Pist. Moy shall not serve; I will have forty moys; For I will fetch thy rim' out at thy throat, In drops of crimson blood. Fr. Sol. Est-il impossible d'eschapper la force de ton bras? Pist. Brass, cur! Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat, Fr. Sol. O pardonnez moy! Pist. Say'st thou me so? Is that a ton of moys? 2 Come hither, boy. What is his name. Ask me this slave, in French, Boy. Escoutez. Comment estes-vous appellé ? Boy. He says his name is-master Fer. Pist. Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk 3 him, and ferret him-discuss the same in French unto him. Boy. I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, and firk. Pist. Bid him prepare, for I will cut his throat. Boy. Il me commande de vous dire que vous faites vous prest; car ce soldat icy est disposé tout à cette heure de couper vostre gorge. Pist. Ouy, couper gorge, par ma foy, pesant, Fr. Sol. O, je vous supplie pour l'amour de Dieu, me pardonner! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne maison; gardez ma vie, et je vous donneray deux cents escus. Pist. What are his words? Boy. He prays you to save his life; he is a gentle 1 "For I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat." Pistol is not very scrupulous in the nicety of his language; he uses rim (rymme) for the intestines generally. It is not very clear what our ancestors meant by it; bishop Wilkins defines it "the membrane of the belly;" Florio makes it the omentum, "a fat pannicle, caule, sewet, rim, or kell, wherein the bowels are lapt." Holmes, in his Acad. of Armory, calls the peritoneum “the paunch or rim of the belly;" which is defined by others to be the "inner rine of the belly." 2 Pistol's moy is, perhaps, a vulgar corruption of moydore. 3 To firk is to beat or scourge. man of a good house; and, for his ransom, he will give you two hundred crowns. Pist. Tell him-my fury shall abate, and I The crowns will take. Fr. Sol. Petit monsieur, que dit-il? Boy. Encore qu'il est contre son jurement, de pardonner aucun prisonnier; neantmoins, pour les escus que vous l'avez promis, il est content de vous donner la liberté, le franchisement. Fr. Sol. Sur mes genoux, je vous donne mille remerciemens; et je m'estime heureux que je suis tombé entre les mains d'un chevalier, je pense, le plus brave, valiant, et très distingué seigneur d'Angleterre. Pist. Expound unto me, boy. Boy. He gives you, upon his knees, a thousand thanks; and he esteems himself happy that he hath fallen into the hands of (as he thinks) the most brave, valorous, and thrice worthy seignior of England. Pist. As I suck blood, I will some mercy show.Follow me, cur. [Exit PISTOL. Boy. Suivez-vous le grand capitaine. [Exit French Soldier. I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart; but the saying is true,-The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. Bardolph and Nym had ten times. more valor than this roaring devil i' the old play, that every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger; 1 and they are both hanged; and so would this be, if he durst steal any thing adventurously. I must stay with the lackeys, with the luggage of our camp. The French might have a good prey of us, if he knew of it; for there is none to guard it but boys. [Exit. 1 In the old mysteries, the Vice, or fool, among other indignities, used to threaten to pare the devil's nails with his dagger of lath. SCENE V. Another Part of the Field of Battle. Alarums. Enter Dauphin, ORLEANS, BOURBON, Constable, RAMBURES, and others. Con. O diable! Orl. O seigneur !-le jour est perdu, tout est perdu! Dau. Mort de ma vie! all is confounded, all! Reproach and everlasting shame Sits mocking in our plumes.-O meschante fortune !— Do not run away. [A short alarum. Con. Why, all our ranks are broke. Dau. O perdurable shame!—let's stab ourselves. Be these the wretches that we played at dice for? Orl. Is this the king we sent to for his ransom? Bour. Shame, and eternal shame, nothing but shame! Let us die in fight: Once more back again; And he that will not follow Bourbon now, Let him go hence, and with his cap in hand, Like a base pander, hold the chamber-door, Whilst by a slave, no gentler than my dog,2 His fairest daughter is contaminate. Con. Disorder, that hath spoiled us, friend us now! Let us, in heaps, go offer up our lives Unto these English, or else die with fame.3 To smother up the English in our throngs, If any order might be thought upon. Bour. The devil take order now! I'll to the throng; Let life be short; else, shame will be too long. [Exeunt. 1 The old copy wants the word fight, which was supplied by Malone. Theobald proposed "Let us die instant," which Steevens adopted. 2 i. e. who has no more gentility. 3 This line is from the quartos. SCENE VI. Another Part of the Field. Alarums. Enter KING HENRY and Forces; EXETER, and others. But all's not done; yet keep the French the field. K. Hen. Lives he, good uncle? Thrice, within this I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting: Exe. In which array (brave soldier) doth he lie, Suffolk first died, and York, all haggled over, And cries aloud,—Tarry, dear cousin Suffolk! 1 Upon these words I came, and cheered him up: So did he turn, and over Suffolk's neck He threw his wounded arm, and kissed his lips, A testament of noble-ending love. The pretty and sweet manner of it forced Those waters from me, which I would have stopped: 1 i. e. reached. But1 all my mother came into mine eyes, And I blame you not; For, hearing this, I must perforce compound With mistful eyes, or they will issue too. [Alarum. The French have reinforced their scattered men: Give the word through. [Exeunt. SCENE VII. Another Part of the Field. Alarums. Enter FLUELLEN and GoWER. Flu. Kill the poys and the luggage! 'tis expressly against the law of arms: 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be offered in the 'orld: In your conscience now, is it not? Gow. 'Tis certain, there's not a boy left alive; and the cowardly rascals, that ran from the battle, have done this slaughter: besides, they have burned and carried away all that was in the king's tent; wherefore the king, most worthily, hath caused every soldier to cut his prisoner's throat. O, 'tis a gallant king! Flu. Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, captain Gower. What call you the town's name, where Alexander the Pig was born? Gow. Alexander the Great. Flu. Why, I pray you, is not pig, great? The pig, or the great, or the mighty, or the huge, or the mag 1 "But all my mother came into my eyes, Thus the quarto. of but that. And gave me up to tears." The folio reads "And all," &c. But has here the force 2 "Caused every soldier to cut his prisoner's throat." The king killed his prisoners (says Johnson) because he expected another battle, and he had not sufficient men to guard one army and fight another. Gower's reason is, as we see, different. Shakspeare followed Holinshed, who gives both reasons for Henry's conduct, but has chosen to make the king mention one of them and Gower the other. |