Part 2

(_He addresses BARDOLPH. As the speech goes on BARDOLPH’S jaw drops lower and lower as he gapes his astonishment_) Look you, he might have lived cleanly and forsworn sack, he might have been a gallant gentleman and begotten grandchildren and had a quiet nook at the ingleside to rest his old bones; but he is dead long since. He might have writ himself _armigero_ in many a bill or obligation or quittance or what not; he might have left something behind him save unpaid tavern bills; he might have heard cases, harried poachers and quoted old saws; and slept in his own family chapel through sermons yet unwrit, beneath his presentment, done in stone, and a comforting bit of Latin but he is dead long since.

(_MISTRESS QUICKLY too steals in._)

MISTRESS QUICKLY

Well, Sir John?

FALSTAFF

(_Continues his meditation, unaware of them_) Zooks, I prate like a death’s head. A thing done hath an end, God have mercy on us all! And I will read no more of the rubbish. (_He casts the papers into the heart of the fire; they blaze up and he watches them burn to the last spark. Then he gives himself a mighty shake_) A cup of sack to purge the brain! And I will go sup with Doll Tearsheet.

(_The curtain falls quickly, it also is happy the play hath ended._)

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.