Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Re-enter Sheriff, with ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE, and
PHILIP, his baftard brother.

This expedition's charge.-What men are you?
Baft. Your faithful subject I, a gentleman,
Born in Northamptonshire; and eldest son,
As I fuppofe, to Robert Faulconbridge;
A foldier, by the honour-giving hand
Of Cœur-de-lion knighted in the field.
K. John. What art thou?

Rob. The fon and heir to that fame Faulconbridge.
K. John. Is that the elder, and art thou the heir ?
You came not of one mother then, it seems.

Baft. Most certain of one mother, mighty king. That is well known; and, as I think, one father: But, for the certain knowledge of that truth,

I put you o'er to heaven, and to my mother;

Of that I doubt, as all men's children may.

Eli. Out on thee, rude man! thou doft fhame thy mother,

And wound her honour with this diffidence.

Baft. I, madam? no, I have no reason for it;
That is my brother's plea, and none of mine ;
The which if he can prove, 'a pops me out
At least from fair five hundred pound a year :
Heaven guard my mother's honour, and my land!

K. John. A good blunt fellow :-Why, being younger born,

Doth he lay claim to thine inheritance?

Baft. I know not why, except to get the land.
But once he flander'd me with bastardy :
But whe'r I be as true begot, or no,
That ftill I lay upon my mother's head;
But, that I am as well begot, my liege,

[blocks in formation]

(Fair fall the bones that took the pains for me!)
Compare our faces, and be judge yourself.
If old fir Robert did beget us both,

And were our father, and this fon like him ;

O old fir Robert, father, on my knee

I give heaven thanks, I was not like to thee.

K. John. Why, what a madcap hath heaven lent us here!

Eli. He hath a trick of Coeur-de-lion's face,

The accent of his tongue affecteth him :
Do you not read fome tokens of my fon
In the large compofition of this man?

K. John. Mine eye hath well examined his parts,
And finds them perfect Richard.——Sirrah, speak,
What doth move you to claim your brother's land?
Baft. Because he hath a half-face, like my father;
With that half-face would he have all my land:
A half-faced groat five hundred pound a year!

Rob. My gracious liege, when that my father liv'd,
Your brother did employ my father much;-

Baft. Well, fir, by this you cannot get my land;
Your tale muft be, how he employ'd my mother.
Rob. And once dispatch'd him in an embassy
To Germany, there, with the emperor,
To treat of high affairs touching that time :
The advantage of his absence took the king,
And in the mean time fojourn'd at my father's;
Where how he did prevail, I shame to speak :
But truth is truth; large lengths of feas and fhores
Between my father and my mother lay,
(As I have heard my father speak himself,)
When this fame lufty gentleman was got.
Upon his death-bed he by will bequeath'd
His lands to me; and took it, on his death,

That

That this, my mother's fon, was none of his ;.
And, if he were, he came into the world

Full fourteen weeks before the course of time.
Then, good my liege, let me have what is mine,
My father's land, as was my father's will.

K. John. Sirrah, your brother is legitimate;
Your father's wife did after wedlock bear him :
And, if the did play false, the fault was hers;
Which fault lies on the hazards of all husbands
That marry wives. Tell me, how if my brother,
Who, as you fay, took pains to get this fon,
Had of your father claim'd this fon for his?

In footh, good friend, your father might have kept
This calf, bred from his cow, from all the world;
In footh, he might: then, if he were my brother's,
My brother might not claim him; nor your father,
Being none of his, refuse him: This concludes,-
My mother's fon did get your father's heir;
Your father's heir must have your father's land.
Rob. Shall then my father's will be of no force,
To difpoffefs that child which is not his?

Baft. Of no more force to difpoffefs me, fir,
Than was his will to get me, as I think.

Eli. Whether hadft thou rather,-be a Faulconbridge, And like thy brother, to enjoy thy land;

Or the reputed fon of Coeur-de-lion,
Lord of thy presence, and no land befide?

Baft. Madam, an if my brother had my shape,
And I had his, fir Robert his, like him;
And if my legs were two fuch riding-rods,
My arms fuch eelskins stuff'd; my face fo thin,
That in mine ear I durft not stick a rose,

Left men should fay, Look, where three-farthings goes!
And, to his fhape, were heir to all this land,

[blocks in formation]

'Would I might never ftir from off this place, I'd give it every foot to have this face ;

I would not be fir Nob in any case.

Eli. I like thee well; Wilt thou forfake thy fortune, Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me? I am a foldier, and now bound to France.

Baft. Brother, take you my land, I'll take my Your face hath got five hundred pounds a year; Yet fell your face for fivepence, and 'tis dear.Madam, I'll follow you unto the death.

chance :

Eli. Nay, I would have you go before me thither.
Baft. Our country manners give our betters way.
K. John. What is thy name?

Baft. Philip, my liege; fo is my name begun;
Philip, good old fir Robert's wife's eldeft fon.

K. John. From henceforth bear his name whose form thou bear'ft:

Kneel thou down Philip, but arise more great;

Arife fir Richard, and Plantagenet.

Baft. Brother by the mother's fide, give me your hand; My father gave me honour, yours gave land::-

Now blessed be the hour, by night or day,
When I was got, fir Robert was away.

Eli. The very fpirit of Plantagenet !—

I am thy grandame, Richard; call me fo.

Baft. Madam, by chance, but not by truth: What though?

Something about, a little, from the right,

In at the window, or else o'er the hatch:

Who dares not ftir by day, muft walk by night:

And have is have, however men do catch:

Near or far off, well won is ftill well fhot:
And I am I, howe'er I was begot.

K. John. Go, Faulconbridge; now haft thou thy defire,

I

A landless

A landless knight makes thee á landed 'fquire.-
Come, madam, and come, Richard; we must speed
For France, for France; for it is more than need.
Baft. Brother, adieu; Good fortune coine to thee!
For thou waft got i'the way of honesty.

[Exeunt all but the Bastard.

A foot of honour better than I was;
But many a many foot of land the worse.
Well, now can I make any Joan a lady :
Good den, fir Richard,—God-a-mercy, fellow ;—
And if his name be George, I'll call him Peter:
For new-made honour doth forget men's names;
'Tis too respective, and too fociable,

For your converfion. Now your traveller,-
He and his tooth-pick at my worship's mess;
And when my knightly stomach is fuffic'd,
Why then I fuck my teeth, and catechise
My picked man of countries :-

[ocr errors]

-My dear fir, (Thus, leaning on mine elbow, I begin,)

I fhall befeech you-That is queftion now;
And then comes answer like an ABC-book :---
O fir, fays anfwer, at your best command;
At your employment; at your fervice, fir :-
No, fir, fays queftion; I, fweet fir, at yours:
And so, ere answer knows what question would,
(Saving in dialogue of compliment;

And talking of the Alps, aad Apennines,

The Pyrenean, and the river Po,)

It draws toward supper in conclusion so.

But this is worshipful society,

And fits the mounting spirit, like myself :
For he is but a bastard to the time,

That doth not smack of observation;
(And fo am I, whether I smack, or no;)

[blocks in formation]
« ZurückWeiter »