The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (514 page)

PUCK

I'll put a girdle round about the earth

I can circle the earth

In forty minutes.

In forty minutes.

Exit

OBERON

Having once this juice,

Once I have this flower and its potion,

I'll watch Titania when she is asleep,

I will go to Titania when she is asleep

And drop the liquor of it in her eyes.

And place a drop of it in her eyes.

The next thing then she waking looks upon,

When she wakes, the next thing she sees,

Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,

Whether it is a lion, bear, wolf, bull

On meddling monkey, or on busy ape,

A bothersome monkey, or an ape,

She shall pursue it with the soul of love:

She will fall in love with it and pursue it.

And ere I take this charm from off her sight,

Then, before I remove this potion –

As I can take it with another herb,

Since I can do that with another flower –

I'll make her render up her page to me.

I will force her to give me the orphan boy.

But who comes here? I am invisible;

Who is coming now? Since I am invisible

And I will overhear their conference.

I will overhear their conversation.

Enter DEMETRIUS, HELENA, following him

DEMETRIUS

I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.

I don’t love you, now stop following me.

Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?

Where are Lysander and beautiful Hermia?

The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.

I will kill Lysander, while Hermia has me head over heels for her.

Thou told'st me they were stolen unto this wood;

You told me they had snuck off into this forest,

And here am I, and wode within this wood,

And here I am, going crazy in a forest,

Because I cannot meet my Hermia.

All because I can’t meet Hermia.

Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.

Now go away and stop following me.

HELENA

You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant;

You attract me like a cruel magnet,

But yet you draw not iron, for my heart

One that must not attract iron because my heart

Is true as steel: leave you your power to draw,

Is pure, like steel. Stop pulling me to you

And I shall have no power to follow you.

And I will not be forced to follow you.

DEMETRIUS

Do I entice you? do I speak you fair?

Do I flirt with you? Do I speak kindly to you?

Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth

Or instead, am I honest with you

Tell you, I do not, nor I cannot love you?

By saying that I do not and cannot love you?

HELENA

And even for that do I love you the more.

Even that makes me love you more.

I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,

I am your pet dog, Demetrius:

The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:

Though you beat me, I still come to you.

Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me,

Use me like a dog, turn me away, hit me,

Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,

Ignore me – just allow me,

Unworthy as I am, to follow you.

Though I am unworthy, to follow you.

What worser place can I beg in your love,--

Is there any lower place in your life – 

And yet a place of high respect with me,--

And yet I would be honored to be treated this way –

Than to be used as you use your dog?

Than to be used, to be your dog?

DEMETRIUS

Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit;

Don’t tempt me to be even more hateful to you.

For I am sick when I do look on thee.

I feel sick when I look at you.

HELENA

And I am sick when I look not on you.

And I feel sick when I do not look at you.

DEMETRIUS

You do impeach your modesty too much,

You are risking your reputation of modesy

To leave the city and commit yourself

By leaving the city and trusting

Into the hands of one that loves you not;

Someone who does not love you

To trust the opportunity of night

And to leave yourself vulnerable at night

And the ill counsel of a desert place

In the secrecy of a deserted place, far from town,

With the rich worth of your virginity.

When your valuable virginity could be taken away.

HELENA

Your virtue is my privilege: for that

I know you are virtuous, and that protects me.

It is not night when I do see your face,

Anyway, your face is so bright when I look at it

Therefore I think I am not in the night;

That I do not think it is night time.

Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company,

This forest, too, is not deserted

For you in my respect are all the world:

Because having you nearby is the same as having the whole world.

Then how can it be said I am alone,

So how can you say I am alone

When all the world is here to look on me?

When the whole world is here with me?

DEMETRIUS

I'll run from thee and hide me in the brakes,

I’ll run away and hide in the brush,

And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.

Leaving you to the wild animals.

HELENA

The wildest hath not such a heart as you.

The wildest one is not as mean as you.

Run when you will, the story shall be changed:

Run away then, the classic myth will be reversed:

Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase;

Apollo will fly instead, and Daphne will chase him,

The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind

The dove will chase the griffin, the deer

Makes speed to catch the tiger; bootless speed,

Will run fast after the tiger, with unmatched speed

When cowardice pursues and valour flies.

What is cowardly will chase what is brave, which runs away.

DEMETRIUS

I will not stay thy questions; let me go:

I will not listen to your questions, let me leave –

Or, if thou follow me, do not believe

Or, if you follow me, know

But I shall do thee mischief in the wood.

That I will do evil things to you in the forest.

HELENA

Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,

Already in the temple and in the town and in the field

You do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius!

You do evil things to me! Bad Demetrius!

Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex:

Your evil treatment insults women

We cannot fight for love, as men may do;

Who cannot fight for love like men do,

We should be wood and were not made to woo.

Instead we should be the ones courted, not the courters.

Exit DEMETRIUS

I'll follow thee and make a heaven of hell,

I’ll follow you and the evil you give will be heaven and joy to me,

To die upon the hand I love so well.

Even joy to be killed by someone I love so much.

Exit

OBERON

Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave this grove,

Good luck, young girl. Before Demetrius leaves the forest,

Thou shalt fly him and he shall seek thy love.

You will be running from him, and he will be chasing you.

Re-enter PUCK

Hast thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.

Do you have the flower? Hello, wandering Puck.

PUCK

Ay, there it is.

Yes, here it is.

OBERON

I pray thee, give it me.

Please, give it to me.

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,

There is a bank I know where wild thyme

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,

And oxlip and violet flowers grow,

Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,

Shaded by overgrowths of honeysuckle

With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:

And musk-roses and sweet briars:

There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,

Sometimes Titania sleeps there at night

Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;

Attracted to the flowers after her dancing and frolicking.

And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,

There, the snake covers her in a blanket of its shed skin

Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:

And the fairies wrap themselves in the wide weeds,

And with the juice of this I'll streak her eyes,

It is there that I will place this potion on her eyes

And make her full of hateful fantasies.

And make her fall madly in love.

Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:

Now you take some of it as well, and look for

A sweet Athenian lady is in love

A sweet Athenian lady who is in love

With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;

With a young man who does not love her. Put this on his eyes,

But do it when the next thing he espies

But do it so that the next thing he sees

May be the lady: thou shalt know the man

Is the woman. You will know the man

By the Athenian garments he hath on.

By his Athenian clothing.

Effect it with some care, that he may prove

Make sure you apply the potion so that he

More fond on her than she upon her love:

Will love her more than she loves him,

And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.

And then meet me before the first crowing of the rooster.

PUCK

Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so.

Don’t worry, my king, I will do everything you ask.

Exeunt

Another part of the wood.

Enter TITANIA, with her train

TITANIA

Come, now a roundel and a fairy song;

Come and we will dance and sing,

Then, for the third part of a minute, hence;