Per. Why, are all your beggars whipped then?
Second Fish. O! not all, my friend, not all; for if

all your beggars were whipped, I would wish no 95
better office than to be beadle. But, master,
I'll go draw up the net.

[Exeunt Second and Third Fishermen. Per. [Aside.] How well this honest mirth becomes their

labour !

100

105

First Fish. Hark you, sir; do you know where ye are ? Per. Not well. First 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? First Fish. Ay, sir; and he deserves to be so called 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? First Fish. Marry, sir, half a day's journey; and I'll tell you, he hath a fair daughter, and to-morrow is IIO her birthday; 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.

115

IOI, 102. Why, Simonides.] Prose first in Malone; two lines in Qq, shore?] Prose in Malone; five lines in Qq, 114, 115. Were . . . there] Prose first in Malone; two lines

Ff 3, 4.

Ff 3, 4.

104-108. Ay,

in Qq, Ff 3, 4.

myself a craver I shall escape whipping, the penalty of a beggar, then I'll turn craver.

112. just] tilt; literally, approach, come near; Lat. juxta.

115. to make one there] to be one of the tilters.

Fish. O, sir! things must be as they may; and what a man cannot get, he may lawfully steal for his wife's soul.

ter Second and Third Fishermen, drawing up a net.

125

d Fish. Help, master, help! here's a fish hangs
In the net, like a poor man's right in the law; 120
twill hardly come out. Ha! bots on't, 'tis
come at last, and 'tis turned to a rusty armour.
An armour, friends! I pray you, let me see it.
Thanks, Fortune, yet, that after all thy crosses
Thou giv'st me somewhat to repair myself;
And though it was mine own, part of mine 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; 130
For that it sav'd me, keep it; in like necessity,
The which the gods protect thee from! may defend
thee."

thy] Delius (from Wilkins); omitted Qq, Ff 3, 4. 130. brace] me; prayse Q 5; brayse (the rest).

It kept where I kept, I so dearly lov'd it;
Till the rough seas, that spare not any man,
Took it in rage, though calm'd have given't again. 135
I thank thee for't; my shipwreck now's no ill,
Since I have here my father's gift in 's will.

First Fish. What mean you, sir?

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

140

I know it by this mark. He lov'd 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 it I may appear a gentleman;

And if that ever my low fortune's better,

145

I'll pay your bounties; till then rest your debtor. First Fish. Why, wilt thou tourney for the lady? Per. I'll show the virtue I have borne in arms. First Fish. Why, do'e take it; and the gods give

thee good on't.

Second 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. I hope, sir, if you thrive, you'll remember from whence you had it.

133. It kept . . . kept] it was always with me, never left me. Keep" in the sense of "reside" is still in use at Oxford and Cambridge of occupying rooms.

140. target] armour of defence. 145. my low better] Dyce, after Mason, reads "fortunes," and takes better as a verb.

151-153. 'twas . . . waters] in made up and seams there is an allusion to sempstress terms.

150

155

153. condolements] "blunderingly used by the fisherman-perhaps somehow confused with dole (= share, portion)" (Rolfe). Compare the Clown's coinages "impeticos" and gratillity," Twelfth Night, 11. iii. 27.

Believe't, I will.

By your furtherance I am cloth'd in steel;
And spite of all the rapture of the sea,

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

Shall make the gazer joy to see him tread.
Only, my friends, I yet am unprovided
Of a pair of bases.

ad Fish. We'll sure provide; thou shalt have
my best gown to make thee a pair, and I'll
bring thee to the court myself.

Then honour be but a goal to my will,

This day I'll rise, or else add ill to ill.

160

165

[Exeunt.

, 164. Only, . . . bases.] Divided as by Malone; one line in Qq, Ff 3, 4. myself.] Prose in Malone; three lines in Qq, Ff 3, 4.

...

57. We'll
-161. And spite. . . courser]
= novel, "
and one furnish-
m with an old gowne to make
isons for his horse, which horse
rouided with a Iewel, whom all
aptures of the sea could not be-
from his arme, and other fur-
ng him with long sideskirtes of
cassocks, to make him bases,"
The jewel therefore was an
et which so firmly held its place
building") that the waves could
ear it off; apostrophising which,
oposes to barter it for the noblest
its value would buy. For rap-
in this literal sense, compare
-man, Iliad, xxii. 271 :—

And look how an eagle from her
height
Stoops to the rapture of a lamb,
or cuffs a timorous hare";

and in a semi-literal sense, The Puritan (1607), i. 4: "Look, what ridiculous raptures take hold of his wrinkles ".

164. bases]"strictly speaking, bases were a kind of short petticoat, somewhat like the philibegs of the Highlanders, and were probably suggested by the military dress of the Romans. Thus in [Massinger's] The Picture [ii. 2]: "Your petticoat serves for bases to this warrior" (Gifford on velvet bases, Jonson, The Poetaster, iii. 1). In The Fatal Dowry, iv. I, Massinger again uses the word, but in the singular, "the base of a piccadille in puncto". In The Insatiate Countess, II. i. 31, Marston speaks of "bakers in their linen bases".

168. a goal to] Dyce conjectures "goal unto",

SCENE II.-The Same. A public Way or Platform leading to the Lists. A Pavilion near it, for the reception of the King, Princess, Ladies, Lords, etc. Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Lords, and Attendants. Sim. Are the knights ready to begin the triumph? First 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.

5

[Exit a Lord.

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

Sim. 'Tis 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 renowns if not respected.
'Tis now your honour, daughter, to entertain
The labour of each knight in his device.
Thai. Which, to preserve mine honour, I'll perform.

I. triumph] a public festivity of any kind, particularly a tournament. Frequent in the language of the time. 4. Return them] acquaint them in

return.

8, 9. to express less] to magnify my merits which little deserve such praise.

II. model] of old used for (1) pattern of something to be made, (2) copy or image of something already in existence, as here. Compare Henry VIII. IV. ii. 132.

12. jewels] Here embracing not merely precious stones, but articles of

ΙΟ

15

gold and silver which would be tarnished by neglect. The word is used by Shakespeare of rings, bracelets (as above), and even of a picture.

14. honour] honourable duty. Steevens conjectured "office" for honour, and Dyce would transpose

honour and labour.