_Host._ Which means she to deceive, father or mother?
_Fent._ Both, my good host, to go along with me:
And here it rests,--that you'll procure the vicar
To stay for me at church 'twixt twelve and one,
And, in the lawful name of marrying, 50
To give our hearts united ceremony.
_Host._ Well, husband your device; I'll to the vicar:
Bring you the maid, you shall not lack a priest.
_Fent._ So shall I evermore be bound to thee;
Besides, I'll make a present recompense. [_Exeunt._ 55
NOTES: IV, 6
SCENE VI.] Ff Q3. SCENE XI. Pope. Theobald continues Sc. 5.
The same] Another room. Capell.
14: _whereof_] _whereof's_ Pope.
16: _fat Falstaff_] F1 Q3. _wherein fat Falstaff_ (Q1 Q2) Malone.
_fat sir John Falstaffe_ F2 F3 F4. _fat Falstaff, he_ S. Walker
conj. _therein fat Falstaff_ Id. conj.
17: _scene_] _scare_ (Q1 Q2). _share_ S. Verges conj. _scene in it_
Capell.
27: _even_] _ever_ Pope.
39: _denote_] Capell (Steevens conj.). _devote_ Ff Q3.
50: _marrying_] _marriage_ S. Walker conj.
51: _ceremony_] _matrimony_ (Q1 Q2).
ACT V.
SCENE I. _A room in the Garter Inn._
_Enter FALSTAFF and MISTRESS QUICKLY._
_Fal._ Prithee, no more prattling; go. I'll hold. This
is the third time; I hope good luck lies in odd numbers.
Away! go. They say there is divinity in odd numbers,
either in nativity, chance, or death. Away!
_Quick._ I'll provide you a chain; and I'll do what I can 5
to get you a pair of horns.
_Fal._ Away, I say; time wears: hold up your head, and
mince. [_Exit Mrs Quickly._
_Enter FORD._
How now, Master Brook! Master Brook, the matter will
be known to-night, or never. Be you in the Park about 10
midnight, at Herne's oak, and you shall see wonders.
_Ford._ Went you not to her yesterday, sir, as you told
me you had appointed?
_Fal._ I went to her, Master Brook, as you see, like a
poor old man: but I came from her, Master Brook, like a 15
poor old woman. That same knave Ford, her husband,
hath the finest mad devil of jealousy in him, Master Brook,
that ever governed frenzy. I will tell you:--he beat me
grievously, in the shape of a woman; for in the shape of
man, Master Brook, I fear not Goliath with a weaver's 20
beam; because I know also life is a shuttle. I am in
haste; go along with me: I'll tell you all, Master Brook.
Since I plucked geese, played truant, and whipped top,
I knew not what 'twas to be beaten till lately. Follow
me: I'll tell you strange things of this knave Ford, on 25
whom to-night I will be revenged, and I will deliver his
wife into your hand. Follow. Strange things in hand,
Master Brook! Follow. [_Exeunt._
NOTES: V, 1
ACT V. SCENE I.] ACT IV. (continued). SCENE XII. Pope.
SCENE II. _Windsor Park._
_Enter PAGE, SHALLOW, and SLENDER._
_Page._ Come, come; we'll couch i' the castle-ditch till
we see the light of our fairies. Remember, son Slender,
my daughter.
_Slen._ Ay, forsooth; I have spoke with her, and we
have a nay-word how to know one another: I come to her 5
in white, and cry, 'mum;' she cries 'budget;' and by
that we know one another.
_Shal._ That's good too: but what needs either your
'mum' or her 'budget?' the white will decipher her well
enough. It hath struck ten o'clock. 10
_Page._ The night is dark; light and spirits will become
it well. Heaven prosper our sport! No man means evil
but the devil, and we shall know him by his horns. Let's
away; follow me. [_Exeunt._
NOTES: V, 2
SCENE II.] ACT V. SCENE I. Pope.
Windsor Park] Pope. [A street. Capell.
3: _daughter_] om. F1 Q3.
SCENE III. _A street leading to the Park._
_Enter MISTRESS PAGE, MISTRESS FORD, and DOCTOR CAIUS._
_Mrs Page._ Master doctor, my daughter is in green:
when you see your time, take her by the hand, away with
her to the deanery, and dispatch it quickly. Go before
into the Park: we two must go together.
_Caius._ I know vat I have to do. Adieu. 5
_Mrs Page._ Fare you well, sir. [_Exit Caius._] My husband
will not rejoice so much at the abuse of Falstaff
as he will chafe at the doctor's marrying my daughter: but
'tis no matter; better a little chiding than a great deal of
heart-break. 10
_Mrs Ford._ Where is Nan now and her troop of fairies,
and the Welsh devil Hugh?
_Mrs Page._ They are all couched in a pit hard by
Herne's oak, with obscured lights; which, at the very instant
of Falstaff's and our meeting, they will at once 15
display to the night.
_Mrs Ford._ That cannot choose but amaze him.
_Mrs Page._ If he be not amazed, he will be mocked; if
he be amazed, he will every way be mocked.
_Mrs Ford._ We'll betray him finely. 20
_Mrs Page._ Against such lewdsters and their lechery
Those that betray them do no treachery.
_Mrs Ford._ The hour draws on. To the oak, to the
oak! [_Exeunt._
NOTES: V, 3
SCENE III.] SCENE II. Pope.
A street, &c.] [Another street, &c. Capell.]
12: _Hugh_] Capell. _Herne_ Ff Q3. _Evans_ Theobald (Thirlby conj.).
19: _every way_] F1 Q3. om. F2 F3 F4.
SCENE IV. _Windsor Park._
_Enter SIR HUGH EVANS disguised, with others as Fairies._
_Evans._ Trib, trib, fairies; come; and remember your
parts: be pold, I pray you; follow me into the pit; and
when I give the watch-'ords, do as I pid you: come, come;
trib, trib. [_Exeunt._
NOTES: V, 4
SCENE IV.] SCENE II. continued in Pope.
3: _pid_] F1 Q3. _bid_ F2 F3 F4.
SCENE V. _Another part of the Park._
_Enter FALSTAFF disguised as Horne._
_Fal._ The Windsor bell hath struck twelve; the minute
draws on. Now, the hot-blooded gods assist me! Remember,
Jove, thou wast a bull for thy Europa; love set
on thy horns. O powerful love! that, in some respects,
makes a beast a man; in some other, a man a beast. You 5
were also, Jupiter, a swan for the love of Leda. O omnipotent
Love! how near the god drew to the complexion of a
goose!--A fault done first in the form of a beast;--O Jove,
a beastly fault! And then another fault in the semblance
of a fowl;--think on't, Jove; a foul fault! When gods have 10
hot backs, what shall poor men do? For me, I am here a
Windsor stag; and the fattest, I think, i' the forest. Send
me a cool rut-time, Jove, or who can blame me to piss my
tallow?--Who comes here? my doe?
_Enter MISTRESS FORD and MISTRESS PAGE._
_Mrs Ford._ Sir John! art thou there, my deer? my 15
male deer?
_Fal._ My doe with the black scut! Let the sky rain
potatoes; let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves, hail
kissing-comfits, and snow eringoes; let there come a tempest
of provocation, I will shelter me here. 20
_Mrs Ford._ Mistress Page is come with me, sweetheart.
_Fal._ Divide me like a bribe buck, each a haunch: I
will keep my sides to myself, my shoulders for the fellow
of this walk, and my horns I bequeath your husbands.
Am I a woodman, ha? Speak I like Herne the hunter? 25
Why, now is Cupid a child of conscience; he makes restitution.
As I am a true spirit, welcome! [_Noise within._
_Mrs Page._ Alas, what noise?
_Mrs Ford._ Heaven forgive our sins!
_Fal._ What should this be? 30
_Mrs Ford._} Away, away! [_They run off._
_Mrs Page._}
_Fal._ I think the devil will not have me damned, lest
the oil that's in me should set hell on fire; he would never
else cross me thus.
_Enter SIR HUGH EVANS, disguised as before; PISTOL, as Hobgoblin;
MISTRESS QUICKLY, ANNE PAGE, and others, as Fairies, with tapers._
_Quick._ Fairies, black, grey, green, and white, 35
You moonshine revellers, and shades of night,
You orphan heirs of fixed destiny,
Attend your office and your quality.
Crier Hobgoblin, make the fairy oyes.
_Pist._ Elves, list your names; silence, you airy toys. 40
Cricket, to Windsor chimneys shalt thou leap:
Where fires thou find'st unraked and hearths unswept,
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry:
Our radiant queen hates sluts and sluttery.
_Fal._ They are fairies; he that speaks to them shall die: 45
I'll wink and couch: no man their works must eye.
[_Lies down upon his face._
_Evans._ Where's Bede? Go you, and where you find a maid
That, ere she sleep, has thrice her prayers said,
Raise up the organs of her fantasy;
Sleep she as sound as careless infancy: 50
But those as sleep and think not on their sins,
Pinch them, arms, legs, backs, shoulders, sides, and shins.
_Quick._ About, about;
Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out:
Strew good luck, ouphes, on every sacred room; 55
That it may stand till the perpetual doom,
In state as wholesome as in state 'tis fit,
Worthy the owner, and the owner it.
The several chairs of order look you scour
With juice of balm and every precious flower: 60
Each fair instalment, coat, and several crest,
With loyal blazon, evermore be blest!
And nightly, meadow-fairies, look you sing,
Like to the Garter's compass, in a ring:
Th' expressure that it bears, green let it be, 65
More fertile-fresh than all the field to see;
And _Honi soit qui mal y pense_ write
In emerald tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white;
Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,
Buckled below fair knighthood's bending knee: 70
Fairies use flowers for their charactery.
Away; disperse: but till 'tis one o'clock,
Our dance of custom round about the oak
Of Herne the hunter, let us not forget.
_Evans._ Pray you, lock hand in hand; yourselves in order set; 75
And twenty glow-worms shall our lanterns be,
To guide our measure round about the tree.--
But, stay; I smell a man of middle-earth.
_Fal._ Heavens defend me from that Welsh fairy, lest he
transform me to a piece of cheese! 80
_Pist._ Vile worm, thou wast o'erlook'd even in thy birth.
_Quick._ With trial-fire touch me his finger-end:
If he be chaste, the flame will back descend,
And turn him to no pain; but if he start,
It is the flesh of a corrupted heart. 85
_Pist._ A trial, come.
_Evans._ Come, will this wood take fire?
[_They burn him with their tapers._
_Fal._ Oh, Oh, Oh!
_Quick._ Corrupt, corrupt, and tainted in desire!
About him, fairies; sing a scornful rhyme;
And, as you trip, still pinch him to your time. 90
SONG.
Fie on sinful fantasy!
Fie on lust and luxury!
Lust is but a bloody fire,
Kindled with unchaste desire,
Fed in heart, whose flames aspire, 95
As thoughts do blow them, higher and higher.
Pinch him, fairies, mutually;
Pinch him for his villany;
Pinch him, and burn him, and turn him about,
Till candles and starlight and moonshine be out. 100
_During this song they pinch FALSTAFF. DOCTOR CAIUS comes
one way, and steals away a boy in green; SLENDER another
way, and takes off a boy in white; and FENTON comes, and_
_steals away Mrs ANNE PAGE. A noise of hunting is heard
within. All the Fairies run away. FALSTAFF pulls off his
buck's head, and rises._
_Enter PAGE, FORD, MISTRESS PAGE and MISTRESS FORD._
_Page._ Nay, do not fly; I think we have watch'd you now:
Will none but Herne the hunter serve your turn?
_Mrs Page._ I pray you, come, hold up the jest no higher.
Now, good Sir John, how like you Windsor wives?
See you these, husband? do not these fair yokes 105
Become the forest better than the town?
_Ford._ Now, sir, who's a cuckold now? Master Brook,
Falstaff's a knave, a cuckoldly knave; here are his horns,
Master Brook: and, Master Brook, he hath enjoyed nothing
of Ford's but his buck-basket, his cudgel, and twenty 110
pounds of money, which must be paid to Master Brook;
his horses are arrested for it, Master Brook.
_Mrs Ford._ Sir John, we have had ill luck; we could
never meet. I will never take you for my love again; but
I will always count you my deer. 115
_Fal._ I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass.
_Ford._ Ay, and an ox too: both the proofs are extant.
_Fal._ And these are not fairies? I was three or four
times in the thought they were not fairies: and yet the
guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, 120
drove the grossness of the foppery into a received belief, in
despite of the teeth of all rhyme and reason, that they
were fairies. See now how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent,
when 'tis upon ill employment!
_Evans._ Sir John Falstaff, serve Got, and leave your 125
desires, and fairies will not pinse you.
_Ford._ Well said, fairy Hugh.
_Evans._ And leave you your jealousies too, I pray you.
_Ford._ I will never mistrust my wife again, till thou art
able to woo her in good English. 130
_Fal._ Have I laid my brain in the sun, and dried it, that
it wants matter to prevent so gross o'erreaching as this?
Am I ridden with a Welsh goat too? shall I have a coxcomb
of frize? Tis time I were choked with a piece of
toasted cheese. 135
_Evans._ Seese is not good to give putter; your pelly is
all putter.
_Fal._ 'Seese' and 'putter'! have I lived to stand at the
taunt of one that makes fritters of English? This is enough
to be the decay of lust and late-walking through the realm. 140
_Mrs Page._ Why, Sir John, do you think, though we
would have thrust virtue out of our hearts by the head and
shoulders, and have given ourselves without scruple to hell,
that ever the devil could have made you our delight?
_Ford._ What, a hodge-pudding? a bag of flax? 145
_Mrs Page._ A puffed man?
_Page._ Old, cold, withered, and of intolerable entrails?
_Ford._ And one that is as slanderous as Satan?
_Page._ And as poor as Job?
_Ford._ And as wicked as his wife? 150
_Evans._ And given to fornications, and to taverns, and
sack, and wine, and metheglins, and to drinkings, and
swearings, and starings, pribbles and prabbles?
_Fal._ Well, I am your theme: you have the start of
me; I am dejected; I am not able to answer the Welsh 155
flannel; ignorance itself is a plummet o'er me: use me as
you will.
_Ford._ Marry, sir, we'll bring you to Windsor, to one
Master Brook, that you have cozened of money, to whom
you should have been a pander: over and above that you 160
have suffered, I think to repay that money will be a biting
affliction.
_Page._ Yet be cheerful, knight: thou shalt eat a posset
to-night at my house; where I will desire thee to laugh at
my wife, that now laughs at thee: tell her Master Slender 165
hath married her daughter.
_Mrs Page._ [_Aside_] Doctors doubt that: if Anne Page
be my daughter, she is, by this, Doctor Caius' wife.
_Enter SLENDER._
_Slen._ Whoa, ho! ho, father Page!
_Page._ Son, how now! how now, son! have you 170
dispatched?
_Slen._ Dispatched!--I'll make the best in Gloucestershire
know on't; would I were hanged, la, else!
_Page._ Of what, son?
_Slen._ I came yonder at Eton to marry Mistress Anne 175
Page, and she's a great lubberly boy. If it had not been
i' the church, I would have swinged him, or he should have
swinged me. If I did not think it had been Anne Page,
would I might never stir!--and 'tis a postmaster's boy.
_Page._ Upon my life, then, you took the wrong. 180
_Slen._ What need you tell me that? I think so, when
I took a boy for a girl. If I had been married to him, for
all he was in woman's apparel, I would not have had him.
_Page._ Why, this is your own folly. Did not I tell you
how you should know my daughter by her garments? 185
_Slen._ I went to her in white, and cried 'mum,' and she
cried 'budget,' as Anne and I had appointed; and yet it
was not Anne, but a postmaster's boy.
_Mrs Page._ Good George, be not angry: I knew of
your purpose; turned my daughter into green; and, indeed, 190
she is now with the doctor at the deanery, and there
married.
_Enter CAIUS._
_Caius._ Vere is Mistress Page? By gar, I am cozened:
I ha' married un garçon, a boy; un paysan, by gar, a boy; it
is not Anne Page: by gar, I am cozened. 195
_Mrs Page._ Why, did you take her in green?
_Caius._ Ay, by gar, and 'tis a boy: by gar, I'll raise all
Windsor. [_Exit._
_Ford._ This is strange. Who hath got the right Anne?
_Page._ My heart misgives me:--here comes Master 200
Fenton.
_Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE._
How now, Master Fenton!
_Anne._ Pardon, good father! good my mother, pardon!
_Page._ Now, mistress, how chance you went not with
Master Slender? 205
_Mrs Page._ Why went you not with master doctor, maid?
_Fent._ You do amaze her: hear the truth of it.
You would have married her most shamefully,
Where there was no proportion held in love.
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted, 210
Are now so sure that nothing can dissolve us.
The offence is holy that she hath committed;
And this deceit loses the name of craft,
Of disobedience, or unduteous title;
Since therein she doth evitate and shun 215
A thousand irreligious cursed hours,
Which forced marriage would have brought upon her.
_Ford._ Stand not amazed; here is no remedy:
In love the heavens themselves do guide the state;
Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate. 220
_Fal._ I am glad, though you have ta'en a special stand
to strike at me, that your arrow hath glanced.
_Page._ Well, what remedy? Fenton, heaven give thee joy!
What cannot be eschew'd must be embraced. 225
_Fal._ When night-dogs run, all sorts of deer are chased.
_Mrs Page._ Well, I will muse no further. Master Fenton,
Heaven give you many, many merry days!
Good husband, let us every one go home,
And laugh this sport o'er by a country fire; 230
Sir John and all.
_Ford._ Let it be so. Sir John,
To Master Brook you yet shall hold your word;
For he to-night shall lie with Mistress Ford. [_Exeunt._
NOTES: V, 5
SCENE V.] SCENE III. Pope.
Enter F...] Enter Sir John with a Buck's head upon him (Q1 Q2).
22: _bribe_] Theobald. _brib'd_ Ff Q3.
32-34: Printed as verse in Ff Q3.
34: Enter ... tapers] See note (X).
35: Quick.] Qui. Ff Q3.
37: _orphan_] _ouphan_ Theobald (Warburton).
41: _shalt thou leap_] _when thou'st leapt_ Collier MS. _having
leapt_ Singer.
42: _unswept_] _to sweep_ S. Verges conj.
46: [Lies ... face] Rowe.
47: _Bede_] Ff Q3. _Pede_ Theobald. _Pead_ (Q1 Q2).
51: _as_] _that_ F4.
53: Quick.] Qu. F1 Q3 F2. Qui. F3 F4.
57: _state as_] _site as_ Hanmer. _seat as_ S. Walker conj.
58: _and_] _as_ Theobald (Warburton).
63: _nightly, meadow-fairies,_] Capell. _Nightly-meadow-Fairies_
Ff Q3.
66: _More_] _Mote_ F1 Q3.
68: _emerald tufts_] _Emrold-tuffes_ Ff Q3.
_purple_] _purfled_ Warburton.
69: _sapphire, pearl_] Theobald. _saphire-pearle_ Ff Q3.
_and_] _in_ Warburton.
75: _Pray you_] om. Pope.
86: [They burn ... tapers.] Rowe.
90: _time_] _time._ Eva. _It is right, indeed, he is full of
lecheries and iniquity._ Theobald (from Q1 Q2).
91: _sinful_] _simple_ Pope.
93: _a bloody fire_] _i' th' blood a fire_] Hanmer.
95: _heart_] _the heart_ Hanmer.
97: _Mutually_] _mutuall_ Q3.
100: The stage direction which follows was inserted by Theobald
from Q1 Q2, with some verbal changes.
101: Enter...] Enter... They lay hold on him. Rowe.
101, 102: Printed as prose in Ff Q3.
105: _these, husband_] _these husband_ F1 Q3. _these husbands_
F2 F3 F4. _these, husbands_ Hanmer.
_yokes_] _yoakes_ F1 Q3. _okes_ F2 F3. _oaks_ F4. _oaks_
[Pointing to the horns. Hanmer.
_fair yokes_] _fairy jokes_ Jackson conj.
111: _paid to Master Brook_] _paid to M. Foord_ (Q1 Q2).
_pay'd too, Master Brook_ Capell.
120: _the sudden_] _with the sudden_ Hanmer.
136: _pelly_] F2 F3 F4. _belly_ F1 Q3.
148: _as slanderous_] _slanderous_ Q3.
152: _sack, and wine_] _sacks, and wines_ Pope.
153: _starings_] F1 Q3. _staring_ F2 F3 F4.
156: _is a plummet o'er me_] _is plummet o'er me_ Q3. _has a plume
o' me_ Johnson conj. _is a planet o'er me_ Farmer conj.
162: After this line Theobald inserts from Q1 Q2: Mrs Ford. _Nay,
husband, let that go to make amends; Forgive that sum, and so
we'll all be friends._ Ford. _Well, here's my hand: all is
forgiven at last._
167, 168: Given to Mrs Ford in Q3. [Aside] Theobald.
169: SCENE VI. Pope.
_Whoa_] _What_ Rowe.
177: _i' the_] _i't_ F2.
186: _white_] Pope. _green_ Ff Q3.
190, 196: _green_] Pope. _white_ Ff Q3.
190: _into_] _in_ Q3.
193: SCENE VII. Pope.
194: _un garçon_] Capell. _oon garsoon_ F1 Q3. _one garsoon_
F2 F3 F4.
_un paysan_] Capell. _oon pesant_ Ff Q3.
_boy_] _boe_ F2 F3 F4.
196: _did you_] _did you not_ Rowe.
214: _title_] _guile_ Collier MS.
225: After this line Pope, followed by Theobald, inserts from
Q1 Q2: Evans [aside to Fenton] _I will dance and eat plums
at your wedding._
231: _Let it be so. Sir John,_] _Let it be so (Sir John:)_ Ff Q3.
NOTES.
NOTE I.
I. 1. 41. Master Page is called 'George' in three places, II. 1. 135 and
143, and V. 5. 189, but we have left the text of the Folios uncorrected,
as the mistake may have been Shakespeare's own. It is however possible
that a transcriber or printer may have mistaken 'Geo.' for 'Tho.'
In I. 3. 89, 90, on the other hand, we have not hesitated to correct the
reading of the Folio, substituting 'Page' for 'Ford,' and 'Ford' for
'Page,' because, as the early Quartos have the names right, it seems
likely that the blunder was _not_ due to Shakespeare.
NOTE II.
I. 1. 49. Here again, as in line 40, F2 F3 F4 read 'good,' F1 Q3 'goot,'
but we have not thought it necessary to do more than give a specimen of
such variations. Capell, in order to make Dr Caius's broken English
consistent with itself, corrects it throughout and substitutes 'de' for
'the,' 'vill' for 'will,' and so forth. As a general rule, we have
silently followed the first Folio.
NOTE III.
I. 1. 114. With regard to this and other passages which Pope, Theobald,
Malone, &c. have inserted from the early Quartos, our rule has been to
introduce, between brackets, such, and such only, as seemed to be
absolutely essential to the understanding of the text, taking care to
give in the note all those which we have rejected.
The fact that so many omissions can be supplied from such mutilated
copies as the early Quartos, indicates that there may be many more
omissions for the detection of which we have no clue. The text of the
_Merry Wives_ given in F1 was probably printed from a carelessly written
copy of the author's MS.
NOTE IV.
I. 3. 95. Perhaps, as in the _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, III. 1. 315, and
other passages, some of which are mentioned by Sidney Walker in his
'Criticisms,' Vol. II. p. 13 sqq., this vexed passage may be emended by
supplying a word. We venture to suggest 'the revolt of mine _anger_ is
dangerous.' The recurrence of the same letters +anger+ in the word
'dangerous,' might mislead the printer's eye and cause the omission.
NOTE V.
II. 1. 5. In the copy of Johnson's Edition, which belongs to Emmanuel
College, there is a MS. note of Dr Farmer's referring to Sonnet CXLVII.
in support of the conjecture 'physician' for 'precisian;' we find there
'My reason, the physician to my love,' &c.
NOTE VI.
II. 1. 194, 196. Here again we have followed the early Quartos in
reading 'Brook' instead of 'Broome,' the name given by Ff Q3. That the
former was the original name is proved by the jest in II. 2. 136, where
the Folios make sheer nonsense.
Mr Halliwell suggests that the following lines, IV. 4. 75, 76,
'Nay I'll to him again in name of Broome;
He'll tell me all his purpose: sure he'll come,'
were intended to rhyme and therefore favour the later reading. But in
this scene there are no rhyming lines except the couplet at the end.
On the whole, it seems likely that the name was altered in the stage
copies at the instance of some person of the name of Brook living at
Windsor, who had sufficient acquaintance with the players, or interest
with their patrons, to get it done.
NOTE VII.
III. 1. 74. 78. Mr Staunton is unquestionably right in supposing that
one part of Evans's speech is spoken aside to his opponent, and the
other part aloud. It is impossible else to account for the sudden change
of tone. It might have been conjectured that, being a parson, he wished
to appear peacefully minded, and therefore made his offers of
reconciliation aloud and his menaces in an under tone, but Caius's reply
shews that it was the threat which had been made aloud. Evans's valour,
it would seem, had already evaporated when he had 'a great dispositions
to cry' (III. 1. 20) and, besides, he had just begun to see that he was
being made a laughing-stock. As his former speech (74, 75,) is also
conciliatory, it was probably spoken so as to be heard by Caius only. He
wished to keep up his credit for courage in the eyes of the bystanders.
In the corresponding scene of the first Quartos we have the words 'Hark
van urd in your ear,' and the meaning of the text may have been obscured
by some omission in the Folio.
NOTE VIII.
IV. 4. 41. No doubt there is an omission here in the Folio, which may be
partly supplied from the Quarto. But it is probable that Mrs Ford gave a
still fuller explanation of her device and the grounds on which the
disguise was recommended to Falstaff, otherwise Page would not have been
so confident of his falling into the snare.
NOTE IX.
IV. 5. 49. In the edition of 1778 Steevens reads 'Ay, sir Tike, like'
... but it is clear from Farmer's note that it should be 'Ay, sir Tike,'
... and so it is corrected in the later Editions of Steevens. In the
Edition annotated by Fanner, mentioned in note V., we find another
conjecture of his: 'Ay, sir, if you like,' ... or it may have been 'Ay,
sir, an you like,' for the word preceding 'you' has been cut away by the
binder.
NOTE X.
The stage direction of the early Quartos is: _Enter Sir Hugh like a
Satyre, and boyes drest like Fayries, Mistresse Quickly, like the Queene
of Fayries; they sing a song about him and afterward speake._
The Folio enumerates at the commencement of the scene all who take part
in it, including _Anne Page_, _Fairies_, _Quickly_ and _Pistol_, and in
this place has merely _Enter Fairies_. Malone introduced _Anne Page as
the Fairy Queen_, and at the end, _with waxen tapers on their heads_. He
however still assigned the speeches 35-39, 53-74, 82-85, and 88-90 to
_Quickly_. Recent Editors have generally given them to _Anne_, on the
ground that it is proved by IV. 6. 20 and V. 3. 11, 12, that she was to
'present the Fairy Queen,' and that the character of the speeches is
unsuitable to Mrs Quickly. It has been argued, too, that the _Qui._ of
the folios, line 35, may be a misprint for _Qu._, i.e. _Queen_. This
however is contradicted by the fact that Mrs Quickly plays the Queen in
the early Quartos, and that the recurrence of _Qui._, line 88, proves
that the printer of the first Folio used either _Qui._ or _Qu._
indifferently as the abbreviation of _Quickly_.
Most likely, in this and other respects the play was altered by its
author, but the stage MSS. were not corrected throughout with sufficient
care. This will account for the mistake about the colours 'green' and
'white' in the final scene, lines 186, 190, 196.
Or we may suppose Mrs Quickly to have agreed to take Anne's part in
order to facilitate her escape with Fenton.
* * * * *
* * * *
* * * * *
[Transcriber's Note:
The following text is reproduced exactly as printed, "taken
_literatim_ from Q1, the edition of 1602". Spelling and punctuation
are unchanged. In some sections, initial capital letters do not match
the rest of the word: a Roman initial may be used in an italic word,
or the reverse. These mismatched letters are shown in {B}races to
avoid using mid-word _L_owlines.]
A
Pleasant Conceited Comedie,
of
_Syr Iohn Falstaffe,_
and
the merry Wiues of _Windsor_.
_Enter Iustice _Shallow_, Syr _Hugh_, Maister _Page_,
and _Slender_._
_Shal._ Nere talke to me, Ile make a star-chamber matter of it.
The Councell shall know it.
_Page._ Nay good maister _Shallow_ be perswaded by mee.
_Slen._ Nay surely my vncle shall not put it vp so.
_Sir Hu._ Wil you not heare reasons M. _Slenders?_ 5
You should heare reasons.
_Shal._ Tho he be a knight, he shall not thinke to carrie it so away.
M. _Page_ I will not be wronged. For you
Syr, I loue you, and for my cousen,
He comes to looke vpon your daughter. 10
_Pa._ And heres my hand, and if my daughter
Like him so well as I, wee'l quickly haue it a match:
In the meane time let me entreate you to soiourne
Here a while. And on my life Ile vndertake
To make you friends. 15
_Sir Hu._ I pray you M. _Shallowes_ let it be so.
The matter is pud to arbitarments.
The first man is M. _Page_, videlicet M. _Page_.
The second is my selfe, videlicet my selfe.
The third and last man, is mine host of the gartyr. 20
_Enter Syr _Iohn Falstaffe_, _Pistoll_, _Bardolfe_, and _Nim_._
Heere is sir _Iohn_ himselfe now, looke you.
_Fal._ Now M. _Shallow_, youle complaine of me to the Councell, I
heare?
_Shal._ Sir _Iohn_, sir _Iohn_, you haue hurt my keeper, [25]
Kild my dogs, stolne my deere.
_Fal._ But not kissed your keepers daughter.
_Shal._ Well this shall be answered.
_Fal._ He answere it strait. I haue done all this.
This is now answred.
_Shal._ Well, the Councell shall know it. 30
_Fal._ Twere better for you twere knowne in counsell,
Youle be laught at.
_Sir Hugh._ Good vrdes sir _Iohn_, good vrdes.
_Fal._ Good vrdes, good Cabidge.
_Slender_ I brake your head, 35
What matter haue you against mee?
_Slen._ I haue matter in my head against you and your cogging
companions, _Pistoll_ and _Nym._ They carried mee to the Tauerne,
and made mee drunke, and afterward picked my pocket.
_Fal._ What say you to this _Pistoll_, did you picke Maister 40
_Slenders_ purse _Pistoll_?
_Slen._ I by this handkercher did he. Two faire shouell boord
shillings, besides seuen groats in mill sixpences.
_Fal._ What say you to this _Pistoll_?
_Pist._ Sir _Iohn_, and Maister mine, I combat craue 45
Of this same laten bilbo. I do retort the lie
Euen in thy gorge, thy gorge, thy gorge.
_Slen._ By this light it was he then.
_Nym._ Syr my honor is not for many words,
But if you run bace humors of me, 50
I will say mary trap. And there's the humor of it.
_Fal._ You heare these matters denide gentlemen,
You heare it.
_Enter Mistresse _Foord_, Mistresse _Page_, and her daughter
_Anne_._
_Pa._ No more now,
I thinke it be almost dinner time, 55
For my wife is come to meete vs.
_Fal._ Mistresse _Foord_, I think your name is,
If I mistake not.
_Syr_ Iohn kisses her.
_Mis. Ford._ Your mistake sir is nothing but in the Mistresse.
But my husbands name is _Foord_ sir. 60
_Fal._ I shall desire your more acquaintance.
The like of you good misteris _Page_.
_Mis. Pa._ With all my hart sir _Iohn_.
Come husband will you goe?
Dinner staies for vs. 65
_Pa._ With all my hart, come along Gentlemen.
_Exit all, but _Slender_ and Mistresse _Anne_._
_Anne._ Now forsooth why do you stay me?
What would you with me?
_Slen._ Nay for my owne part, I would litle or nothing with you.
I loue you well, and my vncle can tell you how my liuing stands. 70
And if you can loue me why so. If not, why then happie man be his
dole.
_An._ You say well M. _Slender_.
But first you must giue me leaue to
Be acquainted with your humor, 75
And afterward to loue you if I can.
_Slen._ Why by God, there's neuer a man in christendome can
desire more. What haue you beares in your Towne mistresse _Anne_,
your dogs barke so?
_An._ I cannot tell M. _Slender_, I think there be. 80
_Slen._ Ha how say you? I warrant your afeard of a Beare let
loose, are you not?
_An._ Yes trust me.
_Slen._ Now that's meate and drinke to me,
He run yon to a beare, and take her by the mussell, 85
You neuer saw the like.
But indeed I cannot blame you,
For they are maruellous rough things.
_Anne._ Will yo go into dinner M. _Slendor?_
The meate staies for you. 90
_Slen._ No faith not I. I thanke you,
I cannot abide the smell of hot meate
Nere since I broke my shin. Ile tel you how it came
By my troth. A Fencer and I plaid three venies
For a dish of stewd prunes, and I with my ward 95
Defending my head, he hot my shin. Yes faith.
_Enter Maister _Page_._
_Pa._ Come, come Maister _Slender_, dinner staies for you.
_Slen._ I can eate no meate, I thanke you.
_Pa._ You shall not choose I say.
_Slen._ Ile follow you sir, pray leade the way. 100
Nay be God misteris _Anne_, you shall goe first,
I haue more manners then so, I hope.
_An._ Well sir, I will not be troublesome.
_Exit omnes._
NOTES: SCENE I
28: _strait_] _straight_ Halliwell.
85: _yon_] om.
_Enter Sir _Hugh_ and _Simple_, from dinner._ [SC. II.]
_Sir Hu._ Hark you _Simple_, pray you beare this letter to doctor
_Cayus_ house, the French Doctor. He is twell vp along the street, and
enquire of his house for one mistris _Quickly_, his woman, or his try
nurse, and deliuer this Letter to her, it tis about Maister _Slender_.
Looke you, will you do it now? 5
_Sim._ I warrant you sir.
_Sir Hu._ Pray you do, I must not be absent at the grace.
I will goe make an end of my dinner,
There is pepions and cheese behinde.
_Exit omnes._
_Enter Sir _Iohn Falstaffes_ Host of the Garter, _Nym_, _Bardolfe_,
_Pistoll_, and the Boy._ [SC. III.]
_Fal._ Mine Host of the Garter.
_Host._ What ses my bully Rooke?
Speake schollerly and wisely.
_Fal._ Mine Host, I must turne away some of my followers.
_Host._ Discard bully, _Hercules_ cassire. 5
Let them wag, trot, trot.
_Fal._ I sit at ten pound a weeke.
_Host._ Thou art an Emperor _Cæsar_, _Phesser_ and _Kesar_ bully.
Ile entertaine _Bardolfe_. He shall tap, he shall draw.
Said I well, bully _Hector_? 10
_Fal._ Do good mine Host.
_Host._ I haue spoke. Let him follow. _Bardolfe_
Let me see thee froth, and lyme. I am at
A word. Follow, follow.
_Exit Host._
_Fal._ Do _Bardolfe_, a Tapster is a good trade, 15
An old cloake will make a new Ierkin,
A withered seruingman, a fresh Tapster:
Follow him _Bardolfe_.
_Bar._ I will sir, Ile warrant you Ile make a good shift to liue.
_Exit Bardolfe._
_Pis._ O bace gongarian wight, wilt thou the spicket willd? 20
_Nym._ His minde is not heroick. And theres the humor of it.
_Fal._ Well my Laddes, I am almost out at the heeles.
_Pis._ Why then let cybes insue.
_Nym._ I thanke thee for that humor.
_Fal._ Well I am glad I am so rid of this tinder Boy. 25
His stealth was too open, his filching was like
An vnskilfull singer, he kept not time.
_Nym._ The good humour is to steale at a minutes rest.
_Pis._ Tis so indeed _Nym_, thou hast hit it right.
_Fal._ Wel, afore God, I must cheat, I must conycatch. 30
Which of you knowes _Foord_ of this Towne?
_Pis._ I ken the wight, he is of substance good.
_Fal._ Well my honest Lads, Ile tell you what
I am about.
_Pis._ Two yards and more.
_Fal._ No gibes now _Pistoll:_ indeed I am two yards
In the wast, but now I am about no wast:
Briefly, I am about thrift you rogues you,
I do intend to make loue to Foords wife,
I espie entertainment in her. She carues, she 40
Discourses. She giues the lyre of inuitation,
And euery part to be constured rightly is, I am
Syr _Iohn Falstaffes_.
_Pis._ Hee hath studied her well, out of honestie
Into English. 45
_Fal._ Now the report goes, she hath all the rule
Of her husbands purse. She hath legians of angels.
_Pis._ As many diuels attend her.
And to her boy say I.
_Fal._ Heree's a Letter to her. Heeres another to misteris _Page_. 50
Who euen now gaue me good eies too, examined my exteriors with
such a greedy intention, with the beames of her beautie, that it seemed
as she would a scorged me vp like a burning glasse. Here is another
Letter to her, shee beares the purse too. They shall be Excheckers
to me, and Ile be cheaters to them both. They shall be my East 55
and West Indies, and Ile trade to them both. Heere beare thou this
Letter to mistresse _Foord_. And thou this to mistresse _Page_. Weele
thriue Lads, we will thriue.
_Pist._ Shall I sir Panderowes of _Troy_ become?
And by my sword were steele. 60
Then Lucifer take all.
_Nym._ Here, take your humor Letter againe,
For my part, I will keepe the hauior
Of reputation. And theres the humor of it.
_Fal._ Here sirrha beare me these Letters titely, 65
Saile like my pinnice to the golden shores:
Hence slaues, avant. Vanish like hailstones, goe.
_Falstaffe_ will learne the humor of this age,
French thrift you rogue, my selfe and scirted Page.
_Exit Falstaffe, and the Boy._
_Pis._ And art thou gone? Teaster Ile haue in pouch 70
When thou shalt want, bace Phrygian Turke,
_Nym._ I haue operations in my head, which are humors of
reuenge.
_Pis._ Wilt thou reuenge?
_Nym._ By _Welkin_ and her Fairies. 75
_Pis._ By wit, or sword?
_Nym._ With both the humors I will disclose this loue to _Page_. He
poses him with Iallowes,
And theres the humor of it.
_Pis._ And I to Foord will likewise tell 80
How _Falstaffe_ varlot vilde,
Would haue her loue, his doue would proue,
And eke his bed defile.
_Nym._ Let vs about it then.
_Pis._ He second thee: sir Corporall _Nym_ troope on. 85
_Exit omnes._
NOTES: SCENE III
60: _were_] _we are._
_Enter Mistresse _Quickly_, and _Simple_._ [SC. IV.]
_Quic._ M. _Slender_ is your masters name say you?
_Sim._ I indeed that is his name.
_Quic._ How say you? I take it hee is somewhat a weakly man:
And he has as it were a whay coloured beard.
_Sim._ Indeed my maisters beard is kane colored. 5
_Quic._ Kane colour, you say well.
And is this Letter from sir _You_, about misteris _An_,
Is it not?
_Sim._ I indeed is it.
_Quic._ So: and your Maister would haue me as it twere to speak 10
to misteris _Anne_ concerning him: I promise you my M. hath a great
affectoned mind to mistresse _Anne_ himselfe. And if he should know
that I should as they say, giue my verdit for any one but himselfe, I
should heare of it throughly: For I tell you friend, he puts all his
priuities in me. 15
_Sim._ I by my faith you are a good staie to him.
_Quic._ Am I? I and you knew all yowd say so:
Washing, brewing, baking, al goes through my hands,
Or else it would be but a woe house.
_Sim._ I beshrow me, one woman to do all this, 20
Is very painfull.
_Quic._ Are you auised of that? I, I warrant you,
Take all, and paie all, all goe through my hands,
And he is such a honest man, and he should chance
To come home and finde a man here, we should 25
Haue no who with him. He is a parlowes man.
_Sim._ Is he indeed?
_Quic._ Is he, quoth you? God keepe him abroad:
Lord blesse me, who knocks there?
For Gods sake step into the Counting-house, 30
While I go see whose at doore.
_He steps into the Counting-house._
What _Iohn Rugby_, _Iohn_,
Are you come home sir alreadie?
_And she opens the doore._
_Doct._ _I_ begar _I_ be forget mine oyntment,
Where be _Iohn Rugby?_ 35
_Enter _Iohn_._
_Rug._ Here sir, do you call?
_Doct._ _I_ you be _Iohn Rugbie_, and you be _Iack Rugby_
Goe run vp met your heeles, and bring away
De oyntment in the vindoe present:
Make haste _Iohn Rugbie_. O _I_ am almost forget 40
My simples in a boxe in de Counting-house:
O {I}eshu vat be here, a deuella, a deuella?
My Rapier _Iohn Rugby_, Vat be you, vat make
You in my Counting-house?
_I_ tinck you be a teefe. 45
_Quic._ {I}eshu blesse me, we are all vndone.
_Sim._ O Lord sir no: _I_ am no theefe,
_I_ am a Seruingman:
My name is _Iohn Simple_, _I_ brought a Letter sir
From my M. _Slender_, about misteris _Anne Page_ 50
Sir: {I}ndeed that is my comming.
_Doct._ _I_ begar is dat all? _Iohn Rugby_ giue a ma pen
An {I}nck: tarche vn pettit tarche a little.
_The Doctor writes._
_Sim._ O God what a furious man is this?
_Quic._ Nay it is well he is no worse: 55
_I_ am glad he is so quiet.
_Doc._ Here giue that same to sir _Hu_, it ber ve chalenge
Begar tell him _I_ will cut his nase, will you?
_Sim._ _I_ sir, {I}le tell him so.
_Doc._ Dat be vell, my rapier _Iohn Rugby_, follow may. 60
_Exit Doctor._
_Quic._ Well my friend, _I_ cannot tarry, tell your
Maister {I}le doo what I can for him,
And so farewell.
_Sim._ Marry will I, I am glad I am got hence.
_Exit omnes._
NOTES: SCENE IV
24: _and_] _if._
26: _who_] _hoe._
31: _doore_] _the doore._
_Enter Mistresse _Page_, reading of a Letter._ [SC. V.]
_Mis. Pa._ Mistresse Page _I_ loue you. Ask me no reason,
Because theyr impossible to alledge. Your faire,
And _I_ am fat. You loue sack, so do _I_:
As _I_ am sure _I_ haue no mind but to loue,
So _I_ know you haue no hart but to grant 5
A souldier doth not vse many words where a knowes
A letter may serue for a sentence. _I_ loue you,
And so _I_ leaue you.
_Yours Syr Iohn Falstaffe._
Now Ieshu blesse me, am I methomorphised? 10
I think I knowe not my selfe. Why what a Gods name doth this man
see in me, that thus he shootes at my honestie? Well but that I
knowe my owne heart, I should scarcely perswade my selfe I were
hand. Why what an vnreasonable woolsack is this. He was neuer
twice in my companie, and if then I thought I gaue such assurance 15
with my eies, Ide pull them out, they should neuer see more holie
daies. Well, I shall trust fat men the worse while I liue for his sake.
O God, that I knew how to be reuenged of him. But in good time,
heeres mistresse _Foord_.
_Enter Mistresse _Foord_._
_Mis. For._ How now mistris _Page_, are you are reading Loue 20
letters? How do you woman?
_Mis. Pa._ O woman I am I know not what:
In loue vp to the hard eares. I was neuer in such a case in my life.
_Mis. Ford._ In loue, now in the name of God with whom?
_Mis. Pa._ With one that sweares he loues me, 25
And I must not choose but do the like againe:
I prethie looke on that Letter.
_Mis. For._ He match your letter iust with the like,
Line for line, word for word. Onely the name
Of misteris _Page_, and misteris _Foord_ disagrees: 30
Do me the kindnes to looke vpon this.
_Mis. Pa._ Why this is right my letter.
O most notorious villaine!
Why what a bladder of iniquity is this?
Lets be reuenged what so ere we do. 35
_Mis. For._ Reuenged, if we liue weel be reuenged.
O Lord if my husband should see this Letter,
Ifaith this would euen giue edge to his Iealousie.
_Enter Ford, Page, Pistoll, and Nym._
_Mis. Pa._ See where our husbands are,
Mine's as far from Iealousie, 40
As I am from wronging him.
_Pis._ _Ford_ the words I speake are forst:
Beware, take heed, for _Falstaffe_ loues thy wife:
When _Pistoll_ lies do this.
_Ford._ Why sir my wife is not young. 45
_Pis._ He wooes both yong and old, both rich and poore,
None comes amis. I say he loues thy wife:
Faire warning did I giue, take heed,
For sommer comes, and cuckoo birds appeare;
_Page_ belieue him what he ses. Away sir Corporal _Nym_. 50
_Exit Pistoll:_
_Nym._ Syr the humor of it is, he loues your wife,
I should ha borne the humor Letter to her:
I speake and I auouch tis true: My name is _Nym._
Farwell, I loue not the humor of bread and cheese:
And theres the humor of it. 55
_Exit Nym._
_Pa._ The humor of it, quoth you:
Heres a fellow frites humor out of his wits.
_Mis. Pa._ How now sweet hart, how dost thou?
_Enter Mistresse Quickly._
_Pa._ How now man? how do you mistris _Ford_?
_Mis. For._ Well I thanke you good M. _Page_. 60
How now husband, how chaunce thou art so melancholy?
_Ford._ Melancholy, I am not melancholy.
Goe get you in, goe.
_Mis. For._ God saue me, see who yonder is:
Weele set her a worke in this businesse. 65
_Mis Pa._ O sheele serue excellent.
Now you come to see my daughter _An_ I am sure.
_Quic._ I forsooth that is my comming.
_Mis. Pa._ Come go in with me. Come Mis. _Ford_.
_Mis. For._ I follow you Mistresse _Page_. 70
_Exit Mistresse _Ford_, Mis. _Page_, and _Quickly_._
_For._ M. _Page_ did you heare what these fellows said?
_Pa._ Yes M. _Ford_, what of that sir?
_For._ Do you thinke it is true that they told vs?
_Pa._ No by my troth do I not,
I rather take them to be paltry lying knaues, 75
Such as rather speakes of enuie,
Then of any certaine they haue
Of any thing. And for the knight, perhaps
He hath spoke merrily, as the fashion of fat men
Are: But should he loue my wife, 80
Ifaith Ide turne her loose to him:
And what he got more of her,
Then ill lookes, and shrowd words,
Why let me beare the penaltie of it.
_For._ Nay I do not mistrust my wife, 85
Yet Ide be loth to turne them together,
A man may be too confident.
_Enter Host and Shallow._
_Pa._ Here comes my ramping host of the garter,
Ther's either licker in his hed, or mony in his purse,
That he lookes so merily. Now mine Host? 90
_Host._ God blesse you my bully rookes, God blesse you.
Caualera Iustice I say.
_Shal._ At hand mine host, at hand. M. _Ford_. god den to you
God den and twentie good M. _Page_.
I tell you sir we haue sport in hand. 95
_Host._ Tell him cauelira Iustice: tell him bully rooke.
_Ford._ Mine Host a the garter:
_Host._ What ses my bully rooke?
_Ford._ A word with you sir.
_Ford and the Host talkes._
_Shal._ Harke you sir, Ile tell you what the sport shall be 100
Doctor Cayus and sir _Hu_ are to fight,
My merrie Host hath had the measuring
Of their weapons, and hath
Appointed them contrary places. Harke in your eare:
_Host:_ Hast thou no shute against my knight, 105
My guest, my cauellira.
_For._ None I protest: But tell him my name
Is _Rrooke_, onlie for a Iest.
_Host:_ Thy hand bully: thou shalt
Haue egres and regres, and thy 110
Name shall be _Brooke:_ Sed I well bully Hector?
_Shal._ I tell you what M. _Page_, I beleeue
The Doctor is no Iester, heele laie it on:
For tho we be Iustices and Doctors,
And Church men, yet we are 115
The sonnes of women M. _Page:_
_Pa:_ True maister _Shallow:_
_Shal:_ It will be found so maister _Page:_
_Pa._ Maister _Shallow_, you your selfe
Haue bene a great fighter, 120
Though now a man of peace:
_Shal:_ M. _{P}age_, I haue seene the day that yong
Tall fellowes with their stroke and their passado,
I haue made them trudge Maister _Page_,
A tis the hart, the hart doth all: I 125
Haue seene the day, with my two hand sword
I would a made you foure tall Fencers
Scipped like Rattes.
_Host._ Here boyes, shall we wag, shall we wag?
_Shal._ Ha with you mine host.
_Exit Host and Shallow._
_Pa._ Come M. _Ford_, shall we to dinner?
I know these fellowes sticks in your minde.
_For._ No in good sadnesse, not in mine:
Yet for all this Ile try it further,
I will not leaue it so: 135
Come M. _{P}age_, shall we to dinner?
_Page._ With all my hart sir, {I}le follow you.
_Exit omnes._
NOTES: SCENE V
5: _grant_] _grant._ Halliwell.
15: _twice_] _but twice._
31: _kindnes_] _kindness_ Halliwell.
61: _melancholy?_] _melancholy._ Halliwell.
93: _to you_] _t' e._
108: _Rrooke_] _Brooke._
_Enter Syr Iohn, and Pistoll._ [SC. VI.]
_Fal._ {I}le not lend thee a peny.
_Pis._ _I_ will retort the sum in equipage.
