Previous
 

Continue reading with a SparkNotes PLUS trial

Original Text

Modern Text
Enter SIR JOHN FALSTAFF wearing a buck’s head .
Enter SIR JOHN FALSTAFF wearing a buck’s head .
FALSTAFF
The Windsor bell hath struck twelve. The
minute draws on. Now, the hot-blooded gods assist
me! Remember, Jove, thou wast a bull for thy
Europa; love set on thy horns. O powerful love,
5
that in some respects makes a beast a man, in
some other a man a beast! You were also, Jupiter,
a swan for the love of Leda. O omnipotent love,
how near the god drew to the complexion of a
goose! A fault done first in the form of a beast; O
10
Jove, a beastly fault! And then another fault in the
semblance of a fowl; think on ’t, Jove, a foul fault.
When gods have hot backs, what shall poor men
do? For me, I am here a Windsor stag, and the fattest,
I think, i’ th’ forest. Send me a cool rut-time,
15
Jove, or who can blame me to piss my tallow?
Enter MISTRESS PAGE and MISTRESS FORD.
Who comes here? My doe?
FALSTAFF
The Windsor bell hath struck twelve. The
minute draws on. Now, the hot-blooded gods assist
me! Remember, Jove, thou wast a bull for thy
Europa; love set on thy horns. O powerful love,
5
that in some respects makes a beast a man, in
some other a man a beast! You were also, Jupiter,
a swan for the love of Leda. O omnipotent love,
how near the god drew to the complexion of a
goose! A fault done first in the form of a beast; O
10
Jove, a beastly fault! And then another fault in the
semblance of a fowl; think on ’t, Jove, a foul fault.
When gods have hot backs, what shall poor men
do? For me, I am here a Windsor stag, and the fattest,
I think, i’ th’ forest. Send me a cool rut-time,
15
Jove, or who can blame me to piss my tallow?
Enter MISTRESS PAGE and MISTRESS FORD.
Who comes here? My doe?
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John? Art thou there, my deer, my
male deer?
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John? Art thou there, my deer, my
male deer?
FALSTAFF
My doe with the black scut! Let the sky rain
20
potatoes, let it thunder to the tune of “Greensleeves,”
hail kissing-comfits, and snow eryngoes; let there
come a tempest of provocation, I will shelter me
here. He embraces her.
FALSTAFF
My doe with the black scut! Let the sky rain
20
potatoes, let it thunder to the tune of “Greensleeves,”
hail kissing-comfits, and snow eryngoes; let there
come a tempest of provocation, I will shelter me
here. He embraces her.
MISTRESS FORD
Mistress Page is come with me,
25
sweetheart.
MISTRESS FORD
Mistress Page is come with me,
25
sweetheart.
FALSTAFF
Divide me like a bribed buck, each a haunch.
I will keep my sides to myself, my shoulders for
the fellow of this walk, and my horns I bequeath
your husbands. Am I a woodman, ha? Speak I like
30
Herne the Hunter? Why, now is Cupid a child of
conscience; he makes restitution. As I am a true
spirit, welcome. A noise of horns within.
FALSTAFF
Divide me like a bribed buck, each a haunch.
I will keep my sides to myself, my shoulders for
the fellow of this walk, and my horns I bequeath
your husbands. Am I a woodman, ha? Speak I like
30
Herne the Hunter? Why, now is Cupid a child of
conscience; he makes restitution. As I am a true
spirit, welcome. A noise of horns within.
MISTRESS PAGE
Alas, what noise?
MISTRESS PAGE
Alas, what noise?
MISTRESS FORD
Heaven forgive our sins!
MISTRESS FORD
Heaven forgive our sins!
FALSTAFF
35
What should this be?
FALSTAFF
35
What should this be?
MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE
Away, away.
MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE
Away, away.
The two women run off.
The two women run off.
FALSTAFF
I think the devil will not have me damned,
lest the oil that’s in me should set hell on fire. He
would never else cross me thus.
FALSTAFF
I think the devil will not have me damned,
lest the oil that’s in me should set hell on fire. He
would never else cross me thus.
Enter MISTRESS QUICKLY, PISTOL, SIR HUGH EVANS, ANNE PAGE and BOYS, all disguised as Fairies and carrying tapers.
Enter MISTRESS QUICKLY, PISTOL, SIR HUGH EVANS, ANNE PAGE and BOYS, all disguised as Fairies and carrying tapers.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
40
Fairies black, gray, green, and white,
You moonshine revelers and shades of night,
You orphan heirs of fixèd destiny,
Attend your office and your quality.
Crier Hobgoblin, make the fairy oyes.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
40
Fairies black, gray, green, and white,
You moonshine revelers and shades of night,
You orphan heirs of fixèd destiny,
Attend your office and your quality.
Crier Hobgoblin, make the fairy oyes.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
45
Elves, list your names. Silence, you airy toys!—
Cricket, to Windsor chimneys shalt thou leap,
Where fires thou find’st unraked and hearths
unswept.
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry.
50
Our radiant queen hates sluts and sluttery.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
45
Elves, list your names. Silence, you airy toys!—
Cricket, to Windsor chimneys shalt thou leap,
Where fires thou find’st unraked and hearths
unswept.
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry.
50
Our radiant queen hates sluts and sluttery.
FALSTAFF , aside
They are fairies. He that speaks to them shall die.
I’ll wink and couch. No man their works must eye.
He crouches down and covers his eyes.
FALSTAFF , aside
They are fairies. He that speaks to them shall die.
I’ll wink and couch. No man their works must eye.
He crouches down and covers his eyes.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Where’s Bead? Go you, and where you find a maid
That ere she sleep has thrice her prayers said,
55
Raise up the organs of her fantasy;
Sleep she as sound as careless infancy.
But those as sleep and think not on their sins,
Pinch them, arms, legs, backs, shoulders, sides, and
shins.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Where’s Bead? Go you, and where you find a maid
That ere she sleep has thrice her prayers said,
55
Raise up the organs of her fantasy;
Sleep she as sound as careless infancy.
But those as sleep and think not on their sins,
Pinch them, arms, legs, backs, shoulders, sides, and
shins.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
60
About, about!
Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out.
Strew good luck, aufs, on every sacred room,
That it may stand till the perpetual doom
In state as wholesome as in state ’tis fit,
65
Worthy the owner, and the owner it.
The several chairs of order look you scour
With juice of balm and every precious flower.
Each fair installment, coat, and sev’ral crest
With loyal blazon evermore be blest!
70
And nightly, meadow fairies, look you sing,
Like to the Garter’s compass, in a ring.
Th’ expressure that it bears, green let it be,
More fertile-fresh than all the field to see;
And Honi soit qui mal y pense write
75
In em’rald tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white,
Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,
Buckled below fair knighthood’s bending knee.
Fairies use flowers for their charactery.
Away, disperse! But till ’tis one o’clock,
80
Our dance of custom round about the oak
Of Herne the Hunter let us not forget.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
60
About, about!
Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out.
Strew good luck, aufs, on every sacred room,
That it may stand till the perpetual doom
In state as wholesome as in state ’tis fit,
65
Worthy the owner, and the owner it.
The several chairs of order look you scour
With juice of balm and every precious flower.
Each fair installment, coat, and sev’ral crest
With loyal blazon evermore be blest!
70
And nightly, meadow fairies, look you sing,
Like to the Garter’s compass, in a ring.
Th’ expressure that it bears, green let it be,
More fertile-fresh than all the field to see;
And Honi soit qui mal y pense write
75
In em’rald tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white,
Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,
Buckled below fair knighthood’s bending knee.
Fairies use flowers for their charactery.
Away, disperse! But till ’tis one o’clock,
80
Our dance of custom round about the oak
Of Herne the Hunter let us not forget.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Pray you, lock hand in hand. Yourselves in order set;
And twenty glowworms shall our lanterns be,
To guide our measure round about the tree.
85
But stay! I smell a man of Middle Earth.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Pray you, lock hand in hand. Yourselves in order set;
And twenty glowworms shall our lanterns be,
To guide our measure round about the tree.
85
But stay! I smell a man of Middle Earth.
FALSTAFF , aside
Heavens defend me from that Welsh
fairy, lest he transform me to a piece of cheese.
FALSTAFF , aside
Heavens defend me from that Welsh
fairy, lest he transform me to a piece of cheese.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN, to FALSTAFF
Vile worm, thou wast o’erlooked even in thy birth.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN, to FALSTAFF
Vile worm, thou wast o’erlooked even in thy birth.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN, to SIR HUGH
With trial-fire touch me his finger-end.
90
If he be chaste, the flame will back descend
And turn him to no pain. But if he start,
It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN, to SIR HUGH
With trial-fire touch me his finger-end.
90
If he be chaste, the flame will back descend
And turn him to no pain. But if he start,
It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
A trial, come!
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
A trial, come!
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Come, will this wood take fire?
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Come, will this wood take fire?
SIR HUGH puts a taper to FALSTAFF’s finger, and he starts.
SIR HUGH puts a taper to FALSTAFF’s finger, and he starts.
FALSTAFF
95
O, O, O!
FALSTAFF
95
O, O, O!
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
Corrupt, corrupt, and tainted in desire!
About him, fairies. Sing a scornful rhyme,
And, as you trip, still pinch him to your time.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
Corrupt, corrupt, and tainted in desire!
About him, fairies. Sing a scornful rhyme,
And, as you trip, still pinch him to your time.
Here they pinch him and sing about him, and DOCTOR CAIUS comes one way and steals away a boy in white. And SLENDER comes another way; he takes a boy in green. And FENTON steals MISTRESS ANNE PAGE.
Here they pinch him and sing about him, and DOCTOR CAIUS comes one way and steals away a boy in white. And SLENDER comes another way; he takes a boy in green. And FENTON steals MISTRESS ANNE PAGE.
FAIRIES sing
Fie on sinful fantasy!
100
Fie on lust and luxury!
Lust is but a bloody fire
Kindled with unchaste desire,
Fed in heart whose flames aspire
As thoughts do blow them higher and higher.
105
Pinch him, fairies, mutually;
Pinch him for his villainy.
Pinch him and burn him and turn him about,
Till candles and starlight and moonshine be out.
FAIRIES sing
Fie on sinful fantasy!
100
Fie on lust and luxury!
Lust is but a bloody fire
Kindled with unchaste desire,
Fed in heart whose flames aspire
As thoughts do blow them higher and higher.
105
Pinch him, fairies, mutually;
Pinch him for his villainy.
Pinch him and burn him and turn him about,
Till candles and starlight and moonshine be out.
A noise of hunting is made within, and all the fairies run away from FALSTAFF, who pulls off his buck’s head and rises up. Enter PAGE, MISTRESS PAGE, MISTRESS FORD and FORD.
A noise of hunting is made within, and all the fairies run away from FALSTAFF, who pulls off his buck’s head and rises up. Enter PAGE, MISTRESS PAGE, MISTRESS FORD and FORD.
PAGE , to FALSTAFF
Nay, do not fly. I think we have watched you now.
110
Will none but Herne the Hunter serve your turn?
PAGE , to FALSTAFF
Nay, do not fly. I think we have watched you now.
110
Will none but Herne the Hunter serve your turn?
MISTRESS PAGE
I pray you, come, hold up the jest no higher.—
Now, good Sir John, how like you Windsor wives?
She points to the horns.
See you these, husband? Do not these fair yokes
Become the forest better than the town?
MISTRESS PAGE
I pray you, come, hold up the jest no higher.—
Now, good Sir John, how like you Windsor wives?
She points to the horns.
See you these, husband? Do not these fair yokes
Become the forest better than the town?
FORD , to FALSTAFF
115
Now, sir, who’s a cuckold now?
Master Brook, Falstaff’s a knave, a cuckoldly
knave. Here are his horns, Master Brook. And,
Master Brook, he hath enjoyed nothing of Ford’s
but his buck-basket, his cudgel, and twenty
120
pounds of money, which must be paid to Master
Brook. His horses are arrested for it, Master
Brook.
FORD , to FALSTAFF
115
Now, sir, who’s a cuckold now?
Master Brook, Falstaff’s a knave, a cuckoldly
knave. Here are his horns, Master Brook. And,
Master Brook, he hath enjoyed nothing of Ford’s
but his buck-basket, his cudgel, and twenty
120
pounds of money, which must be paid to Master
Brook. His horses are arrested for it, Master
Brook.
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John, we have had ill luck. We
could never meet. I will never take you for my love
125
again, but I will always count you my deer.
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John, we have had ill luck. We
could never meet. I will never take you for my love
125
again, but I will always count you my deer.
FALSTAFF
I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass.
FALSTAFF
I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass.
FORD
Ay, and an ox too. Both the proofs are extant.
FORD
Ay, and an ox too. Both the proofs are extant.
FALSTAFF
And these are not fairies. I was three or four
times in the thought they were not fairies; and yet
130
the guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of
my powers, drove the grossness of the foppery into
a received belief, in despite of the teeth of all
rhyme and reason, that they were fairies. See now
how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent when ’tis upon
135
ill employment.
FALSTAFF
And these are not fairies. I was three or four
times in the thought they were not fairies; and yet
130
the guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of
my powers, drove the grossness of the foppery into
a received belief, in despite of the teeth of all
rhyme and reason, that they were fairies. See now
how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent when ’tis upon
135
ill employment.
SIR HUGH
Sir John Falstaff, serve Got and leave your
desires, and fairies will not pinse you.
SIR HUGH
Sir John Falstaff, serve Got and leave your
desires, and fairies will not pinse you.
FORD
Well said, Fairy Hugh.
FORD
Well said, Fairy Hugh.
SIR HUGH
And leave you your jealousies too, I pray
140
you.
SIR HUGH
And leave you your jealousies too, I pray
140
you.
FORD
I will never mistrust my wife again till thou art
able to woo her in good English.
FORD
I will never mistrust my wife again till thou art
able to woo her in good English.
FALSTAFF
Have I laid my brain in the sun and dried it,
that it wants matter to prevent so gross o’erreaching
145
as this? Am I ridden with a Welsh goat too?
Shall I have a coxcomb of frieze? ’Tis time I were
choked with a piece of toasted cheese.
FALSTAFF
Have I laid my brain in the sun and dried it,
that it wants matter to prevent so gross o’erreaching
145
as this? Am I ridden with a Welsh goat too?
Shall I have a coxcomb of frieze? ’Tis time I were
choked with a piece of toasted cheese.
SIR HUGH
Seese is not good to give putter. Your belly is
all putter.
SIR HUGH
Seese is not good to give putter. Your belly is
all putter.
FALSTAFF
150
“Seese” and “putter”? Have I lived to stand at
the taunt of one that makes fritters of English?
This is enough to be the decay of lust and late
walking through the realm.
FALSTAFF
150
“Seese” and “putter”? Have I lived to stand at
the taunt of one that makes fritters of English?
This is enough to be the decay of lust and late
walking through the realm.
MISTRESS PAGE
Why, Sir John, do you think though we
155
would have thrust virtue out of our hearts by the
head and shoulders, and have given ourselves
without scruple to hell, that ever the devil could
have made you our delight?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why, Sir John, do you think though we
155
would have thrust virtue out of our hearts by the
head and shoulders, and have given ourselves
without scruple to hell, that ever the devil could
have made you our delight?
FORD
What, a hodge-pudding? A bag of flax?
FORD
What, a hodge-pudding? A bag of flax?
MISTRESS PAGE
160
A puffed man?
MISTRESS PAGE
160
A puffed man?
PAGE
Old, cold, withered, and of intolerable entrails?
PAGE
Old, cold, withered, and of intolerable entrails?
FORD
And one that is as slanderous as Satan?
FORD
And one that is as slanderous as Satan?
PAGE
And as poor as Job?
PAGE
And as poor as Job?
FORD
And as wicked as his wife?
FORD
And as wicked as his wife?
SIR HUGH
165
And given to fornications, and to taverns,
and sack, and wine, and metheglins, and to drinkings
and swearings and starings, pribbles and
prabbles?
SIR HUGH
165
And given to fornications, and to taverns,
and sack, and wine, and metheglins, and to drinkings
and swearings and starings, pribbles and
prabbles?
FALSTAFF
Well, I am your theme. You have the start of
170
me. I am dejected. I am not able to answer the
Welsh flannel. Ignorance itself is a plummet o’er
me. Use me as you will.
FALSTAFF
Well, I am your theme. You have the start of
170
me. I am dejected. I am not able to answer the
Welsh flannel. Ignorance itself is a plummet o’er
me. Use me as you will.
FORD
Marry, sir, we’ll bring you to Windsor to one
Master Brook, that you have cozened of money,
175
to whom you should have been a pander. Over and
above that you have suffered, I think to repay that
money will be a biting affliction.
FORD
Marry, sir, we’ll bring you to Windsor to one
Master Brook, that you have cozened of money,
175
to whom you should have been a pander. Over and
above that you have suffered, I think to repay that
money will be a biting affliction.
PAGE
Yet be cheerful, knight. Thou shalt eat a posset
tonight at my house, where I will desire thee to
180
laugh at my wife, that now laughs at thee. Tell her
Master Slender hath married her daughter.
PAGE
Yet be cheerful, knight. Thou shalt eat a posset
tonight at my house, where I will desire thee to
180
laugh at my wife, that now laughs at thee. Tell her
Master Slender hath married her daughter.
MISTRESS PAGE , aside
Doctors doubt that. If Anne
Page be my daughter, she is, by this, Doctor Caius’
wife.
MISTRESS PAGE , aside
Doctors doubt that. If Anne
Page be my daughter, she is, by this, Doctor Caius’
wife.
Enter SLENDER.
Enter SLENDER.
SLENDER
185
Whoa, ho, ho, Father Page!
SLENDER
185
Whoa, ho, ho, Father Page!
PAGE
Son, how now! How now, son! Have you
dispatched?
PAGE
Son, how now! How now, son! Have you
dispatched?
SLENDER
“Dispatched”? I’ll make the best in Gloucestershire
know on ’t. Would I were hanged, la, else!
SLENDER
“Dispatched”? I’ll make the best in Gloucestershire
know on ’t. Would I were hanged, la, else!
PAGE
190
Of what, son?
PAGE
190
Of what, son?
SLENDER
I came yonder at Eton to marry Mistress
Anne Page, and she’s a great lubberly boy. If it had
not been i’ th’ church, I would have swinged him,
or he should have swinged me. If I did not think it
195
had been Anne Page, would I might never stir! And
’tis a post-master’s boy.
SLENDER
I came yonder at Eton to marry Mistress
Anne Page, and she’s a great lubberly boy. If it had
not been i’ th’ church, I would have swinged him,
or he should have swinged me. If I did not think it
195
had been Anne Page, would I might never stir! And
’tis a post-master’s boy.
PAGE
Upon my life, then, you took the wrong—
PAGE
Upon my life, then, you took the wrong—
SLENDER
What need you tell me that? I think so, when
I took a boy for a girl. If I had been married to him,
200
for all he was in woman’s apparel, I would not
have had him.
SLENDER
What need you tell me that? I think so, when
I took a boy for a girl. If I had been married to him,
200
for all he was in woman’s apparel, I would not
have had him.
PAGE
Why, this is your own folly. Did not I tell you
how you should know my daughter by her
garments?
PAGE
Why, this is your own folly. Did not I tell you
how you should know my daughter by her
garments?
SLENDER
205
I went to her in white, and cried “mum,”
and she cried “budget,” as Anne and I had appointed,
and yet it was not Anne, but a post-master’s
boy.
SLENDER
205
I went to her in white, and cried “mum,”
and she cried “budget,” as Anne and I had appointed,
and yet it was not Anne, but a post-master’s
boy.
MISTRESS PAGE
Good George, be not angry. I knew of
210
your purpose, turned my daughter into green,
and indeed she is now with the doctor at the deanery,
and there married.
MISTRESS PAGE
Good George, be not angry. I knew of
210
your purpose, turned my daughter into green,
and indeed she is now with the doctor at the deanery,
and there married.
Enter DOCTOR CAIUS.
Enter DOCTOR CAIUS.
DOCTOR CAIUS
Vere is Mistress Page? By gar, I am cozened!
I ha’ married un garçon, a boy; un paysan, by
215
gar, a boy. It is not Anne Page. By gar, I am
cozened.
DOCTOR CAIUS
Vere is Mistress Page? By gar, I am cozened!
I ha’ married un garçon, a boy; un paysan, by
215
gar, a boy. It is not Anne Page. By gar, I am
cozened.
MISTRESS PAGE
Why? Did you take her in green?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why? Did you take her in green?
DOCTOR CAIUS
Ay, be gar, and ’tis a boy. Be gar, I’ll raise
all Windsor.
DOCTOR CAIUS
Ay, be gar, and ’tis a boy. Be gar, I’ll raise
all Windsor.
FORD
220
This is strange. Who hath got the right Anne?
FORD
220
This is strange. Who hath got the right Anne?
Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE.
Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE.
PAGE
My heart misgives me. Here comes Master Fenton.—
How now, Master Fenton!
PAGE
My heart misgives me. Here comes Master Fenton.—
How now, Master Fenton!
ANNE
Pardon, good father. Good my mother, pardon.
ANNE
Pardon, good father. Good my mother, pardon.
PAGE
Now, mistress, how chance you went not with
225
Master Slender?
PAGE
Now, mistress, how chance you went not with
225
Master Slender?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why went you not with Master Doctor, maid?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why went you not with Master Doctor, maid?
FENTON
You do amaze her. Hear the truth of it.
You would have married her most shamefully,
Where there was no proportion held in love.
230
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
Are now so sure that nothing can dissolve us.
Th’ offense is holy that she hath committed,
And this deceit loses the name of craft,
Of disobedience, or unduteous title,
235
Since therein she doth evitate and shun
A thousand irreligious cursèd hours
Which forcèd marriage would have brought upon her.
FENTON
You do amaze her. Hear the truth of it.
You would have married her most shamefully,
Where there was no proportion held in love.
230
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
Are now so sure that nothing can dissolve us.
Th’ offense is holy that she hath committed,
And this deceit loses the name of craft,
Of disobedience, or unduteous title,
235
Since therein she doth evitate and shun
A thousand irreligious cursèd hours
Which forcèd marriage would have brought upon her.
FORD , to PAGE and MISTRESS PAGE
Stand not amazed. Here is no remedy.
In love the heavens themselves do guide the state.
240
Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate.
FORD , to PAGE and MISTRESS PAGE
Stand not amazed. Here is no remedy.
In love the heavens themselves do guide the state.
240
Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate.
FALSTAFF
I am glad, though you have ta’en a special
stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath
glanced.
FALSTAFF
I am glad, though you have ta’en a special
stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath
glanced.
PAGE
Well, what remedy? Fenton, heaven give thee joy.
245
What cannot be eschewed must be embraced.
PAGE
Well, what remedy? Fenton, heaven give thee joy.
245
What cannot be eschewed must be embraced.
FALSTAFF
When night-dogs run, all sorts of deer are chased.
FALSTAFF
When night-dogs run, all sorts of deer are chased.
MISTRESS PAGE
Well, I will muse no further.—Master Fenton,
Heaven give you many, many merry days.—
Good husband, let us every one go home
250
And laugh this sport o’er by a country fire—
Sir John and all.
MISTRESS PAGE
Well, I will muse no further.—Master Fenton,
Heaven give you many, many merry days.—
Good husband, let us every one go home
250
And laugh this sport o’er by a country fire—
Sir John and all.
FORD
Let it be so, Sir John.
To Master Brook you yet shall hold your word,
For he tonight shall lie with Mistress Ford.
FORD
Let it be so, Sir John.
To Master Brook you yet shall hold your word,
For he tonight shall lie with Mistress Ford.
They exit.
They exit.

Original Text

Modern Text
Enter SIR JOHN FALSTAFF wearing a buck’s head .
Enter SIR JOHN FALSTAFF wearing a buck’s head .
FALSTAFF
The Windsor bell hath struck twelve. The
minute draws on. Now, the hot-blooded gods assist
me! Remember, Jove, thou wast a bull for thy
Europa; love set on thy horns. O powerful love,
5
that in some respects makes a beast a man, in
some other a man a beast! You were also, Jupiter,
a swan for the love of Leda. O omnipotent love,
how near the god drew to the complexion of a
goose! A fault done first in the form of a beast; O
10
Jove, a beastly fault! And then another fault in the
semblance of a fowl; think on ’t, Jove, a foul fault.
When gods have hot backs, what shall poor men
do? For me, I am here a Windsor stag, and the fattest,
I think, i’ th’ forest. Send me a cool rut-time,
15
Jove, or who can blame me to piss my tallow?
Enter MISTRESS PAGE and MISTRESS FORD.
Who comes here? My doe?
FALSTAFF
The Windsor bell hath struck twelve. The
minute draws on. Now, the hot-blooded gods assist
me! Remember, Jove, thou wast a bull for thy
Europa; love set on thy horns. O powerful love,
5
that in some respects makes a beast a man, in
some other a man a beast! You were also, Jupiter,
a swan for the love of Leda. O omnipotent love,
how near the god drew to the complexion of a
goose! A fault done first in the form of a beast; O
10
Jove, a beastly fault! And then another fault in the
semblance of a fowl; think on ’t, Jove, a foul fault.
When gods have hot backs, what shall poor men
do? For me, I am here a Windsor stag, and the fattest,
I think, i’ th’ forest. Send me a cool rut-time,
15
Jove, or who can blame me to piss my tallow?
Enter MISTRESS PAGE and MISTRESS FORD.
Who comes here? My doe?
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John? Art thou there, my deer, my
male deer?
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John? Art thou there, my deer, my
male deer?
FALSTAFF
My doe with the black scut! Let the sky rain
20
potatoes, let it thunder to the tune of “Greensleeves,”
hail kissing-comfits, and snow eryngoes; let there
come a tempest of provocation, I will shelter me
here. He embraces her.
FALSTAFF
My doe with the black scut! Let the sky rain
20
potatoes, let it thunder to the tune of “Greensleeves,”
hail kissing-comfits, and snow eryngoes; let there
come a tempest of provocation, I will shelter me
here. He embraces her.
MISTRESS FORD
Mistress Page is come with me,
25
sweetheart.
MISTRESS FORD
Mistress Page is come with me,
25
sweetheart.
FALSTAFF
Divide me like a bribed buck, each a haunch.
I will keep my sides to myself, my shoulders for
the fellow of this walk, and my horns I bequeath
your husbands. Am I a woodman, ha? Speak I like
30
Herne the Hunter? Why, now is Cupid a child of
conscience; he makes restitution. As I am a true
spirit, welcome. A noise of horns within.
FALSTAFF
Divide me like a bribed buck, each a haunch.
I will keep my sides to myself, my shoulders for
the fellow of this walk, and my horns I bequeath
your husbands. Am I a woodman, ha? Speak I like
30
Herne the Hunter? Why, now is Cupid a child of
conscience; he makes restitution. As I am a true
spirit, welcome. A noise of horns within.
MISTRESS PAGE
Alas, what noise?
MISTRESS PAGE
Alas, what noise?
MISTRESS FORD
Heaven forgive our sins!
MISTRESS FORD
Heaven forgive our sins!
FALSTAFF
35
What should this be?
FALSTAFF
35
What should this be?
MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE
Away, away.
MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE
Away, away.
The two women run off.
The two women run off.
FALSTAFF
I think the devil will not have me damned,
lest the oil that’s in me should set hell on fire. He
would never else cross me thus.
FALSTAFF
I think the devil will not have me damned,
lest the oil that’s in me should set hell on fire. He
would never else cross me thus.
Enter MISTRESS QUICKLY, PISTOL, SIR HUGH EVANS, ANNE PAGE and BOYS, all disguised as Fairies and carrying tapers.
Enter MISTRESS QUICKLY, PISTOL, SIR HUGH EVANS, ANNE PAGE and BOYS, all disguised as Fairies and carrying tapers.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
40
Fairies black, gray, green, and white,
You moonshine revelers and shades of night,
You orphan heirs of fixèd destiny,
Attend your office and your quality.
Crier Hobgoblin, make the fairy oyes.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
40
Fairies black, gray, green, and white,
You moonshine revelers and shades of night,
You orphan heirs of fixèd destiny,
Attend your office and your quality.
Crier Hobgoblin, make the fairy oyes.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
45
Elves, list your names. Silence, you airy toys!—
Cricket, to Windsor chimneys shalt thou leap,
Where fires thou find’st unraked and hearths
unswept.
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry.
50
Our radiant queen hates sluts and sluttery.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
45
Elves, list your names. Silence, you airy toys!—
Cricket, to Windsor chimneys shalt thou leap,
Where fires thou find’st unraked and hearths
unswept.
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry.
50
Our radiant queen hates sluts and sluttery.
FALSTAFF , aside
They are fairies. He that speaks to them shall die.
I’ll wink and couch. No man their works must eye.
He crouches down and covers his eyes.
FALSTAFF , aside
They are fairies. He that speaks to them shall die.
I’ll wink and couch. No man their works must eye.
He crouches down and covers his eyes.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Where’s Bead? Go you, and where you find a maid
That ere she sleep has thrice her prayers said,
55
Raise up the organs of her fantasy;
Sleep she as sound as careless infancy.
But those as sleep and think not on their sins,
Pinch them, arms, legs, backs, shoulders, sides, and
shins.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Where’s Bead? Go you, and where you find a maid
That ere she sleep has thrice her prayers said,
55
Raise up the organs of her fantasy;
Sleep she as sound as careless infancy.
But those as sleep and think not on their sins,
Pinch them, arms, legs, backs, shoulders, sides, and
shins.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
60
About, about!
Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out.
Strew good luck, aufs, on every sacred room,
That it may stand till the perpetual doom
In state as wholesome as in state ’tis fit,
65
Worthy the owner, and the owner it.
The several chairs of order look you scour
With juice of balm and every precious flower.
Each fair installment, coat, and sev’ral crest
With loyal blazon evermore be blest!
70
And nightly, meadow fairies, look you sing,
Like to the Garter’s compass, in a ring.
Th’ expressure that it bears, green let it be,
More fertile-fresh than all the field to see;
And Honi soit qui mal y pense write
75
In em’rald tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white,
Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,
Buckled below fair knighthood’s bending knee.
Fairies use flowers for their charactery.
Away, disperse! But till ’tis one o’clock,
80
Our dance of custom round about the oak
Of Herne the Hunter let us not forget.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
60
About, about!
Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out.
Strew good luck, aufs, on every sacred room,
That it may stand till the perpetual doom
In state as wholesome as in state ’tis fit,
65
Worthy the owner, and the owner it.
The several chairs of order look you scour
With juice of balm and every precious flower.
Each fair installment, coat, and sev’ral crest
With loyal blazon evermore be blest!
70
And nightly, meadow fairies, look you sing,
Like to the Garter’s compass, in a ring.
Th’ expressure that it bears, green let it be,
More fertile-fresh than all the field to see;
And Honi soit qui mal y pense write
75
In em’rald tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white,
Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,
Buckled below fair knighthood’s bending knee.
Fairies use flowers for their charactery.
Away, disperse! But till ’tis one o’clock,
80
Our dance of custom round about the oak
Of Herne the Hunter let us not forget.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Pray you, lock hand in hand. Yourselves in order set;
And twenty glowworms shall our lanterns be,
To guide our measure round about the tree.
85
But stay! I smell a man of Middle Earth.
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Pray you, lock hand in hand. Yourselves in order set;
And twenty glowworms shall our lanterns be,
To guide our measure round about the tree.
85
But stay! I smell a man of Middle Earth.
FALSTAFF , aside
Heavens defend me from that Welsh
fairy, lest he transform me to a piece of cheese.
FALSTAFF , aside
Heavens defend me from that Welsh
fairy, lest he transform me to a piece of cheese.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN, to FALSTAFF
Vile worm, thou wast o’erlooked even in thy birth.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN, to FALSTAFF
Vile worm, thou wast o’erlooked even in thy birth.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN, to SIR HUGH
With trial-fire touch me his finger-end.
90
If he be chaste, the flame will back descend
And turn him to no pain. But if he start,
It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN, to SIR HUGH
With trial-fire touch me his finger-end.
90
If he be chaste, the flame will back descend
And turn him to no pain. But if he start,
It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
A trial, come!
PISTOL , as HOBGOBLIN
A trial, come!
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Come, will this wood take fire?
SIR HUGH , as a fairy
Come, will this wood take fire?
SIR HUGH puts a taper to FALSTAFF’s finger, and he starts.
SIR HUGH puts a taper to FALSTAFF’s finger, and he starts.
FALSTAFF
95
O, O, O!
FALSTAFF
95
O, O, O!
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
Corrupt, corrupt, and tainted in desire!
About him, fairies. Sing a scornful rhyme,
And, as you trip, still pinch him to your time.
MISTRESS QUICKLY , as FAIRY QUEEN
Corrupt, corrupt, and tainted in desire!
About him, fairies. Sing a scornful rhyme,
And, as you trip, still pinch him to your time.
Here they pinch him and sing about him, and DOCTOR CAIUS comes one way and steals away a boy in white. And SLENDER comes another way; he takes a boy in green. And FENTON steals MISTRESS ANNE PAGE.
Here they pinch him and sing about him, and DOCTOR CAIUS comes one way and steals away a boy in white. And SLENDER comes another way; he takes a boy in green. And FENTON steals MISTRESS ANNE PAGE.
FAIRIES sing
Fie on sinful fantasy!
100
Fie on lust and luxury!
Lust is but a bloody fire
Kindled with unchaste desire,
Fed in heart whose flames aspire
As thoughts do blow them higher and higher.
105
Pinch him, fairies, mutually;
Pinch him for his villainy.
Pinch him and burn him and turn him about,
Till candles and starlight and moonshine be out.
FAIRIES sing
Fie on sinful fantasy!
100
Fie on lust and luxury!
Lust is but a bloody fire
Kindled with unchaste desire,
Fed in heart whose flames aspire
As thoughts do blow them higher and higher.
105
Pinch him, fairies, mutually;
Pinch him for his villainy.
Pinch him and burn him and turn him about,
Till candles and starlight and moonshine be out.
A noise of hunting is made within, and all the fairies run away from FALSTAFF, who pulls off his buck’s head and rises up. Enter PAGE, MISTRESS PAGE, MISTRESS FORD and FORD.
A noise of hunting is made within, and all the fairies run away from FALSTAFF, who pulls off his buck’s head and rises up. Enter PAGE, MISTRESS PAGE, MISTRESS FORD and FORD.
PAGE , to FALSTAFF
Nay, do not fly. I think we have watched you now.
110
Will none but Herne the Hunter serve your turn?
PAGE , to FALSTAFF
Nay, do not fly. I think we have watched you now.
110
Will none but Herne the Hunter serve your turn?
MISTRESS PAGE
I pray you, come, hold up the jest no higher.—
Now, good Sir John, how like you Windsor wives?
She points to the horns.
See you these, husband? Do not these fair yokes
Become the forest better than the town?
MISTRESS PAGE
I pray you, come, hold up the jest no higher.—
Now, good Sir John, how like you Windsor wives?
She points to the horns.
See you these, husband? Do not these fair yokes
Become the forest better than the town?
FORD , to FALSTAFF
115
Now, sir, who’s a cuckold now?
Master Brook, Falstaff’s a knave, a cuckoldly
knave. Here are his horns, Master Brook. And,
Master Brook, he hath enjoyed nothing of Ford’s
but his buck-basket, his cudgel, and twenty
120
pounds of money, which must be paid to Master
Brook. His horses are arrested for it, Master
Brook.
FORD , to FALSTAFF
115
Now, sir, who’s a cuckold now?
Master Brook, Falstaff’s a knave, a cuckoldly
knave. Here are his horns, Master Brook. And,
Master Brook, he hath enjoyed nothing of Ford’s
but his buck-basket, his cudgel, and twenty
120
pounds of money, which must be paid to Master
Brook. His horses are arrested for it, Master
Brook.
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John, we have had ill luck. We
could never meet. I will never take you for my love
125
again, but I will always count you my deer.
MISTRESS FORD
Sir John, we have had ill luck. We
could never meet. I will never take you for my love
125
again, but I will always count you my deer.
FALSTAFF
I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass.
FALSTAFF
I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass.
FORD
Ay, and an ox too. Both the proofs are extant.
FORD
Ay, and an ox too. Both the proofs are extant.
FALSTAFF
And these are not fairies. I was three or four
times in the thought they were not fairies; and yet
130
the guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of
my powers, drove the grossness of the foppery into
a received belief, in despite of the teeth of all
rhyme and reason, that they were fairies. See now
how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent when ’tis upon
135
ill employment.
FALSTAFF
And these are not fairies. I was three or four
times in the thought they were not fairies; and yet
130
the guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of
my powers, drove the grossness of the foppery into
a received belief, in despite of the teeth of all
rhyme and reason, that they were fairies. See now
how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent when ’tis upon
135
ill employment.
SIR HUGH
Sir John Falstaff, serve Got and leave your
desires, and fairies will not pinse you.
SIR HUGH
Sir John Falstaff, serve Got and leave your
desires, and fairies will not pinse you.
FORD
Well said, Fairy Hugh.
FORD
Well said, Fairy Hugh.
SIR HUGH
And leave you your jealousies too, I pray
140
you.
SIR HUGH
And leave you your jealousies too, I pray
140
you.
FORD
I will never mistrust my wife again till thou art
able to woo her in good English.
FORD
I will never mistrust my wife again till thou art
able to woo her in good English.
FALSTAFF
Have I laid my brain in the sun and dried it,
that it wants matter to prevent so gross o’erreaching
145
as this? Am I ridden with a Welsh goat too?
Shall I have a coxcomb of frieze? ’Tis time I were
choked with a piece of toasted cheese.
FALSTAFF
Have I laid my brain in the sun and dried it,
that it wants matter to prevent so gross o’erreaching
145
as this? Am I ridden with a Welsh goat too?
Shall I have a coxcomb of frieze? ’Tis time I were
choked with a piece of toasted cheese.
SIR HUGH
Seese is not good to give putter. Your belly is
all putter.
SIR HUGH
Seese is not good to give putter. Your belly is
all putter.
FALSTAFF
150
“Seese” and “putter”? Have I lived to stand at
the taunt of one that makes fritters of English?
This is enough to be the decay of lust and late
walking through the realm.
FALSTAFF
150
“Seese” and “putter”? Have I lived to stand at
the taunt of one that makes fritters of English?
This is enough to be the decay of lust and late
walking through the realm.
MISTRESS PAGE
Why, Sir John, do you think though we
155
would have thrust virtue out of our hearts by the
head and shoulders, and have given ourselves
without scruple to hell, that ever the devil could
have made you our delight?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why, Sir John, do you think though we
155
would have thrust virtue out of our hearts by the
head and shoulders, and have given ourselves
without scruple to hell, that ever the devil could
have made you our delight?
FORD
What, a hodge-pudding? A bag of flax?
FORD
What, a hodge-pudding? A bag of flax?
MISTRESS PAGE
160
A puffed man?
MISTRESS PAGE
160
A puffed man?
PAGE
Old, cold, withered, and of intolerable entrails?
PAGE
Old, cold, withered, and of intolerable entrails?
FORD
And one that is as slanderous as Satan?
FORD
And one that is as slanderous as Satan?
PAGE
And as poor as Job?
PAGE
And as poor as Job?
FORD
And as wicked as his wife?
FORD
And as wicked as his wife?
SIR HUGH
165
And given to fornications, and to taverns,
and sack, and wine, and metheglins, and to drinkings
and swearings and starings, pribbles and
prabbles?
SIR HUGH
165
And given to fornications, and to taverns,
and sack, and wine, and metheglins, and to drinkings
and swearings and starings, pribbles and
prabbles?
FALSTAFF
Well, I am your theme. You have the start of
170
me. I am dejected. I am not able to answer the
Welsh flannel. Ignorance itself is a plummet o’er
me. Use me as you will.
FALSTAFF
Well, I am your theme. You have the start of
170
me. I am dejected. I am not able to answer the
Welsh flannel. Ignorance itself is a plummet o’er
me. Use me as you will.
FORD
Marry, sir, we’ll bring you to Windsor to one
Master Brook, that you have cozened of money,
175
to whom you should have been a pander. Over and
above that you have suffered, I think to repay that
money will be a biting affliction.
FORD
Marry, sir, we’ll bring you to Windsor to one
Master Brook, that you have cozened of money,
175
to whom you should have been a pander. Over and
above that you have suffered, I think to repay that
money will be a biting affliction.
PAGE
Yet be cheerful, knight. Thou shalt eat a posset
tonight at my house, where I will desire thee to
180
laugh at my wife, that now laughs at thee. Tell her
Master Slender hath married her daughter.
PAGE
Yet be cheerful, knight. Thou shalt eat a posset
tonight at my house, where I will desire thee to
180
laugh at my wife, that now laughs at thee. Tell her
Master Slender hath married her daughter.
MISTRESS PAGE , aside
Doctors doubt that. If Anne
Page be my daughter, she is, by this, Doctor Caius’
wife.
MISTRESS PAGE , aside
Doctors doubt that. If Anne
Page be my daughter, she is, by this, Doctor Caius’
wife.
Enter SLENDER.
Enter SLENDER.
SLENDER
185
Whoa, ho, ho, Father Page!
SLENDER
185
Whoa, ho, ho, Father Page!
PAGE
Son, how now! How now, son! Have you
dispatched?
PAGE
Son, how now! How now, son! Have you
dispatched?
SLENDER
“Dispatched”? I’ll make the best in Gloucestershire
know on ’t. Would I were hanged, la, else!
SLENDER
“Dispatched”? I’ll make the best in Gloucestershire
know on ’t. Would I were hanged, la, else!
PAGE
190
Of what, son?
PAGE
190
Of what, son?
SLENDER
I came yonder at Eton to marry Mistress
Anne Page, and she’s a great lubberly boy. If it had
not been i’ th’ church, I would have swinged him,
or he should have swinged me. If I did not think it
195
had been Anne Page, would I might never stir! And
’tis a post-master’s boy.
SLENDER
I came yonder at Eton to marry Mistress
Anne Page, and she’s a great lubberly boy. If it had
not been i’ th’ church, I would have swinged him,
or he should have swinged me. If I did not think it
195
had been Anne Page, would I might never stir! And
’tis a post-master’s boy.
PAGE
Upon my life, then, you took the wrong—
PAGE
Upon my life, then, you took the wrong—
SLENDER
What need you tell me that? I think so, when
I took a boy for a girl. If I had been married to him,
200
for all he was in woman’s apparel, I would not
have had him.
SLENDER
What need you tell me that? I think so, when
I took a boy for a girl. If I had been married to him,
200
for all he was in woman’s apparel, I would not
have had him.
PAGE
Why, this is your own folly. Did not I tell you
how you should know my daughter by her
garments?
PAGE
Why, this is your own folly. Did not I tell you
how you should know my daughter by her
garments?
SLENDER
205
I went to her in white, and cried “mum,”
and she cried “budget,” as Anne and I had appointed,
and yet it was not Anne, but a post-master’s
boy.
SLENDER
205
I went to her in white, and cried “mum,”
and she cried “budget,” as Anne and I had appointed,
and yet it was not Anne, but a post-master’s
boy.
MISTRESS PAGE
Good George, be not angry. I knew of
210
your purpose, turned my daughter into green,
and indeed she is now with the doctor at the deanery,
and there married.
MISTRESS PAGE
Good George, be not angry. I knew of
210
your purpose, turned my daughter into green,
and indeed she is now with the doctor at the deanery,
and there married.
Enter DOCTOR CAIUS.
Enter DOCTOR CAIUS.
DOCTOR CAIUS
Vere is Mistress Page? By gar, I am cozened!
I ha’ married un garçon, a boy; un paysan, by
215
gar, a boy. It is not Anne Page. By gar, I am
cozened.
DOCTOR CAIUS
Vere is Mistress Page? By gar, I am cozened!
I ha’ married un garçon, a boy; un paysan, by
215
gar, a boy. It is not Anne Page. By gar, I am
cozened.
MISTRESS PAGE
Why? Did you take her in green?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why? Did you take her in green?
DOCTOR CAIUS
Ay, be gar, and ’tis a boy. Be gar, I’ll raise
all Windsor.
DOCTOR CAIUS
Ay, be gar, and ’tis a boy. Be gar, I’ll raise
all Windsor.
FORD
220
This is strange. Who hath got the right Anne?
FORD
220
This is strange. Who hath got the right Anne?
Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE.
Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE.
PAGE
My heart misgives me. Here comes Master Fenton.—
How now, Master Fenton!
PAGE
My heart misgives me. Here comes Master Fenton.—
How now, Master Fenton!
ANNE
Pardon, good father. Good my mother, pardon.
ANNE
Pardon, good father. Good my mother, pardon.
PAGE
Now, mistress, how chance you went not with
225
Master Slender?
PAGE
Now, mistress, how chance you went not with
225
Master Slender?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why went you not with Master Doctor, maid?
MISTRESS PAGE
Why went you not with Master Doctor, maid?
FENTON
You do amaze her. Hear the truth of it.
You would have married her most shamefully,
Where there was no proportion held in love.
230
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
Are now so sure that nothing can dissolve us.
Th’ offense is holy that she hath committed,
And this deceit loses the name of craft,
Of disobedience, or unduteous title,
235
Since therein she doth evitate and shun
A thousand irreligious cursèd hours
Which forcèd marriage would have brought upon her.
FENTON
You do amaze her. Hear the truth of it.
You would have married her most shamefully,
Where there was no proportion held in love.
230
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
Are now so sure that nothing can dissolve us.
Th’ offense is holy that she hath committed,
And this deceit loses the name of craft,
Of disobedience, or unduteous title,
235
Since therein she doth evitate and shun
A thousand irreligious cursèd hours
Which forcèd marriage would have brought upon her.
FORD , to PAGE and MISTRESS PAGE
Stand not amazed. Here is no remedy.
In love the heavens themselves do guide the state.
240
Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate.
FORD , to PAGE and MISTRESS PAGE
Stand not amazed. Here is no remedy.
In love the heavens themselves do guide the state.
240
Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate.
FALSTAFF
I am glad, though you have ta’en a special
stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath
glanced.
FALSTAFF
I am glad, though you have ta’en a special
stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath
glanced.
PAGE
Well, what remedy? Fenton, heaven give thee joy.
245
What cannot be eschewed must be embraced.
PAGE
Well, what remedy? Fenton, heaven give thee joy.
245
What cannot be eschewed must be embraced.
FALSTAFF
When night-dogs run, all sorts of deer are chased.
FALSTAFF
When night-dogs run, all sorts of deer are chased.
MISTRESS PAGE
Well, I will muse no further.—Master Fenton,
Heaven give you many, many merry days.—
Good husband, let us every one go home
250
And laugh this sport o’er by a country fire—
Sir John and all.
MISTRESS PAGE
Well, I will muse no further.—Master Fenton,
Heaven give you many, many merry days.—
Good husband, let us every one go home
250
And laugh this sport o’er by a country fire—
Sir John and all.
FORD
Let it be so, Sir John.
To Master Brook you yet shall hold your word,
For he tonight shall lie with Mistress Ford.
FORD
Let it be so, Sir John.
To Master Brook you yet shall hold your word,
For he tonight shall lie with Mistress Ford.
They exit.
They exit.
Previous page Act 5, Scene 4

Popular pages: The Merry Wives of Windsor

Take a Study Break