Prince. Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou flesh'd[3216]
Thy maiden sword.
Lan. But, soft! whom have we here?[3217]130
Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?
Prince. I did; I saw him dead,[3218]
Breathless and bleeding on the ground. Art thou alive?[3218][3219]
Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight?[3218]
I prithee, speak; we will not trust our eyes[3218]135
Without our ears: thou art not what thou seem'st.[3218]
Fal. No, that's certain; I am not a double man: but if
I be not Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy[3220]
[throwing the body down]: if your father will do me any[3221]
honour, so; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself. I[3222]140
look to be either earl or duke, I can assure you.
Prince. Why, Percy I killed myself, and saw thee dead.[3223]
Fal. Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given[3224]
to lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath; and
so was he: but we rose both at an instant, and fought a long145
hour by Shrewsbury clock. If I may be believed, so; if not,
let them that should reward valour bear the sin upon their
own heads. I'll take it upon my death, I gave him this[3225]
wound in the thigh: if the man were alive, and would deny
it, 'zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.[3226]150
Lan. This is the strangest tale that ever I heard.[3227]
Prince. This is the strangest fellow, brother John.
Come, bring your luggage nobly on your back:
For my part, if a lie may do thee grace,
I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.155
[A retreat is sounded.[3228]
The trumpet sounds retreat; the day is ours.[3229]
Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field,
To see what friends are living, who are dead.[3230]