A side-by-side translation of Act 2, Scene 2 of Henry IV Part 1 from the original Shakespeare into modern English.
Original Text |
Translated Text |
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Source: Folger Shakespeare Library | |
Enter Prince, Poins, Bardolph, and Peto. POINS Come, shelter, shelter! I have removed Falstaff’s PRINCE Stand close. Poins, Bardolph, and Peto exit. Enter Falstaff. FALSTAFF Poins! Poins, and be hanged! Poins! PRINCE Peace, you fat-kidneyed rascal. What a brawling 5 FALSTAFF Where’s Poins, Hal? PRINCE He is walked up to the top of the hill. I’ll go
Enter the Prince, Poins, Peto, and Bardolph. PRINCEPeace, you fat guts! Lie down, lay thine ear FALSTAFF Have you any levers to lift me up again being PRINCE Thou liest. Thou art not colted; thou art FALSTAFF I prithee, good Prince Hal, help me to my PRINCEOut, you rogue! Shall I be your ostler? 45 FALSTAFF Hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent | Hal, Falstaff, Poins, Peto, and Bardolph gather on a roadside at Gads Hill in anticipation of the robbery they've planned. Because Poins has hidden Falstaff's horse, Falstaff complains he's too fat to walk – he'll wheeze and fart if he has to waddle too far. Falstaff jokes that Poins has bewitched him because, even though he's a rascal, Falstaff still loves him. |
Enter Gadshill. GADSHILL Stand. FALSTAFF So I do, against my will. POINS O, ’tis our setter. I know his voice. BARDOLPH What news? GADSHILL Case you, case you. On with your vizards. 55 | Gadshill arrives (presumably, from the inn he visited in the last scene) and greets his cronies, who are hiding in wait. Bardolph (or Gadshill, depending on your edition of the play) says the king's exchequer (treasury) is coming down the road – everyone be quiet and get ready to pounce! |
FALSTAFF You lie, you rogue. ’Tis going to the King’s GADSHILL There’s enough to make us all. 60 FALSTAFF To be hanged. PRINCE Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow PETO How many be there of them? 65 GADSHILL Some eight or ten. FALSTAFF Zounds, will they not rob us? PRINCE What, a coward, Sir John Paunch? FALSTAFF Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather, PRINCE Well, we leave that to the proof. POINS Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge. FALSTAFF Now cannot I strike him, if I should be 75 | Falstaff worries they'll all be hanged for stealing from the king, but the others are psyched about getting rich. |
PRINCE, aside to Poins Ned, where are our disguises? POINS, aside to Prince Here, hard by. Stand close. The Prince and Poins exit. FALSTAFF Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, They step aside. | Hal and Poins sneak off and disguise themselves while Falstaff, Gadshill, Bardolph, and Peto lie in wait for the exchequer. |
Enter the Travelers. FIRST TRAVELER Come, neighbor, the boy shall lead THIEVES, advancing Stand! TRAVELERS Jesus bless us! 85 FALSTAFF Strike! Down with them! Cut the villains’ TRAVELERS O, we are undone, both we and ours 90 FALSTAFF Hang, you gorbellied knaves! Are you undone? Here they rob them and bind them. They all exit. Enter the Prince and Poins, disguised. PRINCE The thieves have bound the true men. Now POINS Stand close, I hear them coming. They step aside. Enter the Thieves again. FALSTAFF Come, my masters, let us share, and then to As they are sharing, the Prince PRINCE Your money! POINS Villains! They all run away, and Falstaff, after a blow or two, PRINCE POINS How the fat rogue roared! They exit. | After Falstaff and company rob the king's men, Hal and Poins jump out of the bushes and yell "stick 'em up!" They slap Falstaff around a bit and take away his stolen loot. Falstaff runs off with his tail between his legs while Hal and Poins high-five. |