網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

That pupils lacks she none of noble race,
Who pour their bounty on her; and her gain
She gives the cursed bawd. Here we her place;
And to her father turn our thoughts again,

Where we left him, on the sea. We there him

lost;

Whence, driven before the winds, he is arriv'd
Here where his daughter dwells; and on this coast
Suppose him now at anchor. The city striv'd

God Neptune's annual feast to keep :8 from whence
Lysimachus our Tyrian ship espies,

His banners sable, trimm'd with rich expence ;
And to him in his barge with fervour hies.
In your supposing once more put your sight;
Of heavy Pericles think this the bark :
Where, what is done in action, more, if might,
Shall be discover'd; please you, sit, and hark.

SCENE I.

[Exit.

On board PERICLES' Ship, off Mitylene. A close Pavilion on deck, with a Curtain before it; PERICLES within it, reclined on a Couch A Barge lying beside the Tyrian Vessel Enter Two Sailors, one belonging to the Tyrian Vessel, the other to the Barge; to them HELICANUS.

Tyr. Sail. Where's the lord Helicanus? he can resolve you. [To the Sailor of Mitylene.

O, here he is.

Sir, there's a barge put off from Mitylene.

And in it is Lysimachus the governor,

Who craves to come aboard. What is your will?
Hel. That he have his. Call up some gentlemen.
Tyr. Sail. Ho, gentlemen! my lord calls.

Enter Two Gentlemen.

1 Gent. Doth your lordship call?

Hel. Gentlemen,

There is some of worth would come aboard; I pray you, To greet them fairly.

[The Gentlemen and the two Sailors descend, and go on board the Barge.

[8] The citizens vied with each other in celebrating the feast of Neptune

MALONE

Enter, from thenee LYSIMACHUS and Lords; the Tyrian Gentlemen, and the Two Sailors.

Tyr. Sail. Sir,

This is the man that can, in aught you would,
Resolve you.

Lys. Hail, reverend sir! The gods preserve you!
Hel. And you, sir, to out-live the age I am,
And die as I would do.

Lys. You wish me well.

Being on shore, honouring of Neptune's triumphs,
Seeing this goodly vessel ride before us,
I made to it, to know of whence you are.

Hel. First, sir, what is your place?

Lys. I am governor of this place you lie before.
Hel. Sir,

Our vessel is of Tyre, in it the king;

A man, who for this three months hath not spoken
To any one, nor taken sustenance,

But to prorogue his grief.

Lys. Upon what ground is his distemperature ?
Hel. Sir, it would be too tedious to repeat;
But the main grief of all springs from the loss
Of a beloved daughter and a wife.

Lys. May we not see him then?

Hel. You may indeed, sir,

But bootless is your sight; he will not speak
To any.

Lys. Yet, let me obtain my wish.

Hel. Behold him, sir: [PERICLES discovered.] this was a goodly person,

Till the disaster, that, one mortal night,

Drove him to this.

Lys. Sir, king, all hail! the gods preserve you! Hail, Hail, royal sir!

Hel. It is in vain ; he will not speak to you.

1 Lord. Sir, we have a maid in Mitylene, I durst

wager,

Would win some words of him.

Lys. 'Tis well bethought.

She, questionless, with her sweet harmony,

And other choice attractions, would allure,

And make a battery through his deafen'd parts,
Which now are midway stopp'd :9

[9] So in Antony and Cleopatra:

"Make battery to our ears with the loud music." HOLT WHITE.

She, all as happy as of all the fairest,
Is, with her fellow maidens, now within
The leafy shelter that abuts against

The island's side.

[He whispers one of the attendant Lords.Exit Lord, in the Barge of LYSIMACHUS.1

Hel. Sure, all's effectless; yet nothing we'll omit That bears recovery's name. But, since your kindness We have stretch'd thus far, let us beseech you further, That for our gold we may provision have, Wherein we are not destitute for want, But weary for the staleness.

Lys. O, sir, a courtesy,

Which if we should deny, the most just God
For every graff would send a caterpillar,
And so inflict our province.-Yet once more
Let me entreat to know at large the cause
Of your king's sorrow.

Hel. Sit, sir, I will recount it ;

But see, I am prevented.

Enter, from the Barge, Lord, MAKINA, and a young

Lys. O, here is

Lady.

The lady that I sent for. Welcome, fair one!

Is't not a goodly presence ?*

Hel. A gallant lady.

Lys. She's such, that were I well assur'd she came Of gentle kind, and noble stock, I'd wish

No better choice, and think me rarely wed.

Fair one,
all goodness that consists in bounty.
Expect even here, where is a kingly patient:

[1] It may seem strange that a fable should have been chosen to form a drama upon, in which the greater part of the business of the last Act should be transacted at sea; and wherein it should even be necessary to produce two vessels on the scene at the same time. But the customs and exhibitions of the modern stage give this objection to the play before us a greater weight than it really has. It appears, that, when Pericles was originally performed, the theatres were furnished with no such apparatus as by any stretch of the imagination could be supposed to present either a sea, or a ship; and that the audience were contented to behold vessels sailing in and out of port, in their mind's eye only This licence being once granted to the poet, the lord, in the instance now before us, walked off the stage, and returned again in a few minutes, leading in Marina, without any sensible impropriety; and the present drama, exhibited before such indulgent spectators, was not more incommodious in the representation than any other would have been. MALONE.

[2] Is she not beautiful in her form? So, in King John:

"Lord of thy presence, and no land beside."

MALONE.

If that thy prosperous-artificial feat3

Can draw him but to answer thee in aught,
Thy sacred physic shall receive such pay
As thy desires can wish.

Mar. Sir, I will use

My utmost skill in his recovery,

Provided none but I and my companion
Be suffer'd to come near him.

Lys. Come, let us leave her,

And the gods make her prosperous! [MARINA sings. Lys. Mark'd he your music?

Mar. No, nor look'd on us.

Lys. See, she will speak to him.

Mar. Hail, sir! my lord, lend ear

Per. Hum! ha!

Mer. I am a maid,

My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes,*

But have been gaz'd on, comet-like: she speaks
My lord, that, may be, hath endur'd a grief
Might equal yours, if both were justly weigh'd.
Though wayward fortune did malign my state,
My derivation was from ancestors

Who stood equivalent with mighty kings:
But time hath rooted out my parentage,
And to the world and aukward casualties
Bound me in servitude.-I will desist;

But there is something glows upon my cheek,

And whispers in mine ear, Go not till he speak. [Aside.
Per. My fortunes-parentage-good parentage-

To equal mine !-was it not thus? what say you?
Mar. I said, my lord, if you did know my parentage,
You would not do me violence.

Per. I do think so.

I pray you, turn your eyes again upon me.

[3] So in Measure for Measure:

-in her youth

"There is a prone and speechless dialect,

"Such as moves men; besides, she hath a prosperous art

"When she will play with reason and discourse,

"And well she can persuade."

[4] So, in King Henry IV:

"By being seldom seen, I could not stir,
"But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at."

MALONE.

MALONE.

[5] Aukward is adverse. Our author has the same epithet in The Second

Part of King Henry VI:

"And twice by aukward wind from England's bank

"Drove back again."

STEEVENS.

[blocks in formation]

You are like something that—What country woman? Here of these shores?

Mar. No, nor of any shores :

Yet I was mortally brought forth, and am
No other than I appear.

Per. I am great with woe, and shall deliver weeping.
My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one
My daughter might have been my queen's square
brows;

Her stature to an inch; as wand-like straight;

As silver-voic'd; her eyes as jewel-like,

And cas'd as richly in pace another Juno;

Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them hungry, The more she gives them speech.-Where do you live? Mar. Where I am but a stranger: from the deck You may discern the place.

Per. Where were you bred?

And how achiev'd you these endowments, which
You make more rich to owe ?6

Mar. Should I tell my history,

'Twould seem like lies disdain'd in the reporting.
Per. Pr'ythee speak;

Falseness cannot come from thee, for thou look'st
Modest as justice, and thou seem'st a palace

For the crown'd truth to dwell in: I'll believe thee,
And make my senses credit thy relation,

To points that seem impossible; for thou look'st
Like one I lov'd indeed. What were thy friends?
Didst thou not say, when I did push thee back,
(Which was when I perceiv'd thee,) that thou cam'st
From good descending?

Mar. So indeed I did.

Per. Report thy parentage. I think thou said'st Thou hadst been toss'd from wrong to injury,

And that thou thought'st thy griefs might equal mine, If both were open'd.

Mar. Some such thing indeed

I said, and said no more but what my thoughts
Did warrant me was likely.

[6] To owe in ancient language is to possess. So, in Othello:

-that sweet sleep

"That thou ow'dst yesterday."

The meaning of the compliment is :-These endowments, however valuable in themselves, are heighten'd by being in your possession. They acquire additional grace from their owner. Thus also one of Timon's flatterers: "You mend the jewel by the wearing of it." STEEVENS.

« 上一頁繼續 »