The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works
Page 343
SECOND FISHERMAN Canst thou catch any fishes, then?
PERICLES I never practised it.
SECOND FISHERMAN Nay, then thou wilt starve, sure; for here’s nothing to be got nowadays unless thou canst fish for’t.
PERICLES
What I have been, I have forgot to know,
But what I am, want teaches me to think on:
A man thronged up with cold; my veins are chill,
And have no more of life than may suffice
To give my tongue that heat to crave your help,
Which if you shall refuse, when I am dead,
For that I am a man, pray see me buried.
He falls down
MASTER Die, quotha? Now, gods forbid’t an I have a gown here! To Pericles, lifting him up from the ground Come, put it on, keep thee warm. Now, afore me, a handsome fellow! Come, thou shalt go home, and we’ll have flesh for holidays, fish for fasting-days, and moreo’er puddings and flapjacks, and thou shalt be welcome.
PERICLES I thank you, sir.
SECOND FISHERMAN Hark you, my friend, you said you could not beg?
PERICLES I did but crave.
SECOND FISHERMAN But crave? Then I’ll turn craver too, an so I shall scape whipping.
PERICLES Why, are all your beggars whipped, then?
SECOND FISHERMAN O, not all, my friend, not all; for if all your beggars were whipped I would wish no better office than to be beadle.
MASTER Thine office, knave—
SECOND FISHERMAN Is to draw up the other nets. I’ll go.
Exit with Third Fisherman
PERICLES (aside)
How well this honest mirth becomes their labour!
MASTER ⌈seating himself by Pericles⌉ Hark you, sir, do you know where ye are?
PERICLES Not well.
MASTER Why, I’ll tell you. This is called Pentapolis, and our king the good Simonides.
PERICLES
’The good Simonides’ do you call him?
MASTER Ay, sir, and he deserves so to be called for his peaceable reign and good government.
PERICLES
He is a happy king, since from his subjects
He gains the name of good by his government.
How far is his court distant from this shore?
MASTER Marry, sir, some half a day’s journey. And I’ll tell you, he hath a fair daughter, and tomorrow is her birthday, and there are princes and knights come from all parts of the world to joust and tourney for her love.
PERICLES
Were but my fortunes answerable
To my desires I could wish to make one there.
MASTER O, sir, things must be as they may, and what a man cannot get himself, he may lawfully deal for with his wife’s soul.
Enter the other two Fishermen drawing up a net
SECOND FISHERMAN Help, master, help! Here’s a fish hangs in the net like a poor man’s right in the law; ’twill hardly come out.
Before help comes, up comes their prize
Ha, bots on’t, ’tis come at last, and ’tis turned to a
rusty armour.
PERICLES
An armour, friends? I pray you let me see it.
(Aside) Thanks, fortune, yet that after all thy crosses
Thou giv‘st me somewhat to repair my losses,
And though it was mine own, part of my heritage
Which my dead father did bequeath to me
With this strict charge ev’n as he left his life:
‘Keep it, my Pericles; it hath been a shield
‘Twixt me and death,’ and pointed to this brace,
‘For that it saved me, keep it. In like necessity,
The which the Gods forfend, the same may defend thee.’
It kept where I kept, I so dearly loved it,
Till the rough seas that spares not any man
Took it in rage, though calmed have giv’n’t again.
I thank thee for’t. My shipwreck now’s no ill,
Since I have here my father gave in ’s will.
MASTER What mean you, sir?
PERICLES
To beg of you, kind friends, this coat of worth,
For it was sometime target to a king.
I know it by this mark. He loved me dearly,
And for his sake I wish the having of it,
And that you’d guide me to your sov’reign’s court,
Where with’t I may appear a gentleman.
And if that ever my low fortune’s better,
I’ll pay your bounties, till then rest your debtor.
MASTER Why, wilt thou tourney for the lady?
PERICLES
I’ll show the virtue I have learned in arms.
MASTER Why, d‘ye take it, and the gods give thee good on’t!
SECOND FISHERMAN Ay, but hark you, my friend, ’twas we that made up this garment through the rough seams of the waters. There are certain condolements, certain vails. I hope, sir, if you thrive, you’ll remember from whence you had this.
PERICLES Believe’t, I will.
By your furtherance I’m clothed in steel,
And spite of all the rapture of the sea
This jewel holds his building on my arm.
Unto thy value I will mount myself
Upon a courser whose delightsome steps
Shall make the gazer joy to see him tread.
Only, my friends, I yet am unprovided
Of a pair of bases.
SECOND FISHERMAN We’ll sure provide. Thou shalt have my best gown to make thee a pair, and I’ll bring thee to the court myself.
PERICLES
Then honour be but equal to my will,
This day I’ll rise, or else add ill to ill.
Exeunt with nets and armour
Sc. 6 Sennet.Enter King Simonides and Thaisa, with Lords in attendance, and sit on two thrones
KING SIMONIDES
Are the knights ready to begin the triumph?
FIRST LORD They are, my liege,
And stay your coming to present themselves.
KING SIMONIDES
Return them we are ready; and our daughter,
In honour of whose birth these triumphs are,
Sits here like beauty’s child, whom nature gat
For men to see and, seeing, wonder at. Exit one
THAISA
It pleaseth you, my father, to express
My commendations great, whose merit’s less.
KING SIMONIDES
It’s fit it should be so, for princes are
A model which heav’n makes like to itself.
As jewels lose their glory if neglected,
So princes their renown, if not respected.
’Tis now your office, daughter, to entertain
The labour of each knight in his device.
THAISA
Which, to preserve mine honour, I’ll perform.
Flourish.The first knight passes by richly armed, and his page before him, bearing his device on his shield, delivers it to the Lady Thaisa
KING SIMONIDES
Who is the first that doth prefer himself?
THAISA
A knight of Sparta, my renowned father,
And the device he bears upon his shield
Is a black Ethiop reaching at the sun.
The word, Lux tua vita mihi.
She presents it to the King
KING SIMONIDES
He loves you well that holds his life of you.
He returns it to the page, who exits with the first knight.
Flourish.The second knight passes by richly armed, and his page before him, bearing his device on his shield, delivers it to the Lady Thaisa
Who is the second that presents himself?
THAISA
A prince of Macedon, my royal father,
And the device he bears upon his shield
An armed knight that’s conquered by a lady.
The motto thus: Piùe per dolcezza che per forza.
sh
e presents it to the King
KING SIMONIDES
You win him more by lenity than force.
He returns it to the page, who exits with the second knight.
Flourish.The third knight passes by richly armed, and his page before him, bearing his device on his shield, delivers it to the Lady Thaisa
And what’s the third?
THAISA
The third of Antioch,
And his device a wreath of chivalry.
The word, Me pompae provexit apex.
She presents it to the King
KING SIMONIDES
Desire of renown he doth devise,
The which hath drawn him to this enterprise.
He returns it to the page, who exits with the third knight.
Flourish.The fourth knight passes by richly armed, and his page before him, bearing his device on his shield, delivers it to the Lady Thaisa
What is the fourth?
THAISA
A knight of Athens bearing
A burning torch that’s turned upside down.
The word, Qui me alit me extinguit.
She presents it to the King
KING SIMONIDES
Which shows that beauty hath this power and will,
Which can as well inflame as it can kill.
⌈He returns it to the page, who exits with the fourth knight.⌉
⌈Flourish.⌉ The fifth Knight passes by ⌈richly armed, and his page before him, bearing his device on his shield, delivers it to the Lady Thaisa⌉
And who the fifth?
THAISA The fifth, a prince of Corinth,
Presents an hand environèd with clouds,
Holding out gold that’s by the touchstone tried.
The motto thus: Sic spectanda fides.
⌈She presents it to the King⌉
KING SIMONIDES
So faith is to be looked into.
⌈He returns it to the page, who exits with the fifth knight.⌉
⌈Flourish.l The sixth knight, Pericles, in a rusty armour, who, having neither page to deliver his shield nor shield to deliver, presents his device unto the Lady Thaisa
And what’s the sixth and last, the which the knight
himself
With such a graceful courtesy delivereth?
THAISA
He seems to be a stranger, but his present is
A withered branch that’s only green at top.
The motto, In hac spe vivo.
KING SIMONIDES
From the dejected state wherein he is
He hopes by you his fortunes yet may flourish.
FIRST 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
T’have practised more the whipstock than the lance.
SECOND LORD
He well may be a stranger, for he comes
Unto an honoured triumph strangely furnished.
THIRD LORD
And on set purpose let his armour rust
Until this day, to scour it in the dust.
KING SIMONIDES
Opinion’s but a fool, that makes us scan
The outward habit for the inward man.
⌈Cornetts⌉
But stay, the knights are coming. We will withdraw
Into the gallery. ⌈Exeunt⌉
⌈Cornetts and⌉ great shouts ⌈within⌉, and all cry
‘The mean knight!’
Sc. 7 ⌈A stately banquet is brought in.1 Enter King
Simonides, Thaisa ⌈and their train at one door⌉, and ⌈at another door⌉ a Marshal ⌈conducting⌉ Pericles and the other knights from tilting
KING SIMONIDES (to the 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’re princes, and my guests.
THAISA (to Pericles) 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 my merit.
KING SIMONIDES
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.
You are her laboured scholar. (To Thaisa) Come,
queen o’th’ feast—
For, daughter, so you are—here take your place.
(To Marshal) Marshal the rest as they deserve their
grace.
KNIGHTS
We are honoured much by good Simonides.
KING SIMONIDES
Your presence glads our days; honour we love,
For who hates honour hates the gods above.
MARSHAL (to Pericles)
Sir, yonder is your place.
PERICLES Some other is more fit.
FIRST KNIGHT
Contend not, sir, for we are gentlemen
Have neither in our hearts nor outward eyes
Envied the great, nor shall the low despise.
PERICLES
You are right courteous knights.
KING SIMONIDES Sit, Sir, sit.
⌈Pericles sits directly over against the King and Thaisa. The guests feed apace. Pericles sits still and eats nothing⌉
⌈Aside⌉ By Jove I wonder, that is king of thoughts, These cates distaste me, he but thought upon.
THAISA ⌈aside⌉
By Juno, that is queen of marriage,
I am amazed all viands that I eat
Do seem unsavoury, wishing him my meat.
⌈To the King⌉ Sure he’s a gallant gentleman.
KING SIMONIDES
He’s but a country gentleman.
He’s done no more than other knights have done.
He’s broke a staff or so, so let it pass.
THAISA ⌈aside⌉
To me he seems like diamond to glass.
PERICLES ⌈aside⌉
Yon king’s to me like to my father’s picture,
Which tells me in what 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;
He’s both their parent and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
KING SIMONIDES What, are you merry, knights? ⌈THE OTHER KNIGHTS⌉
Who can be other in this royal presence?
KING SIMONIDES
Here with a cup that’s stored unto the brim,
As you do love, full to your mistress’ lips,
We drink this health to you.
⌈THE OTHER KNIGHTS⌉ We thank your grace.
KING SIMONIDES
Yet pause a while. 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’t to me, my father?
KING SIMONIDES
O, attend, my daughter. Princes in this
Should live like gods above, who freely give
To everyone that come to honour them.
And princes not so doing are like gnats
Which make a sound but, killed, are wondered at.
Therefore to make his entertain more sweet,
Here bear this stan
ding-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.
KING 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.
KING SIMONIDES
Furthermore, tell him we desire to know
Of whence he is, his name and parentage.
⌈Thaisa bears the cup to Pericles⌉
THAISA
The King my father, sir, has drunk to you,
Wishing it so much blood unto your life.
PERICLES
I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely.
He pledges the King
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 unconstant seas bereft
Unfortunately both of ships and men,
And after shipwreck driven upon this shore.
⌈Thaisa returns to the King⌉
THAISA
He thanks your grace, names himself Pericles,
A gentleman of Tyre, who, seeking adventures,
Was solely by misfortune of the seas
Bereft of ships and men, cast on this shore.
KING SIMONIDES
Now by the gods I pity his mishaps,
And will awake him from his melancholy.
⌈Simonides, rising from his state, goes forthwith and embraces Pericles⌉
Be cheered, for what misfortune hath impaired you of,
Fortune by my help can repair to you.
My self and country both shall be your friends,
And presently a goodly milk-white steed
And golden spurs I first bestow upon you,
The prizes due your merit, and ordained
For this day’s enterprise.