Sim. ^note
Knights,
To say you're ^note welcome were superfluous. ^note
To place ^note 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 ^note a feast:
You are princes and ^note 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 ^note, lady, than my merit ^note.

Sim. ^note
Call it by what you will, the day is yours ^note;
And here, I hope, is none that envies it.

In framing an artist ^note, art hath thus decreed,
To make some good, but others to exceed;
And you are ^note her labour'd ^note scholar. Come, queen o' the ^note feast,—
For, daughter, so you are,—here take your place:
Marshal ^note the rest as they deserve their ^note grace.

Knights.
We are honour'd ^note much by good Simonides.

Sim. ^note
Your presence glads our days ^note: honour we love;
For who hates honour hates the gods above.

Marshal.
Sir, yonder is ^note your place.

Per.
Some other is more fit.

First Knight.
Contend not, sir; for we are gentlemen
That ^note neither in our hearts nor outward eyes
Envy ^note the great nor do ^note the low despise.

Per.
You are right courteous knights.

Sim. ^note
Sit, ^note sir ^note, sit. [Aside ^note]
By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts ^note,
These cates resist ^note me, he not ^note thought upon. ^note

Thai. [Aside ^note]
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. ^note

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

Has broken a staff or so; so let ^note it pass. ^note

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

Per. [Aside ^note]
Yon king's ^note to me like to my father's picture,
Which tells me ^note in that glory once he was;
Had princes sit ^note, 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 ^note 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 ^note, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.

Sim. ^note
What, are you merry, knights?

Knights. ^note
Who can be other in this royal presence?

Sim. ^note
Here, with a cup that's stored ^note unto the brim,—
As you do love, fill to your mistress' ^note lips,—
We drink this ^note health to you.

Knights.
We thank your grace.

Sim. ^note
Yet pause awhile:
Yon knight doth sit ^note too melancholy, ^{note note}
As if the entertainment in our court
Had not a show might countervail his worth.
Note it not you, Thaisa? ^note

Thai.
What is 't ^note to me, my father?

Sim. ^note
O, attend, my daughter:
Princes, in this, should live like gods above,
Who freely give ^note to every one that comes ^note
To honour them:
And princes not doing so are like to gnats,
Which make a sound, but kill'd ^note are ^note wonder'd at ^note. ^note
Therefore to make his ^note entrance ^note more ^note sweet,
Here, say we drink this standing-bowl ^note 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. ^note
How!
Do as I bid you, or you'll move me else. ^note

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

Sim. ^note
And furthermore tell him, we desire to know of him, ^note
Of whence ^note he is, his name and parentage.

Thai.
The king my father, sir, has ^note 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, ^note Pericles;
My education been ^note 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 ^note himself Pericles,
A gentleman of Tyre,
Who only by misfortune of the seas ^{note note}
Bereft ^note of ships and men, cast on this ^note shore.

Sim. ^note
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. ^note
Even in ^note your armours, as you are address'd,
Will very well ^note become a soldier's dance.
I will not have excuse, with saying this ^note
Loud music is too harsh for ladies' heads,
Since they love men in arms as well as beds. [The Knights dance. ^note
So, this was well ask'd, 'twas so well ^note perform'd.
Come, sir, here's ^note a lady that wants breathing too:
And I have heard ^note, you knights ^note 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. ^note
O, that's as much as you would be denied
Of your fair courtesy. [The Knights and Ladies dance. ^note
Unclasp, unclasp:
Thanks, gentlemen, to all; all have done well, [To Pericles ^note]
But you the best. Pages and lights, to conduct ^note
These knights unto their several lodgings! Yours ^note, sir,
We have given order to be next our own. ^note

Per.
I am at your grace's pleasure.

Sim. ^{note note}
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. ^{note note}

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