The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (524 page)

Can return to Athens again

And think no more of this night's accidents

And think nothing of the night’s adventures,

But as the fierce vexation of a dream.

Regarding them only as a dream.

But first I will release the fairy queen.

First, I will cure Queen Titania.

Be as thou wast wont to be;

Be as you were

See as thou wast wont to see:

And see how you used to see:

Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flower

This flower of Diana’s, the goddess of Virginity, against the flower struck by Cupid’s arrow,

Hath such force and blessed power.

Has the blessed power to turn you to normal.

Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen.

Now, Titania, wake up, my queen.

TITANIA

My Oberon! what visions have I seen!

Oberon! What dreams I have had!

Methought I was enamour'd of an ass.

I thought I was in love with a donkey.

OBERON

There lies your love.

Right there is who you loved.

TITANIA

How came these things to pass?

How did these things happen?

O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now!

Oh, I can’t stand the sight of him now.

OBERON

Silence awhile. Robin, take off this head.

Be quiet for a moment. Robin, remove the false head.

Titania, music call; and strike more dead

Titania, call for music, the kind that will make these people

Than common sleep of all these five the sense.

Sleep more soundly than the dead.

TITANIA

Music, ho! music, such as charmeth sleep!

Play music, fairies! The kind that creates sleep!

Music, still

PUCK

Now, when thou wakest, with thine

Now when you wake, you

own fool's eyes peep.

will look out with your human, but still foolish, eyes.

OBERON

Sound, music! Come, my queen, take hands with me,

Play, music! Come with me, my queen, hold my hand

And rock the ground whereon these sleepers be.

And dance with me to keep the sleepers alseep.

Now thou and I are new in amity,

We are friendly again

And will to-morrow midnight solemnly

And tomorrow at midnight

Dance in Duke Theseus' house triumphantly,

We will dance in Duke Theseus’ house in celebration,

And bless it to all fair prosperity:

Blessing it for success.

There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be

And there, these pairs of faithful lovers

Wedded, with Theseus, all in jollity.

Will be married as well, along with Theseus, in happiness.

PUCK

Fairy king, attend, and mark:

King Oberon, listen – 

I do hear the morning lark.

I do hear the morning bird.

OBERON

Then, my queen, in silence sad,

In that case, my queen, let us silently

Trip we after the night's shade:

Leave to wherever it is still night.

We the globe can compass soon,

We can go around the world

Swifter than the wandering moon.

Quicker than the moon does.

TITANIA

Come, my lord, and in our flight
Come, my king, and while we travel

Tell me how it came this night

Tell me what happened this night,

That I sleeping here was found

How I was sleeping here

With these mortals on the ground.

With these humans on the ground next to me.

Exeunt

Horns winded within

Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, EGEUS, and train

THESEUS

Go, one of you, find out the forester;

One of you, go and find the forest manager.

For now our observation is perform'd;

Since we have finished our May Day rites

And since we have the vaward of the day,

And now have the beginning of the day in front of us,

My love shall hear the music of my hounds.

My love will hear the sound of hunting horns for my dogs.

Uncouple in the western valley; let them go:

Untie them in the valley and let them go.

Dispatch, I say, and find the forester.

I said leave and find the forest manager.

Exit an Attendant

We will, fair queen, up to the mountain's top,

We will go, beautiful queen, up to the mountain peak

And mark the musical confusion

And listen to the confusing sounds

Of hounds and echo in conjunction.

Of dogs barking and their barks echoing back.

HIPPOLYTA

I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,

I was with Hercules and Cadmus once

When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear

In a forest in Crete and their Spartan dogs

With hounds of Sparta: never did I hear

Surrounded a bear: I never heard

Such gallant chiding: for, besides the groves,

Such impressive barking. Besides the forest,

The skies, the fountains, every region near

The skies and fountains, and everywhere around us

Seem'd all one mutual cry: I never heard

Seemed to echo the barking in unison. I never heard

So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.

Such beautiful noise, such sweet thunder.

THESEUS

My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,

My hounds are bred from Spartan ones,

So flew'd, so sanded, and their heads are hung

With the same hanging lips and sandy colored coat, and their heads similarly hang

With ears that sweep away the morning dew;

With their ears low along the morning dew.

Crook-knee'd, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls;

They similarly have crooked knees, and neck folds like bulls from Thessaly.

Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells,

They are slower in the chase, but they have the same bark, like bells

Each under each. A cry more tuneable

In their mouths. There was never a better sounding cry

Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn,

Cheered on with a hunting horn heard

In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly:

In Crete, Sparte, or Thessaly:

Judge when you hear. But, soft! what nymphs are these?

You can judge so when you hear them. But wait, who are these people?

EGEUS

My lord, this is my daughter here asleep;

My lord, this is my daughter Hermia, fast asleep,

And this, Lysander; this Demetrius is;

And this is Lysander, and this is Demetrius,

This Helena, old Nedar's Helena:

And this is Helena, Nedar’s daughter.

I wonder of their being here together.

I wonder why they are all here together.

THESEUS

No doubt they rose up early to observe

They must have woken early in order to keep

The rite of May, and hearing our intent,

The rites of May Day, and, knowing my plans to celebrate it as well,

Came here in grace our solemnity.

Came here to join us.

But speak, Egeus; is not this the day

But Egeus: isn’t today the day

That Hermia should give answer of her choice?

When Hermia must tell us how she answers?

EGEUS

It is, my lord.

Yes, it is, my lord.

THESEUS

Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their horns.

Go, and tell the huntsmen to blow their horns to wake them.

Horns and shout within. LYSANDER, DEMETRIUS, HELENA, and HERMIA wake and start up

Good morrow, friends. Saint Valentine is past:

Good morning, friends. Valentine’s day is past:

Begin these wood-birds but to couple now?

Shouldn’t you lovebirds have paired up back then?

LYSANDER

Pardon, my lord.

Forgive us, my lord.

THESEUS

I pray you all, stand up.

Please, all of you stand up.

I know you two are rival enemies:

I know you two, Lysander and Demetrius, are rivals,

How comes this gentle concord in the world,

So how is there this peace in the world

That hatred is so far from jealousy,

And how in your jealousy did you not hate each other,

To sleep by hate, and fear no enmity?

To the point where you could sleep next to each other and not be afraid of wrongdoing?

LYSANDER

My lord, I shall reply amazedly,

My lord, I am rather confused, but I will reply

Half sleep, half waking: but as yet, I swear,

In my half-sleep, half-woken state. So far, I promise,

I cannot truly say how I came here;

I don’t really know how I came here.

But, as I think,--for truly would I speak,

But I think, -- well I want to tell you the truth

And now do I bethink me, so it is,--

And now that I think about it, I think this is true --

I came with Hermia hither: our intent

I came here with Hermia, in order to

Was to be gone from Athens, where we might,

Run away from Athens, to wherever we could,

Without the peril of the Athenian law.

So that we would not have to face the dangers of the Athenian law.

EGEUS

Enough, enough, my lord; you have enough:

My lord, you’ve heard enough already:

I beg the law, the law, upon his head.

Now I beg you to enforce the law and punish him.

They would have stolen away; they would, Demetrius,

They would have run away, they would have, Demetrius,

Thereby to have defeated you and me,

And thus would have defeated both of us,

You of your wife and me of my consent,

Stealing your wife, and my consent,

Of my consent that she should be your wife.

My consent that Hermia should be your wife.

DEMETRIUS

My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth,

My lord, Helena told me of their plans

Of this their purpose hither to this wood;

And their purpose for coming to the forest,

And I in fury hither follow'd them,

And I furiously followed them,

Fair Helena in fancy following me.

Beautiful Helena, out of love for me, following me.

But, my good lord, I wot not by what power,--

But, my lord, I do not know what power changed me --

But by some power it is,--my love to Hermia,

Though it is certainly a strong power -- but this power changed my love for Hermia,

Melted as the snow, seems to me now

And melted it away, like snow, so that now

As the remembrance of an idle gaud

I remember it as a worthless trinket

Which in my childhood I did dote upon;

That I loved when I was still a child.

And all the faith, the virtue of my heart,