The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)
Page 351
And in it is Lysimachus the governor,
Who craves to come aboard. What is your will?
Where is Lord Helicanus?
He can answer your question.
Oh, here he is.
Sir, a barge has sailed out from Mytilene,
and in it is Lysimachus the governor,
who asks permission to come aboard. What do you want to do?
HELICANUS
That he have his. Call up some gentlemen.
What he wants to do. Summon some gentlemen.
Tyrian Sailor
Ho, gentlemen! my lord calls.
Enter two or three Gentlemen
Hello there, gentlemen! My lord calls you.
First Gentleman
Doth your lordship call?
Did your lordship call?
HELICANUS
Gentlemen, there's some of worth would come aboard;
I pray ye, greet them fairly.
The Gentlemen and the two Sailors descend, and go on board the barge
Enter, from thence, LYSIMACHUS and Lords; with the Gentlemen and the two Sailors
Gentlemen, there are some dignitaries who want to come aboard;
please go and give them a warm welcome.
Tyrian Sailor
Sir,
This is the man that can, in aught you would,
Resolve you.
Sir,
this is the man who can answer
any questions you have.
LYSIMACHUS
Hail, reverend sir! the gods preserve you!
Greetings, honourable gentleman! May be gods preserve you!
HELICANUS
And you, sir, to outlive the age I am,
And die as I would do.
And you, sir, to live to be older than I am,
and to die as I hope to.
LYSIMACHUS
You wish me well.
Being on shore, honouring of Neptune's triumphs,
Seeing this goodly vessel ride before us,
I made to it, to know of whence you are.
That is a kind wish.
I was on shore, celebrating the feast of Neptune,
when I saw this handsome ship come into view,
so I made for it, to know where you have come from.
HELICANUS
First, what is your place?
Firstly, what is your position?
LYSIMACHUS
I am the governor of this place you lie before.
I am the governor of this place where you have anchored.
HELICANUS
Sir,
Our vessel is of Tyre, in it the king;
A man who for this three months hath not spoken
To any one, nor taken sustenance
But to prorogue his grief.
Sir,
our ship comes from Tyre, containing the king;
a man who has not spoken to anyone for
the last three months, nor eaten anything
except what is sufficient to keep him alive to grieve.
LYSIMACHUS
Upon what ground is his distemperature?
What's the reason for his depression?
HELICANUS
'Twould be too tedious to repeat;
But the main grief springs from the loss
Of a beloved daughter and a wife.
It would take too long to explain;
but his chief sorrow comes from the loss
of a beloved daughter and wife.
LYSIMACHUS
May we not see him?
Can't we see him?
HELICANUS
You may;
But bootless is your sight: he will not speak to any.
You may;
but there will be no point to it: he won't speak to anyone.
LYSIMACHUS
Yet let me obtain my wish.
Still, let me have my wish.
HELICANUS
Behold him.
PERICLES discovered
This was a goodly person,
Till the disaster that, one mortal night,
Drove him to this.
Look at him.
This was a fine man,
until the disaster that, one fateful night,
turned him into this.
LYSIMACHUS
Sir king, all hail! the gods preserve you!
Hail, royal sir!
Sir king, all welcome! May the gods preserve you!
Greetings, royal sir!
HELICANUS
It is in vain; he will not speak to you.
There is no point; he won't speak to you.
First Lord
Sir,
We have a maid in Mytilene, I durst wager,
Would win some words of him.
Sir,
there's a girl in Mytilene who, I'd be prepared to bet,
could persuade him to talk.
LYSIMACHUS
'Tis well bethought.
She questionless with her sweet harmony
And other chosen attractions, would allure,
And make a battery through his deafen'd parts,
Which now are midway stopp'd:
She is all happy as the fairest of all,
And, with her fellow maids is now upon
The leafy shelter that abuts against
The island's side.
Whispers a Lord, who goes off in the barge of LYSIMACHUS
Good thinking.
Without question her sweet harmonies,
and other great attractions, could charm him,
and win through his deaf ears,
which are now blocked:
she is as wonderful as a goddess,
and with her girlfriends she is now
in the leafy grove which abuts
the side of the island.
HELICANUS
Sure, all's effectless; yet nothing we'll omit
That bears recovery's name. But, since your kindness
We have stretch'd thus far, let us beseech you
That for our gold we may provision have,
Wherein we are not destitute for want,
But weary for the staleness.
It's certain that nothing will work; but we'll try anything
that looks like a cure. But, as you have been
so kind thus far, please can we ask you
to sell us some provisions;
we don't lack for quantity,
but we are tired of their quality.
LYSIMACHUS
O, sir, a courtesy
Which if we should deny, the most just gods
For every graff would send a caterpillar,
And so afflict our province. Yet once more
Let me entreat to know at large the cause
Of your king's sorrow.
Oh, sir, if we were to deny
you such a courtesy, the most just gods
would send a caterpillar to every plant
to plague our province. But once again
let me beg you to tell me more details
of the cause of your king's sorrow.
HELICANUS
Sit, sir, I will recount it to you:
But, see, I am prevented.
Re-enter, from the barge, Lord, with MARINA, and a young Lady
Sit down, sir, I will tell you about it:
but, you see, this interrupts me.
LYSIMACHUS
O, here is
The lady that I sent for. Welcome, fair one!
Is't not a goodly presence?
Oh, here is
the lady that I sent for. Welcome, beautiful one!
Isn't she wonderful?
HELICANUS
She's a gallant lady.
She's a noble lady.
LYSIMACHUS
She's such a one, that, were I well assured
Came of a gentle kind and noble stock,
I'ld wish no better choice, and think me rarely wed.
Fair one,
all goodness that consists in bounty
Expect even here, where is a kingly patient:
If that thy prosperous and artificial feat
Can draw him but to answer thee in aught,
Thy sacred physic shall receive such pay
As thy desires can wish.
She is such a one that if I could be certain
that she came from a gentle, kind and noble family,
I would wish to have no better, and would think I had made a fine marriage.
Beautiful one, you can expect all the best rewards
even here, where the patient is a king:
if all your wonderful and skilful accomplishments
can just get him to say anything to you,
your blessed treatment will be paid for
with anything you desire.
MARINA
Sir, I will use
My utmost skill in his recovery, provided
That none but I and my companion maid
Be suffer'd to come near him.
Sir, I will do
everything I can to help him, provided
that nobody but I and my friend here
are allowed to come near him.
LYSIMACHUS
Come, let us leave her;
And the gods make her prosperous!
MARINA sings
Come, let us leave her;
and may the gods give her success!
LYSIMACHUS
Mark'd he your music?
Did he take any notice of your music?
MARINA
No, nor look'd on us.
No, and he didn't look at us.
LYSIMACHUS
See, she will speak to him.
See, she will speak to him.
MARINA
Hail, sir! my lord, lend ear.
Greetings, sir! My Lord, listen to me.
PERICLES
Hum, ha!
Hmm, ha!
MARINA
I am a maid,
My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes,
But have been gazed on like a comet: she speaks,
My lord, that, may be, hath endured a grief
Might equal yours, if both were justly weigh'd.
Though wayward fortune did malign my state,
My derivation was from ancestors
Who stood equivalent with mighty kings:
But time hath rooted out my parentage,
And to the world and awkward casualties
Bound me in servitude.
Aside
I will desist;
But there is something glows upon my cheek,
And whispers in mine ear, 'Go not till he speak.'
I am a girl,
my Lord, who never before asked anyone to look at me,
but have been stared at as if I was a comet: the one who speaks
to you, my lord, has suffered from sorrows
which might be the equal of yours, if they were fairly compared.
Though changeable fortune brought me low,
I am descended from ancestors
who were the equals of mighty kings;
but time has stripped me of my ancestry, and made me
the plaything of the world
and its accidents.
I will stop;
but there is something inside me which says
I should not leave until he speaks.
PERICLES
My fortunes--parentage--good parentage--
To equal mine!--was it not thus? what say you?
My fortunes–parentage–good parentage–
the equal of mine!–Wasn't that it? What did you say?
MARINA
I said, my lord, if you did know my parentage,
You would not do me violence.
I said, my lord, if you knew my ancestry,
you would not push me away.
PERICLES
I do think so. Pray you, turn your eyes upon me.
You are like something that--What country-woman?
Here of these shores?
I think so. Please, look at me.
You are something like that–what country are you from, woman?
Do you come from these shores?
MARINA
No, nor of any shores:
Yet I was mortally brought forth, and am
No other than I appear.
No, nor from any shores:
and yet I had a mortal birth, and I am
nothing more than I seem to be.
PERICLES
I am great with woe, and shall deliver weeping.
My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one
My daughter might have been: my queen's square brows;
Her stature to an inch; as wand-like straight;
As silver-voiced; her eyes as jewel-like
And cased as richly; in pace another Juno;
Who starves the ears she feeds, and makes them hungry,
The more she gives them speech. Where do you live?
I am full of sorrow, and will let it out in tears.
My dearest wife was like this girl, she could be
my daughter: she has my queen's square brow;
exactly the same height; just as perfectly straight;
just as silver voiced; her eyes are as jewel like
and in the same rich setting; her carriage like a goddess;
she starves the ears she feeds, the more she speaks
to them, the more they want to hear. Where do you live?
MARINA
Where I am but a stranger: from the deck
You may discern the place.
Where I am just a foreigner: you can see the place
from the deck.
PERICLES
Where were you bred?
And how achieved you these endowments, which
You make more rich to owe?
Where were you brought up?
How did you gain these accomplishments, which
are even richer because they are yours?
MARINA
If I should tell my history, it would seem
Like lies disdain'd in the reporting.
If I told you my story, it would seem like
lies which would be disbelieved even as I spoke them.
PERICLES
Prithee, speak:
Falseness cannot come from thee; for thou look'st
Modest as Justice, and thou seem'st a palace
For the crown'd Truth to dwell in: I will
believe thee,
And make my senses credit thy relation
To points that seem impossible; for thou look'st
Like one I loved indeed. What were thy friends?
Didst thou not say, when I did push thee back--
Which was when I perceived thee--that thou camest
From good descending?
Please, speak:
you would not be capable of lies; you look
as modest as justice, and you are like a palace
where the king of truth would live: I will
believe you,
and I will allow myself to believe your story
however impossible it seems; for you look
like someone I loved very dearly. Who were your family?
Didn't you say when I pushed you away,
which was when I noticed you, that you came
from a good family?
MARINA
So indeed I did.
I did indeed.
PERICLES
Report thy parentage. I think thou said'st
Thou hadst been toss'd from wrong to injury,
And that thou thought'st thy griefs might equal mine,
If both were open'd.
Tell me of your ancestry. I think you said
that you had been thrown from bad to worse,
and that you thought your grief might equal mine,
if they were compared.
MARINA
&
nbsp; Some such thing
I said, and said no more but what my thoughts
Did warrant me was likely.
I said something
like that, and I was only saying what I thought
was probably the case.
PERICLES
Tell thy story;
If thine consider'd prove the thousandth part
Of my endurance, thou art a man, and I
Have suffer'd like a girl: yet thou dost look
Like Patience gazing on kings' graves, and smiling
Extremity out of act. What were thy friends?
How lost thou them? Thy name, my most kind virgin?
Recount, I do beseech thee: come, sit by me.
Tell me your story;
if your sufferings are one thousandth of mine
then you are a man, and I
have suffered like a girl: and yet you look
like the statues of Patience gazing on the graves of kings,
making the worst things melt away with your smile. What was your family?
How did you lose them? What is your name, my sweet girl?
Tell me, I beg you: come and sit down by me.
MARINA
My name is Marina.
My name is Marina.
PERICLES
O, I am mock'd,
And thou by some incensed god sent hither
To make the world to laugh at me.
Oh, I am mocked,
and some angry God has sent you here