Only,
my friends, I am yet unprovided
Of
a pair of bases.
-Pericles
Pericles Act II,
Scene i, Line 160
I had to do some searching on this one. This is Pericles
talking to the fishermen. He’s just washed up on shore after being shipwrecked.
He’s found out from these three fishermen he's just run into that there’s a Knight’s
tourney about to take place at the local king’s court. Now the fishermen have
just happened to have dragged up Pericles suit of armor in their fishing nets,
so he’s ready to head for the tourney, except…
Only, my friends, I am
yet unprovided
Of a pair of bases.
A pair of bases? Yeah, I didn’t know either. I thought maybe
he was talking about shoes. Bases, or a pair of bases, was/were not in my usual
Shakespeare glossary. So of course what does one do when one needs an answer? Of
course; I googled it. I came up with ‘knee length skirt worn by a knight on
horseback.’ Of course! He don’t have his skirt! But no worries. Second
Fisherman’s going to give him his best gown to make a pair of bases. Whew, that
was a close call!
No Bryan, that is not a knight’s pair of bases. I don’t care
how many Budweisers you drink, that’s just an old lady’s skirt. (And yes, I’ve
been aching to find a spot to use this picture.)
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