The
king is almost wounded to the death;
And,
in the fortune of my lord your son,
Prince
Harry slain outright; and both the Blunts
Kill’d
by the hand of Douglas; young Prince John
And
Westmoreland and Stafford fled the field;
And
Harry Monmouth’s brawn, the hulk Sir John,
Is
prisoner to your son:
-Lord Bardolph
King Henry the Fourth Part II Act I, Scene i, Line 18
Okay, today we have the
eighteenth line of the play…sort of. This play has a forty line Induction (prologue)
given by Rumour. I should tell you that Rumour comes out in the Induction and
tells the audience what he’s all about and that he’s going to play a part by
having untrue reports being spread. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing in
today’s Totally Random line.
Bardolph is reporting to
Northumberland how the battle has gone. Northumberland, Hotspur’s father, is on
the side of the rebellion against the king, so that all the news appears to be
very good indeed…except it’s not. It’s not good, because it’s not true. It
becomes apparent that Bardolph was not at the battle and is giving a second, or
perhaps third or fourth, hand account. In other words, his account is based on
rumour; false rumour. Very shortly Morton is going to show up. Morton was
actually at the battle and informs Northumberland that his son, Hotspur, has
fallen, and the battle was lost.
See, you can’t trust Rumour.
He can be a real bugger at times.
Now here is a perfect example of how a false rumour can get started. Jeff took this pic of Nina whilst they were in Amsterdam. He took it because from the back that guy standing next to Nina looks just like me. So they could've started the rumour that I went with them on the trip to Amsterdam, which of course I didn't.
Rumour!