Pericles

Pericles

ACT III SCENE II	Ephesus. A room in CERIMON's house.
	Enter CERIMON, with a Servant, and some Persons whohave been shipwrecked
CERIMON	Philemon, ho!
	Enter PHILEMON
PHILEMON	Doth my lord call?
CERIMON	Get fire and meat for these poor men:
	'T has been a turbulent and stormy night.	5
Servant	I have been in many; but such a night as this,
	Till now, I ne'er endured.
CERIMON	Your master will be dead ere you return;
	There's nothing can be minister'd to nature
	That can recover him.	10
	To PHILEMON
	Give this to the 'pothecary,
	And tell me how it works.
	Exeunt all but CERIMON
	Enter two Gentlemen
First Gentleman	Good morrow.
Second Gentleman	Good morrow to your lordship.
CERIMON	Gentlemen,	15
	Why do you stir so early?
First Gentleman	Sir,
	Our lodgings, standing bleak upon the sea,
	Shook as the earth did quake;
	The very principals did seem to rend,	20
	And all-to topple: pure surprise and fear
	Made me to quit the house.
Second Gentleman	That is the cause we trouble you so early;
	'Tis not our husbandry.
CERIMON	O, you say well.	25
First Gentleman	But I much marvel that your lordship, having
	Rich tire about you, should at these early hours
	Shake off the golden slumber of repose.
	'Tis most strange,
	Nature should be so conversant with pain,	30
	Being thereto not compell'd.
CERIMON	I hold it ever,
	Virtue and cunning were endowments greater
	Than nobleness and riches: careless heirs
	May the two latter darken and expend;	35
	But immortality attends the former.
	Making a man a god. 'Tis known, I ever
	Have studied physic, through which secret art,
	By turning o'er authorities, I have,
	Together with my practise, made familiar	40
	To me and to my aid the blest infusions
	That dwell in vegetives, in metals, stones;
	And I can speak of the disturbances
	That nature works, and of her cures; which doth give me
	A more content in course of true delight	45
	Than to be thirsty after tottering honour,
	Or tie my treasure up in silken bags,
	To please the fool and death.
Second Gentleman	Your honour has through Ephesus pour'd forth
	Your charity, and hundreds call themselves	50
	Your creatures, who by you have been restored:
	And not your knowledge, your personal pain, but even
	Your purse, still open, hath built Lord Cerimon
	Such strong renown as time shall ne'er decay.
	Enter two or three Servants with a chest
First Servant	So; lift there.	55
CERIMON	What is that?
First Servant	Sir, even now
	Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest:
	'Tis of some wreck.
CERIMON	Set 't down, let's look upon't.	60
Second Gentleman	'Tis like a coffin, sir.
CERIMON	Whate'er it be,
	'Tis wondrous heavy. Wrench it open straight:
	If the sea's stomach be o'ercharged with gold,
	'Tis a good constraint of fortune it belches upon us.	65
Second Gentleman	'Tis so, my lord.
CERIMON	How close 'tis caulk'd and bitumed!
	Did the sea cast it up?
First Servant	I never saw so huge a billow, sir,
	As toss'd it upon shore.	70
CERIMON	Wrench it open;
	Soft! it smells most sweetly in my sense.
Second Gentleman	A delicate odour.
CERIMON	As ever hit my nostril. So, up with it.
	O you most potent gods! what's here? a corse!	75
First Gentleman	Most strange!
CERIMON	Shrouded in cloth of state; balm'd and entreasured
	With full bags of spices! A passport too!
	Apollo, perfect me in the characters!
	Reads from a scroll
	'Here I give to understand,	80
	If e'er this coffin drive a-land,
	I, King Pericles, have lost
	This queen, worth all our mundane cost.
	Who finds her, give her burying;
	She was the daughter of a king:	85
	Besides this treasure for a fee,
	The gods requite his charity!'
	If thou livest, Pericles, thou hast a heart
	That even cracks for woe! This chanced tonight.
Second Gentleman	Most likely, sir.	90
CERIMON	Nay, certainly to-night;
	For look how fresh she looks! They were too rough
	That threw her in the sea. Make a fire within:
	Fetch hither all my boxes in my closet.
	Exit a Servant
	Death may usurp on nature many hours,	95
	And yet the fire of life kindle again
	The o'erpress'd spirits. I heard of an Egyptian
	That had nine hours lien dead,
	Who was by good appliance recovered.
	Re-enter a Servant, with boxes, napkins, and fire
	Well said, well said; the fire and cloths.	100
	The rough and woeful music that we have,
	Cause it to sound, beseech you.
	The viol once more: how thou stirr'st, thou block!
	The music there!--I pray you, give her air.
	Gentlemen.	105
	This queen will live: nature awakes; a warmth
	Breathes out of her: she hath not been entranced
	Above five hours: see how she gins to blow
	Into life's flower again!
First Gentleman	The heavens,	110
	Through you, increase our wonder and set up
	Your fame forever.
CERIMON	She is alive; behold,
	Her eyelids, cases to those heavenly jewels
	Which Pericles hath lost,	115
	Begin to part their fringes of bright gold;
	The diamonds of a most praised water
	Do appear, to make the world twice rich. Live,
	And make us weep to hear your fate, fair creature,
	Rare as you seem to be.	120
	She moves
THAISA	O dear Diana,
	Where am I? Where's my lord? What world is this?
Second Gentleman	Is not this strange?
First Gentleman	Most rare.
CERIMON	Hush, my gentle neighbours!	125
	Lend me your hands; to the next chamber bear her.
	Get linen: now this matter must be look'd to,
	For her relapse is mortal. Come, come;
	And AEsculapius guide us!
	Exeunt, carrying her away