Pericles

heaven and men succeed their evils!
Till when⁠—the which I hope shall ne’er be seen⁠—
Your grace is welcome to our town and us. Pericles

Which welcome we’ll accept; feast here awhile,
Until our stars that frown lend us a smile. Exeunt.

Act II

	Enter Gower.
Gower	Here have you seen a mighty king His child, I wis, to incest bring; A better prince and benign lord, That will prove awful both in deed and word. Be quiet then as men should be, Till he hath pass’d necessity. I’ll show you those in troubles reign, Losing a mite, a mountain gain. The good in conversation, To whom I give my benison, Is still at Tarsus, where each man Thinks all is writ he speken can; And, to remember what he does, Build his statue to make him glorious: But tidings to the contrary Are brought your eyes; what need speak I?
	Dumb Show.
	Enter at one door Pericles talking with Cleon; all the train with them. Enter at another door a Gentleman, with a letter to Pericles; Pericles shows the letter to Cleon; gives the Messenger a reward, and knights him. Exit Pericles at one door, and Cleon at another.
	Good Helicane, that stay’d at home, Not to eat honey like a drone From others’ labours; for though he strive To killen bad, keep good alive; And to fulfil his prince’ desire, Sends word of all that haps in Tyre: How Thaliard came full bent with sin And had intent to murder him; And that in Tarsus was not best Longer for him to make his rest. He, doing so, put forth to seas, Where when men been, there’s seldom ease; For now the wind begins to blow; Thunder above and deeps below Make such unquiet, that the ship Should house him safe is wreck’d and split; And he, good prince, having all lost, By waves from coast to coast is tost: All perishen of man, of pelf, Ne aught escapen but himself; Till fortune, tired with doing bad, Threw him ashore, to give him glad: And here he comes. What shall be next, Pardon old Gower⁠—this longs the text. Exit.

Scene I

Pentapolis. An open place by the sea-side.

	Enter Pericles, wet.
Pericles	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 breath 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.
First Fisherman	What, ho, Pilch!
Second Fisherman	Ha, come and bring away the nets!
First Fisherman	What, Patch-breech, I say!
Third Fisherman	What say you, master?
First Fisherman	Look how thou stirrest now! come away, or I’ll fetch thee with a wanion.
Third Fisherman	’Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor men that were cast away before us even now.
First Fisherman	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.
Third Fisherman	Nay, master, said not I as much when I saw the porpus how he bounced and tumbled? they say they’re 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.
First Fisherman	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 o’ the land, who never leave gaping till they’ve swallowed the whole parish, church, steeple, bells, and all.
Pericles	Aside. A pretty moral.
Third Fisherman	But, master, if I had been the sexton, I would have been that day in the belfry.
Second Fisherman	Why, man?
Third Fisherman	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—
Pericles	Aside. Simonides!
Third Fisherman	We would purge the land of these drones, that rob the bee of her honey.
Pericles	Aside. How from the finny subject of the sea 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.
Second Fisherman	Honest! good fellow, what’s that? If it be a day fits you, search out of the calendar, and nobody look after it.
Pericles	May see the sea hath cast upon your coast.
Second Fisherman	What a drunken knave was the sea to cast thee in our way!
Pericles	A man whom both the waters and the wind, In that vast tennis-court, have made the ball For them to play upon, entreats you pity him: He asks of you, that never used to beg.
First Fisherman	No, friend, cannot you beg? Here’s them in our country Greece gets more with begging than we can do with working.
Second Fisherman	Canst thou catch any fishes, then?
Pericles	I never practised it.
Second Fisherman	Nay, then thou wilt starve, sure; for here’s nothing to be got now-a-days, unless thou canst fish for’t.
Pericles	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, 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.
First Fisherman	Die quoth-a? Now gods forbid! I have a gown here; come, put it on; keep thee warm. Now, afore me, a handsome fellow! Come, thou shalt go home,