Shakespearefor Bharat
Henry IV, part 1

Act V · Scene IV

Another part of the field.

Hover a speech to translate it — or press play to hear it performed.

Alarum. Excursions. Enter PRINCE HENRY, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, and EARL OF WESTMORELAND

KING HENRY IV
I prithee,Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much.Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.
LANCASTER
Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.
PRINCE HENRY
I beseech your majesty, make up,Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.
KING HENRY IV
I will do so.My Lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.
WESTMORELAND
Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent.
PRINCE HENRY
Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help:And God forbid a shallow scratch should driveThe Prince of Wales from such a field as this,Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,and rebels' arms triumph in massacres!
LANCASTER
We breathe too long: come, cousin Westmoreland,Our duty this way lies; for God's sake come.

Exeunt LANCASTER and WESTMORELAND

PRINCE HENRY
By God, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster;I did not think thee lord of such a spirit:Before, I loved thee as a brother, John;But now, I do respect thee as my soul.
KING HENRY IV
I saw him hold Lord Percy at the pointWith lustier maintenance than I did look forOf such an ungrown warrior.
PRINCE HENRY
O, this boyLends mettle to us all!

Exit

Enter DOUGLAS

EARL OF DOUGLAS
Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads:I am the Douglas, fatal to all thoseThat wear those colours on them: what art thou,That counterfeit'st the person of a king?
KING HENRY IV
The king himself; who, Douglas, grieves at heartSo many of his shadows thou hast metAnd not the very king. I have two boysSeek Percy and thyself about the field:But, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,I will assay thee: so, defend thyself.
EARL OF DOUGLAS
I fear thou art another counterfeit;And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:But mine I am sure thou art, whoe'er thou be,And thus I win thee.

They fight. KING HENRY being in danger, PRINCE HENRY enters

PRINCE HENRY
Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art likeNever to hold it up again! the spiritsOf valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee;Who never promiseth but he means to pay.

They fight: DOUGLAS flies

PRINCE HENRY
Cheerly, my lord how fares your grace?Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succor sent,And so hath Clifton: I'll to Clifton straight.
KING HENRY IV
Stay, and breathe awhile:Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion,And show'd thou makest some tender of my life,In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.
PRINCE HENRY
O God! they did me too much injuryThat ever said I hearken'd for your death.If it were so, I might have let aloneThe insulting hand of Douglas over you,Which would have been as speedy in your endAs all the poisonous potions in the worldAnd saved the treacherous labour of your son.
KING HENRY IV
Make up to Clifton: I'll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey.

Exit

Enter HOTSPUR

HOTSPUR
If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.
PRINCE HENRY
Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.
HOTSPUR
My name is Harry Percy.
PRINCE HENRY
Why, then I seeA very valiant rebel of the name.I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,To share with me in glory any more:Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;Nor can one England brook a double reign,Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales.
HOTSPUR
Nor shall it, Harry; for the hour is comeTo end the one of us; and would to GodThy name in arms were now as great as mine!
PRINCE HENRY
I'll make it greater ere I part from thee;And all the budding honours on thy crestI'll crop, to make a garland for my head.
HOTSPUR
I can no longer brook thy vanities.

They fight

Enter FALSTAFF

FALSTAFF
Well said, Hal! to it Hal! Nay, you shall find noboy's play here, I can tell you.

Re-enter DOUGLAS; he fights with FALSTAFF, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and falls

HOTSPUR
O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth!I better brook the loss of brittle lifeThan those proud titles thou hast won of me;They wound my thoughts worse than sword my flesh:But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool;And time, that takes survey of all the world,Must have a stop. O, I could prophesy,But that the earthy and cold hand of deathLies on my tongue: no, Percy, thou art dustAnd food for--

Dies

PRINCE HENRY
For worms, brave Percy: fare thee well, great heart!Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk!When that this body did contain a spirit,A kingdom for it was too small a bound;But now two paces of the vilest earthIs room enough: this earth that bears thee deadBears not alive so stout a gentleman.If thou wert sensible of courtesy,I should not make so dear a show of zeal:But let my favours hide thy mangled face;And, even in thy behalf, I'll thank myselfFor doing these fair rites of tenderness.Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven!Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave,But not remember'd in thy epitaph!

He spieth FALSTAFF on the ground

PRINCE HENRY
What, old acquaintance! could not all this fleshKeep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell!I could have better spared a better man:O, I should have a heavy miss of thee,If I were much in love with vanity!Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day,Though many dearer, in this bloody fray.Embowell'd will I see thee by and by:Till then in blood by noble Percy lie.

Exit PRINCE HENRY

FALSTAFF
[Rising up] Embowelled! if thou embowel me to-day,I'll give you leave to powder me and eat me tooto-morrow. 'Sblood,'twas time to counterfeit, orthat hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too.Counterfeit? I lie, I am no counterfeit: to die,is to be a counterfeit; for he is but thecounterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man:but to counterfeit dying, when a man therebyliveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true andperfect image of life indeed. The better part ofvalour is discretion; in the which better part Ihave saved my life.'Zounds, I am afraid of thisgunpowder Percy, though he be dead: how, if heshould counterfeit too and rise? by my faith, I amafraid he would prove the better counterfeit.Therefore I'll make him sure; yea, and I'll swear Ikilled him. Why may not he rise as well as I?Nothing confutes me but eyes, and nobody sees me.Therefore, sirrah,

Stabbing him

FALSTAFF
with a new wound in your thigh, come you along with me.

Takes up HOTSPUR on his back

Re-enter PRINCE HENRY and LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER

PRINCE HENRY
Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou flesh'dThy maiden sword.
LANCASTER
But, soft! whom have we here?Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?
PRINCE HENRY
I did; I saw him dead,Breathless and bleeding on the ground. Artthou alive?Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight?I prithee, speak; we will not trust our eyesWithout our ears: thou art not what thou seem'st.
FALSTAFF
No, that's certain; I am not a double man: but if Ibe not Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy:

Throwing the body down

FALSTAFF
if your father will do me any honour, so; if not, lethim kill the next Percy himself. I look to be eitherearl or duke, I can assure you.
PRINCE HENRY
Why, Percy I killed myself and saw thee dead.
FALSTAFF
Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given tolying! I grant you I was down and out of breath;and so was he: but we rose both at an instant andfought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock. If I may bebelieved, so; if not, let them that should rewardvalour bear the sin upon their own heads. I'll takeit upon my death, I gave him this wound in thethigh: if the man were alive and would deny it,'zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.
LANCASTER
This is the strangest tale that ever I heard.
PRINCE HENRY
This is the strangest fellow, brother John.Come, bring your luggage nobly on your back:For my part, if a lie may do thee grace,I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.

A retreat is sounded

PRINCE HENRY
The trumpet sounds retreat; the day is ours.Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field,To see what friends are living, who are dead.

Exeunt PRINCE HENRY and LANCASTER

FALSTAFF
I'll follow, as they say, for reward. He thatrewards me, God reward him! If I do grow great,I'll grow less; for I'll purge, and leave sack, andlive cleanly as a nobleman should do.

Exit