cast bells, steeple, church, and parish, up again. But, if the good King Simonides were of my mind,

Per. [Aside.] Simonides!

he would purge the land of these drones, that

rob the bee of her honey.

Per. [Aside.] How from the finny subjects of the sea
These fishers tell th' infirmities of men;

And from their watery empire recollect
All that may men approve or men detect!
Peace be at your labour, honest fishermen !

2 Fish. Honest! good fellow, what's that? If it be a day fits you, steal't out of the calendar,5 and nobody'll look after it.

Per. You see the sea hath cast me on your coast.

2 Fish. What a drunken knave was the sea to cast thee

in our way!

Per. A man whom both the waters and the wind,

In that vast tennis-court, have made the ball

For them to play upon,6 entreats you pity him;

He asks of you, that never used to beg.

1 Fish. No, friend, cannot you beg? Here's them in our country of Greece gets more with begging than we can do with working.

2 Fish. Canst thou catch any fishes, then?

Per. I never practised it.

2 Fish. Nay, then thou wilt starve, sure; for here's nothing to be got now-a-days, unless thou canst fish for't.

Per. What I have been I have forgot to know;

5 The lucky and unlucky days were formerly marked down in almanacs; and Farmer thinks there may be an allusion in the text to the dies honestissimus of Cicero.

So in Sidney's Arcadia: “In such a shadow mankind lives, that neither they know how to foresee, nor what to feare, and are, like tenis bals, tossed by the racket of the higher powers."

But what I am, want teaches me to think on;

A man throng'd up with cold: 7 my veins are chill,
And have no more of life than may suffice

To give my tongue that heat to ask your help;
Which if you shall refuse, when I am dead,
For that I am a man, pray see me buriéd.

1 Fish. Die quoth-a? Now gods forbid! I have a gown here: come, put it on; keep thee warm. Now, afore me, a handsome fellow! Come, thou shalt go home, and we'll have flesh for holidays, fish for fasting-days, and moreover puddings and flap-jacks; 8 and thou shalt be welcome.

Per. I thank you, sir.

2 Fish. Hark you, my friend: you said you could not beg.

Per. I did but crave.

2 Fish. But crave! Then I'll turn craver too, and so I shall 'scape whipping.

Per. Why, are all your beggars whipp'd, then?

2 Fish. O, no, not all, my friend, not all; for, if all your beggars were whipp'd, I would wish no better office than to be beadle.But, master, I'll go draw up the net.

[Exit with Third Fisherman. Per. [Aside.] How well this honest mirth becomes their

labour !

1 Fish. Hark you, sir: do you know where ye are? Per. Not well.

1 Fish. Why, I'll tell you: this is called Pentapolis, and our King the good Simonides.

Per. The good King Simonides, do you call him?

Throng'd up, probably means pressed or crushed, as a man in a crowd. So in i. 1: "To tell the earth is throng'd by man's oppression."

8 Flap-jacks are pancakes. So in Taylor's Jack-a-Lent: "Until at last, by the skill of the cooke, it is transformed into the form of a flap-jack, which, in our translation, is caid a pancake." The word is still used in New England.

1 Fish. Ay, sir; and he deserves so to be call'd for his peaceable reign and good government.

Per. He is a happy king, since he gains from his subjects the name of good by his government. How far is his Court distant from this shore?

I Fish. Marry, sir, half a day's journey: and I'll tell you, he hath a fair daughter, and to-morrow is her birth-day; and there are princes and knights come from all parts of the world to just and tourney for her love.

Per. Were my fortunes equal to my desires, I could wish to make one there.

1 Fish. O, sir, things must be as they may; and what a man cannot get, he may lawfully deal for - his wife's soul.9 Re-enter Second and Third Fishermen, drawing up a net.

2 Fish. Help, master, help! here's a fish hangs in the net, like a poor man's right in the law; 'twill hardly come out. Ha! bots on't,10 'tis come at last, and 'tis turn'd to a rusty armour.

Per. An armour, friends! I pray you, let me see it.
Thanks, Fortune, yet, that, after all my crosses,
Thou givest me somewhat to repair myself;
An-though it was mine own, part of my heritage,
Which my dead father did bequeath to me,
With this strict charge, even as he left his life,

Keep it, my Pericles; it hath been a shield

'Twixt me and death: and pointed to this brace,12— For that it saved me, keep't; in like necessity,

---

9"Things must be as they are appointed to be; and what a man is not sure to accomplish, he may nevertheless attempt." The conclusion of this speech passes my comprehension. The text is probably mutilated.

10 A comic execration; bots being a well-known disease of horses. 11 An-though is an old equivalent for although. Pericles thanks Fortune for casting the armour in his way, although the armour is his own. 12 Brace is armour for the arm. See vol. xvi, page 226, note 42.

Which gods protect thee from!- it may defend thee.
It kept where I kept, 13 I so dearly loved it;

Till the rough seas, that spare not any man,
Took it in rage, though calm'd have given't again:
I thank thee for't; my shipwreck now's no ill,
Since I have here my father's gift in's will.

I Fish. What mean you, sir?

Per. To beg of you, kind friends, this coat of worth,
For it was sometime target to a king;

I know it by this mark. He loved me dearly,
And for his sake I wish the having of it;
And that you'd guide me to your sovereign's Court,
Where with't I may appear a gentleman ;
And, if that ever my low fortunes better,
I'll pay your bounties; till then rest your debtor.
1 Fish. Why, wilt thou tourney for the lady?
Per. I'll show the virtue I have borne in arms.

I Fish. Why, do ye take it, and the gods give thee good

on't!

2 Fish. Ay, but hark you, my friend; 'twas we that made up this garment through the rough seams of the waters: there are certain condolements, certain 'vails.14 I hope, sir, if you thrive, you'll remember from whence you had it.

Per. Believe't, I will.

Now, by your furtherance, I am clothed in steel;

And, spite of all the rapture 15 of the sea,

This jewel holds his biding on my arm :
Unto the value I will mount myself
Upon a courser, whose delightful steps

Shall make the gazer joy to see him tread.

18 "It lodged where I lodged," or dwelt. Kept was often used so.

14 Condolements here seems to mean sharings, doles or dolings in common;

and 'vails is perquisites or avails.

15 Rapture was used for any violent seizure.

Only, my friends, I yet am unprovided

Of a pair of bases.16

2 Fish. We'll sure provide thee: thou shalt have my best gown to make thee a pair: and I'll bring thee to the Court myself.

Per. Then honour be but goal unto my will, This day I'll rise, or else add ill to ill.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

The Same. A public Way or Platform leading to the Lists. A Pavilion by the side of it for the reception of the King, Princess, Lords, &c.

Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Lords, and Attendants.

Sim. Are the knights ready to begin the triumph? 1 Lord. They are, my liege;

And stay your coming to present themselves.

Sim. Return them, we are ready; and our daughter,
In honour of whose birth these triumphs are,

Sits here, like beauty's child, whom Nature gat
For men to see, and seeing wonder at.

[Exit a Lord.

Thai. It pleaseth you, my royal father, to express
My commendations great, whose merit's less.

Sim. It's fit it should be so; for princes are
A model, which Heaven makes like to itself:
As jewels lose their glory if neglected,
So princes their renown if not respected.
'Tis now your honour, daughter, to explain
The labour of each knight in his device.

Thai. Which, to preserve mine honour, I'll perform.

16 Bases is thus explained by Nares: "A kind of embroidered mantle which hung down from about the middle to about the knees or lower, worn by knights on horseback." So in Massinger's Picture: "It appears, your petticoat serves for bases to this warrior."

1 Meaning "return them word that we are ready."