Enter three Fishermen FIRST FISH. What, ho, Pilch! SEC. FISH. Ha, come and bring away the nets! THIRD FISH. What say you, master? FIRST FISH. Look how thou stirrest now! come away, or I'll fetch thee with a wanion. THIRD FISH. Faith, master, I am thinking of the poor men that were cast away before us even now. FIRST FISH. Alas, poor souls, it grieved my heart to 20 hear what pitiful cries they made to us to help them, when, well-a-day, we could scarce help ourselves. THIRD FISH. Nay, master, said not I as much when I saw the porpus, how he bounced and tumbled? they say they 're half fish, half flesh: a plague on them, they ne'er come but I look to be washed. Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. FIRST FISH. Why, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones: I can compare our rich misers to nothing so fitly as to a whale; a' plays and tumbles, driv- 30 ing the poor fry before him, and at last devours them all at a mouthful: such whales have I heard on o' the land, who never leave gaping till they 've swallowed the whole parish, church, steeple, bells, and all. PER. [Aside] A pretty moral. 12 What, ho, Pilch] Malone's emendation of the early reading, What, to pelch? 17 with a wanion] an imprecatory expletive, “with a mischief,” “with a vengeance," "with a curse." THIRD FISH. But, master, if I had been the sexton, I would have been that day in the belfry. SEC. FISH. Why, man? THIRD FISH. Because he should have swallowed me too: and when I had been in his belly, I would have kept 40 such a jangling of the bells, that he should never have left till he cast bells, steeple, church, and parish, up again. But if the good King Simonides were of my mind, PER. [Aside] Simonides! THIRD FISH. We would purge the land of these drones, that rob the bee of her honey. PER. [Aside] How from the finny subject of the sea These fishers tell the infirmities of men; And from their watery empire recollect All that may men approve or men detect! — SEC. FISH. Honest! good fellow, what's that? If it be a day fits you, search out of the calendar, and nobody look after it. 42 left] left off, ceased, desisted. 48 finny] The old text reads fenny. Wilkins's Novel reads "finny subjects." 51 All... detect] All that may illustrate men's good actions or discover their bad. 54 search out the calendar] This is the original reading. The fisherman seems to resent the tone of condescending patronage which Pericles, in his helpless plight, appears to them to imply by his use of the epithet "honest." Ironically the speaker adds: "If this be one of your lucky days, you had better find what mark it bears in the calendar, and then if it be erased, nobody will miss it (seeing what it has brought you 50 PER. May see the sea hath cast upon your coast. SEC. FISH. What a drunken knave was the sea to cast thee in our way! PER. A man whom both the waters and the wind, In that vast tennis-court, have made the ball For them to play upon, entreats you pity him; He asks of you, that never used to beg. FIRST FISH. No, friend, cannot you beg? Here's them in our country of Greece gets more with begging than we can do with working. SEC. FISH. Canst thou catch any fishes then? PER. I never practised it. SEC. FISH. Nay, then thou wilt starve, sure; for here's nothing to be got now-a-days, unless thou canst fish for 't. PER. What I have been I have forgot to know; For that I am a man, pray see me buried. FIRST FISH. Die quoth-a? Now gods forbid 't! And I have a gown here; come, put it on; keep thee warm. to)." Calendars often distinguished by signs lucky and unlucky days. Many editors endeavour without much success to elucidate the passage by substituting scratch out for search out. 56 May see] An abbreviation of "You may see." Steevens suggested Nay, see. 73 throng'd up] overcome, oppressed, overcharged. Cf. I, i, 101, supra, 60 70 and note. Now, afore me, a handsome fellow! Come, thou shalt 80 go home, and we'll have flesh for holidays, fish for fasting-days, and moreo'er puddings and flap-jacks, and thou shalt be welcome. PER. I thank you, sir. SEC. FISH. Hark you, my friend; you said you could not beg. PER. I did but crave. SEC. FISH. But crave! Then I'll turn craver too, and so I shall 'scape whipping. PER. Why, are all your beggars whipped then? SEC. FISH. O, not all, my friend, not all; for if all your beggars were whipped, I would wish no better office than to be beadle. But, master, I'll go draw up the net. [Exit with Third Fisherman. PER. [Aside] How well this honest mirth becomes their labour! 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 Simonides, do you call him? FIRST FISH. Ay, sir; and he deserves so to be 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 her birthday; and there are princes and knights come 90 101 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. FIRST FISH. O, sir, things must be as they may; and what a man cannot get, he may lawfully deal for — his wife's soul. Re-enter Second and Third Fishermen, drawing up a net SEC. FISH. Help, master, help! here's a fish hangs in the net, like a poor man's right in the law; 't will hardly come out. Ha! bots on 't, 't is come at last, and 't is turned to a rusty armour. PER. An armour, friends! I pray you, let me see it. And though it was mine own, part of my heritage, ... 112-113 what . . . soul] In this obscure passage the intention seems to be that what a man fails to get directly, he may lawfully haggle for or get indirectly, and that haggling is especially justified when, for example, one seeks so elusive a possession as his wife's soul. The original text has no hyphen after "for." Steal for deal has been widely adopted. That would imply that theft is permissible for the good of one's wife's soul. 116 bots on 't] a vulgar execration, "bots" being the worms that breed in horses. 119 thy] This word is omitted from the original text. Malone inserted my, but the corresponding passage in Wilkins's Novel shows thy to be correct. Pericles there "thanks Fortune that after all her crosses Shee had yet given him somewhat to repair his fortunes.” 110 120 |