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 hang'd at home: 'tis dangerous. Well, I perceive he was a wise fellow, and had good discretion, that being bid to ask what he would of the king, desired he might know none of his secrets: 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, Farther to question me of your king's departure : His seal'd commission, left in trust with me, Doth speak sufficiently he's gone to travel. Thal. [Aside.] How! the King gone? Hel. If farther yet you will be satisfied, Why, as it were unlicens'd of your loves, He would depart, I'll give some light unto you. Being at Antioch

Thal. [Aside.] What from Antioch?

Hel. Royal Antiochus (on what cause I know not) Took some displeasure at him: at least, he judg'd so; And doubting lest that he had err'd or sinn'd,

To shew his sorrow he'd correct himself;

So puts himself unto the shipman's toil,
With whom each minute threatens life or death.
Thal. [Aside.] Well, I perceive

I shall not be hang'd now, although I would ;

But since he's gone, the King's ears it must please: He 'scap'd the land, to perish at the seas. —

I'll present myself. [To them.] Peace to the lords of Tyre.

Hel.
Thal.

Lord Thaliard from Antiochus is welcome.

From him I come,

With message unto princely Pericles;

But since my landing I have understood

Your lord hath betook himself to unknown travels, My message must return from whence it came.

Hel. We have no reason to desire it,
Commended to our master, not to us:

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, DIONYZA, and Attendants.

Cleon. My Dionyza, shall we rest us here, And by relating tales of other's griefs,

See if 'twill teach us to forget our own?

Dionyza. That were to blow at fire in hope to quench it;

For who digs hills because they do aspire,
Throws down one mountain to cast up a higher.
O my distressed lord, even such our griefs;
Here they're but felt, and seen with mischief's eyes,
But like to groves, being topp'd, they higher rise.
Cle. O Dionyza,

Who wanteth food, and will not say he wants it,

Or can conceal his hunger till he famish?

Our tongues and sorrows do sound deep

Our woes into the air; our eyes do weep,

Till tongues fetch breath that may proclaim them

louder;

That if Heaven slumber while their creatures want,
They may awake their helps to comfort them.
I'll then discourse our woes, felt several years,
And, wanting breath to speak, help me with tears.
Dio. I'll do my best, sir.

Cle. This Tharsus, o'er which I have the govern

ment,

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,

And strangers ne'er beheld but wonder'd at;
Whose men and dames so jetted and adorn'd,
Like one another's glass to trim them by:
Their tables were stor'd full to glad the sight,
And not so much to feed on as delight;

All poverty was scorn'd, and pride so great,

The name of help grew odious to repeat.

Dio. O, 'tis too true.

Cle. But see what Heaven can do! By this our change,

These mouths, whom but of late, earth, sea, and air, Were all too little to content and please,

Although they gave their creatures in abundance,

As houses are defil'd for want of use,

They are now starv'd for want of exercise :

Those palates, who not us'd to

savour hunger,
Must have inventions to delight the taste,
Would now be glad of bread, and beg for it:
Those mothers who to nousle up their babes
Thought naught too curious, are ready now
To eat those little darlings whom they lov'd.

So sharp are hunger's teeth, that man and wife
Draw lots who first shall die to lengthen life.
Here stands a lord, and there a lady weeping;
Here many sink, yet those which see them fall
Have scarce strength left to give them burial.
Is not this true?

Dio. Our cheeks and hollow eyes do witness it. Cle. O, let those cities, that of Plenty's cup And her prosperities so largely taste,

With their superfluous riots, hear these tears!
The misery of Tharsus may be theirs.

Enter a Lord.

Lord. Where's the Lord Governor ?

Cle. Here.

Speak out thy sorrows which thou bring'st, in haste, For comfort is too far for us to expect.

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, To beat us down, the which are down already; And make a conquest of unhappy me,

Whereas no glory 's got to overcome.

Lord. That's the least fear; for, by the semblance

Of their white flags display'd, they bring us peace, And come to us as favourers, not as foes.

Cle. Thou speak'st like him 's untutor❜d to re

peat;

Who makes the fairest shew means most deceit.

But bring they what they will, and what they can, What need we fear?

The ground's the low'st, and we are half way there. Go, tell their general we attend him here,

To know for what he comes, and whence he comes, And what he craves.

Lord. I go, my lord.

[Exit.

Cle. Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist; If wars, we are unable to resist.

Enter PERICLES, with Attendants.

Per. Lord Governor, for so we hear you are,
Let not our ships and number of our men,
Be, like a beacon fir'd, to amaze your eyes.
We have heard your miseries as far as Tyre,
And seen the desolation of your streets;
Nor come we to add sorrow to your tears,
But to relieve them of their heavy load:
And these our ships you happily may think
Are like the Trojan horse was stuff'd within
With bloody veins, expecting overthrow,

Are stor❜d with corn to make your needy bread,
And give them life whom hunger starv'd half dead.
All. The gods of Greece protect you!

And we'll pray for you.

Per.

Arise, I pray you, rise:

We do not look for reverence, but for love,

And harbourage for ourself, our ships, and men.
Cle. The which when any shall not gratify,
Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,
Be it our wives, our children, or ourselves,
The curse of Heaven and men succeed their evils!
Till when, (the which, I hope, shall ne'er be scen)
Your Grace is welcome to our town and us.