SCENE II. Ephesus. A Room in CERIMON's House. Enter CERIMON, α Servant, and some Persons who have been shipwrecked. Cer. Philemon, ho! Enter PHILEMON. Phil. Doth my lord call? Cer. Get fire and meat for these poor men ; It has been a turbulent and stormy night. Serv. I have been in many; but such a night as this, Till now, I ne'er endur'd.9 Cer. Your master will be dead, ere you return; That can recover him. Give this to the 'pothecary, [TO PHILEMON. [Exeunt PHILEMON, Servant, and those who had been shipwrecked. Our lodgings, standing bleak upon the sea, The very principals did seem to rend, 2 Gent. That is the cause we trouble you so early; [9] So, in Macbeth: "Threescore and ten I can remember well; "Within the volume of which time I have seen "Hours dreadful, and things strange, but this sore night Again, in King Lear: 66 ---Since I was man, "Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, Again, in Julius Cæsar: "I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds MALONE. 'Tis not our husbandry.' Cer. O, you say well. 1 Gent. But I much marvel that your lordship, having Rich tire about you, should at these early hours Shake off the golden slumber of repose. It is most strange, Nature should be so conversant with pain, Being thereto not compell'd. Cer. I held it ever, Virtue and cunning2 were endowments greater (Together with my practice,) made familiar That nature works, and of her cures ; which give me Than to be thirsty after tottering honour, Or tie my treasure up in silken bags, 2 Gent. Your honour has through Ephesus pour'd forth Your charity, and hundreds call themselves Your creatures, who by you have been restor❜d : Enter two Servants with a Chest. Serv. So; lift there. Cer. What is that? Serv. Sir, even now, [1] Husbandry here signifies economical prudence. So, in King Henry V. See also Hamlet, Act I. sc. iii. [2] Cunning means here, knowledge. MALONE. MALONE. So, in Jeremiah, ix. 17: "Send for cunning women that they may come." Again, in Romeo and Juliet: "Sirrah, go hire me twenty cunning cooks.” [8] So, in Romeo and Juliet: "O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies "In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities." STEEVENS. STEEVENS. Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest ; 'Tis of some wreck. Cer. Set 't down, let's look on it. 2 Gent. 'Tis like a coffin, sir. Cer. Whate'er it be, "Tis wondrous heavy. Wrench it open straight; It belches upon us.* 2 Gent. 'Tis so, my lord. Cer. How close 'tis caulk'd and bitum'd! Did the sea cast it up? Serv. I never saw so huge a billow, sir, As toss'd it upon shore. Cer. Come, wrench it open; Soft, soft!-it smells most sweetly in my sense. 2 Gent. A delicate odour. Cer. As ever hit my nostril; so,-up with it. O you most potent God! what's here? a corse! 1 Gent. Most strange ! Cer. Shrouded in cloth of state; balm'd and entrea sur'd With bags of spices full! A passport too! Apollo, perfect me i'the characters! Here I give to understand, (If e'er this coffin drive a-land,) 1, king Pericles, have lost [Unfolds a scroll. [Reads. This queen, worth all our mundane cost. If thou liv'st, Pericles, thou hast a heart That even cracks for woe!-This chanc'd to-night. 2 Gent. Most likely, sir. Cer. Nay, certainly to-night; For look, how fresh she looks!-They were too rough, That threw her in the sea. Make fire within ; Fetch hither all the boxes in my closet. [4] This singular expression is again applied by our author to the sea, in The Tem pest "You are three men of sin, whom destiny "And what is in't,) the never-surfeited sea. MALONE. Death may usurp on nature many hours, Enter a Servant, with Boxes, Napkins, and Fire. Cause it to sound, 'beseech you." The vial once more ;-How thou stirr'st, thou block ?— : This queen will live nature awakes; a warmth 1 Gent. The heavens, sir, Through you, increase our wonder, and set up Cer. She is alive; behold, Her eyelids, cases to those heavenly jewels Begin to part their fringes of bright gold;" O live, And make us weep to hear your fate, fair creature, Rare as you seem to be! Thai. O dear Diana, [She moves. Where am I? Where's my lord? What world is this? 2 Gent. Is not this strange? 1 Gent. Most rare. Cer. Hush, gentle neighbours ; Lend me your hands to the next chamber bear her. For her relapse is mortal. Come, come, come; And Esculapius guide us! [Exeunt, carrying THAISA away. [5] Paulina in like manner in The Winter's Tale, when she pretends to bring Hermione to life, orders music to be played, to awake her from her trance. So also, the Physician in King Lear, when the King is about to wake from the sleep he had fallen into, after his frenzy: "Please you draw near ;---Louder the music there! [6] So, in The Tempest: "The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, MALONE. MALONE SCENE III. Tharsus. A Room in CLEON'S House. Enter PERICLES, CLEON, DIONYZA, LYCHORIDA, and MARINA. Per. Most honour'd Cleon, I must needs be gone; Take from my heart all thankfulness! The gods Cle. Your shafts of fortune, though they hurt you mortally, Yet glance full wand'ringly on us.7 Dion. O your sweet queen! That the strict fates had pleas'd you had brought her hither, To have bless'd mine eyes! Per. We cannot but obey The powers above us. Could I rage and roar Cle. Fear not, my lord: Your grace, that fed my country with your corn, The gods revenge it upon me and mine, Per. I believe you; Your honour and your goodness teach me credit, [7] The sense of the passage should seem to be as follows.---All the malice of fortune is not confined to yourself. Though her arrows strike deeply at you, yet wandering from their mark, they sometimes glance on us; as at present, when the un certain state of Tyre deprives us of your company at Tharsus. STEEVENS. |