Pericles

alit, me extinguit.” Simonides

Which shows that beauty hath his power and will,
Which can as well inflame as it can kill. The Fifth Knight passes over.

Thaisa

The fifth, an hand environed with clouds,
Holding out gold that’s by the touchstone tried;
The motto thus, “Sic spectanda fides.” The Sixth Knight, Pericles, passes over.

Simonides

And what’s
The sixth and last, the which the knight himself
With such a graceful courtesy deliver’d?

Thaisa

He seems to be a stranger; but his present is
A wither’d branch, that’s only green at top;
The motto, “In hac spe vivo.”

Simonides

A pretty moral;
From the dejected state wherein he is,
He hopes by you his fortunes yet may flourish.

First Lord

He had need mean better than his outward show
Can any way speak in his just commend;
For by his rusty outside he appears
To have practised more the whipstock than the lance.

Second Lord

He well may be a stranger, for he comes
To an honour’d triumph strangely furnished.

Third Lord

And on set purpose let his armour rust
Until this day, to scour it in the dust.

Simonides

Opinion’s but a fool, that makes us scan
The outward habit by the inward man.
But stay, the knights are coming: we will withdraw
Into the gallery. Exeunt. Great shouts within and all cry “The mean knight!”

Scene III

The same. A hall of state: a banquet prepared.

	Enter Simonides, Thaisa, Lords, Attendants, and Knights, from tilting.
Simonides	Knights, To say you’re welcome were superfluous. To place 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 a feast: You are princes and my guests.
Thaisa	But you, my knight and guest; To whom this wreath of victory I give, And crown you king of this day’s happiness.
Pericles	’Tis more by fortune, lady, than by merit.
Simonides	Call it by what you will, the day is yours; And here, I hope, is none that envies it. In framing an artist, art hath thus decreed, To make some good, but others to exceed; And you are her labour’d scholar. Come, queen o’ the feast⁠— For, daughter, so you are⁠—here take your place: Marshal the rest, as they deserve their grace.
Knights	We are honour’d much by good Simonides.
Simonides	Your presence glads our days: honour we love; For who hates honour hates the gods above.
Marshal	Sir, yonder is your place.
Pericles	Some other is more fit.
First Knight	Contend not, sir; for we are gentlemen That neither in our hearts nor outward eyes Envy the great nor do the low despise.
Pericles	You are right courteous knights.
Simonides	Sit, sir, sit.
Pericles	By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts, These cates resist me, she but thought upon.
Thaisa	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.
Simonides	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.
Thaisa	To me he seems like diamond to glass.
Pericles	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 now his son’s like a 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, and he is their grave, And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
Simonides	What, are you merry, knights?
Knights	Who can be other in this royal presence?
Simonides	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	We thank your grace.
Simonides	Yet pause awhile: 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?
Thaisa	What is it To me, my father?
Simonides	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 doin g so are like to gnats, Which make a sound, but kill’d are wonder’d at. Therefore to make his entrance more sweet, Here, say we drink this standing-bowl of wine to him.
Thaisa	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.
Simonides	How! Do as I bid you, or you’ll move me else.
Thaisa	Aside. Now, by the gods, he could not please me better.
Simonides	And furthermore tell him, we desire to know of him, Of whence he is, his name and parentage.
Thaisa	The king my father, sir, has drunk to you.
Pericles	I thank him.
Thaisa	Wishing it so much blood unto your life.
Pericles	I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely.
Thaisa	And further he desires to know of you, Of whence you are, your name and parentage.
Pericles	A gentleman of Tyre; my name, Pericles; My education 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.
Thaisa	He thanks your grace; names himself Pericles, A gentleman of Tyre, Who only by misfortune of the seas Bereft of ships and men, cast on this shore.
Simonides	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, 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. Come, sir; Here is a lady that wants breathing too: And I have heard, you knights of Tyre Are excellent in making