Enter COSTARD armed, for Pompey.

Cost. "I Pompey am,

Boyet.

Cost. "I Pompey am,-
Boyet.

You lie, you are not he.

With libbard's head on knee 5.

Biron. Well said, old mocker: I must needs be friends with thee.

Cost. "I Pompey am, Pompey surnam'd the big,-" Dum. The great.

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Cost. It is great, sir;—“ Pompey surnam'd the great ; That oft in field, with targe and shield, did make my foe to sweat:

And travelling along this coast I here am come by

chance,

And lay my arms before the legs of this sweet lass of France."

If your ladyship would say, "Thanks, Pompey," I had done. Prin. Great thanks, great Pompey.

Cost. "Tis not so much worth; but, I hope, I was perfect. I made a little fault in, “great.”

Biron. My hat to a halfpenny, Pompey proves the best Worthy.

Enter Sir NATHANIEL armed, for Alexander.

Nath.

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When in the world I liv'd, I was the world's commander;

By east, west, north, and south, I spread my conquering

might:

My 'scutcheon plain declares, that I am Alisander." Boyet. Your nose says, no, you are not; for it stands too rights.

Biron. Your nose smells, no, in this, most tendersmelling knight.

5 With libbard's head on knee.] Pompey wore a libbard's or panther's head upon his knee.

6- it stands TOO RIGHT.] "It should be remembered," Steevens remarks, "to relish this joke, that the head of Alexander was obliquely placed on his shoulders."

Prin. The conqueror is dismay'd. Proceed, good

Alexander.

Nath. "When in the world I liv'd, I was the world's

commander;"

Boyet. Most true; 'tis right: you were so, Alisander. Biron. Pompey the great,

Cost. Your servant, and Costard.

Biron. Take away the conqueror, take away Alisander. Cost. O! sir, [To NATH.] you have overthrown Alisander the conqueror. You will be scraped out of the painted cloth for this: your lion, that holds his pollaxe sitting on a close-stool', will be given to Ajax: he will be the ninth Worthy. A conqueror, and afeard to speak? run away for shame, Alisander. [NATH. retires.] There, an't shall please you: a foolish mild man; an honest man, look you, and soon dash'd! He is a marvellous good neighbour, faith, and a very good bowler; but, for Alisander, alas! you see, how 'tis ;—a little o'erparted. But there are Worthies a coming will speak their mind in some other sort.

Prin. Stand aside, good Pompey.

Enter HOLOFERNES armed, for Judas, and MOTH armed, for Hercules.

Hol. "Great Hercules is presented by this imp, Whose club kill'd Cerberus, that three-headed

canis ;

And, when he was a babe, a child, a shrimp,

Thus did he strangle serpents in his manus.

Quoniam, he seemeth in minority,

Ergo, I come with this apology.—

Keep some state in thy exit, and vanish. [Exit MOTH. Hol. "Judas I am,"

7 lion, that holds his poll-axe sitting on a close-stool,] “This alludes to the arms given in the old history of The Nine Worthies,'" says Tollet, “to ‘Alexander, the which did beare geules, a lion or sciante in a chayer, holding a battle-ax argent.'" Leigh's Accidence of Armory, 1597, p. 23. The second part of the joke arises out of the similarity of sound between Ajax and a jakes.

- good neighbour, FAITH,] The folio has in sooth.

Dum. A Judas!

Hol. Not Iscariot, sir.

"Judas I am, yclep'd Maccabeus."

Dum. Judas Maccabeus clipt is plain Judas.
Biron. A kissing traitor. How art thou prov'd
Judas?

Hol. "Judas I am,"

Dum. The more shame for you, Judas.

Hol. What mean you, sir?

Boyet. To make Judas hang himself.

Hol. Begin, sir: you are my elder.

Biron. Well follow'd: Judas was hang'd on an elder. Hol. I will not be put out of countenance.

Biron. Because thou hast no face.

Hol. What is this?

Boyet. A cittern head.

Dum. The head of a bodkin.

Biron. A death's face in a ring.

Long. The face of an old Roman coin, scarce seen. Boyet. The pummel of Cæsar's faulchion.

Dum. The carv'd-bone face on a flask.

Biron. St. George's half-cheek in a brooch.

Dum. Ay, and in a brooch of lead.

Biron. Ay, and worn in the cap of a tooth-drawer. And now forward, for we have put thee in countenance. Hol. You have put me out of countenance.

Biron. False: we have given thee faces.

Hol. But you have out-fac'd them all.

Biron. An thou wert a lion, we would do so. Boyet. Therefore, as he is an ass, let him go. And so adieu, sweet Jude! nay, why dost thou stay? Dum. For the latter end of his name.

Biron. For the ass to the Jude? give it him :

Jud-as, away.

Hol. This is not generous, not gentle, not humble. Boyet. A light for monsieur Judas! it grows dark, he may stumble.

Prin. Alas, poor Maccabeus, how hath he been baited!

Enter ARMADO armed, for Hector.

Biron. Hide thy head, Achilles: here comes Hector in arms.

Dum. Though my mocks come home by me, I will now be merry.

King. Hector was but a Trojan in respect of this.
Boyet. But is this Hector?

King. I think Hector was not so clean-timber'd.
Long. His leg is too big for Hector's.

Dum. More calf, certain.

Boyet. No; he is best indued in the small.

Biron. This cannot be Hector.

Dum. He's a god or a painter; for he makes faces.

Arm. "The armipotent Mars, of lances the almighty,

Gave Hector a gift,—”

Dum. A gift nutmeg 3.

Biron. A lemon.

Long. Stuck with cloves.

Dum. No, cloven.

Arm. Peace 10!

"The armipotent Mars, of lances the almighty,
Gave Hector a gift, the heir of Ilion;

A man so breath'd, that certain he would fight, yea,
From morn till night, out of his pavilion.

I am that flower,-"

Dum.
Long.

That mint.

That columbine.

Arm. Sweet lord Longaville, rein thy tongue. Long. I must rather give it the rein, for it runs against Hector.

Dum. Ay, and Hector's a greyhound.

Arm. The sweet war-man is dead and rotten: sweet

A gift nutmeg.] The folio has "a gilt nutmeg," which may be right; but "a gift nutmeg," the reading of the 4to, is perfectly intelligible.

10 Arm. PEACE !] Omitted in the folio, 1623.

chucks, beat not the bones of the buried: when he breathed, he was a man ".-But I will forward with my device. Sweet royalty, bestow on me the sense of hearing. [BIRON whispers COSTARD. Prin. Speak, brave Hector: we are much delighted. Arm. I do adore thy sweet grace's slipper. Boyet. Loves her by the foot.

Dum. He may not by the yard.

Arm. "This Hector far surmounted Hannibal,”— Cost. The party is gone 2: fellow Hector, she is she is two months on her way.

Arm. What meanest thou?

gone;

Cost. Faith, unless you play the honest Trojan, the poor wench is cast away: she's quick; the child brags in her belly already: 'tis yours.

Arm. Dost thou infamonize me among potentates? Thou shalt die.

Cost. Then shall Hector be whipp'd for Jaquenetta that is quick by him, and hang'd for Pompey that is dead by him.

Dum. Most rare Pompey!

Boyet. Renowned Pompey !

Biron. Greater than great, great, great, great Pompey! Pompey the huge!

Dum. Hector trembles.

Biron. Pompey is moved.-More Ates, more Ates! stir them on! stir them on!

Dum. Hector will challenge him.

Biron. Ay, if a' have no more man's blood in's belly than will sup a flea.

Arm. By the north pole, I do challenge thee.

Cost. I will not fight with a pole, like a northern man I'll slash; I'll do it by the sword.-I pray you, let me borrow my arms again.

11 — when he breathed, he was a man.] These words, found in the 4to, 1598, are omitted in the folios.

12 The party is gone:] In the old copies these words are printed in italic, and might be taken either as part of the speech of Armado, or as a stage-direction.