Knights,
To say you’re welcome were superfluous.
To place upon the volume of your deeds,
As in a title-page, your worth in arms,
Were more than you expect, or more than’s fit,
Since every worth in show commends itself.
Prepare for mirth, for mirth becomes a feast:
You are princes and my guests.
Knights, to say you're welcome would be pointless—your deeds speak louder than any words. By your actions in this tournament, you've inscribed your worth for all to see.
Guys, you don't need me saying welcome. What you did out there today says everything. You've earned respect.
you won. no words needed. your deeds speak.
But you, my knight and guest;
To whom this wreath of victory I give,
And crown you king of this day’s happiness.
But you, my knight and guest—to you I give this wreath of victory. You are crowned king of this day's happiness.
But you—I'm giving you this crown. You're the real winner today.
you. this is yours. you're the king of today.
’Tis more by fortune, lady, than by merit.
It's more a matter of luck, lady, than of skill on my part.
That's mostly luck, not me. Honestly.
it was luck. not me.
Call it by what you will, the day is yours;
And here, I hope, is none that envies it.
In framing an artist, art hath thus decreed,
To make some good, but others to exceed;
And you are her labour’d scholar. Come queen of the feast,—
For, daughter, so you are,—here take your place:
Marshal the rest, as they deserve their grace.
Call it what you will—the day is yours either way. I hope no one here begrudges you that. In creating an artist, art itself has done the work, and nature completed what art began.
Whatever you call it, you won. I hope everyone here is happy about that. Art and nature worked together to make you who you are.
the day is yours. art and nature made you this way.
We are honour’d much by good Simonides.
We are deeply honored by your goodness, Simonides.
You're too kind to us, Simonides.
you honor us.
Your presence glads our days; honour we love;
For who hates honour hates the gods above.
Your presence gladdens our days. We love honor, for who hates honor hates the gods themselves.
You being here makes us happy. Honor matters because it's godlike—hating honor is hating the gods.
your being here brings joy. who hates honor hates the gods.
Sir, yonder is your place.
Sir, your place is over there.
You sit there.
sit here.
Some other is more fit.
Some other place would be more fitting for me.
I'd be more comfortable elsewhere.
i should sit somewhere else.
Contend not, sir; for we are gentlemen
Have neither in our hearts nor outward eyes
Envied the great, nor shall the low despise.
Don't protest, sir. We are gentlemen who have never envied the powerful, nor shall we ever look down on the humble. Your place here is right and proper.
Don't worry about it. We're not the type to be jealous of the powerful or look down on anyone. You belong here.
sit. we are gentlemen. we don't envy power we don't despise humility.
You are right courteous knights.
You are truly courteous knights.
You're good people.
thank you.
Sit, sir, sit.
By Jove, I wonder, that is king of thoughts,
These cates resist me, he but thought upon.
Sit, sir, sit. By Jove, I wonder at this—the king of thought itself seems unable to explain why this knight captivates the entire room while you sit apart, untouched by the feast around you.
Sit down. Look, I'm confused. Everyone's feasting, but that knight over there—he's got everyone's attention, and he barely notices. It's like he's somewhere else.
sit. something's strange. that knight has everyone watching. but he's not here.
By Juno, that is queen of marriage,
All viands that I eat do seem unsavoury,
Wishing him my meat. Sure, he’s a gallant gentleman.
By Juno, queen of marriage, everything I eat turns flavorless. I keep wishing he were sitting here beside me.
Nothing tastes right. I keep wishing he was next to me.
i can't taste anything. i wish he was here.
He’s but a country gentleman;
Has done no more than other knights have done;
Has broken a staff or so; so let it pass.
He's just a country gentleman—he's done no more than other knights have done. He's only broken an old arm or two. He's hardly the marvel my daughter makes him out to be.
He's nothing special. Just some rural knight who cracked a few shields. My daughter's exaggerating.
he's just a country knight. he broke some shields. that's all.
To me he seems like diamond to glass.
To me he seems like diamond compared to glass.
To me he's like a diamond next to glass.
diamond to glass. that's the difference.
Yon king’s to me like to my father’s picture,
Which tells me in that glory once he was;
Had princes sit, like stars, about his throne,
And he the sun, for them to reverence;
None that beheld him, but, like lesser lights,
Did vail their crowns to his supremacy:
Where now his son’s like a glow-worm in the night,
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light:
Whereby I see that time’s the king of men,
He’s both their parent, and he is their grave,
And gives them what he will, not what they crave.
That king reminds me of my father's portrait—an image that shows me the glory he once possessed. Time is the king of all men; he is both their parent and their grave. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have had it stripped away by the turning of years.
This king looks like my father in his portrait—showing me what he used to be. Time is the ruler of everyone. It creates you, and it buries you. Some are born into power, some earn it, and some lose it all.
time is the king. it makes us. it kills us. my father was great. now he's just memory.
What, are you merry, knights?
What, are you merry, knights?
Are you all having fun?
you happy?
Who can be other in this royal presence?
Who could be anything but merry in this royal presence?
How could anyone be sad in a room like this?
of course. we're with the king.
Here, with a cup that’s stored unto the brim,—
As you do love, fill to your mistress’ lips,—
We drink this health to you.
Here, with a cup filled to the brim. As you do love, fill to honor my health.
Here, a full cup. Drink to my health if you wish me well.
drink to my health. if you love me.
We thank your grace.
We thank your grace.
Thank you, your majesty.
thank you.
Yet pause awhile. Yon knight doth sit too melancholy,
As if the entertainment in our court
Had not a show might countervail his worth.
Note it not you, Thaisa?
Yet wait a moment. That knight there sits too melancholy, as if entertainment and the joy of the feast are nothing to him. Someone should find out who he is and where he comes from.
But wait. See that knight? He's miserable. This whole party doesn't matter to him. We should find out who he is. Someone go ask.
that knight. he's sad. no one cares. who is he? where's he from?
What is’t to me, my father?
What does that matter to me, father?
Why? What does it matter?
why does it matter?
O attend, my daughter:
Princes in this should live like gods above,
Who freely give to everyone that comes to honour them:
And princes not doing so are like to gnats,
Which make a sound, but kill’d are wonder’d at.
Therefore to make his entrance more sweet,
Here, say we drink this standing-bowl of wine to him.
Pay attention, my daughter. Princes should live like gods above—above suspicion, above jealousy, above the weakness of common men. This stranger's sadness is a mystery, and mysteries can become problems.
Listen to me. Kings and nobles have to be above question. This man's sadness could be dangerous. We need to know what it is.
listen. princesses must be above suspicion. this man's sadness is dangerous.
Alas, my father, it befits not me
Unto a stranger knight to be so bold:
He may my proffer take for an offence,
Since men take women’s gifts for impudence.
Father, it doesn't become me to be so forward with a stranger knight.
But father, I can't just approach a strange knight like that. It's not proper.
i can't. it's not proper. to be so forward.
How? Do as I bid you, or you’ll move me else.
How? Do what I tell you, or I will be very angry with you.
You will. Or I'll be displeased.
do it. or i'll be angry.
Pericles's soliloquy about time being the king of men — his father the sun, himself a glow-worm — is one of the play's most concentrated philosophical passages. The shift from sun to glow-worm is also a shift from day to night: the glow-worm is only visible in darkness, its light meaningless in daylight. Pericles is saying that he is a diminished version of his father's greatness, visible only because everything else has been stripped away. What he doesn't say — what the audience can feel — is that this is precisely why Thaisa is drawn to him: the melancholy of a man who knows his own diminishment and carries it with grace is more compelling than any boastful display. He is the diamond she noticed; his sadness is part of what makes him shine.
And furthermore tell him, we desire to know of him,
Of whence he is, his name and parentage.
Go to him and tell him I wish to know: who he is, where he comes from, what his name is, and whether he is a knight or not.
Tell him the king wants to know who he is, where he's from, what his name is, and if he's actually a knight.
tell him: who are you? where from? name? are you a knight?
The king my father, sir, has drunk to you.
The king, my father, sir, has drunk to you.
My father, the king, just drank to your health.
my father drank to you.
I thank him.
I thank him.
Tell him thank you.
tell him thanks.
Wishing it so much blood unto your life.
Wishing that much health and prosperity flow to your life.
And I wish you a long, happy life.
and wishing you joy.
I thank both him and you, and pledge him freely.
I thank you both, and I pledge him in return.
I thank you both, and I drink to him as well.
thank you. i drink to him too.
And further he desires to know of you,
Of whence you are, your name and parentage.
He desires further to know from you: who you are, your name and where you come from.
He also wants to know your name, where you're from, and who you are.
he wants to know: your name. where you're from. who you are.
A gentleman of Tyre; my name, Pericles;
My education been in arts and arms;
Who, looking for adventures in the world,
Was by the rough seas reft of ships and men,
And after shipwreck driven upon this shore.
I am a gentleman of Tyre. My name is Pericles. I was educated in all the arts and arms that befit a prince. But the heavens have turned against me, and I have been driven from my home by misfortune. I seek no station now, only peace.
I'm from Tyre. My name's Pericles. I was trained as a prince should be—in learning and in warfare. But life turned against me, and I had to leave home. I'm not looking for anything now, just a place to rest.
pericles. tyre. was a prince. heaven turned against me. i had to leave. right now i just need peace.
He thanks your grace; names himself Pericles,
A gentleman of Tyre,
Who only by misfortune of the seas
Bereft of ships and men, cast on this shore.
He thanks your grace. His name is Pericles, a gentleman of Tyre, educated in all the arts befitting a prince. But heaven has turned its face from him, and he has been driven from his home by misfortune. He seeks only quiet now.
He thanks you. He's Pericles from Tyre, a prince by training. But fortune abandoned him and he had to flee. Now he's just looking for rest.
he's pericles. from tyre. prince-trained. heaven abandoned him. now he seeks peace.
Now, by the gods, I pity his misfortune,
And will awake him from his melancholy.
Come, gentlemen, we sit too long on trifles,
And waste the time, which looks for other revels.
Even in your armours, as you are address’d,
Will well become a soldier’s dance.
I will not have excuse, with saying this,
‘Loud music is too harsh for ladies’ heads’
Since they love men in arms as well as beds.
By the gods, I pity his misfortune. I will awaken him from this melancholy. He shall not sit alone. He deserves our hospitality and our friendship. Tonight he will stay near the royal family, as is fitting for one of his breeding.
I feel for him. He shouldn't sit alone like this. I'm going to help him. He'll stay close to the royal family tonight—that's the least I can do for a man of his rank who's fallen on hard times.
i will help him. he won't be alone. he'll sleep near the royal family. that's fitting for his station.
In those that practise them they are, my lord.
In those who practice virtue, yes, they do shine brightly, my lord.
Yeah, for people who actually practice them. I'm not that person.
for those who practice them, yes.
O, that’s as much as you would be denied
Of your fair courtesy.
That's as good as denying yourself the grace you're describing. You must accept our hospitality and stop turning away.
That's like saying no. You're turning down kindness. Accept it. Let us help you.
that's a denial. accept our help. stop refusing.
I am at your grace’s pleasure.
I am at your grace's pleasure. Whatever you command, I will do.
Whatever you wish, I'll do it.
i'm yours to command.
Princes, it is too late to talk of love;
And that’s the mark I know you level at:
Therefore each one betake him to his rest;
Tomorrow all for speeding do their best.
Princes, it is too late to speak further of such things. But I see now my intention—to make Pericles my daughter's companion. That is the mark toward which all this tends.
Gentlemen, it's late. But I know what I'm doing now. Pericles will be Thaisa's companion. That's where this is going.
it's late. i know my plan: pericles will court my daughter. that's the path forward.
The Reckoning
This is a scene of mutual attraction conducted across a banquet table through messengers and glances, while Pericles sits apart lost in thoughts of his dead father and diminished fortune. The comedy is that everyone is fascinated by the man who is least interested in being seen. Simonides and Thaisa both fall for him — for slightly different reasons — while the lords who sneered at his armor earlier are proved definitively wrong. The evening ends with dancing and a bedroom allocation that makes Simonides's intentions unmistakable.
If this happened today…
The new hire who won the company's innovation challenge shows up at the victory dinner in the clothes he wore to the challenge — wrinkled shirt, distracted expression, eating alone at the end of the table while thinking about his late father. The CEO keeps looking over. The CEO's daughter keeps looking over. The CEO sends someone to bring him a drink and find out who he is. He barely responds. By the end of the evening, the CEO has given him the corner office next to his own.