Hel. And even for that do I love you the more. I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am, to follow you. What worser place can I beg in your love, (And yet a place of high respect with me,) Than to be used as you use your dog? More fond on her, than she upon her love; SCENE III. Another part of the Wood. Enter TITANIA, with her train. Tita. Come, now a roundel 3, and a fairy song; Then, for the third part of a minute, hence; Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my Some, to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds ; spirit; For I am sick, when I do look on thee. Hel. And I am sick, when I look not on you. Dem. You do impeach your modesty too much, To leave the city, and commit yourself Into the hands of one that loves you not. Hel. Your virtue is my privilege for that. It is not night, when I do see your face, Therefore I think I am not in the night: Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company; For you, in my respect, are all the world: Then how can it be said, I am alone, When all the world is here to look on me? Dem. I'll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts. Hel. The wildest hath not such a heart as you. Run when you will, the story shall be chang'd; Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase; The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind Makes speed to catch the tiger: Bootless speed! When cowardice pursues, and valour flies. Dem. I will not stay thy questions: let me go: Or, if thou follow me, do not believe But I shall do thee mischief in the wood. Hel. Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field, We should be woo'd, and were not made to woo. [Exeunt DEM. and HEL. Obe. Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer. And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes, Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove A sweet Athenian lady is in love With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes; Some, war with rear-mice 4 for their leathern wings, Obe. What thou seest, when thou dost wake, [Squeezes the flower on TITANIA's eye-lids. Do it for thy true love take; Love, and languish for his sake: Be it ounce, or cat, or bear, Pard, or boar with bristled hair, In thy eye that shall appear When thou wak'st, it is thy dear; Wake, when some vile thing is near. Enter LYSANDER and HERMIA. [Erit. Lys. Fair love, you faint with wandering in the wood; And to speak troth, I have forgot our way; Thy love ne'er alter, till thy sweet life end! Lys. Amen, amen, to that fair prayer, say I; And then end life, when I end loyalty! Here is my bed: sleep give thee all his rest! Her. With half that wish the wisher's eyes be press'd! [They sleep. Enter PUCK. Puck. Through the forest have I gone, All the power this charm doth owe9: [Exit. Dem. Stay, on thy peril; I alone will go. [Erit DEMETRIUS. Hel. O, I am out of breath in this fond chase! The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace. Happy is Hermia, whereso'er she lies; For she hath blessed and attractive eyes. Hel. Do not say so, Lysander: say not so: What though he love your Hermia? O, what though? Yet Hermia still loves you: then be content. Lys. Content with Hermia? No: I do repent The tedious minutes I with her have spent. Not Hermia, but Helena I love: Who will not change a raven for a dove? The will of man is by his reason sway'd; And reason says you are the worthier maid. Things growing are not ripe until their season: So I, being young, till now ripe not to reason; And touching now the point of human skill, Reason becomes the marshal to my will, And leads me to your eyes; where I o'erlook Love's stories written in love's richest book. Hel. Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born? When, at your hands, did I deserve this scorn? Is't not enough, is't not enough, young man That I did never, no, nor never can, Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius' eye, But you must flout my insufficiency? Good troth, you do me wrong, good sooth, you do, In such disdainful manner me to woo. But fare you well: perforce I must confess, I thought you lord of more true gentleness. O, that a lady, of one man refus'd, Should, of another, therefore be abus'd! [Erit. Lys. She sees not Hermia: -Hermia, sleep thou there; And never may'st thou come Lysander near! How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt Are hated most of those they did deceive; tears: If so, my eyes are oftener wash'd than hers. No, no, I am as ugly as a bear; For beasts that meet me, run away for fear: Lys. And run through fire I will, for thy sweet sake. [Waking. Transparent Helena! Nature here shows art, That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart. Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word Is that vile name to perish on my sword! So thou, my surfeit, and my heresy, [Erit. To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast! lying asleep. Quin. What say'st thou, bully Bottom? Bot. There are things in this comedy of Pyramus Enter QUINCE, SNUG, BOTTOM, FLUTE, SNOUT, and and Thisby, that will never please. First, Pyramus STARVELING. must draw a sword to kill himself; which the ladies cannot abide. How answer you that? Snout. By'rlakin3, a parlous fear. Star. I believe, we must leave the killing out, when all is done. Bot. Not a whit; I have a device to make all well. Write me a prologue: and let the prologue seem to say, we will do no harm with our swords; and that Pyramus is not killed indeed: and for the more better assurance, tell them, that I Pyramus am not Pyramus, but Bottom the weaver: This will put them out of fear. Quin. Well, we will have such a prologue; and it shall be written in eight and six. — Bot. No, make it two more; let it be written in eight and eight. So doth thy breath, my dearest Thisby dear. [Exit. This. Must I speak now? Quin. Ay, marry, must you: for you must underSnout. Will not the ladies be afeard of the lion? stand, he goes but to see a noise that he heard, and Star. I fear it, I promise you. Bot. Masters, you ought to consider with yourselves to bring in a lion among ladies, is a most dreadful thing; for there is not a more fearful wildfowl than your lion, living; and we ought to look to it. Snout. Therefore, another prologue must tell, he is not a lion. Bot. Nay, you must name his name, and half his face must be seen through the lion's neck; and he himself must speak through, saying thus, or to the same defect, - Ladies, or fair ladies, I would wish you, or, I would request you, or, I would entreat you, not to fear, not to tremble: my life for yours. If you think I come hither as a lion, it were pity of my life: No, I am no such thing; I am a man as other men are:- and there, indeed, let him name his name; and tell them plainly, he is Snug the joiner. Quin. Well, it shall be so. But there is two hard things; that is, to bring the moon-light into a chamber: for you know, Pyramus and Thisby meet by moon-light. Snug. Doth the moon shine, that night we play our play? Bot. A calendar, a calendar! look in the almanack; find out moon-shine, find out moon-shine. Quin. Yes, it doth shine that night. Bot. Why, then you may leave a casement of the great chamber window, where we play, open; and the moon may shine in at the casement. Quin. Ay; or else one must come in with a bush of thorns and a lanthorn, and say, he comes to disfigure, or to present, the person of moon-shine. Then, there is another thing: we must have a wall in the great chamber; for Pyramus and Thisby, says the story, did talk through the chinks of a wall. Snug. You never can bring in a wall. say you, Bottom? What Bot. Some man or other must present wall: and let him have some plaster, or some lome, or some rough-cast about him, to signify wall; or let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whisper. Quin. If that may be, then all is well. Come, sit down, every mother's son, and rehearse your parts. Pyramus, you begin: when you have spoken your speech, enter into that brake 4; and so every one according to his cue. is to come again. This. Most radiant Pyramus, most lily-white of hue, Quin. Ninus' tomb, man: Why you must not speak that yet; that you answer to Pyramus: you speak all your part at once, cues 6 and all. -- Pyramus, enter; your cue is past; it is, never tire. Re-enter Puck, and BOTTOM with an Ass's head. This. O, As true as truest horse, that yet would never tire. Pyr. If I were fair, Thisby, I were only thine : — Quin. O monstrous! O strange! we are haunted. Pray, masters! fly, masters! help! you [Exeunt Clowns. Puck. I'll follow I'll lead you, about a round, Through bog, through bush, through brake, through brier; Sometime a horse I'll be, sometime a hound, A hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire; And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn, [Exit. Bot. Why do they run away? this is a knavery of them, to make me afeard. Re-enter SNOUT. Snout. O Bottom, thou art changed! what do I see on thee? [Exit. Bot. What do you see? you see an ass's head of your own; Do you? Re-enter QUINCE. Quin. Bless thee, Bottom! bless thee! thou art translated. [Exit. Bot. I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me; to fright me, if they could. But I will not stir from this place, do what they can: I will walk up and down here, and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid. The ousel cock, so black of hue, [Sings. Tita. What angel wakes me from my flowery bed? [Waking. Bot. The finch, the sparrow, and the lark, The plain-song cuckoo grey, or, indeed, who would set his wit to so foolish a Tita. I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again: Mine ear is much enamour'd of thy note, So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape; Bot. Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for that: And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together now-a-days: The more the pity, that some honest neighbours will not make them friends. Nay, I can gleek 7 upon occasion. Tita. Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful. Bot. Not so, neither; but if I had wit enough to get out of this wood, I have enough to serve mine own turn. Tita. Out of this wood do not desire to go; Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no. I am a spirit of no common rate: The summer still doth tend upon my state, 1 Fai. Ready. 2 Fai. 3 Fai. 4 Fai. Enter four Fairies. And I. And I. Where shall we go? Tita. Be kind and courteous to this gentleman; Hop in his walks, and gambol in his eyes; Feed him with apricocks and dewberries, With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries; The honey bags steal from the humble-bees, And, for night-tapers, crop their waxen thighs, And light them at the fiery glow-worm's eyes, To have my love to bed, and to arise; And pluck the wings from painted butterflies, To fan the moon-beams from his sleeping eyes: Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies. 1 Fai. Hail, mortal! 2 Fai. Hail! 3 Fai. Hail! 4 Fai. Hail! Bot. I cry your worship's mercy, heartily. beseech, your worship's name? Cob. Cobweb. Then, what it was that next came in her eye, Obe. I wonder, if Titania be awak'd; Here comes my messenger. -How now, mad spirit? And, at our stamp, here o'er and o'er one falls; strong, Made senseless things begin to do them wrong: I led them on in this distracted fear, Obe. This falls out better than I could devise. Puck. I took him sleeping,—that is finish'd too, And the Athenian woman by his side; -I That, when he wak'd, of force she must be ey'd. Bot. I shall desire you of more acquaintance, good master Cobweb: If I cut my finger, I shall make bold with you. Your name, honest gentleman? Peas. Peas-blossom. Bot. I pray you, commend me to mistress Squash, your mother, and to master Peascod, your father. Good master Peas-blossom, I shall desire you of more acquaintance too. -Your name, I beseech you, sir, Mus. Mustard-seed. Bot. Good master Mustard-seed, I know your patience well that same cowardly, giant-like oxbeef hath devoured many a gentleman of your house: I promise you, your kindred hath made my eyes water ere now. I desire you more acquaintance, good master Mustard-seed. Tita. Come wait upon him; lead him to my bower. The moon, methinks, looks with a watery eye; And when she weeps, weeps every little flower, Lamenting some enforced chastity. Tie up my love's tongue, bring him silently. [Exeunt. 7 Joke. Enter DEMETRIUS and HERMIA. Obe. Stand close; this is the same Athenian. Puck. This is the woman, but not this the man. Dem. O, why rebuke you him that loves you so? Lay breath so bitter on your bitter foe. Her. Now I but chide, but I should use thee worse; The sun was not so true unto the day, Dem. Soshould the murder'd look; and so should I, Her. What's this to my Lysander? where is he? | Look, when I vow, I weep; and vows so born, Ah, good Demetrius, wilt thou give him me? Dem. I had rather give his carcase to my hounds. Her. Out, dog! out, cur! thou driv'st me past the bounds Of maiden's patience. Hast thou slain him then? I am not guilty of Lysander's blood; Her. I pray thee, tell me then, that he is well. See me no more, whether he be dead or no. [Erit. Some true-love turn'd, and not a false turn'd true. Puck. Then fate o'er-rules; that, one man holding troth, A million fail, confounding oath on oath. Obe. About the wood go swifter than the wind, Sink in apple of his eye! Re-enter PUCK. Puck. Captain of our fairy band, Helena is here at hand; And the youth, mistook by me, [Exit. Obe. Stand aside: the noise they make, Puck. Then will two at once, woo one; Enter LYSANDER and HELena. Lys. Why should you think, that I should woo in scorn? Scorn and derision never come in tears : 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 matchless 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. Hel. Nor none, in my mind, now you give her o'er. Lys. Demetrius loves her, and he loves not you. Dem. [awaking] O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine! To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne? Hel. O cruel spite! I see you all are bent To vow, and swear, and superpraise my parts, A poor soul's patience, all to make you sport. Hel. Never did mockers waste more idle breath. |