Methought I was enamour'd of an ass.

OBERON. There lies your love.
TITANIA. How came these things to pass?

O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now!
OBERON. Silence awhile. Robin, take off this head.

Titania, music call; and strike more dead
Than common sleep of all these five the sense.

TITANIA. Music, ho, music, such as charmeth sleep!
PUCK. Now when thou wak'st with thine own fool's eyes peep.

OBERON. Sound, music. Come, my Queen, take hands with me,
[Music]

And rock the ground whereon these sleepers be.
Now thou and I are new in amity,

And will to-morrow midnight solemnly
Dance in Duke Theseus' house triumphantly,

And bless it to all fair prosperity.
There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be

Wedded, with Theseus, an in jollity.
PUCK. Fairy King, attend and mark;

I do hear the morning lark.
OBERON. Then, my Queen, in silence sad,

Trip we after night's shade.
We the globe can compass soon,

Swifter than the wand'ring moon.
TITANIA. Come, my lord; and in our flight,

Tell me how it came this night
That I sleeping here was found

With these mortals on the ground. Exeunt
To the winding of horns, enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA,

EGEUS, and train
THESEUS. Go, one of you, find out the forester;

For now our observation is perform'd,
And since we have the vaward of the day,

My love shall hear the music of my hounds.
Uncouple in the westernvalley; let them go.

Dispatch, I say, and find the forester. Exit an ATTENDANT
We will, fair Queen, up to the mountain's top,

And mark the musical confusion
Of hounds and echo in conjunction.

HIPPOLYTA. I was with Hercules and Cadmus once
When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear

With hounds of Sparta; never did I hear
Such gallant chiding, for, besides the groves,

The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seem'd all one mutual cry. I never heard

So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.
THESEUS. My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,

So flew'd, so sanded; and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew;

Crook-knee'd and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls;
Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells,

Each under each. A cry more tuneable
Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn,

In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly.
Judge when you hear. But, soft, what nymphs are these?

EGEUS. My lord, this is my daughter here asleep,
And this Lysander, this Demetrius is,

This Helena, old Nedar's Helena.
I wonder of their being here together.

THESEUS. 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?
EGEUS. It is, my lord.

THESEUS. Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their horns.
[Horns and shout within. The sleepers

awake and kneel to THESEUS]
Good-morrow, friends. Saint Valentine is past;

Begin these wood-birds but to couple now?
LYSANDER. Pardon, my lord.

THESEUS. I pray you all, stand up.
I know you two are rival enemies;

How comes this gentle concord in the world
That hatred is so far from jealousy

To sleep by hate, and fear no enmity?
LYSANDER. My lord, I shall reply amazedly,

Half sleep, half waking; but as yet, I swear,
I cannot truly say how I came here,

But, as I think- for truly would I speak,
And now I do bethink me, so it is-

I came with Hermia hither. Our intent
Was to be gone from Athens, where we might,

Without the peril of the Athenian law-
EGEUS. Enough, enough, my Lord; you have enough;

I beg the law, the law upon his head.
They would have stol'n away, they would, Demetrius,

Thereby to have defeated you and me:
You of your wife, and me of my consent,

Of my consent that she should be your wife.
DEMETRIUS. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth,

Of this their purpose hither to this wood;
And I in fury hither followed them,

Fair Helena in fancy following me.
But, my good lord, I wot not by what power-

But by some power it is- my love to Hermia,
Melted as the snow, seems to me now

As the remembrance of an idle gaud
Which in my childhood I did dote upon;

And all the faith, the virtue of my heart,
The object and the pleasure of mine eye,

Is only Helena. To her, my lord,
Was I betroth'd ere I saw Hermia.

But, like a sickness, did I loathe this food;
But, as in health, come to my natural taste,

Now I do wish it, love it, long for it,
And will for evermore be true to it.

THESEUS. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met;
Of this discourse we more will hear anon.

Egeus, I will overbear your will;
For in the temple, by and by, with us

These couples shall eternally be knit.
And, for the morning now is something worn,

Our purpos'd hunting shall be set aside.
Away with us to Athens, three and three;

We'll hold a feast in great solemnity.
Come, Hippolyta.

Exeunt THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, EGEUS, and train
DEMETRIUS. These things seem small and undistinguishable,

Like far-off mountains turned into clouds.
HERMIA. Methinks I see these things with parted eye,

When every thing seems double.
HELENA. So methinks;

And I have found Demetrius like a jewel,
Mine own, and not mine own.

DEMETRIUS. Are you sure
That we are awake? It seems to me

That yet we sleep, we dream. Do not you think
The Duke was here, and bid us follow him?

HERMIA. Yea, and my father.
HELENA. And Hippolyta.

LYSANDER. And he did bid us follow to the temple.
DEMETRIUS. Why, then, we are awake; let's follow him;

And by the way let us recount our dreams. Exeunt
BOTTOM. [Awaking] When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer. My

next is 'Most fair Pyramus.' Heigh-ho! Peter Quince! Flute, the
bellows-mender! Snout, the tinker! Starveling! God's my life,

stol'n hence, and left me asleep! I have had a most rare vision.
I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was.

Man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream. Methought
I was- there is no man can tell what. Methought I was, and

methinks的过去式">methought I had, but man is but a patch'd fool, if he will offer
to say what methinks的过去式">methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the

ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his
tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. I

will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It shall
be call'd 'Bottom's Dream,' because it hath no bottom; and I will

sing it in the latter end of a play, before the Duke.
Peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at

her death. Exit
SCENE II.

Athens. QUINCE'S house
Enter QUINCE, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING

QUINCE. Have you sent to Bottom's house? Is he come home yet?
STARVELING. He cannot be heard of. Out of doubt he is transported.

FLUTE. If he come not, then the play is marr'd; it goes not
forward, doth it?

QUINCE. It is not possible. You have not a man in all Athens able
to discharge Pyramus but he.

FLUTE. No; he hath simply the best wit of any handicraft man in
Athens.

QUINCE. Yea, and the best person too; and he is a very paramour for
a sweet voice.

FLUTE. You must say 'paragon.' A paramour is- God bless us!- A
thing of naught.

Enter SNUG
SNUG. Masters, the Duke is coming from the temple; and there is two

or three lords and ladies more married. If our sport had gone
forward, we had all been made men.

FLUTE. O sweet bully Bottom! Thus hath he lost sixpence a day
during his life; he could not have scaped sixpence a day. An the

Duke had not given him sixpence a day for playing Pyramus, I'll
be hanged. He would have deserved it: sixpence a day in Pyramus,

or nothing.
Enter BOTTOM

BOTTOM. Where are these lads? Where are these hearts?
QUINCE. Bottom! O most courageous day! O most happy hour!

BOTTOM. Masters, I am to discourse wonders; but ask me not what;
for if I tell you, I am not true Athenian. I will tell you

everything, right as it fell out.
QUINCE. Let us hear, sweet Bottom.

BOTTOM. Not a word of me. All that I will tell you is, that the
Duke hath dined. Get your apparel together; good strings to your

beards, new ribbons to your pumps; meet presently at the palace;
every man look o'er his part; for the short and the long is, our

play is preferr'd. In any case, let Thisby have clean linen; and
let not him that plays the lion pare his nails, for they shall

hang out for the lion's claws. And, most dear actors, eat no
onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath; and I do not

doubt but to hear them say it is a sweet comedy. No more words.
Away, go, away! Exeunt

ACT V. SCENE I.
Athens. The palace of THESEUS

Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, LORDS,
and ATTENDANTS

HIPPOLYTA. 'Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.
THESEUS. More strange than true. I never may believe

These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.

• awhile [ə´wail] ad.少顷；片刻 (初中英语单词)
• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)
• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)
• compass [´kʌmpəs] n.指南针；圆规 (初中英语单词)
• sleeping [´sli:piŋ] n.&a.睡着(的) (初中英语单词)
• observation [,ɔbzə´veiʃən] n.观测；注意；意义 (初中英语单词)
• western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
• valley [´væli] n.谷；河谷；流域 (初中英语单词)
• musical [´mju:zikəl] a.音乐的；悦耳的 (初中英语单词)
• gallant [´gælənt, gə´lænt] a.英勇的；华丽的 (初中英语单词)
• pursuit [pə´sju:t] n.追踪；追击；事务 (初中英语单词)
• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)
• hatred [´heitrid] n.憎恨，敌意 (初中英语单词)
• hither [´hiðə] ad.到此处 (初中英语单词)
• childhood [´tʃaildhud] n.幼年(时代)；早期 (初中英语单词)
• virtue [´və:tʃu:] n.美德；贞操；长处 (初中英语单词)
• sickness [´siknis] n.生病；呕吐，恶心 (初中英语单词)
• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)
• conceive [kən´si:v] v.设想；表达；怀孕 (初中英语单词)
• gracious [´greiʃəs] a.和蔼可亲的；任慈的 (初中英语单词)
• discharge [dis´tʃɑ:dʒ] vt.&n.卸货；释放；解雇 (初中英语单词)
• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
• hercules [´hə:kjuli:z] n.大力神 (高中英语单词)
• mutual [´mju:tʃuəl] a.相互的；共同的 (高中英语单词)
• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)
• concord [´kɔŋkɔ:d] n.协定；一致 (高中英语单词)
• athens [´æθinz] n.雅典 (高中英语单词)
• remembrance [ri´membrəns] n.记忆(力)；回忆 (高中英语单词)
• fortunately [´fɔ:tʃənətli] ad.幸运地 (高中英语单词)
• discourse [´diskɔ:s] n.论文；演说；说教 (高中英语单词)
• methinks [mi´θiŋks] vi.据我看来 (高中英语单词)
• ballad [´bæləd] n.民歌，民谣 (高中英语单词)
• apparel [ə´pærəl] n.衣服 vt.给...修饰 (高中英语单词)
• comedy [´kɔmidi] n.喜剧；喜剧场面 (高中英语单词)
• loathe [ləuð] vt.厌恶，嫌恶 (英语四级单词)
• valentine [´væləntain] n.情人 (英语四级单词)
• evermore [,evə´mɔ:] ad.永远，始终 (英语四级单词)
• far-off [´fɑ:rɔ:f] a.远方的，遥远的 (英语四级单词)
• recount [ri´kaunt] vt.描述；列举 n.重计 (英语四级单词)
• sixpence [´sikspəns] n.六便士(硬币) (英语四级单词)
• courageous [kə´reidʒəs] a.勇敢的；无畏的 (英语四级单词)
• antique [æn´ti:k] a.古代的 n.古物(董) (英语四级单词)
• methought [mi´θɔ:t] methinks的过去式 (英语六级单词)
• visage [´vizidʒ] n.面容，面貌 (英语六级单词)
• whereon [weər´ɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语六级单词)
• forester [´fɔristə] n.护林人，林务员 (英语六级单词)
• discord [´diskɔ:d] n.不一致；不和谐 (英语六级单词)
• bethink [bi´θiŋk] vt.想起；思考 (英语六级单词)
• athenian [ə´θi:njən] a.雅典(人)的n.雅典人 (英语六级单词)
• eternally [i:´tə:nli] ad.永久地；不朽地 (英语六级单词)
• hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)
• garlic [´gɑ:lik] n.蒜，大蒜 (英语六级单词)