The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (564 page)

as I say; and you, sir, listen:

if you don't do as I say I shall make you–

man and wife.

Come on now, your hands and lips must seal the bargain;

being joined like this, I'll further destroy your hopes,

and give you more grief, by saying, may God give you joy!

So, are you both happy with this?

THAISA

Yes, if you love me, sir.

Yes, if you love me, sir.

PERICLES

Even as my life, or blood that fosters it.

As much as my life, or the blood that sustains it.

SIMONIDES

What, are you both agreed?

So, you are both agreed?

BOTH

Yes, if it please your majesty.

Yes, if it pleases your Majesty.

SIMONIDES

It pleaseth me so well, that I will see you wed;

And then with what haste you can get you to bed.

Exeunt

It makes me so pleased, that I want to see you married;

and then you can go to bed as quickly as you like.

Enter GOWER

GOWER

Now sleep y-slaked hath the rout;

No din but snores the house about,

Made louder by the o'er-fed breast

Of this most pompous marriage-feast.

The cat, with eyne of burning coal,

Now crouches fore the mouse's hole;

And crickets sing at the oven's mouth,

E'er the blither for their drouth.

Hymen hath brought the bride to bed.

Where, by the loss of maidenhead,

A babe is moulded. Be attent,

And time that is so briefly spent

With your fine fancies quaintly eche:

What's dumb in show I'll plain with speech.

DUMB SHOW.

Enter, PERICLES and SIMONIDES at one door, with Attendants; a Messenger meets them, kneels, and gives PERICLES a letter: PERICLES shows it SIMONIDES; the Lords kneel to him. Then enter THAISA with child, with LYCHORIDA a nurse. The KING shows her the letter; she rejoices: she and PERICLES takes leave of her father, and depart with LYCHORIDA and their Attendants. Then exeunt SIMONIDES and the rest

By many a dern and painful perch

Of Pericles the careful search,

By the four opposing coigns

Which the world together joins,

Is made with all due diligence

That horse and sail and high expense

Can stead the quest. At last from Tyre,

Fame answering the most strange inquire,

To the court of King Simonides

Are letters brought, the tenor these:

Antiochus and his daughter dead;

The men of Tyrus on the head

Of Helicanus would set on

The crown of Tyre, but he will none:

The mutiny he there hastes t' oppress;

Says to 'em, if King Pericles

Come not home in twice six moons,

He, obedient to their dooms,

Will take the crown. The sum of this,

Brought hither to Pentapolis,

Y-ravished the regions round,

And every one with claps can sound,

'Our heir-apparent is a king!

Who dream'd, who thought of such a thing?'

Brief, he must hence depart to Tyre:

His queen with child makes her desire--

Which who shall cross?--along to go:

Omit we all their dole and woe:

Lychorida, her nurse, she takes,

And so to sea. Their vessel shakes

On Neptune's billow; half the flood

Hath their keel cut: but fortune's mood

Varies again; the grisly north

Disgorges such a tempest forth,

That, as a duck for life that dives,

So up and down the poor ship drives:

The lady shrieks, and well-a-near

Does fall in travail with her fear:

And what ensues in this fell storm

Shall for itself itself perform.

I nill relate, action may

Conveniently the rest convey;

Which might not what by me is told.

In your imagination hold

This stage the ship, upon whose deck

The sea-tost Pericles appears to speak.

Exit

Now sleep has calmed the revelry;

the only sound in the house is snores,

made louder by the overfeeding

of this magnificent wedding feast.

The cat, with eyes like burning coals,

now sleeps in front of the mouse's hole;

and crickets by the oven door

sing more sweetly in the heat.

The goddess Hymen has brought the bride to bed,

and in her loss of virginity

a baby is conceived. Pay attention,

and eke out this brief display

with your great imaginations;

I shall explain this dumb show with speech.

 Enter, PERICLES and SIMONIDES at one door, with Attendants; a Messenger meets them, kneels, and gives PERICLES a letter: PERICLES shows it SIMONIDES; the Lords kneel to him. Then enter THAISA with child, with LYCHORIDA a nurse. The KING shows her the letter; she rejoices: she and PERICLES takes leave of her father, and depart with LYCHORIDA and their Attendants. Then exeunt SIMONIDES and the rest.

With many dark and dangerous journeys

Pericles is sought

in all four corners

of the world,

with all the efforts

that horses and ships and great expense

can muster. At last from the unfamiliar

land of Tyre comes an enquiry, prompted

by rumours, to the court of King Simonides,

and letters arrive, telling this story:

that Antiochus and his daughter are dead,

and that the people of Tyre want

to crown Helicanus as their king,

but he will not accept:

he quickly averts any rebellion

by saying to them that if King Pericles

is not home within a year

he will accede to their wishes

and take the crown. This information,

brought to Pentapolis,

astonished the whole country

and everyone began to applaud and say,

“Our heir apparent is a king!

Whoever dreamed such a thing possible?"

To sum up, he must leave for Tyre.

His pregnant queen requests–

and who can deny her?–to accompany him.

We shall omit all their grief and sorrow at leaving.

Lychordia, her nurse, goes with them,

and they set out on the sea. Their ship is shaken

upon the waves; they have crossed

half the sea; but then the mood of fate

changes again; the stormy North

unleashes such a tempest

that the ship tosses up and down

like a duck diving for its life.

The lady shrieks and, alas,

the fear starts her labour;

what follows in this dreadful storm

shall be shown to you now.

I won't say more, the action will

be better to show you the rest;

I have just covered what it might have missed.

In your imagination think that

this stage is the ship, on the deck of which

the storm-tossed Pericles appears to speak.

SCENE I:

Enter PERICLES, on shipboard

PERICLES

Thou god of this great vast, rebuke these surges,

Which wash both heaven and hell; and thou, that hast

Upon the winds command, bind them in brass,

Having call'd them from the deep! O, still

Thy deafening, dreadful thunders; gently quench

Thy nimble, sulphurous flashes! O, how, Lychorida,

How does my queen? Thou stormest venomously;

Wilt thou spit all thyself? The seaman's whistle

Is as a whisper in the ears of death,

Unheard. Lychorida!--Lucina, O

Divinest patroness, and midwife gentle

To those that cry by night, convey thy deity

Aboard our dancing boat; make swift the pangs

Of my queen's travails!

Enter LYCHORIDA, with an Infant

Now, Lychorida!

O God of this great ocean, calm these waves,

which wash over both heaven and hell; and as

you command all winds, lock them up again,

having summoned them from the deep! Oh stop

your deafening dreadful thunder; extinguish

the flashes of lightning! O Lychordia,

how is my queen? The storm is fierce;

will you tear yourself to pieces? The sailor's whistle

is like a whisper in the ears of the dead,

it goes unheard.  Lychordia! Lucina, you

heavenly patroness, and gentle midwife

to those who cry in the night, bring your godliness

onto our tossing boat; ease the pains

of my queen's labour! Now, Lychordia!

LYCHORIDA

Here is a thing too young for such a place,

Who, if it had conceit, would die, as I

Am like to do: take in your arms this piece

Of your dead queen.

Here is a thing too young for such a place,

if it had understanding it would die, as I

am likely to do: take in your arms this remnant

of your dead queen.

PERICLES

How, how, Lychorida!

What, what, Lychordia!

LYCHORIDA

Patience, good sir; do not assist the storm.

Here's all that is left living of your queen,

A little daughter: for the sake of it,

Be manly, and take comfort.

Be  calm, good sir; do not add to the storm.