The. The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing. Where I have come, great clerks have purposed I read as much as from the rattling tongue Re-enter PHILOSTRATE. Phil. So please your grace, the Prologue is address'd. The. Let him approach. 90 I 00 [Flourish of trumpets. Enter QUINCE for the Prologue. Pro. If we offend, it is with our good will. That is the true beginning of our end. 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. ΙΙΟ 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. 121 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. Pro. Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show; This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth present To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo. And finds his trusty Thisby's. mantle slain: His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest, 130 小 140 150 [Exeunt Prologue, Thisbe, Lion, and Moonshine. The. I wonder if the lion be to speak. Dem. No wonder, my lord: one lion may, when many asses do. 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, Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby, This loam, this rough-cast and this stone doth show 160 And this the cranny is, right and sinister, Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper. The. Would you desire lime and hair to speak better? Dem. It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard discourse, my lord. Enter PYRAMUS. The. Pyramus draws near the wall: silence! 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, 170 Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne! Thanks, courteous wall: Jove shield thee well for this! O wicked wall, through whom I see no bliss! Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me! The. The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again. 181 Pyr. No, in truth, sir, he should not. 'Deceiving me' is Thisby's cue: she is to enter now, and I am to spy her through the wall. You shall see, it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes. This. Enter THISBE. O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans, My cherry lips have often kiss'd thy stones, Pyr. I see a voice: now will I to the chink, Thisby ! This. My love thou art, my love I think. Pyr. Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace; This. And I like Helen, till the fates me kill. This. As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you. 190 Pyr. O, 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. 201 [Exeunt Pyramus and Thisbe. Wall. Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so: And, being done, thus Wall away doth go. [Exit. The. Now is the mural down between the two neighbours. Dem. No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to hear without warning. Hip. This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard. The. The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them. Hip. It must be your imagination then, and not theirs. The. If we imagine no worse of them than they of themselves, they may pass for excellent men. Here come two noble beasts, in a man and a lion. Enter LION and MOONSHINE. Lion. You, ladies, you, whose gentle hearts do fear A lion fell, nor else no lion's dam; For, if I should as lion come in strife Into this place, 'twere pity on my life. 213 220 The. A very gentle beast, and of a good conscience. Dem. The very best at a beast, my lord, that e'er I saw. Lys. This lion is a very fox for his valour. The. True; and a goose for his discretion. Dem. Not so, my lord; for his valour cannot carry his discretion; and the fox carries the goose. The. His discretion, I am sure, cannot carry his valour; for the goose carries not the fox. It is well his discretion, and let us listen to the moon. leave it to 230 Moon. This lanthorn doth the horned moon present ;Dem. He should have worn the horns on his head. The. He is no crescent, and his horns are invisible within the circumference. Moon. This lanthorn doth the horned moon present; Myself the man i' the moon do seem to be. The. This is the greatest error of all the rest: the man should be put into the lanthorn. How is it else the man i' the moon? Dem. He dares not come there for the candle; for, you see, it is already in snuff. 241 Hip. I am aweary of this moon: would he would change! The. It appears, by his small light of discretion, that he is in the wane; but yet, in courtesy, in all reason, we must stay the time. Lys. Proceed, Moon. Moon. All that I have to say, is, to tell you that the lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this thornbush, my thorn-bush; and this dog, my dog. 249 Dem. Why, all these should be in the lanthorn; for all these are in the moon. But, silence! here comes Thisbe. Enter THISBE. This. This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love? Lion. [Roaring] Oh-▬ Dem. Well roared, Lion. [Thisbe runs off. |