Hel How dare the plants look up to heaven, from whence They have their nourishment? Per. Thou know'st I have power To take thy life. Hel. [Kneeling] I have ground the axe myself; Do you but strike the blow. Per. Rise, pr'ythee rise; Sit down, sit down; thou art no flatterer : I thank thee for it; and high heaven forbid, That kings should let their ears hear their faults hid! Fit counsellor, and servant for a prince, Who by thy wisdom mak'st a prince thy servant, Hel. With patience bear Such griefs as you do lay upon yourself. Per. Thou speak'st like a physician, Helicanus; Who minister'st a potion unto me, That thou would'st tremble to receive thyself. Where, as thou know'st, against the face of death, Under the covering of a careful night, Who seem'd my good protector; and being here, And make pretence of wrong that I have done him Mast feel war's blow, who spares not innocence : Hel. Alas, sir! Per. Drew sleep out of mine eyes, blood from my cheeks, Musings into my mind, a thousand doubts Hel. Well, my lord, since you have given me leave to speak, Freely I'll speak. Antiochus you fear, And justly too, I think, you fear the tyrant, Therefore, my lord, go travel for a while, Or Destinies do cut his thread of life. Day serves not light more faithful than I'll be. But should he wrong my liberties in absence- Per. Tyre, I now look from thee then, and to Tharsus On thee I lay, whose wisdom's strength can bear it. I'll take thy word for faith, not ask thine oath ; Who shuns not to break one, will sure crack both : But in our orbs, we'll live so round and safe, That time of both this truth shall ne'er convince, 'Thou show'dst a subject's shine, I a true prince.4 [Exeunt. SCENE III. Tyre. An Ante-chamber in the Palace. Enter THALIARD. Thal. So, this is Tyre, and this is the court. Here must I kill king Pericles; and if I do not, I am sure to be hanged at home: 'tis dangerous.-Well, I perceive he was a wise fellow, and had good discretion, that be [4] This sentiment is not much unlike that of Falstaff: "I shall think the better of myself and thee during my life; I for a valiant lion, and thou for a true prince," MALONE. ing bid to ask what he would of the king, desired he might know none of his secrets. 5 Now do I see he had some reason for it: for if a king bid a man be a villain, he is bound by the indenture of his oath to be one.Hush, here come the lords of Tyre. Enter HELICANUS, ESCANES, and other Lords. Hel. You shall not need, my fellow peers of Tyre, Further to question of your king's departure. His seal'd commission, left in trust with me, Doth speak sufficiently, he's gone to travel. Thal. How the king gone! Hel. If further yet you will be satisfied, Why, as it were, unlicens'd of your loves, He would depart, I'll give some light unto you. [Aside Being at Antioch Thal. What from Antioch? [Aside. Hel. Royal Antiochus (on what cause I know not,) Took some displeasure at him; at least he judg'd so: With whom each minute threatens life or death. [Aside I shall not be hang'd now, although I would; Hel. Lord Thaliard from Antiochus is welcome. With message unto princely Pericles ; But, since my landing, as I have understood [5] Who this wise fellow was, may be known from the following passage in Barnabie Riche's Souldier's Wishe to Britons Welfare, 1604, p. 27: "I will therefore commende the poet Philipides, who being demaunded by King Lisimachus, what favour he might doe unto him for that he loved him, made this.answere to the King, that your majestie would never impart unto me any of your secrets." STEEVENS. [6] So, Autolycus, in The Winter's Tale: " If I had a mind to he honest, see, Fortune would not suffer me; she drops bounties into my mouth" MALONE Yet, ere you shall depart, this we desire, As friends to Antioch, we may feast in Tyre. [Exeunt. SCENE IV, Tharsus. A Room in the Governor's House. Enter CLEON, Cle. My Dionyza, shall we rest us here, Dio. That were to blow at fire, in hope to quench it ; O my distressed lord, even such our griefs; Here they're but felt, and seen with with mistful eyes, Who wanteth food, and will not say he wants it, Fetch breath that may proclaim them louder; that, Cle. This Tharsus, o'er which I have government, (A city, on whom plenty held full hand,) For riches, strew'd herself even in the streets; Whose towers bore heads so high, they kiss'd the clouds, Cle. But see what heaven can do! By this our change, These mouths, whom but of late, earth, sea, and air, [7] To jet is to strut, to walk proudly. So, in Twelfth Night: "Contemlation makes a rare turkey-cock of him: how he jets under his advanced plumes!" STEEVENS. Were all too little to content and please, They are now starv'd for want of exercise: Dio. Our cheeks and hollow eyes do witness it. With their superfluous riots, hear these tears !1 Speak out thy sorrows which thou bring'st, in haste, Lord.We have descried, upon our neighbouring shore, A portly sail of ships make hitherward. Cle. I thought as much. One sorrow never comes, but brings an heir, That may succeed as his inheritor ;' And so in ours: some neighbouring nation, Taking advantage of our misery, Hath stuff'd these hollow vessels with their power, [9] I would read-nursle. A fondling is still called a nursling. STEEV. [1] A kindred thought is found in King Lear : "Take physic, pomp! "Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, [2] So, in Hamlet: "sorrows never come as single spies, Again, ibidem, "One woe doth tread upon another's heels, MALONE. STEEVENS. MALONE |