Alarums, excursions, retreat.
Enter King John, Queen Eleanor, Arthur, Bastard,
Hubert, Lords. KING JOHN, to Queen Eleanor
So shall it be. Your Grace shall stay behind
So strongly guarded. To Arthur. Cousin, look not sad.
Thy grandam loves thee, and thy uncle will
As dear be to thee as thy father was. ARTHUR
O, this will make my mother die with grief! 5 KING JOHN, to Bastard
Cousin, away for England! Haste before,
And ere our coining see thou shake the bags
Of hoarding abbots; imprisoned angels
Set at liberty. The fat ribs of peace
Must by the hungry now be fed upon. 10
Use our commission in his utmost force. BASTARD
Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back
When gold and silver becks me to come on.
I leave your Highness.—Grandam, I will pray,
If ever I remember to be holy, 15
For your fair safety. So I kiss your hand. QUEEN ELEANOR
Farewell, gentle cousin. KING JOHN
Coz, farewell. Bastard exits. | King John and his posse—including his mom now—come back on stage. Arthur's afraid his mom is probably freaking out, but King John tells him not to worry: he'll take good care of him. Next, King John tells the Bastard to go to England and plunder the riches of all the monasteries, and the Bastard leaves to do his job. |
QUEEN ELEANOR, to Arthur
Come hither, little kinsman. Hark, a word.
They walk aside. KING JOHN
Come hither, Hubert. 20 He takes Hubert aside. O, my gentle Hubert,
We owe thee much. Within this wall of flesh
There is a soul counts thee her creditor,
And with advantage means to pay thy love.
And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath 25
Lives in this bosom dearly cherishèd.
Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say,
But I will fit it with some better tune.
By heaven, Hubert, I am almost ashamed
To say what good respect I have of thee. 30 HUBERT
I am much bounden to your Majesty. KING JOHN
Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet,
But thou shalt have. And, creep time ne’er so slow,
Yet it shall come for me to do thee good.
I had a thing to say—but let it go. 35
The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day,
Attended with the pleasures of the world,
Is all too wanton and too full of gauds
To give me audience. If the midnight bell
Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth 40
Sound on into the drowsy race of night;
If this same were a churchyard where we stand,
And thou possessèd with a thousand wrongs;
Or if that surly spirit, melancholy,
Had baked thy blood and made it heavy, thick, 45Which else runs tickling up and down the veins,
Making that idiot, laughter, keep men’s eyes
And strain their cheeks to idle merriment,
A passion hateful to my purposes;
Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes, 50
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply
Without a tongue, using conceit alone,
Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words;
Then, in despite of brooded watchful day,
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts. 55
But, ah, I will not. Yet I love thee well,
And by my troth I think thou lov’st me well. HUBERT
So well that what you bid me undertake,
Though that my death were adjunct to my act,
By heaven, I would do it. 60 KING JOHN
Do not I know thou wouldst?
Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye
On yon young boy. I’ll tell thee what, my friend,
He is a very serpent in my way,
And wheresoe’er this foot of mine doth tread, 65
He lies before me. Dost thou understand me?
Thou art his keeper. HUBERT
And I’ll keep him so
That he shall not offend your Majesty. KING JOHN
Death. 70 HUBERT
My lord? KING JOHN
A grave. HUBERT
He shall not live. | Eleanor calls Arthur over to her side to have a chat with him. This leaves King John free to have a private chat with Hubert. King John starts off by telling Hubert that he owes him one. Hubert says, "Hey, no problem." Then King John starts acting weird. He wants to say something to Hubert, but he can't, because the time isn't right. If it were a dark, gloomy night, and they were standing in a graveyard, then the atmosphere would be right. Hubert is all, "You can trust me, King John. I'm your loyal subject." So King John spits it out. He wants someone to "take care of" Arthur. Did you get that? Take care of him? (Wink, wink, nudge nudge.) Yeah. Hubert gets it, too, but King John can't resist stating the obvious: he tells Hubert that he wants the kid dead and buried ASAP. Hubert's happy to comply. |
KING JOHN
Enough.
I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee. 75
Well, I’ll not say what I intend for thee.
Remember. He turns to Queen Eleanor. Madam, fare
you well.
I’ll send those powers o’er to your Majesty. QUEEN ELEANOR
My blessing go with thee. 80 KING JOHN, to Arthur
For England, cousin, go.
Hubert shall be your man, attend on you
With all true duty.—On toward Calais, ho! They exit. | With Arthur's murder planned, King John announces that now he can be "merry," and he gets ready to leave. He says goodbye to his mom and tells Arthur not to worry: Uncle Hubert's going to take really good care of him. (Dang. That's cold-blooded.) History Snack: Shakespeare's Queen Elizabeth I signed the death warrant of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587, just a few short years before Shakespeare wrote King John. Mary was involved in a plot to kill Elizabeth, who was standing between her and the English throne. (Royals will be royals.) |