Howsoever it be, this is the short and long,
I dare not gainsay the king, be it right or wrong:
I am sorry, and that is all I may or can do in this case:
Nought availeth persuasion, where froward opinion taketh place.
Pithias. Sir, if humble suits you would not despise,
Then bow on[65] me your pitiful eyes.
My name is Pithias, in Greece well known,
A perfect friend to that woful Damon,
Which now a poor captive in this court doth lie,
By the king’s own mouth, as I hear, condemned to die;