Act 5, Scene 1

A room in the Garter Inn.

[Enter FALSTAFF and MISTRESS QUICKLY.]
Sir John Falstaff
1992 Prithee, no more prattling; go: I'll hold. This is the third time;
1993 I hope good luck lies in odd numbers. Away! go. They say there is
1994 divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death. Away!
Mistress Quickly
1995 I'll provide you a chain, and I'll do what I can to get you a pair
1996 of horns.
Sir John Falstaff
1997 Away, I say; time wears; hold up your head, and mince.
[Exit MRS. QUICKLY.]
[Enter FORD.]
Sir John Falstaff
1998 How now, Master Brook! Master Brook, the matter will be known
1999 tonight, or never. Be you in the Park about midnight, at Herne's
2000 oak, and you shall see wonders.
Ford
2001 Went you not to her yesterday, sir, as you told me you had appointed?
Sir John Falstaff
2002 I went to her, Master Brook, as you see, like a poor old man; but
2003 I came from her, Master Brook, like a poor old woman. That same
2004 knave Ford, her husband, hath the finest mad devil of jealousy
2005 in him, Master Brook, that ever governed frenzy. I will tell you:
2006 he beat me grievously in the shape of a woman; for in the shape
2007 of man, Master Brook, I fear not Goliath with a weaver's beam,
2008 because I know also life is a shuttle. I am in haste; go along
2009 with me; I'll tell you all, Master Brook. Since I plucked geese,
2010 played truant, and whipped top, I knew not what 'twas to be beaten
2011 till lately. Follow me: I'll tell you strange things of this knave
2012 Ford, on whom to-night I will be revenged, and I will deliver his
2013 wife into your hand. Follow. Strange things in hand, Master Brook!
2014 Follow.
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 1994cultural context
“divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance, or death”
Falstaff appeals to a widespread Elizabethan belief that odd numbers (especially three, seven, and nine) were lucky or sacred. The three key moments of life — birth ('nativity'), fortune ('chance'), and death — were thought to cluster around odd numbers; three was associated with the Trinity, and proverbially with lucky repetition ('third time lucky').
TLN 1999historical topical
“in the Park about midnight, at Herne's oak”
Herne's Oak was a real (or widely believed real) ancient oak tree in Windsor Great Park, said to be haunted by Herne the Hunter — a ghostly figure with stag's antlers who rode at night and blasted trees. The wives have told Falstaff to meet them there wearing a buck's head, exploiting the legend so that the other townspeople, coming to play fairies, will be able to terrify him without anyone suspecting the trick.
historical Herne the Hunter
TLN 2007biblical allusion
“I fear not Goliath with a weaver's beam, because I know also life is a shuttle”
Falstaff packs two Bible references into one boast. Goliath's spear is described in 1 Samuel as having a shaft 'like a weaver's beam' — meaning thick as the wooden rod on a loom — to convey his monstrous size and strength. Falstaff claims he does not fear even that giant. Then he adds 'life is a shuttle': a direct echo of Job 7:6 ('My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle'), meaning life passes as quickly as the shuttle racing across a loom. Both images reach for the same prop — the weaver's loom — in consecutive breaths.