登陆注册
7167600000001

第1章 A MOST LAMENTABLE COMEDY

[Here is one of the funniest parts of Shakespeare"s comedy A Midsummer Night"s Dream. To celebrate the Duke"s wedding, some workmen of Athens decide to prepare a play. They choose a play about the tragic deaths of two lovers called Pyramus and Thisbe. But they act so badly that instead of feeling sad at the tragedy, the Duke and his court laugh at the actors. Bottom, who thinks himself a fine actor, roars his part, strides about, waves his arms, and tears his hair. Flute(Thisbe) speaks in a squeaky, high-pitched voice. Most of the others have stage-fright and are stiff and wooden.]

Characters.-Quince, a carpenter; Snug, a joiner; Bottom, a weaver; Flute, a bellows-mender; Snout, a tinker; Starveling, a tailor.

Scene 1.-The Cast.

Scene.-A room in Quince"s house.

Enter Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout, and Starveling. Quin.-Is all our company here ?

Bot.-You were best to call them generally, man by man, according to the scrip.

Quin.-Here is the scroll of every man"s name, which isthought fit, through all Athens, to play in our interlude before the duke and the duchess, on his wedding-day at night.

Bot.-First, good Peter Quince, say what the play treats on,then read the names of the actors, and so grow to a point.

Quin.-Marry, our play is-The most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby.

Bot.-A very good piece of work, I assure you, and a merry.

Now, good Peter Quince, call forth your actors by the scroll. Masters, spread yourselves.

Quin.-Answer as I call you. Nick Bottom, the weaver.

Bot.-Ready. Name what part I am for, and proceed. Quin.-You, Nick Bottom, are set down for Pyramus. Bot.-What is Pyramus ? a lover, or a tyrant ? Quin.-A lover, that kills himself most gallant for love.

Bot.-That will ask some tears in the true performing of it. IfI do it, let the audience look to their eyes; I will move storms, I will condole in some measure. To the rest; yet my chief humour is for a tyrant; I could play Ercles rarely, or a part to tear a cat in, to make all split.

The raging rocks And shivering shocks Shall break the locksOf prison gates; And Phibbus" car Shall shine from far And make and marThe foolish Fates.

This was lofty! Now name the rest of the players. This is Ercles" vein, a tyrant"s vein; a lover is more condoling.

Quin.-Francis Flute, the bellows-mender.

Flu.-Here, Peter Quince.

Quin.-Flute, you must take Thisby on you. Flu.-What is Thisby ? A wandering knight? Quin.-It is the lady that Pyramus must love.

Flu.-Nay, faith, let me not play a woman; I have a beard coming.

Quin.-That"s all one: you shall play it in a mask, and youmay speak as small as you will.

Bot.-An I may hide my face, let me play Thisby too.

I"ll speak in a monstrous little voice, "Thisne, Thisne; Ah, Pyramus, my lover dear! thy Thisby dear, and lady dear ! "Quin.-No, no; you must play Pyramus; and Flute, youThisby.

Bot.-Well, proceed.

Quin.-Robin Starveling, the tailor. Star.-Here, Peter Quince.

Quin.-Robin Starveling, you must play Thisby"s mother.

Tom Snout, the tinker.

Snout.-Here, Peter Quince.

Drawn by John Rowell

"Nay, faith, let me not play a woman. "

Quin.-You, Pyramus"s father : myself, Thisby"s father. Snug, the joiner; you, the lion"s part; and, I hope, here is a play fitted.

Snug.-Have you the lion"s part written ? Pray you, if it be,give it me, for I am slow of study.

Quin.-You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.

Bot.-Let me play the lion too. I will roar, that I will do anyman"s heart good to hear me; I will roar, that I will make the duke say, " Let him roar again, let him roar again. "Quin.-An you should do it too terribly, you would fright theduchess and the ladies, that they would shriek; and that were enough to hang us all.

All.-That would hang us, every mother"s son.

Bot.-I grant you, friends, if that you should fright the ladies out of their wits, they would have no more discretion but to hang us; but I will aggravate my voice so that I will roar you as gently as any sucking dove; I will roar you an "twere any nightingale.

Quin.-You can play no part but Pyramus; for Pyramus is asweet-faced man; a proper man, as one shall see in a summer"s day; a most lovely gentleman-like man; therefore you must needs play Pyramus.

Bot.-Well, I will undertake it.

Scene II.-The Rehearsal.

Scene-The Wood.

Enter Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout, and Starveling. Bot.-Are we all met ?

Quin.-Pat. pat; and here"s a marvellous convenient place forour rehearsal. This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn- brake our tiring-house; and we will do it in action as we will do it before the duke.

Snout.-Will not the ladies be afeard of the lion ?

Star.-I fear it, I promise you.

Bot.-Masters, you ought to consider with yourselves. To bring in, God shield us ! a lion among ladies is a most dreadful thing; for there is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your lion living; and we ought to look to"t.

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 moonlight into a chamber; for, you know,Pyramus and Thisby meet by moonlight.

Snout.-Doth the moon shine that night we play our play ?

Bot.-A calendar, a calendar! Look in the almanac; find out moonshine, find out moonshine.

Quin.-Yes, it doth shine that night.

Bet.-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.-Aye; or else one must come in with a bush of thornsand a lanthorn, and say he comes to disfigure, or to present, the person of Moonshine. 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 chink of a wall.

Snout.-You can never bring in a wall. What say you, Bottom ?

Bet.-Some man or other must present Wall: and let him have some plaster, or some loam, or some rough-cast about him, to signify wall; and let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whisper.

Quin.-If that may be, then all is well.

(The rehearsal proceeds.)

Scene Ⅲ.-The Performance. Scene.-Athens; the Palace of Theseus. Enter Wall.

Wall.-In this same interlude it doth befall

That I, one Snout by name, present a wall;

And such a wall, as I would have you think, That had in it a crannied hole or chink, Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby, Did whisper often very secretly.

This loam, this rough-cast, and this stone doth show That I am that same wall; the truth is so:

And this the cranny is, right and sinister, Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.

Enter Pyramus.

Pyr.-O grim-look"d night ! O night with hue so black !

O night, which ever art when day is not! O night, O night ! alack, alack, alack,I fear my Thisby"s promise is forgot! And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall,That stand"st between her father"s ground and mine! Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall,Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne! (Wall holds up his fingers.)Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this !

But what see I? No Thisby do I see.

O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss !

Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me !

Enter Thisbe.

This.-O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans, For parting my fair Pyramus and me!

My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones, Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.

Pyr.-I see a voice : now will I to the chink,To spy an I can hear my Thisby"s face. Thisby !

This.-My love! thou art my love, I think.

Pyr.- Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover"s grace; And, like Limander, am I trusty still.

This.-And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill.

Pyr.- Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.

This.-As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.

Pyr.- Oh, kiss me through the hole of this vile wall! This.-I kiss the wall"s hole, not your lips at all. Pyr.-Wilt thou at Ninny"s tomb meet me straightway? This.-"Tide life, "tide death, I come without delay.

Wall, Pyramus, and Thisbe go out. Enter Lion andMoonshine.

Lion.-You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fearThe smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor, May now, perchance, both quake and tremble here,When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar. Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, amA lion fell, nor else no li0n"s dam; For, if I should as lion come in strifeInto this place, "twere pity on my life.

Moon.-This lanthorn doth the hornèd moon present-This lanthorn doth the hornèd moon present-Myself the man i" the moon do seem to be-All I have to say is to tell you that the lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this thorn-bush, my thorn-bush; and this dog, my dog.

Enter Thisbe.

Drawn by John Rowell

"I see a voice. "

This.-This is old Ninny"s tomb. Where is my love ?

Lion (roaring).-Oh- (Thisbe runs off; the Lion tears Thisbe"s mantle, and exit.)Enter Pyramus.

Pyr.-Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams; I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright : For, by thy gracious, golden, glittering gleams, I trust to taste of truest Thisby"s sight.

But stay, O spite!

But mark, poor knight, What dreadful dole is here! Eyes, do you see?

How can it be?

O dainty duck! O dear!

Thy mantle good,

What! stained with blood? Approach, ye Furies fell!

O Fates, come, come, Cut thread and thrum;

Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!

O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame, Since lion vile hath here deflowered my dear? Which is-no, no-which was the fairest dameThat lived, that loved, that liked, that looked with cheer.

Come, tears, confound; Out, sword, and wound

The pap of Pyramus; Ay, that left pap,

Where heart doth hop: (Stabs himself.)

Thus die I, thus, thus, thus!

Now am I dead, Now am I fled;

My soul is in the sky.

Tongue, lose thy light!

Moon, take thy flight! (Exit Moonshine.)

Now, die, die, die, die, die!(Dies.)

This.- Asleep, my love?

What, dead, my dove?

Enter Thisbe.

O Pyramus, arise!

Speak, speak. Quite dumb? Dead, dead ? A tombMust cover thy sweet eyes.

These lily lips, This cherry nose,

These yellow cowslip cheeks, Are gone, are gone; Lovers, make moan!

His eyes were green as leeks.

O Sisters Three, Come, come to me,

With hands as pale as milk; Lay them in gore,Since you have shore

With shears his thread of silk.

Tongue, not a word; Come, trusty sword;

Come, blade, my breast imbrue.

And farewell, friends;. Thus Thisby ends;

Adieu, adieu, adieu.(Dies.)

Abridged and compiled from Shakespeare"s A Midsummer Night"s Dream.

Author.-William Shakespeabe (see " Cloud Pictures ").

General Notes.-Write a little note on the character of each person as revealed in the play. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe, of whichShake- spears makes a burlesque, is from Greek mythology. Pyramus, the lover of Thisbe, supposing his lady-love has been torn to pieces by a lion, stabs himself under s mulberry tree. Thisbe finds the dead body and kills herself on the same spot. Ever since then, the myth says, the juice of mulberries has been bloodstained. "Ercles " is a vulgarism for Hercules, the strong man, "Phibbus " for Ph?bus Apollo, the sun god. Mark in scene 3 what marvellously bad poetry Shakespeare could write when he tried. "Jove " swam the Hellespont. "Helen " was a blunder for Hero,beloved of Leander. "Shafalus " and " Procrus " are for Cephalos and Procris. Cephalos by accident shot his wife Procris in a forest, where she had in jealousy followed to watch him hunting.

同类推荐
  • 用英语介绍中国:这里是上海

    用英语介绍中国:这里是上海

    阅读可以提升人格情操,增长知识,提高语言文化的综合素质,其更本质、更核心的意义在于培养学习者的兴趣,而兴趣才是一切学习者的学习动力、成功源泉。本书为读者奉上原汁原味的人文阅读精华,详细介绍了人们最感兴趣的上海历史文化、城市风景、上海生活、名人逸事等,带您全方位地了解上海。读者在学习英语的同时,又能品味这座东方文化名城的独特魅力。
  • 被侮辱与被损害的人

    被侮辱与被损害的人

    陀思妥耶夫斯基是一位超越时空的作家,又是一位充满矛盾的作家。正如世界有多复杂,人有多复杂,陀思妥耶夫斯基本人也有多复杂一样。现在,俄罗斯和全世界已悄然兴起一门新的学问——陀思妥耶夫斯基学。陀思妥耶夫斯基本人是个谜,他的作品也是个谜。破译这个谜,是全世界陀思妥耶夫斯基学家研究的基本课题。专家们把陀思妥耶夫斯基的生平与创作,一般分为两个时期:西伯利亚之前和西伯利亚之后。本书《被侮辱与被损害的人》(一八六一)则处于这两个时期之间,带有明显的过渡性质:既保留了四十年代作品的思想、内容和风格,又承上启下,开创了作家后期以探索社会秘密、人心秘密为主的社会-心理-哲理小说的先河。
  • 在耶鲁听演讲

    在耶鲁听演讲

    耶鲁大学是美国历史上建立的第三所大学。迄今为止。耶鲁大学的毕业生中共有5位曾当选为美国总统。除了政界领袖,耶鲁大学也培养了众多在其他行业发光发热的名人,其中还包括奥斯卡影后梅丽尔·斯特里普。这个被莘莘学子所向往的教育殿堂也吸引了众多有声望的名人前去演讲,对这些社会未来的栋梁之才一吐肺腑之言。本书独家精选了18篇各界名流在耶鲁经典、励志的演讲。中英双语,让你体验双重震撼!
  • 幸福的伊甸园

    幸福的伊甸园

    亲爱的读者,现在呈现给您的这一篇篇璀璨夺目的美文都是经过精心挑选的,其中的每一篇都值得您反复阅读,甚至背诵。“双语美文悦读馆”里的美文以绚丽的文笔,引领您进入一个不同文化的人生世界,细细品味,不仅给您美的享受,更给您以人生的启迪。在清凉的午后,或者是温馨的夜晚,一边品尝杯中的香茗,一边欣赏书中的美文,心旷神怡、宁静淡远的感觉就会油然而生。感悟人生真谛,沐浴智慧光芒,在红尘中做一次出世旅行,于平淡中追寻隽永,于短暂中思考永恒。
热门推荐
  • 管理沟通实务

    管理沟通实务

    沟通是管理活动和管理行为中重要的组成部分,是企业和其他一切管理者最为重要的职责之一。也正因为如此,国内外许多企业都重视对管理者沟通技能的培养和训练,越来越多的高职高专院校也开始将它纳入管理类专业课程体系中。
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 掌穹天

    掌穹天

    傲天战地与万族相斗,宁死不屈谁能压服。太初诸强曾威压盖世,异族猖獗谁来终结。卧薪尝胆为重见光明,黑暗仇恨谁来雪洗。尊严需要用鲜血凝聚,炎黄人族谁敢欺辱。五色神石欲为他护道,乾坤二法重开新朝。煌煌大世将众星争辉,吾道昌荣独领风骚。
  • 我的青春必须有我来彩排

    我的青春必须有我来彩排

    步入高中的我,在校园里遇到各种伤心的事,校园里到处都是我们的影子,快乐,痛苦随着我,我跟现实做起了斗争
  • 我要做骗子

    我要做骗子

    宁可我骗天下人,不愿天下人骗我了。。。构思许久,重新提笔。
  • 校园的小小爱恋

    校园的小小爱恋

    主人公以为愧疚,迟迟没有表达出对她的感情,直到当她只能活到十八岁的时候才后悔莫及,为了拯救女友,秦鹏不惜爱上一个自己不喜欢的女孩(唐莹)等到心爱的女孩醒来的时候,一切却都变了,她居然记不起然后之前的事情,以及和他的海誓山盟……
  • 相思谋:妃常难娶

    相思谋:妃常难娶

    某日某王府张灯结彩,婚礼进行时,突然不知从哪冒出来一个小孩,对着新郎道:“爹爹,今天您的大婚之喜,娘亲让我来还一样东西。”说完提着手中的玉佩在新郎面前晃悠。此话一出,一府宾客哗然,然当大家看清这小孩与新郎如一个模子刻出来的面容时,顿时石化。此时某屋顶,一个绝色女子不耐烦的声音响起:“儿子,事情办完了我们走,别在那磨矶,耽误时间。”新郎一看屋顶上的女子,当下怒火攻心,扔下新娘就往女子所在的方向扑去,吼道:“女人,你给本王站住。”一场爱与被爱的追逐正式开始、、、、、、、
  • T星人的传说

    T星人的传说

    本作品为画江湖之不良人的续写,希望大家喜欢,本人会尽量满足大家的。
  • 吴亦凡,我要赖你一辈子

    吴亦凡,我要赖你一辈子

    “喂,好歹也是同桌,说句话会死啊!”伊雪嚷嚷道。“再嚷嚷信不信我下课把你连课本一起扔出去!”吴亦凡头也不抬得说到。伊雪白了一眼,“切╮(╯_╰)╭,不就是长得高吗,我要是长你这么高的个,早把你拧成麻花了!”伊雪在心中愤愤地说到。好啦,这只是其中的小片段,我是新人,写得不好的地方多包涵啦!蟹蟹大家了!(九十度深鞠躬)希望大家多多支持!
  • 来生我等你之伶俐

    来生我等你之伶俐

    此文是短篇小说,一共只有八章,并不是太监和烂尾一段前世今生的爱,最后一个意想不到的结局,短篇小说,已完本