So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy,
Which, in the time of Henry, nam'd the fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,-
That Henry, born at Monmouth, should win all;
And Henry, born at Windsor, should lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time. [Exit.

SCENE II.

France. Before Rouen.

Enter La Pucelle disguised, and Soldiers dressed

like Countrymen, with Sacks upon their Backs.

Puc. These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen, Through which our policy must make a breach: Take heed, be wary how you place your words ; Talk like the vulgar sort of market-men, That come to gather money for their corn. If we have entrance, (as, I hope, we shall,) And that we find the slothful watch but weak, I'll by a sign give notice to our friends, That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them. 1 Sold. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the

city, And we be lords and rulers over Rouen ; Therefore we'll knock.

[Knocks. Guard. [Within.] Qui est là ?

Puc. Paisans, pauvres gens de France :
Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn.
Guard. Enter, go in; the market-bell is rung.

[Opens the Gates. Puc. Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground.

[Pucelle, &c. enter the City. Enter Charles, Bastard of Orleans, Alençon,

and Forces. Char. Saint Dennis bless this happy stratagem! And once again we'll sleep secure in Roüen.

Bast. Here enter'd Pucelle, and her practisants; Now she is there, how will she specify Where is the best and safest passage in?

Alen. By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower; Which, once discern'd, shows, that her meaning

is,No way to that,” for weakness, which she enter'd.

Enter La Pucelle on a Battlement : holding out a

Torch burning. Puc. Behold, this is the happy wedding torch, That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen; But burning fatal to the Talbotites. Bast. See, noble Charles! the beacon of our

friend, The burning torch in yonder turret stands.

Char. Now shine it like a comet of revenge, A prophet to the fall of all our foes! Alen. Defer no time, Delays have dangerous

ends; Enter, and cry—The Dauphin !--presently, And then do execution on the watch. [They enter.

Alarums. Enter Talbot, and certain English.
Tal. France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy

tears,
If Talbot but survive thy treachery.—
Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escap'd the pride of France.*

[Exeunt to the Town.

Alarum: Excursions. Enter, from the Town, Bed

FORD, brought in sick, in a Chair, with Talbot,
BURGUNDY, and the English Forces. Then, enter
on the Walls, La Pucelle, CHARLES, Bastard,
ALENÇON, and Others.
Puc. Good morrow, gallants ! want ye corn for

bread?
I think, the duke of Burgundy will fast,
Before he'll buy again at such a rate:
'Twas full of darnel; Do you like the taste?

Bur. Scoff on, vile fiend, and shameless courtezan! I trust, ere long, to choke thee with thine own, And make thee curse the harvest of that corn. Char. Your grace may starve, perhaps, before

that time. Bed. O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this

treason! Puc. What will you do, good grey-beard? break

a lance, And run a tilt at death within a chair?

Tal. Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite, Encompass’d with thy lustful paramours ! Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant

age, And twit with cowardice a man half dead?

— the pride of France.] Pride signifies the haughty power.

Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again,
Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.
Puc. Are you so hot, sir?—Yet, Pucelle, hold

thy peace;
If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.-

[Talbot, and the rest, consult together. God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker? Tal. Dare ye come forth, and meet us in the

field?
Puc. Belike, your lordship takes us then for fools,
To try if that our own be ours, or no.

Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecaté,
But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest;
Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?
• Alen. Signior, no.

Tal. Signior, hang !-base muleteers of France!
Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls,
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

Puc. Captains, away: let's get us from the walls;
For Talbot means no goodness, by his looks.-
God be wi' you, my lord! we came, sir, but to tell

you That we are here.

[Exeunt La Pucelle, &c. from the Walls.
Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long,
Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!-
Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house,
(Prick'd on by publick wrongs, sustain'd in France,)
Either to get the town again, or die:
And I,-as sure as English Henry lives,
And as his father here was conqueror;
As sure as in this late-betrayed town
Great Ceur-de-lion's heart was buried;
So sure I swear, to get the town, or die.

Bur. My vows are equal partners with thy vows.

Tal. But, ere we go, regard this dying prince, The valiant duke of Bedford :Come, my lord,

We will bestow you in some better place,
Fitter for sickness, and for crazy age.

Bed. Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me:
Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen,
And will be partner of your weal, or woe.

Bur. Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you.

Bed. Not to be gone from hence; for once I read, That stout Pendragon, in his litter, sick, Came to the field, and vanquished his foes : Methinks, I should revive the soldiers' hearts, Because I ever found them as myself.

Tal. Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!Then be it so:—Heavens keep old Bedford safe! And now no more ado, brave Burgundy, But gather we our forces out of hand, And set upon our boasting enemy.

(Exeunt BURGUNDY, Talbot, and Forces,

leaving BEDFORD, and Others. Alarum: Excursions. Enter Sir John FASTOLFE,

and a Captain. Cap. Whither away, sir John Fastolfe, in such

haste? Fast. Whither away? to save myself by flight; We are like to have the overthrow again.

Cap. What! will you fly, and leave lord Talbot ? Fast.

Ay, All the Talbots in the world, to save my

life.

[Exit. Cap. Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee!

[Exit. s That stout Pendragon.] This hero was Uther Pendragon, brother to Aurelius, and father to king Arthur.

Shakspeare has imputed to Pendragon an exploit of Aurelius, who, says Holinshed, “ even sicke of a flixe as he was, caused himselfe to be carried forth in a litter: with whose presence his people were so incouraged, that encountering with the Saxons they wan the victorie.”