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.

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. 'Tis 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 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.

Sim. Your presence glads our days: honour we

love;

For who hates honour hates the gods above.

Marshal. Sir, yonder is your place.

Per.

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.

Per. You are right courteous knights. Sim. Sit, sir, sit. [Aside] By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts, These cates resist me, he not thought upon.

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Thai. [Aside] By Juno, that is queen of marriage, 30 All viands that I eat do seem unsavoury,

Wishing him my meat. Sure, he's a gallant gentleman.

29. resist me, repel, are distasteful to.

Sim. [Aside] 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.

Thai. [Aside] To me he seems like diamond to glass.

Per. [Aside] 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.
Sim. What, are you merry, knights?

Knights. Who can be other in this royal pre-
sence?

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.

Sim. Yet pause awhile :

We thank your grace.

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?

50. stored; Steevens' correction of Qq stur'd, Ff stirr'd.

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50

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.

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. [Aside] Now, by the gods, he could not
please me better.

Sim. And furthermore tell him, we desire to
know of him,

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 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. Thai. He thanks your grace; names himself Pericles,

63. kill' d are wonder'd at, i.e. prove, in spite of their sound, to be marvellously small.

64. entrance (three syllables).

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70

80

65. standing-bowl, a bowl resting on a foot.

69. impudence, immodesty.

A gentleman of Tyre,

Who only by misfortune of the seas

Bereft of ships and men, cast on 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 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.

Per. In those that practise them they are, my lord.

Sim. 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 Per.] But you the best.

conduct

Pages and lights, to

These knights unto their several lodgings! [To

Per.] 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; And that's the mark I know you level at:

94. address'd, arrayed.

104. measures, slow and solemn dances.

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100

ΙΙΟ

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, 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.
Esca. 'Twas very strange.

Hel.

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. Esca. 'Tis very true.

Enter two or three Lords.

First Lord. See, not a man in private confer

ence

Or council has respect with him but he.

Sec. Lord. It shall no longer grieve without reproof.

Third Lord. And cursed be he that will not second it.

ΤΟ

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