And that in Tarsus was not best
Longer for him to make his rest.
He, doing so, put forth to seas,

Where when men been, there's seldom ease;
For now the wind begins to blow;
Thunder above and deeps below
Make such unquiet, that the ship

Should house him safe is wreck'd and split;
And he, good prince, having all lost,
By waves from coast to coast is tost:
All perishen of man, of pelf,

Ne aught escapen but himself,

If;

Till fortune, tired with doing bad,
Threw him ashore, to give him glad :
And here he comes. What shall be next,
Pardon old Gower,-this longs the text.

[Exit.

SCENE I. Pentapolis. An open place by the

sea-side.

Enter PERICLES, wet.

Per. Yet cease your ire, you angry stars of heaven!

Wind, rain, and thunder, remember, earthly man
Is but a substance that must yield to you;
And I, as fits my nature, do obey you:

Alas, the sea hath cast me on the rocks,

Wash'd me from shore to shore, and left me breath

Nothing to think on but ensuing death:

27. doing so, i.e. following Helicanus' counsel.

36. escapen; Qq escapen'd. 40. this longs the text, this

30

40

belongs to the play, not to the 'Chorus.'

Malone's cor

6. me breath.
rection of Qq Ff my breath.

Let it suffice the greatness of your powers
To have bereft a prince of all his fortunes;
And having thrown him from your watery grave,
Here to have death in peace is all he'll crave.

Enter three Fishermen.

First Fish. What, ho, Pilch!

Sec. Fish. Ha, come and bring away the nets!
First Fish. What, Patch-breech, I say!
Third Fish. What say you, master?

First Fish. Look how thou stirrest now! come away, or I'll fetch thee with a wanion.

Third Fish. 'Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor men that were cast away before us even

now.

First Fish. Alas, poor souls, it grieved my heart to hear what pitiful cries they made to us to help them, when, well-a-day, we could scarce help ourselves.

Third Fish. Nay, master, said not I as much when I saw the porpus how he bounced and tumbled? they say they're half fish, half flesh: a plague on them, they ne'er come but I look to be washed. Master, I marvel how the fishes live

in the sea.

First Fish. Why, as men do a-land'; the great ones eat up the little ones: I can compare our rich misers to nothing so fitly as to a whale; a' plays and tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at last devours them all at a mouthful: such whales have I heard on o' the land, who never leave gaping till they've swallowed the whole parish, church, steeple, bells, and all.

12. What, ho, Pilch! So Tyrwhitt and Malone for Qq Ff What, to pelch?

་

17. with a wanion, with a vengeance.'

Per. [Aside] A pretty moral.

Third Fish. But, master, if I had been the 40 sexton, I would have been that day in the belfry.

Sec. Fish. Why, man?

Third Fish. Because he should have swallowed me too: and when I had been in his belly, I would have kept such a jangling of the bells, that he should never have left, till he cast bells, steeple, church, and parish, up again.

But if the good King Simonides were of my mind,— Per. [Aside] Simonides!

Third Fish. We would purge the land of these 50 drones, that rob the bee of her honey.

Per. [Aside] How from the finny subject of

the sea

These fishers tell the infirmities of men ;

And from their watery empire recollect
All that may men approve or men detect!
Peace be at your labour, honest fishermen.

Sec. Fish. Honest! good fellow, what's that? It it be a day fits you, steal 't out of the calendar, and nobody look after it.

Per. May see the sea hath cast me upon your

coast.

Sec. Fish. What a drunken knave was the sea to cast thee in our way!

Per. A man whom both the waters and the

wind,

In that vast tennis-court, have made the ball
For them to play upon, entreats you pity him;
He asks of you, that never used to beg.

58. steal't. Hudson's reading for the unintelligible search of Qq and Ff. Malone, Steevens, and Singer substituted scratch.

60

see the sea hath cast upon your coast. Ff Y' may see the sea hath cast me, etc. The line is probably corrupt, but no satisfactory emendation has been

60. May see, etc. Qq May proposed.

First Fish. No, friend, cannot you beg? Here's them in our country of Greece gets more with begging than we can do with working.

Sec. Fish. Canst thou catch any fishes, then?
Per. I never practised it.

Sec. Fish. Nay, then thou wilt starve, sure; for here's nothing to be got now-a-days, unless thou canst fish for 't.

Per. What I have been I have forgot to know;
But what I am, want teaches me to think on :
A man throng'd up with cold: my veins are
chill,

And have no more of life than may suffice

To give my tongue that heat to ask your help;
Which if you shall refuse, when I am dead,
For that I am a man, pray see me buried.

First Fish. Die quoth-a? Now gods forbid ! I have a gown here; 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 flap-jacks, and thou shalt be welcome.

Per. I thank you, sir.

Sec. Fish. Hark you, my friend; you said you could not beg.

Per. I did but crave.

Sec. Fish. But crave! Then I'll turn craver too, and so I shall 'scape whipping.

Per. Why, are all your beggars whipped, then?

Sec. Fish. O, not all, my friend, not all; for if all your beggars were whipped, I would wish no better office than to be beadle. But, master, I'll go draw up the net.

[Exit with Third Fisherman.

87. flap-jacks, pancakes.

70

80

90

Per. [Aside] How well this honest mirth becomes their labour !

First Fish. Hark you, sir, do you know where 100 ye are?

Per. Not well.

First Fish. Why, I'll tell you: this is called Pentapolis, and our king the good Simonides. Per. The good King Simonides, do you call him?

First Fish. Ay, sir: and he deserves so to be called for his peaceable reign and good government.

Per. He is a happy king, since he gains from his subjects the name of good by his government. 110 How far is his court distant from this shore?

First Fish. Marry, sir, half a day's journey: and I'll tell you, he hath a fair daughter, and tomorrow is her birth-day; and there are princes and knights come from all parts of the world to just and tourney for her love.

Per. Were my fortunes equal to my desires, I could wish to make one there.

First Fish. O, sir, things must be as they may; and what a man cannot get, he may law- 120 fully deal for his wife's soul.

Re-enter Second and Third Fishermen, drawing up a net.

Sec. Fish. Help, master, help! here's a fish hangs in the net, like a poor man's right in the law; 'twill hardly come out. Ha! bots on 't, 'tis come at last, and 'tis turned to a rusty armour.

120, 121. what a man cannot get . his wife's soul. Obscure and doubtful. If the text is correct the meaning is: if a man cannot directly win the

affections of his (future) wife, he is free to bargain for them (by the tourney, of which her love was the prize).