Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Adaptations; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stories, plots, etc. -- Juvenile literature
Pericles arrived in safety at Tyre, and was once more settled in the
quiet possession of his throne, while his woeful queen, whom he thought
dead, remained at Ephesus. Her little babe Marina, whom this hapless
mother had never seen, was brought up by Cleon in a manner suitable to
her high birth. He gave her the most careful education, so that by the
time Marina attained the age of fourteen years, the most deeply-learned
men were not more studied in the learning of those times than was
Marina. She sang like one immortal, and danced as goddesslike, and with
her needle she was so skilful that she seemed to compose nature's own
shapes, in birds, fruits, or flowers, the natural roses being scarcely
more like to each other than they were to Marina's silken flowers. But
when she had gained from education all these graces, which made her the
general wonder, Dionysia, the wife of Cleon, became her mortal enemy
from jealousy, by reason that her own daughter, from the slowness of
her mind, was not able to attain to that perfection wherein Marina
excelled: and finding that all praise was bestowed on Marina, whilst
her daughter, who was of the same age, and had been educated with the
same care as Marina, though not with the same success, was in
comparison disregarded, she formed a project to remove Marina out of
the way, vainly imagining that her untoward daughter would be more
respected when Marina was no more seen. To encompass this she employed
a man to murder Marina, and she well timed her wicked design, when
Lychorida, the faithful nurse, had just died. Dionysia was discoursing
with the man she had commanded to commit this murder, when the young
Marina was weeping over the dead Lychorida. Leonine, the man she
employed to do this bad deed, though he was a very wicked man, could
hardly be persuaded to undertake it, so had Marina won all hearts to
love her. He said: 'She is a goodly creature!' 'The tatter then the
gods should have her,' replied her merciless enemy: 'here she comes
weeping for the death of her nurse Lychorida: are you resolved to obey
me?' Leonine, fearing to disobey her, replied: 'I am resolved.' And so,
in that one short sentence, was the matchless Marina doomed to an
untimely death. She now approached, with a basket of flowers in her
hand, which she said she would daily strew over the grave of good
Lychorida. The purple violet and the marigold should as a carpet hang
upon her grave, while summer days did last. 'Alas, for me!' she said,
'poor unhappy maid, born in a tempest, when my mother died. This world
to me is like a lasting storm, hurrying me from my friends.' 'How now,
Marina,' said the dissembling Dionysia, 'do you weep alone? How does it
chance my daughter is not with you? Do not sorrow for Lychorida, you
have a nurse in me. Your beauty is quite changed with this unprofitable
woe. Come, give me your flowers, the sea-air will spoil them; and walk
with Leonine: the air is fine, and will enliven you. Come, Leonine,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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