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Only, my friends, I yet am unprovided

Of a pair of bases.

Sec. 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.

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

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. 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? 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. [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. The First Knight passes by, and his Squire presents his shield to the PRINCESS.

Sim. Who is the first that doth prefer himself?
Thai. A knight of Sparta, my renowned father;
And the device he bears upon his shield

Is a black Æthiop reaching at the sun;
The word, Lux tua vita mihi.

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Sim. He loves you well that holds his life of you. [The Second Knight passes.

Who is the second that presents himself?

Thai. A prince of Macedon, my royal father;
And the device he bears upon his shield

Is an arm'd knight that's conquer'd by a lady;
The motto thus in Spanish, Piu por dulzura que por

fuerza.

[The Third Knight passes.

Sim. And what's the third?
Thai.

The third of Antioch;

And his device, a wreath of chivalry;

The word, Me pompa provexit apex.

[The Fourth Knight passes.

Sim. What is the fourth? Thai. A burning torch that's turned upside down; The word, Quod me alit, me extinguit.

Sim. Which shows that beauty hath his power and will, Which can as well inflame as it can kill.

[The Fifth Knight passes. Thai. The fifth, an hand environed with clouds, Holding out gold that's by the touchstone tried; The motto thus, Sic spectanda fides.

Sim. And what's

[The Sixth Knight passes.

The sixth and last, the which the knight himself
With such a graceful courtesy deliver'd?

Thai. He seems to be a stranger; but his present is A wither'd branch, that's only green at top;

The motto, In hac spe vivo.

Sim. A pretty moral;

From the dejected state wherein he is,

He hopes by you his fortunes yet may flourish.

First Lord. He had need mean better than his out

ward show

Can any way speak in his just commend;

For, by his rusty outside, he appears

To have practised more the whipstock than the lance.

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Sec. Lord. He well may be a stranger,

for he comes

To an honour'd triumph strangely furnished.

Third Lord. And on set purpose let his armour rust Until this day, to scour it in the dust.

Sim. Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan
The outward habit by the inward man.

But stay, the knights are coming: we'll withdraw
Into the gallery.

[Exeunt. [Great shouts, and all cry "The mean knight!"

SCENE III. The same. A ball of state; a banquet

prepared.

Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Ladies, Lords, and Knights, from tilting.

Sim. Knights,

To say you're welcome were superfluous.
To place upon the volume of your deeds,
As in a title-page, your worth in arms,

Were more than you expect, or more than's fit,
Since every
worth in show commends itself.
Prepare for mirth, for mirth becomes a feast:
You are princes and my guests.

Thai. But you, my knight and guest;
To whom this wreath of victory I give,
And crown you king of this day's happiness.

Per. 'Tis more by fortune, lady, than my merit.
Sim. Call it by what you will, the day is yours;
And here, I hope, is none that envies it.

In framing an artist, art hath thus decreed,
To make some good, but others to exceed;

And you are her labour'd scholar.-Come, queen o' th' feast,

For, daughter, so you are,—here take your place:
Marshal the rest, as they deserve their grace.

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Knights. We are honour'd much by good Simonides. 20

Sim. Your presence glads our days: honour we love; For who hates honour hates the gods above.

Marshal. Sir, yonder is your place.

Per.

Some other is more fit.

eyes

First Knight. Contend not, sir; for we are gentlemen That neither in our hearts nor outward Envy the great nor do the low despise. Per. You are right courteous knights. Sim.

Sit, sir, sit.By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts, These cates resist me, he not thought upon.

Thai. [aside] By Juno, that is queen of marriage, 30 All viands that I eat do seem unsavoury,

Wishing him my meat.-Sure, he's a gallant gentle

man.

Sim. He's but a country gentleman;

Has done no more than other knights have done;
Has broken a staff or so; so let it pass.

Thai. [aside] To me he seems like diamond to glass. Per. [aside] Yon king's to me like to my father's picture,

Which tells me in that glory once he was;

Had princes sit, like stars, about his throne,
And he the sun, for them to reverence;

None that beheld him, but, like lesser lights,
Did vail their crowns to his supremacy:

Where now his son like a glow-worm in the night,
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light:
Whereby I see that Time 's the king of men,
For he's their parent, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
Sim. What, are you merry, knights?

First Knight. Who can be other in this royal pre

sence?

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Sim. Here, with a cup that's stored unto the brim,— 50 As you do love, fill to your mistress' lips,—

We drink this health to you.

Knights.

We thank your Grace.

Sim. Yet pause awhile:

Yon knight doth sit too melancholy,

As if the entertainment in our court

Had not a show might countervail his worth.
Note it not you, Thaisa?

Thai.

To me, my father?

Sim.

What is it

O, attend, my daughter:

Princes, in this, should live like gods above,
Who freely give to every one that comes
To honour them:

And princes not doing so are like to gnats,

Which make a sound, but kill'd are wonder'd at.
Therefore to make his entertain more sweet,

Here, say we drink this standing-bowl of wine to him.

Thai. Alas, my father, it befits not me
Unto a stranger knight to be so bold:
He may my proffer take for an offence,
Since men take women's gifts for impudence.
Sim. How!

Do as I bid you, or you'll move me else.

Thai. [aside] Now, by the gods, he could not please me better.

Sim. And furthermore tell him, we desire to know

of him,

Of whence he is, his name and parentage.

Thai. The king my father, sir, has drunk to you. Per. I thank him.

Thai. Wishing it so much blood unto your life. Per. I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely.

Thai. And further he desires to know of you, Of whence you are, your name and parentage.

Per. A gentleman of Tyre,-my name, Pericles;

My education been in arts and arms;—
Who, looking for adventures in the world,

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