Enter Cleon the Governor of Tarsus, with his wife
Dionyza and others. CLEON
My Dionyza, shall we rest us here
And, by relating tales of others’ griefs,
See if ’twill teach us to forget our own? DIONYZA
That were to blow at fire in hope to quench it;
For who digs hills because they do aspire 5
Throws down one mountain to cast up a higher.
O, my distressèd lord, even such our griefs are.
Here they are but felt, and seen with mischief’s eyes,
But like to groves, being topped, they higher rise. CLEON O Dionyza, 10
Who wanteth food, and will not say he wants it,
Or can conceal his hunger till he famish?
Our tongues and sorrows do sound deep our woes
Into the air, our eyes do weep till lungs
Fetch breath that may proclaim them louder, that 15
If heaven slumber while their creatures want,
They may awake their helpers to comfort them.
I’ll then discourse our woes, felt several years,
And, wanting breath to speak, help me with tears. DIONYZA I’ll do my best, sir. 20 | Cut to the city of Tharsus. We meet the Governor (Cleon) and his wife (Dionyza). They're boohooing to each other about the years-long famine that's turned their once-thriving city into a bunch of ruins. Hmm. Could this reference to a major food shortage be a shout-out to the Corn Riots of 1607, which went down in the English Midlands around the time Pericles was written? |
CLEON
This Tarsus, o’er which I have the government,
A city on whom Plenty held full hand,
For Riches strewed herself even in her streets;
Whose towers bore heads so high they kissed the
clouds, 25
And strangers ne’er beheld but wondered at;
Whose men and dames so jetted and adorned,
Like one another’s glass to trim them by;
Their tables were stored full to glad the sight,
And not so much to feed on as delight; 30
All poverty was scorned, and pride so great,
The name of help grew odious to repeat. DIONYZA O, ’tis too true. CLEON
But see what heaven can do by this our change:
These mouths who but of late earth, sea, and air 35
Were all too little to content and please,
Although they gave their creatures in abundance,
As houses are defiled for want of use,
They are now starved for want of exercise.
Those palates who not yet two savors younger 40
Must have inventions to delight the taste,
Would now be glad of bread and beg for it.
Those mothers who, to nuzzle up their babes,
Thought naught too curious, are ready now
To eat those little darlings whom they loved. 45
So sharp are hunger’s teeth that man and wife
Draw lots who first shall die to lengthen life.
Here stands a lord and there a lady weeping;
Here many sink, yet those which see them fall
Have scarce strength left to give them burial. 50
Is not this true? DIONYZA
Our cheeks and hollow eyes do witness it. CLEON
O, let those cities that of Plenty’s cup
And her prosperities so largely taste,
With their superfluous riots, hear these tears. 55
The misery of Tarsus may be theirs. | Instead of trying to come up with a solution, Cleon and Dionyza decide to sit around and tell stories about how awful things are. Things are so bad that the starving people of Tharsus have begun to eat their own family members. Seriously. These days, even mothers look at their babies like they're ready to cook them. |
Enter a Lord. LORD Where’s the Lord Governor? CLEON Here.
Speak out thy sorrows, which thee bring’st in haste,
For comfort is too far for us to expect. 60 LORD
We have descried upon our neighboring shore
A portly sail of ships make hitherward. CLEON I thought as much.
One sorrow never comes but brings an heir
That may succeed as his inheritor; 65
And so in ours. Some neighboring nation,
Taking advantage of our misery,
Hath stuffed the hollow vessels with their power
To beat us down, the which are down already,
And make a conquest of unhappy men, 70
Whereas no glory’s got to overcome. LORD
That’s the least fear, for, by the semblance
Of their white flags displayed, they bring us peace
And come to us as favorers, not as foes. CLEON
Thou speak’st like him’s untutored to repeat 75
“Who makes the fairest show means most deceit.”
But bring they what they will and what they can,
What need we fear?
The ground’s the lowest, and we are halfway there.
Go tell their general we attend him here, 80
To know for what he comes and whence he comes
And what he craves. LORD I go, my lord. He exits. CLEON
Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist;
If wars, we are unable to resist. 85 Enter Pericles with Attendants. PERICLES
Lord Governor, for so we hear you are,
Let not our ships and number of our men
Be like a beacon fired t’ amaze your eyes.
We have heard your miseries as far as Tyre
And seen the desolation of your streets; 90
Nor come we to add sorrow to your tears,
But to relieve them of their heavy load;
And these our ships, you happily may think
Are like the Trojan horse was stuffed within
With bloody veins expecting overthrow, 95
Are stored with corn to make your needy bread
And give them life whom hunger starved half dead. ALL, kneeling
The gods of Greece protect you, and we’ll pray for
you. PERICLES Arise, I pray you, rise. 100
We do not look for reverence, but for love,
And harborage for ourself, our ships, and men. | Then Pericles shows up with his ship stocked full of grain and is all, "Hey, guys. I'm not here to wage war on your vulnerable city. I heard your people are totally starving. So, how about I give you some food, and you let me hide out here for a while?" |
CLEON, rising, with the others
The which when any shall not gratify
Or pay you with unthankfulness in thought,
Be it our wives, our children, or ourselves, 105
The curse of heaven and men succeed their evils!
Till when—the which I hope shall ne’er be seen—
Your Grace is welcome to our town and us. PERICLES
Which welcome we’ll accept, feast here awhile,
Until our stars that frown lend us a smile. 110 They exit. | Cleon and Dionyza throw themselves at his feet and promise to repay his kindness some day.
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