Act 5, Scene I

SCENE I. On board PERICLES' ship, off Mytilene. A close
pavilion on deck, with a curtain before it; PERICLES
within it, reclined on a couch. A barge lying
beside the Tyrian vessel.

Enter two Sailors, one belonging to the Tyrian vessel, the other to the barge; to them HELICANUS

Tyrian Sailor
[To the Sailor of Mytilene] Where is lord Helicanus?
he can resolve you.
O, here he is.
Sir, there's a barge put off from Mytilene,
And in it is Lysimachus the governor,
Who craves to come aboard. What is your will?

HELICANUS
That he have his. Call up some gentlemen.

Tyrian Sailor
Ho, gentlemen! my lord calls.

Enter two or three Gentlemen

First Gentleman
Doth 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

Tyrian Sailor
Sir,
This is the man that can, in aught you would,
Resolve you.

LYSIMACHUS
Hail, reverend sir! the gods preserve you!

HELICANUS
And you, sir, to outlive the age I am,
And die as I would do.

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.

HELICANUS
First, what is your place?

LYSIMACHUS
I am the governor of this place you lie before.

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.

LYSIMACHUS
Upon what ground is his distemperature?

HELICANUS
'Twould be too tedious to repeat;
But the main grief springs from the loss
Of a beloved daughter and a wife.

LYSIMACHUS
May we not see him?

HELICANUS
You may;
But bootless is your sight: he will not speak To any.

LYSIMACHUS
Yet let me obtain my wish.

HELICANUS
Behold him.

PERICLES discovered

This was a goodly person,
Till the disaster that, one mortal night,
Drove him to this.

LYSIMACHUS
Sir king, all hail! the gods preserve you!
Hail, royal sir!

HELICANUS
It is in vain; he will not speak to you.

First Lord
Sir,
We have a maid in Mytilene, I durst wager,
Would win some words of him.

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