2 Sail. Sir, we have a chest beneath the hatches, caulk'd and bitumed ready. Per. I thank thee. Mariner, say what coast is this? 2 Sail. We are near Tharsus. Per. Thither, gentle mariner, Alter thy course for Tyre. When can'st thou reach it? 2 Sail. By break of day, if the wind cease. Per. O make for Tharsus. There will I visit Cleon, for the babe Cannot hold out to Tyrus: there I'll leave it At careful nursing. Go thy ways, good mariner; [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Ephesus. A Room in Cerimon's House. Enter CERIMON, a Servant, and some Persons who have been shipwrecked. Cer. Philemon, ho! Enter PHILEMON. Phil. Doth my lord call? Cer. Get fire and meat for these poor men; It has been a turbulent and stormy night. Serv. I have been in many; but such a night as this, Till now, I ne'er endur'd. Cer. Your master will be dead ere you return; There's nothing can be minister'd to nature, That can recover him. Give this to the 'pothecary, And tell me how it works. [To PHILEMON. [Exeunt PHILEMON, Servant, and those who have been shipwrecked. Enter Two Gentlemen. 1 Gent. Good morrow, sir. 2 Gent. Good morrow to your lordship. Cer. Gentlemen, Why do you stir so early? 1 Gent. Sir, Our lodgings, standing bleak upon the sea, The very principals did seem to rend, 2 Gent. That is the cause we trouble you so early; 'Tis not our husbandry. Cer. O, you say well. 1 Gent. But I much marvel that your lordship, having Rich tire about you, should at these early hours It is most strange, Nature should be so conversant with pain, Being thereto not compell'd. Cer. I held it ever, Virtue and cunning were endowments greater Than nobleness and riches: careless heirs May the two latter darken and expend; But immortality attends the former, (Together with my practice,) made familiar And I can speak of the disturbances That nature works, and of her cures; which give me 2 Gent. Your honour has through Ephesus pour'd forth Your charity, and hundreds call themselves Enter Two Servants with a Chest. Serv. So; lift there. Cer. What is that? Serv. Sir, even now Did the sea toss upon our shore this chest ; "Tis of some wreck. Cer. Set 't down, let's look on it. 2 Gent. 'Tis like a coffin, sir. Cer. Whate'er it be, "Tis wondrous heavy. Wrench it open straight; If the sea's stomach be o'ercharg'd with gold, It is a good constraint of fortune, that It belches upon us. 2 Gent. 'Tis so, my lord. Cer. How close 'tis caulk'd and bitum'd! Did the sea cast it up? Serv. I never saw so huge a billow, sir, As toss'd it upon shore. Cer. Come, wrench it open; Soft, soft-it smells most sweetly in my sense. 2 Gent. A delicate odour. Cer. As ever hit my nostril; so,-up with it. O you most potent god! what's here? a corse! 1 Gent. Most strange ! Cer. Shrouded in cloth of state; balm'd and entreasur'd With bags of spices full! A passport too! Apollo, perfect me i' the characters! Here I give to understand, (If e'er this coffin drive a-land,) I, king Pericles, have lost [Unfolds a Scroll. [Reads. This queen, worth all our mundane cost. Who finds her, give her burying, She was the daughter of a king: If thou liv'st, Pericles, thou hast a heart, That even cracks for woe!-This chanc'd to-night. 2 Gent. Most likely, sir. Cer. Nay, certainly to-night; For look, how fresh she looks!-They were too rough, That threw her in the sea. Make fire within; Fetch hither all the boxes in my closet. Death may usurp on nature many hours, Enter a Servant, with Boxes, Napkins, and Fire. Well said, well said; the fire and the cloths. The rough and woful musick that we have, The vial once more;-How thou stirr'st, thou block?— This queen will live: nature awakes; a warmth 1 Gent. The heavens, sir, Through you, increase our wonder, and set up Cer. She is alive; behold, Her eyelids, cases to those heavenly jewels Begin to part their fringes of bright gold; The diamonds of a most praised water Appear, to make the world twice rich. O live, And make us weep to hear your fate, fair creature, Thai. O dear Diana, [She moves. Where am I? Where's my lord? What world is this? 2 Gent. Is not this strange? 1 Gent. Most rare. Cer. Hush, gentle neighbours; 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, come : [Exeunt, carrying THAISA away. |