READ STUDY GUIDE: Act II, scenes iii–iv |
|
Act II, Scene iii:
London. Before a tavern.
London. Before a tavern.
| [Enter Pistol, Nym, Bardolph, Boy, and Hostess.] |
| HOSTESS: |
| Prithee, honey, sweet husband, let me bring thee to Staines. |
| PISTOL: |
| No; for my manly heart doth yearn. |
| Bardolph, be blithe; Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins; |
| Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead, |
| And we must yearn therefore. |
| BARDOLPH: |
| Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in |
| heaven or in hell! |
| HOSTESS: |
| Nay, sure, he's not in hell. He's in Arthur's bosom, if ever |
| man went to Arthur's bosom. 'A made a finer end and went |
| away an it had been any christom child. 'A parted even just |
| between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for |
| after I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers, |
| and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; |
| for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and 'a babbled of green |
| fields. "How now, Sir John!" quoth I; "what, man! be o' good |
| cheer." So 'a cried out, "God, God, God!" three or four times. |
| Now I, to comfort him, bid him 'a should not think of God; I |
| hop'd there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts |
| yet. So 'a bade me lay more clothes on his feet. I put my hand |
| into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone; |
| then I felt to his knees,[and they were as cold as any stone;] |
| and so upward and upward, and all was as cold as any stone. |
| NYM: |
| They say he cried out of sack. |
| HOSTESS: |
| Ay, that 'a did. |
| BARDOLPH: |
| And of women. |
| HOSTESS: |
| Nay, that 'a did not. |
| BOY: |
| Yes, that 'a did; and said they were devils incarnate. |
| HOSTESS: |
| 'A could never abide carnation; 'twas a colour he never liked. |
| BOY: |
| 'A said once, the devil would have him about women. |
| HOSTESS: |
| 'A did in some sort, indeed, handle women; but then he was |
| rheumatic, and talk'd of the whore of Babylon. |
| BOY: |
| Do you not remember, 'a saw a flea stick upon Bardolph's nose, |
| and 'a said it was a black soul burning in hell-fire? |
| BARDOLPH: |
| Well, the fuel is gone that maintain'd that fire. That's all the |
| riches I got in his service. |
| NYM: |
| Shall we shog? The King will be gone from Southampton. |
| PISTOL: |
| Come, let's away. My love, give me thy lips. |
| Look to my chattels and my movables. |
| Let senses rule; the word is "Pitch and Pay." |
| Trust none; |
| For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes |
| And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck; |
| Therefore, Caveto be thy counsellor. |
| Go, clear thy crystals. Yoke-fellows in arms, |
| Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys, |
| To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck! |
| BOY: |
| And that's but unwholesome food, they say. |
| PISTOL: |
| Touch her soft mouth, and march. |
| BARDOLPH: |
| Farewell, hostess. |
| [Kissing her.] |
| NYM: |
| I cannot kiss; that is the humour of it; but, adieu. |
| PISTOL: |
| Let housewifery appear. Keep close, I thee command. |
| HOSTESS: |
| Farewell; adieu. |
| [Exeunt.] |
|
|
||||
|
