And Pericles, in sorrow all devour'd, With sighs shot through, and biggest tears o'ershower'd, He bears Leaves Tharsus, and again embarks. He swears (Reads the inscription on Marina's monument.) On whom foul death hath made this slaughter: 1 Gent. Did you ever hear the like? 2 Gent. No, nor never shall do in such a place as this, she being once gone. 1 Gent. But to have divinity preached there! did you ever dream of such a thing? 2 Gent. No, no. Come, I am for no more bawdyhouses: Shall we go hear the vestals sing? 1 Gent. I'll do any thing now that is virtuous; but I am out of the road of rutting, for ever. [Exeunt. SCENE VI.-The same. A Room in the Brothel. Enter Pander, Bawd, and BOULT. Pand. Well, I had rather than twice the worth of her, she bad ne'er come here. Bawd. Fy, fy upon her; she is able to freeze the god Priapus, and undo a whole generation. We must either get her ravished, or be rid of her. When she should do for clients her fitment, and do me the kindness of our profession, she has me her quirks, her reasons, her master-reasons, her prayers, her knees; that she would make a puritan of the devil, if he should cheapen a kiss of her. Boult. 'Faith, I must ravish her, or she'll disfurnish us of all our cavaliers, and make all our swearers priests. [me! Pand. Now, the pox upon her green-sickness for Bawd. 'Faith, there's no way to be rid on't, but by the way to the pox. Here comes the lord Lysimachus, disguised. Boult. We should have both lord and lown, if the peevish baggage would but give way to customers. Enter LYSIMACHUS. Lys. How now? How a dozen of virginities? Bawd. Now, the gods to bless your honour! Boult. I am glad to see your honour in good health. Lys. You may so; 'tis the better for you that your resorters stand upon sound legs. How now, wholesome iniquity? Have you that a man may deal withal, and defy the surgeon? Bawd. We have here one, sir, if she would-but there never came her like in Mitylene. Lys. If she'd do the deeds of darkness, thou would'st say. [enough. Bawd. Your honour knows what 'tis to say, well Lys. Well; call forth, call forth. Boult. For flesh and blood, sir, white and red, you shall see a rose; and she were a rose indeed, if she had but Lys. I beseech you, do. Bawd. First, I would have you note, that this is an honourable man. (To Mar. whom she takes aside.) Mar. I desire to find him so, that I may worthily note him. Bawd. Next, he's the governor of this country, and a man whom I am bound to. Mar. If he govern this country, you are bound to him indeed; but how honourable he is in that, I know not. Bawd. 'Pray you, without any more virginal fencing, will you use him kindly? he will line your apron with gold. [fully receive. Mar. What he will do graciously, I will thankLys. Have you done? Bawd. My lord, she's not paced yet; you must take some pains to work her to your manage. Come, we will leave his honour and her together. [Exeunt Bawd, Pander, and Boull. Lys. Go thy ways.-Now, pretty one, how long have you been at this trade? Mar. What trade, sir? Lys. What I cannot name but I shall offend. Mar. I cannot be offended with my trade. Please you to name it. Lys. How long have you been of this profession? Mar. Ever since I can remember. Lys. Did you go to it so young? Were you a gamester at five, or at seven? Mar. Earlier too, sir, if now I be one. Lys. Why, the house you dwell in, proclaims you to be a creature of sale. Mar. Do you know this house to be a place of such resort, and will come into it? I hear say, you are of honourable parts, and are the governor of this place. Lys. Why, hath your principal made known unto you who I am? Mar. Who is my principal? Lys. Why, your herb-woman; she that sets seeds and roots of shame and iniquity. O, you have heard something of my power, and so stand aloof for more serious wooing. But I protest to thee, pretty one, my authority shall not see thee, or else, look friendly upon thee. Come, bring me to some private place. Come, come. Mar. If you were born to honour, shew it now; If put upon you, make the judgment good That thought you worthy of it. [be sage. Lys. How's this? how's this?-Some more ;- That am a maid, though most ungentle fortune Lys. I did not think Thon could'st have spoke so well; ne'er dream'd thou could't. Had I brought hither a corrupted mind, Thy speech had alter'd it. Hold, here's gold for thee: Persever still in that clear way thou goest, And the gods strengthen thee! Mar. The gods preserve you! Lys, For me, be you thoughten That I came with no ill intent; for to me [me, (As Lysimachus is putting up his purse, BOULT enters.) Boult. I beseech your honour, one piece for me. Lys. Avaunt, thou damned door-keeper! Your house, But for this virgin that doth prop it up, [Exit. Boult. How's this? We must take another course with you. If your peevish chastity, which is not worth a breakfast in the cheapest country under the cope, shall undo a whole household, let me be gelded like a spaniel. Come your ways. Mar. Whither would you have me? Boult. I must have your maidenhead taken off, or the common hangman shall execute it. Come your way. We'll have no more gentlemen driven away. Come your ways, I say. Re-enter Bawd. Bawd. How now! What's the matter? With other virtues, which I'll keep from boast; Boult. But can you teach all this you speak of! Boult. Well, I will see what I can do for thee: if I can place thee, I will. Mar. But, amongst honest women? Boult. 'Faith, my acquaintance lies little amongst them. But since my master and mistress have bought you, there's no going but by their consent; therefore I will make them acquainted with your purpose, and I doubt not but I shall find them tractable enough. Come, I'll do for thee what I can; come your ways. [Exeunt, ACT V. Enter GOWER. Gow. Marina thus the brothel, 'scapes, and chances Into an honest house, our story says. She sings like one immortal, and she dances As goddess-like to her admired lays: Deep clerks she dumbs; and with her neeld com poses [berry: Nature's own shape, of bud, bird, branch, or Boult. Worse and worse, mistress; she has here That even her art sisters the natural roses ; spoken holy words to the lord Lysimachus. Bawd. O abominable! Boult. She makes our profession as it were to stink, afore the face of the gods. Bawd. Marry, hang her up for ever! Boult. The nobleman would have dealt with her like a nobleman, and she sent him away as cold as a snow-ball; saying his prayers too. Bawd. Boult, take her away; use her at thy pleasure: crack the glass of her virginity, and make the rest malleable. Boult. An if she were a thornier piece of ground than she is, she shall be ploughed. Mar. Hark, hark, you gods! Bawd. She conjures: away with her. Would she had never come within my doors! Marry hang you! She's born to undo us. Will you not go the way of women-kind? Marry come up, my dish of chastity with rosemary and bays! [Exit. Boult. Come, mistress: come your way with me. Mar. What canst thou wish thine enemy to be? Boult. Why, I could wish him to be my master, or rather, my mistress. Mar. Neither of these are yet so bad as thou art, Since they do better thee in their command. Thou hold'st a place, for which the pained'st fiend Of hell would not in reputation change: Thou'rt the damn'd door-keeper to every coystrel That hither comes enquiring for his tib; To the choleric fisting of each rogue thy ear Is liable; thy very food is such As hath been belch'd on by infected lungs. Boult. What would you have me? go to the wars, would you? where a man may serve seven years for the loss of a leg, and have not money enough in the end to buy him a wooden one? Empty Mar. Do any thing but this thou doest. Old receptacles, common sewers, of filth; Serve by indenture to the common hangman; Any of these ways are better yet than this: For that which thou professest, a baboon, Could he but speak, would own a name too dear. O that the gods would safely from this place Deliver me! Here, here is gold for thee. If that thy master would gain aught by me, Proclaim that I can sing, weave, sew, and dance, Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry: 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.) Oh here he is. Sir, there's a barge put off from Mitylene; 1 Gent. Doth your lordship call? [you, There is some of worth would come aboard: I pray To greet them fairly. (The Gentlemen and the two Sailors descent, and go on board the barge.) Enter, from thence, LYSIMACHUS and Lords; the Tyrian Gentlemen, and the two Sailors. Tyr. Sail. Sir, This is the man that can, in aught you would, Lys, Hail, reverend sir! The gods preserve you! Lys. You wish me well. Being on shore, honouring of Neptune's triumphs, Lys. I am governor of this place you lie before. Our vessel is of Tyre, in it the king; See, she will speak to him. I am a maid, A man, who for this three months hath not spoken My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes, To any one, nor taken sustenance, But to prorogue his grief. Lys. Upon what ground is his distemperature? To any. Hel. It is in vain; he will not speak to you. But have been gaz'd on, comet-like she speaks, (Aside.) Per. My fortunes-parentage-good parentageTo 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. 1 Lord. Sir, we have a maid in Mitylene, I You are like something that-What country-wo durst wager, Lys. (He whispers one of the attendant Lords.) [Exit Lord, in the barge of Lysimachus. Hel. Sure, all's effectless; yet nothing we'll [ness That bears recovery's name. But, since your kindWe have stretch'd thus far, let us beseech you further, omit That for our gold we may provision have, O, sir, a courtesy, Hel. Sit, sir, I will recount it ; But see, I am prevented. [man? Here of these shores? Per. I am great with woe, and shall deliver weeping. My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one Her stature to an inch; as wand-like straight; Per. And make my senses credit thy relation, Enter, from the barge, Lord, MARINA, and a young Didst thou not say, when I did push thee back, Per. Report thy parentage. I think thou said'st Lys. She's such, that were I well assur'd she Thou hadst been toss'd from wrong to injury, Tell thy story; And the gods make her prosperous : (Marina sings.) Recount, I do beseech thee; come, sit by me, (As in the rest thou hast been godlike perfect,) My drown'd queen's name, thou art the heir of kingdoms, O, stop there a little! This is the rarest dream that e'er dull sleep I'll hear you more, to the bottom of your story, [me; Mar. The king, my father, did in Tharsus leave You think me an impostor: no, good faith; If good king Pericles be. Per. Ho, Helicanus! Calls my gracious lord? Per. Thou art a grave and noble counsellor, Most wise in general: Tell me, if thou canst, What this maid is, or what is like to be, That thus hath made me weep? Hel. I know not; but Here is the regent, sir, of Mitylene, Lys. [hither, Per. O Helicanus, strike me, honour'd sir; Give me a gash, put me to present pain; Lest this great sea of joys rushing upon me, O'erbear the shores of my mortality, And drown me with their sweetness.-O, come Thou that beget'st him that did thee beget; Thou that wast born at sea, buried at Tharsus, And found at sea again!-O Helicanus, Down on thy knees, thank the holy gods, as loud As thunder threatens us: This is Marina.What was thy mother's name? tell me but that, For truth can never be confirm'd enough, Though doubts did ever sleep. Mar. What is your title? First, sir, I pray, Per. I am Pericles of Tyre: but tell me now And another life to Pericles thy father. Mar. Is it no more to be your daughter, than To say, my mother's name was Thaisa? Thaisa was my mother, who did end, The minute I began. [child. Per. Now, blessing on thee, rise; thon art my Give me fresh garments. Mine own, Helicanas, (Not dead at Tharsus, as she should have been, By savage Cleon,) she shall tell thee all; When thou shalt kneel and justify in knowledge, She is thy very princess.-Who is this? Hel. Sir, 'tis the governor of Mitylene, Who, hearing of your melancholy state, Did come to see you. Per. I embrace you, sir. Give me my robes; I am wild in my beholding. O heavens bless my girl! But hark, what music?Tell Helicanus, my Marina, tell him O'er, point by point, for yet he seems to doubt. How sure you are my daughter.-But what music? Hel. My lord, I hear none. Per. None? Per. Most heavenly music: It nips me unto list'ning, and thick slumber Hangs on mine eye-lids; let me rest. (He sleeps } Lys. A pillow for his head; (The curtain before the Pavilion of Pericks So leave him all.-Well, my companion-friends, [Exeunt Lysimachus, Helicanus, Marist, SCENE II.-The same. PERICLES on the deck asleep; DIANA appearing to him as in a vision. Dia. My temple stands in Ephesus: bie ther thither, And do upon mine altar sacrifice. There, when my maiden priests are met together, Reveal how thou at sea didst lose thy wife: (Diana disappeers.\ Per. Celestial Dian, goddess argentine, I will obey thee !-Helicanus! Sir. Enter LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, and MARINA. For other service first: toward Ephesus As our intents will need? [ashore. Lys. With all my heart, sir; and when you come I have another suit. This, as my last boon, give me, (For such kindness must relieve me,) That you aptly will suppose What pageantry, what feats, what shews, To greet the king, So he has thriv'd, As Dian bade: whereto being bound, [Exit. SCENE III.-The Temple of Diana at Ephesus; THAISA standing near the Altar, as High-Priestess; a number of Virgins on each side; CERIMON and other inhabitants of Ephesus attending. Enter PERICLES, with his Train; LYSIMACHUS, HELICANUS, MARINA, and a Lady. Per. Hail, Dian! to perform thy just command, At sea in childbed died she, but brought forth Thai. Voice and favour! You are, you aree-O, royal Pericles! If (She faints.) Per. What means the woman? she dies! help, gentlemen! Cer. Noble sir, you have told Diana's altar true, This is your wife. Per. Reverend appearer, no; I threw her o'erboard with these very arms. Cer. Upon this coast, I warrant you. Per. "Tis most certain. Cer. Look to the lady ;-O, she's but o'erjoy'd. Early, one blust'ring morn, this lady was Thrown on this shore. I op'd the coffin, and Found there rich jewels; recover'd her, and plac'd Here in Diana's temple. [her May we see them? Per. Cer. Great sir, they shall be brought you to my house, Reverend sir, Cer. Per. Pure Diana! I bless thee for thy vision, and will offer My night oblations to thee. Thaisa, This prince, the fair-betrothed of your daughter, Shall marry her at Pentapolis. And now, This ornament that makes me look so dismal, Will I, my lov'd Marina, clip to form; And what these fourteen years no razor touch'd, To grace thy marriage-day, I'll beautify. Thai. Lord Cerimon hath letters of good credit, Sir, that my father's dead. [my queen, Per. Heavens make a star of him! Yet there, We'll celebrate their nuptials, and ourselves Will in that kingdom spend our following days; Our son and daughter shall in Tyrus reign. Lord Cerimon, we do our longing stay, To hear the rest untold.-Sir, lead the way. Gow. In Antioch, and his daughter, you have heard Of monstrous lust the due and just reward: name Of Pericles, to rage the city turn; |