HARRY	And thou a natural coward without instinct.
SIR JOHN	I deny your major. If you will deny the sheriff, so. If not, let him enter. If I become not a cart as well as another man, a plague on my bringing up. I hope I shall as soon be strangled with a halter as another.
PRINCE HARRY	Go, hide thee behind the arras. The rest walk up above. Now, my masters, for a true face and good conscience. Exeunt Poins, Russell, and Gadshill
SIR JOHN	Both which I have had, but their date is out; and therefore I’ll hide me. He withdraws behind the arras
PRINCE HARRY	(to Hostess) Call in the sheriff. Exit Hostess
(didascalia)	Enter Sheriff and a Carrier
PRINCE HARRY	Now, master sheriff, what is your will with me?
SHERIFF	First, pardon me, my lord. A hue and cry Hath followed certain men unto this house.
PRINCE HARRY	What men?
SHERIFF	One of them is well known, my gracious lord, A gross, fat man.
CARRIER	As fat as butter.
PRINCE HARRY	The man, I do assure you, is not here, For I myself at this time have employed him. And, sheriff, I will engage my word to thee That I will by tomorrow dinner-time Send him to answer thee, or any man, For anything he shall be charged withal. And so let me entreat you leave the house.
SHERIFF	I will, my lord. There are two gentlemen Have in this robbery lost three hundred marks.
PRINCE HARRY	It may be so. If he have robbed these men, He shall be answerable. And so, farewell.
SHERIFF	Good night, my noble lord.
PRINCE HARRY	I think it is good morrow, is it not?
SHERIFF	Indeed, my lord, I think it be two o’clock.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Sheriff and Carrier
PRINCE HARRY	This oily rascal is known as well as Paul’s. Go call him forth.
HARVEY	Oldcastle!
(didascalia)	He
(didascalia)	draws back the arras, revealing Sir John asleep
HARVEY	Fast asleep Behind the arras, and snorting like a horse.
PRINCE HARRY	Hark how hard he fetches breath. Search his pockets.
(didascalia)	Harvey searcheth his pocket and findeth certain papers. He closeth the arras and cometh forward
PRINCE HARRY	What hast thou found?
HARVEY	Nothing but papers, my lord.
PRINCE HARRY	Let’s see what they be. Read them.
(didascalia)	HARVEY (reads)
PRINCE HARRY	Item: a capon. 2s. 2d. Item: sauce. 4d. Item: sack, two gallons. 5s. 8d. Item: anchovies and sack after supper. 2s. 6d. Item: bread. ob.
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY O monstrous! But one halfpennyworth of bread to this intolerable deal of sack! What there is else, keep close; we’ll read it at more advantage. There let him sleep till day. I’ll to the court in the morning. We must all to the wars, and thy place shall be honourable. I’ll procure this fat rogue a charge of foot, and I know his death will be a march of twelve score. The money shall be paid back again, with advantage. Be with me betimes in the morning; and so good morrow, Harvey.
(didascalia)	HARVEY Good morrow, good my lord. Exeunt severally

Atto 3, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur, the Earl of Worcester, Lord Mortimer, and Owain Glyndŵr, with a map
MORTIMER	These promises are fair, the parties sure, And our induction full of prosperous hope.
HOTSPUR	Lord Mortimer and cousin Glyndŵr, Will you sit down? And uncle Worcester?
(didascalia)	Mortimer, Glyndŵr, and Worcester sit
HOTSPUR	A plague upon it, I have forgot the map! GLYNDŴR No, here it is. Sit, cousin Percy, sit, Good cousin Hotspur;
(didascalia)	Hotspur sits
HOTSPUR	For by that name As oft as Lancaster doth speak of you, His cheek looks pale, and with a rising sigh He wisheth you in heaven.
HOTSPUR	And you in hell, As oft as he hears Owain Glyndŵr spoke of. GLYNDŴR I cannot blame him. At my nativity The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, Of burning cressets; and at my birth The frame and huge foundation of the earth Shaked like a coward.
HOTSPUR	Why, so it would have done At the same season if your mother’s cat Had but kittened, though yourself had never been born. GLYNDŴR I say the earth did shake when I was born.
HOTSPUR	And I say the earth was not of my mind If you suppose as fearing you it shook. GLYNDŴR The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble—
HOTSPUR	O, then the earth shook to see the heavens on fire, And not in fear of your nativity. Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth In strange eruptions; oft the teeming earth Is with a kind of colic pinched and vexed By the imprisoning of unruly wind
(didascalia)	Within her womb, which for enlargement striving
HOTSPUR	Shakes the old beldam earth, and topples down Steeples and moss-grown towers. At your birth Our grandam earth, having this distemp’rature, In passion shook. GLYNDŴR Cousin, of many men I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave To tell you once again that at my birth The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields. These signs have marked me extraordinary, And all the courses of my life do show I am not in the roll of commen men. Where is he living, clipped in with the sea That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales, Which calls me pupil or hath read to me? And bring him out that is but woman’s son Can trace me in the tedious ways of art, And hold me pace in deep experiments.
(didascalia)	HOTSPUR standíng
HOTSPUR	I think there’s no man speaketh better Welsh. I’ll to dinner.
MORTIMER	Peace, cousin Percy, you will make him mad. GLYNDŴR I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
HOTSPUR	Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? GLYNDŴR Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command the devil.
HOTSPUR	And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil, By telling truth: ‘Tell truth, and shame the devil’. If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither, And I’ll be sworn I have power to shame him hence. O, while you live, tell truth and shame the devil.
MORTIMER	Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat. GLYNDŴR Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye And sandy-bottomed Severn have I sent him Bootless home, and weather-beaten back.
HOTSPUR	Home without boots, and in foul weather too! How scapes he agues, in the devil’s name? GLYNDŴR Come, here’s the map. Shall we divide our right, According to our threefold order ta’en?
MORTIMER	The Archdeacon hath divided it Into three limits very equally. England from Trent and Severn hitherto By south and east is to my part assigned; All westward-Wales beyond the Severn shore And all the fertile land within that bound— To Owain Glyndwr; (to Hotspur) and, dear coz, to you The remnant northward lying off from Trent. And our indentures tripartite are drawn, Which, being sealèd interchangeably— A business that this night may execute— Tomorrow, cousin Percy, you and I 80 And my good lord of Worcester will set forth To meet your father and the Scottish power, As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury. My father, Glyndŵr., is not ready yet, Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days.
(didascalia)	Within that space you may have drawn together
MORTIMER	Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentlemen. GLYNDŴR A shorter time shall send me to you, lords; And in my conduct shall your ladies come, From whom you now must steal and take no leave; For there will be a world of water shed 91 Upon the parting of your wives and you.
HOTSPUR	Methinks my moiety north from Burton here In quantity equals not one of yours. See how this river comes me cranking in, And cuts me from the best of all my land A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle, out. I’ll have the current in this place dammed up, And here the smug and silver Trent shall run In a new channel fair and evenly. It shall not wind with such a deep indent, To rob me of so rich a bottom here. GLYNDŴR Not wind? It shall, it must; you see it doth.
MORTIMER	Yea, but mark how he bears his course, and runs me up With like advantage on the other side, Gelding the opposed continent as much As on the other side it takes from you.
WORCESTER	Yea, but a little charge will trench him here, And on this north side win this cape of land, And then he runs straight and even. no
HOTSPUR	I’ll have it so; a little charge will do it. GLYNDŴR I’ll not have it altered.
HOTSPUR	Will not you? GLYNDŴR No, nor you shall not.
HOTSPUR	Who shall say me nay? 115 GLYNDŴR Why, that will I.
HOTSPUR	Let me not understand you, then: speak it in Welsh. GLYNDŴR I can speak English, lord, as well as you; For I was trained up in the English court, Where, being but young, I framed to the harp Many an English ditty lovely well, And gave the tongue a helpful ornament— A virtue that was never seen in you.
HOTSPUR	Marry, and I am glad of it, with all my heart. I had rather be a kitten and cry ‘mew’ Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers. I had rather hear a brazen canstick turned, Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree, And that would set my teeth nothing on edge, Nothing so much as mincing poetry. ’Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag. GLYNDŴR Come, you shall have Trent turned.
HOTSPUR	I do not care. I’ll give thrice so much land To any well-deserving friend; But in the way of bargain—mark ye me—135 I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair. Are the indentures drawn? Shall we be gone? GLYNDŴR The moon shines fair. You may away by night. I’ll haste the writer, and withal Break with your wives of your departure hence. I am afraid my daughter will run mad, So much she doteth on her Mortimer. Exit
MORTIMER	Fie, cousin Percy, how you cross my father!
HOTSPUR	I cannot choose. Sometime he angers me With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant, Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies, And of a dragon and a finless fish, A clip-winged griffin and a moulten raven, A couching lion and a ramping cat, And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff 150 As puts me from my faith. I tell you what, He held me last night at the least nine hours In reckoning up the several devils’ names That were his lackeys. I cried, ‘Hum!’ and, ‘Well, go to!’, But marked him not a word. O, he is as tedious As a tired horse, a railing wife, Worse than a smoky house. I had rather live With cheese and garlic, in a windmill, far, Than feed on cates and have him talk to me In any summer house in Christendom. 160
MORTIMER	In faith, he is a worthy gentleman, Exceedingly well read, and profited In strange concealments, valiant as a lion, And wondrous affable, and as bountiful As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin? 165 He holds your temper in a high respect, And curbs himself even of his natural scope When you come ’cross his humour; faith, he does. I warrant you, that man is not alive Might so have tempted him as you have done Without the taste of danger and reproof. But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
WORCESTER	(to Hotspur) In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame, And since your coming hither have done enough To put him quite besides his patience. You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault. Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood— And that’s the dearest grace it renders you— Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage, Defect of manners, want of government, Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain, The least of which haunting a nobleman Loseth men’s hearts, and leaves behind a stain Upon the beauty of all parts besides, Beguiling them of commendation. 185
HOTSPUR	Well, I am schooled. Good manners be your speed!
(didascalia)	Enter Glyndŵr with Lady Percy and Mortimer’s wife
HOTSPUR	Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
(didascalia)	Mortimer’s wife weeps, and speaks to him in Welsh
MORTIMER	This is the deadly spite that angers me: My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh. GLYNDŴR My daughter weeps she’ll not part with you. She’ll be a soldier, too; she’ll to the wars.
MORTIMER	Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy Shall follow in your conduct speedily. Glyndŵr speaks to her in Welsh, and she answers him in the same
GLYNDWR	She is desperate here, a peevish self-willed harlotry, One that no persuasion can do good upon. 195 The lady speaks in Welsh
MORTIMER	I understand thy looks. That pretty Welsh Which thou down pourest from these swelling heavens I am too perfect in, and but for shame In such a parley should I answer thee. The lady kisses him, and speaks again in Welsh
MORTIMER	I understand thy kisses, and thou mine, And that’s a feeling disputation; But I will never be a truant, love, Till I have learnt thy language, for thy tongue Makes Welsh as sweet as ditties highly penned, Sung by a fair queen in a summer’s bower With ravishing division, to her lute. GLYNDŴR Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad. The lady
(didascalia)	sits on the rushes and speaks again in Welsh
MORTIMER	O, I am ignorance itself in this! GLYNDŴR She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down And rest your gentle head upon her lap, And she will sing the song that pleaseth you, And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep, Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness, Making such difference ’twixt wake and sleep As is the difference betwixt day and night 215 The hour before the heavenly-harnessed team Begins his golden progress in the east.
MORTIMER	With all my heart, I’ll sit and hear her sing. By that time will our book, I think, be drawn.
(didascalia)	He sits, resting his head on the Welsh lady’s lap
YNDWR	Do so, and those musicians that shall play to you Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence, And straight they shall be here. Sit and attend.
HOTSPUR	Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down. Come, quick, quick, that I may lay my head in thy lap.
LADY PERCY	(sitting) Go, ye giddy goose! Hotspur sits, resting his head on Lady Percy’s lap. The music plays
HOTSPUR	Now I perceive the devil understands Welsh; And ’tis no marvel, he is so humorous. By’r Lady, he’s a good musician.
LADY PERCY	Then should you be nothing but musical, For you are altogether governed by humours. Lie still, ye thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh.
HOTSPUR	I had rather hear Lady my brach howl in Irish.
LADY PERCY	Wouldst thou have thy head broken?
HOTSPUR	No.
LADY PERCY	Then be still. 235
HOTSPUR	Neither—’tis a woman’s fault.
LADY PERCY	Now God help thee!
HOTSPUR	To the Welsh lady’s bed.
LADY PERCY	What’s that?
HOTSPUR	Peace; she sings. Here the lady sings a Welsh song
HOTSPUR	Come, Kate, I’ll have your song too.
LADY PERCY	Not mine, in good sooth.
HOTSPUR	Not yours, in good sooth! Heart, you swear like a comfit-maker’s wife: ‘Not you, in good sooth!’ and ‘As true as I live!’ and 245 ‘As God shall mend me!’ and ‘As sure as day!’; And giv‘st such sarcenet surety for thy oaths As if thou never walk’st further than Finsbury. Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art, A good mouth-filling oath, and leave ’in sooth’ 250 And such protest of pepper gingerbread To velvet-guards and Sunday citizens. Come, sing.
LADY PERCY	I will not sing.
HOTSPUR	’Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreast teacher. (Rising) An the indentures be drawn, I’ll away within these two hours; and so come in when ye will.
(didascalia)	Exit
HOTSPUR	GLYNDŴR Come, come, Lord Mortimer. You are as slow As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go. By this our book is drawn. We’ll but seal, 260 And then to horse immediately.
MORTIMER	(rising) With all my heart. The ladies rise, and all exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, and lords
KING HENRY	Lords, give us leave—the Prince of Wales and I Must have some private conference—but be near at hand, For we shall presently have need of you.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Lords
KING HENRY	I know not whether God will have it so For some displeasing service I have done, That in his secret doom out of my blood He’ll breed revengement and a scourge for me, But thou dost in thy passages of life Make me believe that thou art only marked For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven To punish my mistreadings. Tell me else, Could such inordinate and low desires, Such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean attempts, Such barren pleasures, rude society, As thou art matched withal and grafted to, 15 Accompany the greatness of thy blood, And hold their level with thy princely heart?
PRINCE HARRY	So please your majesty, I would I could Quit all offences with as clear excuse As well as I am doubtless I can purge Myself of many I am charged withal; Yet such extenuation let me beg As, in reproof of many tales devised— Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear By smiling pickthanks and base newsmongers— I may, for some things true wherein my youth Hath faulty wandered and irregular, Find pardon on my true submission.
KING HENRY	God pardon thee! Yet let me wonder, Harry, At thy affections, which do hold a wing Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors. Thy place in Council thou hast rudely lost— Which by thy younger brother is supplied— And art almost an alien to the hearts Of all the court and princes of my blood. The hope and expectation of thy time Is ruined, and the soul of every man Prophetically do forethink thy fall. Had I so lavish of my presence been, So common-hackneyed in the eyes of men, So stale and cheap to vulgar company, Opinion, that did help me to the crown, Had still kept loyal to possession, And left me in reputeless banishment, A fellow of no mark nor likelihood. By being seldom seen, I could not stir But, like a comet, I was wondered at, That men would tell their children ‘This is he.’ Others would say ‘Where, which is Bolingbroke?’ And then I stole all courtesy from heaven, And dressed myself in such humility That I did pluck allegiance from men’s hearts, Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths, Even in the presence of the crowned King. Thus did I keep my person fresh and new, My presence like a robe pontifical— Ne‘er seen but wondered at—and so my state, Seldom but sumptuous, showed like a feast, And won by rareness such solemnity. The skipping King, he ambled up and down 60 With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits, Soon kindled and soon burnt, carded his state, Mingled his royalty with cap’ring fools, Had his great name profaned with their scorns, And gave his countenance, against his name, To laugh at gibing boys, and stand the push Of every beardless vain comparative; Grew a companion to the common streets, Enfeoffed himself to popularity, That, being daily swallowed by men’s eyes, They surfeited with honey, and began To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little More than a little is by much too much. So when he had occasion to be seen, He was but as the cuckoo is in June, Heard, not regarded, seen but with such eyes As, sick and blunted with community, Afford no extraordinary gaze Such as is bent on sun-like majesty When it shines seldom in admiring eyes, But rather drowsed and hung their eyelids down, Slept in his face, and rendered such aspect As cloudy men use to their adversaries, Being with his presence glutted, gorged, and full. And in that very line, Harry, standest thou; 85 For thou hast lost thy princely privilege With vile participation. Not an eye But is a-weary of thy common sight, Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more, Which now doth that I would not have it do— Make blind itself with foolish tenderness. He weeps
PRINCE HARRY	I shall hereafter, my thrice-gracious lord, Be more myself.
KING HENRY	For all the world, As thou art to this hour was Richard then, When I from France set foot at Ravenspurgh, And even as I was then is Percy now. Now by my sceptre, and my soul to boot, He hath more worthy interest to the state Than thou, the shadow of succession; For, of no right, nor colour like to right, He doth fill fields with harness in the realm, Turns head against the lion’s armed jaws, And, being no more in debt to years than thou, Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on To bloody battles, and to bruising arms. 105 What never-dying honour hath he got Against renowned Douglas !—whose high deeds, Whose hot incursions and great name in arms, Holds from all soldiers chief majority And military title capital Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ. Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swaddling-clothes, This infant warrior, in his enterprises Discomfited great Douglas; ta‘en him once; Enlarged him; and made a friend of him 115 To fill the mouth of deep defiance up, And shake the peace and safety of our throne. And what say you to this ? Percy, Northumberland, The Archbishop’s grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer, Capitulate against us, and are up. But wherefore do I tell these news to thee ? Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes, Which art my near’st and dearest enemy ?— Thou that art like enough, through vassal fear, Base inclination, and the start of spleen, To fight against me under Percy’s pay, To dog his heels, and curtsy at his frowns, To show how much thou art degenerate.
PRINCE HARRY	Do not think so; you shall not find it so. And God forgive them that so much have swayed Your majesty’s good thoughts away from me. I will redeem all this on Percy’s head, And in the closing of some glorious day Be bold to tell you that I am your son; When I will wear a garment all of blood, And stain my favours in a bloody mask, Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it. And that shall be the day, whene’er it lights, That this same child of honour and renown, This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight, And your unthought-of Harry chance to meet. For every honour sitting on his helm, Would they were multitudes, and on my head My shames redoubled; for the time will come That I shall make this northern youth exchange His glorious deeds for my indignities. Percy is but my factor, good my lord, To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf; And I will call him to so strict account That he shall render every glory up, 150 Yea, even the slightest worship of his time, Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart. This, in the name of God, I promise here, The which if he be pleased I shall perform, I do beseech your majesty may salve The long-grown wounds of my intemperature; If not, the end of life cancels all bonds, And I will die a hundred thousand deaths Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow.
KING HENRY	A hundred thousand rebels die in this. Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir Walter Blunt
KING HENRY	How now, good Blunt ? Thy looks are full of speed.
BLUNT	So hath the business that I come to speak of. Lord Mortimer of Scotland hath sent word That Douglas and the English rebels met The eleventh of this month at Shrewsbury. A mighty and a fearful head they are, If promises be kept on every hand, As ever offered foul play in a state.
KING HENRY	The Earl of Westmorland set forth today, With him my son Lord John of Lancaster, For this advertisement is five days old. On Wednesday next, Harry, you shall set forward. On Thursday we ourselves will march. Our meeting is Bridgnorth, and, Harry, you Shall march through Gloucestershire, by which account, Our business valued, some twelve days hence Our general forces at Bridgnorth shall meet. Our hands are full of business; let’s away. Advantage feeds him fat while men delay. Exeunt

Atto 3, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
(didascalia)	With a truncheon at his waist, and Russell
SIR JOHN	Russell, am I not fallen away vilely since this last action? Do I not bate? Do I not dwindle? Why, my skin hangs about me like an old lady’s loose gown. I am withered like an old apple-john. Well, I’ll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some liking. I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I shall have no strength to repent. An I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of, I am a peppercorn, a brewer’s horse—the inside of a church! Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me. 10
RUSSELL	Sir John, you are so fretful you cannot live long.
SIR JOHN	Why, there is it. Come, sing me a bawdy song, make me merry. I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be: virtuous enough; swore little; diced not-above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house not-above once in a quarter—of an hour; paid money that I borrowed—three or four times; lived well, and in good compass. And now I live out of all order, out of all compass.
RUSSELL	Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you must needs be out of all compass, out of all reasonable compass, Sir John.
SIR JOHN	Do thou amend thy face, and I’ll amend my life. Thou art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in the poop—but ’tis in the nose of thee. Thou art the Knight of the Burning Lamp.
RUSSELL	Why, Sir John, my face does you no harm.
SIR JOHN	No, I’ll be sworn; I make as good use of it as many a man doth of a death’s head, or a memento mori. I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire and Dives that lived in purple—for there he is in his robes, burning, burning. If thou wert any way given to virtue, I would swear by thy face; my oath should be ’By this fire that’s God’s angell’ But thou art altogether given over, and wert indeed, but for the light in thy face, the son of utter darkness. When thou rannest up Gads Hill in the night to catch my horse, if I did not think thou hadst been an ignis fatuus or a ball of wildfire, there’s no purchase in money. O, thou art a perpetual triumph, an everlasting bonfire-light! Thou hast saved me a thousand marks in links and torches, walking with thee in the night betwixt tavern and tavern—but the sack that thou hast drunk me would have bought me lights as good cheap at the dearest chandler’s in Europe. I have maintained that salamander of yours with fire any time this two-and-thirty years, God reward me for it.
RUSSELL	’Sblood, I would my face were in your belly!
SIR JOHN	God-a-mercy! ! So should I be sure to be heart-burnt.
(didascalia)	Enter Hostess
SIR JOHN	How now, Dame Partlet the hen, have you enquired yet who picked my pocket?
HOSTESS	Why, Sir John, what do you think, Sir John? Do you think I keep thieves in my house ? I have searched, I have enquired; so has my husband, man by man, boy by boy, servant by servant. The tithe of a hair was never lost in my house before.
SIR JOHN	Ye lie, Hostess: Russell was shaved and lost many a hair, and I’ll be sworn my pocket was picked. Go to, you are a woman, go. 60
HOSTESS	Who, I? No, I defy thee! God’s light, I was never called so in mine own house before.
SIR JOHN	Go to, I know you well enough.
HOSTESS	No, Sir John, you do not know me, Sir John; I know you, Sir John. You owe me money, Sir John, and now you pick a quarrel to beguile me of it. I bought you a dozen of shirts to your back.
SIR JOHN	Dowlas, filthy dowlas. I have given them away to bakers’ wives; they have made bolters of them.
HOSTESS	Now as I am a true woman, holland of eight shillings an ell. You owe money here besides, Sir John: for your diet, and by-drinkings, and money lent you, four-and-twenty pound.
SIR JOHN	(pointing at Russell) He had his part of it. Let him pay.
HOSTESS	He? Alas, he is poor; he hath nothing.
SIR JOHN	How, poor? Look upon his face. What call you rich? Let them coin his nose, let them coin his cheeks, I’ll not pay a denier. What, will you make a younker of me ? Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn, but I shall have my pocket picked? I have lost a seal-ring of my grandfather’s worth forty mark.
HOSTESS	O Jesu, (to Russell) I have heard the Prince tell him, I know not how oft, that that ring was copper.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN How ? The Prince is a jack, a sneak-up. Raising his truncheon ’Sblood, an he were here I would cudgel him like a dog if he would say so.
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and Harvey, marching; and Sir John Oldcastle meets them, playing upon his truncheon like a fife
HOSTESS	How now, lad, is the wind in that door, i’faith? Must we all march?
RUSSELL	Yea, two and two, Newgate fashion.
HOSTESS	My lord, I pray you hear me.
PRINCE HARRY	What sayst thou, Mistress Quickly? How doth thy husband? I love him well; he is an honest man.
HOSTESS	Good my lord, hear me!!
SIR JOHN	Prithee, let her alone, and list to me.
PRINCE HARRY	What sayst thou, Jack?
SIR JOHN	The other night I fell asleep here behind the arras, and had my pocket picked. This house is turned bawdy-house: they pick pockets.
PRINCE HARRY	What didst thou lose, Jack? 100
SIR JOHN	Wilt thou believe me, Hal, three or four bonds of forty pound apiece, and a seal-ring of my grandfather’s.
PRINCE HARRY	A trifle, some eightpenny matter.
HOSTESS	So I told him, my lord; and I said I heard your grace say so; and, my lord, he speaks most vilely of you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is, and said he would cudgel you. 108
PRINCE HARRY	What? He did not !
HOSTESS	There’s neither faith, truth, nor womanhood in me else.
SIR JOHN	There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune, nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn fox; and, for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the deputy’s wife of the ward to thee. Go, you thing, go!
HOSTESS	Say, what thing, what thing?
SIR JOHN	What thing? Why, a thing to thank God on.
HOSTESS	I am no thing to thank God on. I would thou shouldst know it, I am an honest man’s wife; and setting thy knighthood aside, thou art a knave to call me so.
SIR JOHN	Setting thy womanhood aside, thou art a beast to say otherwise.
HOSTESS	Say, what beast, thou knave, thou? sIR JOHN What beast? Why, an otter.
PRINCE HARRY	An otter, Sir John? Why an otter?
SIR JOHN	Why? She’s neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have her.
HOSTESS	Thou art an unjust man in saying so. Thou or any man knows where to have me, thou knave, thou.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou sayst true, Hostess, and he slanders thee most grossly.
HOSTESS	So he doth you, my lord, and said this other day you owed him a thousand pound.
PRINCE HARRY	(to Sir John) Sirrah, do I owe you a thousand pound?
SIR JOHN	A thousand pound, Hal? A million! Thy love is worth a million; thou owest me thy love.
HOSTESS	Nay, my lord, he called you ’jack’ and said he would cudgel you.
SIR JOHN	Did I, Russell?
RUSSELL	Indeed, Sir John, you said so.
SIR JOHN	Yea, if he said my ring was copper.
PRINCE HARRY	I say ’tis copper; darest thou be as good as thy word now?
SIR JOHN	Why, Hal, thou knowest as thou art but man I dare, but as thou art prince, I fear thee as I fear the roaring of the lion’s whelp.
PRINCE HARRY	And why not as the lion?
SIR JOHN	The King himself is to be feared as the lion. Dost thou think I’ll fear thee as I fear thy father? Nay, an I do, I pray God my girdle break.
PRINCE HARRY	O, if it should, how would thy guts fall about thy knees! But sirrah, there’s no room for faith, truth, nor honesty in this bosom of thine; it is all filled up with guts and midriff. Charge an honest woman with picking thy pocket? Why, thou whoreson impudent embossed rascal, if there were anything in thy pocket but tavern reckonings, memorandums of bawdy-houses, and one poor pennyworth of sugar-candy to make thee long-winded-if thy pocket were enriched with any other injuries but these, I am a villain. And yet you will stand to it, you will not pocket up wrong. Art thou not ashamed?
SIR JOHN	Dost thou hear, Hal? Thou knowest in the state of innocency Adam fell, and what should poor Jack Oldcastle do in the days of villainy? Thou seest I have more flesh than another man, and therefore more frailty. You confess, then, you picked my pocket.
PRINCE HARRY	It appears so by the story.
SIR JOHN	Hostess, I forgive thee. Go make ready breakfast. Love thy husband, look to thy servants, cherish thy guests. Thou shalt find me tractable to any honest reason; thou seest I am pacified still. Nay, prithee, be gone. Exit Hostess Now, Hal, to the news at court. For the robbery, lad, how is that answered?
PRINCE HARRY	O, my sweet beef, I must still be good angel to thee. The money is paid back again.
SIR JOHN	O, I do not like that paying back; ’tis a double labour. 181
PRINCE HARRY	I am good friends with my father, and may do anything.
SIR JOHN	Rob me the exchequer the first thing thou dost, and do it with unwashed hands too.
RUSSELL	Do, my lord.
PRINCE HARRY	I have procured thee, Jack, a charge of foot.
SIR JOHN	I would it had been of horse ! Where shall I find one that can steal well? O, for a fine thief of the age of two-and-twenty or thereabouts! I am heinously unprovided. Well, God be thanked for these rebels-they offend none but the virtuous. I laud them, I praise them.
PRINCE HARRY	Russell.
RUSSELL	My lord?
PRINCE HARRY	(giving letters) Go bear this letter to Lord John of Lancaster, To my brother John; this to my lord of Westmorland.
(didascalia)	Exit Russell
PRINCE HARRY	Go, Harvey, to horse, to horse, for thou and I Have thirty miles to ride yet ere dinner time.
(didascalia)	Exit Harvey
PRINCE HARRY	Jack, meet me tomorrow in the Temple Hall At two o’clock in the afternoon. There shalt thou know thy charge, and there receive Money and order for their furniture. The land is burning, Percy stands on high, And either we or they must lower lie. Exit
SIR JOHN	Rare words I Brave world! (Calling) Hostess, my breakfast, come!— O, I could wish this tavern were my drum! Exit

Atto 4, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur and the Earls of,Worcester and Douglas
HOTSPUR	Well said, my noble Scot ! If speaking truth In this fine age were not thought flattery, Such attribution should the Douglas have As not a soldier of this season’s stamp Should go so general current through the world. By God, I cannot flatter, I do defy The tongues of soothers, but a braver place In my heart’s love hath no man than yourself. Nay, task me to my word, approve me, lord.
DOUGLAS	Thou art the king of honour. No man so potent breathes upon the ground But I will beard him.
HOTSPUR	Do so, and ’tis well.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger with letters
HOTSPUR	What letters hast thou there? I can but thank you.
MESSENGER	These letters come from your father.
HOTSPUR	Letters from him? Why comes he not himself? 15
MESSENGER	He cannot come, my lord, he is grievous sick.
HOTSPUR	Zounds, how has he the leisure to be sick In such a jostling time? Who leads his power? Under whose government come they along?
MESSENGER	His letters bears his mind, not I, my lord. Hotspur reads the letter
WORCESTER	I prithee tell me, doth he keep his bed?
MESSENGER	He did, my lord, four days ere I set forth; And at the time of my departure thence He was much feared by his physicians.
WORCESTER	I would the state of time had first been whole Ere he by sickness had been visited. His health was never better worth than now.
HOTSPUR	Sick now? Droop now? This sickness doth infect The very life-blood of our enterprise. ’Tis catching hither, even to our camp. He writes me here that inward sickness stays him, And that his friends by deputation Could not so soon be drawn; nor did he think it meet To lay so dangerous and dear a trust On any soul removed but on his own. Yet doth he give us bold advertisement That with our small conjunction we should on, To see how fortune is disposed to us; For, as he writes, there is no quailing now, Because the King is certainly possessed 40 Of all our purposes. What say you to it?
WORCESTER	Your father’s sickness is a maim to us.
HOTSPUR	A perilous gash, a very limb lopped off. And yet, in faith, it is not. His present want Seems more than we shall find it. Were it good To set the exact wealth of all our states All at one cast, to set so rich a main On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour? It were not good, for therein should we read The very bottom and the sole of hope, The very list, the very utmost bound, Of all our fortunes.
DOUGLAS	Faith, and so we should, where now remains A sweet reversion—we may boldly spend Upon the hope of what is to come in. A comfort of retirement lives in this.
HOTSPUR	A rendezvous, a home to fly unto, If that the devil and mischance look big Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.
WORCESTER	But yet I would your father had been here. 60 The quality and hair of our attempt Brooks no division. It will be thought By some that know not why he is away That wisdom, loyalty, and mere dislike Of our proceedings kept the Earl from hence; And think how such an apprehension May turn the tide of fearful faction, And breed a kind of question in our cause. For, well you know, we of the off’ring side Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement, And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence The eye of reason may pry in upon us. This absence of your father’s draws a curtain That shows the ignorant a kind of fear Before not dreamt of.
HOTSPUR	You strain too far. I rather of his absence make this use: It lends a lustre, and more great opinion, A larger dare to our great enterprise, Than if the Earl were here; for men must think If we without his help can make a head 80 To push against a kingdom, with his help We shall o’erturn it topsy-turvy down. Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.
DOUGLAS	As heart can think, there is not such a word Spoke of in Scotland as this term of fear.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir Richard Vernon
HOTSPUR	My cousin Vernon! Welcome, by my soul!
VERNON	Pray God my news be worth a welcome, lord. The Earl of Westmorland, seven thousand strong, Is marching hitherwards; with him Prince John.
HOTSPUR	No harm. What more?
VERNON	And further I have learned The King himself in person is set forth, Or hitherwards intended speedily, With strong and mighty preparation.
HOTSPUR	He shall be welcome too. Where is his son, The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales, And his comrades that daffed the world aside And bid it pass?
VERNON	All furnished, all in arms, All plumed like ostriches, that with the wind
(didascalia)
VERNON	Baiting like eagles having lately bathed, Glittering in golden coats like images, As full of spirit as the month of May, And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer; Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls. I saw young Harry with his beaver on, 105 His cuishes on his thighs, gallantly armed, Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury, And vaulted with such ease into his seat As if an angel dropped down from the clouds To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, 110 And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
HOTSPUR	No more, no more! Worse than the sun in March, This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come! They come like sacrifices in their trim, And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war 115 All hot and bleeding will we offer them. The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh, And yet not ours! Come, let me taste my horse, Who is to bear me like a thunderbolt Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales. Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse, Meet and ne’er part till one drop down a corpse. O, that Glyndwr were come!
VERNON	There is more news. I learned in Worcester, as I rode along, He cannot draw his power this fourteen days.
DOUGLAS	That’s the worst tidings that I hear of yet.
WORCESTER	Ay, by my faith, that bears a frosty sound.
HOTSPUR	What may the King’s whole battle reach unto?
VERNON	To thirty thousand.
HOTSPUR	Forty let it be. My father and Glyndŵr being both away, The powers of us may serve so great a day. Come, let us take a muster speedily. Doomsday is near: die all, die merrily.
DOUGLAS	Talk not of dying; I am out of fear Of death or death’s hand for this one half year.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Atto 4, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle and Russell
SIR JOHN	Russell, get thee before to Coventry; fill me a bottle of sack. Our soldiers shall march through. We’ll to Sutton Coldfield tonight.
RUSSELL	Will you give me money, captain?
SIR JOHN	Lay out, lay out. 5
RUSSELL	This bottle makes an angel.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN giving Russell money An if it do, take it for thy labour; an if it make twenty, take them all; I’ll answer the coinage. Bid my lieutenant Harvey meet me at town’s end.
RUSSELL	I will, captain. Farewell. Exit
SIR JOHN	If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a soused gurnet. I have misused the King’s press damnably. I have got in exchange of one hundred and fifty soldiers three hundred and odd pounds. I press me none but good householders, yeomen’s sons, enquire me out contracted bachelors, such as had been asked twice on the banns, such a commodity of warm slaves as had as lief hear the devil as a drum, such as fear the report of a caliver worse than a struck fowl or a hurt wild duck. I pressed me none but such toasts and butter, with hearts in their bellies no bigger than pins’ heads, and they have bought out their services; and now my whole charge consists of ensigns, corporals, lieutenants, gentlemen of companies—slaves as ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth, where the glutton’s dogs licked his sores—and such as indeed were never soldiers, but discarded unjust servingmen, younger sons to younger brothers, revolted tapsters, and ostlers trade-fallen, the cankers of a calm world and a long peace, ten times more dishonourable-ragged than an old feazed ensign; and such have I to fill up the rooms of them as have bought out their services, that you would think that I had a hundred and fifty tattered prodigals lately come from swine-keeping, from eating draff and husks. A mad fellow met me on the way and told me I had unloaded all the gibbets and pressed the dead bodies. No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I’ll not march through Coventry with them, that’s flat. Nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves on, for indeed I had the most of them out of prison. There’s not a shirt and a half in all my company; and the half-shirt is two napkins tacked together and thrown over the shoulders like a herald’s coat without sleeves; and the shirt, to say the truth, stolen from my host at Saint Albans, or the red-nose innkeeper of Daventry. But that’s all one; they’ll find linen enough on every hedge. 48
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and the Earl of Westmorland
PRINCE HARRY	How now, blown Jack? How now, quilt?
SIR JOHN	What, Hal! How now, mad wag? What a devil dost thou in Warwickshire? My good lord of Westmorland, I cry you mercy! I thought your honour had already been at Shrewsbury.
WESTMORLAND	Faith, Sir John, ’tis more than time that I were there, and you too; but my powers are there already. The King, I can tell you, looks for us all. We must away all night.
SIR JOHN	Tut, never fear me. I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.
PRINCE HARRY	I think to steal cream indeed, for thy theft hath already made thee butter. But tell me, Jack, whose fellows are these that come after?
SIR JOHN	Mine, Hal, mine.
PRINCE HARRY	I did never see such pitiful rascals.
SIR JOHN	Tut, tut, good enough to toss, food for powder, food for powder. They’ll fill a pit as well as better. Tush, man, mortal men, mortal men.
WESTMORLAND	Ay, but Sir John, methinks they are exceeding poor and bare, too beggarly.
SIR JOHN	Faith, for their poverty, I know not where they had that, and for their bareness, I am sure they never learned that of me.
PRINCE HARRY	No, I’ll be sworn, unless you call three fingers in the ribs bare. But sirrah, make haste. Percy is already in the field. Exit
SIR JOHN	What, is the King encamped?
(didascalia)	WESTMORLAND He is, Sir John. I fear we shall stay too long. Exit
SIR JOHN	Well, to the latter end of a fray And the beginning of a feast Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest. Exit

Atto 4, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur, the Earls of Worcester and Douglas, and Sir Richard Vernon
HOTSPUR	We’ll fight with him tonight.
WORCESTER	It may not be.
DOUGLAS	You give him then advantage.
VERNON	Not a whit.
HOTSPUR	Why say you so? Looks he not for supply?
VERNON	So do we.
HOTSPUR	His is certain; ours is doubtful.
WORCESTER	Good cousin, be advised. Stir not tonight.
VERNON	(to Hotspur) Do not, my lord.
DOUGLAS	You do not counsel well. You speak it out of fear and cold heart.
VERNON	Do me no slander, Douglas. By my life— And I dare well maintain it with my life— If well-respected honour bid me on, 10 I hold as little counsel with weak fear As you, my lord, or any Scot that this day lives. Let it be seen tomorrow in the battle Which of us fears.
DOUGLAS	Yea, or tonight. 15
VERNON	Content.
HOTSPUR	Tonight, say I.
VERNON	Come, come, it may not be. I wonder much, Being men of such great leading as you are, That you foresee not what impediments Drag back our expedition. Certain horse Of my cousin Vernon’s are not yet come up. Your uncle Worcester’s horse came but today, And now their pride and mettle is asleep, Their courage with hard labour tame and dull, That not a horse is half the half himself.
HOTSPUR	So are the horses of the enemy In general journey-bated and brought low. The better part of ours are full of rest.
WORCESTER	The number of the King exceedeth our. For God’s sake, cousin, stay till all come in. The trumpet sounds a parley [within]. Enter Sir Walter Blunt
BLUNT	I come with gracious offers from the King, If you vouchsafe me hearing and respect.
HOTSPUR	Welcome, Sir Walter Blunt; and would to God You were of our determination. Some of us love you well, and even those some Envy your great deservings and good name, Because you are not of our quality, But stand against us like an enemy.
BLUNT	And God defend but still I should stand so, So long as out of limit and true rule You stand against anointed majesty. But to my charge. The King hath sent to know The nature of your griefs, and whereupon You conjure from the breast of civil peace Such bold hostility, teaching his duteous land Audacious cruelty. If that the King Have any way your good deserts forgot, Which he confesseth to be manifold, He bids you name your griefs, and with all speed You shall have your desires, with interest, And pardon absolute for yourself and these Herein misled by your suggestion.
HOTSPUR	The King is kind, and well we know the King Knows at what time to promise, when to pay. My father and my uncle and myself Did give him that same royalty he wears; And when he was not six-and-twenty strong, Sick in the world’s regard, wretched and low, A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home, My father gave him welcome to the shore; And when he heard him swear and vow to God He came but to be Duke of Lancaster, To sue his livery, and beg his peace With tears of innocency and terms of zeal, My father, in kind heart and pity moved, Swore him assistance, and performed it too. Now when the lords and barons of the realm Perceived Northumberland did lean to him, The more and less came in with cap and knee, Met him in boroughs, cities, villages, Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes, Laid gifts before him, proffered him their oaths, Gave him their heirs as pages, followed him, Even at the heels, in golden multitudes. He presently, as greatness knows itself, Steps me a little higher than his vow Made to my father while his blood was poor Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurgh, And now forsooth takes on him to reform Some certain edicts and some strait decrees That lie too heavy on the commonwealth, Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep Over his country’s wrongs; and by this face, This seeming brow of justice, did he win The hearts of all that he did angle for; Proceeded further, cut me off the heads Of all the favourites that the absent King In deputation left behind him here When he was personal in the Irish war.
BLUNT	Tut, I came not to hear this.
HOTSPUR	Then to the point. In short time after, he deposed the King, Soon after that deprived him of his life, And in the neck of that tasked the whole state; To make that worse, suffered his kinsman March— Who is, if every owner were well placed, Indeed his king—to be engaged in Wales, There without ransom to lie forfeited; Disgraced me in my happy victories, Sought to entrap me by intelligence, 100 Rated mine uncle from the Council-board, In rage dismissed my father from the court, Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong, And in conclusion drove us to seek out This head of safety, and withal to pry 105 Into his title, the which we find Too indirect for long continuance.
BLUNT	Shall I return this answer to the King?
HOTSPUR	Not so, Sir Walter. We’ll withdraw awhile. Go to the King, and let there be impawned 110 Some surety for a safe return again; And in the morning early shall mine uncle Bring him our purposes. And so, farewell.
BLUNT	I would you would accept of grace and love.
HOTSPUR	And maybe so we shall.
BLUNT	Pray God you do.
(didascalia)	Exeunt [Hotspur, Worcester, Douglas, and Vernon at one door, Blunt at another door

Atto 4, Scena 4

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter the Archbishop of York, and Sir Michael
ARCHBISHOP	(giving letters) Hie, good Sir Michael, bear this sealed brief With winged haste to the Lord Marshal, This to my cousin Scrope, and all the rest To whom they are directed. If you knew How much they do import, you would make haste.
SIR MICHAEL	My good lord, I guess their tenor.
ARCHBISHOP	Like enough you do. Tomorrow, good Sir Michael, is a day Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men Must bide the touch; for, sir, at Shrewsbury, As I am truly given to understand, The King with mighty and quick-raised power Meets with Lord Harry. And I fear, Sir Michael, What with the sickness of Northumberland, Whose power was in the first proportion, 15 And what with Owain Glyndŵr’s absence thence, Who with them was a rated sinew too, And comes not in, overruled by prophecies, I fear the power of Percy is too weak To wage an instant trial with the King.
SIR MICHAEL	Why, my good lord, you need not fear; there is Douglas And Lord Mortimer.
ARCHBISHOP	No, Mortimer is not there.
SIR MICHAEL	But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy; And there is my lord of Worcester, and a head Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.
ARCHBISHOP	And so there is; but yet the King hath drawn The special head of all the land together— The Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancaster, The noble Westmorland, and warlike Blunt, And many more corrivals, and dear men Of estimation and command in arms.
SIR MICHAEL	Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well opposed.
ARCHBISHOP	I hope no less, yet needful ’tis to fear; And to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed. For if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the King Dismiss his power he means to visit us, For he hath heard of our confederacy, And ’tis but wisdom to make strong against him; Therefore make haste. I must go write again To other friends; and so farewell, Sir Michael.
(didascalia)	Exeunt
(didascalia)	severally

Atto 5, Scena 1

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, Lord John of Lancaster, the Earl of Westmorland, Sir Walter Blunt, and Sir John Oldcastle
KING HENRY	How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon bulky hill! The day looks pale At his distemp’rature.
PRINCE HARRY	The southern wind Doth play the trumpet to his purposes, And by his hollow whistling in the leaves 5 Foretells a tempest and a blust’ring day.
KING HENRY	Then with the losers let it sympathize, For nothing can seem foul to those that win. The trumpet sounds
(didascalia)	a parley within. Enter the Earl of Worcester
(didascalia)	and Sir Richard Vernon
KING HENRY	How now, my lord of Worcester? ’Tis not well That you and I should meet upon such terms 10 As now we meet. You have deceived our trust, And made us doff our easy robes of peace To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel. This is not well, my lord, this is not well. What say you to it? Will you again unknit 15 This churlish knot of all-abhorred war, And move in that obedient orb again Where you did give a fair and natural light, And be no more an exhaled meteor, A prodigy of fear, and a portent Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
WORCESTER	Hear me, my liege. For mine own part, I could be well content To entertain the lag-end of my life With quiet hours; for I protest, 25 I have not sought the day of this dislike.
KING HENRY	You have not sought it? How comes it, then?
SIR JOHN	Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it.
PRINCE HARRY	Peace, chewet, peace!
WORCESTER	(to the King) It pleased your majesty to turn your looks Of favour from myself and all our house; And yet I must remember you, my lord, We were the first and dearest of your friends. For you my staff of office did I break In Richard’s time, and posted day and night To meet you on the way and kiss your hand When yet you were in place and in account Nothing so strong and fortunate as I. It was myself, my brother, and his son That brought you home, and boldly did outdare The dangers of the time. You swore to us, And you did swear that oath at Doncaster, That you did nothing purpose ‘gainst the state, Nor claim no further than your new-fall’n right, The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster. To this we swore our aid, but in short space It rained down fortune show’ring on your head, And such a flood of greatness fell on you, What with our help, what with the absent King, What with the injuries of a wanton time, The seeming sufferances that you had borne, And the contrarious winds that held the King So long in his unlucky Irish wars That all in England did repute him dead; And from this swarm of fair advantages You took occasion to be quickly wooed To gripe the general sway into your hand, Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster, And being fed by us, you used us so As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo’s bird, Useth the sparrow—did oppress our nest, Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk That even our love durst not come near your sight For fear of swallowing. But with nimble wing We were enforced for safety’ sake to fly 65 Out of your sight, and raise this present head, Whereby we stand opposed by such means As you yourself have forged against yourself, By unkind usage, dangerous countenance, And violation of all faith and troth Sworn to us in your younger enterprise.
KING HENRY	These things indeed you have articulate, Proclaimed at market crosses, read in churches, To face the garment of rebellion With some fine colour that may please the eye Of fickle changelings and poor discontents, Which gape and rub the elbow at the news Of hurly-burly innovation; And never yet did insurrection want Such water-colours to impaint his cause, Nor moody beggars starving for a time Of pell-mell havoc and confusion.
PRINCE HARRY	In both our armies there is many a soul Shall pay full dearly for this encounter If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world In praise of Henry Percy. By my hopes, This present enterprise set off his head, I do not think a braver gentleman, More active-valiant or more valiant-young, More daring, or more bold, is now alive To grace this latter age with noble deeds. For my part, I may speak it to my shame, I have a truant been to chivalry; And so I hear he doth account me too. Yet this, before my father’s majesty: I am content that he shall take the odds Of his great name and estimation, And will, to save the blood on either side, Try fortune with him in a single fight.
KING HENRY	And, Prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee, Albeit considerations infinite Do make against it. No, good Worcester, no. We love our people well; even those we love That are misled upon your cousin’s part; 105 And will they take the offer of our grace, Both he and they and you, yea, every man Shall be my friend again, and I’ll be his. So tell your cousin, and bring me word What he will do. But if he will not yield, Rebuke and dread correction wait on us, And they shall do their office. So be gone. We will not now be troubled with reply. We offer fair; take it advisedly.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Worcester [and Vernon]
PRINCE HARRY	It will not be accepted, on my life. The Douglas and the Hotspur both together Are confident against the world in arms.
KING HENRY	Hence, therefore, every leader to his charge, For on their answer will we set on them, And God befriend us as our cause is just!
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Prince Harry and Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Hal, if thou see me down in the battle, and bestride me, so. ’Tis a point of friendship.
PRINCE HARRY	Nothing but a colossus can do thee that friendship. Say thy prayers, and farewell.
SIR JOHN	I would ’twere bed-time, Hal, and all well.
PRINCE HARRY	Why, thou owest God a death. Exit
SIR JOHN	‘Tis not due yet. I would be loath to pay him before his day. What need I be so forward with him that calls not on me? Well, ’tis no matter; honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honour prick me off when I come on? How then? Can honour set-to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honour? A word. What is in that word ‘honour’? What is that ‘honour’ ? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. ’Tis insensible then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I’ll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism.
(didascalia)	Exit

Atto 5, Scena 2

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Worcester and Sir Richard Vernon
WORCESTER	O no, my nephew must not know, Sir Richard, The liberal and kind offer of the King.
VERNON	’Twere best he did.
WORCESTER	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. Supposition all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes, For treason is but trusted like the fox, Who, ne‘er so tame, so cherished, and locked 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 cherished 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 hare-brained Hotspur, governed 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.
VERNON	Deliver what you will; I’ll say ’tis so.
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur and the Earl of Douglas
VERNON	Here comes your cousin.
HOTSPUR	My uncle is returned. Deliver up my lord of Westmorland. Uncle, what news?
WORCESTER	The King will bid you battle presently.
DOUGLAS	Defy him by the Lord of Westmorland.
HOTSPUR	Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so.
DOUGLAS	Marry, and shall, and very willingly. Exit
WORCESTER	There is no seeming mercy in the King.
HOTSPUR	Did you beg any? God forbid!
WORCESTER	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.
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Douglas
DOUGLAS	Arm, gentlemen, to arms, for I have thrown A brave defiance in King Henry’s teeth- And Westmorland that was engaged did bear it— Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on.
WORCESTER	(to Hotspur) The Prince of Wales stepped forth before the King And, nephew, challenged you to single fight.
HOTSPUR	O, would the quarrel lay upon our heads, And that no man might draw short breath today But I and Harry Monmouth ! Tell me, tell me, How showed his tasking? Seemed it in contempt?
VERNON	No, by my soul, I never in my life Did hear a challenge urged more modestly, Unless a brother should a brother dare To gentle exercise and proof of arms. He gave you all the duties of a man, Trimmed up your praises with a princely tongue, Spoke your deservings like a chronicle, Making you ever better than his praise By still dispraising praise valued with you; And, which became him like a prince indeed, He made a blushing cital of himself, And chid his truant youth with such a grace As if he mastered 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.
HOTSPUR	Cousin, I think thou art enamoured On his follies. Never did I hear Of any prince so wild a 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, soldiers, friends, Better consider what you have to do Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue, Can lift your blood up with persuasion.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	My lord, here are letters for you.
HOTSPUR	I cannot read them now. [Exit Messenger] 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 consciences: the arms are fair When the intent of bearing them is just.
(didascalia)	Enter another Messenger
MESSENGER	My lord, prepare; the King comes on apace. [Exit]
HOTSPUR	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!
(didascalia)	Sound all the lofty instruments of war,
HOTSPUR	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. Here they embrace. Exeunt

Atto 5, Scena 3

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	King Henry enters with his power. Alarum, and exeunt to the battle. Then enter the Earl of Douglas, and Sir Walter Blunt, disguised as the King
BLUNT	What is thy name, that in the battle thus Thou crossest me? What honour dost thou seek Upon my head?
DOUGLAS	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.
DOUGLAS	The Lord of Stafford dear today 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.
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. Douglas kills Blunt. Then enter Hotspur
HOTSPUR	O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon thus, I never had triumphed upon a Scot.
DOUGLAS	All’s done, all’s won: here breathless lies the King.
HOTSPUR	Where?
DOUGLAS	Here.
HOTSPUR	This, Douglas? No, I know this face full well. A gallant knight he was; his name was Blunt— Semblably furnished like the King himself.
DOUGLAS	(to Blunt’s body) A fool go with thy soul, whither it goes ! A borrowed title hast thou bought too dear. Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
HOTSPUR	The king hath many marching in his coats.
DOUGLAS	Now by my sword, I will kill all his coats. I’ll murder all his wardrobe, piece by piece, Until I meet the King.
HOTSPUR	Up and away! Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day.
(didascalia)	Exeunt, leaving Blunt’s body
(didascalia)	Alarum. Enter Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Though I could scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here. Here’s no scoring but upon the pate.—Soft, who are you?—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 own bowels. I have led my ragamuffins where they are peppered; there’s not three of my hundred and fifty left alive, and they are for the town’s end, to beg during life.
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry
SIR JOHN	But who comes here?
PRINCE HARRY	What, stand’st thou idle here? Lend me thy sword. Many a noble man lies stark and stiff Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies, Whose deaths as yet are unrevenged. I prithee Lend me thy sword.
SIR JOHN	O Hal, I prithee give me leave to breathe awhile. Turk Gregory never did such deeds in arms As I have done this day. I have paid Percy, I have made him sure.
PRINCE HARRY	He is indeed, And living to kill thee. I prithee Lend me thy sword.
SIR JOHN	Nay, before God, Hal, If Percy be alive thou gett’st not my sword; But take my pistol if thou wilt.
PRINCE HARRY	Give it me. What, is it in the case?
SIR JOHN	Ay, Hal; ’Tis hot, ’tis hot. There’s that will sack a city. The Prince draws it out, and finds it to be a bottle of sack
PRINCE HARRY	What, is it a time to jest and dally now? He throws the bottle at him. Exit
SIR JOHN	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 honour as Sir Walter hath. Give me life, which if I can save, so; if not, honour comes unlocked for, and there’s an end. Exit [with Blunt’s body]

Atto 5, Scena 4

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarum. Excursions. Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, wounded, Lord John of Lancaster, and the Earl of Westmorland
KING HENRY	I prithee, Harry, withdraw thyself, thou bleed’st too much. Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.
PRINCE HARRY	(to the King) I beseech your majesty, make up, Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.
KING HENRY	I will do so. My lord of Westmorland, Lead him to his tent.
WESTMORLAND	(to the Prince) Come, my lord, I’ll lead you to your tent.
PRINCE HARRY	Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help, And God forbid a shallow scratch should drive The Prince of Wales from such a field as this, Where stained nobility lies trodden on, And rebels’ arms triumph in massacres.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	We breathe too long. Come, cousin Westmorland, Our duty this way lies. For God’s sake, come.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Lancaster and Westmorland
PRINCE HARRY	By God, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster; I did not think thee lord of such a spirit. Before I loved thee as a brother, John, But now I do respect thee as my soul.
KING HENRY	I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point With lustier maintenance than I did look for Of such an ungrown warrior.
PRINCE HARRY	O, this boy lends mettle to us all! Exit
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Douglas
DOUGLAS	Another king! They grow like Hydra’s heads. I am the Douglas, fatal to all those That wear those colours on them. What art thou That counterfeit’st the person of a king?
KING HENRY	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; But seeing thou fall’st on me so luckily, I will assay thee; and defend thyself.
DOUGLAS	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 Harry
PRINCE HARRY	Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like Never to hold it up again. The spirits Of valiant 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 flieth Cheerly, my lord! How fares your grace? Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent, And so hath Clifton. I’ll to Clifton straight.
KING HENRY	Stay and breathe awhile. Thou hast redeemed thy lost opinion, And showed thou mak’st some tender of my life, In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.
PRINCE HARRY	O God, they did me too much injury That ever said I hearkened 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 saved the treacherous labour of your son.
KING HENRY	Make up to Clifton; I’ll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey. Exit
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur
HOTSPUR	If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou speak’st as if I would deny my name.
HOTSPUR	My name is Harry Percy.
PRINCE HARRY	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.
HOTSPUR	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.
PRINCE HARRY	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.
HOTSPUR	I can no longer brook thy vanities. They fight.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Well said, Hal! To it, Hal! Nay, you shall find no boy’s play here, I can tell you.
(didascalia)	Enter Douglas. He fighteth with Sir John, who falls down as if he were dead. Exit Douglas. The Prince killeth Hotspur
HOTSPUR	O Harry, thou hast robbed 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 thoughts, the slaves 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—He dies
PRINCE HARRY	For worms, brave Percy. Fare thee well, great heart. Ill-weaved 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 favours hide thy mangled face, He covers Hotspur’s 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 remembered in thy epitaph. He spieth Sir John on the ground What, old acquaintance! Could not all this flesh Keep in a little life ? Poor Jack, farewell. I could have better spared 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 today, Though many dearer in this bloody fray. Embowelled will I see thee by and by. Till then, in blood by noble Percy lie. Exit Sir John riseth up
SIR JOHN	Embowelled? If thou embowel me today, I’ll give you leave to powder me, and eat me too, tomorrow. ’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 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 ? By my faith, 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 Hotspur) with a new wound in your thigh, come you along with me. He takes up Hotspur on his back.
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and Lord John of Lancaster
PRINCE HARRY	Come, brother John. Full bravely hast thou fleshed Thy maiden sword.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	But soft; whom have we here? Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?
PRINCE HARRY	I did; I saw him dead, Breathless and bleeding on the ground. (To Sir John) Art thou alive? Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight? I prithee speak; we will not trust our eyes Without our ears. Thou art not what thou seem’st.
SIR JOHN	No, that’s certain: I am not a double man. But if I be not Jack Oldcastle, then am I a jack. There is Percy. 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.
PRINCE HARRY	Why, Percy I killed myself, and saw thee dead.
SIR JOHN	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’t on my death I gave him this wound in the thigh. If the man were alive and would deny it, zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	This is the strangest tale that e’er I heard.
PRINCE HARRY	This is the strangest fellow, brother John. (To Sir 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. Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field To see what friends are living, who are dead.
(didascalia)	Exeunt the Prince and Lancaster
SIR JOHN	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.
(didascalia)	Exit, bearing Hotspur’s body

Atto 5, Scena 5

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	The trumpets sound. Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, Lord John of Lancaster, the Earl of Westmorland, with the Earl of Worcester and Sir Richard Vernon, prisoners, and soldier
KING HENRY	Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke. Ill-spirited Worcester, did not we send grace, Pardon, and terms of love to all of you ? And wouldst thou turn our offers contrary, Misuse the tenor of thy kinsman’s trust? Three knights upon our party slain today, 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.
WORCESTER	What I have done my safety urged me to, And I embrace this fortune patiently, Since not to be avoided it falls on me.
KING HENRY	Bear Worcester to the death, and Vernon too. Other offenders we will pause upon.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Worcester and Vernon, guarded
KING HENRY	How goes the field?
PRINCE HARRY	The noble Scot Lord Douglas, when he saw The fortune of the day quite turned from him, The noble Percy slain, and all his men Upon the foot of fear, fled with the rest; And falling from a hill he was so bruised That the pursuers took him. At my tent The Douglas is, and I beseech your grace I may dispose of him.
KING HENRY	With all my heart.
PRINCE HARRY	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 valours shown upon our crests today Have taught us how to cherish such high deeds Even in the bosom of our adversaries.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	I thank your grace for this high courtesy, Which I shall give away immediately.
KING HENRY	Then this remains, that we divide our power. You, son John, and my cousin Westmorland, Towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed To meet Northumberland and the prelate Scrope, Who, as we hear, are busily in arms. Myself and you, son Harry, will towards Wales, To fight with Glyndwr and the Earl of March. Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway, Meeting the check of such another day; And since this business so fair is done, Let us not leave till all our own be won.
(didascalia)	Exeunt [the King, the Prince, and their power at one door, Lancaster, Westmorland, and their power at another door]
THE MERRY WIVES OF	WINDSOR A LEGEND dating from 1702 claims that Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor in fourteen days and by command of Queen Elizabeth; in 1709 she was said to have wished particularly to see Falstaff in love. Whether or not this is true, a passage towards the end of the play alluding directly to the ceremonies of the Order of the Garter, Britain’s highest order of chivalry, encourages the belief that the play has a direct connection with a specific occasion. In 1597 George Carey, Lord Hunsdon, Lord Chamberlain and patron of Shakespeare’s company, was installed at Windsor as a Knight of the Garter. The Queen was not present at the installation but had attended the Garter Feast at the Palace of Westminster on St George’s Day (23 April). Shakespeare’s play was probably performed in association with this occasion, and may have been written especially for it. It was first printed, in a corrupt text, in 1602; a better text appears in the 1623 Folio. Some of the characters—Sir John Falstaff, Mistress Quickly, Pistol, Nim, Justice Shallow—appear also in I and 2 Henry IV and Henry V, but in spite of a reference to ’the wild Prince and Poins’ at 3.2.66-7, this is essentially an Elizabethan comedy, the only one that Shakespeare set firmly in England. The play is full of details that would have been familiar to Elizabethan Londoners, and the language is colloquial and up to date. The plot, however, is made up of conventional situations whose ancestry is literary rather than realistic. There are many analogues to Shakespeare’s basic plot situations in medieval and other tales, some in books that he probably or certainly knew. The central story, of Sir John’s unsuccessful attempts to seduce Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, and of Master Ford’s unfounded jealousy, is in the tradition of the Italian novella, and may have been suggested by Ser Giovanni Fiorentino’s II Pecorone (1558). Alongside it Shakespeare places the comical but finally romantic love story of Anne Page, wooed by the foolish but rich Abraham Slender and the irascible French Doctor Caius, but won by the young and handsome Fenton. The play contains a higher proportion of prose to verse than any other play by Shakespeare, and the action is often broadly comic; but it ends, after the midnight scene in Windsor Forest during which Sir John is frightened out of his lechery, in forgiveness and love. The Merry Wives of Windsor is known to have been acted for James I on 4 November 1604, and for Charles I in 1638. It was revived soon after the theatres reopened, in 1660; at first it was not particularly popular, but since 1720 it has consistently pleased audiences. Many artists have illustrated it, and it forms the basis for a number of operas, including Otto Nicolai’s Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1849) and Giuseppe Verdi’s comic masterpiece, Falstaff (1893).
THE PERSONS OF THE	PLAY

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter King Henry, Lord John of Lancaster, and the Earl of Westmorland, with other lords
KING HENRY	So shaken as we are, so wan with care, Find we a time for frighted peace to pant And breathe short-winded accents of new broils To be commenced in strands afar remote. No more the thirsty entrance of this soil Shall daub her lips with her own children’s blood. No more shall trenching war channel her fields, Nor bruise her flow‘rets with the armed hoofs Of hostile paces. Those opposed eyes, Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bred, Did lately meet in the intestine shock And furious close of civil butchery, Shall now in mutual well-beseeming ranks March all one way, and be no more opposed Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies. The edge of war, like an ill-sheathèd knife, No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, As far as to the sepulchre of Christ— Whose soldier now, under whose blessèd cross We are impressèd and engaged to fight— Forthwith a power of English shall we levy, Whose arms were moulded in their mothers’ womb To chase these pagans in those holy fields Over whose acres walked those blessed feet Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed, For our advantage, on the bitter cross. But this our purpose now is twelve month old, And bootless ’tis to tell you we will go. Therefor we meet not now. Then let me hear Of you, my gentle cousin Westmorland, What yesternight our Council did decree In forwarding this dear expedience.
WESTMORLAND	My liege, this haste was hot in question, And many limits of the charge set down But yesternight, when all athwart there came A post from Wales, loaden with heavy news, Whose worst was that the noble Mortimer, Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight Against the irregular and wild Glyndwr, Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken, A thousand of his people butcherèd, Upon whose dead corpse’ there was such misuse, Such beastly shameless transformation, By those Welshwomen done as may not be Without much shame retold or spoken of.
KING HENRY	It seems then that the tidings of this broil Brake off our business for the Holy Land.
WESTMORLAND	This matched with other did, my gracious lord, For more uneven and unwelcome news Came from the north, and thus it did import: On Holy-rood day the gallant Hotspur there— Young Harry Percy—and brave Archibald, That ever valiant and approvèd Scot, At Holmedon met, Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour, As by discharge of their artillery And shape of likelihood the news was told; For he that brought them in the very heat And pride of their contention did take horse, Uncertain of the issue any way.
KING HENRY	Here is a dear, a true industrious friend, Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, Stained with the variation of each soil Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours; And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news. The Earl of Douglas is discomfited. Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights, Balked in their own blood did Sir Walter see On Holmedon’s plains. Of prisoners Hotspur took Mordake the Earl of Fife and eldest son To beaten Douglas, and the Earl of Athol, Of Moray, Angus, and Menteith; And is not this an honourable spoil, A gallant prize? Ha, cousin, is it not?
WESTMORLAND	In faith, it is a conquest for a prince to boast of.
KING HENRY	Yea, there thou mak‘st me sad, and mak’st me sin In envy that my lord Northumberland Should be the father to so blest a son— A son who is the theme of honour’s tongue, Amongst a grove the very straightest plant, Who is sweet Fortune’s minion and her pride— Whilst I by looking on the praise of him See riot and dishonour stain the brow Of my young Harry. O, that it could be proved That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged In cradle clothes our children where they lay, And called mine Percy, his Plantagenet! Then would I have his Harry, and he mine. But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz, Of this young Percy’s pride? The prisoners Which he in this adventure hath surprised To his own use he keeps, and sends me word I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.
WESTMORLAND	This is his uncle’s teaching. This is Worcester, Malevolent to you in all aspects, Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up The crest of youth against your dignity.
KING HENRY	But I have sent for him to answer this; And for this cause awhile we must neglect Our holy purpose to Jerusalem. Cousin, on Wednesday next our Council we Will hold at Windsor. So inform the lords. But come yourself with speed to us again, For more is to be said and to be done Than out of anger can be uttered.
WESTMORLAND	I will, my liege.
(didascalia)	Exeunt King Henry, Lancaster, and other lords at one door; Westmorland at another door

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Re Enrico, Lord John di Lancaster e il Conte di Westmorland, con altri lord
RE ENRICO	Così scossi come siamo, così smorti d’affanno, troviamo un tempo perché la pace atterrita riprenda fiato ed esali con lena corta accenti di nuove risse da intraprendersi in lidi assai remoti. Non più la fauce assetata di questo suolo imbratterà le sue labbra col sangue dei propri figli. Non più la guerra scavatrice solcherà i suoi campi, né pesterà i suoi fiorellini con gli zoccoli ferrati di passi ostili. Quegli sguardi avversi, che, come meteore d’un cielo turbato, tutti d’una sola natura, d’una sola sostanza generati, di recente s’incontrarono nell’urto intestino e nella furiosa stretta del macello civile, ora, in schiere concordi e ben ordinate, marceranno tutti per una via, e non più opposti contro conoscenti, congiunti e alleati. Il filo della guerra, come coltello mal rinfoderato, non ferirà più il suo padrone. Dunque, amici, fino al sepolcro di Cristo— di cui ora siamo soldati, sotto la cui benedetta croce siamo arruolati e impegnati a combattere— senza indugio leveremo una schiera d’Inglesi, le cui braccia furono plasmate nel grembo materno per cacciare questi pagani da quei campi santi sui cui acri camminarono quei piedi beati che millequattrocento anni or sono furono inchiodati, a nostro vantaggio, sull’amara croce. Ma questo nostro proposito ha ormai dodici mesi, ed è vano dirvi che andremo. Non per questo ci raduniamo ora. Ditemi dunque, voi, mio gentile cugino Westmorland, che cosa la notte scorsa decretò il nostro Consiglio nel promuovere questa cara impresa.
WESTMORLAND	Mio sire, questa fretta fu discussa con ardore, e molti termini della spesa furono fissati proprio ieri notte, quando di traverso giunse un corriere dal Galles, carico di gravi novelle, la cui peggiore era che il nobile Mortimer, guidando gli uomini dell’Herefordshire a battaglia contro l’irregolare e selvaggio Glyndwr, fu preso dalle rozze mani di quel Gallese, e mille dei suoi furono macellati, e sui cui cadaveri si fece tale scempio, tale bestiale e svergognato strazio, opera di quelle donne gallesi, che non si può senza gran vergogna ridire o raccontare.
RE ENRICO	Pare dunque che la notizia di questa mischia abbia interrotto la nostra impresa per la Terra Santa.
WESTMORLAND	Questa s’unì ad altre, mio grazioso signore, ché novelle più aspre e sgradite vennero dal nord, e recavano questo: nel giorno della Santa Croce il gagliardo Hotspur là— il giovane Harry Percy—e il prode Archibald, quello Scozzese sempre valente e provato, s’affrontarono a Holmedon, dove spesero un’ora triste e sanguinosa, come dallo scaricarsi delle loro artiglierie e dall’apparenza del verosimile fu riferita la nuova; poiché colui che la recò, nel colmo stesso e nell’orgoglio della loro contesa prese il cavallo, incerto in ogni modo dell’esito.
RE ENRICO	Ecco un caro, un vero e operoso amico, Sir Walter Blunt, appena sceso dal suo cavallo, macchiato dalla varietà d’ogni terreno fra quella Holmedon e questa nostra sede; ed egli ci ha recato liete e gradite novelle. Il Conte di Douglas è sconfitto. Diecimila arditi Scozzesi, ventidue cavalieri, riversi nel proprio sangue vide Sir Walter sulle piane di Holmedon. Di prigionieri Hotspur prese Mordake Conte di Fife e figlio maggiore del vinto Douglas, e il Conte di Athol, di Moray, Angus e Menteith; e non è questa una spoglia onorevole, un gagliardo bottino? Eh, cugino, non è vero?
WESTMORLAND	In fede, è una conquista di cui un principe può vantarsi.
RE ENRICO	Sì, in ciò mi fai triste, e mi fai peccare d’invidia, che il mio lord Northumberland sia il padre d’un figlio così benedetto— un figlio che è il tema della lingua dell’onore, fra un bosco la pianta più diritta, che è il favorito della dolce Fortuna e il suo orgoglio— mentre io, guardando alla lode di lui, vedo il disordine e il disonore macchiare la fronte del mio giovane Harry. Oh, si potesse provare che qualche fata vagante nella notte avesse scambiato nelle fasce i nostri figli là dove giacevano, e chiamato Percy il mio, e Plantageneto il suo! Allora io avrei il suo Harry, ed egli il mio. Ma via lui dai miei pensieri. Che pensi, cugino, dell’orgoglio di questo giovane Percy? I prigionieri che in questa impresa ha catturato li tiene per proprio uso, e mi manda a dire che non avrò nessuno tranne Mordake Conte di Fife.
WESTMORLAND	Questo è l’insegnamento di suo zio. Questo è Worcester, a voi malevolo sotto ogni aspetto, che lo fa impettire e rizzare la cresta della giovinezza contro la vostra dignità.
RE ENRICO	Ma l’ho fatto chiamare perché ne risponda; e per questa causa dobbiamo per un poco trascurare il nostro santo proposito verso Gerusalemme. Cugino, mercoledì prossimo il nostro Consiglio lo terremo a Windsor. Così informa i lord. Ma tornate voi stesso da noi con prestezza, ché più v’è da dire e da fare di quanto l’ira possa esprimere.
WESTMORLAND	Lo farò, mio sire.
(didascalia)	Escono Re Enrico, Lancaster e gli altri lord da una porta; Westmorland da un’altra porta

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Harry Prince of Wales and Sir John Oldcastle SIR JOHN Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?
PRINCE HARRY	Thou art so fat-witted with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? Unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta, I see no reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time of the day.
SIR JOHN	Indeed you come near me now, Hal, for we that take purses go by the moon and the seven stars, and not ‘By Phoebus, he, that wand’ring knight so fair’. And I prithee, sweet wag, when thou art a king, as God save thy grace—‘majesty’ I should say, for grace thou wilt have none—
PRINCE HARRY	What, none?
SIR JOHN	No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to be prologue to an egg and butter.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, how then? Come, roundly, roundly.
SIR JOHN	Marry then, sweet wag, when thou art king let not us that are squires of the night’s body be called thieves of the day’s beauty. Let us be ‘Diana’s foresters’, ‘gentlemen of the shade’, ‘minions of the moon’, and let men say we be men of good government, being governed, as the sea is, by our noble and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou sayst well, and it holds well too, for the fortune of us that are the moon’s men doth ebb and flow like the sea, being governed as the sea is by the moon. As for proof now: a purse of gold most resolutely snatched on Monday night, and most dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning; got with swearing ‘lay by!’, and spent with crying ‘bring in!’; now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder, and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows.
SIR JOHN	By the Lord, thou sayst true, lad; and is not my Hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?
PRINCE HARRY	As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle; and is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?
SIR JOHN	How now, how now, mad wag? What, in thy quips and thy quiddities? What a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin?
PRINCE HARRY	Why, what a pox have I to do with my Hostess of the tavern?
SIR JOHN	Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a time and oft.
PRINCE HARRY	Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?
SIR JOHN	No, I’ll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there.
PRINCE HARRY	Yea, and elsewhere so far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not, I have used my credit.
SIR JOHN	Yea, and so used it that were it not here apparent that thou art heir apparent—but I prithee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king, and resolution thus fubbed as it is with the rusty curb of old father Antic the law? Do not thou when thou art king hang a thief.
PRINCE HARRY	No, thou shalt.
SIR JOHN	Shall I? O, rare! By the Lord, I’ll be a brave judge!
PRINCE HARRY	Thou judgest false already. I mean thou shalt have the hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hangman.
SIR JOHN	Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my humour as well as waiting in the court, I can tell you.
PRINCE HARRY	For obtaining of suits?
SIR JOHN	Yea, for obtaining of suits, whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe. ’Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gib cat, or a lugged bear.
PRINCE HARRY	Or an old lion, or a lover’s lute.
SIR JOHN	Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe.
PRINCE HARRY	What sayst thou to a hare, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch?
SIR JOHN	Thou hast the most unsavoury similes, and art indeed the most comparative, rascalliest sweet young Prince. But Hal, I prithee trouble me no more with vanity. I would to God thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought. An old lord of the Council rated me the other day in the street about you, sir, but I marked him not; and yet he talked very wisely, but I regarded him not; and yet he talked wisely, and in the street too.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou didst well, for wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man regards it.
SIR JOHN	O, thou hast damnable iteration, and art indeed able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal, God forgive thee for it. Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give it over. By the Lord, an I do not, I am a villain. I’ll be damned for never a king’s son in Christendom.
PRINCE HARRY	Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack?
SIR JOHN	Zounds, where thou wilt, lad! I’ll make one; an I do not, call me villain and baffle me.
PRINCE HARRY	I see a good amendment of life in thee, from praying to purse-taking.
SIR JOHN	Why, Hal, ‘tis my vocation, Hal. ’Tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation.
(didascalia)	Enter Poins
SIR JOHN	Poins! Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match. O, if men were to be saved by merit, what hole in hell were hot enough for him? This is the most omnipotent villain that ever cried ‘Stand!’ to a true man.
PRINCE HARRY	Good morrow, Ned. no
POINS	Good morrow, sweet Hal. (To Sir John) What says Monsieur Remorse? What says Sir John, sack-and-sugar Jack? How agrees the devil and thee about thy soul, that thou soldest him on Good Friday last, for a cup of Madeira and a cold capon’s leg?
PRINCE HARRY	Sir John stands to his word, the devil shall have his bargain, for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs: he will give the devil his due.
POINS	(to Sir John) Then art thou damned for keeping thy word with the devil.
PRINCE HARRY	Else he had been damned for cozening the devil.
POINS	But my lads, my lads, tomorrow morning by four o’clock early, at Gads Hill, there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses. I have visors for you all; you have horses for yourselves. Gadshill lies tonight in Rochester. I have bespoke supper tomorrow night in Eastcheap. We may do it as secure as sleep. If you will go, I will stuff your purses full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home and be hanged.
SIR JOHN	Hear ye, Edward, if I tarry at home and go not, I’ll hang you for going.
POINS	You will, chops?
SIR JOHN	Hal, wilt thou make one?
PRINCE HARRY	Who, I rob? I a thief? Not I, by my faith.
SIR JOHN	There’s neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou earnest not of the blood royal, if thou darest not stand for ten shillings.
PRINCE HARRY	Well then, once in my days I’ll be a madcap.
SIR JOHN	Why, that’s well said.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, come what will, I’ll tarry at home.
SIR JOHN	By the Lord, I’ll be a traitor then, when thou art king.
PRINCE HARRY	I care not.
POINS	Sir John, I prithee leave the Prince and me alone. I will lay him down such reasons for this adventure that he shall go.
SIR JOHN	Well, God give thee the spirit of persuasion and him the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may move and what he hears may be believed, that the true prince may, for recreation’ sake, prove a false thief; for the poor abuses of the time want countenance. Farewell. You shall find me in Eastcheap.
PRINCE HARRY	Farewell, the latter spring; farewell, Allhallown summer. Exit Sir John
POINS	Now, my good sweet honey lord, ride with us tomorrow. I have a jest to execute that I cannot manage alone. Oldcastle, Harvey, Russell, and Gadshill shall rob those men that we have already waylaid—yourself and I will not be there—and when they have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut this head off from my shoulders.
PRINCE HARRY	But how shall we part with them in setting forth?
POINS	Why, we will set forth before or after them and appoint them a place of meeting, wherein it is at our pleasure to fail. And then will they adventure upon the exploit themselves, which they shall have no sooner achieved but we’ll set upon them.
PRINCE HARRY	Ay, but ’tis like that they will know us by our horses, by our habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves.
POINS	Tut, our horses they shall not see—I’ll tie them in the wood; our visors we will change after we leave them; and, sirrah, I have cases of buckram for the nonce, to immask our noted outward garments.
PRINCE HARRY	But I doubt they will be too hard for us.
POINS	Well, for two of them, I know them to be as true-bred cowards as ever turned back; and for the third, if he fight longer than he sees reason, I’ll forswear arms. The virtue of this jest will be the incomprehensible lies that this same fat rogue will tell us when we meet at supper: how thirty at least he fought with, what wards, what blows, what extremities he endured; and in the reproof of this lives the jest.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, I’ll go with thee. Provide us all things necessary, and meet me tomorrow night in Eastcheap; there I’ll sup. Farewell.
POINS	Farewell, my lord. Exit
PRINCE HARRY	I know you all, and will a while uphold The unyoked humour of your idleness. Yet herein will I imitate the sun, Who doth permit the base contagious clouds To smother up his beauty from the world, That when he please again to be himself, Being wanted he may be more wondered at By breaking through the foul and ugly mists Of vapours that did seem to strangle him. If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work; But when they seldom come, they wished-for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. So when this loose behaviour I throw off And pay the debt I never promised, By how much better than my word I am, By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes; And like bright metal on a sullen ground, My reformation, glitt‘ring o’er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off. I’ll so offend to make offence a skill, Redeeming time when men think least I will. Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Harry Principe di Galles e Sir John Oldcastle SIR JOHN Ebbene, Hal, che ora del giorno è, ragazzo?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sei così grasso d’ingegno per il bere vecchio sack, e per lo sbottonarti dopo cena, e per il dormire sulle panche dopo mezzogiorno, che hai dimenticato di domandare davvero ciò che davvero vorresti sapere. Che diavolo hai tu a che fare con l’ora del giorno? A meno che le ore non fossero coppe di sack, e i minuti capponi, e gli orologi lingue di ruffiane, e i quadranti insegne di bordelli, e il benedetto sole stesso una bella ragazza focosa in taffettà color fiamma, non vedo ragione perché tu debba essere così superfluo da domandare l’ora del giorno.
SIR JOHN	Davvero ora mi cogli, Hal, ché noi che tagliamo borse andiamo secondo la luna e le sette stelle, e non secondo ‘Per Febo, lui, quel cavaliere errante sì bello’. E ti prego, dolce burlone, quando sarai re, come Dio salvi la tua grazia—‘maestà’ dovrei dire, ché di grazia non ne avrai punto—
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come, punto?
SIR JOHN	No, in fede mia, neppur tanta quanta basti a far da prologo a un uovo col burro.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, e allora? Su, spiccio, spiccio.
SIR JOHN	Perbacco allora, dolce burlone, quando sarai re non lasciare che noi, che siamo scudieri del corpo della notte, siamo chiamati ladri della bellezza del giorno. Ci si dica ‘forestali di Diana’, ‘gentiluomini dell’ombra’, ‘favoriti della luna’, e la gente dica che siamo uomini di buon governo, essendo governati, come il mare, dalla nostra nobile e casta signora la luna, sotto il cui volto rubiamo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Dici bene, e regge bene anche, ché la fortuna di noi che siamo uomini della luna cala e cresce come il mare, essendo governata come il mare dalla luna. Ed eccone la prova: una borsa d’oro risolutissimamente ghermita la notte di lunedì, e dissolutissimamente spesa il martedì mattina; ottenuta gridando ‘posa lì!’, e spesa gridando ‘porta qua!’; ora in riflusso basso come il piede della scala, e poco dopo in flusso alto come la trave della forca.
SIR JOHN	Per il Signore, dici il vero, ragazzo; e non è la mia Ostessa della taverna una dolcissima ragazza?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come il miele d’Ibla, mio vecchio compare del castello; e non è un giustacuore di cuoio una dolcissima veste di durata?
SIR JOHN	Come, come, pazzo burlone? Che, coi tuoi frizzi e i tuoi cavilli? Che peste ho io a che fare con un giustacuore di cuoio?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, che vaiolo ho io a che fare con la mia Ostessa della taverna?
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, tu l’hai chiamata a far conto molte volte e spesso.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ti ho mai chiesto di pagare la tua parte?
SIR JOHN	No, ti renderò giustizia, là hai pagato tutto.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sì, e altrove fin dove il mio denaro arrivava; e dove non arrivava, ho usato il mio credito.
SIR JOHN	Sì, e l’hai usato tanto che, se non fosse qui apparente che tu sei erede apparente—ma ti prego, dolce burlone, ci saranno forche in piedi in Inghilterra quando sarai re, e la risolutezza sarà così gabbata com’è dal morso rugginoso di quel vecchio padre Buffone che è la legge? Non impiccare tu un ladro, quando sarai re.
PRINCIPE HARRY	No, lo farai tu.
SIR JOHN	Io? Oh, che meraviglia! Per il Signore, sarò un bravo giudice!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Giudichi già a torto. Voglio dire che avrai tu l’impiccagione dei ladri, e così diverrai un raro boia.
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, Hal, bene; e in certo modo s’accorda col mio umore tanto bene quanto l’attendere a corte, te lo posso dire.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Per ottener vesti?
SIR JOHN	Sì, per ottener vesti, di cui il boia non ha magro guardaroba. Sangue di Dio, sono malinconico come un gatto castrato, o un orso aizzato.
PRINCIPE HARRY	O un vecchio leone, o il liuto d’un amante.
SIR JOHN	Sì, o il bordone d’una cornamusa del Lincolnshire.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che dici d’una lepre, o della malinconia di Moor-ditch?
SIR JOHN	Hai le similitudini più sgradevoli, e sei davvero il più comparativo, il più birbante dolce giovane Principe. Ma Hal, ti prego, non tormentarmi più con la vanità. Vorrei a Dio che tu ed io sapessimo dove si possa comprare una partita di buoni nomi. Un vecchio lord del Consiglio l’altro giorno mi rimproverò in strada a causa vostra, signore, ma non gli badai; eppure parlava molto saggiamente, ma non lo considerai; eppure parlava saggiamente, e in strada per giunta.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Facesti bene, ché la sapienza grida per le strade, e nessuno la considera.
SIR JOHN	Oh, tu hai una dannabile insistenza, e sei davvero capace di corrompere un santo. Mi hai fatto molto male, Hal, Dio te lo perdoni. Prima di conoscerti, Hal, non sapevo nulla; e ora, a dirla giusta, sono poco meglio d’uno dei malvagi. Devo lasciare questa vita, e la lascerò. Per il Signore, se non lo faccio, sono un furfante. Non voglio esser dannato per nessun figlio di re della cristianità.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Dove taglieremo una borsa domani, Jack?
SIR JOHN	Corpo di Dio, dove vorrai, ragazzo! Sarò dei vostri; e se non lo faccio, chiamatemi furfante e svergognatemi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Vedo in te un buon emendamento di vita, dal pregare al tagliar borse.
SIR JOHN	Diamine, Hal, è la mia vocazione, Hal. Non è peccato per un uomo affaticarsi nella propria vocazione.
(didascalia)	Entra Poins
SIR JOHN	Poins! Ora sapremo se Gadshill ha combinato il colpo. Oh, se gli uomini dovessero salvarsi per merito, quale buco dell’inferno sarebbe abbastanza caldo per lui? Questo è il più onnipotente furfante che mai gridò ‘Fermo!’ a un galantuomo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Buon giorno, Ned. no
POINS	Buon giorno, dolce Hal. (A Sir John) Che dice Monsieur Rimorso? Che dice Sir John, Jack sack-e-zucchero? Come vi accordate tu e il diavolo circa la tua anima, che gli vendesti l’ultimo Venerdì Santo, per una coppa di Madera e una fredda coscia di cappone?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sir John tien fede alla parola, il diavolo avrà il suo affare, ché egli non fu mai violatore di proverbi: darà al diavolo il suo dovuto.
POINS	(a Sir John) Allora sei dannato per aver mantenuto la parola col diavolo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Altrimenti sarebbe stato dannato per aver gabbato il diavolo.
POINS	Ma ragazzi miei, ragazzi miei, domattina per tempo, alle quattro d’orologio, a Gads Hill, ci sono pellegrini che vanno a Canterbury con ricche offerte, e mercanti che cavalcano a Londra con borse grasse. Ho maschere per tutti voi; voi avete cavalli per voi stessi. Gadshill dorme stanotte a Rochester. Ho ordinato la cena per domani notte a Eastcheap. Possiamo farlo sicuri come nel sonno. Se verrete, vi riempirò le borse di corone; se non verrete, restate a casa e siate impiccati.
SIR JOHN	Sentite, Edward, se resto a casa e non vado, vi impiccherò per esser andati.
POINS	Davvero, ganascia?
SIR JOHN	Hal, sarai dei nostri?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Chi, io rubare? Io ladro? Non io, in fede mia.
SIR JOHN	Non c’è in te né onestà, né virilità, né buona compagnia, né discendi dal sangue reale, se non osi batterti per dieci scellini.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene allora, una volta nella mia vita farò lo scapestrato.
SIR JOHN	Ecco, questo è ben detto.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, accada quel che vuole, io resterò a casa.
SIR JOHN	Per il Signore, sarò un traditore allora, quando sarai re.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Non m’importa.
POINS	Sir John, ti prego, lascia soli me e il Principe. Gli esporrò tali ragioni per questa avventura che verrà.
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, Dio ti dia lo spirito della persuasione e a lui orecchie che ne profittino, sì che ciò che dici possa muovere e ciò che egli ode possa esser creduto, e il vero principe possa, per amor di svago, farsi falso ladro; ché i poveri abusi del tempo mancano d’appoggio. Addio. Mi troverete a Eastcheap.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Addio, tarda primavera; addio, estate d’Ognissanti. Esce Sir John
POINS	Ora, mio buono e dolce signore di miele, cavalca con noi domani. Ho uno scherzo da eseguire che non posso condurre da solo. Oldcastle, Harvey, Russell e Gadshill deruberanno quegli uomini che abbiamo già teso in agguato—voi ed io non ci saremo—e quando avranno il bottino, se voi ed io non deruberemo loro, tagliatemi questa testa dalle spalle.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ma come ci separeremo da loro nel partire?
POINS	Diamine, partiremo prima o dopo di loro e fisseremo loro un luogo d’incontro, al quale è a nostro piacere mancare. E allora si arrischieranno essi stessi nell’impresa, e non l’avranno appena compiuta che noi piomberemo su di loro.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sì, ma è probabile che ci riconoscano dai nostri cavalli, dai nostri abiti e da ogni altro arnese, per quelli che siamo.
POINS	Bah, i nostri cavalli non li vedranno—li legherò nel bosco; le nostre maschere le cambieremo dopo averli lasciati; e, messere, ho vesti di bucherame apposta, per mascherare i nostri noti indumenti esterni.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ma dubito che saranno troppo duri per noi.
POINS	Ebbene, quanto a due di loro, li conosco per codardi di schietta razza quanti mai voltarono le spalle; e quanto al terzo, se combatte più a lungo di quanto veda ragione, abiurerò le armi. La virtù di questo scherzo saranno le incomprensibili menzogne che quello stesso grasso furfante ci racconterà quando ci troveremo a cena: con quanti, almeno trenta, egli combatté, che parate, che colpi, che estremi sopportò; e nel confutar questo sta lo scherzo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, verrò con te. Provvedi a tutto il necessario, e trovami domani notte a Eastcheap; là cenerò. Addio.
POINS	Addio, mio signore. Esce
PRINCIPE HARRY	Io vi conosco tutti, e per un poco sosterrò l’umore sfrenato del vostro ozio. Pure in questo imiterò il sole, che permette alle basse nubi contagiose di soffocare la sua bellezza agli occhi del mondo, sì che, quando gli piaccia d’esser di nuovo se stesso, essendo desiderato, susciti maggior meraviglia irrompendo attraverso le turpi e brutte nebbie di vapori che parevano strangolarlo. Se tutto l’anno fossero feste da giocare, lo svagarsi sarebbe tedioso quanto il lavorare; ma quando vengono di rado, vengono desiderate, e nulla piace se non i rari accidenti. Così, quando getterò via questa condotta sregolata e pagherò il debito che mai promisi, di quanto sarò migliore della mia parola, di altrettanto smentirò le attese degli uomini; e come metallo lucente su fondo cupo, la mia riforma, scintillando sopra la mia colpa, apparirà più bella e attirerà più occhi di quella che non ha sfondo che la risalti. Così offenderò da fare dell’offesa un’arte, riscattando il tempo quando meno gli uomini crederanno. Esce

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter the King, the Earls of Northumberland and Worcester, Hotspur, Sir Walter Blunt, with other lords
KING HENRY	(to Hotspur, Northumberland, and Worcester) My blood hath been too cold and temperate, Unapt to stir at these indignities, And you have found me, for accordingly You tread upon my patience; but be sure I will from henceforth rather be myself, Mighty and to be feared, than my condition, Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down, And therefore lost that title of respect Which the proud soul ne’er pays but to the proud.
WORCESTER	Our house, my sovereign liege, little deserves The scourge of greatness to be used on it, And that same greatness too, which our own hands Have holp to make so portly.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to the King) My lord—
KING HENRY	Worcester, get thee gone, for I do see Danger and disobedience in thine eye. O sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory, And majesty might never yet endure The moody frontier of a servant brow. You have good leave to leave us. When we need Your use and counsel we shall send for you.
(didascalia)	Exit Worcester
KING HENRY	You were about to speak.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Yea, my good lord. Those prisoners in your highness’ name demanded, Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took, Were, as he says, not with such strength denied As was delivered to your majesty, Who either through envy or misprision Was guilty of this fault, and not my son.
HOTSPUR	(to the King) My liege, I did deny no prisoners; But I remember, when the fight was done, When I was dry with rage and extreme toil, Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, Came there a certain lord, neat and trimly dressed, Fresh as a bridegroom, and his chin, new-reaped, Showed like a stubble-land at harvest-home. He was perfumed like a milliner, And ‘twixt his finger and his thumb he held A pouncet-box, which ever and anon He gave his nose and took’t away again— Who therewith angry, when it next came there Took it in snuff—and still he smiled and talked; And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by, He called them untaught knaves, unmannerly To bring a slovenly unhandsome corpse Betwixt the wind and his nobility. With many holiday and lady terms He questioned me; amongst the rest demanded My prisoners in your majesty’s behalf. I then, all smarting with my wounds being cold— To be so pestered with a popinjay!— Out of my grief and my impatience Answered neglectingly, I know not what— He should, or should not—for he made me mad To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman Of guns, and drums, and wounds, God save the mark! And telling me the sovereign’st thing on earth Was parmacity for an inward bruise, And that it was great pity, so it was, This villainous saltpetre should be digged Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, Which many a good tall fellow had destroyed So cowardly, and but for these vile guns He would himself have been a soldier. This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord, Made me to answer indirectly, as I said, And I beseech you, let not his report Come current for an accusation Betwixt my love and your high majesty.
BLUNT	(to the King) The circumstance considered, good my lord, Whate’er Lord Harry Percy then had said To such a person, and in such a place, At such a time, with all the rest retold, May reasonably die, and never rise To do him wrong or any way impeach What then he said, so he unsay it now.
KING HENRY	Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners, But with proviso and exception That we at our own charge shall ransom straight His brother-in-law the foolish Mortimer, Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betrayed The lives of those that he did lead to fight Against that great magician, damned Glyndŵr— Whose daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March Hath lately married. Shall our coffers, then, Be emptied to redeem a traitor home? Shall we buy treason, and indent with fears When they have lost and forfeited themselves? No, on the barren mountains let him starve; For I shall never hold that man my friend Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost To ransom home revolted Mortimer—
HOTSPUR	Revolted Mortimer? He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, But by the chance of war. To prove that true Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds, Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took When on the gentle Severn’s sedgy bank, In single opposition, hand to hand, He did confound the best part of an hour In changing hardiment with great Glyndwr. Three times they breathed, and three times did they drink, Upon agreement, of swift Severn’s flood, Who, then affrighted with their bloody looks, Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds, And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank, Bloodstainèd with these valiant combatants. Never did bare and rotten policy Colour her working with such deadly wounds, Nor never could the noble Mortimer Receive so many, and all willingly. Then let not him be slandered with revolt.
KING HENRY	Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him. He never did encounter with Glyndŵr. I tell thee, He durst as well have met the devil alone As Owain Glyndŵr for an enemy. Art thou not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer. Send me your prisoners with the speediest means, Or you shall hear in such a kind from me As will displease you.—My lord Northumberland, We license your departure with your son. (To Hotspur) Send us your prisoners, or you’ll hear of it.
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Hotspur and Northumberland
HOTSPUR	An if the devil come and roar for them I will not send them. I will after straight And tell him so, for I will ease my heart, Although it be with hazard of my head.
NORTHUMBERLAND	What, drunk with choler? Stay and pause awhile.
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Worcester
NORTHUMBERLAND	Here comes your uncle.
HOTSPUR	Speak of Mortimer? Zounds, I will speak of him, and let my soul Want mercy if I do not join with him. In his behalf I’ll empty all these veins, And shed my dear blood drop by drop in the dust, But I will lift the downfall Mortimer As high in the air as this unthankful King, As this ingrate and cankered Bolingbroke.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to Worcester) Brother, the King hath made your nephew mad.
WORCESTER	Who struck this heat up after I was gone?
HOTSPUR	He will forsooth have all my prisoners; And when I urged the ransom once again Of my wife’s brother, then his cheek looked pale, And on my face he turned an eye of death, Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.
WORCESTER	I cannot blame him: was not he proclaimed By Richard, that dead is, the next of blood?
NORTHUMBERLAND	He was; I heard the proclamation. And then it was when the unhappy King, Whose wrongs in us God pardon, did set forth Upon his Irish expedition, From whence he, intercepted, did return To be deposed, and shortly murdered.
WORCESTER	And for whose death we in the world’s wide mouth Live scandalized and foully spoken of.
HOTSPUR	But soft, I pray you; did King Richard then Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer Heir to the crown?
NORTHUMBERLAND	He did; myself did hear it.
HOTSPUR	Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin King That wished him on the barren mountains starve. But shall it be that you that set the crown Upon the head of this forgetful man, And for his sake wear the detested blot Of murderous subornation, shall it be That you a world of curses undergo, Being the agents or base second means, The cords, the ladder, or the hangman, rather? O, pardon me that I descend so low To show the line and the predicament Wherein you range under this subtle King! Shall it for shame be spoken in these days, Or fill up chronicles in time to come, That men of your nobility and power Did gage them both in an unjust behalf, As both of you, God pardon it, have done: To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose, And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke? And shall it in more shame be further spoken That you are fooled, discarded, and shook off By him for whom these shames ye underwent? No; yet time serves wherein you may redeem Your banished honours, and restore yourselves Into the good thoughts of the world again, Revenge the jeering and disdained contempt Of this proud King, who studies day and night To answer all the debt he owes to you Even with the bloody payment of your deaths. Therefore, I say—
WORCESTER	Peace, cousin, say no more. And now I will unclasp a secret book, And to your quick-conceiving discontents I’ll read you matter deep and dangerous, As full of peril and adventurous spirit As to o’erwalk a current roaring loud On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.
HOTSPUR	If he fall in, good night, or sink or swim. Send danger from the east unto the west, So honour cross it from the north to south; And let them grapple. O, the blood more stirs To rouse a lion than to start a hare!
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to Worcester) Imagination of some great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.
(didascalia)	HOTSPUR
NORTHUMBERLAND	By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon, Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, And pluck up drowned honour by the locks, So he that doth redeem her thence might wear, Without corrival, all her dignities. But out upon this half-faced fellowship!
WORCESTER	(to Northumberland) He apprehends a world of figures here, But not the form of what he should attend. (To Hotspur) Good cousin, give me audience for a while, And list to me.
HOTSPUR	I cry you mercy.
WORCESTER	Those same noble Scots That are your prisoners—
HOTSPUR	I’ll keep them all. By God, he shall not have a Scot of them; No, if a scot would save his soul he shall not. I’ll keep them, by this hand.
WORCESTER	You start away, And lend no ear unto my purposes. Those prisoners you shall keep.
HOTSPUR	Nay, I will; that’s flat. He said he would not ransom Mortimer, Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer; But I will find him when he lies asleep, And in his ear I’ll hollo ‘Mortimerl’ Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak Nothing but ‘Mortimer’, and give it him To keep his anger still in motion.
WORCESTER	Hear you, cousin, a word.
HOTSPUR	All studies here I solemnly defy, Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke. And that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales— But that I think his father loves him not And would be glad he met with some mischance— I would have him poisoned with a pot of ale.
WORCESTER	Farewell, kinsman. I’ll talk to you When you are better tempered to attend.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(to Hotspur) Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool Art thou to break into this woman’s mood, Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own I
HOTSPUR	Why, look you, I am whipped and scourged with rods, Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear Of this vile politician Bolingbroke. In Richard’s time—what d‘ye call the place? A plague upon’t, it is in Gloucestershire. ‘Twas where the madcap Duke his uncle kept— His uncle York—where I first bowed my knee Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke. ’Sblood, when you and he came back from Ravenspurgh.
NORTHUMBERLAND	At Berkeley castle.
HOTSPUR	You say true. Why, what a candy deal of courtesy This fawning greyhound then did proffer me! ‘Look when his infant fortune came to age’, And ‘gentle Harry Percy’, and ‘kind cousin’. O, the devil take such cozeners!—God forgive me. Good uncle, tell your tale; I have done.
WORCESTER	Nay, if you have not, to’t again. We’ll stay your leisure.
HOTSPUR	I have done, i’faith.
WORCESTER	Then once more to your Scottish prisoners. Deliver them up without their ransom straight; And make the Douglas’ son your only mean For powers in Scotland, which, for divers reasons Which I shall send you written, be assured Will easily be granted. (To Northumberland) You, my lord, Your son in Scotland being thus employed, Shall secretly into the bosom creep Of that same noble prelate well-beloved, The Archbishop.
HOTSPUR	Of York, is’t not?
WORCESTER	True, who bears hard His brother’s death at Bristol, the Lord Scrope. I speak not this in estimation, As what I think might be, but what I know Is ruminated, plotted, and set down, And only stays but to behold the face Of that occasion that shall bring it on.
HOTSPUR	I smell it; upon my life, it will do well!
NORTHUMBERLAND	Before the game is afoot thou still lett’st slip.
HOTSPUR	Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot— And then the power of Scotland and of York To join with Mortimer, ha?
WORCESTER	And so they shall.
HOTSPUR	In faith, it is exceedingly well aimed.
WORCESTER	And ’tis no little reason bids us speed To save our heads by raising of a head; For, bear ourselves as even as we can, The King will always think him in our debt, And think we think ourselves unsatisfied Till he hath found a time to pay us home. And see already how he doth begin To make us strangers to his looks of love.
HOTSPUR	He does, he does. We’ll be revenged on him.
WORCESTER	Cousin, farewell. No further go in this Than I by letters shall direct your course. When time is ripe, which will be suddenly, I’ll steal to Glyndŵr and Lord Mortimer, Where you and Douglas and our powers at once, As I will fashion it, shall happily meet, To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms, Which now we hold at much uncertainty.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Farewell, good brother. We shall thrive, I trust.
HOTSPUR	(to Worcester) Uncle, adieu. O, let the hours be short Till fields and blows and groans applaud our sport!
(didascalia)	Exeunt Worcester at one door, Northumberland and Hotspur at another door

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano il Re, i Conti di Northumberland e Worcester, Hotspur, Sir Walter Blunt, con altri lord
RE ENRICO	(a Hotspur, Northumberland e Worcester) Il mio sangue è stato troppo freddo e temperato, restio a commuoversi a queste indegnità, e voi ve ne siete accorti, ché di conseguenza calpestate la mia pazienza; ma siatene certi, d’ora innanzi sarò piuttosto me stesso, potente e da temersi, che la mia indole, che è stata liscia come olio, morbida come tenera lanugine, e per ciò ha perduto quel titolo di rispetto che l’anima superba non paga se non al superbo.
WORCESTER	La nostra casa, mio sovrano signore, poco merita che su di lei si usi il flagello della grandezza, e proprio quella grandezza che le nostre stesse mani hanno aiutato a farsi così maestosa.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(al Re) Mio signore—
RE ENRICO	Worcester, vattene, ché io vedo pericolo e disobbedienza nel tuo occhio. Oh signore, la vostra presenza è troppo ardita e perentoria, e la maestà non poté mai sopportare la fronte accigliata d’un servitore. Avete ben licenza di lasciarci. Quando avremo bisogno dell’opera e del consiglio vostro, vi manderemo a chiamare.
(didascalia)	Esce Worcester
RE ENRICO	Stavate per parlare.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Sì, mio buon signore. Quei prigionieri richiesti in nome di vostra altezza, che Harry Percy qui prese a Holmedon, non furono, com’egli dice, negati con quella durezza che fu riferita a vostra maestà: chi la riferì, o per invidia o per equivoco, fu colpevole di questo fallo, e non mio figlio.
HOTSPUR	(al Re) Mio sire, io non negai prigionieri; ma ricordo che, finita la battaglia, quando ero riarso di rabbia e d’estrema fatica, senza fiato e spossato, appoggiato alla mia spada, venne un certo lord, lindo e attillato, fresco come uno sposo, e il suo mento, appena mietuto, pareva un campo di stoppie quando la messe torna a casa. Era profumato come un merciaio, e fra il dito e il pollice teneva una scatoletta da profumi, che di quando in quando accostava al naso e ne toglieva di nuovo— il quale, adirato di ciò, quando essa vi tornò la prese a starnuti—ed egli sempre sorrideva e parlava; e mentre i soldati portavano via i corpi dei morti, li chiamò villani ineducati, screanzati a portare una carogna sconcia e sgraziata fra il vento e la sua nobiltà. Con molti termini da festa e da dama m’interrogò; fra l’altro richiese i miei prigionieri in nome di vostra maestà. Io allora, tutto bruciante per le ferite raffreddate— essere così molestato da un pappagallo!— per il mio dolore e la mia impazienza risposi con noncuranza, non so che cosa— che li avrebbe, o non li avrebbe—ché mi fece impazzire vederlo splendere così arzillo, e odorare così dolce, e discorrere come una dama di compagnia di schioppi, e tamburi, e ferite, Dio ci scampi! e dirmi che la cosa più sovrana sulla terra era lo spermaceti per una contusione interna, e che era gran peccato, sì davvero, che questo scellerato salnitro si scavasse dalle viscere dell’innocua terra, il quale aveva distrutto tanti bravi e alti giovani così vigliaccamente, e che, non fosse per questi vili schioppi, egli stesso sarebbe stato soldato. Questo suo insulso e sconnesso ciarlare, mio signore, mi fece rispondere di traverso, come ho detto; e vi supplico, non lasciate che il suo rapporto corra come un’accusa fra il mio amore e la vostra alta maestà.
BLUNT	(al Re) Considerata la circostanza, mio buon signore, qualunque cosa Lord Harry Percy avesse allora detto a una tale persona, e in un tal luogo, in un tal momento, con tutto il resto riferito, può ragionevolmente morire, e mai risorgere a fargli torto o in alcun modo accusarlo di ciò che disse allora, purché ora lo disdica.
RE ENRICO	Eppure, ecco, egli nega i suoi prigionieri, ma con clausola ed eccezione che noi, a nostre spese, riscattiamo subito suo cognato, lo sciocco Mortimer, il quale, sull’anima mia, ha volutamente tradito le vite di quelli che condusse a combattere contro quel gran mago, il dannato Glyndŵr— la cui figlia, a quanto udiamo, il Conte di March ha di recente sposata. Dovranno dunque i nostri scrigni vuotarsi per ricondurre a casa un traditore? Compreremo il tradimento, e patteggeremo coi codardi quando essi si son perduti e traditi da sé? No, sui nudi monti lo si lasci morir di fame; ché non terrò mai per amico quell’uomo la cui lingua mi chieda un solo penny di spesa per riscattare e ricondurre a casa il ribelle Mortimer—
HOTSPUR	Il ribelle Mortimer? Egli non venne mai meno, mio sovrano signore, se non per il caso della guerra. A provarlo vero non occorre che una sola lingua per tutte quelle ferite, quelle ferite spalancate, che valorosamente ricevette quando sulla dolce riva giuncosa della Severn, in singolare contesa, a corpo a corpo, consumò la miglior parte d’un’ora scambiando prodezze col grande Glyndwr. Tre volte ripresero fiato, e tre volte bevvero, di comune accordo, alla rapida corrente della Severn, la quale, atterrita dai loro sguardi sanguinosi, corse impaurita fra le canne tremanti, e nascose il capo increspato nella riva incavata, macchiata del sangue di quei valorosi combattenti. Mai nuda e putrida politica colorò l’opera sua con tali ferite mortali, né mai il nobile Mortimer poté riceverne tante, e tutte di sua volontà. Non lo si calunni dunque di ribellione.
RE ENRICO	Tu lo menti, Percy, tu lo menti. Egli non incontrò mai Glyndŵr. Te lo dico: avrebbe osato tanto bene affrontare il diavolo da solo quanto Owain Glyndŵr per nemico. Non ti vergogni? Ma, messere, d’ora innanzi ch’io non vi senta parlare di Mortimer. Mandatemi i vostri prigionieri col mezzo più celere, o udrete da me tal linguaggio che vi dispiacerà.—Mio lord Northumberland, concediamo licenza di partire a voi e a vostro figlio. (A Hotspur) Mandateci i vostri prigionieri, o ne sentirete parlare.
(didascalia)	Escono tutti tranne Hotspur e Northumberland
HOTSPUR	E venisse pure il diavolo a ruggire per averli, non li manderò. Gli andrò subito dietro e glielo dirò, ché voglio sgravarmi il cuore, sia pure a rischio della mia testa.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Come, ubriaco di collera? Fermati e pondera un poco.
(didascalia)	Entra il Conte di Worcester
NORTHUMBERLAND	Ecco che viene vostro zio.
HOTSPUR	Parlare di Mortimer? Corpo di Dio, ne parlerò, e sia la mia anima priva di misericordia se non mi unisco a lui. Per lui vuoterò tutte queste vene, e verserò il mio caro sangue goccia a goccia nella polvere, pur di sollevare il caduto Mortimer tanto in alto nell’aria quanto questo ingrato Re, quanto questo sconoscente e incancrenito Bolingbroke.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(a Worcester) Fratello, il Re ha fatto impazzire vostro nipote.
WORCESTER	Chi ha acceso questo furore dopo che me ne fui andato?
HOTSPUR	Vuole, in fede, tutti i miei prigionieri; e quando insistetti ancora una volta per il riscatto del fratello di mia moglie, la sua guancia impallidì, e sul mio volto volse un occhio di morte, tremando al solo nome di Mortimer.
WORCESTER	Non posso biasimarlo: non fu egli proclamato da Riccardo, che è morto, il più prossimo di sangue?
NORTHUMBERLAND	Lo fu; io stesso udii il proclama. E fu allora che l’infelice Re, i cui torti in noi Dio perdoni, partì per la sua spedizione d’Irlanda, donde, intercettato, tornò per essere deposto, e poco dopo assassinato.
WORCESTER	E per la cui morte noi, nella larga bocca del mondo, viviamo scandalizzati e turpemente diffamati.
HOTSPUR	Ma piano, vi prego; Re Riccardo dunque proclamò mio fratello Edmondo Mortimer erede alla corona?
NORTHUMBERLAND	Lo fece; io stesso l’udii.
HOTSPUR	Ebbene, allora non posso biasimare il Re suo cugino che gli augurò di morir di fame sui nudi monti. Ma sarà mai che voi, che poneste la corona sul capo di quest’uomo smemorato, e per lui portate la detestata macchia d’una subornazione omicida, sarà mai che voi subiate un mondo di maledizioni, essendo gli agenti o i vili strumenti secondi, le corde, la scala, o piuttosto il boia? Oh, perdonatemi se discendo così in basso per mostrare il grado e la condizione in cui vi collocate sotto questo sottile Re! Sarà detto con vergogna in questi giorni, o riempirà le cronache nel tempo a venire, che uomini della vostra nobiltà e potenza impegnarono l’una e l’altra in una causa ingiusta, come voi due, Dio lo perdoni, avete fatto: abbattere Riccardo, quella dolce e amabile rosa, e piantare questa spina, questo cancro, Bolingbroke? E sarà detto oltre, con maggior vergogna, che siete gabbati, scartati e scrollati via da colui per il quale subiste queste onte? No; c’è ancora tempo in cui potete riscattare i vostri onori banditi, e restituirvi di nuovo al buon pensiero del mondo, vendicare lo scherno e lo sprezzante disprezzo di questo superbo Re, che studia giorno e notte come pagare tutto il debito che vi deve proprio col sanguinoso saldo delle vostre morti. Perciò, io dico—
WORCESTER	Taci, cugino, non dire altro. E ora dischiuderò un libro segreto, e al vostro scontento pronto a concepire leggerò cose profonde e pericolose, piene di rischio e di spirito avventuroso quanto varcare una corrente che ruggisce forte sul malfermo appoggio d’una lancia.
HOTSPUR	Se vi cade dentro, buona notte, o affondi o nuoti. Manda il pericolo da oriente a occidente, purché l’onore lo attraversi da settentrione a mezzogiorno; e si azzuffino pure. Oh, il sangue più si agita a stanare un leone che a levare una lepre!
NORTHUMBERLAND	(a Worcester) L’immaginazione di qualche grande impresa lo spinge oltre i confini della pazienza.
(didascalia)	HOTSPUR
NORTHUMBERLAND	Per il cielo, mi pare che sarebbe un salto facile strappare il lucente onore alla pallida luna, o tuffarsi nel fondo dell’abisso, dove lo scandaglio non potrebbe mai toccare terra, e tirar su per i capelli l’onore annegato, purché chi ve lo riscatta possa portare, senza rivali, tutte le sue dignità. Ma al diavolo questa società a mezza faccia!
WORCESTER	(a Northumberland) Egli afferra qui un mondo di figure, ma non la forma di ciò a cui dovrebbe attendere. (A Hotspur) Buon cugino, datemi udienza un poco, e ascoltatemi.
HOTSPUR	Vi chiedo mercé.
WORCESTER	Quei nobili Scozzesi che sono vostri prigionieri—
HOTSPUR	Li terrò tutti. Per Dio, non ne avrà uno Scozzese; no, neppure se uno scotto potesse salvargli l’anima. Li terrò, per questa mano.
WORCESTER	Voi scattate via, e non prestate orecchio ai miei disegni. Quei prigionieri li terrete.
HOTSPUR	Sì, li terrò; è cosa detta. Disse che non avrebbe riscattato Mortimer, vietò alla mia lingua di parlare di Mortimer; ma lo troverò quando giacerà addormentato, e nel suo orecchio urlerò ‘Mortimerl’ Anzi, avrò uno storno che sarà ammaestrato a dire nient’altro che ‘Mortimer’, e glielo darò per tener la sua ira sempre in moto.
WORCESTER	Sentite, cugino, una parola.
HOTSPUR	Ogni studio io solennemente rinnego, salvo come tormentare e pungere questo Bolingbroke. E quel Principe di Galles da spada e brocchiere— se non pensassi che suo padre non l’ama e sarebbe lieto che gli capitasse qualche sventura— lo vorrei avvelenato con un boccale di birra.
WORCESTER	Addio, congiunto. Ti parlerò quando sarai meglio disposto ad ascoltare.
NORTHUMBERLAND	(a Hotspur) Diamine, che folle impaziente e punto dalla vespa sei tu, a prorompere in questo umore da donna, legando il tuo orecchio a nessuna lingua se non la tua I
HOTSPUR	Diamine, vedete, io sono frustato e sferzato con verghe, punto e morso dalle formiche, quando odo di questo vile politicante Bolingbroke. Ai tempi di Riccardo—come si chiama quel luogo? Peste lo colga, è nel Gloucestershire. Era là che stava lo scapestrato Duca suo zio— suo zio York—dove per la prima volta piegai il ginocchio a questo re di sorrisi, a questo Bolingbroke. Sangue di Dio, quando voi ed egli tornaste da Ravenspurgh.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Al castello di Berkeley.
HOTSPUR	Dite il vero. Diamine, che dolciume di cortesia mi porse allora quel levriero adulatore! ‘Quando la sua fortuna bambina sarà cresciuta’, e ‘gentile Harry Percy’, e ‘caro cugino’. Oh, il diavolo si porti tali imbroglioni!—Dio mi perdoni. Buon zio, dite il vostro racconto; io ho finito.
WORCESTER	No, se non avete finito, riprendete. Aspetteremo il vostro comodo.
HOTSPUR	Ho finito, in fede mia.
WORCESTER	Dunque ancora una volta ai vostri prigionieri Scozzesi. Consegnateli subito senza riscatto; e fate del figlio del Douglas il vostro solo mezzo per aver forze in Scozia, le quali, per diverse ragioni che vi manderò per iscritto, siatene certo, saranno concesse agevolmente. (A Northumberland) Voi, mio signore, mentre vostro figlio è così impiegato in Scozia, v’insinuerete segretamente nel seno di quel nobile prelato tanto ben amato, l’Arcivescovo.
HOTSPUR	Di York, non è vero?
WORCESTER	Vero, il quale mal sopporta la morte del fratello a Bristol, il Lord Scrope. Non dico questo per congettura, come ciò che penso possa essere, ma ciò che so esser ruminato, tramato e stabilito, e che attende soltanto di scorgere il volto di quell’occasione che lo porrà in atto.
HOTSPUR	Lo fiuto; sulla mia vita, andrà bene!
NORTHUMBERLAND	Prima che la selvaggina sia levata, tu già sciogli i cani.
HOTSPUR	Diamine, non può non essere un nobile disegno— e allora la potenza di Scozia e di York per unirsi a Mortimer, eh?
WORCESTER	E così sarà.
HOTSPUR	In fede, è mirato oltremodo bene.
WORCESTER	E non è piccola ragione a spronarci alla prestezza di salvare le nostre teste levando un esercito; ché, per quanto dritti sappiamo tenerci, il Re si crederà sempre nostro debitore, e penserà che noi ci crediamo insoddisfatti finché non abbia trovato il tempo di saldarci fino in fondo. E vedete già come comincia a farci estranei ai suoi sguardi d’amore.
HOTSPUR	Lo fa, lo fa. Ci vendicheremo di lui.
WORCESTER	Cugino, addio. Non andate oltre in questo di quanto io per lettere dirigerò il vostro corso. Quando il tempo sarà maturo, e sarà d’improvviso, sguscerò da Glyndŵr e da Lord Mortimer, dove voi e Douglas e le nostre forze tutte insieme, come io disporrò, felicemente c’incontreremo, per portare le nostre fortune nelle nostre forti braccia, che ora teniamo in molta incertezza.
NORTHUMBERLAND	Addio, buon fratello. Prospereremo, confido.
HOTSPUR	(a Worcester) Zio, addio. Oh, siano brevi le ore finché campi e colpi e gemiti applaudano il nostro gioco!
(didascalia)	Escono Worcester da una porta, Northumberland e Hotspur da un’altra porta

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter a Carrier, with a lantern in his hand
FIRST CARRIER	Heigh-ho! An’t be not four by the day, I’ll be hanged. Charles’s Wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not packed. What, ostler!
OSTLER	(within) Anon, anon!
FIRST CARRIER	I prithee, Tom, beat cut’s saddle, put a few flocks in the point. Poor jade is wrung in the withers, out of all cess.
(didascalia)	Enter another Carrier
SECOND CARRIER	Peas and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the bots. This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died.
FIRST CARRIER	Poor fellow never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him.
SECOND CARRIER	I think this be the most villainous house in all London road for fleas. I am stung like a tench.
FIRST CARRIER	Like a tench? By the mass, there is ne’er a king christen could be better bit than I have been since the first cock.
SECOND CARRIER	Why, they will allow us ne’er a jordan, and then we leak in your chimney, and your chamber-lye breeds fleas like a loach.
FIRST CARRIER	What, ostler! Come away, and be hanged, come away!
SECOND CARRIER	I have a gammon of bacon and two races of ginger to be delivered as far as Charing Cross.
FIRST CARRIER	God’s body, the turkeys in my pannier are quite starved! What, ostler! A plague on thee, hast thou never an eye in thy head? Canst not hear? An ’twere not as good deed as drink to break the pate on thee, I am a very villain. Come, and be hanged! Hast no faith in thee?
(didascalia)	Enter Gadshill
GADSHILL	Good morrow, carriers. What’s o’clock?
FIRST CARRIER	I think it be two o’clock.
GADSHILL	I prithee lend me thy lantern to see my gelding in the stable.
FIRST CARRIER	Nay, by God, soft. I know a trick worth two of that, i’faith.
GADSHILL	(to Second Carrier) I pray thee, lend me thine.
SECOND CARRIER	Ay, when? Canst tell? ‘Lend me thy lantern,’ quoth a. Marry, I’ll see thee hanged first.
GADSHILL	Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?
SECOND CARRIER	Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.—Come, neighbour Mugs, we’ll call up the gentlemen. They will along with company, for they have great charge. Exeunt Carriers
GADSHILL	What ho, chamberlain!
(didascalia)	Enter Chamberlain
CHAMBERLAIN	’At hand’ quoth Pickpurse.
GADSHILL	That’s even as fair as ‘ “At hand” quoth the chamberlain’, for thou variest no more from picking of purses than giving direction doth from labouring: thou layest the plot how.
CHAMBERLAIN	Good morrow, Master Gadshill. It holds current that I told you yesternight. There’s a franklin in the Weald of Kent hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold. I heard him tell it to one of his company last night at supper—a kind of auditor, one that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what. They are up already, and call for eggs and butter; they will away presently.
GADSHILL	Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas’s clerks, I’ll give thee this neck.
CHAMBERLAIN	No, I’ll none of it; I pray thee keep that for the hangman, for I know thou worshippest Saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may.
GADSHILL	What talkest thou to me of the hangman? If I hang, I’ll make a fat pair of gallows, for if I hang, old Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he’s no starveling. Tut, there are other Trojans that thou dreamest not of, the which for sport’ sake are content to do the profession some grace, that would, if matters should be looked into, for their own credit’ sake make all whole. I am joined with no foot-landrakers, no long-staff sixpenny strikers, none of these mad mustachio purple-hued maltworms, but with nobility and tranquillity, burgomasters and great ‘oyez’-ers; such as can hold in, such as will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than drink, and drink sooner than pray. And yet, zounds, I lie, for they pray continually to their saint the commonwealth; or rather, not pray to her, but prey on her; for they ride up and down on her and make her their boots.
CHAMBERLAIN	What, the commonwealth their boots? Will she hold out water in foul way?
GADSHILL	She will, she will, justice hath liquored her. We steal as in a castle, cocksure; we have the recipe of fern-seed, we walk invisible.
CHAMBERLAIN	Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholden to the night than to fern-seed for your walking invisible.
GADSHILL	Give me thy hand; thou shalt have a share in our purchase, as I am a true man.
CHAMBERLAIN	Nay, rather let me have it as you are a false thief.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Go to, ‘homo’ is a common name to all men. Bid the ostler bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewell, you muddy knave. Exeunt severally

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra un Carrettiere, con una lanterna in mano
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	Ehilà! Se non sono le quattro del giorno, che m’impicchino. Il Carro di Carlo è sopra il camino nuovo, e il nostro cavallo non è ancora bardato. Ehi, stalliere!
STALLIERE	(da dentro) Subito, subito!
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	Ti prego, Tom, batti la sella di Moccolo, mettici un po’ di borra nell’arcione. La povera rozza è scorticata al garrese, oltre ogni misura.
(didascalia)	Entra un altro Carrettiere
SECONDO CARRETTIERE	Piselli e fave qui sono umidi come un cane, e questa è la via più corta per dare i bachi alle povere rozze. Questa casa è sottosopra da quando morì Robin lo Stalliere.
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	Il pover’uomo non ebbe più gioia da quando il prezzo dell’avena salì; fu la sua morte.
SECONDO CARRETTIERE	Credo che questa sia la casa più scellerata di tutta la strada di Londra quanto a pulci. Sono punto come una tinca.
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	Come una tinca? Per la messa, non c’è re battezzato che potesse essere morso meglio di me dal primo canto del gallo.
SECONDO CARRETTIERE	Diamine, non ci concedono mai un orinale, e allora sgocciolate nel camino, e la vostra piscia di camera genera pulci come un ghiozzo.
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	Ehi, stalliere! Vieni via, e che t’impicchino, vieni via!
SECONDO CARRETTIERE	Ho un prosciutto di lardo e due radici di zenzero da consegnare fin laggiù a Charing Cross.
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	Corpo di Dio, i tacchini nella mia gerla sono mezzo morti di fame! Ehi, stalliere! Peste ti colga, non hai un occhio in testa? Non ci senti? Se non fosse buona azione quanto bere il romperti la zucca, sono un vero furfante. Vieni, e che t’impicchino! Non hai fede in corpo?
(didascalia)	Entra Gadshill
GADSHILL	Buon giorno, carrettieri. Che ora fa l’orologio?
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	Credo che siano le due d’orologio.
GADSHILL	Ti prego, prestami la tua lanterna per vedere il mio castrone nella stalla.
PRIMO CARRETTIERE	No, per Dio, piano. Ne so una che val due di quelle, in fede mia.
GADSHILL	(al Secondo Carrettiere) Ti prego, prestami la tua.
SECONDO CARRETTIERE	Sì, e quando? Lo sai dire? ‘Prestami la tua lanterna’, dice lui. Perbacco, prima ti vedrò impiccato.
GADSHILL	Messer carrettiere, a che ora contate d’arrivare a Londra?
SECONDO CARRETTIERE	Tempo abbastanza per andare a letto con la candela, te lo garantisco.—Vieni, vicino Mugs, chiameremo i signori. Verranno in compagnia, ché hanno gran carico. Escono i Carrettieri
GADSHILL	Ehilà, cameriere!
(didascalia)	Entra il Cameriere
CAMERIERE	‘A portata di mano’, disse Tagliaborse.
GADSHILL	È giusto come ‘ “A portata di mano” disse il cameriere’, ché tu non differisci più dal tagliar borse di quanto il dare istruzioni differisca dal faticare: sei tu che ordisci il come.
CAMERIERE	Buon giorno, mastro Gadshill. Regge quel che vi dissi ieri notte. C’è un possidente nella Weald del Kent che ha portato con sé trecento marchi in oro. Gliel’ho sentito raccontare a uno della sua compagnia ieri notte a cena—una specie di revisore, uno che ha anch’esso abbondanza di carico, Dio sa di che. Sono già in piedi, e chiedono uova e burro; se ne andranno tra poco.
GADSHILL	Messere, se non incontrano i chierici di San Nicola, ti do questo collo.
CAMERIERE	No, non ne voglio; ti prego di serbarlo per il boia, ché so che tu veneri San Nicola quanto veramente può un uomo di falsità.
GADSHILL	Che mi parli tu del boia? Se sarò impiccato, farò un grasso paio di forche, ché se io pendo, il vecchio Sir John pende con me, e sai che non è uno smunto. Bah, ci sono altri Troiani che tu non sogni, i quali per amor di spasso si degnano di far qualche grazia alla professione, e che, se le cose venissero guardate a fondo, per il proprio credito rimetterebbero tutto a posto. Io non sono unito con vagabondi da strada, né con picchiatori da sei soldi col bastone lungo, né con questi pazzi bevitori di birra dai baffi e dal viso paonazzo, ma con nobiltà e tranquillità, borgomastri e grandi banditori; gente che sa trattenersi, che colpisce prima di parlare, e parla prima di bere, e beve prima di pregare. Eppure, corpo di Dio, mento, ché essi pregano di continuo la loro santa, la cosa pubblica; o piuttosto non la pregano, ma la predano; ché le cavalcano sopra in su e in giù e ne fanno i loro stivali.
CAMERIERE	Come, la cosa pubblica i loro stivali? Terrà fuori l’acqua nella via fangosa?
GADSHILL	La terrà, la terrà, la giustizia l’ha unta d’olio. Rubiamo come in un castello, sicurissimi; abbiamo la ricetta del seme di felce, camminiamo invisibili.
CAMERIERE	No, in fede mia, credo che siate più obbligati alla notte che al seme di felce per il vostro camminare invisibili.
GADSHILL	Dammi la mano; avrai una parte del nostro acquisto, com’è vero che sono un galantuomo.
CAMERIERE	No, piuttosto dammela come sei un falso ladro.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Suvvia, ‘homo’ è nome comune a tutti gli uomini. Di’ allo stalliere di condurre il mio castrone fuori dalla stalla. Addio, furfante fangoso. Escono separatamente

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry, Poins, Harvey, and Russell
POINS	Come, shelter, shelter!
(didascalia)	Exeunt Harvey and Russell at another door
POINS	I have removed Oldcastle’s horse, and he frets like a gummed velvet.
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY Stand close! Exit Poins
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Poins ! Poins, and be hanged! Poins !
PRINCE HARRY	Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal ! What a brawling dost thou keep !
SIR JOHN	Where’s Poins, Hal?
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY He is walked up to the top of the hill. I’ll go seek him. Exit
SIR JOHN	I am accursed to rob in that thief’s company. The rascal hath removed my horse and tied him I know not where. If I travel but four foot by the square further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt not but to die a fair death, for all this—if I scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have forsworn his company hourly any time this two-and-twenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the rogue’s company. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, I’ll be hanged. It could not be else: I have drunk medicines. Poins ! Hal ! A plague upon you both ! Russell ! Harvey ! I’ll starve ere I’ll rob a foot further. An ’twere not as good a deed as drink to turn true man and to leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me, and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough. A plague upon’t when thieves cannot be true one to another !
(didascalia)	They whistle. Enter Prince Harry, Poins, Harvey, and Russell
SIR JOHN	Whew !A plague upon you all !Give me my horse, you rogues, give me my horse, and be hanged!
PRINCE HARRY	Peace, ye fat-guts. Lie down, lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers.
SIR JOHN	Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down ? ’Sblood, I’ll not bear my own flesh so far afoot again for all the coin in thy father’s exchequer. What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?
PRINCE HARRY	Thou liest : thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.
SIR JOHN	I prithee, good Prince Hal, help me to my horse, good king’s son.
PRINCE HARRY	Out, ye rogue, shall I be your ostler?
SIR JOHN	Hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent garters ! If I be ta’en, I’ll peach for this. An I have not ballads made on you all and sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison. When a jest is so forward, and afoot too ! I hate it.
(didascalia)	Enter Gadshill visored
GADSHILL	Stand!
SIR JOHN	So I do, against my will.
POINS	O, ’tis our setter, I know his voice. Gadshill, what news?
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Case ye, case ye, on with your visors ! There’s money of the King’s coming down the hill; ’tis going to the King’s exchequer.
SIR JOHN	You lie, ye rogue, ’tis going to the King’s tavern.
GADSHILL	There’s enough to make us all.
SIR JOHN	To be hanged.
(didascalia)	They put on visors
PRINCE HARRY	Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane. Ned Poins and I will walk lower. If they scape from your encounter, then they light on us.
HARVEY	How many be there of them?
GADSHILL	Some eight or ten.
SIR JOHN	Zounds, will they not rob us?
PRINCE HARRY	What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?
SIR JOHN	Indeed I am not John of Gaunt your grandfather, but yet no coward, Hal.
PRINCE HARRY	Well, we leave that to the proof.
POINS	Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge. When thou needest him, there thou shalt find him. Farewell, and stand fast.
SIR JOHN	Now cannot I strike him if I should be hanged.
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) Ned, where are our disguises?
POINS	(aside to the Prince) Here, hard by. Stand close.
(didascalia)	Exeunt the Prince and Poins
SIR JOHN	Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I; every man to his business.
(didascalia)	They stand aside.]
(didascalia)	Enter the Travellers, amongst them the Carriers l
FIRSTI TRAVELLER	Come, neighbour, the boy shall lead our horses down the hill. We’ll walk afoot a while, and ease their legs.
(didascalia)	THIEVES coming forward Stand !
(didascalia)	SECOND TRAVELLER Jesus bless us !
SIR JOHN	Strike, down with them, cut the villains’ throats ! Ah, whoreson caterpillars, bacon-fed knaves ! They hate us youth. Down with them, fleece them !
(didascalia)	FIRST TRAVELLER O, we are undone, both we and ours for ever!
SIR JOHN	Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone ? No, ye fat chuffs; I would your store were here. On, bacons, on ! What, ye knaves! Young men must live. You are grand-jurors, are ye? We’ll jure ye, faith. Here they rob them and bind them. Exeunt the thieves with the travellers

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano il Principe Harry, Poins, Harvey e Russell
POINS	Su, al riparo, al riparo!
(didascalia)	Escono Harvey e Russell da un’altra porta
POINS	Ho portato via il cavallo di Oldcastle, ed egli freme come velluto ingommato.
(didascalia)	PRINCIPE HARRY State nascosti! Esce Poins
(didascalia)	Entra Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Poins ! Poins, e che t’impicchino! Poins !
PRINCIPE HARRY	Zitto, furfante dai grassi rognoni ! Che baccano tieni !
SIR JOHN	Dov’è Poins, Hal?
(didascalia)	PRINCIPE HARRY È salito in cima alla collina. Vado a cercarlo. Esce
SIR JOHN	Sono maledetto a rubare in compagnia di quel ladro. Il furfante m’ha portato via il cavallo e l’ha legato non so dove. Se cammino a piedi quattro piedi di squadra più oltre, mi si romperà il fiato. Ebbene, non dubito di morire d’una bella morte, nonostante tutto—se scampo all’impiccagione per aver ammazzato quel briccone. Ho abiurato la sua compagnia ogni ora, in ogni tempo, in questi ventidue anni, eppure sono stregato dalla compagnia del briccone. Se il furfante non m’ha dato filtri per farmelo amare, che m’impicchino. Non può essere altrimenti: ho bevuto filtri. Poins ! Hal ! Peste colga entrambi ! Russell ! Harvey ! Morirò di fame prima di rubare un piede più in là. Se non fosse buona azione quanto bere il farsi galantuomo e lasciare questi bricconi, sono il più vero manigoldo che mai masticasse con un dente. Otto iarde di terreno accidentato sono per me settanta miglia a piedi, e i furfanti dal cuore di pietra lo sanno bene abbastanza. Peste, quando i ladri non possono esser leali l’uno con l’altro !
(didascalia)	Fischiano. Entrano il Principe Harry, Poins, Harvey e Russell
SIR JOHN	Uff !Peste colga tutti voi !Datemi il mio cavallo, voi bricconi, datemi il mio cavallo, e che v’impicchino!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Zitto, pancione. Sdraiati, accosta l’orecchio a terra, e ascolta se puoi udire il passo dei viandanti.
SIR JOHN	Avete leve per rialzarmi, una volta a terra ? Sangue di Dio, non porterò più la mia carne così lontano a piedi per tutto il denaro dell’erario di tuo padre. Che peste intendete, a puledrarmi così?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Tu menti : non sei puledrato, sei spuledrato.
SIR JOHN	Ti prego, buon principe Hal, aiutami a montare il mio cavallo, buon figlio di re.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Va’ via, briccone, devo farti da stalliere?
SIR JOHN	Impiccati con le tue giarrettiere d’erede apparente ! Se sarò preso, vi denuncerò per questo. Se non farò comporre ballate su tutti voi e cantarle su sudicie arie, sia una coppa di sack il mio veleno. Quando uno scherzo è così spinto, e per giunta a piedi ! Lo detesto.
(didascalia)	Entra Gadshill mascherato
GADSHILL	Fermi!
SIR JOHN	Fermo sono, contro la mia volontà.
POINS	Oh, è il nostro segugio, ne riconosco la voce. Gadshill, che novità?
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Copritevi, copritevi, su le maschere ! C’è denaro del Re che scende dalla collina; va all’erario del Re.
SIR JOHN	Menti, briccone, va alla taverna del Re.
GADSHILL	Ce n’è abbastanza per far la fortuna di tutti noi.
SIR JOHN	Per farci impiccare.
(didascalia)	Si mettono le maschere
PRINCIPE HARRY	Signori, voi quattro li affronterete nella stradetta stretta. Ned Poins ed io cammineremo più in basso. Se scampano al vostro incontro, allora piombano su di noi.
HARVEY	Quanti sono?
GADSHILL	Otto o dieci.
SIR JOHN	Corpo di Dio, non deruberanno noi?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come, un codardo, Sir John Pancia?
SIR JOHN	Davvero non sono Giovanni di Gaunt vostro nonno, ma nemmeno un codardo, Hal.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, lasciamo che sia la prova a dirlo.
POINS	Messer Jack, il tuo cavallo sta dietro la siepe. Quando ti servirà, là lo troverai. Addio, e tieni duro.
SIR JOHN	Ora non posso batterlo, dovessero impiccarmi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	(a parte a Poins) Ned, dove sono i nostri travestimenti?
POINS	(a parte al Principe) Qui, a due passi. State nascosto.
(didascalia)	Escono il Principe e Poins
SIR JOHN	Ora, padroni miei, buona sorte a chi tocca, dico io; ognuno al suo affare.
(didascalia)	Si tirano da parte.]
(didascalia)	Entrano i Viandanti, fra loro i Carrettieri l
FIRSTI TRAVELLER	Venite, vicino, il ragazzo condurrà i nostri cavalli giù dalla collina. Cammineremo a piedi un poco, e riposeremo le loro gambe.
(didascalia)	I LADRI facendosi avanti Fermi !
(didascalia)	SECONDO VIANDANTE Gesù ci benedica !
SIR JOHN	Colpite, abbatteteli, tagliate la gola ai furfanti ! Ah, bruchi figli di puttana, manigoldi ingrassati di lardo ! Odiano noi giovani. Abbatteteli, spennateli !
(didascalia)	PRIMO VIANDANTE Oh, siamo rovinati, noi e i nostri per sempre!
SIR JOHN	Che v’impicchino, manigoldi panciuti, siete rovinati ? No, grassi spilorci; vorrei che tutta la vostra roba fosse qui. Avanti, lardoni, avanti ! Come, manigoldi! I giovani devono vivere. Siete giurati di gran giuria, eh? Vi giureremo noi, in fede. Qui li derubano e li legano. Escono i ladri coi viandanti

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and Poins, disguised in buckram suits
PRINCE HARRY	The thieves have bound the true men; now could thou and I rob the thieves, and go merrily to London. It would be argument for a week, laughter for a month, and a good jest for ever.
POINS	Stand close; I hear them coming. They stand aside.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle, Russell, Harvey, and Gadshill, with the travellers’ money
SIR JOHN	Come, my masters, let us share, and then to horse before day. An the Prince and Poins be not two arrant cowards, there’s no equity stirring. There’s no more valour in that Poins than in a wild duck. As they are sharing, the Prince and Poins set upon them
PRINCE HARRY	Your money!
POINS	Villains!
(didascalia)	Gadshill, Russell, and Harvey run away severally, and Oldcastle, after a blow or two, roars and runs away too, leaving the booty behind them
PRINCE HARRY	Got with much ease. Now merrily to horse. The thieves are all scattered, and possessed with fear So strongly that they dare not meet each other. Each takes his fellow for an officer. Away, good Ned. Oldcastle sweats to death, And lards the lean earth as he walks along. Were’t not for laughing, I should pity him.
POINS	How the fat rogue roared! Exeunt with the booty

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano il Principe Harry e Poins, travestiti con vesti di bucherame
PRINCIPE HARRY	I ladri hanno legato i galantuomini; ora tu ed io potremmo derubare i ladri, e andarcene allegramente a Londra. Sarebbe argomento per una settimana, riso per un mese, e un bello scherzo per sempre.
POINS	State nascosto; li sento venire. Si tirano da parte.
(didascalia)	Entrano Sir John Oldcastle, Russell, Harvey e Gadshill, col denaro dei viandanti
SIR JOHN	Venite, padroni miei, spartiamo, e poi a cavallo prima che faccia giorno. Se il Principe e Poins non sono due matricolati codardi, non c’è più equità al mondo. Non c’è più valore in quel Poins che in un’anitra selvatica. Mentre spartiscono, il Principe e Poins piombano su di loro
PRINCIPE HARRY	Il vostro denaro!
POINS	Furfanti!
(didascalia)	Gadshill, Russell e Harvey fuggono chi di qua chi di là, e Oldcastle, dopo un colpo o due, ruggisce e fugge anch’egli, lasciandosi dietro il bottino
PRINCIPE HARRY	Preso con molta facilità. Ora allegramente a cavallo. I ladri sono tutti dispersi, e presi da paura così forte che non osano incontrarsi l’un l’altro. Ognuno scambia il compagno per uno sbirro. Via, buon Ned. Oldcastle suda da morirne, e unge la magra terra mentre cammina. Se non fosse per il ridere, ne avrei pietà.
POINS	Come ruggiva il grasso briccone! Escono col bottino

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur, reading a letter
HOTSPUR	‘But for mine own part, my lord, I could be well contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear your house.’—He could be contented; why is he not then? In respect of the love he bears our house ! He shows in this he loves his own barn better than he loves our house. Let me see some more.—‘The purpose you undertake is dangerous’—Why, that’s certain: ‘tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle danger we pluck this flower safety.—‘The purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you have named uncertain, the time itself unsorted, and your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.’—Say you so, say you so? I say unto you again, you are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was laid, our friends true and constant; a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation; an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is this! Why, my lord of York commends the plot and the general course of the action. Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I could brain him with his lady’s fan! Is there not my father, my uncle, and myself? Lord Edmund Mortimer, my lord of York, and Owain Glyndwr? Is there not besides the Douglas? Have I not all their letters, to meet me in arms by the ninth of the next month? And are they not some of them set forward already? What a pagan rascal is this, an infidel ! Ha, you shall see now, in very sincerity of fear and cold heart will he to the King, and lay open all our proceedings! O, I could divide myself and go to buffets for moving such a dish of skim-milk with so honourable an action Hang him ! Let him tell the King we are prepared; I will set forward tonight.
(didascalia)	Enter Lady Percy
HOTSPUR	How now, Kate? I must leave you within these two hours.
LADY PERCY	Omy good lord, why are you thus alone ? For what offence have I this fortnight been A banished woman from my Harry’s bed? Tell me, sweet lord, what is’t that takes from thee Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth, And start so often when thou sitt‘st alone? Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks, And given my treasures and my rights of thee To thick-eyed musing and curst melancholy? In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watched, And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars, Speak terms of manège to thy bounding steed, Cry ‘Courage! To the field!’ And thou hast talked Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents, Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets, Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin, Of prisoners ransomed, and of soldiers slain, And all the currents of a heady fight. Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war, And thus hath so bestirred thee in thy sleep, That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream; And in thy face strange motions have appeared, Such as we see when men restrain their breath On some great sudden hest. O,what portents are these? Some heavy business hath my lord in hand, And I must know it, else he loves me not.
HOTSPUR	What ho!
(didascalia)	Enter Servant
HOTSPUR	Is Gilliams with the packet gone?
SERVANT	He is, my lord, an hour ago.
HOTSPUR	Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?
SERVANT	One horse, my lord, he brought even now.
HOTSPUR	What horse? A roan, a crop-ear, is it not?
SERVANT	It is, my lord.
HOTSPUR	That roan shall be my throne. Well, I will back him straight.—O,Esperance!— Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.
LADY PERCY	But hear you, my lord.
HOTSPUR	What sayst thou, my lady?
LADY PERCY	What is it carries you away?
HOTSPUR	Why, my horse, My love, my horse.
LADY PERCY	Out, you mad-headed ape! A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen As you are tossed with. In faith, I’ll know your business, Harry, that I will. I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir About his title, and hath sent for you To line his enterprise; but if you go—
HOTSPUR	So far afoot? I shall be weary, love.
LADY PERCY	Come, come, you paraquito, answer me Directly to this question that I ask. In faith, I’ll break thy little finger, Harry, An if thou wilt not tell me all things true.
HOTSPUR	Away, away, you trifler! Love ? I love thee not, I care not for thee, Kate. This is no world To play with maumets and to tilt with lips. We must have bloody noses and cracked crowns, And pass them current, too. God’s me, my horse!— What sayst thou, Kate? What wouldst thou have with me?
LADY PERCY	Do you not love me? Do you not indeed? Well, do not, then, for since you love me not I will not love myself. Do you not love me? Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.
HOTSPUR	Come, wilt thou see me ride ? And when I am a-horseback, I will swear I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate. I must not have you henceforth question me Whither I go, nor reason whereabout. Whither I must, I must; and, to conclude, This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate. I know you wise, but yet no farther wise Than Harry Percy’s wife; constant you are, But yet a woman; and for secrecy No lady closer, for I well believe Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know. And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.
LADY PERCY	How, so far?
HOTSPUR	Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate, Whither I go, thither shall you go too. Today will I set forth, tomorrow you. Will this content you, Kate?
LADY PERCY	It must, of force. Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra Hotspur, leggendo una lettera
HOTSPUR	‘Ma per parte mia, mio signore, sarei ben contento d’esser là, in riguardo all’amore che porto alla vostra casa.’—Sarebbe contento; perché dunque non c’è? In riguardo all’amore che porta alla nostra casa ! Mostra con questo che ama il proprio granaio più di quanto ami la nostra casa. Vediamo un po’ oltre.—‘Il disegno che intraprendete è pericoloso’—Diamine, questo è certo: è pericoloso prendere un raffreddore, dormire, bere; ma io vi dico, mio signore sciocco, da questa ortica del pericolo noi cogliamo questo fiore della sicurezza.—‘Il disegno che intraprendete è pericoloso, gli amici che avete nominato incerti, il tempo stesso non scelto, e tutta la vostra trama troppo leggera per contrappesare una così grande opposizione.’—Dite così, dite così? Io vi ridico che siete un villano superficiale e codardo, e che mentite. Che cervello vuoto è costui! Per il Signore, la nostra trama è buona trama quanto mai se ne ordì, i nostri amici fedeli e costanti; una buona trama, buoni amici, e piena d’aspettativa; un’eccellente trama, ottimi amici. Che briccone dallo spirito gelato è costui! Diamine, il mio lord di York approva la trama e il corso generale dell’azione. Corpo di Dio, se ora fossi accanto a questo furfante, gli spaccherei il cranio col ventaglio della sua dama! Non ci sono forse mio padre, mio zio e io stesso? Lord Edmondo Mortimer, il mio lord di York e Owain Glyndwr? Non c’è forse inoltre il Douglas? Non ho tutte le loro lettere, che m’incontreranno in armi entro il nove del mese prossimo? E non sono già in marcia alcuni di loro? Che furfante pagano è costui, un infedele ! Ah, vedrete ora, per pura sincerità di paura e di cuore freddo andrà dal Re, e svelerà tutti i nostri procedimenti! Oh, potessi dividermi in due e prendermi a pugni per aver mosso un tal piatto di latte scremato a un’azione così onorevole Impiccatelo ! Dica pure al Re che siamo pronti; io partirò stanotte.
(didascalia)	Entra Lady Percy
HOTSPUR	Ebbene, Kate? Devo lasciarvi entro due ore.
LADY PERCY	Omio buon signore, perché siete così solo ? Per quale offesa sono stata in queste due settimane donna bandita dal letto del mio Harry? Ditemi, dolce signore, che cosa vi toglie l’appetito, il piacere, e il vostro aureo sonno? Perché pieghi gli occhi verso terra, e trasalisci così spesso quando siedi solo? Perché hai perduto il fresco sangue delle tue guance, e hai dato i miei tesori e i miei diritti su di te a un fantasticare dall’occhio torbido e alla maledetta malinconia? Nei tuoi sonni leggeri ho vegliato al tuo fianco, e t’ho udito mormorare racconti di guerre di ferro, dar termini di maneggio al tuo destriero impennato, gridare ‘Coraggio! Al campo!’ E hai parlato di sortite e ritirate, di trincee, tende, di palizzate, frontiere, parapetti, di basilischi, di cannoni, colubrine, di prigionieri riscattati, e di soldati uccisi, e di tutte le correnti d’una zuffa impetuosa. Il tuo spirito dentro di te è stato tanto in guerra, e t’ha così agitato nel tuo sonno, che gocce di sudore ti son ristate sulla fronte come bolle in un ruscello or ora turbato; e sul tuo volto son apparsi strani moti, quali vediamo quando gli uomini trattengono il fiato a qualche grande e improvviso comando. Oh,che presagi son questi? Qualche grave faccenda ha per le mani il mio signore, e devo saperla, altrimenti non m’ama.
HOTSPUR	Ehilà!
(didascalia)	Entra un Servo
HOTSPUR	È partito Gilliams col plico?
SERVO	È partito, mio signore, un’ora fa.
HOTSPUR	Butler ha portato quei cavalli dallo sceriffo?
SERVO	Un cavallo, mio signore, l’ha portato or ora.
HOTSPUR	Quale cavallo? Un roano, dalle orecchie mozze, non è vero?
SERVO	È così, mio signore.
HOTSPUR	Quel roano sarà il mio trono. Ebbene, lo monterò subito.—Oh,Esperance!— Di’ a Butler di condurlo fuori nel parco.
LADY PERCY	Ma sentite, mio signore.
HOTSPUR	Che dite, mia signora?
LADY PERCY	Che cos’è che vi porta via?
HOTSPUR	Diamine, il mio cavallo, amore mio, il mio cavallo.
LADY PERCY	Via, scimmia dalla testa pazza! Una donnola non ha tanta bile quanta ne siete voi sconvolto. In fede, saprò i vostri affari, Harry, sì che li saprò. Temo che mio fratello Mortimer si muova per il suo titolo, e abbia mandato a chiamarvi per rinforzare la sua impresa; ma se andate—
HOTSPUR	Così lontano a piedi? Mi stancherò, amore.
LADY PERCY	Su, su, pappagallino, rispondetemi direttamente a questa domanda che vi faccio. In fede, ti romperò il mignolo, Harry, se non mi dirai ogni cosa per il vero.
HOTSPUR	Via, via, frivola! Amore ? Io non t’amo, non mi curo di te, Kate. Questo non è mondo da giocare con bambole e giostrare con le labbra. Ci vogliono nasi sanguinanti e teste rotte, e farle correre per moneta. Dio mio, il mio cavallo!— Che dici, Kate? Che vuoi da me?
LADY PERCY	Non mi amate? Davvero non m’amate? Ebbene, non amatemi allora, ché poiché voi non mi amate io non amerò me stessa. Non mi amate? Anzi, ditemi se parlate per scherzo o no.
HOTSPUR	Su, vuoi vedermi cavalcare ? E quando sarò in sella, giurerò che t’amo infinitamente. Ma ascolta, Kate. D’ora innanzi non voglio che tu mi domandi dove vado, né che ragioni sul perché. Dove devo, devo; e, per concludere, questa sera devo lasciarti, gentile Kate. Ti so saggia, ma non più saggia di quanto sia la moglie di Harry Percy; costante sei, ma pur donna; e quanto al segreto nessuna dama più chiusa, ché io ben credo che non dirai ciò che non sai. E fino a tanto mi fiderò di te, gentile Kate.
LADY PERCY	Come, fino a tanto?
HOTSPUR	Non un pollice più oltre. Ma ascolta, Kate, dove vado io, là verrai anche tu. Oggi partirò io, domani tu. Ti contenterà questo, Kate?
LADY PERCY	Per forza. Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry
PRINCE HARRY	Ned, prithee come out of that fat room, and lend me thy hand to laugh a little.
(didascalia)	Enter Poins at another door
POINS	Where hast been, Hal?
PRINCE HARRY	With three or four loggerheads, amongst three or fourscore hogsheads. I have sounded the very bass-string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother to a leash of drawers, and can call them all by their christen names, as ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’, and ‘Francis’. They take it already, upon their salvation, that though I be but Prince of Wales yet I am the king of courtesy, and tell me flatly I am no proud jack like Oldcastle, but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy—by the Lord, so they call me; and when I am King of England I shall command all the good lads in Eastcheap. They call drinking deep ‘dyeing scarlet’, and when you breathe in your watering they cry ‘Hem!’ and bid you ‘Play it off!’ To conclude, I am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour that I can drink with any tinker in his own language during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost much honour that thou wert not with me in this action. But, sweet Ned—to sweeten which name of Ned I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped even now into my hand by an underskinker, one that never spake other English in his life than ‘Eight shillings and sixpence’, and ‘You are welcome’, with this shrill addition, ‘Anon, anon, sir ! Score a pint of bastard in the Half-moon!’ or so. But, Ned, to drive away the time till Oldcastle come, I prithee do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my puny drawer to what end he gave me the sugar, and do thou never leave calling ‘Francis!’, that his tale to me may be nothing but ‘Anon!’ Step aside, and I’ll show thee a precedent.
(didascalia)	Exit Poins
POINS	(within) Francis!
PRINCE HARRY	Thou art perfect.
POINS	(within) Francis!
(didascalia)	Enter Francis, a drawer
FRANCIS	Anon, anon, sir!—Look down into the Pomegranate, Ralph !
PRINCE HARRY	Come hither, Francis.
FRANCIS	My lord.
PRINCE HARRY	How long hast thou to serve, Francis?
FRANCIS	Forsooth, five years, and as much as to—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, anon, sir!
PRINCE HARRY	Five year! By’r Lady, a long lease for the clinking of pewter. But Francis, darest thou be so valiant as to play the coward with thy indenture, and show it a fair pair of heels, and run from it?
FRANCIS	O Lord, sir, I’ll be sworn upon all the books in England, I could find in my heart—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, sir!
PRINCE HARRY	How old art thou, Francis ?
FRANCIS	Let me see, about Michaelmas next I shall be—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, sir! (To the Prince) Pray, stay a little, my lord.
PRINCE HARRY	Nay, but hark you, Francis. For the sugar thou gavest me, ’twas a pennyworth, was’t not?
FRANCIS	O Lord, I would it had been two I
PRINCE HARRY	I will give thee for it a thousand pound. Ask me when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it—
POINS	(within) Francis!
FRANCIS	Anon, anon!
PRINCE HARRY	Anon, Francis? No, Francis, but tomorrow, Francis; or, Francis, o’ Thursday; or, indeed, Francis, when thou wilt. But Francis.
FRANCIS	My lord.
PRINCE HARRY	Wilt thou rob this leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish-pouch?
FRANCIS	O Lord, sir, who do you mean ?
PRINCE HARRY	Why, then, your brown bastard is your only drink ! For look you, Francis, your white canvas doublet will sully. In Barbary, sir, it cannot come to so much.
FRANCIS	What, sir?
POINS	(within) Francis !
PRINCE HARRY	Away, you rogue ! Dost thou not hear them call ?
(didascalia)	As he departs Poins and the Prince both call him.
PRINCE HARRY	The Drawer stands amazed, not knowing which way to go.
(didascalia)	Enter Vintner
VINTNER	What, standest thou still, and hearest such a calling? Look to the guests within. Exit Francis My lord, old Sir John with half a dozen more are at the door. Shall I let them in?
PRINCE HARRY	Let them alone a while, and then open the door. Exit Vintner Poins !
(didascalia)	POINS within Anon, anon, sir!
(didascalia)	Enter Poins
PRINCE HARRY	Sirrah, Oldcastle and the rest of the thieves are at the door. Shall we be merry?
POINS	As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark ye, what cunning match have you made with this jest of the drawer? Come, what’s the issue?
PRINCE HARRY	I am now of all humours that have showed themselves humours since the old days of goodman Adam to the pupil age of this present twelve o’clock at midnight.
(didascalia)	Enter Francis
PRINCE HARRY	What’s o’clock, Francis?
(didascalia)	FRANCIS Anon, anon, sir ! Exit at another door
PRINCE HARRY	That ever this fellow should have fewer words than a parrot, and yet the son of a woman ! His industry is upstairs and downstairs, his eloquence the parcel of a reckoning. I am not yet of Percy’s mind, the Hotspur of the North—he that kills me some six or seven dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife, ‘Fie upon this quiet life ! I want work.’ ‘O my sweet Harry,’ says she, ‘how many hast thou killed today?’ Give my roan horse a drench,’says he, and answers, ‘Some fourteen,’ an hour after; ‘a trifle, a trifle.’ I prithee call in Oldcastle. I’ll play Percy, and that damned brawn shall play Dame Mortimer his wife. ‘Rivo!’ says the drunkard. Call in Ribs, call in Tallow.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle, with sword and buckler, Russell, Harvey, and Gadshill, followed by Francis, with wine
POINS	Welcome, Jack. Where hast thou been?
SIR JOHN	A plague of all cowards, I say, and a vengeance too, marry and amen!—Give me a cup of sack, boy.—Ere I lead this life long, I’ll sew netherstocks, and mend them and foot them too. A plague of all cowards!—Give me a cup of sack, rogue. Is there no virtue extant? He drinketh
PRINCE HARRY	Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of butter—pitiful hearted Titan—that melted at the sweet tale of the sun’s? If thou didst, then behold that compound.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN (to Francis) You rogue, here’s lime in this sack too. There is nothing but roguery to be found in villainous man, yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime in it. Exit Francis A villainous coward ! Go thy ways, old Jack, die when thou wilt. If manhood, good manhood, be not forgot upon the face of the earth, then am I a shotten herring. There lives not three good men unhanged in England, and one of them is fat and grows old, God help the while. A bad world, I say. I would I were a weaver—I could sing psalms, or anything. A plague of all cowards, I say still.
PRINCE HARRY	How now, woolsack, what mutter you?
SIR JOHN	A king’s son ! If I do not beat thee out of thy kingdom with a dagger of lath, and drive all thy subjects afore thee like a flock of wild geese, I’ll never wear hair on my face more. You, Prince of Wales!
PRINCE HARRY	Why, you whoreson round man, what’s the matter?
SIR JOHN	Are not you a coward? Answer me to that. And Poins there?
POINS	Zounds, ye fat paunch, an ye call me coward, by the Lord I’ll stab thee.
SIR JOHN	I call thee coward? I’ll see thee damned ere I call thee coward, but I would give a thousand pound I could run as fast as thou canst. You are straight enough in the shoulders; you care not who sees your back. Call you that backing of your friends ? A plague upon such backing! Give me them that will face me. Give me a cup of sack. I am a rogue if I drunk today.
PRINCE HARRY	O villain, thy lips are scarce wiped since thou drunkest last.
SIR JOHN	All is one for that. He drinketh A plague of all cowards, still say I.
PRINCE HARRY	What’s the matter?
SIR JOHN	What’s the matter? There be four of us here have ta’en a thousand pound this day morning.
PRINCE HARRY	Where is it, Jack, where is it?
SIR JOHN	Where is it? Taken from us it is. A hundred upon poor four of us.
PRINCE HARRY	What, a hundred, man?
SIR JOHN	I am a rogue if I were not at half-sword with a dozen of them, two hours together. I have scaped by miracle. I am eight times thrust through the doublet, four through the hose, my buckler cut through and through, my sword hacked like a handsaw. Ecce signum.
(didascalia)	He shows his sword
SIR JOHN	I never dealt better since I was a man. All would not do. A plague of all cowards! (Pointing to Gadshill, Harvey, and Russell) Let them speak. If they speak more or less than truth, they are villains and the sons of darkness.
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY Speak, sirs, how was it?
(didascalia)	GADSHILL We four set upon some dozen—
SIR JOHN	(to the Prince) Sixteen at least, my lord.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL And bound them.
HARVEY	No, no, they were not bound.
SIR JOHN	You rogue, they were bound every man of them, or I am a Jew else, an Hebrew Jew.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon us.
SIR JOHN	And unbound the rest; and then come in the other.
PRINCE HARRY	What, fought you with them all?
SIR JOHN	All? I know not what you call all, but if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish. If there were not two- or three-and-fifty upon poor old Jack, then am I no two-legged creature.
PRINCE HARRY	Pray God you have not murdered some of them.
SIR JOHN	Nay, that’s past praying for. I have peppered two of them. Two I am sure I have paid—two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse. Thou knowest my old ward—
(didascalia)	He stands as to fight
SIR JOHN	here I lay, and thus I bore my point. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me.
PRINCE HARRY	What, four? Thou saidst but two even now.
SIR JOHN	Four, Hal, I told thee four.
POINS	Ay, ay, he said four.
SIR JOHN	These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me. I made me no more ado, but took all their seven points in my target, thus.
(didascalia)	He wards himself with his buckler
PRINCE HARRY	Seven? Why, there were but four even now.
SIR JOHN	In buckram?
POINS	Ay, four in buckram suits.
SIR JOHN	Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else.
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) Prithee, let him alone. We shall have more anon.
SIR JOHN	Dost thou hear me, Hal?
PRINCE HARRY	Ay, and mark thee too, Jack.
SIR JOHN	Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These nine in buckram that I told thee of—
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) So, two more already.
SIR JOHN	Their points being broken—
(didascalia)	POINS aside to the Prince Down fell their hose.
SIR JOHN	Began to give me ground. But I followed me close, came in foot and hand, and, with a thought, seven of the eleven I paid.
PRINCE HARRY	(aside to Poins) O monstrous! Eleven buckram men grown out of two!
SIR JOHN	But, as the devil would have it, three misbegotten knaves in Kendal green came at my back and let drive at me; for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst not see thy hand.
PRINCE HARRY	These lies are like their father that begets them—gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou whoreson obscene greasy tallow-catch-
SIR JOHN	What, art thou mad? Art thou mad? Is not the truth the truth?
PRINCE HARRY	Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal green when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy hand? Come, tell us your reason. What sayst thou to this?
POINS	Come, your reason, Jack, your reason.
SIR JOHN	What, upon compulsion? Zounds, an I were at the strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on compulsion? If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.
PRINCE HARRY	I’ll be no longer guilty of this sin. This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back-breaker, this huge hill of flesh—
SIR JOHN	’Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stock-fish—O, for breath to utter what is like thee!—you tailor’s yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck—
PRINCE HARRY	Well, breathe awhile, and then to’t again, and when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons, hear me speak but this.
POINS	Mark, Jack.
PRINCE HARRY	We two saw you four set on four, and bound them, and were masters of their wealth.—Mark now how a plain tale shall put you down.—Then did we two set on you four, and, with a word, outfaced you from your prize, and have it; yea, and can show it you here in the house. And Oldcastle, you carried your guts away as nimbly, with as quick dexterity, and roared for mercy, and still run and roared, as ever I heard bull-calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight! What trick, what device, what starting-hole canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?
POINS	Come, let’s hear, Jack; what trick hast thou now?
SIR JOHN	By the Lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye. Why, hear you, my masters. Was it for me to kill the heir-apparent? Should I turn upon the true prince? Why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules; but beware instinct. The lion will not touch the true prince—instinct is a great matter. I was now a coward on instinct. I shall think the better of myself and thee during my life—I for a valiant lion, and thou for a true prince. But by the Lord, lads, I am glad you have the money.—(Calling) Hostess, clap to the doors.—Watch tonight, pray tomorrow. Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of good fellowship come to you! What, shall we be merry, shall we have a play extempore?
PRINCE HARRY	Content, and the argument shall be thy running away.
SIR JOHN	Ah, no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me.
(didascalia)	Enter Hostess
HOSTESS	O Jesu, my lord the Prince!
PRINCE HARRY	How now, my lady the Hostess, what sayst thou to me?
HOSTESS	Marry, my lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you. He says he comes from your father.
PRINCE HARRY	Give him as much as will make him a royal man, and send him back again to my mother.
SIR JOHN	What manner of man is he?
HOSTESS	An old man.
SIR JOHN	What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight? Shall I give him his answer?
PRINCE HARRY	Prithee do, Jack.
SIR JOHN	Faith, and I’ll send him packing. Exit
PRINCE HARRY	Now, sirs; (to Gadshill) by’r Lady, you fought fair—so did you, Harvey, so did you, Russell. You are lions too—you ran away upon instinct, you will not touch the true prince; no, fie!
RUSSELL	Faith, I ran when I saw others run.
PRINCE HARRY	Faith, tell me now in earnest, how came Oldcastle’s sword so hacked?
HARVEY	Why, he hacked it with his dagger, and said he would swear truth out of England but he would make you believe it was done in fight, and persuaded us to do the like.
RUSSELL	Yea, and to tickle our noses with speargrass, to make them bleed; and then to beslubber our garments with it, and swear it was the blood of true men. I did that I did not this seven year before—I blushed to hear his monstrous devices.
PRINCE HARRY	O villain, thou stolest a cup of sack eighteen years ago, and wert taken with the manner, and ever since thou hast blushed extempore. Thou hadst fire and sword on thy side, and yet thou rannest away. What instinct hadst thou for it?
RUSSELL	(indicating his face) My lord, do you see these meteors? Do you behold these exhalations?
PRINCE HARRY	I do.
RUSSELL	What think you they portend?
PRINCE HARRY	Hot livers, and cold purses.
(didascalia)	RUSSELL Choler, my lord, if rightly taken. Exit
PRINCE HARRY	No, if rightly taken, halter.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
PRINCE HARRY	Here comes lean Jack; here comes bare-bone. How now, my sweet creature of bombast? How long is’t ago, Jack, since thou sawest thine own knee?
SIR JOHN	My own knee? When I was about thy years, Hal, I was not an eagle’s talon in the waist; I could have crept into any alderman’s thumb-ring. A plague of sighing and grief—it blows a man up like a bladder. There’s villainous news abroad. Here was Sir John Bracy from your father; you must to the court in the morning. That same mad fellow of the North, Percy, and he of Wales that gave Amamon the bastinado, and made Lucifer cuckold, and swore the devil his true liegeman upon the cross of a Welsh hook—what a plague call you him?
POINS	Owain Glyndwr.
SIR JOHN	Owain, Owain, the same; and his son-in-law Mortimer, and old Northumberland, and that sprightly Scot of Scots Douglas, that runs a-horseback up a hill perpendicular—
PRINCE HARRY	He that rides at high speed and with his pistol kills a sparrow flying.
SIR JOHN	You have hit it.
PRINCE HARRY	So did he never the sparrow.
SIR JOHN	Well, that rascal hath good mettle in him; he will not run.
PRINCE HARRY	Why, what a rascal art thou, then, to praise him so for running!
SIR JOHN	A-horseback, ye cuckoo, but afoot he will not budge a foot.
PRINCE HARRY	Yes, Jack, upon instinct.
SIR JOHN	I grant ye, upon instinct. Well, he is there too, and one Mordake, and a thousand blue-caps more. Worcester is stolen away tonight. Thy father’s beard is turned white with the news. You may buy land now as cheap as stinking mackerel.
PRINCE HARRY	Why then, it is like, if there come a hot June and this civil buffeting hold, we shall buy maidenheads as they buy hobnails: by the hundreds.
SIR JOHN	By the mass, lad, thou sayst true; it is like we shall have good trading that way. But tell me, Hal, art not thou horrible afeard? Thou being heir-apparent, could the world pick thee out three such enemies again as that fiend Douglas, that spirit Percy, and that devil Glyndŵr? Art thou not horribly afraid? Doth not thy blood thrill at it?
PRINCE HARRY	Not a whit, i’faith. I lack some of thy instinct. 375
SIR JOHN	Well, thou wilt be horribly chid tomorrow when thou comest to thy father. If thou love me, practise an answer.
PRINCE HARRY	Do thou stand for my father, and examine me upon the particulars of my life.
SIR JOHN	Shall I? Content. This chair shall be my state, this dagger my sceptre, and this cushion my crown. He sits
PRINCE HARRY	Thy state is taken for a joint-stool, thy golden sceptre for a leaden dagger, and thy precious rich crown for a pitiful bald crown.
SIR JOHN	Well, an the fire of grace be not quite out of thee, now shalt thou be moved. Give me a cup of sack to make my eyes look red, that it may be thought I have wept; for I must speak in passion, and I will do it in King Cambyses’ vein.
PRINCE HARRY	(bowing) Well, here is my leg.
SIR JOHN	And here is my speech. (To Harvey, Poins, and Gadshill) Stand aside, nobility.
HOSTESS	O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i’faith.
SIR JOHN	Weep not, sweet Queen, for trickling tears are vain.
HOSTESS	O the Father, how he holds his countenance!
SIR JOHN	For God’s sake, lords, convey my tristful Queen, For tears do stop the floodgates of her eyes.
HOSTESS	O Jesu, he doth it as like one of these harlotry players as ever I see!
SIR JOHN	Peace, good pint-pot; peace, good tickle-brain.— Harry, I do not only marvel where thou spendest thy time, but also how thou art accompanied. For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it wears. That thou art my son I have partly thy mother’s word, partly my own opinion, but chiefly a villainous trick of thine eye, and a foolish hanging of thy nether lip, that doth warrant me. If then thou be son to me, here lies the point. Why, being son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher, and eat btackberries?—A question not to be asked. Shall the son of England prove a thief, and take purses?—A question to be asked. There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast often heard of, and it is known to many in our land by the name of pitch. This pitch, as ancient writers do report, doth defile. So doth the company thou keepest. For Harry, now I do not speak to thee in drink, but in tears; not in pleasure, but in passion; not in words only, but in woes also. And yet there is a virtuous man whom I have often noted in thy company, but I know not his name.
PRINCE HARRY	What manner of man, an it like your majesty?
SIR JOHN	A goodly, portly man, i‘faith, and a corpulent; of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye, and a most noble carriage; and, as I think, his age some fifty, or, by’r Lady, inclining to threescore. And now I remember me, his name is Oldcastle. If that man should be lewdly given, he deceiveth me; for, Harry, I see virtue in his looks. If, then, the tree may be known by the fruit, as the fruit by the tree, then peremptorily I speak it—there is virtue in that Oldcastle. Him keep with; the rest banish. And tell me now, thou naughty varlet, tell me, where hast thou been this month?
PRINCE HARRY	Dost thou speak like a king? Do thou stand for me, and I’ll play my father.
SIR JOHN	(standing) Depose me. If thou dost it half so gravely, so majestically both in word and matter, hang me up by the heels for a rabbit sucker, or a poulter’s hare.
PRINCE HARRY	(sitting) Well, here I am set.
SIR JOHN	And here I stand. (To the others) Judge, my masters.
PRINCE HARRY	Now, Harry, whence come you?
SIR JOHN	My noble lord, from Eastcheap.
PRINCE HARRY	The complaints I hear of thee are grievous.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN ’Sblood, my lord, they are false. To
(didascalia)	the others
PRINCE HARRY	Nay, I’ll tickle ye for a young prince, i’faith.
PRINCE HARRY	Swearest thou, ungracious boy? Henceforth ne’er look on me. Thou art violently carried away from grace. There is a devil haunts thee in the likeness of an old fat man; a tun of man is thy companion. Why dost thou converse with that trunk of humours, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly, that reverend Vice, that grey Iniquity, that father Ruffian, that Vanity in Years? Wherein is he good, but to taste sack and drink it? Wherein neat and cleanly, but to carve a capon and eat it? Wherein cunning, but in craft? Wherein crafty, but in villainy? Wherein villainous, but in all things? Wherein worthy, but in nothing?
SIR JOHN	I would your grace would take me with you. Whom means your grace?
PRINCE HARRY	That villainous, abominable misleader of youth, Oldcastle; that old white-bearded Satan.
SIR JOHN	My lord, the man I know.
PRINCE HARRY	I know thou dost.
SIR JOHN	But to say I know more harm in him than in myself were to say more than I know. That he is old, the more the pity, his white hairs do witness it. But that he is, saving your reverence, a whoremaster, that I utterly deny. If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked. If to be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damned. If to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh’s lean kine are to be loved. No, my good lord, banish Harvey, banish Russell, banish Poins, but for sweet Jack Oldcastle, kind Jack Oldcastle, true Jack Oldcastle, valiant Jack Oldcastle, and therefore more valiant being, as he is, old Jack Oldcastle, Banish not him thy Harry’s company, Banish not him thy Harry’s company. Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.
PRINCE HARRY	I do; I will.
(didascalia)	Knocking within. Exit Hostess.
(didascalia)	Enter Russell, running
RUSSELL	O my lord, my lord, the sheriff with a most monstrous watch is at the door!
SIR JOHN	Out, ye rogue! Play out the play! I have much to say in the behalf of that Oldeastle.
(didascalia)	Enter the Hostess
HOSTESS	O Jesu! My lord, my lord!
PRINCE HARRY	Heigh, heigh, the devil rides upon a fiddlestick! What’s the matter?
HOSTESS	The sheriff and all the watch are at the door. They are come to search the house. Shall I let them in?
SIR JOHN	Dost thou hear, Hal? Never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit—thou art essentially made, without seeming so.
PRINCE HARRY	And thou a natural coward without instinct.
SIR JOHN	I deny your major. If you will deny the sheriff, so. If not, let him enter. If I become not a cart as well as another man, a plague on my bringing up. I hope I shall as soon be strangled with a halter as another.
PRINCE HARRY	Go, hide thee behind the arras. The rest walk up above. Now, my masters, for a true face and good conscience. Exeunt Poins, Russell, and Gadshill
SIR JOHN	Both which I have had, but their date is out; and therefore I’ll hide me. He withdraws behind the arras
PRINCE HARRY	(to Hostess) Call in the sheriff. Exit Hostess
(didascalia)	Enter Sheriff and a Carrier
PRINCE HARRY	Now, master sheriff, what is your will with me?
SHERIFF	First, pardon me, my lord. A hue and cry Hath followed certain men unto this house.
PRINCE HARRY	What men?
SHERIFF	One of them is well known, my gracious lord, A gross, fat man.
CARRIER	As fat as butter.
PRINCE HARRY	The man, I do assure you, is not here, For I myself at this time have employed him. And, sheriff, I will engage my word to thee That I will by tomorrow dinner-time Send him to answer thee, or any man, For anything he shall be charged withal. And so let me entreat you leave the house.
SHERIFF	I will, my lord. There are two gentlemen Have in this robbery lost three hundred marks.
PRINCE HARRY	It may be so. If he have robbed these men, He shall be answerable. And so, farewell.
SHERIFF	Good night, my noble lord.
PRINCE HARRY	I think it is good morrow, is it not?
SHERIFF	Indeed, my lord, I think it be two o’clock.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Sheriff and Carrier
PRINCE HARRY	This oily rascal is known as well as Paul’s. Go call him forth.
HARVEY	Oldcastle!
(didascalia)	He
(didascalia)	draws back the arras, revealing Sir John asleep
HARVEY	Fast asleep Behind the arras, and snorting like a horse.
PRINCE HARRY	Hark how hard he fetches breath. Search his pockets.
(didascalia)	Harvey searcheth his pocket and findeth certain papers. He closeth the arras and cometh forward
PRINCE HARRY	What hast thou found?
HARVEY	Nothing but papers, my lord.
PRINCE HARRY	Let’s see what they be. Read them.
(didascalia)	HARVEY (reads)
PRINCE HARRY	Item: a capon. 2s. 2d. Item: sauce. 4d. Item: sack, two gallons. 5s. 8d. Item: anchovies and sack after supper. 2s. 6d. Item: bread. ob.
(didascalia)	PRINCE HARRY O monstrous! But one halfpennyworth of bread to this intolerable deal of sack! What there is else, keep close; we’ll read it at more advantage. There let him sleep till day. I’ll to the court in the morning. We must all to the wars, and thy place shall be honourable. I’ll procure this fat rogue a charge of foot, and I know his death will be a march of twelve score. The money shall be paid back again, with advantage. Be with me betimes in the morning; and so good morrow, Harvey.
(didascalia)	HARVEY Good morrow, good my lord. Exeunt severally

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra il Principe Harry
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ned, ti prego, esci da quella stanza grassa, e dammi una mano a ridere un poco.
(didascalia)	Entra Poins da un’altra porta
POINS	Dove sei stato, Hal?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Con tre o quattro teste di legno, in mezzo a tre o quattro ventine di botti. Ho toccato la corda più bassa dell’umiltà. Messere, sono fratello giurato d’un terzetto di garzoni, e posso chiamarli tutti col nome di battesimo, come ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’ e ‘Francis’. Danno già per certo, sulla loro salvezza, che, benché io sia solo Principe di Galles, sono però il re della cortesia, e mi dicono schietto che non sono un tronfio spaccone come Oldcastle, ma un Corinzio, un ragazzo di fegato, un buon figliolo—per il Signore, così mi chiamano; e quando sarò Re d’Inghilterra comanderò tutti i bravi ragazzi di Eastcheap. Chiamano il bere profondo ‘tingersi di scarlatto’, e quando riprendi fiato mentre tracanni gridano ‘Ehm!’ e ti dicono ‘Butta giù!’ Per concludere, in un quarto d’ora sono divenuto così esperto che potrò bere con qualsiasi calderaio nella sua propria lingua per tutta la vita. Ti dico, Ned, hai perduto molto onore a non essere stato con me in questa azione. Ma, dolce Ned—e per addolcire questo nome di Ned ti do questo soldo di zucchero, cacciatomi in mano or ora da un sottocoppiere, uno che non parlò mai altro inglese in vita sua che ‘Otto scellini e sei pence’ e ‘Siate il benvenuto’, con questa stridula aggiunta: ‘Subito, subito, signore ! Segnate una pinta di bastardo nella Mezzaluna!’ o qualcosa di simile. Ma, Ned, per far passare il tempo finché arrivi Oldcastle, ti prego, mettiti tu in qualche stanzino, mentre io domando al mio garzoncello a che fine mi diede lo zucchero, e tu non smettere mai di chiamare ‘Francis!’, sì che il suo discorso con me non sia altro che ‘Subito!’ Fatti da parte, e ti mostrerò un saggio.
(didascalia)	Esce Poins
POINS	(da dentro) Francis!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sei perfetto.
POINS	(da dentro) Francis!
(didascalia)	Entra Francis, un garzone
FRANCIS	Subito, subito, signore!—Da’ un’occhiata giù nel Melograno, Ralph !
PRINCIPE HARRY	Vieni qua, Francis.
FRANCIS	Mio signore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Quanto hai ancora da servire, Francis?
FRANCIS	In fede, cinque anni, e altrettanto quanto a—
POINS	(da dentro) Francis!
FRANCIS	Subito, subito, signore!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Cinque anni! Per la Madonna, un lungo contratto per far tintinnare lo stagno. Ma, Francis, oseresti essere tanto valoroso da fare il codardo col tuo contratto, e mostrargli un bel paio di calcagni, e fuggirne?
FRANCIS	Oh Signore, messere, giurerei su tutti i libri d’Inghilterra, me la sentirei in cuore—
POINS	(da dentro) Francis!
FRANCIS	Subito, signore!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Quanti anni hai, Francis ?
FRANCIS	Vediamo, per San Michele prossimo avrò—
POINS	(da dentro) Francis!
FRANCIS	Subito, signore! (Al Principe) Vi prego, aspettate un poco, mio signore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ma senti, Francis. Quanto allo zucchero che m’hai dato, era un soldo, non è vero?
FRANCIS	Oh Signore, vorrei che fossero stati due I
PRINCIPE HARRY	Te ne darò in cambio mille sterline. Chiedimele quando vuoi, e le avrai—
POINS	(da dentro) Francis!
FRANCIS	Subito, subito!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Subito, Francis? No, Francis, ma domani, Francis; o, Francis, di giovedì; o, davvero, Francis, quando vorrai. Ma, Francis.
FRANCIS	Mio signore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Vuoi tu derubare quel giustacuore di cuoio, bottoni di cristallo, testa rapata, anello d’agata, calze bigie, giarrettiere di lana, lingua liscia, borsa di Spagna?
FRANCIS	Oh Signore, messere, di chi intendete ?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, allora il vostro bastardo bruno è la sola bevanda ! Ché vedete, Francis, il vostro farsetto di tela bianca si sporcherà. In Barberia, messere, non può arrivare a tanto.
FRANCIS	Che cosa, signore?
POINS	(da dentro) Francis !
PRINCIPE HARRY	Va’ via, briccone ! Non li senti chiamare ?
(didascalia)	Mentre egli si allontana, Poins e il Principe lo chiamano entrambi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Il Garzone resta stupefatto, non sapendo da che parte andare.
(didascalia)	Entra il Vinaio
VINAIO	Come, resti fermo, e senti un tale chiamare? Bada agli ospiti là dentro. Esce Francis Mio signore, il vecchio Sir John con una mezza dozzina d’altri è alla porta. Devo farli entrare?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Lasciateli soli un poco, e poi aprite la porta. Esce il Vinaio Poins !
(didascalia)	POINS da dentro Subito, subito, signore!
(didascalia)	Entra Poins
PRINCIPE HARRY	Messere, Oldcastle e il resto dei ladri sono alla porta. Vogliamo divertirci?
POINS	Allegri come grilli, ragazzo mio. Ma senti, che astuta partita hai combinato con questo scherzo del garzone? Su, qual è l’esito?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sono ora di tutti gli umori che si siano mostrati umori dai vecchi tempi di messer Adamo fino all’età pupilla di queste presenti dodici d’orologio a mezzanotte.
(didascalia)	Entra Francis
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che ora fa l’orologio, Francis?
(didascalia)	FRANCIS Subito, subito, signore ! Esce da un’altra porta
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che costui abbia meno parole d’un pappagallo, ed è pur figlio di donna ! La sua industria è salire e scendere le scale, la sua eloquenza il conto d’una spesa. Non sono ancora dell’animo di Percy, l’Hotspur del Nord—quello che m’ammazza sei o sette dozzine di Scozzesi a colazione, si lava le mani, e dice alla moglie: ‘Puah, questa vita quieta ! Voglio lavoro.’ ‘Oh mio dolce Harry,’ dice lei, ‘quanti ne hai uccisi oggi?’ ‘Date una purga al mio cavallo roano,’ dice lui, e risponde: ‘Un quattordici,’ un’ora dopo; ‘un’inezia, un’inezia.’ Ti prego, fa’ entrare Oldcastle. Io farò Percy, e quel dannato lardone farà Donna Mortimer sua moglie. ‘Rivo!’ dice l’ubriaco. Fate entrare Costole, fate entrare Sego.
(didascalia)	Entra Sir John Oldcastle, con spada e brocchiere, Russell, Harvey e Gadshill, seguiti da Francis, col vino
POINS	Benvenuto, Jack. Dove sei stato?
SIR JOHN	Peste colga tutti i codardi, dico io, e vendetta anche, perbacco e amen!—Dammi una coppa di sack, ragazzo.—Prima di condurre a lungo questa vita, cucirò calze, e le rammenderò e ci farò anche i piedi. Peste colga tutti i codardi!—Dammi una coppa di sack, briccone. Non c’è più virtù al mondo? Beve
PRINCIPE HARRY	Non hai mai visto Titano baciare un piatto di burro—Titano dal cuore pietoso—che si sciolse al dolce racconto del sole? Se l’hai visto, guarda allora quel composto.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN (a Francis) Briccone, c’è della calce anche in questo sack. Non si trova che bricconeria nell’uomo scellerato, eppure un codardo è peggio d’una coppa di sack con la calce dentro. Esce Francis Un codardo scellerato ! Va’ per la tua strada, vecchio Jack, muori quando vuoi. Se la virilità, la buona virilità, non è dimenticata sulla faccia della terra, allora io sono un’aringa vuota. Non vivono tre uomini buoni non impiccati in Inghilterra, e uno di loro è grasso e invecchia, Dio ci aiuti. Un cattivo mondo, dico io. Vorrei essere un tessitore—potrei cantare salmi, o qualsiasi cosa. Peste colga tutti i codardi, lo dico ancora.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, sacco di lana, che borbotti?
SIR JOHN	Un figlio di re ! Se non ti scaccio dal tuo regno con un pugnale di legno, e non caccio tutti i tuoi sudditi davanti a te come un branco d’oche selvatiche, non porterò mai più un pelo sul viso. Voi, Principe di Galles!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, tu, tondo figlio di puttana, che c’è?
SIR JOHN	Non siete un codardo? Rispondetemi a questo. E Poins là?
POINS	Corpo di Dio, pancione, se mi chiami codardo, per il Signore ti pugnalo.
SIR JOHN	Io chiamarti codardo? Ti vedrò dannato prima di chiamarti codardo, ma darei mille sterline per poter correre svelto quanto te. Avete le spalle abbastanza dritte; non vi curate di chi vi vede la schiena. Chiamate questo spalleggiare gli amici ? Peste colga tale spalleggiare! Datemi quelli che mi fanno fronte. Dammi una coppa di sack. Sono un briccone se ho bevuto oggi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Oh furfante, hai appena le labbra asciutte dall’ultima bevuta.
SIR JOHN	È tutt’uno. Beve Peste colga tutti i codardi, lo dico sempre.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che c’è?
SIR JOHN	Che c’è? Siamo qui quattro che stamattina abbiamo preso mille sterline.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Dov’è, Jack, dov’è?
SIR JOHN	Dov’è? Ci è stata presa. Cento addosso a noi poveri quattro.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come, cento, amico?
SIR JOHN	Sono un briccone se non fui a mezza spada con una dozzina di loro, per due ore di seguito. Sono scampato per miracolo. Sono trapassato otto volte nel farsetto, quattro nelle brache, il mio brocchiere tagliato da parte a parte, la mia spada intaccata come una sega. Ecce signum.
(didascalia)	Mostra la sua spada
SIR JOHN	Non mi son mai battuto meglio da quando sono uomo. Nulla giovò. Peste colga tutti i codardi! (Indicando Gadshill, Harvey e Russell) Che parlino loro. Se dicono più o meno della verità, sono furfanti e figli delle tenebre.
(didascalia)	PRINCIPE HARRY Parlate, signori, come andò?
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Noi quattro assalimmo una dozzina—
SIR JOHN	(al Principe) Sedici almeno, mio signore.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL E li legammo.
HARVEY	No, no, non erano legati.
SIR JOHN	Briccone, erano legati tutti quanti, o son giudeo altrimenti, giudeo ebreo.
(didascalia)	GADSHILL Mentre spartivamo, sei o sette uomini freschi ci assalirono.
SIR JOHN	E slegarono gli altri; e poi entrarono gli altri.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come, vi batteste con tutti loro?
SIR JOHN	Tutti? Non so che cosa chiamiate tutti, ma se non mi battei con cinquanta di loro, sono un mazzo di ravanelli. Se non erano cinquantadue o cinquantatré addosso al povero vecchio Jack, allora non sono una creatura a due gambe.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Prego Dio che tu non ne abbia ammazzato qualcuno.
SIR JOHN	No, per questo non c’è più da pregare. Ne ho pepati due. Due son certo d’aver saldati—due bricconi in vesti di bucherame. Ti dico una cosa, Hal: se ti dico una bugia, sputami in faccia, chiamami cavallo. Tu conosci la mia vecchia guardia—
(didascalia)	Si mette in posizione di combattimento
SIR JOHN	qui mi piantai, e così portai la punta. Quattro bricconi in bucherame mi si avventarono addosso.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come, quattro? Or ora ne dicesti solo due.
SIR JOHN	Quattro, Hal, te ne dissi quattro.
POINS	Sì, sì, disse quattro.
SIR JOHN	Questi quattro vennero tutti di fronte, e mi puntarono addosso con forza. Non feci altro che ricevere tutte le loro sette punte nel mio scudo, così.
(didascalia)	Si copre col brocchiere
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sette? Diamine, or ora erano solo quattro.
SIR JOHN	In bucherame?
POINS	Sì, quattro in vesti di bucherame.
SIR JOHN	Sette, per quest’elsa, o sono un furfante.
PRINCIPE HARRY	(a parte a Poins) Ti prego, lascialo stare. Ne avremo altri fra poco.
SIR JOHN	Mi senti, Hal?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sì, e ti seguo anche, Jack.
SIR JOHN	Fa’ così, ché merita d’essere ascoltato. Questi nove in bucherame di cui ti dicevo—
PRINCIPE HARRY	(a parte a Poins) Ecco, già due di più.
SIR JOHN	Rotte le loro punte—
(didascalia)	POINS a parte al Principe Caddero giù le loro brache.
SIR JOHN	cominciarono a cedermi terreno. Ma io li incalzai da presso, entrai di piede e di mano, e, in un pensiero, sette degli undici li saldai.
PRINCIPE HARRY	(a parte a Poins) Oh mostruoso! Undici uomini di bucherame cresciuti da due!
SIR JOHN	Ma, come il diavolo volle, tre manigoldi malnati in verde di Kendal mi vennero alle spalle e mi si avventarono addosso; ché era così buio, Hal, che non potevi vederti la mano.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Queste bugie somigliano al padre che le genera—grosse come una montagna, aperte, palpabili. Diamine, tu, budella dal cervello d’argilla, tu sciocco dalla testa nodosa, tu osceno untuoso raccogli-sego figlio di puttana-
SIR JOHN	Come, sei pazzo? Sei pazzo? Non è la verità la verità?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, come potevi riconoscere questi uomini in verde di Kendal quando era così buio che non potevi vederti la mano? Su, dicci la tua ragione. Che dici a questo?
POINS	Su, la tua ragione, Jack, la tua ragione.
SIR JOHN	Come, per costrizione? Corpo di Dio, fossi anche allo strappado, o su tutte le ruote del mondo, non ve la direi per costrizione. Darvi una ragione per costrizione? Se le ragioni fossero abbondanti come le more, non darei a nessuno una ragione per costrizione, io.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Non voglio esser più colpevole di questo peccato. Questo codardo sanguigno, questo schiaccialetti, questo spezzaschiene di cavalli, questa enorme collina di carne—
SIR JOHN	Sangue di Dio, tu affamato, tu pelle d’elfo, tu lingua secca di bue, tu nerbo di toro, tu stoccafisso—oh, avessi fiato per dire ciò a cui somigli!—tu canna da sarto, tu guaina, tu astuccio d’arco, tu vile stocco piantato—
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, riprendi fiato un poco, e poi daccapo, e quando ti sarai stancato in vili paragoni, ascolta soltanto questo da me.
POINS	Attento, Jack.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Noi due vedemmo voi quattro assalirne quattro, e legarli, ed esser padroni dei loro averi.—Ora sta’ a vedere come un racconto semplice vi abbatterà.—Poi noi due assalimmo voi quattro, e, con una parola, vi cacciammo dal vostro bottino, e l’abbiamo; sì, e possiamo mostrarvelo qui nella casa. E voi, Oldcastle, portaste via le vostre budella così agilmente, con così pronta destrezza, e ruggiste mercé, e correvate e ruggivate come mai udii vitello. Che schiavo sei, a intaccare la tua spada come hai fatto, e poi dire che fu in combattimento! Che astuzia, che espediente, che pertugio sai ora trovare per nasconderti da questa aperta ed evidente vergogna?
POINS	Su, sentiamo, Jack; che astuzia hai adesso?
SIR JOHN	Per il Signore, vi conobbi tanto bene quanto colui che vi fece. Diamine, sentite, padroni miei. Toccava a me uccidere l’erede apparente? Dovevo io volgermi contro il vero principe? Diamine, tu sai che sono valoroso come Ercole; ma bada all’istinto. Il leone non tocca il vero principe—l’istinto è gran cosa. Fui allora codardo per istinto. Penserò meglio di me e di te per tutta la vita—io come leone valoroso, e tu come vero principe. Ma per il Signore, ragazzi, son lieto che abbiate il denaro.—(Chiamando) Ostessa, sbarra le porte.—Veglia stanotte, prega domani. Galanti, ragazzi, figlioli, cuori d’oro, tutti i titoli della buona compagnia vengano su di voi! Su, vogliamo divertirci, vogliamo fare una commedia all’improvviso?
PRINCIPE HARRY	D’accordo, e l’argomento sarà la tua fuga.
SIR JOHN	Ah, non più di quello, Hal, se mi vuoi bene.
(didascalia)	Entra l’Ostessa
OSTESSA	Oh Gesù, mio signore il Principe!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, mia signora l’Ostessa, che mi dite?
OSTESSA	Perbacco, mio signore, c’è un nobiluomo della corte alla porta che vorrebbe parlarvi. Dice che viene da parte di vostro padre.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Dategli tanto da farne un uomo reale, e rimandatelo da mia madre.
SIR JOHN	Che sorta d’uomo è?
OSTESSA	Un vecchio.
SIR JOHN	Che fa la gravità fuori dal letto a mezzanotte? Devo dargli io la risposta?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Fallo pure, Jack.
SIR JOHN	In fede, e lo manderò a spasso. Esce
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ora, signori; (a Gadshill) per la Madonna, vi batteste bene—e anche voi, Harvey, e anche voi, Russell. Siete leoni anche voi—fuggiste per istinto, non volete toccare il vero principe; no, vergogna!
RUSSELL	In fede, corsi quando vidi correre gli altri.
PRINCIPE HARRY	In fede, dimmi ora sul serio, come mai la spada di Oldcastle fu così intaccata?
HARVEY	Diamine, se la intaccò col pugnale, e disse che avrebbe giurato via dall’Inghilterra la verità pur di farvi credere che fu fatto in combattimento, e persuase noi a fare lo stesso.
RUSSELL	Sì, e a solleticarci il naso con l’erba lancia, per farlo sanguinare; e poi a imbrattarne le nostre vesti, e giurare che era il sangue di galantuomini. Feci ciò che non facevo da sette anni—arrossii a udire i suoi mostruosi ritrovati.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Oh furfante, rubasti una coppa di sack diciott’anni fa, e fosti colto sul fatto, e da allora arrossisci all’improvviso. Avevi il fuoco e la spada dalla tua, eppure fuggisti. Che istinto avesti per questo?
RUSSELL	(indicando il proprio volto) Mio signore, vedete queste meteore? Contemplate queste esalazioni?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Le vedo.
RUSSELL	Che pensate che presagiscano?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Fegati caldi e borse fredde.
(didascalia)	RUSSELL Collera, mio signore, se presa a dovere. Esce
PRINCIPE HARRY	No, se presa a dovere, capestro.
(didascalia)	Entra Sir John Oldcastle
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ecco che viene il magro Jack; ecco che vengono le ossa spolpate. Ebbene, mia dolce creatura d’imbottitura? Quanto tempo è, Jack, da che vedesti il tuo ginocchio?
SIR JOHN	Il mio ginocchio? Quando avevo i tuoi anni, Hal, non ero grosso in cintura più d’un artiglio d’aquila; potevo strisciare dentro l’anello da pollice d’un assessore. Peste colga i sospiri e il dolore—gonfiano l’uomo come una vescica. Ci sono novità scellerate in giro. È stato qui Sir John Bracy da parte di vostro padre; dovete andare a corte domattina. Quel pazzo del Nord, Percy, e quello del Galles che diede la bastonata ad Amamon, e fece becco Lucifero, e giurò il diavolo suo fedele vassallo sulla croce d’una roncola gallese—come diavolo lo chiamate?
POINS	Owain Glyndwr.
SIR JOHN	Owain, Owain, proprio lui; e suo genero Mortimer, e il vecchio Northumberland, e quello svelto Scozzese fra gli Scozzesi, Douglas, che a cavallo sale su per una collina a perpendicolo—
PRINCIPE HARRY	Quello che cavalca a gran velocità e con la sua pistola uccide un passero in volo.
SIR JOHN	L’hai colto.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Lui invece non colse mai il passero.
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, quel furfante ha buon fegato in corpo; non fuggirà.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, che furfante sei tu, dunque, a lodarlo così per il correre!
SIR JOHN	A cavallo, cuculo, ma a piedi non si muove d’un piede.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sì, Jack, per istinto.
SIR JOHN	Te lo concedo, per istinto. Ebbene, c’è anche lui, e un certo Mordake, e altri mille berretti azzurri. Worcester è sgusciato via stanotte. La barba di tuo padre s’è fatta bianca alla notizia. Ora si può comprar terra a buon mercato come sgombro putrido.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, allora è probabile che, se viene un giugno caldo e dura questa zuffa civile, compreremo verginità come si comprano i chiodi: a centinaia.
SIR JOHN	Per la messa, ragazzo, dici il vero; è probabile che avremo buon commercio in quel genere. Ma dimmi, Hal, non hai una paura orribile? Essendo tu erede apparente, potrebbe il mondo sceglierti di nuovo tre nemici simili a quel demonio di Douglas, a quello spirito di Percy, e a quel diavolo di Glyndŵr? Non hai una paura orribile? Non ti freme il sangue a pensarci?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Neanche un briciolo, in fede mia. Mi manca un po’ del tuo istinto. 375
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, sarai orribilmente sgridato domani quando andrai da tuo padre. Se mi ami, esercitati in una risposta.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Fa’ tu la parte di mio padre, ed esaminami sui particolari della mia vita.
SIR JOHN	Io? D’accordo. Questa sedia sarà il mio trono, questo pugnale il mio scettro, e questo cuscino la mia corona. Si siede
PRINCIPE HARRY	Il tuo trono è preso per uno sgabello, il tuo aureo scettro per un pugnale di piombo, e la tua preziosa e ricca corona per una misera cocuzza pelata.
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, se il fuoco della grazia non è del tutto spento in te, ora sarai commosso. Dammi una coppa di sack per farmi gli occhi rossi, sì che si creda che ho pianto; ché devo parlare con passione, e lo farò alla maniera di Re Cambise.
PRINCIPE HARRY	(inchinandosi) Ebbene, ecco il mio inchino.
SIR JOHN	Ed ecco il mio discorso. (A Harvey, Poins e Gadshill) Fatevi da parte, nobiltà.
OSTESSA	Oh Gesù, questo è spasso eccellente, in fede mia.
SIR JOHN	Non piangere, dolce Regina, ché le lacrime che scorrono son vane.
OSTESSA	Oh Padre, come tien fermo il contegno!
SIR JOHN	Per amor di Dio, signori, portate via la mia mesta Regina, ché le lacrime ostruiscono le chiuse dei suoi occhi.
OSTESSA	Oh Gesù, lo fa proprio come uno di quei commedianti da bordello che abbia mai visto!
SIR JOHN	Zitto, buon boccale; zitto, buon solletica-cervello.— Harry, non solo mi meraviglio di dove tu spenda il tuo tempo, ma anche di come sei accompagnato. Poiché, sebbene la camomilla, quanto più è calpestata, tanto più presto cresca, la giovinezza invece, quanto più è sprecata, tanto prima si consuma. Che tu sia mio figlio, l’ho in parte dalla parola di tua madre, in parte dalla mia opinione, ma soprattutto da uno scellerato vezzo del tuo occhio, e da uno sciocco pendere del tuo labbro inferiore, che me lo garantisce. Se dunque sei figlio mio, qui sta il punto. Perché, essendo figlio mio, sei tu così additato? Dovrà il benedetto sole del cielo farsi vagabondo, e mangiar more?—Domanda che non va fatta. Dovrà il figlio d’Inghilterra farsi ladro, e tagliar borse?—Domanda che va fatta. C’è una cosa, Harry, di cui hai udito spesso, ed è nota a molti nella nostra terra col nome di pece. Questa pece, come riferiscono gli antichi scrittori, imbratta. Così fa la compagnia che tu frequenti. Poiché, Harry, ora non ti parlo nel vino, ma nelle lacrime; non nel piacere, ma nella passione; non con parole soltanto, ma anche con affanni. E tuttavia c’è un uomo virtuoso che ho spesso notato nella tua compagnia, ma non so il suo nome.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che sorta d’uomo, se piace a vostra maestà?
SIR JOHN	Un uomo avvenente e maestoso, in fede, e corpulento; d’aspetto allegro, d’occhio piacevole, e di portamento nobilissimo; e, come credo, d’età sui cinquanta, o, per la Madonna, incline ai sessanta. E ora mi ricordo, il suo nome è Oldcastle. Se quell’uomo fosse dato alla lussuria, m’inganna; ché, Harry, io vedo virtù nel suo volto. Se dunque l’albero si conosce dal frutto, come il frutto dall’albero, allora lo dico perentoriamente—c’è virtù in quell’Oldcastle. Con lui sta’; gli altri bandiscili. E dimmi ora, cattivo manigoldo, dimmi, dove sei stato questo mese?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Parli tu come un re? Fa’ tu la mia parte, e io farò mio padre.
SIR JOHN	(alzandosi) Deponimi. Se lo fai la metà così gravemente, così maestosamente e in parola e in sostanza, appendimi per i talloni come un coniglio da latte, o una lepre da pollivendolo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	(sedendosi) Ebbene, eccomi assiso.
SIR JOHN	E qui io sto in piedi. (Agli altri) Giudicate, padroni miei.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ora, Harry, di dove venite?
SIR JOHN	Mio nobile signore, da Eastcheap.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Le lagnanze che odo sul tuo conto sono gravi.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN Sangue di Dio, mio signore, sono false. Agli
(didascalia)	altri
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ma io ti solleticherò per un giovane principe, in fede mia.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Giuri, ragazzo scellerato? D’ora innanzi non guardarmi più. Sei violentemente trascinato via dalla grazia. C’è un diavolo che ti perseguita in sembianza d’un vecchio grasso; una botte d’uomo è il tuo compagno. Perché conversi con quel baule d’umori, quella madia di bestialità, quel gonfio fardello d’idropisie, quella enorme bombarda di sack, quel sacco da viaggio imbottito di budella, quel bue arrostito di Manningtree col sanguinaccio in pancia, quel reverendo Vizio, quella grigia Iniquità, quel padre Ruffiano, quella Vanità in Anni? In che cosa è buono, se non ad assaggiare il sack e berlo? In che cosa lindo e pulito, se non a trinciare un cappone e mangiarlo? In che cosa astuto, se non nella frode? In che cosa frodolento, se non nella scelleratezza? In che cosa scellerato, se non in ogni cosa? In che cosa degno, se non in nulla?
SIR JOHN	Vorrei che vostra grazia mi conducesse con sé. Chi intende vostra grazia?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Quello scellerato, abominevole traviatore della gioventù, Oldcastle; quel vecchio Satana dalla barba bianca.
SIR JOHN	Mio signore, l’uomo lo conosco.
PRINCIPE HARRY	So che lo conosci.
SIR JOHN	Ma dire che conosco in lui più male che in me stesso sarebbe dire più di quanto so. Che sia vecchio, tanto peggio, i suoi capelli bianchi ne fanno fede. Ma che sia, salva la vostra riverenza, un puttaniere, questo lo nego assolutamente. Se sack e zucchero sono una colpa, Dio aiuti i malvagi. Se essere vecchio e allegro è peccato, allora molti vecchi osti che conosco sono dannati. Se essere grasso vuol dire essere odiato, allora le vacche magre di Faraone son da amare. No, mio buon signore, bandite Harvey, bandite Russell, bandite Poins, ma quanto al dolce Jack Oldcastle, al caro Jack Oldcastle, al fedele Jack Oldcastle, al valoroso Jack Oldcastle, e perciò tanto più valoroso essendo, com’è, il vecchio Jack Oldcastle, non bandirlo dalla compagnia del tuo Harry, non bandirlo dalla compagnia del tuo Harry. Bandisci il grassoccio Jack, e bandisci tutto il mondo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Lo faccio; lo farò.
(didascalia)	Si bussa dentro. Esce l’Ostessa.
(didascalia)	Entra Russell, correndo
RUSSELL	Oh mio signore, mio signore, lo sceriffo con una guardia mostruosa è alla porta!
SIR JOHN	Va’ via, briccone! Recita fino in fondo la commedia! Ho molto da dire in favore di quell’Oldeastle.
(didascalia)	Entra l’Ostessa
OSTESSA	Oh Gesù! Mio signore, mio signore!
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ehi, ehi, il diavolo cavalca un archetto di violino! Che c’è?
OSTESSA	Lo sceriffo e tutta la guardia sono alla porta. Sono venuti a perquisire la casa. Devo farli entrare?
SIR JOHN	Mi senti, Hal? Non chiamare mai contraffatto un vero pezzo d’oro—tu sei fatto d’essenza, senza parerlo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	E tu un codardo naturale senza istinto.
SIR JOHN	Nego la vostra maggiore. Se volete negare l’ingresso allo sceriffo, sia. Se no, fatelo entrare. Se non figuro su un carro tanto bene quanto un altro, peste colga la mia educazione. Spero d’essere strangolato con un capestro presto quanto un altro.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Va’, nasconditi dietro l’arazzo. Gli altri salgano di sopra. Ora, padroni miei, un volto sincero e una buona coscienza. Escono Poins, Russell e Gadshill
SIR JOHN	Entrambi li ho avuti, ma la loro scadenza è passata; e perciò mi nasconderò. Si ritira dietro l’arazzo
PRINCIPE HARRY	(all’ Ostessa) Fate entrare lo sceriffo. Esce l’Ostessa
(didascalia)	Entrano lo Sceriffo e un Carrettiere
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ora, messer sceriffo, che volete da me?
SCERIFFO	Anzitutto, perdonatemi, mio signore. Un grido d’allarme ha inseguito certi uomini fino a questa casa.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Quali uomini?
SCERIFFO	Uno di loro è ben noto, mio grazioso signore, un uomo grosso e grasso.
CARRETTIERE	Grasso come burro.
PRINCIPE HARRY	L’uomo, ve l’assicuro, non è qui, ché io stesso in questo momento l’ho impiegato. E, sceriffo, t’impegno la mia parola che entro l’ora del pranzo di domani lo manderò a rispondere a te, o a chiunque, di qualunque cosa gli sia imputata. E così vi prego di lasciare la casa.
SCERIFFO	Lo farò, mio signore. Ci sono due gentiluomini che in questa rapina hanno perduto trecento marchi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Può darsi. Se ha derubato questi uomini, ne risponderà. E così, addio.
SCERIFFO	Buona notte, mio nobile signore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Credo che sia buon giorno, non è vero?
SCERIFFO	Davvero, mio signore, credo che siano le due d’orologio.
(didascalia)	Escono lo Sceriffo e il Carrettiere
PRINCIPE HARRY	Questo unto furfante è noto tanto bene quanto San Paolo. Andate a chiamarlo.
HARVEY	Oldcastle!
(didascalia)	Egli
(didascalia)	tira indietro l’arazzo, scoprendo Sir John addormentato
HARVEY	Profondamente addormentato dietro l’arazzo, e russa come un cavallo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Senti come tira il fiato a fatica. Frugagli le tasche.
(didascalia)	Harvey gli fruga la tasca e trova certe carte. Richiude l’arazzo e si fa avanti
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che hai trovato?
HARVEY	Nient’altro che carte, mio signore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Vediamo che cosa sono. Leggile.
(didascalia)	HARVEY (legge)
PRINCIPE HARRY	Item: un cappone. 2s. 2d. Item: salsa. 4d. Item: sack, due galloni. 5s. 8d. Item: acciughe e sack dopo cena. 2s. 6d. Item: pane. ob.
(didascalia)	PRINCIPE HARRY Oh mostruoso! Un solo mezzo penny di pane per questa intollerabile quantità di sack! Quel che c’è d’altro, tienilo nascosto; lo leggeremo con più comodo. Là lascialo dormire fino a giorno. Io andrò a corte domattina. Dobbiamo andare tutti alla guerra, e il tuo posto sarà onorevole. Procurerò a questo grasso briccone un comando di fanteria, e so che la sua morte sarà una marcia di duecentoquaranta passi. Il denaro sarà restituito, con l’interesse. Sii da me di buon’ora domattina; e così buon giorno, Harvey.
(didascalia)	HARVEY Buon giorno, mio buon signore. Escono separatamente

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur, the Earl of Worcester, Lord Mortimer, and Owain Glyndŵr, with a map
MORTIMER	These promises are fair, the parties sure, And our induction full of prosperous hope.
HOTSPUR	Lord Mortimer and cousin Glyndŵr, Will you sit down? And uncle Worcester?
(didascalia)	Mortimer, Glyndŵr, and Worcester sit
HOTSPUR	A plague upon it, I have forgot the map! GLYNDŴR No, here it is. Sit, cousin Percy, sit, Good cousin Hotspur;
(didascalia)	Hotspur sits
HOTSPUR	For by that name As oft as Lancaster doth speak of you, His cheek looks pale, and with a rising sigh He wisheth you in heaven.
HOTSPUR	And you in hell, As oft as he hears Owain Glyndŵr spoke of. GLYNDŴR I cannot blame him. At my nativity The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, Of burning cressets; and at my birth The frame and huge foundation of the earth Shaked like a coward.
HOTSPUR	Why, so it would have done At the same season if your mother’s cat Had but kittened, though yourself had never been born. GLYNDŴR I say the earth did shake when I was born.
HOTSPUR	And I say the earth was not of my mind If you suppose as fearing you it shook. GLYNDŴR The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble—
HOTSPUR	O, then the earth shook to see the heavens on fire, And not in fear of your nativity. Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth In strange eruptions; oft the teeming earth Is with a kind of colic pinched and vexed By the imprisoning of unruly wind
(didascalia)	Within her womb, which for enlargement striving
HOTSPUR	Shakes the old beldam earth, and topples down Steeples and moss-grown towers. At your birth Our grandam earth, having this distemp’rature, In passion shook. GLYNDŴR Cousin, of many men I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave To tell you once again that at my birth The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields. These signs have marked me extraordinary, And all the courses of my life do show I am not in the roll of commen men. Where is he living, clipped in with the sea That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales, Which calls me pupil or hath read to me? And bring him out that is but woman’s son Can trace me in the tedious ways of art, And hold me pace in deep experiments.
(didascalia)	HOTSPUR standíng
HOTSPUR	I think there’s no man speaketh better Welsh. I’ll to dinner.
MORTIMER	Peace, cousin Percy, you will make him mad. GLYNDŴR I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
HOTSPUR	Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? GLYNDŴR Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command the devil.
HOTSPUR	And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil, By telling truth: ‘Tell truth, and shame the devil’. If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither, And I’ll be sworn I have power to shame him hence. O, while you live, tell truth and shame the devil.
MORTIMER	Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat. GLYNDŴR Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye And sandy-bottomed Severn have I sent him Bootless home, and weather-beaten back.
HOTSPUR	Home without boots, and in foul weather too! How scapes he agues, in the devil’s name? GLYNDŴR Come, here’s the map. Shall we divide our right, According to our threefold order ta’en?
MORTIMER	The Archdeacon hath divided it Into three limits very equally. England from Trent and Severn hitherto By south and east is to my part assigned; All westward-Wales beyond the Severn shore And all the fertile land within that bound— To Owain Glyndwr; (to Hotspur) and, dear coz, to you The remnant northward lying off from Trent. And our indentures tripartite are drawn, Which, being sealèd interchangeably— A business that this night may execute— Tomorrow, cousin Percy, you and I 80 And my good lord of Worcester will set forth To meet your father and the Scottish power, As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury. My father, Glyndŵr., is not ready yet, Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days.
(didascalia)	Within that space you may have drawn together
MORTIMER	Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentlemen. GLYNDŴR A shorter time shall send me to you, lords; And in my conduct shall your ladies come, From whom you now must steal and take no leave; For there will be a world of water shed 91 Upon the parting of your wives and you.
HOTSPUR	Methinks my moiety north from Burton here In quantity equals not one of yours. See how this river comes me cranking in, And cuts me from the best of all my land A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle, out. I’ll have the current in this place dammed up, And here the smug and silver Trent shall run In a new channel fair and evenly. It shall not wind with such a deep indent, To rob me of so rich a bottom here. GLYNDŴR Not wind? It shall, it must; you see it doth.
MORTIMER	Yea, but mark how he bears his course, and runs me up With like advantage on the other side, Gelding the opposed continent as much As on the other side it takes from you.
WORCESTER	Yea, but a little charge will trench him here, And on this north side win this cape of land, And then he runs straight and even. no
HOTSPUR	I’ll have it so; a little charge will do it. GLYNDŴR I’ll not have it altered.
HOTSPUR	Will not you? GLYNDŴR No, nor you shall not.
HOTSPUR	Who shall say me nay? 115 GLYNDŴR Why, that will I.
HOTSPUR	Let me not understand you, then: speak it in Welsh. GLYNDŴR I can speak English, lord, as well as you; For I was trained up in the English court, Where, being but young, I framed to the harp Many an English ditty lovely well, And gave the tongue a helpful ornament— A virtue that was never seen in you.
HOTSPUR	Marry, and I am glad of it, with all my heart. I had rather be a kitten and cry ‘mew’ Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers. I had rather hear a brazen canstick turned, Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree, And that would set my teeth nothing on edge, Nothing so much as mincing poetry. ’Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag. GLYNDŴR Come, you shall have Trent turned.
HOTSPUR	I do not care. I’ll give thrice so much land To any well-deserving friend; But in the way of bargain—mark ye me—135 I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair. Are the indentures drawn? Shall we be gone? GLYNDŴR The moon shines fair. You may away by night. I’ll haste the writer, and withal Break with your wives of your departure hence. I am afraid my daughter will run mad, So much she doteth on her Mortimer. Exit
MORTIMER	Fie, cousin Percy, how you cross my father!
HOTSPUR	I cannot choose. Sometime he angers me With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant, Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies, And of a dragon and a finless fish, A clip-winged griffin and a moulten raven, A couching lion and a ramping cat, And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff 150 As puts me from my faith. I tell you what, He held me last night at the least nine hours In reckoning up the several devils’ names That were his lackeys. I cried, ‘Hum!’ and, ‘Well, go to!’, But marked him not a word. O, he is as tedious As a tired horse, a railing wife, Worse than a smoky house. I had rather live With cheese and garlic, in a windmill, far, Than feed on cates and have him talk to me In any summer house in Christendom. 160
MORTIMER	In faith, he is a worthy gentleman, Exceedingly well read, and profited In strange concealments, valiant as a lion, And wondrous affable, and as bountiful As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin? 165 He holds your temper in a high respect, And curbs himself even of his natural scope When you come ’cross his humour; faith, he does. I warrant you, that man is not alive Might so have tempted him as you have done Without the taste of danger and reproof. But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
WORCESTER	(to Hotspur) In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame, And since your coming hither have done enough To put him quite besides his patience. You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault. Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood— And that’s the dearest grace it renders you— Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage, Defect of manners, want of government, Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain, The least of which haunting a nobleman Loseth men’s hearts, and leaves behind a stain Upon the beauty of all parts besides, Beguiling them of commendation. 185
HOTSPUR	Well, I am schooled. Good manners be your speed!
(didascalia)	Enter Glyndŵr with Lady Percy and Mortimer’s wife
HOTSPUR	Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
(didascalia)	Mortimer’s wife weeps, and speaks to him in Welsh
MORTIMER	This is the deadly spite that angers me: My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh. GLYNDŴR My daughter weeps she’ll not part with you. She’ll be a soldier, too; she’ll to the wars.
MORTIMER	Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy Shall follow in your conduct speedily. Glyndŵr speaks to her in Welsh, and she answers him in the same
GLYNDWR	She is desperate here, a peevish self-willed harlotry, One that no persuasion can do good upon. 195 The lady speaks in Welsh
MORTIMER	I understand thy looks. That pretty Welsh Which thou down pourest from these swelling heavens I am too perfect in, and but for shame In such a parley should I answer thee. The lady kisses him, and speaks again in Welsh
MORTIMER	I understand thy kisses, and thou mine, And that’s a feeling disputation; But I will never be a truant, love, Till I have learnt thy language, for thy tongue Makes Welsh as sweet as ditties highly penned, Sung by a fair queen in a summer’s bower With ravishing division, to her lute. GLYNDŴR Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad. The lady
(didascalia)	sits on the rushes and speaks again in Welsh
MORTIMER	O, I am ignorance itself in this! GLYNDŴR She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down And rest your gentle head upon her lap, And she will sing the song that pleaseth you, And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep, Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness, Making such difference ’twixt wake and sleep As is the difference betwixt day and night 215 The hour before the heavenly-harnessed team Begins his golden progress in the east.
MORTIMER	With all my heart, I’ll sit and hear her sing. By that time will our book, I think, be drawn.
(didascalia)	He sits, resting his head on the Welsh lady’s lap
YNDWR	Do so, and those musicians that shall play to you Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence, And straight they shall be here. Sit and attend.
HOTSPUR	Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down. Come, quick, quick, that I may lay my head in thy lap.
LADY PERCY	(sitting) Go, ye giddy goose! Hotspur sits, resting his head on Lady Percy’s lap. The music plays
HOTSPUR	Now I perceive the devil understands Welsh; And ’tis no marvel, he is so humorous. By’r Lady, he’s a good musician.
LADY PERCY	Then should you be nothing but musical, For you are altogether governed by humours. Lie still, ye thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh.
HOTSPUR	I had rather hear Lady my brach howl in Irish.
LADY PERCY	Wouldst thou have thy head broken?
HOTSPUR	No.
LADY PERCY	Then be still. 235
HOTSPUR	Neither—’tis a woman’s fault.
LADY PERCY	Now God help thee!
HOTSPUR	To the Welsh lady’s bed.
LADY PERCY	What’s that?
HOTSPUR	Peace; she sings. Here the lady sings a Welsh song
HOTSPUR	Come, Kate, I’ll have your song too.
LADY PERCY	Not mine, in good sooth.
HOTSPUR	Not yours, in good sooth! Heart, you swear like a comfit-maker’s wife: ‘Not you, in good sooth!’ and ‘As true as I live!’ and 245 ‘As God shall mend me!’ and ‘As sure as day!’; And giv‘st such sarcenet surety for thy oaths As if thou never walk’st further than Finsbury. Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art, A good mouth-filling oath, and leave ’in sooth’ 250 And such protest of pepper gingerbread To velvet-guards and Sunday citizens. Come, sing.
LADY PERCY	I will not sing.
HOTSPUR	’Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreast teacher. (Rising) An the indentures be drawn, I’ll away within these two hours; and so come in when ye will.
(didascalia)	Exit
HOTSPUR	GLYNDŴR Come, come, Lord Mortimer. You are as slow As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go. By this our book is drawn. We’ll but seal, 260 And then to horse immediately.
MORTIMER	(rising) With all my heart. The ladies rise, and all exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Hotspur, il Conte di Worcester, Lord Mortimer e Owain Glyndŵr, con una mappa
MORTIMER	Queste promesse son belle, le parti sicure, e il nostro esordio pieno di prospera speranza.
HOTSPUR	Lord Mortimer e cugino Glyndŵr, volete sedervi? E voi, zio Worcester?
(didascalia)	Mortimer, Glyndŵr e Worcester si siedono
HOTSPUR	Peste lo colga, ho dimenticato la mappa! GLYNDŴR No, eccola qui. Siedi, cugino Percy, siedi, buon cugino Hotspur;
(didascalia)	Hotspur si siede
HOTSPUR	Ché a quel nome, ogni volta che Lancaster parla di voi, la sua guancia impallidisce, e con un sospiro che sale vi augura in cielo.
HOTSPUR	E voi all’inferno, ogni volta che ode nominare Owain Glyndŵr. GLYNDŴR Non posso biasimarlo. Alla mia nascita la fronte del cielo era piena di forme di fuoco, di fiaccole ardenti; e al mio nascere l’ossatura e l’immensa fondamenta della terra tremarono come un codardo.
HOTSPUR	Diamine, avrebbe fatto lo stesso nella stessa stagione se la gatta di vostra madre avesse figliato, anche se voi non foste mai nato. GLYNDŴR Dico che la terra tremò quando io nacqui.
HOTSPUR	E io dico che la terra non era del mio parere se supponete che tremasse per timore di voi. GLYNDŴR I cieli erano tutti in fiamme, la terra tremò—
HOTSPUR	Oh, la terra tremò allora nel vedere i cieli in fiamme, e non per paura della vostra nascita. La natura malata spesso prorompe in strane eruzioni; sovente la terra gravida è da una specie di colica stretta e tormentata per l’imprigionarsi d’un vento indocile
(didascalia)	Dentro il suo grembo, il quale, lottando per liberarsi
HOTSPUR	scuote la vecchia nonna terra, e abbatte campanili e torri coperte di musco. Alla vostra nascita la nostra avola terra, avendo questo malessere, tremò per passione. GLYNDŴR Cugino, da molti uomini non sopporto queste contraddizioni. Datemi licenza di dirvi ancora una volta che alla mia nascita la fronte del cielo era piena di forme di fuoco, le capre fuggirono dai monti, e le mandrie stranamente muggirono ai campi atterriti. Questi segni m’hanno segnato straordinario, e tutti i corsi della mia vita mostrano che non sono nel ruolo degli uomini comuni. Dov’è colui che viva, cinto dal mare che sgrida le rive d’Inghilterra, Scozia, Galles, il quale mi chiami discepolo o m’abbia insegnato? E producetemi quel figlio di donna che sappia seguirmi per le tediose vie dell’arte, e tenermi il passo in profondi esperimenti.
(didascalia)	HOTSPUR in piedi
HOTSPUR	Credo che nessuno parli miglior gallese. Vado a pranzo.
MORTIMER	Piano, cugino Percy, lo farete impazzire. GLYNDŴR Io posso chiamare spiriti dal vasto abisso.
HOTSPUR	Diamine, posso anch’io, e può chiunque; ma verranno quando li chiamate? GLYNDŴR Diamine, posso insegnarvi, cugino, a comandare il diavolo.
HOTSPUR	E io posso insegnarti, cugino, a svergognare il diavolo, dicendo la verità: ‘Di’ la verità, e svergogna il diavolo’. Se hai il potere d’evocarlo, portalo qua, e giuro che ho il potere di svergognarlo via. Oh, finché vivi, di’ la verità e svergogna il diavolo.
MORTIMER	Su, su, basta con queste chiacchiere infruttuose. GLYNDŴR Tre volte Henry Bolingbroke ha levato il capo contro la mia potenza; tre volte dalle rive del Wye e della Severn dal fondo sabbioso l’ho rimandato a casa senza stivali, e battuto dal maltempo.
HOTSPUR	A casa senza stivali, e per giunta col maltempo! Come scampa alle febbri, in nome del diavolo? GLYNDŴR Su, ecco la mappa. Vogliamo dividere il nostro diritto, secondo il triplice ordine stabilito?
MORTIMER	L’Arcidiacono l’ha divisa in tre confini assai equamente. L’Inghilterra dal Trent e dalla Severn fin qui a mezzogiorno e a levante è assegnata alla mia parte; tutto il Galles a ponente oltre la riva della Severn e tutta la terra fertile entro quel confine— a Owain Glyndwr; (a Hotspur) e, caro cugino, a voi il resto che giace a settentrione a partire dal Trent. E i nostri atti tripartiti sono stesi, i quali, sigillati vicendevolmente— faccenda che questa notte può compiere— domani, cugino Percy, voi ed io 80 e il mio buon lord di Worcester partiremo per raggiungere vostro padre e le forze scozzesi, come ci è stato assegnato, a Shrewsbury. Mio suocero, Glyndŵr., non è ancora pronto, né ci occorrerà il suo aiuto per questi quattordici giorni.
(didascalia)	In quello spazio potrete aver radunato
MORTIMER	i vostri fittavoli, amici e gentiluomini vicini. GLYNDŴR Un tempo più breve mi manderà a voi, signori; e sotto la mia scorta verranno le vostre dame, dalle quali ora dovete sgusciare senza prender congedo; ché sarà versato un mondo d’acqua 91 al separarsi delle vostre mogli da voi.
HOTSPUR	Mi pare che la mia porzione a nord da Burton in qua non eguagli in quantità nessuna delle vostre. Vedete come questo fiume mi s’incunea dentro, e mi taglia via dal meglio di tutta la mia terra un’enorme mezzaluna, un mostruoso quarto. Farò arginare la corrente in questo punto, e qui il lindo e argenteo Trent scorrerà in un nuovo canale bello e diritto. Non serpeggerà con un’ansa così profonda, a rubarmi qui un fondo così ricco. GLYNDŴR Non serpeggiare? Lo farà, lo deve; vedete che lo fa.
MORTIMER	Sì, ma badate come porta il suo corso, e mi risale in su con pari vantaggio dall’altra parte, castrando la sponda opposta altrettanto quanto dall’altro lato toglie a voi.
WORCESTER	Sì, ma una piccola spesa lo scaverà qui, e su questo lato nord guadagnerà questo capo di terra, e allora correrà dritto e uguale. no
HOTSPUR	Voglio che sia così; una piccola spesa basterà. GLYNDŴR Non voglio che sia alterato.
HOTSPUR	Non volete? GLYNDŴR No, né voi lo farete.
HOTSPUR	Chi mi dirà di no? 115 GLYNDŴR Diamine, lo dirò io.
HOTSPUR	Fate ch’io non vi capisca, allora: ditelo in gallese. GLYNDŴR So parlare inglese, signore, tanto bene quanto voi; ché fui allevato alla corte inglese, dove, ancor giovane, composi per l’arpa più d’una canzone inglese assai bene, e diedi alla lingua un ornamento giovevole— virtù che mai si vide in voi.
HOTSPUR	Perbacco, e me ne rallegro con tutto il cuore. Preferirei essere un gattino e gridare ‘miao’ che uno di questi mercanti di ballate a metro. Preferirei udire un candeliere d’ottone al tornio, o una ruota secca stridere sull’asse, e ciò non mi allegherebbe punto i denti, nulla quanto la poesia lezionosa. È come l’andatura forzata d’una rozza strascicante. GLYNDŴR Su, avrete il Trent deviato.
HOTSPUR	Non m’importa. Darò tre volte tanta terra a qualsiasi amico ben meritevole; ma in fatto di contratto—badatemi—135 cavillerò sulla nona parte d’un capello. Sono stesi gli atti? Possiamo andare? GLYNDŴR La luna splende chiara. Potete partire di notte. Affretterò lo scrivano, e insieme parlerò alle vostre mogli della vostra partenza. Temo che mia figlia impazzisca, tanto stravede per il suo Mortimer. Esce
MORTIMER	Vergogna, cugino Percy, come contrariate mio suocero!
HOTSPUR	Non posso farne a meno. Talvolta m’irrita parlandomi della talpa e della formica, del sognatore Merlino e delle sue profezie, e d’un drago e d’un pesce senza pinne, d’un grifone dalle ali mozze e d’un corvo spennato, d’un leone accovacciato e d’un gatto rampante, e di tanta roba scombiccherata 150 da farmi uscire dalla mia fede. Vi dico una cosa: ieri notte mi trattenne almeno nove ore a snocciolare i nomi dei vari diavoli che erano suoi lacchè. Io gridavo ‘Uhm!’ e ‘Ebbene, avanti!’, ma non gli badavo una parola. Oh, è tedioso quanto un cavallo stanco, quanto una moglie brontolona, peggio d’una casa affumicata. Preferirei vivere con formaggio e aglio, in un mulino a vento, lontano, che nutrirmi di leccornie e averlo a parlarmi in qualsiasi casa d’estate della cristianità. 160
MORTIMER	In fede, è un degno gentiluomo, straordinariamente ben letto, e versato in strani segreti, valoroso come un leone, e mirabilmente affabile, e generoso quanto le miniere dell’India. Volete che vi dica, cugino? 165 Tiene il vostro carattere in alto rispetto, e frena persino il suo naturale impeto quando gli andate di traverso all’umore; in fede, lo fa. Vi garantisco che non vive uomo che l’avrebbe così tentato come voi avete fatto senza assaggiare pericolo e rimprovero. Ma non usatene spesso, ve ne prego.
WORCESTER	(a Hotspur) In fede, mio signore, siete troppo caparbiamente in colpa, e dal vostro arrivo qui avete fatto abbastanza da metterlo del tutto fuori di pazienza. Dovete pur imparare, signore, a emendare questo difetto. Benché talvolta mostri grandezza, coraggio, sangue— e questa è la grazia più cara che vi rende— pure sovente presenta rabbia aspra, difetto di maniere, mancanza di governo, orgoglio, alterigia, presunzione e disdegno, il minimo dei quali, albergando in un nobiluomo, perde i cuori degli uomini, e lascia dietro una macchia sulla bellezza di tutte le altre qualità, defraudandole della lode. 185
HOTSPUR	Ebbene, sono ammaestrato. Le buone maniere siano la vostra fortuna!
(didascalia)	Entra Glyndŵr con Lady Percy e la moglie di Mortimer
HOTSPUR	Ecco che vengono le nostre mogli, e prendiamo congedo.
(didascalia)	La moglie di Mortimer piange, e gli parla in gallese
MORTIMER	Questa è la mortale sventura che m’irrita: mia moglie non sa l’inglese, io non il gallese. GLYNDŴR Mia figlia piange perché non vuol separarsi da voi. Vuol farsi anche lei soldato; vuole andare alla guerra.
MORTIMER	Buon padre, ditele che lei e mia zia Percy seguiranno prontamente sotto la vostra scorta. Glyndŵr le parla in gallese, e lei gli risponde nella stessa lingua
GLYNDWR	È disperata qui, una petulante sgualdrinella tutta sé e volontà, una su cui nessuna persuasione può nulla. 195 La dama parla in gallese
MORTIMER	Comprendo i tuoi sguardi. Quel bel gallese che tu riversi da questi rigonfi cieli lo so troppo bene, e se non fosse la vergogna in tale colloquio ti risponderei. La dama lo bacia, e parla di nuovo in gallese
MORTIMER	Comprendo i tuoi baci, e tu i miei, e questa è una disputa che si sente; ma non sarò mai svogliato, amore, finché non avrò appreso la tua lingua, ché la tua favella rende il gallese dolce quanto canzoni finemente scritte, cantate da una bella regina in un pergolato d’estate con rapinose variazioni, sul suo liuto. GLYNDŴR No, se v’intenerite, allora impazzirà. La dama
(didascalia)	siede sui giunchi e parla di nuovo in gallese
MORTIMER	Oh, in questo io sono l’ignoranza stessa! GLYNDŴR V’invita a stendervi sui molli giunchi e a posare il vostro gentile capo sul suo grembo, ed ella canterà il canto che vi piace, e sulle vostre palpebre incoronerà il dio del sonno, incantando il vostro sangue con piacevole gravezza, facendo tra la veglia e il sonno tale differenza quale è la differenza fra il giorno e la notte 215 nell’ora prima che la celeste pariglia aggiogata cominci il suo aureo cammino a levante.
MORTIMER	Con tutto il cuore, siederò e l’ascolterò cantare. Per quel tempo il nostro atto, credo, sarà steso.
(didascalia)	Si siede, posando il capo sul grembo della dama gallese
YNDWR	Fatelo, e quei musici che suoneranno per voi stanno sospesi nell’aria a mille leghe di qui, e subito saranno qui. Sedete e attendete.
HOTSPUR	Su, Kate, tu sei perfetta nello sdraiarti. Su, presto, presto, ch’io possa posarti il capo in grembo.
LADY PERCY	(sedendosi) Va’ là, oca svanita! Hotspur si siede, posando il capo sul grembo di Lady Percy. Suona la musica
HOTSPUR	Ora m’avvedo che il diavolo capisce il gallese; e non è meraviglia, è così capriccioso. Per la Madonna, è un buon musicista.
LADY PERCY	Allora dovreste essere null’altro che musicale, ché siete governato interamente dagli umori. Sta’ fermo, ladro, e ascolta la dama cantare in gallese.
HOTSPUR	Preferirei udire Lady, la mia cagna, ululare in irlandese.
LADY PERCY	Vorresti avere la testa rotta?
HOTSPUR	No.
LADY PERCY	Allora sta’ fermo. 235
HOTSPUR	Nemmeno—è difetto da donna.
LADY PERCY	Ora Dio t’aiuti!
HOTSPUR	Al letto della dama gallese.
LADY PERCY	Che cos’è?
HOTSPUR	Zitta; canta. Qui la dama canta un canto gallese
HOTSPUR	Su, Kate, voglio anche il vostro canto.
LADY PERCY	Non il mio, in buona fede.
HOTSPUR	Non il vostro, in buona fede! Cuore mio, giurate come la moglie d’un confettiere: ‘Non voi, in buona fede!’ e ‘Com’è vero che vivo!’ e 245 ‘Così Dio m’assista!’ e ‘Sicuro come il giorno!’; e date ai vostri giuramenti una garanzia di zendado come se non camminaste mai più in là di Finsbury. Giuratemi, Kate, da dama quale siete, un buon giuramento che riempia la bocca, e lasciate ‘in fede’ 250 e simili proteste da pan di zenzero pepato ai guardaroba di velluto e ai cittadini della domenica. Su, cantate.
LADY PERCY	Non canterò.
HOTSPUR	È la via più breve per farsi sarto, o maestro di pettirossi. (Alzandosi) Se gli atti sono stesi, me ne andrò entro due ore; e così venite quando volete.
(didascalia)	Esce
HOTSPUR	GLYNDŴR Su, su, Lord Mortimer. Siete tanto lento quanto l’ardente Lord Percy è in fuoco di partire. A quest’ora il nostro atto è steso. Non resta che sigillare, 260 e poi subito a cavallo.
MORTIMER	(alzandosi) Con tutto il cuore. Le dame si alzano, ed escono tutti

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, and lords
KING HENRY	Lords, give us leave—the Prince of Wales and I Must have some private conference—but be near at hand, For we shall presently have need of you.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Lords
KING HENRY	I know not whether God will have it so For some displeasing service I have done, That in his secret doom out of my blood He’ll breed revengement and a scourge for me, But thou dost in thy passages of life Make me believe that thou art only marked For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven To punish my mistreadings. Tell me else, Could such inordinate and low desires, Such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean attempts, Such barren pleasures, rude society, As thou art matched withal and grafted to, 15 Accompany the greatness of thy blood, And hold their level with thy princely heart?
PRINCE HARRY	So please your majesty, I would I could Quit all offences with as clear excuse As well as I am doubtless I can purge Myself of many I am charged withal; Yet such extenuation let me beg As, in reproof of many tales devised— Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear By smiling pickthanks and base newsmongers— I may, for some things true wherein my youth Hath faulty wandered and irregular, Find pardon on my true submission.
KING HENRY	God pardon thee! Yet let me wonder, Harry, At thy affections, which do hold a wing Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors. Thy place in Council thou hast rudely lost— Which by thy younger brother is supplied— And art almost an alien to the hearts Of all the court and princes of my blood. The hope and expectation of thy time Is ruined, and the soul of every man Prophetically do forethink thy fall. Had I so lavish of my presence been, So common-hackneyed in the eyes of men, So stale and cheap to vulgar company, Opinion, that did help me to the crown, Had still kept loyal to possession, And left me in reputeless banishment, A fellow of no mark nor likelihood. By being seldom seen, I could not stir But, like a comet, I was wondered at, That men would tell their children ‘This is he.’ Others would say ‘Where, which is Bolingbroke?’ And then I stole all courtesy from heaven, And dressed myself in such humility That I did pluck allegiance from men’s hearts, Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths, Even in the presence of the crowned King. Thus did I keep my person fresh and new, My presence like a robe pontifical— Ne‘er seen but wondered at—and so my state, Seldom but sumptuous, showed like a feast, And won by rareness such solemnity. The skipping King, he ambled up and down 60 With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits, Soon kindled and soon burnt, carded his state, Mingled his royalty with cap’ring fools, Had his great name profaned with their scorns, And gave his countenance, against his name, To laugh at gibing boys, and stand the push Of every beardless vain comparative; Grew a companion to the common streets, Enfeoffed himself to popularity, That, being daily swallowed by men’s eyes, They surfeited with honey, and began To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little More than a little is by much too much. So when he had occasion to be seen, He was but as the cuckoo is in June, Heard, not regarded, seen but with such eyes As, sick and blunted with community, Afford no extraordinary gaze Such as is bent on sun-like majesty When it shines seldom in admiring eyes, But rather drowsed and hung their eyelids down, Slept in his face, and rendered such aspect As cloudy men use to their adversaries, Being with his presence glutted, gorged, and full. And in that very line, Harry, standest thou; 85 For thou hast lost thy princely privilege With vile participation. Not an eye But is a-weary of thy common sight, Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more, Which now doth that I would not have it do— Make blind itself with foolish tenderness. He weeps
PRINCE HARRY	I shall hereafter, my thrice-gracious lord, Be more myself.
KING HENRY	For all the world, As thou art to this hour was Richard then, When I from France set foot at Ravenspurgh, And even as I was then is Percy now. Now by my sceptre, and my soul to boot, He hath more worthy interest to the state Than thou, the shadow of succession; For, of no right, nor colour like to right, He doth fill fields with harness in the realm, Turns head against the lion’s armed jaws, And, being no more in debt to years than thou, Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on To bloody battles, and to bruising arms. 105 What never-dying honour hath he got Against renowned Douglas !—whose high deeds, Whose hot incursions and great name in arms, Holds from all soldiers chief majority And military title capital Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ. Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swaddling-clothes, This infant warrior, in his enterprises Discomfited great Douglas; ta‘en him once; Enlarged him; and made a friend of him 115 To fill the mouth of deep defiance up, And shake the peace and safety of our throne. And what say you to this ? Percy, Northumberland, The Archbishop’s grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer, Capitulate against us, and are up. But wherefore do I tell these news to thee ? Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes, Which art my near’st and dearest enemy ?— Thou that art like enough, through vassal fear, Base inclination, and the start of spleen, To fight against me under Percy’s pay, To dog his heels, and curtsy at his frowns, To show how much thou art degenerate.
PRINCE HARRY	Do not think so; you shall not find it so. And God forgive them that so much have swayed Your majesty’s good thoughts away from me. I will redeem all this on Percy’s head, And in the closing of some glorious day Be bold to tell you that I am your son; When I will wear a garment all of blood, And stain my favours in a bloody mask, Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it. And that shall be the day, whene’er it lights, That this same child of honour and renown, This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight, And your unthought-of Harry chance to meet. For every honour sitting on his helm, Would they were multitudes, and on my head My shames redoubled; for the time will come That I shall make this northern youth exchange His glorious deeds for my indignities. Percy is but my factor, good my lord, To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf; And I will call him to so strict account That he shall render every glory up, 150 Yea, even the slightest worship of his time, Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart. This, in the name of God, I promise here, The which if he be pleased I shall perform, I do beseech your majesty may salve The long-grown wounds of my intemperature; If not, the end of life cancels all bonds, And I will die a hundred thousand deaths Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow.
KING HENRY	A hundred thousand rebels die in this. Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir Walter Blunt
KING HENRY	How now, good Blunt ? Thy looks are full of speed.
BLUNT	So hath the business that I come to speak of. Lord Mortimer of Scotland hath sent word That Douglas and the English rebels met The eleventh of this month at Shrewsbury. A mighty and a fearful head they are, If promises be kept on every hand, As ever offered foul play in a state.
KING HENRY	The Earl of Westmorland set forth today, With him my son Lord John of Lancaster, For this advertisement is five days old. On Wednesday next, Harry, you shall set forward. On Thursday we ourselves will march. Our meeting is Bridgnorth, and, Harry, you Shall march through Gloucestershire, by which account, Our business valued, some twelve days hence Our general forces at Bridgnorth shall meet. Our hands are full of business; let’s away. Advantage feeds him fat while men delay. Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Re Enrico, il Principe Harry e i lord
RE ENRICO	Signori, lasciateci—il Principe di Galles ed io dobbiamo aver privato colloquio—ma restate a portata, ché fra poco avremo bisogno di voi.
(didascalia)	Escono i Lord
RE ENRICO	Non so se Dio voglia che sia così per qualche servigio sgradito che ho reso, sì che nel suo segreto giudizio dal mio sangue generi vendetta e flagello per me; ma tu, nei passaggi della tua vita, mi fai credere che tu sia designato soltanto all’ardente vendetta e alla verga del cielo per punire i miei passi falsi. Dimmi altrimenti: potrebbero desideri così smodati e bassi, tentativi così poveri, così nudi, così osceni, così vili, piaceri così sterili, compagnia così rozza, quali son quelli cui sei accoppiato e innestato, 15 accompagnare la grandezza del tuo sangue, e tenersi al livello del tuo cuore principesco?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Se piace a vostra maestà, vorrei poter scagionarmi d’ogni offesa con scusa così chiara come bene son certo di potermi purgare di molte di cui sono accusato; pure lasciate ch’io implori tale attenuazione che, nel confutare molte storie inventate— che spesso l’orecchio della grandezza deve udire da sorridenti adulatori e vili spacciatori di novelle— io possa, per alcune cose vere in cui la mia giovinezza ha errato in fallo e fuor di regola, trovare perdono sulla mia sincera sottomissione.
RE ENRICO	Dio ti perdoni! Pure lasciami stupire, Harry, delle tue inclinazioni, che tengono un volo tutto diverso da quello di tutti i tuoi antenati. Il tuo posto in Consiglio l’hai rozzamente perduto— e vi supplisce il tuo fratello minore— e sei quasi estraneo ai cuori di tutta la corte e dei principi del mio sangue. La speranza e l’aspettativa del tuo tempo sono rovinate, e l’anima d’ogni uomo profeticamente pregusta la tua caduta. Se io fossi stato così prodigo della mia presenza, così comune e trito agli occhi degli uomini, così stantio e a buon mercato per la volgare compagnia, l’opinione, che mi aiutò a ottenere la corona, sarebbe rimasta fedele al possessore, e m’avrebbe lasciato in un esilio senza fama, uomo di nessun segno né promessa. Essendo visto di rado, non potevo muovermi senza che, come una cometa, ci si stupisse di me, sì che gli uomini dicevano ai figli: ‘Questi è lui.’ Altri dicevano: ‘Dove, quale è Bolingbroke?’ E allora rubai al cielo ogni cortesia, e mi vestii di tale umiltà che colsi la fedeltà dai cuori degli uomini, alte grida e saluti dalle loro bocche, persino alla presenza del Re incoronato. Così mantenni la mia persona fresca e nuova, la mia presenza come veste pontificale— mai vista senza destar meraviglia—e così il mio stato, raro ma sontuoso, appariva come una festa, e guadagnava per rarità tale solennità. Il Re saltellante, egli andava su e giù 60 con buffoni superficiali e ingegni di fascina, presto accesi e presto arsi, sciupò il suo stato, mescolò la sua regalità con folli danzanti, lasciò profanare il suo gran nome dai loro scherni, e prestò il suo volto, contro il suo nome, a ridere con ragazzi beffardi, e a sopportare l’urto d’ogni imberbe e vano paragonatore; divenne compagno delle strade comuni, s’infeudò alla popolarità, sì che, essendo ogni giorno ingoiato dagli occhi degli uomini, essi si saziarono di miele, e cominciarono a detestare il sapore della dolcezza, di cui un poco più che un poco è di molto troppo. Così, quando ebbe occasione d’esser visto, non fu che come il cuculo in giugno, udito, non considerato, visto ma con quegli occhi che, malati e ottusi per la troppa dimestichezza, non concedono quello sguardo straordinario che si volge alla maestà simile al sole quando splende di rado in occhi ammirati, ma piuttosto s’assonnarono e abbassarono le palpebre, dormirono in faccia a lui, e resero quell’aspetto che gli uomini nuvolosi usano ai loro avversari, essendo della sua presenza sazi, ingozzati e pieni. E in quella stessa linea, Harry, stai tu; 85 ché hai perduto il tuo privilegio principesco con vile frequentazione. Non c’è occhio che non sia stanco della tua vista comune, salvo il mio, che ha desiderato vederti di più, e che ora fa ciò che non vorrei facesse— accecarsi di sciocca tenerezza. Piange
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sarò d’ora innanzi, mio tre volte grazioso signore, più me stesso.
RE ENRICO	In tutto e per tutto, quale tu sei a quest’ora, tale era allora Riccardo, quando dalla Francia posi piede a Ravenspurgh, e proprio quale ero io allora è ora Percy. Ora, per il mio scettro, e per la mia anima in più, egli ha più degno diritto allo stato di te, ombra della successione; ché, senza diritto né parvenza di diritto, riempie i campi d’armature nel regno, volge la testa contro le fauci armate del leone, e, non essendo più debitore d’anni di te, conduce antichi lord e reverendi vescovi a battaglie sanguinose e ad armi che pestano. 105 Quale onore immortale ha egli acquistato contro il rinomato Douglas !—le cui alte imprese, le cui ardenti incursioni e il gran nome nelle armi, gli danno fra tutti i soldati il primato e il titolo militare capitale per tutti i regni che riconoscono Cristo. Tre volte questo Hotspur, Marte in fasce, questo guerriero bambino, nelle sue imprese ha sconfitto il grande Douglas; l’ha preso una volta; l’ha liberato; e se n’è fatto amico 115 per riempire la bocca d’una profonda sfida, e scuotere la pace e la sicurezza del nostro trono. E che dici tu a questo ? Percy, Northumberland, sua grazia l’Arcivescovo di York, Douglas, Mortimer, pattuiscono contro di noi, e sono in armi. Ma perché ti do io queste notizie ? Perché, Harry, ti parlo dei miei nemici, tu che sei il mio più prossimo e più caro nemico ?— tu che sei ben capace, per paura servile, vile inclinazione e scatto di bile, di combattere contro di me al soldo di Percy, di seguirlo alle calcagna, e inchinarti ai suoi cipigli, per mostrare quanto sei degenere.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Non pensate così; non lo troverete così. E Dio perdoni coloro che tanto hanno sviato i buoni pensieri di vostra maestà da me. Riscatterò tutto questo sul capo di Percy, e alla chiusa di qualche glorioso giorno oserò dirvi che sono vostro figlio; quando indosserò una veste tutta di sangue, e macchierò le mie insegne in una maschera sanguinosa, la quale, lavata via, ne raschierà con sé la mia vergogna. E quello sarà il giorno, quando che spunti, in cui questo stesso figlio dell’onore e della fama, questo gagliardo Hotspur, questo cavaliere da tutti lodato, e il vostro non curato Harry si troveranno a incontrarsi. Ché ogni onore posato sul suo elmo, vorrei che fossero moltitudini, e sul mio capo le mie vergogne raddoppiate; ché verrà il tempo in cui farò sì che questo giovane del nord baratti le sue gloriose imprese con le mie indegnità. Percy non è che il mio fattore, mio buon signore, per accumulare gloriose imprese per mio conto; e lo chiamerò a un conto così stretto che dovrà rendere ogni gloria, 150 sì, fin la più lieve stima del suo tempo, o gli strapperò il conto dal cuore. Questo, nel nome di Dio, prometto qui, e se a Lui piacerà ch’io lo compia, supplico vostra maestà di voler sanare le antiche piaghe della mia intemperanza; se no, la fine della vita cancella ogni obbligo, e morirò centomila morti prima di rompere la minima parte di questo voto.
RE ENRICO	Centomila ribelli muoiono in questo. Avrai comando e sovrana fiducia in ciò.
(didascalia)	Entra Sir Walter Blunt
RE ENRICO	Ebbene, buon Blunt ? I tuoi sguardi son pieni di fretta.
BLUNT	E tale è l’affare di cui vengo a parlare. Lord Mortimer di Scozia ha mandato a dire che Douglas e i ribelli inglesi s’incontrarono l’undici di questo mese a Shrewsbury. Sono una schiera potente e terribile, se le promesse son mantenute da ogni parte, quanto mai ne minacciò tradimento in uno stato.
RE ENRICO	Il Conte di Westmorland è partito oggi, con lui mio figlio Lord John di Lancaster, ché questo avviso è vecchio di cinque giorni. Mercoledì prossimo, Harry, tu partirai. Giovedì marceremo noi stessi. Il nostro convegno è Bridgnorth, e tu, Harry, marcerai per il Gloucestershire, secondo il qual conto, valutati i nostri affari, fra una dozzina di giorni le nostre forze generali s’incontreranno a Bridgnorth. Le nostre mani son piene d’affari; andiamo. Il vantaggio s’ingrassa mentre gli uomini indugiano. Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
(didascalia)	With a truncheon at his waist, and Russell
SIR JOHN	Russell, am I not fallen away vilely since this last action? Do I not bate? Do I not dwindle? Why, my skin hangs about me like an old lady’s loose gown. I am withered like an old apple-john. Well, I’ll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some liking. I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I shall have no strength to repent. An I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of, I am a peppercorn, a brewer’s horse—the inside of a church! Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me. 10
RUSSELL	Sir John, you are so fretful you cannot live long.
SIR JOHN	Why, there is it. Come, sing me a bawdy song, make me merry. I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be: virtuous enough; swore little; diced not-above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house not-above once in a quarter—of an hour; paid money that I borrowed—three or four times; lived well, and in good compass. And now I live out of all order, out of all compass.
RUSSELL	Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you must needs be out of all compass, out of all reasonable compass, Sir John.
SIR JOHN	Do thou amend thy face, and I’ll amend my life. Thou art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in the poop—but ’tis in the nose of thee. Thou art the Knight of the Burning Lamp.
RUSSELL	Why, Sir John, my face does you no harm.
SIR JOHN	No, I’ll be sworn; I make as good use of it as many a man doth of a death’s head, or a memento mori. I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire and Dives that lived in purple—for there he is in his robes, burning, burning. If thou wert any way given to virtue, I would swear by thy face; my oath should be ’By this fire that’s God’s angell’ But thou art altogether given over, and wert indeed, but for the light in thy face, the son of utter darkness. When thou rannest up Gads Hill in the night to catch my horse, if I did not think thou hadst been an ignis fatuus or a ball of wildfire, there’s no purchase in money. O, thou art a perpetual triumph, an everlasting bonfire-light! Thou hast saved me a thousand marks in links and torches, walking with thee in the night betwixt tavern and tavern—but the sack that thou hast drunk me would have bought me lights as good cheap at the dearest chandler’s in Europe. I have maintained that salamander of yours with fire any time this two-and-thirty years, God reward me for it.
RUSSELL	’Sblood, I would my face were in your belly!
SIR JOHN	God-a-mercy! ! So should I be sure to be heart-burnt.
(didascalia)	Enter Hostess
SIR JOHN	How now, Dame Partlet the hen, have you enquired yet who picked my pocket?
HOSTESS	Why, Sir John, what do you think, Sir John? Do you think I keep thieves in my house ? I have searched, I have enquired; so has my husband, man by man, boy by boy, servant by servant. The tithe of a hair was never lost in my house before.
SIR JOHN	Ye lie, Hostess: Russell was shaved and lost many a hair, and I’ll be sworn my pocket was picked. Go to, you are a woman, go. 60
HOSTESS	Who, I? No, I defy thee! God’s light, I was never called so in mine own house before.
SIR JOHN	Go to, I know you well enough.
HOSTESS	No, Sir John, you do not know me, Sir John; I know you, Sir John. You owe me money, Sir John, and now you pick a quarrel to beguile me of it. I bought you a dozen of shirts to your back.
SIR JOHN	Dowlas, filthy dowlas. I have given them away to bakers’ wives; they have made bolters of them.
HOSTESS	Now as I am a true woman, holland of eight shillings an ell. You owe money here besides, Sir John: for your diet, and by-drinkings, and money lent you, four-and-twenty pound.
SIR JOHN	(pointing at Russell) He had his part of it. Let him pay.
HOSTESS	He? Alas, he is poor; he hath nothing.
SIR JOHN	How, poor? Look upon his face. What call you rich? Let them coin his nose, let them coin his cheeks, I’ll not pay a denier. What, will you make a younker of me ? Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn, but I shall have my pocket picked? I have lost a seal-ring of my grandfather’s worth forty mark.
HOSTESS	O Jesu, (to Russell) I have heard the Prince tell him, I know not how oft, that that ring was copper.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN How ? The Prince is a jack, a sneak-up. Raising his truncheon ’Sblood, an he were here I would cudgel him like a dog if he would say so.
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and Harvey, marching; and Sir John Oldcastle meets them, playing upon his truncheon like a fife
HOSTESS	How now, lad, is the wind in that door, i’faith? Must we all march?
RUSSELL	Yea, two and two, Newgate fashion.
HOSTESS	My lord, I pray you hear me.
PRINCE HARRY	What sayst thou, Mistress Quickly? How doth thy husband? I love him well; he is an honest man.
HOSTESS	Good my lord, hear me!!
SIR JOHN	Prithee, let her alone, and list to me.
PRINCE HARRY	What sayst thou, Jack?
SIR JOHN	The other night I fell asleep here behind the arras, and had my pocket picked. This house is turned bawdy-house: they pick pockets.
PRINCE HARRY	What didst thou lose, Jack? 100
SIR JOHN	Wilt thou believe me, Hal, three or four bonds of forty pound apiece, and a seal-ring of my grandfather’s.
PRINCE HARRY	A trifle, some eightpenny matter.
HOSTESS	So I told him, my lord; and I said I heard your grace say so; and, my lord, he speaks most vilely of you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is, and said he would cudgel you. 108
PRINCE HARRY	What? He did not !
HOSTESS	There’s neither faith, truth, nor womanhood in me else.
SIR JOHN	There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune, nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn fox; and, for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the deputy’s wife of the ward to thee. Go, you thing, go!
HOSTESS	Say, what thing, what thing?
SIR JOHN	What thing? Why, a thing to thank God on.
HOSTESS	I am no thing to thank God on. I would thou shouldst know it, I am an honest man’s wife; and setting thy knighthood aside, thou art a knave to call me so.
SIR JOHN	Setting thy womanhood aside, thou art a beast to say otherwise.
HOSTESS	Say, what beast, thou knave, thou? sIR JOHN What beast? Why, an otter.
PRINCE HARRY	An otter, Sir John? Why an otter?
SIR JOHN	Why? She’s neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have her.
HOSTESS	Thou art an unjust man in saying so. Thou or any man knows where to have me, thou knave, thou.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou sayst true, Hostess, and he slanders thee most grossly.
HOSTESS	So he doth you, my lord, and said this other day you owed him a thousand pound.
PRINCE HARRY	(to Sir John) Sirrah, do I owe you a thousand pound?
SIR JOHN	A thousand pound, Hal? A million! Thy love is worth a million; thou owest me thy love.
HOSTESS	Nay, my lord, he called you ’jack’ and said he would cudgel you.
SIR JOHN	Did I, Russell?
RUSSELL	Indeed, Sir John, you said so.
SIR JOHN	Yea, if he said my ring was copper.
PRINCE HARRY	I say ’tis copper; darest thou be as good as thy word now?
SIR JOHN	Why, Hal, thou knowest as thou art but man I dare, but as thou art prince, I fear thee as I fear the roaring of the lion’s whelp.
PRINCE HARRY	And why not as the lion?
SIR JOHN	The King himself is to be feared as the lion. Dost thou think I’ll fear thee as I fear thy father? Nay, an I do, I pray God my girdle break.
PRINCE HARRY	O, if it should, how would thy guts fall about thy knees! But sirrah, there’s no room for faith, truth, nor honesty in this bosom of thine; it is all filled up with guts and midriff. Charge an honest woman with picking thy pocket? Why, thou whoreson impudent embossed rascal, if there were anything in thy pocket but tavern reckonings, memorandums of bawdy-houses, and one poor pennyworth of sugar-candy to make thee long-winded-if thy pocket were enriched with any other injuries but these, I am a villain. And yet you will stand to it, you will not pocket up wrong. Art thou not ashamed?
SIR JOHN	Dost thou hear, Hal? Thou knowest in the state of innocency Adam fell, and what should poor Jack Oldcastle do in the days of villainy? Thou seest I have more flesh than another man, and therefore more frailty. You confess, then, you picked my pocket.
PRINCE HARRY	It appears so by the story.
SIR JOHN	Hostess, I forgive thee. Go make ready breakfast. Love thy husband, look to thy servants, cherish thy guests. Thou shalt find me tractable to any honest reason; thou seest I am pacified still. Nay, prithee, be gone. Exit Hostess Now, Hal, to the news at court. For the robbery, lad, how is that answered?
PRINCE HARRY	O, my sweet beef, I must still be good angel to thee. The money is paid back again.
SIR JOHN	O, I do not like that paying back; ’tis a double labour. 181
PRINCE HARRY	I am good friends with my father, and may do anything.
SIR JOHN	Rob me the exchequer the first thing thou dost, and do it with unwashed hands too.
RUSSELL	Do, my lord.
PRINCE HARRY	I have procured thee, Jack, a charge of foot.
SIR JOHN	I would it had been of horse ! Where shall I find one that can steal well? O, for a fine thief of the age of two-and-twenty or thereabouts! I am heinously unprovided. Well, God be thanked for these rebels-they offend none but the virtuous. I laud them, I praise them.
PRINCE HARRY	Russell.
RUSSELL	My lord?
PRINCE HARRY	(giving letters) Go bear this letter to Lord John of Lancaster, To my brother John; this to my lord of Westmorland.
(didascalia)	Exit Russell
PRINCE HARRY	Go, Harvey, to horse, to horse, for thou and I Have thirty miles to ride yet ere dinner time.
(didascalia)	Exit Harvey
PRINCE HARRY	Jack, meet me tomorrow in the Temple Hall At two o’clock in the afternoon. There shalt thou know thy charge, and there receive Money and order for their furniture. The land is burning, Percy stands on high, And either we or they must lower lie. Exit
SIR JOHN	Rare words I Brave world! (Calling) Hostess, my breakfast, come!— O, I could wish this tavern were my drum! Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entra Sir John Oldcastle
(didascalia)	Con un randello alla cintura, e Russell
SIR JOHN	Russell, non sono sciaguratamente dimagrito dopo quest’ultima impresa? Non calo? Non mi consumo? Diamine, la pelle mi pende addosso come la veste larga d’una vecchia dama. Sono avvizzito come una vecchia mela rugosa. Ebbene, mi pentirò, e presto, finché sono ancora in carne. Sarò senza cuore fra poco, e allora non avrò forza di pentirmi. Se non ho dimenticato di che è fatto l’interno d’una chiesa, sono un grano di pepe, un cavallo da birraio—l’interno d’una chiesa! La compagnia, la scellerata compagnia, è stata la mia rovina. 10
RUSSELL	Sir John, siete così stizzoso che non potete vivere a lungo.
SIR JOHN	Diamine, sta proprio lì. Su, cantami una canzone sconcia, rallegrami. Ero virtuosamente disposto quanto un gentiluomo dev’essere: virtuoso abbastanza; bestemmiavo poco; giocavo ai dadi non più di sette volte la settimana; andavo in una casa di piacere non più d’una volta al quarto—d’ora; pagavo il denaro che prendevo in prestito—tre o quattro volte; vivevo bene, e in buona misura. E ora vivo fuor d’ogni ordine, fuor d’ogni misura.
RUSSELL	Diamine, siete così grasso, Sir John, che dovete per forza essere fuor d’ogni misura, fuor d’ogni ragionevole misura, Sir John.
SIR JOHN	Emenda tu la tua faccia, e io emenderò la mia vita. Tu sei il nostro ammiraglio, tu porti la lanterna a poppa—ma è nel tuo naso. Tu sei il Cavaliere della Lampada Ardente.
RUSSELL	Diamine, Sir John, la mia faccia non vi fa alcun male.
SIR JOHN	No, lo giuro; ne faccio buon uso quanto molti fanno d’un teschio di morte, o d’un memento mori. Non vedo mai la tua faccia senza pensare al fuoco dell’inferno e a Epulone che vestiva di porpora—ché eccolo là nelle sue vesti, che brucia, che brucia. Se tu fossi in qualche modo dato alla virtù, giurerei sulla tua faccia; il mio giuramento sarebbe ‘Per questo fuoco che è l’angelo di Dio!’ Ma tu sei del tutto perduto, e saresti davvero, se non fosse per la luce nella tua faccia, il figlio delle tenebre più fitte. Quando corresti su per Gads Hill nella notte a prendere il mio cavallo, se non pensai che tu fossi un ignis fatuus o una palla di fuoco greco, non c’è più acquisto nel denaro. Oh, tu sei un trionfo perpetuo, un eterno lume di falò! Mi hai risparmiato mille marchi in fiaccole e torce, camminando con te nella notte da taverna a taverna—ma il sack che m’hai bevuto m’avrebbe comprato lumi altrettanto a buon mercato dal più caro candelaio d’Europa. Ho mantenuto quella tua salamandra con fuoco in ogni tempo in questi trentadue anni, Dio me ne renda merito.
RUSSELL	Sangue di Dio, vorrei che la mia faccia fosse nel vostro ventre!
SIR JOHN	Dio abbia mercé! ! Così sarei sicuro d’avere il bruciore di stomaco.
(didascalia)	Entra l’Ostessa
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, Donna Partlet la gallina, avete già indagato chi mi vuotò la tasca?
OSTESSA	Diamine, Sir John, che credete, Sir John? Credete che io tenga ladri nella mia casa ? Ho cercato, ho indagato; e così mio marito, uomo per uomo, ragazzo per ragazzo, servo per servo. La decima parte d’un capello non s’era mai perduta prima nella mia casa.
SIR JOHN	Mentite, Ostessa: Russell fu raso e perdette molti capelli, e giuro che la mia tasca fu vuotata. Suvvia, siete una donna, andate. 60
OSTESSA	Chi, io? No, vi sfido! Luce di Dio, non fui mai chiamata così prima nella mia propria casa.
SIR JOHN	Suvvia, vi conosco bene abbastanza.
OSTESSA	No, Sir John, voi non conoscete me, Sir John; io conosco voi, Sir John. Mi dovete denaro, Sir John, e ora attaccate lite per gabbarmene. Vi comprai una dozzina di camicie per la schiena.
SIR JOHN	Tela grossa, sudicia tela grossa. Le ho regalate alle mogli dei fornai; ne hanno fatto stacci.
OSTESSA	Ora, com’è vero che sono una donna onesta, tela d’Olanda da otto scellini l’auna. Dovete denaro qui, per giunta, Sir John: per il vitto, e le bevute fuori pasto, e denaro prestatovi, ventiquattro sterline.
SIR JOHN	(indicando Russell) Lui n’ebbe la sua parte. Che paghi lui.
OSTESSA	Lui? Ahimè, è povero; non ha nulla.
SIR JOHN	Come, povero? Guardategli la faccia. Che chiamate ricco? Che coniino il suo naso, che coniino le sue guance, io non pagherò un denaro. Come, volete farmi passare per un novellino ? Non potrò starmene comodo alla mia locanda senza che mi vuotino la tasca? Ho perduto un anello da sigillo di mio nonno che valeva quaranta marchi.
OSTESSA	Oh Gesù, (a Russell) ho sentito il Principe dirgli, non so quante volte, che quell’anello era di rame.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN Come ? Il Principe è un fantoccio, un piagnucolone. Alzando il randello Sangue di Dio, se fosse qui lo bastonerei come un cane se dicesse questo.
(didascalia)	Entrano il Principe Harry e Harvey, marciando; e Sir John Oldcastle va loro incontro, suonando sul suo randello come su un piffero
OSTESSA	Ebbene, ragazzo, il vento è a quella porta, in fede mia? Dobbiamo marciare tutti?
RUSSELL	Sì, a due a due, alla maniera di Newgate.
OSTESSA	Mio signore, vi prego, ascoltatemi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che dici, Mistress Quickly? Come sta tuo marito? Lo amo bene; è un uomo onesto.
OSTESSA	Mio buon signore, ascoltatemi!!
SIR JOHN	Ti prego, lasciala stare, e ascolta me.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che dici, Jack?
SIR JOHN	L’altra notte mi addormentai qui dietro l’arazzo, e mi vuotarono la tasca. Questa casa s’è fatta casa di piacere: vuotano le tasche.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Che perdesti, Jack? 100
SIR JOHN	Mi crederai, Hal, tre o quattro obbligazioni da quaranta sterline l’una, e un anello da sigillo di mio nonno.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Un’inezia, roba da otto penny.
OSTESSA	Così gli dissi, mio signore; e dissi che avevo sentito vostra grazia dirlo; e, mio signore, egli parla di voi in modo vilissimo, da uomo di bocca sudicia qual è, e disse che vi avrebbe bastonato. 108
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come? Non l’ha detto !
OSTESSA	Non ci sia in me né fede, né verità, né femminilità, altrimenti.
SIR JOHN	Non c’è più fede in te che in una prugna cotta, né più verità in te che in una volpe stanata; e, quanto a femminilità, Marion la Vergine può essere la moglie del vicario del quartiere al tuo confronto. Va’, cosa, va’!
OSTESSA	Dite, che cosa, che cosa?
SIR JOHN	Che cosa? Diamine, una cosa per cui ringraziare Dio.
OSTESSA	Io non sono una cosa per cui ringraziare Dio. Voglio che lo sappiate, sono moglie d’un uomo onesto; e, messo da parte il vostro cavalierato, siete un manigoldo a chiamarmi così.
SIR JOHN	Messa da parte la tua femminilità, sei una bestia a dire altrimenti.
OSTESSA	Dite, che bestia, manigoldo? sIR JOHN Che bestia? Diamine, una lontra.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Una lontra, Sir John? Perché una lontra?
SIR JOHN	Perché? Non è né pesce né carne; un uomo non sa da che parte prenderla.
OSTESSA	Siete un uomo ingiusto a dir così. Voi o chiunque sapete bene da che parte prendermi, manigoldo che siete.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Dici il vero, Ostessa, e lui ti calunnia assai grossolanamente.
OSTESSA	E così fa con voi, mio signore, e disse l’altro giorno che gli dovevate mille sterline.
PRINCIPE HARRY	(a Sir John) Messere, ti devo io mille sterline?
SIR JOHN	Mille sterline, Hal? Un milione! Il tuo amore vale un milione; tu mi devi il tuo amore.
OSTESSA	No, mio signore, vi chiamò ‘fantoccio’ e disse che vi avrebbe bastonato.
SIR JOHN	L’ho detto, Russell?
RUSSELL	Davvero, Sir John, l’avete detto.
SIR JOHN	Sì, se dicesse che il mio anello era di rame.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Io dico che è di rame; osi tu ora tener fede alla tua parola?
SIR JOHN	Diamine, Hal, tu sai che, in quanto sei uomo, oso; ma in quanto sei principe, ti temo come temo il ruggito del cucciolo del leone.
PRINCIPE HARRY	E perché non come il leone?
SIR JOHN	Il Re stesso è da temersi come il leone. Credi tu che ti tema come temo tuo padre? No, e se lo faccio, prego Dio che mi si spezzi la cintura.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Oh, se si spezzasse, come ti cadrebbero le budella intorno alle ginocchia! Ma, messere, non c’è posto per fede, verità o onestà in codesto tuo petto; è tutto riempito di budella e diaframma. Accusare una donna onesta d’averti vuotato la tasca? Diamine, tu, impudente e gonfio furfante figlio di puttana, se ci fosse stato nella tua tasca qualcosa oltre a conti di taverna, promemoria di case di piacere, e un povero soldo di zucchero candito per darti fiato-se la tua tasca fosse stata arricchita d’altre offese che queste, io sono un furfante. E tuttavia insisti, non vuoi intascare il torto. Non ti vergogni?
SIR JOHN	Mi senti, Hal? Tu sai che nello stato d’innocenza Adamo cadde, e che dovrebbe fare il povero Jack Oldcastle nei giorni della scelleratezza? Vedi che ho più carne d’un altro uomo, e perciò più fragilità. Confessate, dunque, che m’avete vuotato la tasca voi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Così pare dal racconto.
SIR JOHN	Ostessa, ti perdono. Va’ a preparare la colazione. Ama tuo marito, bada ai tuoi servi, tratta bene i tuoi ospiti. Mi troverai arrendevole a qualsiasi ragione onesta; vedi che sono placato ormai. Su, ti prego, vattene. Esce l’Ostessa Ora, Hal, alle notizie di corte. Quanto alla rapina, ragazzo, com’è stata sistemata?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Oh, mio dolce manzo, devo essere ancora il tuo angelo buono. Il denaro è stato restituito.
SIR JOHN	Oh, non mi piace quel restituire; è doppia fatica. 181
PRINCIPE HARRY	Sono in buoni rapporti con mio padre, e posso fare qualsiasi cosa.
SIR JOHN	Deruba dunque l’erario per prima cosa, e fallo anche con le mani non lavate.
RUSSELL	Fatelo, mio signore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	T’ho procurato, Jack, un comando di fanteria.
SIR JOHN	Vorrei che fosse stato di cavalleria ! Dove troverò uno che sappia rubar bene? Oh, un bel ladro sui ventidue anni o giù di lì! Sono orrendamente sprovvisto. Ebbene, sia ringraziato Dio per questi ribelli-non offendono che i virtuosi. Li lodo, li encomio.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Russell.
RUSSELL	Mio signore?
PRINCIPE HARRY	(consegnando lettere) Va’ a portare questa lettera a Lord John di Lancaster, a mio fratello John; questa al mio lord di Westmorland.
(didascalia)	Esce Russell
PRINCIPE HARRY	Va’, Harvey, a cavallo, a cavallo, ché tu ed io abbiamo trenta miglia da cavalcare prima dell’ora del pranzo.
(didascalia)	Esce Harvey
PRINCIPE HARRY	Jack, trovati con me domani nella Temple Hall alle due d’orologio del pomeriggio. Là conoscerai il tuo comando, e là riceverai denaro e ordini per il loro equipaggiamento. La terra brucia, Percy sta in alto, e o noi o loro dobbiamo giacere più in basso. Esce
SIR JOHN	Rare parole I Bel mondo! (Chiamando) Ostessa, la mia colazione, presto!— Oh, vorrei che questa taverna fosse il mio tamburo! Esce

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur and the Earls of,Worcester and Douglas
HOTSPUR	Well said, my noble Scot ! If speaking truth In this fine age were not thought flattery, Such attribution should the Douglas have As not a soldier of this season’s stamp Should go so general current through the world. By God, I cannot flatter, I do defy The tongues of soothers, but a braver place In my heart’s love hath no man than yourself. Nay, task me to my word, approve me, lord.
DOUGLAS	Thou art the king of honour. No man so potent breathes upon the ground But I will beard him.
HOTSPUR	Do so, and ’tis well.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger with letters
HOTSPUR	What letters hast thou there? I can but thank you.
MESSENGER	These letters come from your father.
HOTSPUR	Letters from him? Why comes he not himself? 15
MESSENGER	He cannot come, my lord, he is grievous sick.
HOTSPUR	Zounds, how has he the leisure to be sick In such a jostling time? Who leads his power? Under whose government come they along?
MESSENGER	His letters bears his mind, not I, my lord. Hotspur reads the letter
WORCESTER	I prithee tell me, doth he keep his bed?
MESSENGER	He did, my lord, four days ere I set forth; And at the time of my departure thence He was much feared by his physicians.
WORCESTER	I would the state of time had first been whole Ere he by sickness had been visited. His health was never better worth than now.
HOTSPUR	Sick now? Droop now? This sickness doth infect The very life-blood of our enterprise. ’Tis catching hither, even to our camp. He writes me here that inward sickness stays him, And that his friends by deputation Could not so soon be drawn; nor did he think it meet To lay so dangerous and dear a trust On any soul removed but on his own. Yet doth he give us bold advertisement That with our small conjunction we should on, To see how fortune is disposed to us; For, as he writes, there is no quailing now, Because the King is certainly possessed 40 Of all our purposes. What say you to it?
WORCESTER	Your father’s sickness is a maim to us.
HOTSPUR	A perilous gash, a very limb lopped off. And yet, in faith, it is not. His present want Seems more than we shall find it. Were it good To set the exact wealth of all our states All at one cast, to set so rich a main On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour? It were not good, for therein should we read The very bottom and the sole of hope, The very list, the very utmost bound, Of all our fortunes.
DOUGLAS	Faith, and so we should, where now remains A sweet reversion—we may boldly spend Upon the hope of what is to come in. A comfort of retirement lives in this.
HOTSPUR	A rendezvous, a home to fly unto, If that the devil and mischance look big Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.
WORCESTER	But yet I would your father had been here. 60 The quality and hair of our attempt Brooks no division. It will be thought By some that know not why he is away That wisdom, loyalty, and mere dislike Of our proceedings kept the Earl from hence; And think how such an apprehension May turn the tide of fearful faction, And breed a kind of question in our cause. For, well you know, we of the off’ring side Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement, And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence The eye of reason may pry in upon us. This absence of your father’s draws a curtain That shows the ignorant a kind of fear Before not dreamt of.
HOTSPUR	You strain too far. I rather of his absence make this use: It lends a lustre, and more great opinion, A larger dare to our great enterprise, Than if the Earl were here; for men must think If we without his help can make a head 80 To push against a kingdom, with his help We shall o’erturn it topsy-turvy down. Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.
DOUGLAS	As heart can think, there is not such a word Spoke of in Scotland as this term of fear.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir Richard Vernon
HOTSPUR	My cousin Vernon! Welcome, by my soul!
VERNON	Pray God my news be worth a welcome, lord. The Earl of Westmorland, seven thousand strong, Is marching hitherwards; with him Prince John.
HOTSPUR	No harm. What more?
VERNON	And further I have learned The King himself in person is set forth, Or hitherwards intended speedily, With strong and mighty preparation.
HOTSPUR	He shall be welcome too. Where is his son, The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales, And his comrades that daffed the world aside And bid it pass?
VERNON	All furnished, all in arms, All plumed like ostriches, that with the wind
(didascalia)
VERNON	Baiting like eagles having lately bathed, Glittering in golden coats like images, As full of spirit as the month of May, And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer; Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls. I saw young Harry with his beaver on, 105 His cuishes on his thighs, gallantly armed, Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury, And vaulted with such ease into his seat As if an angel dropped down from the clouds To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, 110 And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
HOTSPUR	No more, no more! Worse than the sun in March, This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come! They come like sacrifices in their trim, And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war 115 All hot and bleeding will we offer them. The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh, And yet not ours! Come, let me taste my horse, Who is to bear me like a thunderbolt Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales. Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse, Meet and ne’er part till one drop down a corpse. O, that Glyndwr were come!
VERNON	There is more news. I learned in Worcester, as I rode along, He cannot draw his power this fourteen days.
DOUGLAS	That’s the worst tidings that I hear of yet.
WORCESTER	Ay, by my faith, that bears a frosty sound.
HOTSPUR	What may the King’s whole battle reach unto?
VERNON	To thirty thousand.
HOTSPUR	Forty let it be. My father and Glyndŵr being both away, The powers of us may serve so great a day. Come, let us take a muster speedily. Doomsday is near: die all, die merrily.
DOUGLAS	Talk not of dying; I am out of fear Of death or death’s hand for this one half year.
(didascalia)	Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Hotspur e i Conti di,Worcester e Douglas
HOTSPUR	Ben detto, mio nobile Scozzese ! Se dire il vero in questa bella età non fosse creduto adulazione, tale attribuzione dovrebbe avere il Douglas che nessun soldato del conio di questa stagione correrebbe così universalmente per il mondo. Per Dio, non so adulare, io sfido le lingue dei lusingatori, ma un posto più bello nell’amore del mio cuore non l’ha nessuno più di voi. Anzi, mettetemi alla prova della parola, provatemi, signore.
DOUGLAS	Tu sei il re dell’onore. Non respira uomo così potente sulla terra ch’io non gli tenga testa.
HOTSPUR	Fatelo, e sarà bene.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messo con lettere
HOTSPUR	Che lettere hai lì? Non posso che ringraziarvi.
MESSO	Queste lettere vengono da vostro padre.
HOTSPUR	Lettere da lui? Perché non viene egli stesso? 15
MESSO	Non può venire, mio signore, è gravemente malato.
HOTSPUR	Corpo di Dio, come ha l’agio d’esser malato in un tempo così incalzante? Chi guida le sue forze? Sotto il governo di chi vengono?
MESSO	Le sue lettere recano la sua mente, non io, mio signore. Hotspur legge la lettera
WORCESTER	Ti prego, dimmi: tiene il letto?
MESSO	Lo teneva, mio signore, quattro giorni prima ch’io partissi; e al momento della mia partenza di là era molto temuto dai suoi medici.
WORCESTER	Vorrei che lo stato del tempo fosse stato prima sano prima che la malattia lo visitasse. La sua salute non valse mai più di adesso.
HOTSPUR	Malato ora? Abbattuto ora? Questa malattia infetta il sangue vitale stesso della nostra impresa. Si attacca fin qui, fino al nostro campo. Mi scrive qui che un male interno lo trattiene, e che i suoi amici per delega non poterono esser radunati così presto; né gli parve conveniente porre una fiducia così pericolosa e cara su anima alcuna lontana da lui, se non sulla propria. Pure ci dà arditamente avviso che con la nostra piccola unione dobbiamo procedere, per vedere come la fortuna sia disposta verso di noi; ché, come scrive, non c’è più da esitare, poiché il Re è certamente informato 40 di tutti i nostri disegni. Che ne dite?
WORCESTER	La malattia di vostro padre è per noi una mutilazione.
HOTSPUR	Uno squarcio pericoloso, un membro reciso addirittura. Eppure, in fede, non lo è. La sua presente mancanza sembra più di quanto la troveremo. Sarebbe bene porre l’esatta ricchezza di tutti i nostri stati tutta a un sol getto, mettere una posta così ricca al delicato azzardo d’un’ora dubbiosa? Non sarebbe bene, ché in ciò leggeremmo il fondo stesso e la suola della speranza, il limite stesso, l’estremo confine, di tutte le nostre fortune.
DOUGLAS	In fede, e così faremmo, mentre ora resta una dolce riserva—possiamo arditamente spendere sulla speranza di ciò che ha da venire. In questo vive un conforto di ritirata.
HOTSPUR	Un ritrovo, una casa in cui rifugiarsi, se il diavolo e la sventura guarderanno grosso la verginità dei nostri affari.
WORCESTER	Eppure vorrei che vostro padre fosse stato qui. 60 La qualità e il pelo della nostra impresa non tollerano divisione. Alcuni, che non sanno perché egli sia lontano, penseranno che saggezza, lealtà e schietta avversione al nostro procedere abbiano trattenuto il Conte; e pensate come tale timore possa volgere la marea d’una fazione paurosa, e generare una specie di dubbio nella nostra causa. Ché, ben lo sapete, noi che siamo gli offerenti dobbiamo tenerci lontani da un rigoroso giudizio, e turare ogni spiraglio, ogni feritoia donde l’occhio della ragione possa spiarci dentro. Questa assenza di vostro padre tira una tenda che mostra agli ignoranti una specie di paura prima non sognata.
HOTSPUR	Voi tirate troppo in là. Io piuttosto della sua assenza faccio quest’uso: dà lustro, e più alta opinione, e più ardito slancio alla nostra grande impresa, che se il Conte fosse qui; ché gli uomini penseranno che, se senza il suo aiuto sappiamo levare un esercito 80 per spingere contro un regno, col suo aiuto lo rovesceremo tutto sossopra. Pure tutto va bene, pure tutte le nostre giunture son sane.
DOUGLAS	Quanto il cuore possa pensare, non v’è parola pronunciata in Scozia come questo termine di paura.
(didascalia)	Entra Sir Riccardo Vernon
HOTSPUR	Mio cugino Vernon! Benvenuto, sull’anima mia!
VERNON	Prego Dio che le mie nuove valgano un benvenuto, signore. Il Conte di Westmorland, forte di settemila, marcia in questa direzione; con lui il Principe John.
HOTSPUR	Nessun danno. Che altro?
VERNON	E inoltre ho appreso che il Re stesso in persona è partito, o intende venire prontamente da questa parte, con forte e possente apparato.
HOTSPUR	Sarà benvenuto anche lui. Dov’è suo figlio, lo scapestrato Principe di Galles dal piede agile, e i suoi compagni che scacciarono il mondo da parte e gli dissero di passare oltre?
VERNON	Tutti equipaggiati, tutti in armi, tutti impennacchiati come struzzi, che col vento
(didascalia)
VERNON	sbattono le ali come aquile appena bagnate, scintillanti in cotte d’oro come immagini, pieni di spirito quanto il mese di maggio, e splendidi come il sole a mezza estate; lascivi come capretti, selvaggi come giovani tori. Vidi il giovane Harry con la visiera calata, 105 le cosciali sulle cosce, gagliardamente armato, levarsi da terra come Mercurio alato, e balzare con tale agio nella sella come se un angelo fosse sceso dalle nubi per far volteggiare e girare un focoso Pegaso, 110 e stregare il mondo con nobile arte equestre.
HOTSPUR	Basta, basta! Peggio del sole di marzo, questa lode nutre le febbri. Che vengano! Vengono come vittime nei loro ornamenti, e alla vergine dagli occhi di fuoco della fumosa guerra 115 tutti caldi e sanguinanti li offriremo. Marte corazzato siederà sul suo altare fino alle orecchie nel sangue. Io sono in fiamme a udire che questa ricca preda è così vicina, e non ancora nostra! Su, fatemi provare il mio cavallo, che deve portarmi come folgore contro il petto del Principe di Galles. Harry contro Harry, ardente cavallo contro cavallo, s’incontreranno e non si separeranno finché uno non cada cadavere. Oh, fosse venuto Glyndwr!
VERNON	Ci sono altre notizie. Ho appreso a Worcester, mentre cavalcavo, che non può radunare le sue forze per questi quattordici giorni.
DOUGLAS	Questa è la peggior novella che abbia udito finora.
WORCESTER	Sì, in fede mia, questa ha un suono di gelo.
HOTSPUR	A quanto può ammontare l’intero esercito del Re?
VERNON	A trentamila.
HOTSPUR	Siano pure quarantamila. Essendo assenti mio padre e Glyndŵr, le forze nostre possono bastare a un giorno così grande. Su, facciamo presto la rassegna. Il giudizio è vicino: muoiano tutti, muoiano allegramente.
DOUGLAS	Non parlate di morire; sono fuor di paura della morte o della mano della morte per questo mezzo anno.
(didascalia)	Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle and Russell
SIR JOHN	Russell, get thee before to Coventry; fill me a bottle of sack. Our soldiers shall march through. We’ll to Sutton Coldfield tonight.
RUSSELL	Will you give me money, captain?
SIR JOHN	Lay out, lay out. 5
RUSSELL	This bottle makes an angel.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN giving Russell money An if it do, take it for thy labour; an if it make twenty, take them all; I’ll answer the coinage. Bid my lieutenant Harvey meet me at town’s end.
RUSSELL	I will, captain. Farewell. Exit
SIR JOHN	If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a soused gurnet. I have misused the King’s press damnably. I have got in exchange of one hundred and fifty soldiers three hundred and odd pounds. I press me none but good householders, yeomen’s sons, enquire me out contracted bachelors, such as had been asked twice on the banns, such a commodity of warm slaves as had as lief hear the devil as a drum, such as fear the report of a caliver worse than a struck fowl or a hurt wild duck. I pressed me none but such toasts and butter, with hearts in their bellies no bigger than pins’ heads, and they have bought out their services; and now my whole charge consists of ensigns, corporals, lieutenants, gentlemen of companies—slaves as ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth, where the glutton’s dogs licked his sores—and such as indeed were never soldiers, but discarded unjust servingmen, younger sons to younger brothers, revolted tapsters, and ostlers trade-fallen, the cankers of a calm world and a long peace, ten times more dishonourable-ragged than an old feazed ensign; and such have I to fill up the rooms of them as have bought out their services, that you would think that I had a hundred and fifty tattered prodigals lately come from swine-keeping, from eating draff and husks. A mad fellow met me on the way and told me I had unloaded all the gibbets and pressed the dead bodies. No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I’ll not march through Coventry with them, that’s flat. Nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves on, for indeed I had the most of them out of prison. There’s not a shirt and a half in all my company; and the half-shirt is two napkins tacked together and thrown over the shoulders like a herald’s coat without sleeves; and the shirt, to say the truth, stolen from my host at Saint Albans, or the red-nose innkeeper of Daventry. But that’s all one; they’ll find linen enough on every hedge. 48
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and the Earl of Westmorland
PRINCE HARRY	How now, blown Jack? How now, quilt?
SIR JOHN	What, Hal! How now, mad wag? What a devil dost thou in Warwickshire? My good lord of Westmorland, I cry you mercy! I thought your honour had already been at Shrewsbury.
WESTMORLAND	Faith, Sir John, ’tis more than time that I were there, and you too; but my powers are there already. The King, I can tell you, looks for us all. We must away all night.
SIR JOHN	Tut, never fear me. I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.
PRINCE HARRY	I think to steal cream indeed, for thy theft hath already made thee butter. But tell me, Jack, whose fellows are these that come after?
SIR JOHN	Mine, Hal, mine.
PRINCE HARRY	I did never see such pitiful rascals.
SIR JOHN	Tut, tut, good enough to toss, food for powder, food for powder. They’ll fill a pit as well as better. Tush, man, mortal men, mortal men.
WESTMORLAND	Ay, but Sir John, methinks they are exceeding poor and bare, too beggarly.
SIR JOHN	Faith, for their poverty, I know not where they had that, and for their bareness, I am sure they never learned that of me.
PRINCE HARRY	No, I’ll be sworn, unless you call three fingers in the ribs bare. But sirrah, make haste. Percy is already in the field. Exit
SIR JOHN	What, is the King encamped?
(didascalia)	WESTMORLAND He is, Sir John. I fear we shall stay too long. Exit
SIR JOHN	Well, to the latter end of a fray And the beginning of a feast Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest. Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Sir John Oldcastle e Russell
SIR JOHN	Russell, va’ avanti a Coventry; riempimi una bottiglia di sack. I nostri soldati passeranno di lì. Andremo a Sutton Coldfield stanotte.
RUSSELL	Mi darete denaro, capitano?
SIR JOHN	Anticipa, anticipa. 5
RUSSELL	Questa bottiglia fa un angelo.
(didascalia)	SIR JOHN dando denaro a Russell E se lo fa, prendilo per la tua fatica; e se ne fa venti, prendili tutti; risponderò io del conio. Di’ al mio luogotenente Harvey di trovarmi all’uscita della città.
RUSSELL	Lo farò, capitano. Addio. Esce
SIR JOHN	Se non mi vergogno dei miei soldati, sono una triglia in salamoia. Ho abusato dannatamente della leva del Re. In cambio di centocinquanta soldati ho ricavato trecento e più sterline. Non arruolo che buoni padroni di casa, figli di piccoli proprietari, vado a cercarmi scapoli promessi, di quelli già chiamati due volte alle pubblicazioni, una tal merce di schiavi ben tiepidi che udirebbero volentieri il diavolo quanto un tamburo, di quelli che temono lo sparo d’un archibugio peggio d’un pollo colpito o d’un’anitra selvatica ferita. Non arruolo che simili pan-e-burro, con cuori in corpo non più grossi di capocchie di spillo, ed essi si sono riscattati dal servizio; e ora tutta la mia compagnia consiste d’alfieri, caporali, luogotenenti, gentiluomini di compagnia—schiavi cenciosi come Lazzaro nell’arazzo dipinto, dove i cani del ricco epulone gli leccavano le piaghe—e di gente che non fu mai soldato, ma servitori infedeli licenziati, figli cadetti di fratelli cadetti, garzoni di taverna scappati e stallieri falliti, i cancri d’un mondo tranquillo e d’una lunga pace, dieci volte più disonorevolmente cenciosi d’una vecchia insegna sfilacciata; e questi ho per riempire i posti di quelli che si sono riscattati dal servizio, sì che credereste ch’io abbia centocinquanta figliuol prodighi stracciati appena tornati dal guardare i porci, dal mangiare ghiande e bucce. Un pazzo m’incontrò per via e mi disse che avevo scaricato tutte le forche e arruolato i cadaveri. Occhio non vide mai simili spauracchi. Non marcerò con loro per Coventry, questo è certo. Anzi, i furfanti marciano a gambe larghe, come se avessero i ceppi, ché in verità la maggior parte l’ho presa dalla prigione. Non c’è una camicia e mezza in tutta la mia compagnia; e la mezza camicia son due tovaglioli cuciti insieme e gettati sulle spalle come la cotta d’un araldo senza maniche; e la camicia, a dire il vero, è rubata al mio oste di Saint Albans, o all’oste dal naso rosso di Daventry. Ma è tutt’uno; troveranno biancheria a sufficienza su ogni siepe. 48
(didascalia)	Entrano il Principe Harry e il Conte di Westmorland
PRINCIPE HARRY	Ebbene, Jack gonfiato? Ebbene, trapunta?
SIR JOHN	Come, Hal! Ebbene, pazzo burlone? Che diavolo fai nel Warwickshire? Mio buon lord di Westmorland, vi chiedo mercé! Credevo che vostro onore fosse già a Shrewsbury.
WESTMORLAND	In fede, Sir John, è più che tempo ch’io sia là, e voi pure; ma le mie forze sono già là. Il Re, ve lo posso dire, aspetta noi tutti. Dobbiamo marciare tutta la notte.
SIR JOHN	Bah, non temete di me. Sono vigile come un gatto che ruba la panna.
PRINCIPE HARRY	A rubar panna, davvero, ché il tuo furto t’ha già fatto burro. Ma dimmi, Jack, di chi sono questi tizi che vengono dietro?
SIR JOHN	Miei, Hal, miei.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Non vidi mai furfanti così pietosi.
SIR JOHN	Bah, bah, buoni abbastanza da infilzare, carne da polvere, carne da polvere. Riempiranno una fossa tanto bene quanto altri migliori. Suvvia, uomini mortali, uomini mortali.
WESTMORLAND	Sì, ma Sir John, mi paiono straordinariamente poveri e nudi, troppo pezzenti.
SIR JOHN	In fede, quanto alla loro povertà, non so dove l’abbiano presa, e quanto alla loro nudità, son certo che non l’hanno imparata da me.
PRINCIPE HARRY	No, lo giuro, a meno che non chiamiate nudità tre dita di grasso sulle costole. Ma, messere, fa’ presto. Percy è già in campo. Esce
SIR JOHN	Come, il Re è accampato?
(didascalia)	WESTMORLAND Lo è, Sir John. Temo che ci attarderemo troppo. Esce
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, alla fine d’una zuffa e al principio d’un banchetto s’addicono un pigro guerriero e un ospite vorace. Esce

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur, the Earls of Worcester and Douglas, and Sir Richard Vernon
HOTSPUR	We’ll fight with him tonight.
WORCESTER	It may not be.
DOUGLAS	You give him then advantage.
VERNON	Not a whit.
HOTSPUR	Why say you so? Looks he not for supply?
VERNON	So do we.
HOTSPUR	His is certain; ours is doubtful.
WORCESTER	Good cousin, be advised. Stir not tonight.
VERNON	(to Hotspur) Do not, my lord.
DOUGLAS	You do not counsel well. You speak it out of fear and cold heart.
VERNON	Do me no slander, Douglas. By my life— And I dare well maintain it with my life— If well-respected honour bid me on, 10 I hold as little counsel with weak fear As you, my lord, or any Scot that this day lives. Let it be seen tomorrow in the battle Which of us fears.
DOUGLAS	Yea, or tonight. 15
VERNON	Content.
HOTSPUR	Tonight, say I.
VERNON	Come, come, it may not be. I wonder much, Being men of such great leading as you are, That you foresee not what impediments Drag back our expedition. Certain horse Of my cousin Vernon’s are not yet come up. Your uncle Worcester’s horse came but today, And now their pride and mettle is asleep, Their courage with hard labour tame and dull, That not a horse is half the half himself.
HOTSPUR	So are the horses of the enemy In general journey-bated and brought low. The better part of ours are full of rest.
WORCESTER	The number of the King exceedeth our. For God’s sake, cousin, stay till all come in. The trumpet sounds a parley [within]. Enter Sir Walter Blunt
BLUNT	I come with gracious offers from the King, If you vouchsafe me hearing and respect.
HOTSPUR	Welcome, Sir Walter Blunt; and would to God You were of our determination. Some of us love you well, and even those some Envy your great deservings and good name, Because you are not of our quality, But stand against us like an enemy.
BLUNT	And God defend but still I should stand so, So long as out of limit and true rule You stand against anointed majesty. But to my charge. The King hath sent to know The nature of your griefs, and whereupon You conjure from the breast of civil peace Such bold hostility, teaching his duteous land Audacious cruelty. If that the King Have any way your good deserts forgot, Which he confesseth to be manifold, He bids you name your griefs, and with all speed You shall have your desires, with interest, And pardon absolute for yourself and these Herein misled by your suggestion.
HOTSPUR	The King is kind, and well we know the King Knows at what time to promise, when to pay. My father and my uncle and myself Did give him that same royalty he wears; And when he was not six-and-twenty strong, Sick in the world’s regard, wretched and low, A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home, My father gave him welcome to the shore; And when he heard him swear and vow to God He came but to be Duke of Lancaster, To sue his livery, and beg his peace With tears of innocency and terms of zeal, My father, in kind heart and pity moved, Swore him assistance, and performed it too. Now when the lords and barons of the realm Perceived Northumberland did lean to him, The more and less came in with cap and knee, Met him in boroughs, cities, villages, Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes, Laid gifts before him, proffered him their oaths, Gave him their heirs as pages, followed him, Even at the heels, in golden multitudes. He presently, as greatness knows itself, Steps me a little higher than his vow Made to my father while his blood was poor Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurgh, And now forsooth takes on him to reform Some certain edicts and some strait decrees That lie too heavy on the commonwealth, Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep Over his country’s wrongs; and by this face, This seeming brow of justice, did he win The hearts of all that he did angle for; Proceeded further, cut me off the heads Of all the favourites that the absent King In deputation left behind him here When he was personal in the Irish war.
BLUNT	Tut, I came not to hear this.
HOTSPUR	Then to the point. In short time after, he deposed the King, Soon after that deprived him of his life, And in the neck of that tasked the whole state; To make that worse, suffered his kinsman March— Who is, if every owner were well placed, Indeed his king—to be engaged in Wales, There without ransom to lie forfeited; Disgraced me in my happy victories, Sought to entrap me by intelligence, 100 Rated mine uncle from the Council-board, In rage dismissed my father from the court, Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong, And in conclusion drove us to seek out This head of safety, and withal to pry 105 Into his title, the which we find Too indirect for long continuance.
BLUNT	Shall I return this answer to the King?
HOTSPUR	Not so, Sir Walter. We’ll withdraw awhile. Go to the King, and let there be impawned 110 Some surety for a safe return again; And in the morning early shall mine uncle Bring him our purposes. And so, farewell.
BLUNT	I would you would accept of grace and love.
HOTSPUR	And maybe so we shall.
BLUNT	Pray God you do.
(didascalia)	Exeunt [Hotspur, Worcester, Douglas, and Vernon at one door, Blunt at another door

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Hotspur, i Conti di Worcester e Douglas, e Sir Riccardo Vernon
HOTSPUR	Combatteremo con lui stanotte.
WORCESTER	Non si può.
DOUGLAS	Gli date allora vantaggio.
VERNON	Neanche un briciolo.
HOTSPUR	Perché dite così? Non aspetta rinforzi?
VERNON	E anche noi.
HOTSPUR	I suoi sono certi; i nostri dubbiosi.
WORCESTER	Buon cugino, lasciatevi consigliare. Non muovetevi stanotte.
VERNON	(a Hotspur) Non fatelo, mio signore.
DOUGLAS	Non consigliate bene. Lo dite per paura e per cuore freddo.
VERNON	Non calunniatemi, Douglas. Per la mia vita— e oso bene sostenerlo con la mia vita— se l’onore ben ponderato mi spinge avanti, 10 tengo tanto poco consiglio con la debole paura quanto voi, signore, o qualsiasi Scozzese che viva oggi. Si veda domani nella battaglia chi di noi tema.
DOUGLAS	Sì, o stanotte. 15
VERNON	D’accordo.
HOTSPUR	Stanotte, dico io.
VERNON	Su, su, non si può. Molto mi stupisco, essendo voi uomini di così grande comando, che non prevediate quali impedimenti trattengano la nostra spedizione. Certi cavalli di mio cugino Vernon non sono ancora arrivati. I cavalli di vostro zio Worcester giunsero solo oggi, e ora il loro orgoglio e il loro fuoco dormono, il loro coraggio è dalla dura fatica domato e ottuso, sì che non c’è cavallo che sia la metà della metà di sé.
HOTSPUR	Così sono i cavalli del nemico, in generale sfiancati dal viaggio e abbattuti. La miglior parte dei nostri è ben riposata.
WORCESTER	Il numero del Re supera il nostro. Per amor di Dio, cugino, aspettate che tutti arrivino. La tromba suona a parlamento [da dentro]. Entra Sir Walter Blunt
BLUNT	Vengo con graziose offerte da parte del Re, se mi concedete ascolto e rispetto.
HOTSPUR	Benvenuto, Sir Walter Blunt; e volesse Dio che foste della nostra risoluzione. Alcuni di noi vi amano bene, e proprio quegli stessi invidiano i vostri gran meriti e il buon nome, perché non siete della nostra parte, ma state contro di noi come nemico.
BLUNT	E Dio non voglia ch’io non stia sempre così, finché fuor d’ogni limite e vera regola voi state contro la maestà consacrata. Ma al mio incarico. Il Re ha mandato a sapere la natura dei vostri rancori, e per qual causa evochiate dal seno della pace civile tale ardita ostilità, insegnando alla sua terra devota audace crudeltà. Se il Re ha in qualche modo dimenticato i vostri buoni meriti, che egli confessa esser molteplici, vi invita a nominare i vostri rancori, e con ogni prestezza avrete i vostri desideri, con l’interesse, e perdono assoluto per voi stesso e per costoro qui traviati dalla vostra istigazione.
HOTSPUR	Il Re è benigno, e ben sappiamo che il Re sa a qual tempo promettere, e quando pagare. Mio padre e mio zio e io stesso gli demmo quella regalità stessa che porta; e quando non aveva forza di ventisei uomini, malvisto dal mondo, misero e basso, povero fuorilegge dimenticato che rientrava furtivo a casa, mio padre gli diede il benvenuto alla riva; e quando l’udì giurare e far voto a Dio che veniva solo per essere Duca di Lancaster, per reclamare la sua eredità e implorare la pace con lacrime d’innocenza e parole di zelo, mio padre, mosso da cuore gentile e da pietà, gli giurò assistenza, e la prestò anche. Ora, quando i lord e i baroni del regno s’avvidero che Northumberland propendeva per lui, grandi e piccoli vennero col berretto e col ginocchio, lo incontrarono in borghi, città, villaggi, lo scortarono sui ponti, sostarono nei viottoli, gli posero doni davanti, gli offrirono i loro giuramenti, gli diedero i loro eredi come paggi, lo seguirono, proprio alle calcagna, in auree moltitudini. Egli tosto, come la grandezza si conosce, sale un poco più in alto del suo voto fatto a mio padre quando il suo sangue era povero sulla nuda riva di Ravenspurgh, e ora, in fede, si assume di riformare certi editti e certi rigidi decreti che pesano troppo sulla cosa pubblica, grida contro gli abusi, sembra piangere sui torti del suo paese; e con questo volto, con questa apparente fronte di giustizia, guadagnò i cuori di tutti quelli cui gettava l’amo; procedette oltre, mi fece tagliare le teste di tutti i favoriti che il Re assente aveva lasciato qui in delega quando era di persona alla guerra d’Irlanda.
BLUNT	Bah, non venni per udire questo.
HOTSPUR	Al punto, allora. Poco tempo dopo, depose il Re, e subito dopo lo privò della vita, e sul collo di ciò tassò tutto lo stato; e a peggiorare le cose, tollerò che il suo congiunto March— il quale è, se ogni possessore fosse ben collocato, in verità il suo re—fosse trattenuto nel Galles, e là giacesse perduto senza riscatto; mi disonorò nelle mie felici vittorie, cercò d’irretirmi con le spie, 100 cacciò con rimproveri mio zio dal banco del Consiglio, in collera congedò mio padre dalla corte, ruppe giuramento su giuramento, commise torto su torto, e in conclusione ci spinse a cercare questa testa di salvezza, e insieme a scrutare 105 nel suo titolo, il quale troviamo troppo indiretto per lunga durata.
BLUNT	Devo riportare questa risposta al Re?
HOTSPUR	Non così, Sir Walter. Ci ritireremo un poco. Andate dal Re, e sia data in pegno 110 qualche garanzia per un sicuro ritorno; e domattina presto mio zio gli porterà i nostri propositi. E così, addio.
BLUNT	Vorrei che accettaste grazia e amore.
HOTSPUR	E forse lo faremo.
BLUNT	Prego Dio che lo facciate.
(didascalia)	Escono [Hotspur, Worcester, Douglas e Vernon da una porta, Blunt da un’altra porta

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter the Archbishop of York, and Sir Michael
ARCHBISHOP	(giving letters) Hie, good Sir Michael, bear this sealed brief With winged haste to the Lord Marshal, This to my cousin Scrope, and all the rest To whom they are directed. If you knew How much they do import, you would make haste.
SIR MICHAEL	My good lord, I guess their tenor.
ARCHBISHOP	Like enough you do. Tomorrow, good Sir Michael, is a day Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men Must bide the touch; for, sir, at Shrewsbury, As I am truly given to understand, The King with mighty and quick-raised power Meets with Lord Harry. And I fear, Sir Michael, What with the sickness of Northumberland, Whose power was in the first proportion, 15 And what with Owain Glyndŵr’s absence thence, Who with them was a rated sinew too, And comes not in, overruled by prophecies, I fear the power of Percy is too weak To wage an instant trial with the King.
SIR MICHAEL	Why, my good lord, you need not fear; there is Douglas And Lord Mortimer.
ARCHBISHOP	No, Mortimer is not there.
SIR MICHAEL	But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy; And there is my lord of Worcester, and a head Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.
ARCHBISHOP	And so there is; but yet the King hath drawn The special head of all the land together— The Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancaster, The noble Westmorland, and warlike Blunt, And many more corrivals, and dear men Of estimation and command in arms.
SIR MICHAEL	Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well opposed.
ARCHBISHOP	I hope no less, yet needful ’tis to fear; And to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed. For if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the King Dismiss his power he means to visit us, For he hath heard of our confederacy, And ’tis but wisdom to make strong against him; Therefore make haste. I must go write again To other friends; and so farewell, Sir Michael.
(didascalia)	Exeunt
(didascalia)	severally

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano l’Arcivescovo di York e Sir Michele
ARCIVESCOVO	(consegnando lettere) Affrettati, buon Sir Michele, porta questo plico sigillato con alata fretta al Lord Maresciallo, questo a mio cugino Scrope, e tutti gli altri a coloro cui sono diretti. Se sapeste quanto importano, vi affrettereste.
SIR MICHELE	Mio buon signore, indovino il loro tenore.
ARCIVESCOVO	Probabile che lo indoviniate. Domani, buon Sir Michele, è un giorno in cui la fortuna di diecimila uomini dovrà subire la prova; ché, signore, a Shrewsbury, come mi si dà veramente a intendere, il Re con possente e presto levato esercito s’incontra con Lord Harry. E temo, Sir Michele, fra la malattia di Northumberland, la cui forza era della prima grandezza, 15 e l’assenza di là di Owain Glyndŵr, che con loro era pure un nerbo stimato, e non viene, dominato dalle profezie, temo che la forza di Percy sia troppo debole per sostenere un’immediata prova col Re.
SIR MICHELE	Diamine, mio buon signore, non dovete temere; c’è Douglas e Lord Mortimer.
ARCIVESCOVO	No, Mortimer non è là.
SIR MICHELE	Ma c’è Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy; e c’è il mio lord di Worcester, e una schiera di gagliardi guerrieri, nobili gentiluomini.
ARCIVESCOVO	E così è; ma pure il Re ha radunato insieme il fiore speciale di tutta la terra— il Principe di Galles, Lord John di Lancaster, il nobile Westmorland, e il bellicoso Blunt, e molti altri emuli, e uomini cari di stima e di comando nelle armi.
SIR MICHELE	Non dubitate, mio signore, saranno ben contrastati.
ARCIVESCOVO	Non spero meno, pure è necessario temere; e per prevenire il peggio, Sir Michele, affrettatevi. Ché se Lord Percy non prospera, prima che il Re congedi il suo esercito, intende visitarci, poiché ha udito della nostra lega, e non è che saggezza fortificarsi contro di lui; perciò fate presto. Devo andare a scrivere ancora ad altri amici; e così addio, Sir Michele.
(didascalia)	Escono
(didascalia)	separatamente

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, Lord John of Lancaster, the Earl of Westmorland, Sir Walter Blunt, and Sir John Oldcastle
KING HENRY	How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon bulky hill! The day looks pale At his distemp’rature.
PRINCE HARRY	The southern wind Doth play the trumpet to his purposes, And by his hollow whistling in the leaves 5 Foretells a tempest and a blust’ring day.
KING HENRY	Then with the losers let it sympathize, For nothing can seem foul to those that win. The trumpet sounds
(didascalia)	a parley within. Enter the Earl of Worcester
(didascalia)	and Sir Richard Vernon
KING HENRY	How now, my lord of Worcester? ’Tis not well That you and I should meet upon such terms 10 As now we meet. You have deceived our trust, And made us doff our easy robes of peace To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel. This is not well, my lord, this is not well. What say you to it? Will you again unknit 15 This churlish knot of all-abhorred war, And move in that obedient orb again Where you did give a fair and natural light, And be no more an exhaled meteor, A prodigy of fear, and a portent Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
WORCESTER	Hear me, my liege. For mine own part, I could be well content To entertain the lag-end of my life With quiet hours; for I protest, 25 I have not sought the day of this dislike.
KING HENRY	You have not sought it? How comes it, then?
SIR JOHN	Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it.
PRINCE HARRY	Peace, chewet, peace!
WORCESTER	(to the King) It pleased your majesty to turn your looks Of favour from myself and all our house; And yet I must remember you, my lord, We were the first and dearest of your friends. For you my staff of office did I break In Richard’s time, and posted day and night To meet you on the way and kiss your hand When yet you were in place and in account Nothing so strong and fortunate as I. It was myself, my brother, and his son That brought you home, and boldly did outdare The dangers of the time. You swore to us, And you did swear that oath at Doncaster, That you did nothing purpose ‘gainst the state, Nor claim no further than your new-fall’n right, The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster. To this we swore our aid, but in short space It rained down fortune show’ring on your head, And such a flood of greatness fell on you, What with our help, what with the absent King, What with the injuries of a wanton time, The seeming sufferances that you had borne, And the contrarious winds that held the King So long in his unlucky Irish wars That all in England did repute him dead; And from this swarm of fair advantages You took occasion to be quickly wooed To gripe the general sway into your hand, Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster, And being fed by us, you used us so As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo’s bird, Useth the sparrow—did oppress our nest, Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk That even our love durst not come near your sight For fear of swallowing. But with nimble wing We were enforced for safety’ sake to fly 65 Out of your sight, and raise this present head, Whereby we stand opposed by such means As you yourself have forged against yourself, By unkind usage, dangerous countenance, And violation of all faith and troth Sworn to us in your younger enterprise.
KING HENRY	These things indeed you have articulate, Proclaimed at market crosses, read in churches, To face the garment of rebellion With some fine colour that may please the eye Of fickle changelings and poor discontents, Which gape and rub the elbow at the news Of hurly-burly innovation; And never yet did insurrection want Such water-colours to impaint his cause, Nor moody beggars starving for a time Of pell-mell havoc and confusion.
PRINCE HARRY	In both our armies there is many a soul Shall pay full dearly for this encounter If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world In praise of Henry Percy. By my hopes, This present enterprise set off his head, I do not think a braver gentleman, More active-valiant or more valiant-young, More daring, or more bold, is now alive To grace this latter age with noble deeds. For my part, I may speak it to my shame, I have a truant been to chivalry; And so I hear he doth account me too. Yet this, before my father’s majesty: I am content that he shall take the odds Of his great name and estimation, And will, to save the blood on either side, Try fortune with him in a single fight.
KING HENRY	And, Prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee, Albeit considerations infinite Do make against it. No, good Worcester, no. We love our people well; even those we love That are misled upon your cousin’s part; 105 And will they take the offer of our grace, Both he and they and you, yea, every man Shall be my friend again, and I’ll be his. So tell your cousin, and bring me word What he will do. But if he will not yield, Rebuke and dread correction wait on us, And they shall do their office. So be gone. We will not now be troubled with reply. We offer fair; take it advisedly.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Worcester [and Vernon]
PRINCE HARRY	It will not be accepted, on my life. The Douglas and the Hotspur both together Are confident against the world in arms.
KING HENRY	Hence, therefore, every leader to his charge, For on their answer will we set on them, And God befriend us as our cause is just!
(didascalia)	Exeunt all but Prince Harry and Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Hal, if thou see me down in the battle, and bestride me, so. ’Tis a point of friendship.
PRINCE HARRY	Nothing but a colossus can do thee that friendship. Say thy prayers, and farewell.
SIR JOHN	I would ’twere bed-time, Hal, and all well.
PRINCE HARRY	Why, thou owest God a death. Exit
SIR JOHN	‘Tis not due yet. I would be loath to pay him before his day. What need I be so forward with him that calls not on me? Well, ’tis no matter; honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honour prick me off when I come on? How then? Can honour set-to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honour? A word. What is in that word ‘honour’? What is that ‘honour’ ? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. ’Tis insensible then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I’ll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism.
(didascalia)	Exit

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano Re Enrico, il Principe Harry, Lord John di Lancaster, il Conte di Westmorland, Sir Walter Blunt e Sir John Oldcastle
RE ENRICO	Come sanguinosamente il sole comincia a spuntare sopra quella massiccia collina! Il giorno impallidisce al suo malumore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Il vento del sud fa da trombetta ai suoi propositi, e col suo cupo fischiare tra le foglie 5 predice tempesta e giornata di raffiche.
RE ENRICO	Allora simpatizzi coi perdenti, ché nulla può parer torbido a chi vince. La tromba suona
(didascalia)	a parlamento, da dentro. Entra il Conte di Worcester
(didascalia)	e Sir Riccardo Vernon
RE ENRICO	Ebbene, mio lord di Worcester? Non è bene che voi ed io c’incontriamo a tali condizioni 10 come ora c’incontriamo. Avete ingannato la nostra fiducia, e ci avete fatto deporre le comode vesti della pace per stringere le nostre vecchie membra in aspro acciaio. Questo non è bene, mio signore, questo non è bene. Che ne dite? Volete di nuovo sciogliere 15 questo villano nodo della guerra da tutti aborrita, e muovervi ancora in quell’orbita obbediente dove davate una bella e naturale luce, e non essere più una meteora esalata, un prodigio di paura, e un presagio di sciagura scatenata per i tempi non ancora nati?
WORCESTER	Ascoltatemi, mio sire. Per parte mia, sarei ben contento di trascorrere la coda della mia vita in ore tranquille; ché protesto, 25 non ho cercato il giorno di questa discordia.
RE ENRICO	Non l’avete cercato? Come avviene, dunque?
SIR JOHN	La ribellione gli stava sulla via, ed egli la trovò.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Zitto, gazza, zitto!
WORCESTER	(al Re) Piacque a vostra maestà di volgere i vostri sguardi di favore lontano da me e da tutta la nostra casa; e pure devo ricordarvi, mio signore, che fummo i primi e i più cari dei vostri amici. Per voi spezzai il mio bastone di comando ai tempi di Riccardo, e corsi giorno e notte per incontrarvi sulla via e baciarvi la mano quando ancora eravate, per grado e per stima, non altrettanto forte e fortunato di me. Fummo io stesso, mio fratello e suo figlio a ricondurvi a casa, e arditamente sfidammo i pericoli del tempo. Ci giuraste, e giuraste quel giuramento a Doncaster, che nulla tramavate contro lo stato, né reclamavate oltre il vostro diritto appena caduto, il seggio di Gaunt, il ducato di Lancaster. A questo giurammo il nostro aiuto, ma in breve spazio piovve la fortuna a rovesci sul vostro capo, e tale fiumana di grandezza cadde su di voi, fra il nostro aiuto, fra il Re assente, fra le ingiurie d’un tempo licenzioso, le apparenti sofferenze che avevate sopportato, e i venti contrari che trattennero il Re così a lungo nelle sue sfortunate guerre d’Irlanda che tutti in Inghilterra lo reputarono morto; e da questo sciame di bei vantaggi prendeste occasione d’esser presto pregato a stringere il potere generale nella vostra mano, dimenticaste il giuramento a noi fatto a Doncaster, e, nutrito da noi, ci trattaste come quell’ingrato ingordo, l’uccello del cuculo, tratta il passero—opprimeste il nostro nido, cresceste col nostro nutrimento a tal mole che perfino il nostro amore non osò accostarsi al vostro sguardo per paura d’essere inghiottito. Ma con ala agile fummo costretti, per amor di salvezza, a volare 65 fuori dalla vostra vista, e a levare questa presente schiera, onde stiamo opposti a voi con quei mezzi che voi stesso avete forgiato contro voi stesso, con trattamento scortese, con sguardo minaccioso, e con violazione d’ogni fede e lealtà giurataci nella vostra impresa più giovane.
RE ENRICO	Queste cose invero avete articolato, proclamato alle croci dei mercati, letto nelle chiese, per guarnire la veste della ribellione con qualche bel colore che possa piacere all’occhio di volubili incostanti e di poveri malcontenti, che sbadigliano e si fregano il gomito alla notizia d’un rivolgimento tumultuoso; e mai finora l’insurrezione mancò di tali colori all’acqua per dipingere la sua causa, né di accattoni scontrosi che agognano un tempo di scompiglio e confusione alla rinfusa.
PRINCIPE HARRY	In entrambi i nostri eserciti c’è più d’un’anima che pagherà ben caro questo incontro se una volta si vengano alle mani. Dite a vostro nipote che il Principe di Galles s’unisce a tutto il mondo nel lodare Henry Percy. Per le mie speranze, tolta dal suo conto questa presente impresa, non credo che gentiluomo più prode, più attivamente valoroso o più valorosamente giovane, più ardito o più audace, viva oggi a ornare quest’ultima età di nobili gesta. Per parte mia, posso dirlo a mia vergogna, sono stato un disertore della cavalleria; e così, odo, egli mi giudica. Pure questo, davanti alla maestà di mio padre: mi contento ch’egli prenda il vantaggio del suo gran nome e della sua stima, e voglio, per risparmiare il sangue d’entrambe le parti, tentar la fortuna con lui in singolar tenzone.
RE ENRICO	E, Principe di Galles, così osiamo arrischiarti, benché infinite considerazioni vi si oppongano. No, buon Worcester, no. Amiamo bene il nostro popolo; amiamo anche quelli che sono traviati dalla parte di vostro nipote; 105 e se accetteranno l’offerta della nostra grazia, sia egli sia loro sia voi, sì, ogni uomo sarà di nuovo mio amico, e io sarò suo. Così dite a vostro nipote, e portatemi parola di ciò che farà. Ma se non vorrà cedere, il rimprovero e la temuta punizione ci attendono, e faranno il loro ufficio. Dunque andate. Non vogliamo ora esser turbati da repliche. Offriamo lealmente; accettate con senno.
(didascalia)	Escono Worcester [e Vernon]
PRINCIPE HARRY	Non sarà accettata, sulla mia vita. Il Douglas e Hotspur, tutti e due insieme, si sentono sicuri contro il mondo in armi.
RE ENRICO	Via, dunque, ogni comandante al suo posto, ché sulla loro risposta piomberemo su di loro, e Dio ci sia amico quanto la nostra causa è giusta!
(didascalia)	Escono tutti tranne il Principe Harry e Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Hal, se mi vedi a terra nella battaglia, e mi fai scudo col corpo, ecco. È un tratto d’amicizia.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Nulla se non un colosso può renderti quell’amicizia. Di’ le tue preghiere, e addio.
SIR JOHN	Vorrei che fosse l’ora d’andare a letto, Hal, e tutto bene.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, tu devi a Dio una morte. Esce
SIR JOHN	Non è ancora scaduta. Mi dispiacerebbe pagarlo prima del suo giorno. Che bisogno ho d’esser così sollecito con chi non mi chiama? Ebbene, non importa; l’onore mi sprona. Sì, ma come, se l’onore mi cancella quando m’avanzo? E allora? Può l’onore rimettere una gamba? No. O un braccio? No. O togliere il dolore d’una ferita? No. L’onore non ha dunque abilità in chirurgia? No. Che cos’è l’onore? Una parola. Che c’è in quella parola ‘onore’? Che cos’è quell’‘onore’ ? Aria. Bel conto! Chi lo possiede? Colui che morì mercoledì. Lo sente? No. Lo ode? No. È dunque insensibile? Sì, per i morti. Ma non vivrà coi vivi? No. Perché? La maldicenza non lo permetterà. Perciò non ne voglio. L’onore è un mero scudo funebre. E così finisce il mio catechismo.
(didascalia)	Esce

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Worcester and Sir Richard Vernon
WORCESTER	O no, my nephew must not know, Sir Richard, The liberal and kind offer of the King.
VERNON	’Twere best he did.
WORCESTER	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. Supposition all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes, For treason is but trusted like the fox, Who, ne‘er so tame, so cherished, and locked 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 cherished 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 hare-brained Hotspur, governed 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.
VERNON	Deliver what you will; I’ll say ’tis so.
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur and the Earl of Douglas
VERNON	Here comes your cousin.
HOTSPUR	My uncle is returned. Deliver up my lord of Westmorland. Uncle, what news?
WORCESTER	The King will bid you battle presently.
DOUGLAS	Defy him by the Lord of Westmorland.
HOTSPUR	Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so.
DOUGLAS	Marry, and shall, and very willingly. Exit
WORCESTER	There is no seeming mercy in the King.
HOTSPUR	Did you beg any? God forbid!
WORCESTER	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.
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Douglas
DOUGLAS	Arm, gentlemen, to arms, for I have thrown A brave defiance in King Henry’s teeth- And Westmorland that was engaged did bear it— Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on.
WORCESTER	(to Hotspur) The Prince of Wales stepped forth before the King And, nephew, challenged you to single fight.
HOTSPUR	O, would the quarrel lay upon our heads, And that no man might draw short breath today But I and Harry Monmouth ! Tell me, tell me, How showed his tasking? Seemed it in contempt?
VERNON	No, by my soul, I never in my life Did hear a challenge urged more modestly, Unless a brother should a brother dare To gentle exercise and proof of arms. He gave you all the duties of a man, Trimmed up your praises with a princely tongue, Spoke your deservings like a chronicle, Making you ever better than his praise By still dispraising praise valued with you; And, which became him like a prince indeed, He made a blushing cital of himself, And chid his truant youth with such a grace As if he mastered 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.
HOTSPUR	Cousin, I think thou art enamoured On his follies. Never did I hear Of any prince so wild a 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, soldiers, friends, Better consider what you have to do Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue, Can lift your blood up with persuasion.
(didascalia)	Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER	My lord, here are letters for you.
HOTSPUR	I cannot read them now. [Exit Messenger] 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 consciences: the arms are fair When the intent of bearing them is just.
(didascalia)	Enter another Messenger
MESSENGER	My lord, prepare; the King comes on apace. [Exit]
HOTSPUR	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!
(didascalia)	Sound all the lofty instruments of war,
HOTSPUR	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. Here they embrace. Exeunt

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Entrano il Conte di Worcester e Sir Riccardo Vernon
WORCESTER	Oh no, mio nipote non deve sapere, Sir Riccardo, la generosa e benigna offerta del Re.
VERNON	Sarebbe meglio che la sapesse.
WORCESTER	Allora siamo tutti perduti. Non è possibile, non può essere, che il Re mantenga la parola nell’amarci. Ci sospetterà sempre, e troverà un tempo per punire questa offesa sotto altre colpe. Il sospetto per tutta la vita ci terrà infissi mille occhi addosso, ché al tradimento si crede come alla volpe, la quale, per quanto addomesticata, vezzeggiata e rinchiusa, avrà pur l’istinto selvaggio dei suoi avi. Guardiamo come vogliamo, tristi o allegri, l’interpretazione travisserà i nostri sguardi, e saremo nutriti come buoi alla stalla: quanto meglio vezzeggiati, tanto più vicini alla morte. La colpa di mio nipote può essere ben dimenticata; ha la scusa della giovinezza e del calore del sangue, e un nome adottato che è privilegio— un Hotspur dalla testa di lepre, governato dalla bile. Tutte le sue offese vivono sul mio capo, e su quello di suo padre. Noi l’abbiamo istruito, e, venendo la sua corruzione da noi, noi, come sorgente di tutto, pagheremo per tutto. Perciò, buon cugino, non lasciate che Harry sappia in nessun caso l’offerta del Re.
VERNON	Riferite ciò che volete; dirò che è così.
(didascalia)	Entrano Hotspur e il Conte di Douglas
VERNON	Ecco che viene vostro nipote.
HOTSPUR	Mio zio è tornato. Rilasciate il mio lord di Westmorland. Zio, che nuove?
WORCESTER	Il Re vi offrirà battaglia fra poco.
DOUGLAS	Sfidatelo per mezzo del Lord di Westmorland.
HOTSPUR	Lord Douglas, andate voi e diteglielo.
DOUGLAS	Perbacco, lo farò, e ben volentieri. Esce
WORCESTER	Non c’è apparenza di clemenza nel Re.
HOTSPUR	Ne avete chiesta? Dio non voglia!
WORCESTER	Gli dissi con garbo dei nostri torti, del suo spergiuro, ch’egli emendò così: spergiurando ora ch’egli è spergiuro. Ci chiama ‘ribelli’, ‘traditori’, e flagellerà con armi altere questo nome odioso in noi.
(didascalia)	Entra il Conte di Douglas
DOUGLAS	All’armi, signori, all’armi, ché ho gettato un’ardita sfida in faccia a Re Enrico- e Westmorland, che era ostaggio, la portò— il che non può non farlo venire presto.
WORCESTER	(a Hotspur) Il Principe di Galles si fece avanti prima del Re e, nipote, vi sfidò a singolar tenzone.
HOTSPUR	Oh, fosse la contesa sulle nostre sole teste, e nessuno oggi tirasse il fiato corto se non io e Harry Monmouth ! Dimmi, dimmi, come apparve la sua sfida? Sembrò fatta con disprezzo?
VERNON	No, sull’anima mia, mai in vita mia udii sfida proposta più modestamente, se non quando un fratello sfidasse un fratello a gentile esercizio e prova d’armi. Vi rese tutti i doveri d’un uomo, adornò le vostre lodi con lingua principesca, disse i vostri meriti come una cronaca, facendovi sempre migliore della sua lode col deprezzare ogni lode messa a confronto con voi; e, ciò che gli s’addisse davvero da principe, fece di sé un arrossente resoconto, e sgridò la sua giovinezza svogliata con tanta grazia come se là padroneggiasse un duplice spirito d’insegnare e d’imparare a un tempo. Là s’interruppe; ma lasciate ch’io dica al mondo: se sopravvive all’invidia di questo giorno, l’Inghilterra non ebbe mai una speranza così dolce, tanto fraintesa nella sua sfrenatezza.
HOTSPUR	Cugino, credo che tu sia innamorato delle sue follie. Mai udii d’alcun principe una licenza così sfrenata. Ma sia egli come vuole, pure una volta prima di notte lo abbraccerò con braccio di soldato, sì che si rannicchierà sotto la mia cortesia. All’armi, all’armi, in fretta! E voi, compagni, soldati, amici, considerate meglio ciò che dovete fare di quanto io, che non ho bene il dono della lingua, possa sollevarvi il sangue con la persuasione.
(didascalia)	Entra un Messo
MESSO	Mio signore, ecco lettere per voi.
HOTSPUR	Non posso leggerle ora. [Esce il Messo] Oh signori, il tempo della vita è breve. Spendere quella brevità vilmente sarebbe troppo lungo anche se la vita cavalcasse sulla punta d’un quadrante, finendo sempre all’arrivo d’un’ora. E se viviamo, viviamo per calpestare i re; se moriamo, bella morte quando i principi muoiono con noi! Ora quanto alle nostre coscienze: le armi sono giuste quando l’intento di portarle è giusto.
(didascalia)	Entra un altro Messo
MESSO	Mio signore, preparatevi; il Re avanza rapidamente. [Esce]
HOTSPUR	Lo ringrazio che mi tronchi il discorso, ché non faccio professione di parlare, ma solo questo: ognuno faccia del suo meglio. E qui io sguaino una spada la cui tempra intendo macchiare col miglior sangue che potrò incontrare nell’avventura di questo giorno periglioso. Ora Esperance! Percy! E all’assalto!
(didascalia)	Suonino tutti gli alti strumenti di guerra,
HOTSPUR	e a quella musica abbracciamoci tutti, ché, scommetto il cielo contro la terra, alcuni di noi mai una seconda volta faranno tale cortesia. Le trombe suonano. Qui si abbracciano. Escono

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	King Henry enters with his power. Alarum, and exeunt to the battle. Then enter the Earl of Douglas, and Sir Walter Blunt, disguised as the King
BLUNT	What is thy name, that in the battle thus Thou crossest me? What honour dost thou seek Upon my head?
DOUGLAS	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.
DOUGLAS	The Lord of Stafford dear today 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.
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. Douglas kills Blunt. Then enter Hotspur
HOTSPUR	O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon thus, I never had triumphed upon a Scot.
DOUGLAS	All’s done, all’s won: here breathless lies the King.
HOTSPUR	Where?
DOUGLAS	Here.
HOTSPUR	This, Douglas? No, I know this face full well. A gallant knight he was; his name was Blunt— Semblably furnished like the King himself.
DOUGLAS	(to Blunt’s body) A fool go with thy soul, whither it goes ! A borrowed title hast thou bought too dear. Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
HOTSPUR	The king hath many marching in his coats.
DOUGLAS	Now by my sword, I will kill all his coats. I’ll murder all his wardrobe, piece by piece, Until I meet the King.
HOTSPUR	Up and away! Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day.
(didascalia)	Exeunt, leaving Blunt’s body
(didascalia)	Alarum. Enter Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Though I could scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here. Here’s no scoring but upon the pate.—Soft, who are you?—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 own bowels. I have led my ragamuffins where they are peppered; there’s not three of my hundred and fifty left alive, and they are for the town’s end, to beg during life.
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry
SIR JOHN	But who comes here?
PRINCE HARRY	What, stand’st thou idle here? Lend me thy sword. Many a noble man lies stark and stiff Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies, Whose deaths as yet are unrevenged. I prithee Lend me thy sword.
SIR JOHN	O Hal, I prithee give me leave to breathe awhile. Turk Gregory never did such deeds in arms As I have done this day. I have paid Percy, I have made him sure.
PRINCE HARRY	He is indeed, And living to kill thee. I prithee Lend me thy sword.
SIR JOHN	Nay, before God, Hal, If Percy be alive thou gett’st not my sword; But take my pistol if thou wilt.
PRINCE HARRY	Give it me. What, is it in the case?
SIR JOHN	Ay, Hal; ’Tis hot, ’tis hot. There’s that will sack a city. The Prince draws it out, and finds it to be a bottle of sack
PRINCE HARRY	What, is it a time to jest and dally now? He throws the bottle at him. Exit
SIR JOHN	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 honour as Sir Walter hath. Give me life, which if I can save, so; if not, honour comes unlocked for, and there’s an end. Exit [with Blunt’s body]

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Re Enrico entra con le sue forze. Allarme, ed escono verso la battaglia. Poi entrano il Conte di Douglas e Sir Walter Blunt, travestito da Re
BLUNT	Qual è il tuo nome, che nella battaglia così mi attraversi il cammino? Qual onore cerchi sul mio capo?
DOUGLAS	Sappi dunque che il mio nome è Douglas, e ti perseguito nella battaglia così perché alcuni mi dicono che tu sei re.
BLUNT	Ti dicono il vero.
DOUGLAS	Il Lord di Stafford ha comprato caro oggi la tua sembianza, ché invece di te, Re Harry, questa spada l’ha finito. E così farà con te, se non ti arrendi come mio prigioniero.
BLUNT	Non nacqui per arrendermi, superbo Scozzese, e troverai un re che vendicherà la morte di Lord Stafford. Combattono. Douglas uccide Blunt. Poi entra Hotspur
HOTSPUR	Oh Douglas, avessi tu combattuto così a Holmedon, non avrei mai trionfato su uno Scozzese.
DOUGLAS	Tutto è fatto, tutto è vinto: qui giace senza fiato il Re.
HOTSPUR	Dove?
DOUGLAS	Qui.
HOTSPUR	Questo, Douglas? No, conosco ben bene questo volto. Era un gagliardo cavaliere; il suo nome era Blunt— equipaggiato in tutto simile al Re stesso.
DOUGLAS	(al corpo di Blunt) Un folle accompagni la tua anima, ovunque vada ! Un titolo prestato hai comprato troppo caro. Perché mi dicesti che eri re?
HOTSPUR	Il re ne ha molti che marciano nelle sue insegne.
DOUGLAS	Ora per la mia spada, ucciderò tutte le sue insegne. Assassinerò tutto il suo guardaroba, pezzo per pezzo, finché non incontri il Re.
HOTSPUR	Su, e via! I nostri soldati si tengono ben saldi per la giornata.
(didascalia)	Escono, lasciando il corpo di Blunt
(didascalia)	Allarme. Entra Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Benché a Londra potessi scappare senza pagare il conto, qui temo i colpi. Qui non si segna il conto che sulla zucca.—Piano, chi siete?—Sir Walter Blunt. Ecco dell’onore per voi. Qui non c’è vanità. Sono caldo come piombo fuso, e pesante altrettanto. Dio tenga lontano da me il piombo; non ho bisogno d’altro peso che delle mie budella. Ho condotto i miei straccioni dove sono stati pepati; non ne restano vivi tre dei miei centocinquanta, e quelli sono buoni per l’uscita della città, a mendicare per tutta la vita.
(didascalia)	Entra il Principe Harry
SIR JOHN	Ma chi viene qui?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come, te ne stai qui in ozio? Prestami la tua spada. Molti nobili giacciono rigidi e freddi sotto gli zoccoli di nemici tronfi, le cui morti sono ancora invendicate. Ti prego, prestami la tua spada.
SIR JOHN	Oh Hal, ti prego, lasciami riprender fiato un poco. Il Turco Gregorio non fece mai tali gesta d’armi quali ho fatto io oggi. Ho saldato Percy, l’ho messo al sicuro.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Lo è davvero, ed è vivo per ucciderti. Ti prego, prestami la tua spada.
SIR JOHN	No, per Dio, Hal, se Percy è vivo non avrai la mia spada; ma prendi la mia pistola, se vuoi.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Dammela. Come, è nella custodia?
SIR JOHN	Sì, Hal; è calda, è calda. C’è là dentro di che saccheggiare una città. Il Principe la estrae, e trova che è una bottiglia di sack
PRINCIPE HARRY	Come, è tempo di scherzare e trastullarsi ora? Gli getta addosso la bottiglia. Esce
SIR JOHN	Ebbene, se Percy è vivo, lo trafiggerò. Se mi viene sulla strada, sia; se non ci viene, e io vado sulla sua di mia volontà, che mi faccia a fette. Non mi piace un onore così sogghignante come quello di Sir Walter. Datemi la vita: se posso salvarla, bene; se no, l’onore viene senza esser cercato, ed è finita. Esce [col corpo di Blunt]

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	Alarum. Excursions. Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, wounded, Lord John of Lancaster, and the Earl of Westmorland
KING HENRY	I prithee, Harry, withdraw thyself, thou bleed’st too much. Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.
PRINCE HARRY	(to the King) I beseech your majesty, make up, Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.
KING HENRY	I will do so. My lord of Westmorland, Lead him to his tent.
WESTMORLAND	(to the Prince) Come, my lord, I’ll lead you to your tent.
PRINCE HARRY	Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help, And God forbid a shallow scratch should drive The Prince of Wales from such a field as this, Where stained nobility lies trodden on, And rebels’ arms triumph in massacres.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	We breathe too long. Come, cousin Westmorland, Our duty this way lies. For God’s sake, come.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Lancaster and Westmorland
PRINCE HARRY	By God, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster; I did not think thee lord of such a spirit. Before I loved thee as a brother, John, But now I do respect thee as my soul.
KING HENRY	I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point With lustier maintenance than I did look for Of such an ungrown warrior.
PRINCE HARRY	O, this boy lends mettle to us all! Exit
(didascalia)	Enter the Earl of Douglas
DOUGLAS	Another king! They grow like Hydra’s heads. I am the Douglas, fatal to all those That wear those colours on them. What art thou That counterfeit’st the person of a king?
KING HENRY	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; But seeing thou fall’st on me so luckily, I will assay thee; and defend thyself.
DOUGLAS	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 Harry
PRINCE HARRY	Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like Never to hold it up again. The spirits Of valiant 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 flieth Cheerly, my lord! How fares your grace? Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent, And so hath Clifton. I’ll to Clifton straight.
KING HENRY	Stay and breathe awhile. Thou hast redeemed thy lost opinion, And showed thou mak’st some tender of my life, In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.
PRINCE HARRY	O God, they did me too much injury That ever said I hearkened 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 saved the treacherous labour of your son.
KING HENRY	Make up to Clifton; I’ll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey. Exit
(didascalia)	Enter Hotspur
HOTSPUR	If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.
PRINCE HARRY	Thou speak’st as if I would deny my name.
HOTSPUR	My name is Harry Percy.
PRINCE HARRY	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.
HOTSPUR	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.
PRINCE HARRY	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.
HOTSPUR	I can no longer brook thy vanities. They fight.
(didascalia)	Enter Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Well said, Hal! To it, Hal! Nay, you shall find no boy’s play here, I can tell you.
(didascalia)	Enter Douglas. He fighteth with Sir John, who falls down as if he were dead. Exit Douglas. The Prince killeth Hotspur
HOTSPUR	O Harry, thou hast robbed 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 thoughts, the slaves 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—He dies
PRINCE HARRY	For worms, brave Percy. Fare thee well, great heart. Ill-weaved 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 favours hide thy mangled face, He covers Hotspur’s 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 remembered in thy epitaph. He spieth Sir John on the ground What, old acquaintance! Could not all this flesh Keep in a little life ? Poor Jack, farewell. I could have better spared 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 today, Though many dearer in this bloody fray. Embowelled will I see thee by and by. Till then, in blood by noble Percy lie. Exit Sir John riseth up
SIR JOHN	Embowelled? If thou embowel me today, I’ll give you leave to powder me, and eat me too, tomorrow. ’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 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 ? By my faith, 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 Hotspur) with a new wound in your thigh, come you along with me. He takes up Hotspur on his back.
(didascalia)	Enter Prince Harry and Lord John of Lancaster
PRINCE HARRY	Come, brother John. Full bravely hast thou fleshed Thy maiden sword.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	But soft; whom have we here? Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?
PRINCE HARRY	I did; I saw him dead, Breathless and bleeding on the ground. (To Sir John) Art thou alive? Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight? I prithee speak; we will not trust our eyes Without our ears. Thou art not what thou seem’st.
SIR JOHN	No, that’s certain: I am not a double man. But if I be not Jack Oldcastle, then am I a jack. There is Percy. 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.
PRINCE HARRY	Why, Percy I killed myself, and saw thee dead.
SIR JOHN	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’t on my death I gave him this wound in the thigh. If the man were alive and would deny it, zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	This is the strangest tale that e’er I heard.
PRINCE HARRY	This is the strangest fellow, brother John. (To Sir 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. Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field To see what friends are living, who are dead.
(didascalia)	Exeunt the Prince and Lancaster
SIR JOHN	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.
(didascalia)	Exit, bearing Hotspur’s body

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Allarme. Scaramucce. Entrano Re Enrico, il Principe Harry, ferito, Lord John di Lancaster e il Conte di Westmorland
RE ENRICO	Ti prego, Harry, ritirati, tu sanguini troppo abbondantemente. Lord John di Lancaster, andate voi con lui.
JOHN DI LANCASTER	Non io, mio signore, a meno che non sanguinassi anch’io.
PRINCIPE HARRY	(al Re) Supplico vostra maestà, avanzate, ché la vostra ritirata non sbigottisca i vostri amici.
RE ENRICO	Così farò. Mio lord di Westmorland, conducetelo alla sua tenda.
WESTMORLAND	(al Principe) Venite, mio signore, vi condurrò alla vostra tenda.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Condurmi, mio signore? Non ho bisogno del vostro aiuto, e Dio non voglia che un graffio superficiale scacci il Principe di Galles da un campo come questo, dove la nobiltà macchiata giace calpestata, e le armi dei ribelli trionfano nei massacri.
JOHN DI LANCASTER	Prendiamo fiato troppo a lungo. Venite, cugino Westmorland, il nostro dovere è da questa parte. Per amor di Dio, venite.
(didascalia)	Escono Lancaster e Westmorland
PRINCIPE HARRY	Per Dio, m’hai ingannato, Lancaster; non ti credevo signore di tale spirito. Prima t’amavo come un fratello, John, ma ora ti rispetto come la mia anima.
RE ENRICO	L’ho visto tener testa a Lord Percy con più gagliardo contegno di quanto m’aspettassi da un guerriero così acerbo.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Oh, questo ragazzo dà fegato a tutti noi! Esce
(didascalia)	Entra il Conte di Douglas
DOUGLAS	Un altro re! Crescono come le teste dell’Idra. Io sono il Douglas, fatale a tutti coloro che portano addosso quei colori. Chi sei tu che contraffai la persona d’un re?
RE ENRICO	Il Re stesso, il quale, Douglas, si duole in cuore che tu abbia incontrato tante sue ombre e non il Re vero. Ho due ragazzi che cercano Percy e te per il campo; ma poiché mi capiti addosso così a proposito, ti metterò alla prova; e tu difenditi.
DOUGLAS	Temo che tu sia un altro contraffatto; eppure, in fede, ti porti come un re. Ma mio sei di certo, chiunque tu sia, e così ti conquisto. Combattono. Essendo il Re in pericolo, entra il Principe Harry
PRINCIPE HARRY	Alza la testa, vile Scozzese, o rischi di non alzarla mai più. Gli spiriti del valoroso Shirley, di Stafford, di Blunt, sono nelle mie braccia. È il Principe di Galles che ti minaccia, il quale non promette mai se non intende pagare. Combattono. Douglas fugge Coraggio, mio signore! Come sta vostra grazia? Sir Nicholas Gawsey ha mandato a chieder soccorso, e così ha fatto Clifton. Vado subito da Clifton.
RE ENRICO	Fermati e riprendi fiato un poco. Hai riscattato la tua opinione perduta, e hai mostrato che hai qualche cura della mia vita, in questo bel soccorso che m’hai recato.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Oh Dio, mi fecero troppo torto quelli che dissero mai ch’io agognassi la vostra morte. Se così fosse, avrei potuto lasciar stare l’insultante mano di Douglas sopra di voi, la quale sarebbe stata rapida per la vostra fine quanto tutte le pozioni velenose del mondo, e avrebbe risparmiato la traditrice fatica a vostro figlio.
RE ENRICO	Raggiungi Clifton; io andrò da Sir Nicholas Gawsey. Esce
(didascalia)	Entra Hotspur
HOTSPUR	Se non m’inganno, tu sei Harry Monmouth.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Parli come se io volessi negare il mio nome.
HOTSPUR	Il mio nome è Harry Percy.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, allora vedo un ribelle assai valoroso di quel nome. Io sono il Principe di Galles; e non pensare, Percy, di dividere ancora con me la gloria. Due stelle non tengono il loro moto in una sola sfera, né una sola Inghilterra può sopportare un duplice regno di Harry Percy e del Principe di Galles.
HOTSPUR	Né lo sopporterà, Harry, ché è giunta l’ora di finire l’uno di noi due, e volesse Dio che il tuo nome nelle armi fosse grande quanto il mio.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Lo farò più grande prima di separarmi da te, e tutti gli onori in boccio sul tuo cimiero li reciderò per farne una ghirlanda al mio capo.
HOTSPUR	Non posso più sopportare le tue vanterie. Combattono.
(didascalia)	Entra Sir John Oldcastle
SIR JOHN	Ben detto, Hal! Addosso, Hal! No, non troverete qui gioco da ragazzi, ve lo posso dire.
(didascalia)	Entra Douglas. Combatte con Sir John, il quale cade a terra come se fosse morto. Esce Douglas. Il Principe uccide Hotspur
HOTSPUR	Oh Harry, tu m’hai derubato della mia giovinezza. Meglio sopporto la perdita della fragile vita che quei superbi titoli che m’hai vinto. Feriscono i miei pensieri più di quanto la tua spada la mia carne. Ma i pensieri, schiavi della vita, e la vita, zimbello del tempo, e il tempo, che passa in rassegna tutto il mondo, devono avere una fine. Oh, potrei profetare, se non che la terrosa e fredda mano della morte giace sulla mia lingua. No, Percy, tu sei polvere, e cibo per—Muore
PRINCIPE HARRY	Per i vermi, prode Percy. Sta’ bene, gran cuore. Ambizione mal tessuta, quanto ti sei ristretta! Quando questo corpo conteneva uno spirito, un regno era per esso confine troppo angusto, ma ora due passi della più vile terra sono spazio bastante. Questa terra che ti porta morto non porta vivo un gentiluomo così gagliardo. Se tu fossi sensibile alla cortesia, non farei così caro sfoggio di zelo; ma le mie insegne coprano il tuo volto straziato, Copre il volto di Hotspur e persino in tuo nome ringrazierò me stesso per aver compiuto questi bei riti di tenerezza. Addio, e porta con te la tua lode in cielo. La tua ignominia dorma con te nella tomba, ma non sia ricordata nel tuo epitaffio. Scorge Sir John a terra Come, vecchia conoscenza! Non poté tutta questa carne serbare un po’ di vita ? Povero Jack, addio. Avrei potuto perdere più volentieri un uomo migliore. Oh, sentirei gravemente la tua mancanza, se fossi molto in amore con la vanità. La Morte non ha abbattuto oggi una preda così grassa, benché molte più care in questa sanguinosa mischia. Sventrato ti vedrò fra poco. Fino ad allora, giaci nel sangue presso il nobile Percy. Esce Sir John si rialza
SIR JOHN	Sventrato? Se mi sventri oggi, ti do licenza di salarmi, e anche di mangiarmi, domani. Sangue di Dio, era tempo di fingere, o quell’ardente Scozzese furibondo m’avrebbe saldato, e con gli interessi. Fingere? Mento, non sono un finto. Morire è essere un finto, ché è solo la contraffazione d’un uomo colui che non ha la vita d’un uomo. Ma fingere di morire quando per questo un uomo vive è non essere finto, ma l’immagine vera e perfetta della vita in persona. La parte migliore del valore è la discrezione, e in quella parte migliore ho salvato la mia vita. Corpo di Dio, ho paura di questo Percy da polvere da sparo, benché sia morto. E come, se fingesse anche lui, e si rialzasse ? In fede mia, temo che si rivelerebbe il miglior finto. Perciò lo metterò al sicuro; sì, e giurerò d’averlo ucciso io. Perché non potrebbe rialzarsi tanto bene quanto me? Nulla mi smentisce se non gli occhi, e nessuno mi vede. Perciò, messere, (pugnalando Hotspur) con una nuova ferita nella coscia, venite con me. Si carica Hotspur sulle spalle.
(didascalia)	Entrano il Principe Harry e Lord John di Lancaster
PRINCIPE HARRY	Vieni, fratello John. Assai valorosamente hai insanguinato la tua vergine spada.
JOHN DI LANCASTER	Ma piano; chi abbiamo qui? Non m’avevate detto che questo grassone era morto?
PRINCIPE HARRY	L’ho detto; l’ho visto morto, senza fiato e sanguinante a terra. (A Sir John) Sei vivo? O è fantasia che gioca sulla nostra vista? Ti prego, parla; non ci fideremo dei nostri occhi senza le nostre orecchie. Tu non sei ciò che sembri.
SIR JOHN	No, questo è certo: non sono un uomo doppio. Ma se non sono Jack Oldcastle, allora sono un fantoccio. Ecco Percy. Se vostro padre vorrà rendermi qualche onore, bene; se no, uccida lui stesso il prossimo Percy. Conto di diventare o conte o duca, ve l’assicuro.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Diamine, Percy l’ho ucciso io, e ti ho visto morto.
SIR JOHN	Davvero ? Signore, Signore, come questo mondo è dato alla menzogna! Vi concedo che ero a terra e senza fiato, e così lui; ma ci rialzammo entrambi in un istante, e combattemmo una lunga ora all’orologio di Shrewsbury. Se mi si può credere, bene; se no, che quelli che dovrebbero premiare il valore portino il peccato sul proprio capo. Lo prendo sulla mia morte: gli diedi io questa ferita nella coscia. Se l’uomo fosse vivo e volesse negarlo, corpo di Dio, gli farei mangiare un pezzo della mia spada.
JOHN DI LANCASTER	Questo è il racconto più strano che abbia mai udito.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Questo è il tipo più strano, fratello John. (A Sir John) Su, porta nobilmente il tuo bagaglio sulla schiena. Per parte mia, se una menzogna può farti grazia, la indorerò coi termini più felici che ho. Si suona la ritirata La tromba suona la ritirata; la giornata è nostra. Vieni, fratello, andiamo sull’altura del campo a vedere quali amici sono vivi, e chi è morto.
(didascalia)	Escono il Principe e Lancaster
SIR JOHN	Li seguirò, come si dice, per la ricompensa. Chi mi ricompensa, Dio lo ricompensi. Se divento grande, diventerò più piccolo; ché mi purgherò, e lascerò il sack, e vivrò pulitamente, come si conviene a un nobiluomo.
(didascalia)	Esce, portando il corpo di Hotspur

Speaker	Line
(didascalia)	The trumpets sound. Enter King Henry, Prince Harry, Lord John of Lancaster, the Earl of Westmorland, with the Earl of Worcester and Sir Richard Vernon, prisoners, and soldier
KING HENRY	Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke. Ill-spirited Worcester, did not we send grace, Pardon, and terms of love to all of you ? And wouldst thou turn our offers contrary, Misuse the tenor of thy kinsman’s trust? Three knights upon our party slain today, 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.
WORCESTER	What I have done my safety urged me to, And I embrace this fortune patiently, Since not to be avoided it falls on me.
KING HENRY	Bear Worcester to the death, and Vernon too. Other offenders we will pause upon.
(didascalia)	Exeunt Worcester and Vernon, guarded
KING HENRY	How goes the field?
PRINCE HARRY	The noble Scot Lord Douglas, when he saw The fortune of the day quite turned from him, The noble Percy slain, and all his men Upon the foot of fear, fled with the rest; And falling from a hill he was so bruised That the pursuers took him. At my tent The Douglas is, and I beseech your grace I may dispose of him.
KING HENRY	With all my heart.
PRINCE HARRY	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 valours shown upon our crests today Have taught us how to cherish such high deeds Even in the bosom of our adversaries.
JOHN OF LANCASTER	I thank your grace for this high courtesy, Which I shall give away immediately.
KING HENRY	Then this remains, that we divide our power. You, son John, and my cousin Westmorland, Towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed To meet Northumberland and the prelate Scrope, Who, as we hear, are busily in arms. Myself and you, son Harry, will towards Wales, To fight with Glyndwr and the Earl of March. Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway, Meeting the check of such another day; And since this business so fair is done, Let us not leave till all our own be won.
(didascalia)	Exeunt [the King, the Prince, and their power at one door, Lancaster, Westmorland, and their power at another door]
THE MERRY WIVES OF	WINDSOR A LEGEND dating from 1702 claims that Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor in fourteen days and by command of Queen Elizabeth; in 1709 she was said to have wished particularly to see Falstaff in love. Whether or not this is true, a passage towards the end of the play alluding directly to the ceremonies of the Order of the Garter, Britain’s highest order of chivalry, encourages the belief that the play has a direct connection with a specific occasion. In 1597 George Carey, Lord Hunsdon, Lord Chamberlain and patron of Shakespeare’s company, was installed at Windsor as a Knight of the Garter. The Queen was not present at the installation but had attended the Garter Feast at the Palace of Westminster on St George’s Day (23 April). Shakespeare’s play was probably performed in association with this occasion, and may have been written especially for it. It was first printed, in a corrupt text, in 1602; a better text appears in the 1623 Folio. Some of the characters—Sir John Falstaff, Mistress Quickly, Pistol, Nim, Justice Shallow—appear also in I and 2 Henry IV and Henry V, but in spite of a reference to ’the wild Prince and Poins’ at 3.2.66-7, this is essentially an Elizabethan comedy, the only one that Shakespeare set firmly in England. The play is full of details that would have been familiar to Elizabethan Londoners, and the language is colloquial and up to date. The plot, however, is made up of conventional situations whose ancestry is literary rather than realistic. There are many analogues to Shakespeare’s basic plot situations in medieval and other tales, some in books that he probably or certainly knew. The central story, of Sir John’s unsuccessful attempts to seduce Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, and of Master Ford’s unfounded jealousy, is in the tradition of the Italian novella, and may have been suggested by Ser Giovanni Fiorentino’s II Pecorone (1558). Alongside it Shakespeare places the comical but finally romantic love story of Anne Page, wooed by the foolish but rich Abraham Slender and the irascible French Doctor Caius, but won by the young and handsome Fenton. The play contains a higher proportion of prose to verse than any other play by Shakespeare, and the action is often broadly comic; but it ends, after the midnight scene in Windsor Forest during which Sir John is frightened out of his lechery, in forgiveness and love. The Merry Wives of Windsor is known to have been acted for James I on 4 November 1604, and for Charles I in 1638. It was revived soon after the theatres reopened, in 1660; at first it was not particularly popular, but since 1720 it has consistently pleased audiences. Many artists have illustrated it, and it forms the basis for a number of operas, including Otto Nicolai’s Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1849) and Giuseppe Verdi’s comic masterpiece, Falstaff (1893).
THE PERSONS OF THE	PLAY

Chi parla	Battuta
(didascalia)	Le trombe suonano. Entrano Re Enrico, il Principe Harry, Lord John di Lancaster, il Conte di Westmorland, con il Conte di Worcester e Sir Riccardo Vernon, prigionieri, e soldato
RE ENRICO	Così sempre la ribellione trovò castigo. Worcester dal malo spirito, non mandammo grazia, perdono e parole d’amore a tutti voi ? E volesti tu volgere le nostre offerte al contrario, abusare del tenore della fiducia di tuo nipote? Tre cavalieri dalla nostra parte uccisi oggi, un nobile conte, e molte altre creature, sarebbero vivi a quest’ora se da cristiano tu avessi lealmente portato fra i nostri eserciti la vera notizia.
WORCESTER	Ciò che ho fatto la mia salvezza me lo impose, e abbraccio questa sorte con pazienza, poiché, non potendo evitarsi, cade su di me.
RE ENRICO	Conducete Worcester alla morte, e Vernon anche. Sugli altri colpevoli ci fermeremo a riflettere.
(didascalia)	Escono Worcester e Vernon, sotto scorta
RE ENRICO	Come va il campo?
PRINCIPE HARRY	Il nobile Scozzese Lord Douglas, quando vide la fortuna della giornata volta del tutto contro di lui, il nobile Percy ucciso, e tutti i suoi uomini in preda alla paura, fuggì con gli altri; e cadendo da una collina fu così malconcio che gli inseguitori lo presero. Alla mia tenda è il Douglas, e supplico vostra grazia di poterne disporre.
RE ENRICO	Con tutto il cuore.
PRINCIPE HARRY	Allora, fratello John di Lancaster, a voi apparterrà questa onorevole liberalità. Andate dal Douglas, e consegnatelo al suo piacere, senza riscatto e libero. I valori che oggi mostrò sui nostri cimieri ci hanno insegnato come tener cara tale alta prodezza anche nel petto dei nostri avversari.
JOHN DI LANCASTER	Ringrazio vostra grazia di questa alta cortesia, che donerò immediatamente.
RE ENRICO	Resta dunque questo: che dividiamo le nostre forze. Voi, figlio John, e mio cugino Westmorland, volgetevi verso York con la più cara prestezza per affrontare Northumberland e il prelato Scrope, i quali, come udiamo, sono attivamente in armi. Io stesso e tu, figlio Harry, andremo verso il Galles, a combattere con Glyndwr e il Conte di March. La ribellione in questa terra perderà il suo dominio, incontrando lo scacco d’un altro giorno simile; e poiché questa impresa è così bene compiuta, non desistiamo finché tutto il nostro non sia riconquistato.
(didascalia)	Escono [il Re, il Principe e le loro forze da una porta, Lancaster, Westmorland e le loro forze da un’altra porta]