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Enter two GROOMS , strewing rushes
Enter two GROOMS , strewing rushes

FIRST GROOM

More rushes, more rushes.

FIRST GROOM

More rushes, more rushes.

SECOND GROOM

The trumpets have sounded twice.

SECOND GROOM

The trumpets have sounded twice.

FIRST GROOM

'Twill be two o'clock ere they come from the coronation.
Dispatch, dispatch.

FIRST GROOM

'Twill be two o'clock ere they come from the coronation.
Dispatch, dispatch.
Exeunt
Exeunt
Enter FALSTAFF , SHALLOW , PISTOL , BARDOLPH , and PAGE
Enter FALSTAFF , SHALLOW , PISTOL , BARDOLPH , and PAGE

FALSTAFF

5 Stand here by me, Master Robert Shallow. I will make the
King do you grace. I will leer upon him as he comes by, and
do but mark the countenance that he will give me.

FALSTAFF

Stand here by me, Master Robert Shallow. I will make the
King do you grace. I will leer upon him as he comes by, and
do but mark the countenance that he will give me.

PISTOL

God bless thy lungs, good knight!

PISTOL

God bless thy lungs, good knight!

FALSTAFF

Come here, Pistol, stand behind me.—(to SHALLOW) O, if I
10 had had time to have made new liveries, I would have
bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you. But ’tis no
matter. This poor show doth better. This doth infer the zeal
I had to see him.

FALSTAFF

Come here, Pistol, stand behind me.—(to SHALLOW) O, if I
had had time to have made new liveries, I would have
bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you. But ’tis no
matter. This poor show doth better. This doth infer the zeal
I had to see him.

SHALLOW

It doth so.

SHALLOW

It doth so.

FALSTAFF

15 It shows my earnestness of affection—

FALSTAFF

It shows my earnestness of affection—

SHALLOW

It doth so.

SHALLOW

It doth so.

FALSTAFF

My devotion—

FALSTAFF

My devotion—

SHALLOW

It doth, it doth, it doth.

SHALLOW

It doth, it doth, it doth.

FALSTAFF

As it were, to ride day and night, and not to deliberate, not
20 to remember, not to have patience to shift me—

FALSTAFF

As it were, to ride day and night, and not to deliberate, not
to remember, not to have patience to shift me—

SHALLOW

It is best, certain.

SHALLOW

It is best, certain.

FALSTAFF

But to stand stained with travel and sweating with desire to
see him, thinking of nothing else, putting all affairs else in
oblivion, as if there were nothing else to be done but to see
25 him.

FALSTAFF

But to stand stained with travel and sweating with desire to
see him, thinking of nothing else, putting all affairs else in
oblivion, as if there were nothing else to be done but to see
him.

PISTOL

'Tis semper idem, for obsque hoc nihil est;
’tis all in every part.

PISTOL

'Tis semper idem, for obsque hoc nihil est;
’tis all in every part.

SHALLOW

'Tis so indeed.

SHALLOW

'Tis so indeed.

PISTOL

My knight, I will inflame thy noble liver, and make thee
30 rage. Thy Doll and Helen of thy noble thoughts is in base
durance and contagious prison, Haled thither by most
mechanical and dirty hand. Rouse up revenge from ebon den
with fell Alecto’s snake, for Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought
but truth.

PISTOL

My knight, I will inflame thy noble liver, and make thee
rage. Thy Doll and Helen of thy noble thoughts is in base
durance and contagious prison, Haled thither by most
mechanical and dirty hand. Rouse up revenge from ebon den
with fell Alecto’s snake, for Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought
but truth.

FALSTAFF

35 I will deliver her.

FALSTAFF

I will deliver her.
Shouts within, and the trumpets sound
Shouts within, and the trumpets sound

PISTOL

There roared the sea, and trumpet-clangor sounds.

PISTOL

There roared the sea, and trumpet-clangor sounds.
Enter PRINCE HENRY and his train, the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE among them
Enter PRINCE HENRY and his train, the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE among them

FALSTAFF

God save thy Grace, King Hal, my royal Hal.

FALSTAFF

God save thy Grace, King Hal, my royal Hal.

PISTOL

The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp of fame!

PISTOL

The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp of fame!

FALSTAFF

God save thee, my sweet boy!

FALSTAFF

God save thee, my sweet boy!

KING

40 My Lord Chief Justice, speak to that vain man.

KING

My Lord Chief Justice, speak to that vain man.

CHIEF JUSTICE

(to FALSTAFF) Have you your wits? Know you what ’tis to
   speak?

CHIEF JUSTICE

(to FALSTAFF) Have you your wits? Know you what ’tis to
   speak?

FALSTAFF

My King, my Jove, I speak to thee, my heart!

FALSTAFF

My King, my Jove, I speak to thee, my heart!

KING

I know thee not, old man. Fall to thy prayers.
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester.
45 I have long dreamt of such a kind of man,
So surfeit-swelled, so old, and so profane;
But being awaked, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace;
Leave gormandizing. Know the grave doth gape
50 For thee thrice wider than for other men.
Reply not to me with a fool-born jest.
Presume not that I am the thing I was,
For God doth know—so shall the world perceive—
That I have turned away my former self.
55 So will I those that kept me company.
When thou dost hear I am as I have been,
Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots.
Till then I banish thee, on pain of death,
60 As I have done the rest of my misleaders,

KING

I know thee not, old man. Fall to thy prayers.
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester.
I have long dreamt of such a kind of man,
So surfeit-swelled, so old, and so profane;
But being awaked, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace;
Leave gormandizing. Know the grave doth gape
For thee thrice wider than for other men.
Reply not to me with a fool-born jest.
Presume not that I am the thing I was,
For God doth know—so shall the world perceive—
That I have turned away my former self.
So will I those that kept me company.
When thou dost hear I am as I have been,
Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots.
Till then I banish thee, on pain of death,
As I have done the rest of my misleaders,
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
For competence of life I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evils.
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
65 We will, according to your strengths and qualities,
Give you advancement. (to CHIEF JUSTICE) Be it your charge,
   my lord,
To see performed the tenor of my word.—
Set on.
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
For competence of life I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evils.
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
We will, according to your strengths and qualities,
Give you advancement. (to CHIEF JUSTICE) Be it your charge,
   my lord,
To see performed the tenor of my word.—
Set on.
Exeunt PRINCE HENRY , the CHIEF JUSTICE , and the attendants.
Exeunt PRINCE HENRY , the CHIEF JUSTICE , and the attendants.

FALSTAFF

Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand pound.

FALSTAFF

Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand pound.

SHALLOW

70 Yea, marry, Sir John, which I beseech you to let me have
home with me.

SHALLOW

Yea, marry, Sir John, which I beseech you to let me have
home with me.

FALSTAFF

That can hardly be, Master Shallow. Do not you grieve at
this. I shall be sent for in private to him. Look you, he must
seem thus to the world. Fear not your advancements. I will
75 be the man yet that shall make you great.

FALSTAFF

That can hardly be, Master Shallow. Do not you grieve at
this. I shall be sent for in private to him. Look you, he must
seem thus to the world. Fear not your advancements. I will
be the man yet that shall make you great.

SHALLOW

I cannot well perceive how, unless you should give me your
doublet and stuff me out with straw. I beseech you, good Sir
John, let me have five hundred of my thousand.

SHALLOW

I cannot well perceive how, unless you should give me your
doublet and stuff me out with straw. I beseech you, good Sir
John, let me have five hundred of my thousand.

FALSTAFF

Sir, I will be as good as my word. This that you heard was
80 but a color.

FALSTAFF

Sir, I will be as good as my word. This that you heard was
but a color.

SHALLOW

A color that I fear you will die in, Sir John.

SHALLOW

A color that I fear you will die in, Sir John.

FALSTAFF

Fear no colors. Go with me to dinner.—Come, Lieutenant
Pistol.—Come, Bardolph.—I shall be sent for soon at night.

FALSTAFF

Fear no colors. Go with me to dinner.—Come, Lieutenant
Pistol.—Come, Bardolph.—I shall be sent for soon at night.
Enter the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE and Prince John of LANCASTER ; officers with them
Enter the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE and Prince John of LANCASTER ; officers with them

CHIEF JUSTICE

Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.
85 Take all his company along with him.

CHIEF JUSTICE

Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.
Take all his company along with him.

FALSTAFF

My lord, my lord—

FALSTAFF

My lord, my lord—

CHIEF JUSTICE

I cannot now speak. I will hear you soon.—
Take them away.

CHIEF JUSTICE

I cannot now speak. I will hear you soon.—
Take them away.

PISTOL

Si fortune me tormenta, spero me contenta.

PISTOL

Si fortune me tormenta, spero me contenta.
Exeunt all but Prince John of LANCASTER andthe CHIEF JUSTICE
Exeunt all but Prince John of LANCASTER andthe CHIEF JUSTICE

LANCASTER

90 I like this fair proceeding of the King’s.
He hath intent his wonted followers
Shall all be very well provided for,
But all are banished till their conversations
Appear more wise and modest to the world.

LANCASTER

I like this fair proceeding of the King’s.
He hath intent his wonted followers
Shall all be very well provided for,
But all are banished till their conversations
Appear more wise and modest to the world.

CHIEF JUSTICE

95 And so they are.

CHIEF JUSTICE

And so they are.

LANCASTER

The King hath called his parliament, my lord.

LANCASTER

The King hath called his parliament, my lord.

CHIEF JUSTICE

He hath.

CHIEF JUSTICE

He hath.

LANCASTER

I will lay odds that, ere this year expire,
We bear our civil swords and native fire
100 As far as France: I beard a bird so sing,
Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the King.
Come, will you hence?

LANCASTER

I will lay odds that, ere this year expire,
We bear our civil swords and native fire
As far as France: I beard a bird so sing,
Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the King.
Come, will you hence?
Exeunt
Exeunt
Enter the EPILOGUE .
Enter the EPILOGUE .
First my fear; then my curtsy, last my speech. My fear is your
displeasure my curtsy my duty; and my speech, to beg your
105 pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me,
for what I have to say is of mine own making, and what
indeed I should say will, I doubt, prove mine own marring.
But to the purpose, and so to the venture. Be it known to you,
as it is very well, I was lately here in the end of a displeasing
110 play to pray your patience for it and to promise you a better.
I meant indeed to pay you with this, which, if like an ill
venture it come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle
creditors, lose. Here I promised you I would be, and here I
commit my body to your mercies. Bate me some, and I will
115 pay you some, and, as most debtors do, promise you
infinitely. And so I kneel down before you, but, indeed, to
pray for the Queen.
If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, will you
command me to use my legs? And yet that were but light
120 payment, to dance out of your debt. But a good conscience
will make any possible satisfaction, and so would I. All the
gentlewomen here have forgiven me; if the gentlemen will
not, then the gentlemen do not agree with the gentlewomen,
which was never seen before in such an assembly.
125 One word more, I beseech you: if you be not too much
cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the
story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair
Katherine of France, where, for anything I know, Falstaff
shall die of a sweat, unless already he be killed with your
130 hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not
the man. My tongue is weary; when my legs are too, I will
bid you good night.
First my fear; then my curtsy, last my speech. My fear is your
displeasure my curtsy my duty; and my speech, to beg your
pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me,
for what I have to say is of mine own making, and what
indeed I should say will, I doubt, prove mine own marring.
But to the purpose, and so to the venture. Be it known to you,
as it is very well, I was lately here in the end of a displeasing
play to pray your patience for it and to promise you a better.
I meant indeed to pay you with this, which, if like an ill
venture it come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle
creditors, lose. Here I promised you I would be, and here I
commit my body to your mercies. Bate me some, and I will
pay you some, and, as most debtors do, promise you
infinitely. And so I kneel down before you, but, indeed, to
pray for the Queen.
If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, will you
command me to use my legs? And yet that were but light
payment, to dance out of your debt. But a good conscience
will make any possible satisfaction, and so would I. All the
gentlewomen here have forgiven me; if the gentlemen will
not, then the gentlemen do not agree with the gentlewomen,
which was never seen before in such an assembly.
One word more, I beseech you: if you be not too much
cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the
story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair
Katherine of France, where, for anything I know, Falstaff
shall die of a sweat, unless already he be killed with your
hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not
the man. My tongue is weary; when my legs are too, I will
bid you good night.

Original Text

Modern Text

Enter two GROOMS , strewing rushes
Enter two GROOMS , strewing rushes

FIRST GROOM

More rushes, more rushes.

FIRST GROOM

More rushes, more rushes.

SECOND GROOM

The trumpets have sounded twice.

SECOND GROOM

The trumpets have sounded twice.

FIRST GROOM

'Twill be two o'clock ere they come from the coronation.
Dispatch, dispatch.

FIRST GROOM

'Twill be two o'clock ere they come from the coronation.
Dispatch, dispatch.
Exeunt
Exeunt
Enter FALSTAFF , SHALLOW , PISTOL , BARDOLPH , and PAGE
Enter FALSTAFF , SHALLOW , PISTOL , BARDOLPH , and PAGE

FALSTAFF

5 Stand here by me, Master Robert Shallow. I will make the
King do you grace. I will leer upon him as he comes by, and
do but mark the countenance that he will give me.

FALSTAFF

Stand here by me, Master Robert Shallow. I will make the
King do you grace. I will leer upon him as he comes by, and
do but mark the countenance that he will give me.

PISTOL

God bless thy lungs, good knight!

PISTOL

God bless thy lungs, good knight!

FALSTAFF

Come here, Pistol, stand behind me.—(to SHALLOW) O, if I
10 had had time to have made new liveries, I would have
bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you. But ’tis no
matter. This poor show doth better. This doth infer the zeal
I had to see him.

FALSTAFF

Come here, Pistol, stand behind me.—(to SHALLOW) O, if I
had had time to have made new liveries, I would have
bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you. But ’tis no
matter. This poor show doth better. This doth infer the zeal
I had to see him.

SHALLOW

It doth so.

SHALLOW

It doth so.

FALSTAFF

15 It shows my earnestness of affection—

FALSTAFF

It shows my earnestness of affection—

SHALLOW

It doth so.

SHALLOW

It doth so.

FALSTAFF

My devotion—

FALSTAFF

My devotion—

SHALLOW

It doth, it doth, it doth.

SHALLOW

It doth, it doth, it doth.

FALSTAFF

As it were, to ride day and night, and not to deliberate, not
20 to remember, not to have patience to shift me—

FALSTAFF

As it were, to ride day and night, and not to deliberate, not
to remember, not to have patience to shift me—

SHALLOW

It is best, certain.

SHALLOW

It is best, certain.

FALSTAFF

But to stand stained with travel and sweating with desire to
see him, thinking of nothing else, putting all affairs else in
oblivion, as if there were nothing else to be done but to see
25 him.

FALSTAFF

But to stand stained with travel and sweating with desire to
see him, thinking of nothing else, putting all affairs else in
oblivion, as if there were nothing else to be done but to see
him.

PISTOL

'Tis semper idem, for obsque hoc nihil est;
’tis all in every part.

PISTOL

'Tis semper idem, for obsque hoc nihil est;
’tis all in every part.

SHALLOW

'Tis so indeed.

SHALLOW

'Tis so indeed.

PISTOL

My knight, I will inflame thy noble liver, and make thee
30 rage. Thy Doll and Helen of thy noble thoughts is in base
durance and contagious prison, Haled thither by most
mechanical and dirty hand. Rouse up revenge from ebon den
with fell Alecto’s snake, for Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought
but truth.

PISTOL

My knight, I will inflame thy noble liver, and make thee
rage. Thy Doll and Helen of thy noble thoughts is in base
durance and contagious prison, Haled thither by most
mechanical and dirty hand. Rouse up revenge from ebon den
with fell Alecto’s snake, for Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought
but truth.

FALSTAFF

35 I will deliver her.

FALSTAFF

I will deliver her.
Shouts within, and the trumpets sound
Shouts within, and the trumpets sound

PISTOL

There roared the sea, and trumpet-clangor sounds.

PISTOL

There roared the sea, and trumpet-clangor sounds.
Enter PRINCE HENRY and his train, the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE among them
Enter PRINCE HENRY and his train, the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE among them

FALSTAFF

God save thy Grace, King Hal, my royal Hal.

FALSTAFF

God save thy Grace, King Hal, my royal Hal.

PISTOL

The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp of fame!

PISTOL

The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp of fame!

FALSTAFF

God save thee, my sweet boy!

FALSTAFF

God save thee, my sweet boy!

KING

40 My Lord Chief Justice, speak to that vain man.

KING

My Lord Chief Justice, speak to that vain man.

CHIEF JUSTICE

(to FALSTAFF) Have you your wits? Know you what ’tis to
   speak?

CHIEF JUSTICE

(to FALSTAFF) Have you your wits? Know you what ’tis to
   speak?

FALSTAFF

My King, my Jove, I speak to thee, my heart!

FALSTAFF

My King, my Jove, I speak to thee, my heart!

KING

I know thee not, old man. Fall to thy prayers.
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester.
45 I have long dreamt of such a kind of man,
So surfeit-swelled, so old, and so profane;
But being awaked, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace;
Leave gormandizing. Know the grave doth gape
50 For thee thrice wider than for other men.
Reply not to me with a fool-born jest.
Presume not that I am the thing I was,
For God doth know—so shall the world perceive—
That I have turned away my former self.
55 So will I those that kept me company.
When thou dost hear I am as I have been,
Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots.
Till then I banish thee, on pain of death,
60 As I have done the rest of my misleaders,

KING

I know thee not, old man. Fall to thy prayers.
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester.
I have long dreamt of such a kind of man,
So surfeit-swelled, so old, and so profane;
But being awaked, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace;
Leave gormandizing. Know the grave doth gape
For thee thrice wider than for other men.
Reply not to me with a fool-born jest.
Presume not that I am the thing I was,
For God doth know—so shall the world perceive—
That I have turned away my former self.
So will I those that kept me company.
When thou dost hear I am as I have been,
Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots.
Till then I banish thee, on pain of death,
As I have done the rest of my misleaders,
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
For competence of life I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evils.
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
65 We will, according to your strengths and qualities,
Give you advancement. (to CHIEF JUSTICE) Be it your charge,
   my lord,
To see performed the tenor of my word.—
Set on.
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
For competence of life I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evils.
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
We will, according to your strengths and qualities,
Give you advancement. (to CHIEF JUSTICE) Be it your charge,
   my lord,
To see performed the tenor of my word.—
Set on.
Exeunt PRINCE HENRY , the CHIEF JUSTICE , and the attendants.
Exeunt PRINCE HENRY , the CHIEF JUSTICE , and the attendants.

FALSTAFF

Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand pound.

FALSTAFF

Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand pound.

SHALLOW

70 Yea, marry, Sir John, which I beseech you to let me have
home with me.

SHALLOW

Yea, marry, Sir John, which I beseech you to let me have
home with me.

FALSTAFF

That can hardly be, Master Shallow. Do not you grieve at
this. I shall be sent for in private to him. Look you, he must
seem thus to the world. Fear not your advancements. I will
75 be the man yet that shall make you great.

FALSTAFF

That can hardly be, Master Shallow. Do not you grieve at
this. I shall be sent for in private to him. Look you, he must
seem thus to the world. Fear not your advancements. I will
be the man yet that shall make you great.

SHALLOW

I cannot well perceive how, unless you should give me your
doublet and stuff me out with straw. I beseech you, good Sir
John, let me have five hundred of my thousand.

SHALLOW

I cannot well perceive how, unless you should give me your
doublet and stuff me out with straw. I beseech you, good Sir
John, let me have five hundred of my thousand.

FALSTAFF

Sir, I will be as good as my word. This that you heard was
80 but a color.

FALSTAFF

Sir, I will be as good as my word. This that you heard was
but a color.

SHALLOW

A color that I fear you will die in, Sir John.

SHALLOW

A color that I fear you will die in, Sir John.

FALSTAFF

Fear no colors. Go with me to dinner.—Come, Lieutenant
Pistol.—Come, Bardolph.—I shall be sent for soon at night.

FALSTAFF

Fear no colors. Go with me to dinner.—Come, Lieutenant
Pistol.—Come, Bardolph.—I shall be sent for soon at night.
Enter the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE and Prince John of LANCASTER ; officers with them
Enter the Lord CHIEF JUSTICE and Prince John of LANCASTER ; officers with them

CHIEF JUSTICE

Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.
85 Take all his company along with him.

CHIEF JUSTICE

Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet.
Take all his company along with him.

FALSTAFF

My lord, my lord—

FALSTAFF

My lord, my lord—

CHIEF JUSTICE

I cannot now speak. I will hear you soon.—
Take them away.

CHIEF JUSTICE

I cannot now speak. I will hear you soon.—
Take them away.

PISTOL

Si fortune me tormenta, spero me contenta.

PISTOL

Si fortune me tormenta, spero me contenta.
Exeunt all but Prince John of LANCASTER andthe CHIEF JUSTICE
Exeunt all but Prince John of LANCASTER andthe CHIEF JUSTICE

LANCASTER

90 I like this fair proceeding of the King’s.
He hath intent his wonted followers
Shall all be very well provided for,
But all are banished till their conversations
Appear more wise and modest to the world.

LANCASTER

I like this fair proceeding of the King’s.
He hath intent his wonted followers
Shall all be very well provided for,
But all are banished till their conversations
Appear more wise and modest to the world.

CHIEF JUSTICE

95 And so they are.

CHIEF JUSTICE

And so they are.

LANCASTER

The King hath called his parliament, my lord.

LANCASTER

The King hath called his parliament, my lord.

CHIEF JUSTICE

He hath.

CHIEF JUSTICE

He hath.

LANCASTER

I will lay odds that, ere this year expire,
We bear our civil swords and native fire
100 As far as France: I beard a bird so sing,
Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the King.
Come, will you hence?

LANCASTER

I will lay odds that, ere this year expire,
We bear our civil swords and native fire
As far as France: I beard a bird so sing,
Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the King.
Come, will you hence?
Exeunt
Exeunt
Enter the EPILOGUE .
Enter the EPILOGUE .
First my fear; then my curtsy, last my speech. My fear is your
displeasure my curtsy my duty; and my speech, to beg your
105 pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me,
for what I have to say is of mine own making, and what
indeed I should say will, I doubt, prove mine own marring.
But to the purpose, and so to the venture. Be it known to you,
as it is very well, I was lately here in the end of a displeasing
110 play to pray your patience for it and to promise you a better.
I meant indeed to pay you with this, which, if like an ill
venture it come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle
creditors, lose. Here I promised you I would be, and here I
commit my body to your mercies. Bate me some, and I will
115 pay you some, and, as most debtors do, promise you
infinitely. And so I kneel down before you, but, indeed, to
pray for the Queen.
If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, will you
command me to use my legs? And yet that were but light
120 payment, to dance out of your debt. But a good conscience
will make any possible satisfaction, and so would I. All the
gentlewomen here have forgiven me; if the gentlemen will
not, then the gentlemen do not agree with the gentlewomen,
which was never seen before in such an assembly.
125 One word more, I beseech you: if you be not too much
cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the
story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair
Katherine of France, where, for anything I know, Falstaff
shall die of a sweat, unless already he be killed with your
130 hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not
the man. My tongue is weary; when my legs are too, I will
bid you good night.
First my fear; then my curtsy, last my speech. My fear is your
displeasure my curtsy my duty; and my speech, to beg your
pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me,
for what I have to say is of mine own making, and what
indeed I should say will, I doubt, prove mine own marring.
But to the purpose, and so to the venture. Be it known to you,
as it is very well, I was lately here in the end of a displeasing
play to pray your patience for it and to promise you a better.
I meant indeed to pay you with this, which, if like an ill
venture it come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle
creditors, lose. Here I promised you I would be, and here I
commit my body to your mercies. Bate me some, and I will
pay you some, and, as most debtors do, promise you
infinitely. And so I kneel down before you, but, indeed, to
pray for the Queen.
If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, will you
command me to use my legs? And yet that were but light
payment, to dance out of your debt. But a good conscience
will make any possible satisfaction, and so would I. All the
gentlewomen here have forgiven me; if the gentlemen will
not, then the gentlemen do not agree with the gentlewomen,
which was never seen before in such an assembly.
One word more, I beseech you: if you be not too much
cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the
story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair
Katherine of France, where, for anything I know, Falstaff
shall die of a sweat, unless already he be killed with your
hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not
the man. My tongue is weary; when my legs are too, I will
bid you good night.

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