William Shakespeare: King Henry IV Part I

ACT II. 4. Scene IV. Eastcheap. A Room in the Boar's-Head Tavern. (continued)

PRINCE.
Why, what a rascal art thou, then, to praise him so for running!

FAL.
O' horseback, ye cuckoo! but a-foot he will not budge a foot.

PRINCE.
Yes, Jack, upon instinct.

FAL.
I grant ye, upon instinct. Well, he is there too, and one Mordake,
and a thousand blue-caps more:
Worcester is stolen away to-night; thy father's beard is turn'd
white with the news: you may buy land now as cheap as stinking
mackerel.
But, tell me, Hal, art not thou horrible afeard? thou being
heir-apparent, could the world pick thee out three such enemies again
as that fiend Douglas, that spirit Percy, and that devil Glendower?
art thou not horribly afraid? doth not thy blood thrill at it?

PRINCE.
Not a whit, i'faith; I lack some of thy instinct.

FAL.
Well, thou wilt be horribly chid to-morrow when thou comest to
thy father. If thou love life, practise an answer.

PRINCE.
Do thou stand for my father and examine me upon the particulars
of my life.

FAL.
Shall I? content: this chair shall be my state, this dagger my
sceptre, and this cushion my crown.

PRINCE.
Thy state is taken for a joint-stool, thy golden sceptre for a
leaden dagger, and thy precious rich crown for a pitiful bald crown.

FAL.
Well, an the fire of grace be not quite out of thee, now shalt
thou be moved.--
Give me a cup of sack, to make my eyes look red, that it may be
thought I have wept; for I must speak in passion, and I will do it
in King Cambyses' vein.

PRINCE.
Well, here is my leg.

FAL.
And here is my speech.--Stand aside, nobility.

HOST.
O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i faith!