King Henry V · William Shakespeare
SCENE II.--INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL AT TROYES IN CHAMPAGNE.
_Trumpets sound. Enter, at one door, U.E.L.H., KING HENRY,(A) BEDFORD, GLOSTER, EXETER, WARWICK, WESTMORELAND, and other Lords; at another, U.E.R.H., the FRENCH KING, QUEEN ISABEL, the PRINCESS KATHARINE,[7](B) Lords, Ladies, &c., the Duke of BURGUNDY, and his Train. The two parties, French and English, are divided by barriers._ _K. Hen._ (L.C.) Peace to this meeting, wherefore we are met![8] Unto our brother France,--and to our sister, Health and fair time of day;--joy and good wishes To our most fair and princely cousin Katharine; And (as a branch and member of this royalty, By whom this great assembly is contriv'd,) We do salute you, duke of Burgundy;-- And, princes French, and peers, health to you all! [_All the French party bow to KING HENRY._ _Fr. King._ (R.C.) Right joyous are we to behold your face, Most worthy brother England; fairly met:-- So are you, princes English, every one. _Q. Isa._ (_R. of F. KING._) So happy be the issue, brother England, Of this good day, and of this gracious meeting, As we are now glad to behold your eyes; Your eyes, which hitherto have borne in them Against the French, that met them in their bent, The fatal balls of murdering basilisks:[9] The venom of such looks, we fairly hope, Have lost their quality; and that this day Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.
_K. Hen._ To cry amen to that, thus we appear. _Q.Isa._ You English princes all, I do salute you. [_All the English party bow to QUEEN ISABELLA._ _Bur._ (R.) My duty to you both, on equal love, Great kings of France and England! Let it not disgrace me, If I demand, before this royal view, What rub or what impediment there is, Why that the naked, poor, and mangled peace Dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful births, Should not, in this best garden of the world, Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage? _K. Hen._ If, duke of Burgundy, you would the peace, Which you have cited, you must buy that peace With full accord to all our just demands; Whose tenours and particular effects You have, enschedul'd briefly, in your hands. _Fr. King._ I have but with a cursorary eye O'er-glanc'd the articles: pleaseth your grace To appoint some of your council presently To sit with us once more, with better heed To re-survey them, we will suddenly Pass our accept and peremptory answer.[10] _K. Hen._ Brother, we shall.--Go, uncle Exeter,-- And brother Bedford,--and you, brother Gloster,-- Warwick,--and Huntingdon,--go with the king; And take with you free power, to ratify, Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best Shall see advantageable for our dignity, And we'll consign thereto.--
_Kath._ _O bon Dieu! les langues des hommes sont pleines de tromperies._ _K. Hen._ What say you, fair one? _Kath._ Dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits. _K. Hen._ I'faith, Kate. I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say--I love you: then, if you urge me further than to say--Do you in faith? I wear out my suit. Give me your answer; i'faith, do; and so clap hands and a bargain: How say you, lady? _Kath._ Me understand well. _K. Hen._ Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for your sake, Kate, why you undid me. If I could win a lady at leap-frog, or by vaulting into my saddle with my armour on my back, under the correction of bragging, be it spoken, I should quickly leap into a wife. But, before Heaven, I cannot look greenly,[11] nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation; only downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sun-burning, that never looks in his glass for love of any thing he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain soldier: If thou canst love me for this, take me; if not, to say to thee--that I shall die, is true, but--for thy love, by the lord, no; yet I love thee too. And while thou livest, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoined constancy;[12] for a good leg will fall;[13] a straight back will stoop; a black beard will turn white; a curled pate will grow bald; a fair face will wither; a full eye will wax hollow: but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and moon; or, rather, the sun, and not the moon, for it shines bright, and never changes, but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me: And take me, take a soldier; take a soldier, take a king: And what sayest thou, then, to my love? speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee.
_Kath._ Est il possible dat I should love de enemy de la France? _K. Hen._ No; it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate: but, in loving me, you should love the friend of France; for I love France so well, that I will not part with a village of it; I will have it all mine: and, Kate, when France is mine, and I am yours, then yours is France, and you are mine. _Kath._ Vat is dat? _K. Hen._ Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me? _Kath._ I cannot tell. _K. Hen._ Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate? I'll ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me: and at night, when you come into your closet, you'll question this gentlewoman about me; and I know, Kate, you will to her dispraise those parts in me that you love with your heart. If ever thou be'st mine, Kate, (as I have a saving faith within me, tells me,--thou shalt,) shall there not be a boy compounded between Saint Dennis and Saint George, half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople[14] and take the Turk by the beard? shall he not? what sayest thou, my fair flower-de-luce? How answer you, _la plus belle Katharine du monde, mon tres chere et divine deesse?_
_Kath._ _Votre majeste_ 'ave _fausse_ French enough to deceive _la plus sage damoiselle_ dat is _en France._ _K. Hen._ Now, fie upon my false French! By mine honour, in true English, I love thee, Kate: by which honour I dare not swear thou lovest me; yet my blood begins to flatter me that thou dost, notwithstanding the poor and untempting effect of my visage. But, in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear: my comfort is, that old age, that ill layer-up of beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face: thou hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst; and thou shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better: And therefore tell me, most fair Katharine, will you have me? Put off your maiden blushes; avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress; take me by the hand, and say--Harry of England, I am thine: which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine ear withal, but I will tell thee aloud--England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Henry Plantagenet is thine; who, though I speak it before his face, if he be not fellow with the best king, thou shalt find the best king of good fellows. Come, your answer in broken musick, for thy voice is musick, and thy English broken; therefore, queen of all, Katharine, break thy mind to me in broken English, Wilt thou have me?
_Kath._ Dat is as it shall please _le roi mon pere_. _K. Hen._ Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate. _Kath._ Den it shall also content me. _K. Hen._ Upon that I will kiss your hand, and I call you--my queen. _Kath._ _Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez._ _K. Hen._ Then I will kiss your lips, Kate. _Kath._ Dat is not be de fashion _pour les_ dames _de la_ France. _K. Hen._ O Kate, nice customs curt'sy to great kings. We are the makers of manners, Kate; therefore, patiently, and yielding. (_Kisses her._) You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate: there is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than in the tongues of the French council; and they should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of monarchs. (_Trumpets sound._) Here comes your father. [_The centre gates are thrown open, and_ _Re-enter the FRENCH KING and QUEEN, BURGUNDY, BEDFORD, GLOSTER, EXETER, WESTMORELAND. The other French and English Lords as before, U.E.R. and L._ _Bur._ (R.) My royal cousin, teach you our princess English? _K. Hen._ (C.) I would have her learn, my fair cousin, how perfectly I love her; and that is good English. _Bur._ Is she not apt? _K. Hen._ Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition is not smooth;[15] so that, having neither the voice nor the heart of flattery about me, I cannot so conjure up the spirit of love in her, that he will appear in his true likeness. Shall Kate be my wife?
_Fr. King._ (L.C.) So please you. _Exe._ The king hath granted every article: His daughter, first; and then, in sequel, all, According to their firm proposed natures. _Fr. King._ Take her, fair son; That the contending kingdoms Of France and England, whose very shores look pale With envy of each other's happiness, May cease their hatred; and this dear conjunction Plant neighbourhood and christian-like accord In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance His bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair France. _K. Hen._ Now, welcome, Kate:--and bear me witness all, That here I take her as my sovereign queen. [_The KING places a ring on KATHARINE'S finger._ Prepare we for our marriage:--on which day, My lord of Burgundy, we'll take your oath, And all the peers', for surety of our leagues.-- Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me; And may our oaths well kept and prosp'rous be!(C) [_Flourish of Trumpets. Curtain descends._ [Footnote V.4: _----gleeking_] i.e., scoffing, sneering. _Gleek_ was a game at cards.] [Footnote V.5: _----English +condition+._] _Condition_ is temper, disposition of mind.] [Footnote V.6: _----Doth fortune play the +huswife+_] That is, the _jilt_.] [Footnote V.8: _----wherefore we are met!_] i.e., Peace, for which we are here met, be to this meeting.] [Footnote V.9: _The fatal balls of murdering basilisks:_] It was anciently supposed that this serpent could destroy the object of its vengeance by merely looking at it.]
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.