Fal. "What, dost thou roar before thou art prick'd?"

Bull. "O Lord, sir! I am a diseased man."

King Henry IV., P. 2. Act 3, Scene 2.

Bull. A whoreson cold, sir, a cough, sir, which I caught with ringing in the king's affairs upon his coronation-day, sir.

Fal. Come, thou shalt go to the wars in a gown; we will have away thy cold; and I will take such order that thy friends shall ring for thee. Is here all?

Shal. Here is two more called than your number; you must have but four here, sir: and so, I pray you, go in with me to dinner. Fal. Come, I will go drink with you, but I can- 210 not tarry dinner. I am glad to see you, by my troth, Master Shallow.

Shal. O, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all night in the windmill in Saint George's field?

Fal. No more of that, good Master Shallow,
no more of that.

Shal. Ha! 'twas a merry night. And is Jane
Nightwork alive?

Fal. She lives, Master Shallow.

Shal. She never could away with me.

Fal. Never, never; she would always say she could not abide Master Shallow.

Shal. By the mass, I could anger her to the heart. She was then a bona-roba. Doth she hold her own well?

220

207, 208. Shallow reckons six men in all; only five have appeared. Probably one of Shakespeare's occasional oversights in numbers.-C. H. H.

220. “never could away”; this phrase, equivalent to cannot endure, or cannot abide, was quite common in Shakespeare's time, and is scarce obsolete even yet.-H. N. H.

Fal. Old, old, Master Shallow.

Shal. Nay, she must be old; she cannot choose but be old; certain she's old; and had Robin Nightwork by old Nightwork before I came to Clement's Inn.

Sil. That's fifty-five year ago.

Shal. Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen
that which this knight and I have seen! Ha,
Sir John, said I well?

Fal. We have heard the chimes at midnight,
Master Shallow.

230

Shal. That we have, that we have, that we have; in faith, Sir John, we have: our watchword was 'Hem boys!' Come, let's to dinner; come, let's to dinner: Jesus, the days 240 that we have seen! Come, come.

[Exeunt Falstaff and the Justices. Bull. Good master corporate Bardolph, stand my friend; and here's four Harry ten shillings in French crowns for you. In very truth, sir, I had as lief be hanged, sir, as go; and yet, for mine own part, sir, I do not care; but rather, because I am unwilling, and, for mine own part, have a desire to stay with my friends; else, sir, I did not care, for mine own part, so much.

Bard. Go to; stand aside.
Moul. And, good master corporal captain, for

my old dame's sake, stand my friend: she

250

243. "Harry ten shillings"; there were no coins of ten shillings value in Henry the Fourth's time. Shakespeare's Harry ten shillings were those of Henry VII or Henry VIII. He thought that those might do for any other Henry.-H. N. H.

has nobody to do any thing about her when
I am gone; and she is old, and cannot help
herself: you shall have forty, sir.

Bard. Go to; stand aside.

Fee. By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once: we owe God a death: I'll ne'er bear a base mind: an 't be my destiny, so; 260 an't be not, so; no man's too good to serve 's prince; and let it go which way it will, he that dies this year is quit for the next. Bard. Well said; thou 'rt a good fellow. Fee. Faith, I'll bear no base mind.

Re-enter Falstaff and the Justices.

Fal. Come, sir, which men shall I have?
Shal. Four of which you please.

Bard. Sir, a word with you: I have three pound
to free Mouldy and Bullcalf.

Fal. Go to; well.

Shal. Come, Sir John, which four will you have?

Fal. Do you choose for me.

Shal. Marry, then, Mouldy, Bullcalf, Feeble and Shadow.

Fal. Mouldy and Bullcalf: for you, Mouldy, stay at home till you are past service: and for your part, Bullcalf, grow till you come unto it: I will none of you.

270

Shal. Sir John, Sir John, do not yourself 280

256. "forty"; i. e. shillings.-C. H. H.

268. "three pound"; Bardolph was to have four pound: perhaps he means to conceal part of his profit.-H. N. H.