Obe. About the wood go swifter than the wind, When thou wak'st, if she be by, Re-enter Puck. Puck. Captain of our fairy band, And the youth, mistook by me, Shall we their fond pageant see? Lord, what fools these mortals be! Obe. Stand aside the noise they make, Will cause Demetrius to awake. Puck. Then will two at once woo oneThat must needs be sport alone; And those things do best please me, That befal preposterously. Enter Lysander and Helena. [Exit. Lys. Why should you think that I should woo in Scorn and derision never come in tears. [scorn? Look, when I vow, I weep; and vows so born, In their nativity all truth appears. How can these things in me seem scorn to you, Bearing the badge of faith, to prove them true? Hel. You do advance your cunning more and more. When truth kills truth, O devilish-holy fray! These vows are Hermia's; Will you give her o'er? Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh: Your vows to her and me, put in two scales, Will even weigh; and both as light as tales. Lys. I had no judgment, when to her I swore. To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne? Hel. O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent To vow, and swear, and superpraise my parts, To conjure tears up in a poor maid's eyes, Her. You speak not as you think; it cannot be. Is all the counsel that we two have shar'd, Two lovely berries moulded on one stem : Her. I am amazed at your passionate words: To call me goddess, nymph, divine, and rare, Her. I understand not what you mean by this? Lys. Stay, gentle Helena; hear my excuse; Helen, I love thee; by my life I do ; I swear by that which I will lose for thee, Dem. I say, I love thee more than he can do, No, no, sir : Her. Lysander, whereto tends all this? Lys. Away, you Ethiope! Dem. Seem to break loose; take on as you would follow; But yet come not: You are a tame man, go! Lys. Hang off, thou cat, thou burr: vile thing, let Hate me! wherefore? O me! what news, my love? Her. O me! you juggler! you canker-blossom! Her. Puppet! why so? Ay, that way goes the Now I perceive that she hath made compare [game. Between our statures, she hath urg'd her height; And with her personage, her tall personage, Her height, forsooth, she hath prevail'd with him. And are you grown so high in his esteem, Because I am so dwarfish, and so low? How low am I, thou painted maypole? speak; How low am I? I am not yet so low, But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes. Hel. I pray you, though you mock me, gentlemen, Let her not hurt me: I was never curst; I have no gift at all in shrewishness; I am a right maid for my cowardice; Let her not strike me : You, perhaps, may think, Because she's something lower than myself, That I can match her. Her. Lower! hark, again. Hel. Good Hermia, do not be so bitter with me. I told him of your stealth unto this wood : [you? With Demetrius. Lys. Be not afraid she shall not harm thee, Helena. Dem. No, sir; she shall not, though you take her part. Hel. O, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd: Lys. Dem. You are too officious In her behalf that scorns your services. Let her alone; speak not of Helena ; Take not her part: for if thou dost intend Never so little show of love to her, Thou shalt aby it. Ly's. Now she holds me not; Now follow, if thou dar'st, to try whose right, Or thine or mine, is most in Helena. Dem. Follow? nay, I'll go with thee, cheek by jole. [Exeunt Lys, and Dem. Her. You, mistress, all this coil is long of you : Nay, go not back. Hel. I will not trust you, I ; Nor longer stay in your curst company. Your hands than mine are quicker for a fray; My legs are longer though, to run away. Her. I am amaz'd, and know not what to say. [Exit, pursuing Helena. Obe. This is thy negligence: still thou mistak'st, Or else committ'st thy knaveries willingly. [Exit. Puck. Believe me, king of shadows, I mistook. Did not you tell me, I should know the man By the Athenian garments he had on? And so far blameless proves my enterprize, As this their jangling I esteem a sport. Obe. Thou seest, these lovers seek a place to fight: Hie therefore, Robin, overcast the night; The starry welkin cover thou anon With drooping fog as black as Acheron; And lead these testy rivals so astray, As one come not within another's way. Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue, Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong; And sometime rail thou like Demetrius ; And from each other look thou lead them thus, Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep : Then crush this herb into Lysander's eye, Whose liquor hath this virtuous property, To take from thence all error, with his might, And make his eye-balls roll with wonted sight. When they next wake, all this derision Shall seem a dream, and fruitless vision; And back to Athens shall the lovers wend, With league, whose date till death shall never end. Whiles I in this affair do thee employ, I'll to my queen, and beg her Indian boy; And then I will her charmed eye release From monster's view, and all things shall be peace. Puck. My fairy lord, this must be done with haste; For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast, And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger; [there, At whose approach, ghosts, wandering here and Troop home to church-yards: damned spirits all, That in cross-ways and floods have burial, Already to their wormy beds are gone; For fear lest day should look their shames upon, They wilfully themselves exile from light, And must for aye consort with black-brow'd night. Obe. But we are spirits of another sort : I with the morning's love have oft made sport ; And, like a forester, the groves may tread, Even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red, Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams, Turns into yellow gold his salt-green streams. But, notwithstanding, haste; make no delay : We may effect this business yet ere day. Puck. Up and down, up and down ; [Exit Obe. Lys. He goes before me, and still dares me on; When I come where he calls then he is gone. The villain is much lighter heel'd than I: I follow'd fast, but faster he did fly; That fallen am I in dark uneven way, And here will rest me. Come, thou gentle day! [Lies down. For if but once thou show me thy grey light, I'll find Demetrius, and revenge this spite. [Sleeps. Re-enter Puck and Demetrius. Puck. Ho, ho! ho, ho! Coward, why com'st thou not? Dem. Abide me, if thou dar'st; for well I wot, Thou runn'st before me, shifting every place; And dar'st not stand, nor look me in the face. Where art thou now? Hel. O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy hours: shine, comforts, from the east, That I may back to Athens, by daylight, From these that my poor company detest :And, sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow's eye, Steal me awhile from mine own company. [Sleeps. Puck. Yet but three? Come one more; Two of both kinds makes up four. Thus to make poor females mad. Tita. Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed, While I thy amiable cheeks do coy, And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head, And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy. Bot. Where's Peas-blossom? Peas. Ready. Bot. Scratch my head, Peas-blossom.-Where's monsieur Cobweb? Cob. Ready. Bot. Monsieur Cobweb; good monsieur, get your weapons in your hand, and kill me a red-hipped humble-bee on the top of a thistle; and, good monsieur, bring me the honey-bag. Do not fret yourself too much in the action, monsieur; and, good monsieur, have a care the honey-bag break not; I would be loth to have you overflown with a honeybag, signior.-Where's monsieur Mustard-seed? Must. Ready. Bot. Give me your neif, monsieur Mustard-seed. Pray you, leave your courtesy, good monsieur. Must. What's your will? Bot. Nothing, good monsieur, but to help cavalery Cobweb to scratch. I must to the barber's, monsieur; for, methinks, I am marvellous hairy about the face; and I am such a tender ass, if my hair do but tickle me I must scratch. [love? Tita. What, wilt thou hear some music, my sweet Bot. I have a reasonable good ear in music : let us have the tongs and the bones. [eat. Tita. Or say, sweet love, what thou desir'st to Bot. Truly, a peck of provender: I could munch your good dry oats. Methinks I have a great desire to a bottle of hay good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow. Tita. I have a venturous fairy that shall seek The squirrel's-hoard, and fetch thee new nuts. Bot. I had rather have a handful, or two, of dried peas. But, I pray you, let none of your people stir me; I have an exposition of sleep come upon me. Tita. Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms. Fairies, be gone, and be all ways away. So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle Gently entwist; the female ivy so Enrings the barky fingers of the elm. O, how I love thee! how I dote on thee! [They sleep. Oberon advances. Enter Puck. Obe. Welcome, good Robin. Seest thou this sweet And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalp [Touching her eyes with an herb. Hath such force and blessed power. Now, my Titania, wake you, my sweet queen. Tita. My Oberon ! what visions have I seen! Methought I was enamour'd of an ass. Obe. There lies your love. Tita. How came these things to pass? O, how mine eyes do loath his visage now! Obe. Silence a while.-Robin, take off this head.Titania, music call; and strike more dead Than common sleep, of all these five the sense. Tita. Music, ho! music; such as charmeth sleep. Puck. Now, when thou wak'st, with thine own fool's eyes peep. Obe. Sound, music. [Still music.] Come, my queen, take hands with me, And rock the ground whereon these sleepers be. There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and train. Hip. I was with Hercules and Cadmus once, The. My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, I wonder of their being here together. The. No doubt they rose up early, to observe The rite of May; and, hearing our intent, Came here in grace of our solemnity. But, speak, Egeus; is not this the day That Hermia should give answer of her choice? Ege. It is, my lord. [horns. The. Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their Horns, and shout within. Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena wake, and start up. The. Good morrow, friends. Saint Valentine is Begin these wood-birds but to couple now? [past; Lys. Pardon, my lord. The. [He and the rest kneel to Theseus. I know you two are rival enemies; Lys. My lord, I shall reply amazedly, I came with Hermia hither: our intent Was to be gone from Athens, where we might be Without the peril of the Athenian law. Ege. Enough, enough, my lord; you have enough: I beg the law, the law, upon his head. Dem. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth, Of this their purpose hither, to this wood; |