A babe is moulded;-Be attent, And time that is so briefly spent, Dumb Show. Enter PERICLES and SIMONIDES at one door, with Attendants; a Messenger meets them, kneels, and gives PERICLES a letter. PERICLES shows it to SIMONIDES; the Lords kneel to the former. Then enter THAISA with child, and LYCHORIDA. SIMONIDES shows his daughter the letter; she rejoices: she and PERICLES take leave of her father, and depart. Then SIMONIDES, &c., retire. * Eke out. Gow. By many a dearnt and painful perch, § That horse, and sail, and high expense, Are letters brought; the tenour these: The crown of Tyre, but he will none: Will take the crown. The sum of this, Y-ravished the regions round, And every one with claps 'gan sound, Our heir apparent is a king: Who dream'd, who thought of such a thing? Brief, he must hence depart to Tyre: His queen, with child, makes her desire On Neptune's billow; half the flood** Hath their keel cut; but fortune's mood + As having succeeded to the thrones of Tyre and Antioch. + Lonely. Help the search. That, as a duck for life that dives, This stage, the ship, upon whose deck SCENE I. Enter PERICLES, on a Ship at sea. Per. Thou God of this great vast, rebuke these surges, Having call'd them from the deep! O still thy deaf'ning, How does my queen ?-Thou storm, thou! venomously Divinest patroness, and midwife, gentle Enter LYCHORIDA, with an Infant. Lyc. Here is a thing Too young for such a place, who if it had Take in your arms this piece of your dead queen. Lyc. Patience, good Sir; do not assist the storm. Here's all that is left living of your queen, A little daughter; for the sake of it, Be manly, and take comfort. Per. O you gods! Why do you make us love your goodly gifts, And snatch them straight away? We, here below, Recall not what we give, and therein may Viell honour with yourselves. Lyc. Patience, good Sir, Even for this charge. Per. Now, mild may be thy life! For a more blust'rous birth had never babe: Quiet and gentle thy conditions! * Equivalent to "well-a-day." + I will not. § Thought. (In). [Exit. For thou'rt the rudeliest welcom❜d to this world, As fire, air, water, earth, and heaven can make, Enter two SAILORS. Sail. What courage, Sir? God save you. I would, it would be quiet. 1 Sail. Slack the bolins § there; thou wilt not, wilt thou? Blow, and split thyself. 2 Sail. But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon, I care not. 1 Sail. Sir, your queen must overboard; the sea works high, the wind is loud, and will not lie, till the ship be cleared of the dead. Per. That's your superstition. 1 Sail. Pardon us, Sir; with us at sea it still hath been observed; and we are strong in custom. Therefore briefly yield her; for she must overboard straight. Per. Be it as you think meet.-Most wretched queen! Lyc. Here she lies, Sir. Per. A terrible child-bed hast thou had, my dear, No light, no fire: the unfriendly elements Forgot thee utterly; nor have I time To give thee hallow'd to thy grave, but straight A priestly farewell to her: suddenly, woman. [Exit LYCHORIDA. 2 Sail. Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulk'd and bitumed ready. Per. I thank thee. Mariner, say, what coast is this? 2 Sail. We are near Tharsus. Per. Thither, gentle mariner, Alter thy course for Tyre. When canst thou reach it? 2 Sail. By break of day, if the wind cease. Per. O make for Tharsus. * Noisy. + Than thy entrance into life can requite. Bowlines. Ever-burning. There will I visit Cleon, for the babe Cannot hold out to Tyrus; there I'll leave it At careful nursing. Go thy ways, good mariner; [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Ephesus. A Room in CERIMON'S House. Enter CERIMON, a SERVANT, and some persons who have been Cer. Philemon, ho! shipwrecked. Enter PHILEMON. Phil. Doth my lord call? Cer. Get fire and meat for these poor men; it has been a turbulent and stormy night. Serv. I have been in many; but such a night as this, Till now, I ne'er endured. Cer. Your master will be dead ere your return: That can recover him. Give this to the 'pothecary, [TO PHILEMON. [Exeunt PHIL., SERV., and those who had been wrecked. Enter two GENTLEMEN. 1 Gent. Good morrow, Sir. 2 Gent. Good morrow to your lordship. Cer. Gentlemen, Why do you stir so early? 1 Gent. Sir, Our lodgings, standing bleak upon the sea, The very principals* did seem to rend, And all to topple, pure surprise and fear Made me to quit the house. 2 Gent. That is the cause we trouble you so early; "Tis not our husbandry.† Cer. O, you say well. 1 Gent. But I much marvel that your lordship, having Rich tire about you, should at these early hours Shake off the golden slumber of repose. It is most strange, Nature should be so conversant with pain, Being thereto not compell'd Cer. I held it ever, Virtue and cunning § were endowments greater Than nobleness and riches: careless heirs May the two latter darken and expend; * Chief rafters. + Attire. + I. e. prudence. Knowledge. (Together with my practice) made familiar That nature works, and of her cures; which gives me Or tie my treasure up in silken bags, 2 Gent. Your honour has through Ephesus pour'd forth Your charity, and hundreds call themselves Your creatures, who by you have been restored: Enter two SERVANTS with a chest. Serv. So; lift there. Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest ; "Tis of some wreck. Cer. Set't down, let's look on it. 2 Gent. 'Tis like a coffin, Sir. Cer. Whate'er it be, "Tis wondrous heavy. Wrench it open straight; If the sea's stomach be o'ercharged with gold, It is a good constraint of fortune, that It belches upon us. 2 Gent. "Tis so, my lord. Cer. How close 'tis caulk'd and bitumed!-Did the sea cast it up? Serv. I never saw so huge a billow, Sir, As toss'd it upon shore. Cer. Come, wrench it open; Soft, soft!-it smells most sweetly in my sense. 2 Gent. A delicate odour. Cer. As ever hit my nostril; so,-up with it. O you most potent god! what's here ? a corse! 1 Gent. Most strange! Cer. Shrouded in cloth of state; balm'd and entreasured With bags of spices full! A passport too! Apollo, perfect me i' the characters! Here I give to understand (If e'er this coffin drive a-land), I, King Pericles, have lost [Unfolds a scroll. [Reads. This queen, worth all our mundane cost. The gods requite his charity! |