Page:Henry IV Part 1 (1917) Yale.djvu/65

King Henry the Fourth, II. iv

panied: for though the camomile, the more it is

trodden on the faster it grows, yet youth, the

more it is wasted the sooner it wears: That thou

art my son, I have partly thy mother's word, part-

ly my own opinion; but chiefly, a villainous trick

of thine eye and a foolish hanging of thy nether

lip, that doth warrant me. If then thou be son to

me, here lies the point; why, being son to me,

art thou so pointed at? Shall the blessed sun of

heaven prove a micher and eat blackberries? a

question not to be asked. Shall the son of Eng-

land prove a thief and take purses? a question

to be asked. There is a thing, Harry, which thou

hast often heard of, and it is known to many in

our land by the name of pitch: this pitch, as an-

cient writers do report, doth defile; so doth the

company thou keepest; for, Harry, now I do not-

speak to thee in drink, but in tears, not in plea-

sure but in passion, not in words only, but in

woes also. And yet there is a virtuous man

whom I have often noted in thy company, but I

know not his name.

Prince. What manner of man, an it like your

majesty?

Fal. A goodly portly man, i' faith, and a cor-

pulent; of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye, and a

most noble carriage; and, as I think, his age

some fifty, or by'r lady, inclining to threescore;

and now I remember me, his name is Falstaff: if

that man should be lewdly given, he deceiveth

me; for, Harry, I see virtue in his looks. If then

the tree may be known by the fruit, as the fruit

 446 camomile: a strong-scented herb

451 nether: lower

455 micher: truant 