Henry IV, Pt. 2: III, Scene 2

Shallow

1 - 3

Come on , come on , come on , give me your hand , sir , give me
your hand , sir . An early stirrer , by the rood ! And how doth
my good cousin Silence ?

Silence

4

Good morrow , good cousin Shallow .

Shallow

5 - 6

And how doth my cousin , your bedfellow ? And your fairest
daughter and mine , my goddaughter Ellen ?

Silence

7

Alas , a black woosel , cousin Shallow !

Shallow

8 - 9

By yea and no , sir . I dare say my cousin William is become a
good scholar . He is at Oxford still , is he not ?

Silence

10

Indeed , sir , to my cost .

Shallow

11 - 13

’A must then to the Inns a’ Court shortly . I was once of
Clement’s Inn , where I think they will talk of mad Shallow
yet .

Silence

14

You were call’d lusty Shallow then , cousin .

Shallow

15 - 23

By the mass , I was call’d any thing , and I would have done
any thing indeed too , and roundly too . There was I , and
little John Doit of Staffords hire , and black George Barnes ,
and Francis Pickbone , and Will Squele , a Cotsole man . You
had not four such swingebucklers in all the Inns a’ Court
again ; and I may say to you , we knew where the bona robas
were and had the best of them all at commandment . Then was
Jack Falstaff , now Sir John , a boy , and page to Thomas
Mowbray , Duke of Norfolk .

Silence

24 - 25

This Sir John , cousin , that comes hither anon about
soldiers ?

Shallow

26 - 31

The same Sir John , the very same . I see him break Scoggin’s
head at the court - gate , when ’a was a crack not thus high ;
and the very same day did I fight with one Samson Stockfish ,
a fruiterer , behind Gray’s Inn . Jesu , Jesu , the mad days
that I have spent ! And to see how many of my old
acquaintance are dead !

Silence

32

We shall all follow , cousin .

Shallow

33 - 35

Certain , ’tis certain , very sure , very sure . Death , as the
Psalmist saith , is certain to all , all shall die . How a good
yoke of bullocks at Stamford fair ?

Silence

36

By my troth , I was not there .

Shallow

37

Death is certain . Is old Double of your town living yet ?

Silence

38

Dead , sir .

Shallow

39 - 44

Jesu , Jesu , dead ! ’A drew a good bow , and dead ! ’A shot a
fine shoot . John a’ Gaunt lov’d him well , and betted much
money on his head . Dead ! ’A would have clapp’d i’ th’ clout
at twelvescore , and carried you a forehand shaft a fourteen
and fourteen and a half , that it would have done a man’s
heart good to see . How a score of ewes now ?

Silence

45 - 46

Thereafter as they be , a score of good ewes may be worth ten
pounds .

Shallow

47

And is old Double dead ?

Silence

48

Here come two of Sir John Falstaff’s men , as I think .

Shallow

49

Good morrow , honest gentlemen .

Bardolph

50

I beseech you , which is Justice Shallow ?

Shallow

51 - 53

I am Robert Shallow , sir , a poor esquire of this county , and
one of the King’s justices of the peace . What is your good
pleasure with me ?

Bardolph

54 - 56

My captain , sir , commends him to you , my captain , Sir John
Falstaff , a tall gentleman , by heaven , and a most gallant
leader .

Shallow

57 - 58

He greets me well , sir . I knew him a good backsword man . How
doth the good knight ? May I ask how my lady his wife doth ?

Bardolph

59 - 60

Sir , pardon , a soldier is better accommodated than with a
wife .

Shallow

61 - 65

It is well said , in faith , sir , and it is well said indeed
too . Better accommodated ! It is good , yea indeed is it . Good
phrases are surely , and ever were , very commendable .
Accommodated ! It comes of accommodo , very good , a good
phrase .

Bardolph

66 - 72

Pardon , sir , I have heard the word . Phrase call you it ? By
this day , I know not the phrase , but I will maintain the
word with my sword to be a soldier - like word , and a word of
exceeding good command , by heaven . Accommodated : that is ,
when a man is , as they say , accommodated , or when a man is
being whereby ’a may be thought to be accommodated — which is
an excellent thing .

Shallow

73 - 76

It is very just . Look , here comes good Sir John . Give me
your good hand , give me your worship’s good hand . By my
troth , you like well and bear your years very well . Welcome ,
good Sir John .

Falstaff

77 - 78

I am glad to see you well , good Master Robert Shallow .
Master Surecard , as I think ?

Shallow

79 - 80

No , Sir John , it is my cousin Silence , in commission with
me .

Falstaff

81 - 82

Good Master Silence , it well befits you should be of the
peace .

Silence

83

Your good worship is welcome .

Falstaff

84 - 85

Fie , this is hot weather , gentlemen . Have you provided me
here half a dozen sufficient men ?

Shallow

86

Marry , have we , sir . Will you sit ?

Falstaff

87

Let me see them , I beseech you .

Shallow

88 - 91

Where’s the roll ? Where’s the roll ? Where’s the roll ? Let me
see , let me see , let me see . So , so , so , so , so , so , so ;
yea , marry , sir . Rafe Mouldy ! Let them appear as I call ; let
them do so , let them do so . Let me see , where is Mouldy ?

Mouldy

92

Here , and’t please you .

Shallow

93 - 94

What think you , Sir John ? A good - limb’d fellow , young ,
strong , and of good friends .

Falstaff

95

Is thy name Mouldy ?

Mouldy

96

Yea , and’t please you .

Falstaff

97

’Tis the more time thou wert us’d .

Shallow

98 - 100

Ha , ha , ha ! Most excellent , i’ faith ! Things that are moldy
lack use . Very singular good , in faith , well said , Sir John ,
very well said .

Falstaff

101

Prick him .

Mouldy

102 - 105

I was prick’d well enough before , and you could have let me
alone . My old dame will be undone now for one to do her
husbandry and her drudgery . You need not to have prick’d me ,
there are other men fitter to go out than I .

Falstaff

106 - 107

Go to , peace , Mouldy , you shall go . Mouldy , it is time you
were spent .

Mouldy

108

Spent ?

Shallow

109 - 110

Peace , fellow , peace , stand aside , know you where you are ?
For th’ other , Sir John , let me see : Simon Shadow !

Falstaff

111 - 112

Yea , marry , let me have him to sit under , he’s like to be a
cold soldier .

Shallow

113

Where’s Shadow ?

Shadow

114

Here , sir .

Falstaff

115

Shadow , whose son art thou ?

Shadow

116

My mother’s son , sir .

Falstaff

117 - 119

Thy mother’s son ! Like enough , and thy father’s shadow . So
the son of the female is the shadow of the male . It is often
so indeed , but much of the father’s substance !

Shallow

120

Do you like him , Sir John ?

Falstaff

121 - 122

Shadow will serve for summer , prick him , aside for we have a
number of shadows fill up the muster - book .

Shallow

123

Thomas Wart !

Falstaff

124

Where’s he ?

Wart

125

Here , sir .

Falstaff

126

Is thy name Wart ?

Wart

127

Yea , sir .

Falstaff

128

Thou art a very ragged wart .

Shallow

129

Shall I prick him , Sir John ?

Falstaff

130 - 131

It were superfluous , for ’s apparel is built upon his back ,
and the whole frame stands upon pins . Prick him no more .

Shallow

132 - 133

Ha , ha , ha ! You can do it , sir , you can do it , I commend you
well . Francis Feeble !

Feeble

134

Here , sir .

Shallow

135

What trade art thou , Feeble ?

Feeble

136

A woman’s tailor , sir .

Shallow

137

Shall I prick him , sir ?

Falstaff

138 - 140

You may , but if he had been a man’s tailor , he’d ’a’ prick’d
you . Wilt thou make as many holes in an enemy’s battle as
thou hast done in a woman’s petticoat ?

Feeble

141

I will do my good will , sir , you can have no more .

Falstaff

142 - 145

Well said , good woman’s tailor ! Well said , courageous
Feeble ! Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove or most
magnanimous mouse . Prick the woman’s tailor . Well , Master
Shallow , deep , Master Shallow .

Feeble

146

I would Wart might have gone , sir .

Falstaff

147 - 150

I would thou wert a man’s tailor , that thou mightst mend him
and make him fit to go . I cannot put him to a private
soldier that is the leader of so many thousands . Let that
suffice , most forcible Feeble .

Feeble

151

It shall suffice , sir .

Falstaff

152

I am bound to thee , reverend Feeble . Who is next ?

Shallow

153

Peter Bullcalf o’ th’ green !

Falstaff

154

Yea , marry , let’s see Bullcalf .

Bullcalf

155

Here , sir .

Falstaff

156 - 157

’Fore God , a likely fellow ! Come prick Bullcalf till he roar
again .

Bullcalf

158

O Lord , good my lord captain —

Falstaff

159

What , dost thou roar before thou art prick’d ?

Bullcalf

160

O Lord , sir , I am a diseas’d man .

Falstaff

161

What disease hast thou ?

Bullcalf

162 - 163

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

Falstaff

164 - 166

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 ?

Shallow

167 - 168

Here is two more call’d than your number , you must have but
four here , sir . And so I pray you go in with me to dinner .

Falstaff

169 - 170

Come , I will go drink with you , but I cannot tarry dinner . I
am glad to see you , by my troth , Master Shallow .

Shallow

171 - 172

O Sir John , do you remember since we lay all night in the
Windmill in Saint George’s Field ?

Falstaff

173

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

Shallow

174

Ha , ’twas a merry night . And is Jane Nightwork alive ?

Falstaff

175

She lives , Master Shallow .

Shallow

176

She never could away with me .

Falstaff

177 - 178

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

Shallow

179 - 180

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

Falstaff

181

Old , old , Master Shallow .

Shallow

182 - 184

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 .

Silence

185

That’s fifty - five year ago .

Shallow

186 - 187

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

Falstaff

188

We have heard the chimes at midnight , Master Shallow .

Shallow

189 - 192

That we have , that we have , that we have , in faith , Sir
John , we have . Our watch - word was “ Hem , boys !” Come let’s to
dinner , come let’s to dinner . Jesus , the days that we have
seen ! Come , come .

Bullcalf

193 - 199

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 live be hang’d , 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 .

Bardolph

200

Go to , stand aside .

Mouldy

201 - 204

And , good Master Corporal Captain , for my old dame’s sake
stand my friend . She 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 .

Bardolph

205

Go to , stand aside .

Feeble

206 - 210

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 . And’t be my dest’ny , so ;
and’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 .

Bardolph

211

Well said , th’ art a good fellow .

Feeble

212

Faith , I’ll bear no base mind .

Falstaff

213

Come , sir , which men shall I have ?

Shallow

214

Four of which you please .

Bardolph

215 - 216

To Falstaff .
Sir , a word with you .
Aside .
I have three pound to free Mouldy and Bullcalf .

Falstaff

217

Go to , well .

Shallow

218

Come , Sir John , which four will you have ?

Falstaff

219

Do you choose for me .

Shallow

220

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

Falstaff

221 - 223

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 .

Shallow

224 - 225

Sir John , Sir John , do not yourself wrong . They are your
likeliest men , and I would have you serv’d with the best .

Falstaff

226 - 238

Will you tell me , Master Shallow , how to choose a man ? Care
I for the limb , the thews , the stature , bulk , and big
assemblance of a man ? Give me the spirit , Master Shallow .
Here’s Wart , you see what a ragged appearance it is . ’A
shall charge you and discharge you with the motion of a
pewterer’s hammer , come off and on swifter than he that
gibbets on the brewer’s bucket . And this same half - fac’d
fellow , Shadow , give me this man . He presents no mark to the
enemy , the foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of
a penknife . And for a retreat , how swiftly will this Feeble
the woman’s tailor run off ! O , give me the spare men , and
spare me the great ones . Put me a caliver into Wart’s hand ,
Bardolph .

Bardolph

239

Hold , Wart , traverse ! Thas , thas , thas .

Falstaff

240 - 243

Come manage me your caliver . So — very well , go to , very good ,
exceeding good . O , give me always a little , lean , old ,
chopp’d , bald shot . Well said , i’ faith , Wart , th’ art a
good scab . Hold , there’s a tester for thee .

Shallow

244 - 251

He is not his craft’s master , he doth not do it right . I
remember at Mile - end Green , when I lay at Clement’s Inn — I
was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur’s show — there was a little
quiver fellow , and ’a would manage you his piece thus , and
’a would about and about , and come you in and come you in .
“ Rah , tah , tah ,” would ’a say , “ bounce ,” would ’a say , and
away again would ’a go , and again would ’a come . I shall
ne’er see such a fellow .

Falstaff

252 - 255

These fellows woll do well , Master Shallow . God keep you ,
Master Silence , I will not use many words with you . Fare you
well , gentlemen both , I thank you . I must a dozen mile
tonight . Bardolph , give the soldiers coats .

Shallow

256 - 259

Sir John , the Lord bless you ! God prosper your affairs ! God
send us peace ! At your return visit our house , let our old
acquaintance be renew’d . Peradventure I will with ye to the
court .

Falstaff

260

’Fore God , would you would .

Shallow

261

Go to , I have spoke at a word . God keep you !

Falstaff

262 - 292

Fare you well , gentle gentlemen .
Exeunt Justices .
On , Bardolph , lead the men away .
Exeunt Bardolph , recruits , etc .
As I return , I will fetch off these justices . I do see the
bottom of Justice Shallow . Lord , Lord , how subject we old
men are to this vice of lying ! This same starv’d justice
hath done nothing but prate to me of the wildness of his
youth , and the feats he hath done about Turnbull Street , and
every third word a lie , duer paid to the hearer than the
Turk’s tribute . I do remember him at Clement’s Inn , like a
man made after supper of a cheese - paring . When ’a was naked ,
he was for all the world like a fork’d redish , with a head
fantastically carv’d upon it with a knife . ’A was so
forlorn , that his dimensions to any thick sight were
invisible . ’A was the very genius of famine , yet lecherous
as a monkey , and the whores call’d him mandrake . ’A came
ever in the rearward of the fashion , and sung those tunes to
the overscutch’d huswives that he heard the carmen whistle ,
and sware they were his fancies or his good - nights . And now
is this Vice’s dagger become a squire , and talks as
familiarly of John a’ Gaunt as if he had been sworn brother
to him , and I’ll be sworn ’a ne’er saw him but once in the
Tilt - yard , and then he burst his head for crowding among the
marshal’s men . I saw it , and told John a’ Gaunt he beat his
own name , for you might have thrust him and all his apparel
into an eel - skin . The case of a treble hoboy was a mansion
for him , a court , and now has he land and beefs ! Well , I’ll
be acquainted with him if I return , and’t shall go hard but
I’ll make him a philosopher’s two stones to me . If the young
dace be a bait for the old pike , I see no reason in the law
of nature but I may snap at him : let time shape , and there
an end .

Henry IV, Pt. 2Act III, Scene 2

Gloucestershire . Court before Shallow’s house .

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Silence

Shallow

Bardolph

Shallow

Bardolph

Shallow

Bardolph

Shallow

Bardolph

Shallow

Falstaff

Shallow

Falstaff

Silence

Falstaff

Shallow

Falstaff

Shallow

Mouldy

Shallow

Falstaff

Mouldy

Falstaff

Shallow

Falstaff

Mouldy

Falstaff

Mouldy

Shallow

Falstaff

Shallow

Shadow

Falstaff

Shadow

Falstaff

Shallow

Falstaff

Shallow

Falstaff

Wart

Falstaff

Wart

Falstaff

Shallow

Falstaff

Shallow

Feeble

Shallow

Feeble

Shallow

Falstaff

Feeble

Falstaff

Feeble

Falstaff

Feeble

Falstaff

Shallow

Falstaff

Henry IV, Pt. 2
Act III, Scene 2