ACT V. SCENE I.-Athens. An Apartment in the Palace of Theseus. Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, Lords, and Attendants. Hippolyta. IS strange, my Theseus, that these lovers The. More strange than true. These antique fables, nor these fairy toys. I never Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, One sees more devils than vast hell can hold- Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven, And, as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Such tricks hath strong imagination; Hip. But all the story of the night told over, And all their minds transfigured so together, Enter LYSANDEr, Demetrius, HERMIA, and Helena. The. Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth. Joy, gentle friends! joy, and fresh days of love, Accompany your hearts! Lys. More than to us To wear away this long age of three hours, Philost. Here, mighty Theseus. The. Say, what abridgment have you for this evening? What mask, what music? How shall we beguile The lazy time, if not with some delight? Philost. There is a brief, how many sports are rife; Make choice of which your highness will see first. [Giving a paper. Lys. [reads.] The battle with the Centaurs, to be sung By an Athenian eunuch to the harp. The. We'll none of that: that have I told my love, In glory of my kinsman Hercules. Lys. The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals, Tearing the Thracian singer in their rage. The. That is an old device, and it was play'd When I from Thebes came last a conqueror. Lys. The thrice three Muses mourning for the death Of learning, late deceased in beggary. The. That is some satire, keen, and critical, Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony. Lys. A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus, And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth. The. Merry and tragical? Tedious and brief? That is, hot ice, and wondrous scorching snow. How shall we find the concord of this discord? Philost. A play there is, my lord, some ten words long; Which is as brief as I have known a play; Philost. Hard-handed men, that work in Which never labour'd in their minds till now; And now have toil'd their unbreathed memories With this same play, against your nuptial. The. And we will hear it. Philost. No, my noble lord, It is not for you: I have heard it over, And it is nothing, nothing in the world, (Unless you can find sport in their intents,) Extremely stretch'd and conn'd with cruel pain, To do you service. The. I will hear that play; For never anything can be amiss When simpleness and duty tender it. Go, bring them in: and take your places, ladies. [Exit PHILOSTRATE. Hip. I love not to see wretchedness o'ercharged, And duty in his service perishing. The. Why, gentle sweet, you shall see no such thing. Hip. He says, they can do nothing in this kind. The. The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing. Our sport shall be, to take what they mistake: Noble respect takes it in might, not merit. I read as much, as from the rattling tongue Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity, Enter PHILOSTRATE. Philost. So please your grace, the prologue is address'd. The. Let him approach. [Flourish of trumpets. Enter Prologue. Prol. If we offend, it is with our good will. We do not come as minding to content you, We are not here. That you should here repent you, The actors are at hand; and, by their show, You shall know all that you are like to know. The. This fellow doth not stand upon points. Lys. He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt; he knows not the stop. A good moral, my lord: it is not enough to speak, but to speak true. Hip. Indeed he hath played on his prologue like a child on a recorder; a sound, but not in government. The. His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered. Who is next? Enter PYRAMUS and THISBE, WALL, MOONSHINE, and LION, as in dumb show. Prol. Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show; This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth present |