thou canst. You are straight enough in the shoulders, you care not who sees your back: call you that backing of your friends? A plague upon such backing! Give me them that will face me. Give me a cup of sack. I am rogue, if I have drunk today.

P. Henry. O villain! thy lips are scarce wiped, since thou drank'st last.

Fal. All's one for that. A plague of all cowards, still

P. Henry. What's the matter?

say I. [He drinks.

Fal. What's the matter! There be four of us here have ta'en a thousand pounds this morning.

P. Henry. Where is it, Jack? where is it?

Fal. Where is it? Taken from us it is; a hundred upon poor four of us.

P. Henry. What! a hundred, man?

Fal. I am a rogue, if I were not at half sword with a dozen of them, for two hours together. I have 'scaped by miracle. I am eight times thrust through the +doublet; four, through the hose; my buckler cut through and through; my sword hacked like a hand-saw; look here: [shows his sword.] I never dealt better since I was a man; all would not do. A plague of all cowards! Let them speak; [pointing to GADSHILL, BARDOLPH, and PETO] if they speak more or less than truth, they are villains and the sons of darkness.

P. Henry. Speak, sirs; how was it?

Gadshill. We four, sat upon some dozen

Fal.

Sixteen, at least, my lord.

Gad. And bound them.

Peto. No, no, they were not bound.

Fal. You rogue, they were bound, every man of them; or I am a Jew, else an Ebrew Jew.

Gad. As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon

us

Fal. And unbound the rest; and then come in the other.

P. Henry. What! fought ye with them all?

Fal. All? I know not what ye call all; but if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish: if there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old Jack, then I am no two legged creature.

Poins. Pray heaven, you have not murdered some of them.

Fal. Nay, that's past praying for; for I have +peppered two of them; two I am sure I have paid; two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, and call me a horse. Thou knowest my old ward; [He draws his sword, and stands as if about to fight,] here I lay, and thus I bore my point. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me

P. Henry. What! four? Thou saidst but two even now,
Fal. Four, Hal; I told thee four.

Poins. Ay, ay, he said four.

Fal. These four came all a-front, and mainly thrust at me.

I made

no more ado, but took all their seven points on my +target, thus. P. Henry. Seven? Why, there were but four, even now.

Fal. Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else.

P. Henry. Pr'ythee, let him alone, we shall have more anon.
Fal. Dost thou hear me, Hal?

P. Henry. Ay, and mark thee, too, Jack.

Fal. Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These nine men in buckram, that I told thee of

P. Henry. So, two more already.

Fal. Their points being broken, began to give me ground; but I followed me close, came in foot and hand; and, with a thought, seven of the eleven I paid.

P. Henry. O, monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two! Fal. But three knaves, in Kendal green, came at my back, and let drive at me; for it was so dark, Hal, that thou could'st not see thy

hand.

P. Henry. These lies are like the father of them; gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou clay-brained, thou knotty-pated fool; thou greasy tallow-keech

Fal. What! Art thou mad? Art thou mad? Is not the truth the truth?

P. Henry. Why, how could 'st thou know these men in Kendal green, when it was so dark thou could 'st not see thy hand? Come, tell us your reason; What say 'st thou to this?

Poins. Come, your reason, Jack; your reason.

Fal. What, upon compulsion? No, were I at the strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on compulsion? If reasons were as plenty as blackberries, I would give no man a reason on compulsion.

P. Henry. I'll no longer be guilty of this sin: this sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back-breaker, this huge hill of flesh

Fal. Away! you + starveling, you eel-skin, you dried neat's tongue, you stock-fish-O for breath to utter what is like thee!-you tailor's yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you

P. Henry. Well, breathe awhile, and then to 't again; and when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons, hear me speak but this. Poins. Mark, Jack.

P. Henry. We two, saw you four, set on four; you bound them, and were masters of their wealth. Mark now, how plain a tale shall put you down. Then did we two, set on you four, and with a word out-faced you from your prize, and have it; yea, and can show it to you, here in the house: and, Falstaff, you carried yourself away as nimbly, with as quick dexterity, and roared for mercy, and still ran and roared, as ever I heard a calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight. What trick, what + device, what starting-hole canst thou now find out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame ?

+

Poins. Come, let's hear, Jack. What trick hast thou now?

Fal. Why, I knew ye, as well as he that made ye. Why, hear ye, my masters: was it for me to kill the heir-apparent? Should I turn upon the true prince? Why, thou knowest, Î ́am as valiant as Hercules; but beware instinct; the lion will not touch the true prince; +instinct is a great matter; I was a coward on instinct. I shall think the better of myself and thee, during my life; I for a valiant lion, and thou for a true prince. But, lads, I am glad you have the money.

Hostess, clap to the doors. Watch to-night, pray tomorrow. Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold; all the titles of good fellowship come to you! What, shall we be merry? Shall we have a play +extempore? P. Henry. Content; and the argument shall be thy running away. Fal. Ah! no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me.

SHAKSPEARE.

1.

LESSON CCIV.

COMBAT BETWEEN A CRUSADER AND SARACEN.

*

+

* As the Knight of the Leopard fixed his eyes attentively on the distant cluster of palm-trees, which arose beside the well assigned for his mid-day station, it seemed to him as if some object was moving among them. The distant form separated itself from the trees which partly hid its motions, and advanced toward the knight with a speed which soon showed a mounted horseman, whom his turban, long spear, and green caftan* floating in the wind, on his nearer approach, showed to be a +Saracen cavalier. "In the desert," saith an Eastern proverb, "no man meets a friend." The crusader was totally indifferent whether the infidel, who now approached on his gallant barb, as if borne on the wings of an eagle, came as friend or foe: perhaps, as a vowed champion of the Cross, he might rather have preferred the latter. He disengaged his lance from his saddle, seized it with the right hand, placed it in rest, with its point half elevated, gathered up the reins in the left, waked his horse's mettle with the spur, and prepared to encounter the stranger with the calm selfconfidence belonging to the victor in many contests.

2. The Saracen came on at the speedy gallop of an Arab horseman, managing his steed more by his limbs and the inflection of his body, than by any use of the reins, which hung loose in his left hand; so that he was enabled to wield the light, round buckler of the skin of the rhinoceros, ornamented with silver loops, which he wore on his arm, swinging it, as if he meant to oppose its slender circle to the formidable thrust of the western lance.

3. His own long spear was not couched, or leveled like that of his antagonist, but grasped by the middle with his right hand, and +brandished at arm's length, above his head. As the cavalier approached his enemy, at full career, he seemed to expect that the

* A kind of loose vest.

Knight of the Leopard should put his horse to the gallop, to encounter him. But the Christian knight, well acquainted with the customs of eastern warriors, did not mean to exhaust his good horse by any unnecessary exertion; and, on the contrary, made a dead halt, confident that if the enemy advanced to the actual shock, his own weight and that of his powerful charger would give him sufficient advantage, without the momentum gained by rapid motion.

4. Equally sensible and apprehensive of such a probable result, the Saracen cavalier, when he had approached toward the Christian within twice the length of his lance, wheeled his steed to the left, with inimitable dexterity, and rode twice around his antagonist, who, turning without quitting his ground, and presenting his front constantly to his enemy, +frustrated his attempts to attack him on an unguarded point; so that the Saracen, wheeling his horse, was fain to retreat to the distance of a hundred yards. A second time, like a hawk attacking a heron, the heathen renewed the charge, and, a second time, was fain to retreat without coming to a close struggle.

5. A third time, he approached in the same manner, when the Christian knight, desirous to terminate this illusory warfare, in which he might, at length, have been worn out by the activity of his foeman, suddenly seized the mace which hung at his saddlebow, and with a strong hand and unerring aim, hurled it against the head of his assailant. The Saracen was just aware of the formidable missile, in time to interpose his light buckler betwixt the mace and his head; but the violence of the blow forced the buckler down on his turban, and, though that defense also contributed to deaden its violence, the Saracen was beaten from his horse.

6. Ere the Christian could avail himself of this mishap, his nimble foeman sprung from the ground, and, calling on his steed, which instantly returned to his side, he leaped into his seat, and regained all the advantage of which the Knight of the Leopard had hoped to deprive him. But the latter had, in the mean while, recovered his mace, and the eastern cavalier, who remembered the strength and dexterity with which his antagonist had aimed it, seemed to keep cautiously out of reach of that weapon, of which he had so lately felt the force; while he showed his purpose of waging a distant warfare with missile weapons of his own. Planting his long spear in the sand at a distance from the scene of combat, he strung, with great address, a short bow which he carried at his back, and, putting his horse to the gallop, once more described two or three circles, of a wider extent than formerly, in the course of which he discharged six arrows with such

unerring skill, that the goodness of the knight's armor alone saved him from being wounded in as many places.

7. The seventh shaft apparently found a less perfect part of the harness, and the Christian dropped heavily from his horse. But what was the surprise of the Saracen, when, dismounting to examine the condition of his prostrate enemy, he found himself suddenly within the grasp of the European, who had had recourse to this artifice to bring his enemy within his reach! Even in this deadly grapple, the Saracen was saved by his agility and presence of mind. He unloosed the sword-belt, in which the Knight of the Leopard had fixed his hold, and thus eluding the fatal grasp, mounted his horse, which seemed to watch his motions with the intelligence of a human being, and again rode off.

8. But in the last encounter, the Saracen had lost his sword and his quiver of arrows, both of which were attached to the girdle, which he was obliged to abandon. He had also lost his turban in the struggle. These disadvantages seemed to incline the Moslem to a truce. He approached the Christian with his right hand extended, but no longer in a menacing attitude. "There is truce betwixt our nations," he said; "wherefore should there be war betwixt thee and me? Let there be peace betwixt us." "I am well contented," answered he of the Leopard; "but what security dost thou offer that thou wilt observe the truce?" "The word of a follower of the Prophet was never broken," answered the temir. "It is thou, brave Nazarene, from whom I should demand security, did I know that treason seldom dwells with courage." The crusader felt that the confidence of the Moslem made him ashamed of his own doubts. "I pledge thee on the cross of my sword," he said, laying his hand upon the weapon as he spoke, "I will be a true companion to thee, Saracen, while our fortune wills that we remain in company."

9. "By Mohammed, Prophet of Allah," replied his late foeman, "there is not treachery in my heart toward thee. And now, +wend we to yonder fountain, for the hour of rest is at hand, and the stream had hardly touched my lip, when I was called to battle by thy approach." The Knight of the Leopard yielded a ready and courteous assent; and the late foes, without an angry look or gesture of doubt, rode, side by side, to the little cluster of palm trees.

WALTER SCOTT.