Sim. And what's the sixth and last, which the knight himself

With such a graceful courtesy delivered?

Thai. He seems a stranger; but his present is A withered branch, that 's only green at top; The motto, "In hac spe vivo."

Sim. A pretty moral;

From the dejected state wherein he is,

He hopes by you his fortunes yet may flourish. 1st Lord. He had need mean better than his outward show

Can any way speak in his just commend:
For, by his rusty outside, he appears

To have practised more the whipstock than the lance.

2nd Lord. He well may be a stranger, for he

comes

To an honoured triumph strangely furnished. 3rd Lord. And on set purpose let his armour rust Until this day, to scour it in the dust.

Sim. Opinion 's but a fool, that makes us scan The outward habit by the inward man. But stay, the knights are coming; we 'll withdraw Into the gallery. [Exeunt. Great shouts, and all cry, "The mean knight."

SCENE III.-The same. A Hall of State. A Banquet prepared.

Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Lords, Knights, and Attendants.

Sim. Knights,

To say you are 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 my guests.

Thai. But you, my knight and guest;
To whom this wreath of victory I give,
And crown you king of this day's happiness.
Per. "T is more by fortune, lady, than by merit.
Sim. Call it by what you will, the day is yours;
And here, I hope, is none that envies it.
In framing artists, art hath thus decreed,
To make some good, but others to exceed,
And you're her laboured 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 honoured much by good Simonides.

Sim. Your presence glads our days; honour, we love.

For who hates honour hates the gods above.

Marsh. Sir, yond's your place.
Per. Some other is more fit.

1st Knight. Contend not, sir; for we are gen-
tlemen,

That neither in our hearts nor outward eyes,
Envy the great nor do the low despise.
Per. You are right courteous knights.
Sim. Sit, sit, sir; sit.

Per. By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts, These cates resist me, she not thought upon.

Thai. By Juno, that is queen

Of marriage, all the viands that I eat
Do seem unsavoury, wishing him my meat!
Sure he's a gallant gentleman.

Sim. He's but a country gentleman; He has done no more than other knights have done;

Broken a staff, or so; so let it

pass.

Thai. To me he seems like diamond to glass. Per. 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 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,
For he's their parent, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they

crave.

Sim. What, are you merry, knights?

1st Knight. Who can be other, in this royal

presence?

Sim. 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.
Sim. Yet pause awhile;

Yon knight, methinks, doth sit too melancholy,
As if the entertainment in our court
Had not a show might countervail his worth.
Note it not you, Thaisa?

Thai. What is it to me, my father?
Sim. 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 killed
Are wondered at.

Therefore to make's entrance more sweet, here

say

We drink this standing-bowl of wine to him. Thai. 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
Sim. How!

Do as I bid you, or you 'll move me else.

Thai. Now, by the gods he could not please me better. [Aside. Sim. And further tell him we desire to know Of whence he is, his name and parentage. Thai. The king my father, sir, has drunk to you. Per. I thank him.

Thai. Wishing it so much blood unto your life. Per. I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely.

Thai. And further he desires to know of you, Of whence you are, your name and parentage.

Per. A gentleman of Tyre-(my name, Pericles;
My education being 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.
Thai. He thanks your grace; names himself
Pericles,

A gentleman of Tyre, who only by
Misfortune of the seas has been bereft
Of ships and men, and cast upon this shore.

Sim. 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 addressed,
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 asked, 'twas so well performed.
Come, sir;

Here is a lady that wants breathing too:
And I have often heard you knights of Tyre
Are excellent in making ladies trip;
And that their measures are as excellent.

Per. In those that practise them they are, my

lord.

Sim. O that's as much as you would be denied [The Knights and Ladies dance.

Of your fair courtesy.-Unclasp, unclasp; Thanks, gentlemen, to all; all have done well, But you the best. [To PERICLES.] Pages and lights conduct

These knights unto their several lodgings. Yours, sir,

We have given order to be next our own.
Per. I am at your grace's pleasure.
Sim. Princes, it is too late to talk of love,
For 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 IV.-Tyre. A Room in the Governor's House.

Enter HELICANUS and ESCANES.

Hel. No, no, my 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, and his daughter with him, In a chariot of inestimable value,

A fire from heaven came and shrivelled 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. Esca. 'Twas very strange.

Hel. And yet but just; for though This king were great, his greatness was no guard To bar heaven's shaft, but sin had his reward. Esca. 'Tis very true.

Enter three Lords.

1st Lord. See, not a man in private conference Or council has respect with him but he.

2nd Lord. It shall no longer grieve without reproof.

3rd Lord. And cursed be he that will not second it.

Ist Lord. Follow me then.-Lord Helicane, a

word.

Hel. With me? and welcome: happy day, my

lords.

1st Lord. Know that our griefs are risen to the top,

And now at length they overflow their banks. Hel. Your griefs, for what? wrong not the prince you love.

1st 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, gives cause to mourn his funeral,
And leaves us to our free election.

2nd Lord. Whose death 's, indeed, the strongest in our censure:

And knowing this kingdom, if without a head
(Like goodly buildings left without a roof)
Will soon to ruin fall, your noble self,
That best know'st how to rule and how to reign,
We thus submit unto our sovereign,

All. Live, noble Helicane!

Hel. Try 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 then entreat you
To forbear choice in 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 noblemen, like noble subjects, And in your search spend your adventurous worth ;

Whom if you find and win unto return,
You shall like diamonds sit about his crown.
1st Lord. To wisdom he's a fool that will not
yield;

And since Lord Helicane enjoineth us,
We with our travels will endeavour it.

Hel. Then you love us, we you, and we'll clasp hands;

When peers thus knit, a kingdom ever stands. [Exeunt.

SCENE V.-Pentapolis. A Room in the Palace.

Enter SIMONIDES reading a letter, the Knights

meet him.

1st Knight. Good morrow to the good Simonides. Sim. Knights, from my daughter this I let you know,

That for this twelvemonth she 'll not undertake a married life.

I

Her reason to herself is only known, Which from herself by no means can I get. 2nd Knight. May we not get access to her, my lord?

Sim. 'Faith, by no meaas; she hath so strictly tied her

To her chamber that it is impossible. One twelve moons more she 'll wear Diana's livery; This by the eye of Cynthia hath she vowed, And on her virgin honour will not break it. 3rd Knight. Though loath to bid farewell, we take our leaves.

[Exeunt.

Sim. So, they're well despatched; now to my daughter's letter:

She tells me here she 'll wed the stranger knight,
Or never more to view nor day nor light.
Mistress 't is well, your choice agrees with mine;
I like that well:-nay, how absolute she's in 't,
Not minding whether I dislike or no!
Well, I commend her choice;

And will no longer have it be delayed.
Soft, here he comes. I must dissemble it.

Enter PERICLES.

Per. All fortune to the good Simonides.

Sim. To you as much, sir: I am beholden to
you

For your sweet music this last night: my ears,
I do protest, were never better fed
With such delightful pleasing harmony.

Per. It is your grace's pleasure to commend:
not my desert.

Sim. Sir, you are music's master.
Per. The worst of all her scholars, my god
lord.

Sim. Let me ask one thing:-What do you
think, sir, of my daughter?

Per. As of a most virtuous princess. Sim. And she is fair too, is she not? Per. As a fair day in summer; wondrous fair Sim. My daughter, sir, thinks very well of you; Ay, so well, sir, that you must be her master, And she 'll your scholar be; therefore look to it. Per. Unworthy I to be her schoolmaster.

Sim. She thinks not so; peruse this writing else.
Per. What's here!

A letter, that she loves the knight of Tyre?—
'Tis the king's subtilty to have my life.—[Aside.
O seek not to intrap, my gracious lord,
A stranger and distresséd gentleman.
That never aimed so high to love your daughter,
But bent all offices to honour her.

Sim. Thou hast bewitched my daughter, and thou art a villain.

Per. By the gods, I have not, sir. Never did thought of mine levy offence; Nor never did my actions yet commence A deed might gain her love, or your displeasure. Sim. Traitor, thou liest. Per. Traitor!

Sim. Ay, traitor, sir.

Per. Even in his throat (unless it be the king) That calls me traitor, I return the lie. Sim. Now, by the gods, I do applaud his courage. [Aside. Per. My actions are as noble as my thoughts, That never relished of a base descent.

I came unto your court for honour's cause,
And not to be a rebel to her state;
And he that otherwise accounts of me,
This sword shall prove he 's honour's enemy.
Sim. No:-here comes my daughter, she can

witness it.

Enter THAISA.

Per. Then, as you are as virtuous as fair, Resolve your angry father if my tongue Did e'er solicit, or my hand subscribe To any syllable that made love to you? Thai. Why, sir, say if you had, Who takes offence at that would make me glad? Sim. Yea, mistress, are you so peremptory ?—

Enter Gower.

Gow. Now sleep yslakéd hath the rout; No din but snores the house about, Made louder by the o'er-fed breast Of this most pompous marriage feast. The cat with eyne of burning coal, Now couches 'fore the mouse's hole; And crickets sing at th' oven's mouth, As the blither for their drouth. Hymen hath brought the bride to bed, Where, by the loss of maidenhead, A babe is moulded.-Be attent, And time that is so briefly spent, With your fine fancies quaintly eche; What's dumb in show, I'll plain with speech.

Antiochus and his daughter's dead;
The men of Tyrus, on the head

Of Helicanus would set on

The crown of Tyre, but he will none.

The mutiny there he hastes t' appease;

Says to them, if King Pericles

Come not, in twice six moons, home,

He, obedient to their doom,

Will take the crown. The sum of this,
Brought hither to Pentapolis,
Y-ravished the regions round,

And every one with claps 'gan sound,
"Our heir apparent is a king;
Who dreamed, who thought of such a thing?"
Brief, he must hence depart to Tyre:
His queen with child makes her desire
(Which who shall cross?) along to go
(Omit we all their dole and woe);
Lychorida, her nurse, she takes,
And so to sea. Their vessel shakes
On Neptune's billow: half the flood
Hath their keel cut, but fortune's mood
Varies again; the grizzled north
Disgorges such a tempest forth,
That, as a duck for life that dives,
So
up and down the poor ship drives,
The lady shrieks, and, well-a-near,
Doth fall in travail with her fear:
And what ensues in this fell storm,
Shall for itself itself perform.

I nill relate, action may
Conveniently the rest convey,

Which might not what by me is told.
In your imagination hold

This stage the ship, upon whose deck

The sea-tost prince appears to speak. [Exit

SCENE I.-On a Ship at Sea.

Enter PERICLES.

Per. Thou God of this great vast, rebuke these surges,

Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou that hast

Upon the winds command, bind them in brass, Having called them from the deep! O still thy deaf'ning,

Thy dreadful thunders; gently quench thy nimble
Sulphureous flashes!-O how, Lychorida,
How does my queen ?-Thou storm, thou, vene-
mously

Wilt thou spit all thyself? The seaman's whistle
Is as a whisper in the ears of death,
Unheard. Lychorida!-Lucina, O
Divinest patroness and midwife, gentle
To those that cry by night, convey thy deity
Aboard our dancing boat, make swift the pangs
Of my queen's travails!-Now, Lychorida-

Enter LYCHORIDA, with an Infant.
Lyc. Here is a thing

Too young for such a place, who, if it had
Conceit, would die as I am like to do.
Take in your arms this piece of your dead queen.
Per. How how, Lychorida?

Lyc. Patience, good sir; do not assist the storm.
Here's all that is left living of your queen,
A little daughter; for the sake of it
Be manly and take comfort.

Why do you make us love your goodly gifts,
And snatch them straight away? We here below
Recall not what we give, and therein may
Vie honour with yourselves.

Lyc. Patience, good sir, even for this charge,
Per. Now, mild may be thy life;
For a more blust'rous birth had never babe:
Quiet and gentle thy conditions,

For thou 'rt the rudeliest welcomed to this world
That e'er was prince's child. Happy what follows!
Thou hast as chiding a nativity

As fire, air, water, earth, and heaven can make,
To herald thee from the womb: even at the first
Thy loss is more than can thy portage quit
With all thou canst find here.-Now the good
gods

Throw their best eyes upon it!

Enter two Sailors.

1st Sail. What courage, sir? God save you. Per. Courage enough. I do not fear the flaw; It hath done to me the worst. Yet, for the love Of this poor infant, this fresh new seafarer, I would it would be quiet.

1st Sail. Slack the bolins there; thou wilt not, wilt thou? Blow and split thyself.

2nd Sail. But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon I care not.

1st Sail. Sir, your queen must overboard; the sea works high, the wind is loud, and will not lie till the ship be cleared of the dead.

Per. That's your superstition.

1st Sail. Pardon us, sir; with us at sea it still hath been observed; and we are strong in earnest. Therefore briefly yield her; for she must overboard straight.

Per. Be it as you think meet.-Most wretched queen!

Lyc. Here she lies, sir.

Per. A terrible child-bed hast thou had my dear;

No light, no fire: the unfriendly eler ents
Forgot thee utterly; nor have I time

To give thee hallowed to thy grave, but straight
Must cast thee, scarcely coffined, in the ooze;
Where for a monument upon thy bones
And aye-remaining lamps, the belching whale,
And humming water must o'erwhelm thy corpse,
Lying with simple shells.-Lychorida,
Bid Nestor bring me spices, ink and paper,
My casket and my jewels; and bid Nicander
Bring me the satin coffer. Lay the babe
Upon the pillow; hie thee, whiles I say
A priestly farewell to her: suddenly, woman.

[Exit LYCHORIDA.

2nd Sail. Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulked and bitumed ready. Per. I thank thee. Mariner, say, what coast is this?

2nd Sail. We are near Tharsus.

Per. Thither, gentle mariner, Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou reach it?

2nd Sail. By break of day, if the wind cease. Per. O make for Tharsus.

There will I visit Cleon, for the babe
Cannot hold out to Tyrus: there I'll leave it
At careful nursing. Go thy ways good mariner;
I'll bring the body presently.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-Ephesus. A Room in CERIMON's House.

Enter CERIMON, a Servant, and some persons who have been shipwrecked.

Cer. Philemon, ho!

Enter PHILEMON. Phil. Doth my lord call?