For by his rusty outside he appears
To have practised more the whipstock than the lance.
Second Lord He well may be a stranger, for he comes
To an honour’d triumph strangely furnished.
Third Lord And on set purpose let his armour rust
Until this day, to scour it in the dust.
SIMONIDES Opinion’s but a fool, that makes us scan
The outward habit by the inward man.
But stay, the knights are coming: we will withdraw
Into the gallery.
Exeunt
Great shouts within and all cry ‘The mean knight!’
Scene 3
The same. A hall of state: a banquet prepared.
Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Lords, Attendants, and Knights, from tilting
SIMONIDES Knights,
To say you’re welcome were superfluous.
To place upon the volume of your deeds,
As in a title-page, your worth in arms,
Were more than you expect, or more than’s fit,
Since every worth in show commends itself.
Prepare for mirth, for mirth becomes a feast:
You are princes and my guests.
THAISA But you, my knight and guest;
To whom this wreath of victory I give,
And crown you king of this day’s happiness.
PERICLES ‘Tis more by fortune, lady, than by merit.
SIMONIDES Call it by what you will, the day is yours;
And here, I hope, is none that envies it.
In framing an artist, art hath thus decreed,
To make some good, but others to exceed;
And you are her labour’d scholar. Come, queen o’
the feast,–
For, daughter, so you are,–here take your place:
Marshal the rest, as they deserve their grace.
KNIGHTS We are honour’d much by good Simonides.
SIMONIDES Your presence glads our days: honour we love;
For who hates honour hates the gods above.
Marshal Sir, yonder is your place.
PERICLES Some other is more fit.
First Knight Contend not, sir; for we are gentlemen
That neither in our hearts nor outward eyes
Envy the great nor do the low despise.
PERICLES You are right courteous knights.
SIMONIDES Sit, sir, sit.
PERICLES By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts,
These cates resist me, she but thought upon.
THAISA By Juno, that is queen of marriage,
All viands that I eat do seem unsavoury.
Wishing him my meat. Sure, he’s a gallant gentleman.
SIMONIDES He’s but a country gentleman;
Has done no more than other knights have done;
Has broken a staff or so; so let it pass.
THAISA To me he seems like diamond to glass.
PERICLES Yon king’s to me like to my father’s picture,
Which tells me in that glory once he was;
Had princes sit, like stars, about his throne,
And he the sun, for them to reverence;
None that beheld him, but, like lesser lights,
Did vail their crowns to his supremacy:
Where now his son’s like a glow-worm in the night,
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light:
Whereby I see that Time’s the king of men,
He’s both their parent, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
SIMONIDES What, are you merry, knights?
Knights Who can be other in this royal presence?
SIMONIDES Here, with a cup that’s stored unto the brim,–
As you do love, fill to your mistress’ lips,–
We drink this health to you.
KNIGHTS We thank your grace.
SIMONIDES Yet pause awhile:
Yon knight doth sit too melancholy,
As if the entertainment in our court
Had not a show might countervail his worth.
Note it not you, Thaisa?
THAISA What is it
To me, my father?
SIMONIDES O, attend, my daughter:
Princes in this should live like gods above,
Who freely give to every one that comes
To honour them:
And princes not doing so are like to gnats,
Which make a sound, but kill’d are wonder’d at.
Therefore to make his entrance more sweet,
Here, say we drink this standing-bowl of wine to him.
THAISA Alas, my father, it befits not me
Unto a stranger knight to be so bold:
He may my proffer take for an offence,
Since men take women’s gifts for impudence.
SIMONIDES How!
Do as I bid you, or you’ll move me else.
THAISA [Aside]
Now, by the gods, he could not please me better.
SIMONIDES And furthermore tell him, we desire to know of him,
Of whence he is, his name and parentage.
THAISA The king my father, sir, has drunk to you.
PERICLES I thank him.
THAISA Wishing it so much blood unto your life.
PERICLES I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely.
THAISA And further he desires to know of you,
Of whence you are, your name and parentage.
PERICLES A gentleman of Tyre; my name, Pericles;
My education been in arts and arms;
Who, looking for adventures in the world,
Was by the rough seas reft of ships and men,
And after shipwreck driven upon this shore.
THAISA He thanks your grace; names himself Pericles,
A gentleman of Tyre,
Who only by misfortune of the seas
Bereft of ships and men, cast on this shore.
SIMONIDES Now, by the gods, I pity his misfortune,
And will awake him from his melancholy.
Come, gentlemen, we sit too long on trifles,
And waste the time, which looks for other revels.
Even in your armours, as you are address’d,
Will very well become a soldier’s dance.
I will not have excuse, with saying this
Loud music is too harsh for ladies’ heads,
Since they love men in arms as well as beds.
The Knights dance
So, this was well ask’d,’twas so well perform’d.
Come, sir;
Here is a lady that wants breathing too:
And I have heard, you knights of Tyre
Are excellent in making ladies trip;
And that their measures are as excellent.
PERICLES In those that practise them they are, my lord.
SIMONIDES O, that’s as much as you would be denied
Of your fair courtesy.
The Knights and Ladies dance
Unclasp, unclasp:
Thanks, gentlemen, to all; all have done well.
To PERICLES
But you the best. Pages and lights, to conduct
These knights unto their several lodgings!
To PERICLES
Yours, sir,
We have given order to be next our own.
PERICLES I am at your grace’s pleasure.
SIMONIDES Princes, it is too late to talk of love;
And that’s the mark I know you level at:
Therefore each one betake him to his rest;
To-morrow all for speeding do their best.
Exeunt
Scene 4
Tyre. A room in the Governor’s house.
Enter HELICANUS and ESCANES
HELICANUS No, Escanes, know this of me,
Antiochus from incest lived not free:
For which, the most high gods not minding longer
To withhold the vengeance that they had in store,
Due to this heinous capital offence,
Even in the height and pride of all his glory,
When he was seated in a chariot
Of an inestimable value, and his daughter with him,
A fire from heaven came and shrivell’d up
Their bodies, even to loathing; for they so stunk,
That all those eyes adored them ere their fall
Scorn now their hand should give them burial.
ESCANES ‘Twas very strange.
HELICANUS And yet but justice; for though
This king were great, his greatness was no guard
To bar heaven’s shaft, but sin had his reward.
ESCANES ‘Tis very true.
Enter two or three Lords
First Lord See, not a man in private conference
Or council has respect with him but he.
Second Lord It shall no longer grieve without reproof.
Third Lord And cursed be he that will not second it.
First Lord Follow me, then. Lord Helicane, a word.
HELICANUS With me? and welcome: happy day, my lords.
First Lord Know that our griefs are risen to the top,
And now at length they overflow their banks.
HELICANUS Your griefs! for what? wrong not your prince you love.
First Lord Wrong not yourself, then, noble Helicane;
But if the prince do live, let us salute him,
Or know what ground’s made happy by his breath.
If in the world he live, we’ll seek him out;
If in his grave he rest, we’ll find him there;
And be resolved he lives to govern us,
Or dead, give’s cause to mourn his funeral,
And leave us to our free election.
Second Lord Whose death indeed’s the strongest in our censure:
And knowing this kingdom is without a head,–
Like goodly buildings left without a roof
Soon fall to ruin,–your noble self,
That best know how to rule and how to reign,
We thus submit unto,–our sovereign.
All Live, noble Helicane!
HELICANUS For honour’s cause, forbear your suffrages:
If that you love Prince Pericles, forbear.
Take I your wish, I leap into the seas,
Where’s hourly trouble for a minute’s ease.
A twelvemonth longer, let me entreat you to
Forbear the absence of your king:
If in which time expired, he not return,
I shall with aged patience bear your yoke.
But if I cannot win you to this love,
Go search like nobles, like noble subjects,
And in your search spend your adventurous worth;