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

Doug. I fear thou art another counterfeit ;
And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:
But mine I'm sure thou art, whoe'er thou be,
And thus I win thee.3

[They fight; the King being in danger, re-enter P. HENRY.

Prince. 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 arm :
It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee;
Who never promiseth but he means to pay. -

[They fight: DOUGLAS flies.

Cheerly, my lord: how fares your Grace?
Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent,
And so hath Clifton: I'll to Clifton straight.
King. Stay, and breathe awhile:

Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion; 4

And show'd thou makest some tender of my life,
In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.
Prince. O God, they did me too much injury
That ever said I hearken'd for your death!
If it were so, I might have let alone

Th' insulting hand of Douglas over you,

8 The matter is thus delivered by Holinshed: "This battell lasted three long houres, with indifferent fortune on both parts, till at length the king, crieng saint George, victorie, brake the arraie of his enemies, and adventured so farre, that (as some write) the earle Dowglas strake him downe, and at that instant slue sir Walter Blunt and three others, apparalled in the kings sute and clothing, saieng, I marvell to see so many kings thus suddenlie arise, one in the necke of an other. The king indeed was raised, and did that daie manie a noble feat of armes; for, as it is written, he slue that daie with his owne hands, six and thirtie persons of his enemies."

4 Opinion, again, for reputation. See page 152, note 15.

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. Make up to Clifton: I'll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey.

Enter HOTSPUR.

[Exit.

Ho. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.
Prince. Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.
Hot. My name is Harry Percy.

Prince.

A very valiant rebel of that name.

Why, then I see

I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,
To share with me in glory any more:

Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;

Nor can one England brook a double reign,
Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales.

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

Enter FALSTAFF.

[They fight.

Fal. Well said,5 Hal! to it, Hal! Nay, you shall find no boy's play here, I can tell you.

Re-enter DOUGLAS; he fights with FALSTAFF, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and falls.

5 The phrase well said was often used in the sense of well done.

Hot. O Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth!

I better brook the loss of brittle life

Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;

They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh :
But thoughts the slaves of life, and life Time's fool,
And Time that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop.6 O, I could prophesy,

But that the earthy and cold hand of death

Lies on my tongue: no, Percy, thou art dust,
And food for

[Dies.

Prince. 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 ;7
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!

6 This passage has been commonly misunderstood. Probably the right construction is, to take thoughts, life, and time as subjects of must have. So that the meaning comes thus: "But thoughts, which are the slaves of life, and life, which is Time's fool, and even Time itself, that takes survey of all the world, must have an end."

7 Favours refers to the scarf with which he covers Percy's face. Covering the face of a dead person is an old ceremony of reverential tenderness ; perhaps connected some way, either as cause or effect, with the ancient belief that the robins were wont to cover the faces of unburied men.

8

Thy ignomy sleep with thee in the grave,

But not remember'd in thy epitaph!—

[Sees FALSTAFF on the ground.

What, old acquaintance! could not all this flesh
Keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell!
I could have better 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 to-day,
Though many dearer, in this bloody fray.
Embowell'd9 will I see thee by-and-by:
Till then in blood by noble Percy lie.

[Exit.

Fal. [Rising.] Embowell'd! if thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder 10 me and eat me too to-morrow. 'Sblood, 'twas time to counterfeit, or that hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too. Counterfeit ! I lie; I am no counterfeit : to die, is to be a counterfeit; for he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the 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. — Zwounds, 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 kill'd him. Why may not he rise as well as I? Nothing confutes me but eyes, and nobody sees me.

8 Ignomy was a common contraction of ignominy.

9 To embowel was the old term for embalming the body, as was usually done to persons of rank.

10 To powder was the old word for to salt.

Therefore, sirrah, with a new wound in your thigh, come you [Takes HOTSPUR on his back.

along with me.

Re-enter Prince HENRY and LANCASTER.

Prince. Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou flesh'd Thy maiden sword.

Lan.

But, soft! whom have we here?

Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?

Prince. I did; I saw him dead, breathless and bleeding

Upon the ground.—

Art thou alive? or is it fantasy

That plays upon our eyesight? I pr'ythee, speak;
We will not trust our eyes without our ears:

Thou art not what thou seem'st.

Fal. No, that's certain; I am not a double man: but if I be not Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack.11 There is Percy! [Throwing the body down.] if your father will do me any honour, so; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself. I look to be either earl or duke, I can assure you.

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

Lan. This is the strangest tale that e'er I heard.
Prince. This is the strangest fellow, brother John.—

11 Jack was used as a term of contempt, like our jackanapes.

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