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 breath4 note
Nothing to think on, but ensuing death:
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.
1 Fish.
What, ho, Pilch5 note!
2 Fish.
Ho! come, and bring away the nets.
-- 292 --
1 Fish.
What, Patch-breech, I say!
3 Fish.
What say you, master?
1 Fish.
Look how thou stirrest now! come away, or
I'll fetch thee with a wannion.
3 Fish.
'Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor
men, that were cast away before us even now.
1 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.
3 Fish.
Nay, master, said not I as much, when I saw
the porpus, how he bounced and tumbled? they say,
they are 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.
1 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
the land, who never leave gaping, till they've swallowed
the whole parish, church, steeple, bells and all.
Per.
A pretty moral.
3 Fish.
But, master, if I had been the sexton, I
would have been that day in the belfry.
2 Fish.
Why, man?
3 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.
Simonides?
3 Fish.
We would purge the land of these drones,
that rob the bee of her honey.
Per.
How from the finny subject of the sea6 note
-- 293 --
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.
2 Fish.
Honest! good fellow, what's that? if it be a
day fits you, search out of the calendar, and no body
look after it7 note.
Per.
Y' may see, the sea hath cast me upon your coast8 note—
2 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, hath made the ball
For them to play upon, entreats you pity him;
He asks of you, that never us'd to beg.
1 Fish.
No friend, cannot you beg? here's them in
our country of Greece, gets more with begging, than
we can do with working.
2 Fish.
Canst thou catch any fishes, then?
Per.
I never practis'd it.
2 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,
-- 294 --
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.
1 Fish.
Die quoth-a? Now, gods forbid it! 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-jacks9 note; and thou
shalt be welcome.
Per.
I thank you, sir.
2 Fish.
Hark you, my friend, you said you could not
beg.
Per.
I did but crave.
2 Fish.
But crave? Then I'll turn craver too, and
so I shall 'scape whipping.
Per.
Why, are all your beggars whipped, then?
2 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.
[Exeunt Two of the Fishermen.
Per.
How well this honest mirth becomes their
labour!
1 Fish.
Hark you, sir; do you know where you are?
Per.
Not well.
1 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?
1 Fish.
Ay, sir; and he deserves to be so 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. How
far is his court distant from this shore?
-- 295 --
1 Fish.
Marry, sir, half a day's journey: and I'll
tell you, he hath a fair daughter, and to-morrow is her
birth-day; and there are princes and knights come
from all parts of the world, to joust and tourney for her
love.
Per.
Were my fortunes equal to my desires, I could
wish to make one there.
1 Fish.
O, sir! things must be as they may; and
what a man cannot get, he may lawfully deal for. His
wife's soul1 note—
Re-enter the Two Fishermen, drawing up a Net.
2 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.
Per.
An armour, friends! I pray you, let me see it.
Thanks, fortune, yet, that after all crosses
Thou giv'st me somewhat to repair myself:
And though it was mine own, part of mine heritage,
Which my dead father did bequeath to me,
With this strict charge (even 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 sav'd me, keep it; in like necessity,
The which the gods protect thee from2 note! it may defend thee.”
It kept where I kept, I so dearly lov'd it,
Till the rough seas, that spare not any man,
Took it in rage, though calm'd, have given 't again.
I thank thee for't: my shipwreck now's no ill,
-- 296 --
Since I have here my father's gift in's will3 note.
1 Fish.
What mean you, sir?
Per.
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 lov'd me dearly,
And for his sake I wish the having of it;
And that you'd guide me to your sovereign's court,
Where with it I may appear a gentleman:
And if that ever my low fortunes better,
I'll pay your bounties; till then, rest your debtor.
1 Fish.
Why, wilt thou tourney for the lady?
Per.
I'll show the virtue I have borne in arms.
1 Fish.
Why, do ye take it; and the gods give thee
good on't!
2 Fish.
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 it.
Per.
Believe it, I will.
By your furtherance I am cloth'd in steel;
And spite of all the rapture of the sea,
This jewel holds his biding on my arm4 note
:
Unto thy value will I mount myself
Upon a courser, whose delightful steps
Shall make the gazer joy to see him tread.—
-- 297 --
Only, my friend, I yet am unprovided
Of a pair of bases.
2 Fish.
We'll sure provide: thou shalt have my best
gown to make thee a pair, and I'll bring thee to the
court myself.
Per.
Then honour be but a goal to my will!
This day I'll rise, or else add ill to ill.
[Exeunt.
J. Payne Collier [1842–1844], The works of William Shakespeare. The text formed from an entirely new collation of the old editions: with the various readings, notes, a life of the poet, and a history of the Early English stage. By J. Payne Collier, Esq. F.S.A. In eight volumes (Whittaker & Co. [etc.], London) [word count] [S10101].
