Pericles by William Shakespeare
Act 2 - Scene 1
Pentapolis. An open place by the sea-side.
Pericles : Yet cease your ire, you angry stars of heaven!
[p]Wind, rain, and
thunder, remember, earthly man
[p]Is but a substance that must yield
to you;
[p]And I, as fits my nature, do obey you:
[p]Alas, the sea
hath cast me on the rocks,
[p]Wash'd me from shore to shore, and left
me breath
[p]Nothing to think on but ensuing death:
[p]Let it suffice
the greatness of your powers
[p]To have bereft a prince of all his
fortunes;
[p]And having thrown him from your watery grave,
[p]Here to
have death in peace is all he'll crave.
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
[p]fetch thee with a
wanion.
Third Fisherman : Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor men that
[p]were cast away
before us even now.
First Fisherman : Alas, poor souls, it grieved my heart to hear what
[p]pitiful cries
they made to us to help them, when,
[p]well-a-day, we could scarce
help ourselves.
Third Fisherman : Nay, master, said not I as much when I saw the
[p]porpus how he
bounced and tumbled? they say
[p]they're half fish, half flesh: a
plague on them,
[p]they ne'er come but I look to be washed. Master,
I
[p]marvel how the fishes live in the sea.
First Fisherman : Why, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the
[p]little ones: I can
compare our rich misers to
[p]nothing so fitly as to a whale; a' plays
and
[p]tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at
[p]last
devours them all at a mouthful: such whales
[p]have I heard on o' the
land, who never leave gaping
[p]till they've swallowed the whole
parish, church,
[p]steeple, bells, and all.
Pericles : [Aside] A pretty moral.
Third Fisherman : But, master, if I had been the sexton, I would have
[p]been that day
in the belfry.
Second Fisherman : Why, man?
Third Fisherman : Because he should have swallowed me too: and when I
[p]had been in his
belly, I would have kept such a
[p]jangling of the bells, that he
should never have
[p]left, till he cast bells, steeple, church,
and
[p]parish up again. But if the good King Simonides
[p]were of my
mind,--
Pericles : [Aside] Simonides!
Third Fisherman : We would purge the land of these drones, that rob
[p]the bee of her
honey.
Pericles : [Aside] How from the finny subject of the sea
[p]These fishers tell
the infirmities of men;
[p]And from their watery empire
recollect
[p]All that may men approve or men detect!
[p]Peace be at
your labour, honest fishermen.
Second Fisherman : Honest! good fellow, what's that? If it be a day
[p]fits you, search
out of the calendar, and nobody
[p]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
[p]way!
Pericles : A man whom both the waters and the wind,
[p]In that vast tennis-court,
have made the ball
[p]For them to play upon, entreats you pity
him:
[p]He asks of you, that never used to beg.
First Fisherman : No, friend, cannot you beg? Here's them in our
[p]country Greece gets
more with begging than we can do
[p]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
[p]to be got
now-a-days, unless thou canst fish for't.
Pericles : What I have been I have forgot to know;
[p]But what I am, want teaches
me to think on:
[p]A man throng'd up with cold: my veins are
chill,
[p]And have no more of life than may suffice
[p]To give my
tongue that heat to ask your help;
[p]Which if you shall refuse, when
I am dead,
[p]For that I am a man, pray see me buried.
First Fisherman : Die quoth-a? Now gods forbid! I have a gown here;
[p]come, put it on;
keep thee warm. Now, afore me, a
[p]handsome fellow! Come, thou shalt
go home, and
[p]we'll have flesh for holidays, fish
for
[p]fasting-days, and moreo'er puddings and flap-jacks,
[p]and thou
shalt be welcome.
Pericles : I thank you, sir.
Second Fisherman : Hark you, my friend; you said you could not beg.
Pericles : I did but crave.
Second Fisherman : But crave! Then I'll turn craver too, and so I
[p]shall 'scape
whipping.
Pericles : Why, are all your beggars whipped, then?
Second Fisherman : O, not all, my friend, not all; for if all your
[p]beggars were
whipped, I would wish no better office
[p]than to be beadle. But,
master, I'll go draw up the
[p]net.
Pericles : [Aside] How well this honest mirth becomes their labour!
First Fisherman : Hark you, sir, do you know where ye are?
Pericles : Not well.
First Fisherman : Why, I'll tell you: this is called Pentapolis, and
[p]our king the
good Simonides.
Pericles : The good King Simonides, do you call him.
First Fisherman : Ay, sir; and he deserves so to be called for his
[p]peaceable reign
and good government.
Pericles : He is a happy king, since he gains from his subjects
[p]the name of
good by his government. How far is his
[p]court distant from this
shore?
First Fisherman : Marry, sir, half a day's journey: and I'll tell
[p]you, he hath a fair
daughter, and to-morrow is her
[p]birth-day; and there are princes and
knights come
[p]from all parts of the world to just and tourney for
her love.
Pericles : Were my fortunes equal to my desires, I could wish
[p]to make one
there.
First Fisherman : O, sir, things must be as they may; and what a man
[p]cannot get, he
may lawfully deal for--his wife's soul.
Second Fisherman : Help, master, help! here's a fish hangs in the net,
[p]like a poor
man's right in the law; 'twill hardly
[p]come out. Ha! bots on't, 'tis
come at last, and
[p]'tis turned to a rusty armour.
Pericles : An armour, friends! I pray you, let me see it.
[p]Thanks, fortune,
yet, that, after all my crosses,
[p]Thou givest me somewhat to repair
myself;
[p]And though it was mine own, part of my heritage,
[p]Which
my dead father did bequeath to me.
[p]With this strict charge, even as
he left his life,
[p]'Keep it, my Pericles; it hath been a
shield
[p]Twixt me and death;'--and pointed to this brace;--
[p]'For
that it saved me, keep it; in like necessity--
[p]The which the gods
protect thee from!--may
[p]defend thee.'
[p]It kept where I kept, I so
dearly loved it;
[p]Till the rough seas, that spare not any
man,
[p]Took it in rage, though calm'd have given't again:
[p]I thank
thee for't: my shipwreck now's no ill,
[p]Since I have here my
father's gift in's will.
First Fisherman : What mean you, sir?
Pericles : To beg of you, kind friends, this coat of worth,
[p]For it was
sometime target to a king;
[p]I know it by this mark. He loved me
dearly,
[p]And for his sake I wish the having of it;
[p]And that
you'ld guide me to your sovereign's court,
[p]Where with it I may
appear a gentleman;
[p]And if that ever my low fortune's
better,
[p]I'll pay your bounties; till then rest your debtor.
First Fisherman : Why, wilt thou tourney for the lady?
Pericles : I'll show the virtue I have borne in arms.
First Fisherman : Why, do 'e take it, and the gods give thee good on't!
Second Fisherman : Ay, but hark you, my friend; 'twas we that made up
[p]this garment
through the rough seams of the waters:
[p]there are certain
condolements, certain vails. I
[p]hope, sir, if you thrive, you'll
remember from
[p]whence you had it.
Pericles : Believe 't, I will.
[p]By your furtherance I am clothed in
steel;
[p]And, spite of all the rapture of the sea,
[p]This jewel
holds his building on my arm:
[p]Unto thy value I will mount
myself
[p]Upon a courser, whose delightful steps
[p]Shall make the
gazer joy to see him tread.
[p]Only, my friend, I yet am
unprovided
[p]Of a pair of bases.
Second Fisherman : We'll sure provide: thou shalt have my best gown to
[p]make thee a
pair; and I'll bring thee to the court myself.
Pericles : Then honour be but a goal to my will,
[p]This day I'll rise, or else
add ill to ill.
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Next: Act 2 - Scene 2
