Document: All > Shakespeare > Comedies > Pericles, Prince of Tyre > Act II, scene II
lists. A pavilion by the side of it for the
reception of King, Princess, Lords, &c.
[Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Lords, and Attendants]
SIMONIDES: Are the knights ready to begin the triumph?
First Lord: They are, my liege;
And stay your coming to present themselves.
SIMONIDES: 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]
THAISA: It pleaseth you, my royal father, to express
My commendations great, whose merit's less.
SIMONIDES: 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 renowns if not respected.
'Tis now your honour, daughter, to explain
The labour of each knight in his device.
THAISA: Which, to preserve mine honour, I'll perform.
[Enter a Knight; he passes over, and his Squire
presents his shield to the Princess]
SIMONIDES: Who is the first that doth prefer himself?
THAISA: A knight of Sparta, my renowned father;
And the device he bears upon his shield
Is a black Ethiope reaching at the sun
The word, 'Lux tua vita mihi.'
SIMONIDES: He loves you well that holds his life of you.
[The Second Knight passes over]
Who is the second that presents himself?
THAISA: 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 over]
SIMONIDES: And what's the third?
THAISA: The third of Antioch;
And his device, a wreath of chivalry;
The word, 'Me pompae provexit apex.'
[The Fourth Knight passes over]
SIMONIDES: What is the fourth?
THAISA: A burning torch that's turned upside down;
The word, 'Quod me alit, me extinguit.'
SIMONIDES: Which shows that beauty hath his power and will,
Which can as well inflame as it can kill.
[The Fifth Knight passes over]
THAISA: The fifth, an hand environed with clouds,
Holding out gold that's by the touchstone tried;
The motto thus, 'Sic spectanda fides.'
[The Sixth Knight, PERICLES, passes over]
SIMONIDES: And what's
The sixth and last, the which the knight himself
With such a graceful courtesy deliver'd?
THAISA: 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.'
SIMONIDES: 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 outward 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.
Second 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.
SIMONIDES: Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan
The outward habit by the inward man.
But stay, the knights are coming: we will withdraw
Into the gallery.
[Exeunt]
[Great shouts within and all cry 'The mean knight!']
PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE
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