Per. You are right courteous knights.
Sim.

Sit, sir, sit.

By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts,
These cates resist me, he but thought upon.1
Thai. 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.

Sim. 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. To me he seems like diamond to glass.
Per. 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 3 now his son's like glow-worm in the night,
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light;
Whereby I see that Time's the king of men,
For he's their parent, and he is their grave,

And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
Sim. What, are you merry, knights?

I Knight. Who can be other in this royal presence?

1 The meaning is, "I cannot eat, for thinking on the stranger knight"; he referring to Pericles. So in Wilkins's novel: "As it were by some divine operation, both king and daughter at one instant were so strucke in love with the noblenesse of his woorth, that they could not spare so much time to satisfie themselves with the delicacie of their viands, for talking of his prayses."

2 To vail is to lower, to let fall. See vol. xviii. page 253, note 14.

3 Where, again, for whereas. This, also, is in the novel: "Pericles, on the other side, observing the dignity wherein the king sate, that so many princes came to honour him, so many peeres stoode ready to attend him, hee was strucke with present sorrow by remembering the losse of his owne."

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?

Thai.

To me, my father?

Sim.

What is it

O, attend, my daughter:

Princes, in this, should live like gods above,

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 still ne'er wonder'd at.

Therefore, to make his entertain 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 further tell him, we desire to know

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 is Pericles; My education's 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,

A gentleman of Tyre, who only by
Misfortune of the sea has been bereft

Of ships and men, and cast upon 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,4
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.
[To PERICLES.] Come, sir;

Here is a lady that wants breathing 5 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, —

4 As you are prepared for combat. 5 Breathing is exercise. Often so.

A frequent use of address'd.
See vol. xiv. page 307, note 36.

[To PERICLES.] But you the best. Pages and lights, to

conduct

These knights unto their several lodgings!-[To PERICLES.]

Yours, sir,

We've 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: 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

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.

1 Lord. See, not a man in private conference

Or council has respect with him but he.

2 Lord. It shall no longer grieve without reproof. 3 Lord. And cursed be he that will not second it. 1 Lord. Follow me, then.

Lord Helicane, a word.

Hel. With me? and welcome. -- Happy day, my lords! I Lord. Know that our griefs are risen to the top,

And now at length they overflow their banks.

Hel. Your griefs! for what? wrong not the Prince you love.

I Lord. Wrong not yourself, then, noble Helicane ;

But, if the Prince do live, let us salute him,

Or know what ground's made happy by his breath.
If in the world he live, we'll seek him out;

If in his grave he rest, we'll find him there ;
And be resolved he lives to govern us,

Or, dead, gives cause to mourn his funeral,

And leaves us to our free election.

2 Lord. Whose death's indeed the strongest in our cen

And, knowing this kingdom, if without a head, –

Like goodly buildings left without a roof,

Will soon to ruin fall, your noble self,

That best know'st how to rule and how to reign,
We thus submit unto, our sovereign.

All. Live, noble Helicane !

Hel. For honour's cause, forbear your suffrages:
If that you love Prince Pericles, forbear.
Take I your wish, I leap into the seat,
Where's hourly trouble for a minute's ease.
A twelvemonth longer, let me you entreat
Still to forbear the absence of your King;

1 Resolved is assured or satisfied. Often so.

2 Here, as usual, censure is judgment or opinion. Strongest for most probable.