Abby Sage Richardson

“ Simonides and Thaisa sat upon a raised throne, placed under a crimson canopy at the extremity of the amphitheatre in which the tourney was to take place. Pericles looked at the princess, and thought her the most beautiful woman he had ever gazed upon. ”

“ He had bestowed upon her the name of Marina, from the sea, which was her birthplace. He begged these friends, in whom he had great confidence, to rear his child with their own daughter, declaring he would never cut his hair or shave his beard, until his daughter, now so tender an infant, should reach a marriageable age, and be united to a worthy husband. Having made these plans for her breeding and education, Pericles left the palace of Cleon and Dionyza, and returned to Tyre, where he retreived the sceptre from Helicanus, and commenced a peaceful and just reign. ”

“ In the mean time the costly chest in which Pericles had encased the body of his beloved wife had floated upon the waves, and was tossed ashore at Ephesus. Here some gentlemen, who were early abroad, found it among the wrecks, laying in the sand. It happened that there dwelt upon the coast in Ephesus, one of the wisest of living physicians, named Cerimon. He knew the properties of all herbs and minerals, their powers of cure, and prepared such wonderful remedies as the world had never seen. To him, then, this chest containing the lifeless body of Thaisa was brought. ”

“ Rival kingdoms had arisen whose power was feared and dreaded in Tyre. It was, therefore, very necessary that the young prince, who was learned and thoughtful, and possessed the virtues of mature manhood, should ally himself in marriage with some kingdom whose influence and power would prop the falling fortunes of Tyre.
With this purpose the prince began to look about him as soon as he was of age to marry. The kingdom of Syria was ruled by King Antiochus, a powerful put cruel monarch. He had one daughter of whom Pericles had heard as one of the fairest and most accomplished of women. ”

“ In the morning Pericles found himself quite bravely furnished forth. The wife of the fisher man had worked all night to make him garments from the ample gown of her husband, and the armor had been mended and polished as well as it might be. Besides all this, the old fellow lent him his only horse, and thus furnished, Pericles rode gallantly off for the court of Simonides. ”

“ Marina, left in the care of Cleon and Dionyza, grew daily in grace and loveliness. Her father had left as her attendant, the old servant Lychorida, who had nursed the queen in her illness upon the ocean, and in this faithful woman Marina found a second mother. The young princess was instructed in all feminine arts. ”

“ He would have had her remain at her father’s court till he could go to his kingdom and make preparations to receive her, but she longed so much to accompany him that he had not the will to forbid her. A ship was fitted out with all possible comfort and elegance, an ample train of female attendants accompanied Thaisa, and in great state they set sail from the harbor of Pentapolis. ”

“ She begged him to consider if he were not wrong in so giving way to grief, since there were others whose misfortunes had perhaps been as great as his, who did not so accuse Heaven in yielding to them. ”

“ Here he informed the citizens of the wrongs his daughter had suffered at the hands of Dionyza and Cleon, and the enraged populace took the lives of the guilty couple. The city was given into the hands of Pericles, who left the faithful Helicanus as its ruler and governor.
Then Pericles and his Queen went on to Tyre, where they reigned long years in wondrous happiness and peace. She bore him a son, who was afterward the Prince of Tyre, and at a very ripe age Pericles and Thaisa died, and their ashes were placed in one sepulchre. ”