The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (130 page)

Up to his pleasure, ransomless and free:

His valour, shown upon our crests to-day,

Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds

Even in the bosom of our adversaries.

Then, brother John of Lancaster, you

shall have this honourable task:

go to the Douglas, and let him

go where he wants, free without ransom:

his bravery, which you can see from the dents in my helmet,

has taught me how to value such great deeds,

even when they are done by our enemies.

KING.

Then this remains, that we divide our power.--

You, son John, and my cousin Westmoreland,

Towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed,

To meet Northumberland and the prelate Scroop,

Who, as we hear, are busily in arms:

Myself,--and you, son Harry,--will towards Wales,

To fight with Glendower and the Earl of March.

Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway,

Meeting the check of such another day;

And since this business so fair is done,

Let us not leave till all our own be won.

Then all that remains is to divide our forces.

You, my son John, and my cousin Westmoreland,

shall go to York as fast as you can,

to fight Northumberland and the Bishop Scroop,

who, we hear, are busy arming themselves:

myself–and you, son Harry–will go towards Wales,

to fight with Glendower and the Earl of March.

If the rebellion has to face another day

like this one it will lose its power;

as we've had such a good result here,

let's not stop until we have triumphed over all.

[Exeunt.]

The End

In Plain and Simple English

RUMOUR, the Presenter.

KING HENRY the Fourth.

His sons

HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, afterwards King Henry V.

THOMAS, DUKE OF CLARENCE.

PRINCE JOHN OF LANCASTER.

PRINCE HUMPHREY OF GLOUCESTER.

EARL OF WARWICK.

EARL OF WESTMORELAND.

EARL OF SURREY.

GOWER.

HARCOURT.

BLUNT.

Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

A Servant of the Chief-Justice.

EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND.

SCROOP, Archbishop of York.

LORD MOWBRAY.

LORD HASTINGS.

LORD BARDOLPH.

SIR JOHN COLEVILLE.

TRAVERS and MORTON, retainers of Northumberland.

SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.

His Page.

BARDOLPH.

PISTOL.

POINS.

PETO.

SHALLOW and SILENCE, country justices.

DAVY, Servant to Shallow.

MOULDY, SHADOW, WART, FEEBLE, and BULLCALF, recruits.

FANG and SNARE, sheriff's officers.

LADY NORTHUMBERLAND.

LADY PERCY.

MISTRESS QUICKLY, hostess of a tavern in Eastcheap.

DOLL TEARSHEET.

Lords and Attendants; Porter, Drawers, Beadles, Grooms, etc.

A Dancer, speaker of the epilogue.

SCENE: England.

Warkworth. Before the castle.

[Enter Rumour, painted full of tongues.]

RUMOUR.

Open your ears; for which of you will stop

The vent of hearing when loud Rumour speaks?

I, from the orient to the drooping west,

Making the wind my post-horse, still unfold

The acts commenced on this ball of earth:

Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,

The which in every language I pronounce,

Stuffing the ears of men with false reports.

I speak of peace, while covert emnity

Under the smile of safety wounds the world:

And who but Rumour, who but only I,

Make fearful musters and prepared defence,

Whiles the big year, swoln with some other grief,

Is thought with child by the stern tyrant war,

And no such matter? Rumour is a pipe

Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures,

And of so easy and so plain a stop

That the blunt monster with uncounted heads,

The still-discordant wavering multitude,

Can play upon it. But what need I thus

My well-known body to anatomize

Among my household? Why is Rumour here?

I run before King Harry's victory;

Who in a bloody field by Shrewsbury

Hath beaten down young Hotspur and his troops,

Quenching the flame of bold rebellion

Even with the rebels' blood. But what mean I

To speak so true at first? my office is

To noise abroad that Harry Monmouth fell

Under the wrath of noble Hotspur's sword,

And that the king before the Douglas' rage

Stoop'd his anointed head as low as death.

This have I rumour'd through the peasant towns

Between that royal field of Shrewsbury

And this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone,

Where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland,

Lies crafty-sick:  the posts come tiring on,

And not a man of them brings other news

Than they have learn'd of me:  from Rumour's tongues

They bring smooth comforts false, worse than true wrongs.

Listen to me; for who will stop

listening when loud Rumour speaks?

I shall tell you about all the events

that have happened on this earth,

covering everything from East to West,

riding on the wind.

Continual falsehoods will come from my tongue,

spoken in every language,

filling the years of men with false reports.

I shall talk of peace while secret hatred

causes harm under the disguise of safety;

and who else but Rumour, only me,

can make armies gather, defences be prepared,

make everyone think war is bound

to come this year, when it

certainly isn't? The music of Rumour

is made up of guesses, suspicions, imagination,

it's so easy to play that the great

masses of the public

can play it. But why do I need to

explain this to you, who know me well?

Why is Rumour here?

I'm running ahead of King Harry's victory,

who in a bloody battle at Shrewsbury

has defeated young Hotspur and his troops,

putting out the flame of bold rebellion

with the blood of the rebels. But what am I doing

speaking the truth? My job is

to spread the gossip that Harry Monmouth fell

at the hands of noble Hotspur,

and that the King bowed his holy head

as low as death in the face of the anger of Douglas.

I have spread this rumour through the peasant towns

that lie between the royal battlefield of Shrewsbury

and this worm-eaten castle of crumbling stone,

where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland,

lies faking sickness. The messengers ride themselves to exhaustion,

and there's not one of them carrying any other news

except what I have spread. From the tongue of Rumour

they are bringing false comfort, which is worse than real bad news.

[Exit.]