Quickly who has arrested him for an old
debt and whom he persuades to pawn her plate to lend him ten pounds
more, and the scenes with Shallow and Silence, are all inimitable.
Of all of them, the scene in which Falstaff plays the part, first,
of the King, and then of Prince Henry, is the one that has been the
most often quoted. We must quote it once more in illustration of our
remarks.
Falstaff. Harry, I do not only marvel where thou spendeth thy time,
but also how thou art accompanied: for though the camomile, the more
it is trodden on, the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is
wasted, the sooner it wears. That thou art my son, I have partly thy
mother's word, partly my own opinion; but chiefly, a villainous
trick of thine eye, and a foolish hanging of thy nether lip, that
doth warrant me. If then thou be son to me, here lies the point;--
Why, being son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shaft the blessed sun
of heaven prove a micher, and eat blackberries? A question not to be
ask'd. Shall the son of England prove a thief, and take purses? a
question not to be ask'd. There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast
often heard of, and it is known to many in our land by the name of
pitch: this pitch, as ancient writers do report, doth defile; so
doth the company thou keepest: for, Harry, now I do not speak to
thee in drink, but in tears; not in pleasure, but in passion; not in
words only, but in woes also:--and yet there is a virtuous man, whom
I have often noted in thy company, but I know not his name.
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