varlet, sir John.-By the mass, I have drunk too much sack at supper;-a good varlet. Now sit down, now sit down;-come, cousin. Sil. Ah, sirrah! quoth-a,-we shall Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer, [Singing. And ever among so merrily. Fal. There's a merry heart!—Good master Silence, I'll give you a health for that anon. Shal. Give master Bardolph some wine, Davy. Davy. Sweet sir, sit; [Seating BARDOLPH and the Page at another table.] I'll be with you anon:—most sweet sir, sit. -Master page, good master page, sit, proface. What you want in meat, we'll have in drink. But you must bear; the heart's all. 1 [Exit. Shal. Be merry, master Bardolph ;-and my little soldier there, be merry. Sil. Be merry, be merry, my wife has all; [Singing. For women are shrews, both short and tall: 'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all,2 And welcome merry Shrove-tide.3 Be merry, be merry, &c. Fal. I did not think master Silence had been a man of this mettle. Sil. Who, I? I have been merry twice and once, ere now. Re-enter Davy. 4 Davy. There is a dish of leather-coats for you. [Setting them before BARDOLPH. Shal. Davy, 1 An expression of welcome, equivalent to Much good may it do you! 2 This proverbial rhyme is of great antiquity; it is found in Adam Davie's Life of Alexander : "Merrie swithe it is in hall When the berdes waveth alle." 3 Shrovetide was the ancient carnival. 4 Apples, commonly called russetines. Davy. Your worship?-I'll be with you straight. [TO BARD.]-A cup of wine, sir? Sil. A cup of wine, that's brisk and fine, [Singing. And a merry heart lives long-a. Fal. Well said, master Silence. Sil. And we shall be merry ;-now comes in the sweet of the night. Fal. Health and long life to you, master Silence. Sil. Fill the cup, and let it come: I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom. Shal. Honest Bardolph, welcome; if thou wantest any thing, and wilt not call, beshrew thy heart.Welcome, my little tiny thief; [To the Page.] and welcome, indeed, too.-I'll drink to master Bardolph, and to all the cavaleroes about London. Davy. I hope to see London once ere I die. Shal. By the mass, you'll crack a quart together. Ha! will you not, master Bardolph ? Bard. Yes, sir, in a pottle pot. Shal. I thank thee.-The knave will stick by thee, I can assure thee that he will not out; he is true bred. Bard. And I'll stick by him, sir. Shal. Why, there spoke a king. Lack nothing; be merry. [Knocking hard.] Look who's at door there. Ho! who knocks? [Exit DAVY. Fal. Why, now you have done me right. [To SILENCE, who drinks a bumper. [Singing. Sil. Do me right,1 And dub me knight: Is't not so? 2 1 To do a man right and to do him reason, were formerly the usual expressions in pledging healths; he who drank a bumper expected that a bumper should be drunk to his toast. 2 He who drank a bumper on his knees to the health of his mistress, was dubbed a knight for the evening. 3 It has been supposed that the introduction of Domingo as a burthen to a drinking song, was intended as a satire on the luxury of the Domini Fal. 'Tis so. Sil. Is't so? Why, then say, an old man can do somewhat. Re-enter DAVY. Davy. An it please your worship, there's one Pistol come from the court with news. Fal. From the court, let him come in.— Enter PISTOL. Fal. How now, Pistol? Pist. God save you, sir John! Fal. What wind blew you hither, Pistol? Pist. Not the ill wind which blows no man to good. Sweet knight, thou art now one of the greatest men in the realm. Sil. By'r lady, I think 'a be; but goodman Puff of Barson. Pist. Puff? Puff in thy teeth, most recreant coward base!- And tidings do I bring, and lucky joys, Fal. I pr'ythee now, deliver them like a man of this world. Pist. A foutra for the world, and worldlings base! I speak of Africa, and golden joys. Fal. O, base Assyrian knight, what is thy news? Let king Cophetua know the truth thereof. [Sings. Pist. Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons? And shall good news be baffled ? Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Furies' lap. Shal. Honest gentleman, I know not your breeding. Pist. Why, then, lament therefore. Shal. Give me pardon, sir.-If, sir, you come with cans; but whether the change to Samingo was a blunder of Silence in his cups, or was a real contraction of San Domingo, is uncertain. Why Saint Dominick should be the patron of topers does not appear. news from the court, I take it, there is but two ways; either to utter them, or to conceal them. I am, sir, under the king, in some authority. Pist. Under which king, Bezonian ? speak, or die. Shal. Under king Harry. Pist. Shal. Harry the Fourth. Pist. Harry the Fourth, or Fifth? A foutra for thine office! Sir John, thy tender lambkin now is king; Fal. What! is the old king dead? Pist. As nail in door: 3 The things I speak are just. Fal. Away, Bardolph; saddle my horse.-Master Robert Shallow, choose what office thou wilt in the land, 'tis thine.-Pistol, I will double charge thee with dignities. Bard. O, joyful day!—I would not take a knighthood for my fortune. Pist. What? I do bring good news? Fal. Carry master Silence to bed.-Master Shallow, my lord Shallow, be what thou wilt, I am fortune's steward. Get on thy boots; we'll ride all night.O, sweet Pistol:-Away, Bardolph. [Exit BARD.]Come, Pistol, utter more to me; and, withal, devise something to do thyself good.-Boot, boot, master Shallow; I know the young king is sick for me. Let us take any man's horses; the laws of England are at my commandment. Happy are they which have been my friends; and woe to my lord chief justice! 1 Bezonian, according to Florio a bisogno, is "a new-levied souldier, such as comes needy to the wars." Cotgrave, in bisongne, says 66 a filthie knave, or clowne, a raskall, a bisonian, base-humored scoundrel." Its original sense is a beggar, a needy person; it is often met with very differently spelled in the old comedies. 2 An expression of contempt or insult. 3 Steevens remarks, that this proverbial expression is oftener used than understood. The door nail is the nail in ancient doors on which the knocker strikes. It is therefore used as a comparison for one irrecoverably dead, one who has fallen (as Virgil says) multa morte, i. e. with abundant death, such as reiterated strokes on the head would produce. Pist. Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also! SCENE IV. London. A Street. [Exeunt. Enter Beadles, dragging in HOSTESS QUICKLY and DOLL TEAR-SHEET.1 Host. No, thou arrant knave; I would I might die, that I might have thee hanged: thou hast drawn my shoulder out of joint. 1 Bead. The constables have delivered her over to me; and she shall have whipping-cheer enough, I warrant her. There hath been a man or two lately killed about her. Dol. Nut-hook, nut-hook, you lie. Come on; I'll tell thee what, thou damned tripe-visaged rascal; an the child I now go with do miscarry, thou hadst better thou hadst struck thy mother, thou paper-faced villain. Host. O the Lord, that sir John were come! he would make this a bloody day to somebody. But I pray God, the fruit of her womb miscarry! 1 Bead. If it do, you shall have a dozen of cushions again; you have but eleven now. Come, I charge you both go with me; for the man is dead, that you and Pistol beat among you. Dol. I'll tell thee what, thou thin man in a censer!3 I will have you as soundly swinged for this, you bluebottle rogue! you filthy, famished correctioner! if you be not swinged, I'll forswear half-kirtles." 1 In the quarto, 1600, we have "Enter Sincklo, and three or four officers." And the name of Sincklo is prefixed to the Beadle's speechSincklo is also introduced in The Taming of the Shrew; he was an actor in the same company with Shakspeare. es. 2 Nut-hook was a term of reproach for a bailiff or constable. 3 Doll compares the beadle's spare figure to the embossed figures in the middle of the pierced convex lid of a censer made of thin metal. The sluttery of rush-strewed chambers rendered censers or fire pans, in which coarse perfumes were burned, most necessary utensils. 4 Beadles usually wore a blue livery. 5 A half-kirtle was a kind of apron or fore part of the dress of a woman. |
