But this frank contempt of lying is not the only or the chief characteristic possessed by Hotspur and Harry Percy in common. Hotspur disdains the Prince:
“Hot. Where is his son,
The nimble-footed mad-cap Prince of Wales,
And his comrádes that daffed the world aside
And bid it pass?”
and the Prince mimics and makes fun of Hotspur:
“P. Hen. He that kills me some six or seven dozen
of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands and says to his
wife, 'Fie upon this quiet life! I want work.'”
Then Hotspur brags of what he will do when he meets his rival:
“Hot. Once ere night
I will embrace him with a soldier's arm,
That he shall shrink under my courtesy.”
And in precisely the same strain Prince Henry talks to his father:
“P. Hen. The time will come
That I shall make this northern youth exchange
His glorious deeds for my indignities.”
It is true that Prince Henry on more than one occasion praises Hotspur, while Hotspur is content to praise himself, but the differentiation is too slight to be significant: such as it is, it is well seen when the two heroes meet.
“Hot. My name is Harry Percy.
P. Hen. Why, then I see
A very valiant rebel of that name.”