TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Cover and arrangement © 2007 Yesterday’s Classics.

This edition, first published in 2007 by

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 ARTIST’S PREFACE
INCE Lamb wrote these tales from
the plays of Shakespeare, as he
says—“especially for the young
mind”—many efforts have been
made by others, only to invariably
produce a result inferior in every
way, and so, quickly vanish from the reading world
while these tales have grown in favor and esteem by
thoughtful American parents.
I know a dear lady who has for many years
made it almost a duty at the holiday season to procure
one or more copies of “Lamb’s Tales” for presentation
to some young reader among her numerous relatives
and friends.
After reading the tales the reason of its excel-
lence is fully apparent. Charles Lamb was a diligent
student of Shakespeare—appreciative of, and well
fitted to write good English. We feel the truth of it
when he says he took “particular pains to both amuse
and instruct the youthful mind.” He wisely refrained
from giving extracts of the well-known orations and
speeches, such as spoken by Wolsey or Antony. He
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

tells the tales with surprising directness and simpli-

city—as far as possible in Shakespeare’s own words.
Often he leaves out well-known characters who do not
assist in developing the story, yet, there are several, like
Touchstone, Jaques, etc., in “As You Like It,” so
revered generation after generation, that the illustrator
has ventured to picture them although they were not
described in the text.
Lamb’s greatest accomplishment in this volume
is to give the average reader of any age a plain, simple
description of the story and plot which, after reading
the plays, even the adult often does not get or rightly
understand. We are carried away by the splendor of
words and thought. That is the reason why, it seems to
me, these tales can be read with great advantage by
those adults or parents who take for granted this
volume is especially for younger readers. The plays are
far more edifying after these tales have been read,
because the magnificence of Shakespeare can be
enjoyed to the fullest extent.
It is remarkable that the scenes of nearly all
Shakespeare’s plays are laid outside his native land,
mostly in Italy and Greece; at the grandest period of
the world’s history, disclosing with remarkable fidelity
intimate details in the lives of famous men and women
that would be unknown to the average reader outside
of classic literature.
LOUIS RHEAD.
 HE following Tales are meant to be
submitted to the young reader as
an introduction to the study of
Shakespeare, for which purpose his
words are used whenever it seemed
possible to bring them in; and in
whatever has been added to give them the regular
form of a connected story, diligent care has been taken
to select such words as might least interrupt the effect
of the beautiful English tongue in which he wrote:
therefore, words introduced into our language since his
time have been as far as possible avoided.
In those Tales which have been taken from the
Tragedies, the young readers will perceive, when they
come to see the source from which these stories are
derived, that Shakespeare’s own words, with little
alteration, recur very frequently in the narrative as well
as in the dialogue; but in those made from the
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Comedies the writers found themselves scarcely ever

able to turn his words into the narrative form:
therefore it is feared that, in them, dialogue has been
made use of too frequently for young people not
accustomed to the dramatic form of writing. But this
fault, if it be a fault, has been caused by an earnest
wish to give as much of Shakespeare’s own words as
possible: and if the “He said” and “She said,” the
question and the reply, should sometimes seem tedious
to their young ears, they must pardon it, because it was
the only way in which could be given to them a few
hints and little foretastes of the great pleasure which
awaits them in their elder years, when they come to the
rich treasures from which these small and valueless
coins are extracted; pretending to no other merit than
as faint and imperfect stamps of Shakespeare’s
matchless image. Faint and imperfect images they must
be called, because the beauty of his language is too
frequently destroyed by the necessity of changing
many of his excellent words into words far less
expressive of his true sense, to make it read something
like prose; and even in some few places, where his
blank verse is given unaltered, as hoping from its
simple plainness to cheat the young readers into the
belief that they are reading prose, yet still his language
being transplanted from its own natural soil and wild
poetic garden, it must want much of its native beauty.
It has been wished to make these Tales easy
reading for very young children. To the utmost of their
ability the writers have constantly kept this in mind;
but the subjects of most of them made this a very
difficult task. It was no easy matter to give the histories
 PREFACE

of men and women in terms familiar to the apprehen-

sion of a very young mind. For young ladies, too, it has
been the intention chiefly to write; because boys being
generally permitted the use of their fathers’ libraries at
a much earlier age than girls are, they frequently have
the best scenes of Shakespeare by heart, before their
sisters are permitted to look into this manly book; and,
therefore, instead of recommending these Tales to the
perusal of young gentlemen who can read them so
much better in the originals, their kind assistance is
rather requested in explaining to their sisters such parts
as are hardest for them to understand: and when they
have helped them to get over the difficulties, then
perhaps they will read to them (carefully selecting what
is proper for a young sister’s ear) some passage which
has pleased them in one of these stories, in the very
words of the scene from which it is taken; and it is
hoped they will find that the beautiful extracts, the
select passages, they may choose to give their sisters in
this way will be much better relished and understood
from their having some notion of the general story
from one of these imperfect abridgments;—which if
they be fortunately so done as to prove delightful to
any of the young readers, it is hoped that no worse
effect will result than to make them wish themselves a
little older, that they may be allowed to read the Plays
at full length (such a wish will be neither peevish nor
irrational). When time and leave of judicious friends
shall put them into their hands, they will discover in
such of them as are here abridged (not to mention
almost as many more, which are left untouched) many
surprising events and turns of fortune, which for their
infinite variety could not be contained in this little
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

book, besides a world of sprightly and cheerful char-

acters, both men and women, the humor of which it
was feared would be lost if it were attempted to reduce
the length of them.
What these Tales shall have been to the young
readers, that and much more it is the writers’ wish that
the true Plays of Shakespeare may prove to them in
older years—enrichers of the fancy, strengtheners of
virtue, a withdrawing from all selfish and mercenary
thoughts, a lesson of all sweet and honorable thoughts
and actions, to teach courtesy, benignity, generosity,
humanity: for of examples, teaching these virtues, his
pages are full.
THE TEMPEST ............................................................ 1
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM ............................. 21
WINTER’S TALE ....................................................... 40
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING .................................. 59
AS YOU LIKE IT ....................................................... 81
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA .............................. 109
MERCHANT OF VENICE .......................................... 130
CYMBELINE ........................................................... 152
KING LEAR ............................................................ 173
MACBETH .............................................................. 201
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL ............................ 220
TAMING OF THE SHREW ......................................... 240
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS ...................................... 259
MEASURE FOR MEASURE .......................................282
TWELFTH NIGHT; OR, WHAT YOU WILL ................307
TIMON OF ATHENS .................................................329
ROMEO AND JULIET ...............................................349
HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK .............................376
OTHELLO ...............................................................401
PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE ....................................423
 THE TEMPEST
HERE was a certain island in the sea,
the only inhabitants of which were
an old man, whose name was
Prospero, and his daughter Miran-
da, a very beautiful young lady. She
came to this island so young that
she had no memory of having seen any other human
face than her father’s.
They lived in a cave or cell, made out of a rock;
it was divided into several apartments, one of which
Prospero called his study; there he kept his books,
which chiefly treated of magic, a study at that time
much affected by all learned men: and the knowledge
of this art he found very useful to him; for being
thrown by a strange chance upon this island, which
had been enchanted by a witch called Sycorax, who
died there a short time before his arrival, Prospero, by
virtue of his art, released many good spirits that
Sycorax had imprisoned in the bodies of large trees,
because they had refused to execute her wicked
commands. These gentle spirits were ever after
obedient to the will of Prospero. Of these Ariel was
the chief.

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

The lively little sprite Ariel had nothing mis-

chievous in his nature, except that he took rather too
much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called
Caliban, for he owed him a grudge because he was the
son of his old enemy Sycorax. This Caliban, Prospero
found in the woods, a strange misshapen thing, far less
human in form than an ape: he took him home to his
cell, and taught him to speak; and Prospero would
have been very kind to him, but the bad nature which
Caliban inherited from his mother, Sycorax, would not
let him learn anything good or useful: therefore he was
employed like a slave, to fetch wood and do the most
laborious offices; and Ariel had the charge of
compelling him to these services.
When Caliban was lazy and neglected his work,
Ariel (who was invisible to all eyes but Prospero’s)
would come slyly and pinch him, and sometimes
tumble him down in the mire; and then Ariel, in the
likeness of an ape, would make mouths at him. Then
swiftly changing his shape, in the likeness of a
hedgehog, he would lie tumbling in Caliban’s way, who
feared the hedgehog’s sharp quills would prick his bare
feet. With a variety of such-like vexatious tricks Ariel
would often torment him, whenever Caliban neglected
the work which Prospero commanded him to do.
Having these powerful spirits obedient to his
will, Prospero could by their means command the
winds, and the waves of the sea. By his orders they
raised a violent storm, in the midst of which, and
struggling with the wild sea-waves that every
moment, threatened to swallow it up, he showed his
daughter a fine large ship, which he told her was full of

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 THE TEMPEST

PROSPERO, MIRANDA, AND CALIBAN

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

living beings like themselves. “O my dear father,” said

she, “if by your art you have raised this dreadful storm,
have pity on their sad distress. See! the vessel will be
dashed to pieces. Poor souls! they will all perish. If I
had power I would sink the sea beneath the earth,
rather than the good ship should be destroyed, with all
the precious souls within her.”
“Be not amazed, daughter Miranda,” said Pros-
pero; “there is no harm done. I have so ordered it, that
no person in the ship shall receive any hurt. What I
have done has been in care of you, my dear child. You
are ignorant who you are, or where you came from,
and you know no more of me, but that I am your
father and live in this poor cave. Can you remember a
time before you came to this cell? I think you cannot,
for you were not then three years of age.”
“Certainly I can, sir,” replied Miranda.
“By what?” asked Prospero; “by any other
house or person? Tell me what you can remember, my
child.”
Miranda said: “It seems to me like the recollec-
tion of a dream. But had I not once four or five
women who attended upon me?” Prospero answered:
“You had, and more. How is it that this still lives in
your mind? Do you remember how you came here?”
“No, sir,” said Miranda, “I remember nothing
more.”
“Twelve years ago, Miranda,” continued Pros-
pero, “I was Duke of Milan, and you were a princess,
and my only heir. I had a younger brother, whose

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 THE TEMPEST

name was Antonio, to whom I trusted everything; and

as I was fond of retirement and deep study I com-
monly left the management of my state affairs to your
uncle, my false brother (for so indeed he proved). I,
neglecting all worldly ends, buried among my books,
did dedicate my whole time to the bettering of my
mind. My brother Antonio, being thus in possession of
my power, began to think himself the duke indeed.
The opportunity I gave him of making himself popular
among my subjects awakened in his bad nature a
proud ambition to deprive me of my dukedom; this he
soon effected with the aid of the King of Naples, a
powerful prince, who was my enemy.”
“Wherefore,” said Miranda, “did they not that
hour destroy us?”
“My child,” answered her father, “they durst
not, so dear was the love that my people bore me.
Antonio carried us on board a ship, and when we were
some leagues out at sea, he forced us into a small boat,
without either tackle, sail, or mast; there he left us, as
he thought, to perish. But a kind lord of my court, one
Gonzalo, who loved me, had privately placed in the
boat water, provisions, apparel, and some books which
I prize above my dukedom.”
“O my father,” said Miranda, “what a trouble
must I have been to you then!”
“No, my love,” said Prospero, “you were a little
cherub that did preserve me. Your innocent smiles
made me bear up against my misfortunes. Our food
lasted till we landed on this desert island, since when

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

my chief delight has been in teaching you, Miranda,

and well have you profited by my instructions.”
“Heaven thank you, my dear father,” said
Miranda. “Now pray tell me, sir, your reason for
raising this sea-storm?”
“Know then,” said her father, “that by means of
this storm, my enemies, the King of Naples and my
cruel brother, are cast ashore upon this island.”
Having so said, Prospero gently touched his
daughter with his magic wand, and she fell fast asleep;
for the spirit Ariel just then presented himself before
his master, to give an account of the tempest, and how
he had disposed of the ship’s company, and though
the spirits were always invisible to Miranda, Prospero
did not choose she should hear him holding converse
(as would seem to her) with the empty air.
“Well, my brave spirit,” said Prospero to Ariel,
“how have you performed your task?”
Ariel gave a lively description of the storm, and
of the terrors of the mariners, and how the king’s son,
Ferdinand, was the first who leaped into the sea; and
his father thought he saw his dear son swallowed up by
the waves and lost. “But he is safe,” said Ariel, “in a
corner of the isle, sitting with his arms folded, sadly
lamenting the loss of the king, his father, whom he
concludes drowned. Not a hair of his head is injured,
and his princely garments, though drenched in the sea-
waves, look fresher than before.”

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 THE TEMPEST

“That’s my delicate Ariel,” said Prospero.

“Bring him hither: my daughter must see this young
prince. Where is the king, and my brother?”
“I left them,” answered Ariel, “searching for
Ferdinand, whom they have little hopes of finding,
thinking they saw him perish. Of the ship’s crew not
one is missing; though each one thinks himself the
only one saved; and the ship, though invisible to them,
is safe in the harbor.”
“Ariel,” said Prospero, “thy charge is faithfully
performed; but there is more work yet.”
“Is there more work?” said Ariel. “Let me re-
mind you, master, you have promised me my liberty. I
pray, remember, I have done you worthy service, told
you no lies, made no mistakes, served you without
grudge or grumbling.”
“How now!” said Prospero. “You do not recol-
lect what a torment I freed you from. Have you forgot
the wicked witch Sycorax, who with age and envy was
almost bent double? Where was she born? Speak; tell
me.”
“Sir, in Algiers,” said Ariel.
“Oh, was she so?” said Prospero. “I must re-
count what you have been, which I find you do not
remember. This bad witch, Sycorax, for her witch-
crafts, too terrible to enter human hearing, was
banished from Algiers, and here left by the sailors; and
because you were a spirit too delicate to execute her
wicked commands, she shut you up in a tree, where I

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

found you howling. This torment, remember, I did

free you from.”
“Pardon me, dear master,” said Ariel, ashamed
to seem ungrateful; “I will obey your commands.”
“Do so,” said Prospero, “and I will set you
free.” He then gave orders what further he would have
him do; and away went Ariel, first to where he had left
Ferdinand, and found him still sitting on the grass in
the same melancholy posture.
“Oh, my young gentleman,” said Ariel, when he
saw him, “I will soon move you. You must be brought,
I find, for the Lady Miranda to have a sight of your
pretty person. Come, sir, follow me.” He then began
singing:

“Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Hark! now I hear them—Ding-dong, bell.”

This strange news of his lost father soon roused the

prince from the stupid fit into which he had fallen. He
followed in amazement the sound of Ariel’s voice, till
it led him to Prospero and Miranda, who were sitting
under the shade of a large tree. Now Miranda had
never seen a man before, except her own father.

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 THE TEMPEST

ARIEL: “FULL FATHOM FIVE THY FATHER LIES”

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

“Miranda,” said Prospero, “tell me what you are

looking at yonder.”
“Oh, father,” said Miranda, in a strange sur-
prise, “surely that is a spirit. Lord! how it looks about!
Believe me, sir, it is a beautiful creature. Is it not a
spirit?”
“No, girl,” answered her father; “it eats, and
sleeps, and has senses such as we have. This young
man you see was in the ship. He is somewhat altered
by grief, or you might call him a handsome person. He
has lost his companions, and is wandering about to
find them.”
Miranda, who thought all men had grave faces
and gray beards like her father, was delighted with the
appearance of this beautiful young prince; and
Ferdinand, seeing such a lovely lady in this desert
place, and from the strange sounds he had heard,
expecting nothing but wonders, thought he was upon
an enchanted island, and that Miranda was the goddess
of the place, and as such he began to address her.
She timidly answered, she was no goddess, but a
simple maid, and was going to give him an account of
herself, when Prospero interrupted her. He was well
pleased to find they admired each other, for he plainly
perceived they had (as we say) fallen in love at first
sight: but to try Ferdinand’s constancy, he resolved to
throw some difficulties in their way: therefore,
advancing forward, he addressed the prince with a
stern air, telling him, he came to the island as a spy, to
take it from him who was the lord of it. “Follow me,”
said he. “I will tie your neck and feet together. You

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 THE TEMPEST

shall drink sea-water; shell-fish, withered roots, and

husks of acorns shall be your food.”
“No,” said Ferdinand, “I will resist such enter-
tainment till I see a more powerful enemy,” and drew
his sword; but Prospero, waving his magic wand, fixed
him to the spot where he stood, so that he had no
power to move.
Miranda hung upon her father, saying: “Why are
you so ungentle? Have pity, I will be his surety. This is

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

the second man I ever saw, and to me he seems a true

one.”
“Silence!” said the father. “One word more will
make me chide you, girl! What! an advocate for an
impostor! You think there are no more such fine men,
having seen only him and Caliban. I tell you, foolish
girl, most men as far excel this as he does Calliban.”
This he said to prove his daughter’s constancy; and she
replied:
“My affections are most humble. I have no wish
to see a goodlier man.”
“Come on, young man,” said Prospero to the
prince; “you have no power to disobey me.”
“I have not indeed,” answered Ferdinand; and
not knowing that it was by magic he was deprived of
all power of resistance, he was astonished to find
himself so strangely compelled to follow Prospero;
looking back on Miranda as long as he could see her,
he said, as he went after Prospero into the cave, “My
spirits are all bound up, as if I were in a dream; but this
man’s threats, and the weakness which I feel, would
seem light to me if from my prison I might once a day
behold this fair maid.”
Prospero kept Ferdinand not long confined
within the cell: he soon brought out his prisoner, and
set him a severe task to perform, taking care to let his
daughter know the hard labor he had imposed on him,
and then pretending to go into his study, he secretly
watched them both.

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 THE TEMPEST

Prospero had commanded Ferdinand to pile up

some heavy logs of wood. Kings’ sons not being much
used to laborious work, Miranda soon after found her
lover almost dying with fatigue. “Alas!” said she, “do
not work so hard; my father is at his studies, he is safe
for these three hours; pray rest yourself.”
“Oh, my dear lady,” said Ferdinand, “I dare not.
I must finish my task before I take my rest.”
“If you will sit down,” said Miranda, “I will
carry your logs the while.” But this Ferdinand would
by no means agree to. Instead of a help Miranda
became a hindrance, for they began a long conversa-
tion, so that the business of log-carrying went on very
slowly.
Prospero, who had enjoined Ferdinand this task
merely as a trial of his love, was not at his books, as his
daughter supposed, but was standing by them invisible,
to overhear what they said.
Ferdinand inquired her name, which she told,
saying it was against her father’s express command she
did so.
Prospero only smiled at this first instance of his
daughter’s disobedience, for having by his magic art
caused his daughter to fall in love so suddenly, he was
not angry that she showed her love by forgetting to
obey his commands. And he listened well pleased to a
long speech of Ferdinand’s, in which he professed to
love her above all the ladies he ever saw.
In answer to his praises of her beauty, which he
said exceeded all the women in the world, she replied:

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

“I do not remember the face of any woman, nor have

I seen any more men than you, my good friend, and
my dear father. How features are abroad, I know not;
but, believe me, sir, I would not wish any companion
in the world but you, nor can my imagination form any
shape but yours that I could like. But, sir, I fear I talk
to you too freely, and my father’s precepts I forget.”
At this Prospero smiled, and nodded his head,
as much as to say, “This goes on exactly as I could
wish; my girl will be Queen of Naples.”
And then Ferdinand, in another fine long
speech (for young princes speak in courtly phrases),
told the innocent Miranda he was heir to the crown of
Naples, and that she should be his queen.
“Ah! sir,” said she, “I am a fool to weep at what
I am glad of. I will answer you in plain and holy
innocence. I am your wife if you will marry me.”
Prospero prevented Ferdinand’s thanks by ap-
pearing visible before them.
“Fear nothing, my child,” said he; “I have over-
heard, and approve of all you have said. And,
Ferdinand, if I have too severely used you, I will make
you rich amends by giving you my daughter. All your
vexations were but trials of your love, and you have
nobly stood the test. Then as my gift, which your true
love has worthily purchased, take my daughter, and do
not smile that I boast she is above all praise.” He then,
telling them that he had business which required his
presence, desired they would sit down and talk
together till he returned; and this command Miranda
seemed not at all disposed to disobey.

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 THE TEMPEST

When Prospero left them he called his spirit

Ariel, who quickly appeared before him, eager to relate
what he had done with Prospero’s brother and the
King of Naples. Ariel said he had left them almost out
of their senses with fear, at the strange things he had
caused them to see and hear. When fatigued with
wandering about, and famished for want of food, he
had suddenly set before them a delicious banquet, and
then, just as they were going to eat, he appeared visible
before them in the shape of a harpy, a voracious
monster with wings, and the feast vanished away.
Then, to their utter amazement, this seeming harpy
spoke to them, reminding them of their cruelty in
driving Prospero from his dukedom, and leaving him
and his infant daughter to perish in the sea, saying, that
for this cause these terrors were suffered to afflict
them.
The King of Naples, and Antonio the false
brother, repented the injustice they had done to
Prospero; and Ariel told his master he was certain their
penitence was sincere, and that he, though a spirit,
could not but pity them.
“Then bring them hither, Ariel,” said Prospero:
“if you, who are but a spirit, feel for their distress, shall
not I, who am a human being like themselves, have
compassion on them? Bring them quickly, my dainty
Ariel.”
Ariel soon returned with the king, Antonio, and
old Gonzalo in their train, who had followed him,
wondering at the wild music he played in the air to
draw them on to his master’s presence. This Gonzalo

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 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

was the same who had so kindly provided Prospero

formerly with books and provisions, when his wicked
brother left him, as he thought, to perish in an open
boat in the sea.
Grief and terror had so stupefied their senses
that they did not know Prospero. He first discovered
himself to the good old Gonzalo, calling him the
preserver of his life; and then his brother and the king
knew that he was the injured Prospero.
Antonio, with tears and sad words of sorrow
and true repentance, implored his brother’s forgive-
ness, and the king expressed his sincere remorse for
having assisted Antonio to depose his brother: and
Prospero forgave them; and, upon their engaging to
restore his dukedom, he said to the King of Naples, “I
have a gift in store for you, too”; and, opening a door,
showed him his son Ferdinand playing at chess with
Miranda.
Nothing could exceed the joy of the father and
the son at this unexpected meeting, for they each
thought the other drowned in the storm.
“Oh wonder!” said Miranda, “what noble crea-
tures these are! It must surely be a brave world that has
such people in it.”
The King of Naples was almost as much aston-
ished at the beauty and excellent graces of the young
Miranda as his son had been. “Who is this maid?” said
he; “she seems the goddess that has parted us, and
brought us thus together.”

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 THE TEMPEST

“No, sir,” answered Ferdinand, smiling to find

his father had fallen into the same mistake that he had
done when he first saw Miranda, “she is a mortal, but
by immortal Providence she is mine; I chose her when
I could not ask you, my father, for your consent, not
thinking you were alive. She is the daughter to this
Prospero, who is the famous Duke of Milan, of whose
renown I have heard so much, but never saw him till
now: of him I have received a new life: he has made
himself to me a second father, giving me this dear
lady.”
“Then I must be her father,” said the king; “but,
oh, how oddly will it sound, that I must ask my child
forgiveness.”
“No more of that,” said Prospero: “let us not
remember our troubles past, since they so happily have
ended.” And then Prospero embraced his brother, and
again assured him of his forgiveness; and said that a
wise overruling Providence had permitted that he
should be driven from his poor dukedom of Milan,
that his daughter might inherit the crown of Naples,
for that by their meeting in this desert island it had
happened that the king’s son had loved Miranda.
These kind words which Prospero spoke, mean-
ing to comfort his brother, so filled Antonio with
shame and remorse that he wept and was unable to
speak; and the kind old Gonzalo wept to see this joyful
reconciliation, and prayed for blessings on the young
couple.
Prospero now told them that their ship was safe
in the harbor, and the sailors all on board her, and that

17
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

he and his daughter would accompany them home the

next morning. “In the mean time,” says he, “partake of
such refreshments as my poor cave affords; and for
your evening’s entertainment I will relate the history of
my life from my first landing in this desert island.” He
then called for Caliban to prepare some food, and set
the cave in order; and the company were astonished at
the uncouth form and savage appearance of this ugly
monster, who (Prospero said) was the only attendant
he had to wait upon him.

“ON THE BAT’S BACK I DO FLY”

Before Prospero left the island he dismissed

Ariel from service, to the great joy of that lively little
spirit, who, though he had been a faithful servant to
his master, was always longing to enjoy his free liberty,
to wander uncontrolled in the air, like a wild bird,

18
 THE TEMPEST

under green trees, among pleasant fruits, and sweet-

smelling flowers.
“My quaint Ariel,” said Prospero to the little
sprite when he made him free, “I shall miss you; yet
you shall have your freedom.”
“Thank you, my dear master,” said Ariel; “but
give me leave to attend your ship home with prosper-
ous gales, before you bid farewell to the assistance of
your faithful spirit; and then, master, when I am free,
how merrily I shall live!” Here Ariel sang this pretty
song:

“Where the bee sucks, there suck I;

In a cowslip’s bell I lie:
There I crouch when owls do cry.
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily.

Merrily, merrily shall I live now

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.”

Prospero then buried deep in the earth his

magical books and wand, for he was resolved never
more to make use of the magic art. And having thus
overcome his enemies, and being reconciled to his
brother and the King of Naples, nothing now
remained to complete his happiness but to revisit his
native land, to take possession of his dukedom, and to
witness the happy nuptials of his daughter and Prince
Ferdinand, which the king said should be instantly
celebrated with great splendor on their return to

19
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Naples. At which place, under the safe convoy of the

spirit Ariel they, after a pleasant voyage, soon arrived.

20
 A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT’S DREAM
HERE was a law in the city of
Athens which gave to its citizens
the power of compelling their
daughters to marry whomsoever
they pleased; for upon a daughter’s
refusing to marry the man her
father had chosen to be her husband, the father was
empowered by this law to cause her to be put to death;
but as fathers do not often desire the death of their
own daughters, even though they do happen to prove
a little refractory, this law was seldom or never put in
execution, though perhaps the young ladies of that city
were not unfrequently threatened by their parents with
the terrors of it.
There was one instance, however, of an old
man, whose name was Egeus, who actually did come
before Theseus (at that time the reigning Duke of
Athens), to complain that his daughter Hermia, whom
he had commanded to marry Demetrius, a young man
of a noble Athenian family, refused to obey him,
because she loved another young Athenian, named
Lysander. Egeus demanded justice of Theseus, and

21
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

desired that this cruel law might be put in force against

his daughter.
Hermia pleaded in excuse for her disobedience
that Demetrius had formerly professed love for her
dear friend Helena, and that Helena loved Demetrius
to distraction; but this honorable reason, which
Hermia gave for not obeying her father’s command,
moved not the stern Egeus.
Theseus, though a great and merciful prince,
had no power to alter the laws of his country;
therefore he could only give Hermia four days to
consider of it: and at the end of that time, if she still
refused to marry Demetrius, she was to be put to
death.
When Hermia was dismissed from the presence
of the duke, she went to her lover Lysander and told
him the peril she was in, and that she must either give
him up and marry Demetrius or lose her life in four
days.
Lysander was in great affliction at hearing these
evil tidings; but, recollecting that he had an aunt who
lived at some distance from Athens, and that at the
place where she lived the cruel law could not be put in
force against Hermia (this law not extending beyond
the boundaries of the city), he proposed to Hermia
that she should steal out of her father’s house that
night, and go with him to his aunt’s house, where he
would marry her. “I will meet you,” said Lysander, “in
the wood a few miles without the city; in that
delightful wood where we have so often walked with
Helena in the pleasant month of May.”

22
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

To this proposal Hermia joyfully agreed; and

she told no one of her intended flight but her friend
Helena. Helena (as maidens will do foolish things for
love) very ungenerously resolved to go and tell this to
Demetrius, though she could hope no benefit from
betraying her friend’s secret but the poor pleasure of
following her faithless lover to the wood; for she well
knew that Demetrius would go thither in pursuit of
Hermia.
The wood in which Lysander and Hermia pro-
posed to meet was the favorite haunt of those little
beings known by the name of “fairies.”
Oberon the king, and Titania the queen of the
fairies, with all their tiny train of followers, in this
wood held their midnight revels.
Between this little king and queen of sprites
there happened, at this time, a sad disagreement; they
never met by moonlight in the shady walks of this
pleasant wood but they were quarreling, till all their
fairy elves would creep into acorn-cups and hide
themselves for fear.
The cause of this unhappy disagreement was Ti-
tania’s refusing to give Oberon a little changeling boy,
whose mother had been Titania’s friend; and upon her
death the fairy queen stole the child from its nurse and
brought him up in the woods.
The night on which the lovers were to meet in
this wood, as Titania was walking with some of her
maids of honor, she met Oberon attended by his train
of fairy courtiers.

23
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania,” said the

fairy king.
The queen replied: “What, jealous Oberon, is it
you? Fairies, skip hence; I have forsworn his com-
pany.”
“Tarry, rash fairy,” said Oberon. “Am I not thy
lord? Why does Titania cross her Oberon? Give me
your little changeling boy to be my page.”
“Set your heart at rest,” answered the queen;
“your whole fairy kingdom buys not the boy of me.”
She then left her lord in great anger.
“Well, go your way,” said Oberon; “before the
morning dawns I will torment you for this injury.”
Oberon then sent for Puck, his chief favorite
and privy counselor.
Puck (or, as he was sometimes called, Robin
Goodfellow) was a shrewd and knavish sprite, that
used to play comical pranks in the neighboring villages;
sometimes getting into the dairies and skimming the
milk, sometimes plunging his light and airy form into
the butter-churn, and while he was dancing his
fantastic shape in the churn, in vain the dairymaid
would labor to change her cream into butter. Nor had
the village swains any better success; whenever Puck
chose to play his freaks in the brewing copper, the ale
was sure to be spoiled. When a few good neighbors
were met to drink some comfortable ale together,
Puck would jump into the bowl of ale in the likeness
of a roasted crab, and when some old goody was going
to drink he would bob against her lips, and spill the

24
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

PUCK

25
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

ale over her withered chin; and presently after, when

the same old dame was gravely seating herself to tell
her neighbors a sad and melancholy story, Puck would
slip her three-legged stool from under her, and down
toppled the poor old woman, and then the old gossips
would hold their sides and laugh at her, and swear they
never wasted a merrier hour.
“Come hither, Puck,” said Oberon to this little
merry wanderer of the night; “fetch me the flower
which maids call ‘Love in Idleness’; the juice of that
little purple flower laid on the eyelids of those who
sleep will make them, when they awake, dote on the
first thing they see. Some of the juice of that flower I
will drop on the eyelids of my Titania when she is
asleep; and the first thing she looks upon when she
opens her eyes she will fall in love with, even though it
be a lion or a bear, a meddling monkey or a busy ape;
and before I will take this charm from off her sight,
which I can do with another charm I know of, I will
make her give me that boy to be my page.”
Puck, who loved mischief to his heart, was
highly diverted with this intended frolic of his master,
and ran to seek the flower; and while Oberon was
waiting the return of Puck he observed Demetrius and
Helena enter the wood: he overheard Demetrius
reproaching Helena for following him, and after many
unkind words on his part, and gentle expostulations
from Helena, reminding him of his former love and
professions of true faith to her, he left her (as he said)
to the mercy of the wild beasts, and she ran after him
as swiftly as she could.

26
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

The fairy king, who was always friendly to true

lovers, felt great compassion for Helena; and perhaps,
as Lysander said they used to walk by moonlight in this
pleasant wood, Oberon might have seen Helena in
those happy times when she was beloved by De-
metrius. However that might be, when Puck returned
with the little purple flower, Oberon said to his
favorite: “Take a part of this flower; there has been a
sweet Athenian lady here, who is in love with a
disdainful youth; if you find him sleeping, drop some
of the love-juice in his eyes, but contrive to do it when
she is near him, that the first thing he sees when he
awakes may be this despised lady. You will know the
man by the Athenian garments which he wears.”
Puck promised to manage this matter very dex-
terously: and then Oberon went, unperceived by

27
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Titania, to her bower, where she was preparing to go

to rest. Her fairy bower was a bank, where grew wild
thyme, cowslips, and sweet violets, under a canopy of
woodbine, musk-roses, and eglantine. There Titania
always slept some part of the night; her coverlet the
enameled skin of a snake, which, though a small
mantle, was wide enough to wrap a fairy in.
He found Titania giving orders to her fairies,
how they were to employ themselves while she slept.
“Some of you,” said her Majesty, “must kill cankers in
the musk-rose buds, and some wage war with the bats
for their leathern wings, to make my small elves coats;
and some of you keep watch that the clamorous owl,
that nightly hoots, come not near me: but first sing me
to sleep.” Then they began to sing this song:

“You spotted snakes, with double tongue,

Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen:

“Philomel, with melody,

Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby;
Never harm, nor spell, nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.”

When the fairies had sung their queen asleep

with this pretty lullaby, they left her to perform the
important services she had enjoined them. Oberon
then softly drew near his Titania and dropped some of
the love-juice on her eyelids, saying:

28
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

“What thou seest when thou dost wake,

Do it for thy true-love take.”

But to return to Hermia, who made her escape

out of her father’s house that night, to avoid the death
she was doomed to for refusing to marry Demetrius.
When she entered the wood, she found her dear
Lysander waiting for her, to conduct her to his aunt’s
house; but before they had passed half through the
wood Hermia was so much fatigued that Lysander,
who was very careful of this dear lady, who had proved
her affection for him even by hazarding her life for his
sake, persuaded her to rest till morning on a bank of
soft moss, and, lying down himself on the ground at
some little distance, they soon fell fast asleep. Here
they were found by Puck, who, seeing a handsome
young man asleep, and perceiving that his clothes were
made in the Athenian fashion, and that a pretty lady
was sleeping near him, concluded that this must be the
Athenian maid and her disdainful lover whom Oberon
had sent him to seek; and he naturally enough
conjectured that, as they were alone together, she must
be the first thing he would see when he awoke; so,
without more ado, he proceeded to pour some of the
juice of the little purple flower into his eyes. But it so
fell out that Helena came that way, and, instead of
Hermia, was the first object Lysander beheld when he
opened his eyes; and strange to relate, so powerful was
the love-charm, all his love for Hermia vanished away
and Lysander fell in love with Helena.

29
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Had he first seen Hermia when he awoke, the

blunder Puck committed would have been of no
consequence, for he could not love that faithful lady
too well; but for poor Lysander to be forced by a fairy
love-charm to forget his own true Hermia, and to run
after another lady, and leave Hermia asleep quite alone
in a wood at midnight, was a sad chance indeed.
Thus this misfortune happened. Helena, as has
been before related, endeavored to keep pace with
Demetrius when he ran away so rudely from her; but
she could not continue this unequal race long, men
being always better runners in a long race than ladies.
Helena soon lost sight of Demetrius; and as she was
wandering about, dejected and forlorn, she arrived at
the place where Lysander was sleeping. “Ah!” said she,
“this is Lysander lying on the ground. Is he dead or
asleep?” Then, gently touching him, she said, “Good
sir, if you are alive, awake.” Upon this Lysander
opened his eyes, and, the love-charm beginning to
work, immediately addressed her in terms of extrava-
gant love and admiration, telling her she as much
excelled Hermia in beauty as a dove does a raven, and
that he would run through fire for her sweet sake; and
many more such lover-like speeches. Helena, knowing
Lysander was her friend Hermia’s lover, and that he
was solemnly engaged to marry her, was in the utmost
rage when she heard herself addressed in this manner;
for she thought (as well she might) that Lysander was
making a jest of her. “Oh!” said she, “why was I born
to be mocked and scorned by every one? Is it not
enough, is it not enough, young man, that I can never
get a sweet look or a kind word from Demetrius; but

30
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

you, sir, must pretend in this disdainful manner to

court me? I thought, Lysander, you were a lord of
more true gentleness.” Saying these words in great
anger, she ran away; and Lysander followed her, quite
forgetful of his own Hermia, who was still asleep.
When Hermia awoke she was in a sad fright at
finding herself alone. She wandered about the wood,
not knowing what was become of Lysander, or which
way to go to seek for him. In the mean time De-
metrius, not being able to find Hermia and his rival
Lysander, and fatigued with his fruitless search, was
observed by Oberon fast asleep. Oberon had learned
by some questions he had asked of Puck that he had
applied the love-charm to the wrong person’s eyes; and
now, having found the person first intended, he
touched the eyelids of the sleeping Demetrius with the
love-juice, and he instantly awoke; and the first thing
he saw being Helena, he, as Lysander had done before,
began to address love-speeches to her; and just at that
moment Lysander, followed by Hermia (for through
Puck’s unlucky mistake it was now become Hermia’s
turn to run after her lover), made his appearance; and
then Lysander and Demetrius, both speaking together,
made love to Helena, they being each one under the
influence of the same potent charm.
The astonished Helena thought that Demetrius,
Lysander, and her once dear friend Hermia were all in
a plot together to make a jest of her.
Hermia was as much surprised as Helena; she
knew not why Lysander and Demetrius, who both
before loved her, were now become the lovers of

31
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Helena, and to Hermia the matter seemed to be no

jest.
The ladies, who before had always been the
dearest of friends, now fell to high words together.
“Unkind Hermia,” said Helena, “it is you have
set Lysander on to vex me with mock praises; and your
other lover, Demetrius, who used almost to spurn me
with his foot, have you not bid him call me goddess,
nymph, rare, precious, and celestial? He would not
speak thus to me, whom he hates, if you did not set
him on to make a jest of me. Unkind Hermia, to join
with men in scorning your poor friend. Have you
forgot our school-day friendship? How often, Hermia,
have we two, sitting on one cushion, both singing one
song, with our needles working the same flower, both
on the same sampler wrought; growing up together in
fashion of a double cherry, scarcely seeming parted!
Hermia, it is not friendly in you, it is not maidenly to
join with men in scorning your poor friend.”
“I am amazed at your passionate words,” said
Hermia: “I scorn you not; it seems you scorn me.”
“Aye, do,” returned Helena, “persevere, coun-
terfeit serious looks, and make mouths at me when I
turn my back; then wink at each other, and hold the
sweet jest up. If you had any pity, grace, or manners,
you would not use me thus.”
While Helena and Hermia were speaking these
angry words to each other, Demetrius and Lysander
left them, to fight together in the wood for the love of
Helena.

32
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

When they found the gentlemen had left them,

they departed, and once more wandered weary in the
wood in search of their lovers.
As soon as they were gone the fairy king, who
with little Puck had been listening to their quarrels,
said to him, “This is your negligence, Puck; or did you
do this wilfully?”
“Believe me, king of shadows,” answered Puck,
“it was a mistake. Did not you tell me I should know
the man by his Athenian garments? However, I am not
sorry this has happened, for I think their jangling
makes excellent sport.”
“You heard,” said Oberon, “that Demetrius and
Lysander are gone to seek a convenient place to fight
in. I command you to overhang the night with a thick
fog, and lead these quarrelsome lovers so astray in the
dark that they shall not be able to find each other.
Counterfeit each of their voices to the other, and with
bitter taunts provoke them to follow you, while they
think it is their rival’s tongue they hear. See you do
this, till they are so weary they can go no farther; and
when you find they are asleep, drop the juice of this
other flower into Lysander’s eyes, and when he awakes
he will forget his new love for Helena, and return to
his old passion for Hermia; and then the two fair ladies
may each one be happy with the man she loves and
they will think all that has passed a vexatious dream.
About this quickly, Puck, and I will go and see what
sweet love my Titania has found.”
Titania was still sleeping, and Oberon, seeing a
clown near her who had lost his way in the wood and

33
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

was likewise asleep, “This fellow,” said he, “shall be

my Titania’s true love”; and clapping an ass’s head
over the clown’s, it seemed to fit him as well as if it
had grown upon his own shoulders. Though Oberon
fixed the ass’s head on very gently, it awakened him,
and, rising up, unconscious of what Oberon had done
to him, he went toward the bower where the fairy
queen slept.
“Ah! what angel is that I see?” said Titania,
opening her eyes, and the juice of the little purple
flower beginning to take effect. “Are you as wise as
you are beautiful?”
“Why, mistress,” said the foolish clown, “if I
have wit enough to find the way out of this wood, I
have enough to serve my turn.”
“Out of the wood do not desire to go,” said the
enamoured queen. “I am a spirit of no common rate. I
love you. Go with me, and I will give you fairies to
attend upon you.”
She then called four of her fairies. Their names
were Peas-blossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustard-seed.
“Attend,” said the queen, “upon this sweet gen-
tleman. Hop in his walks and gambol in his sight; feed
him with grapes and apricots, and steal for him the
honey-bags from the bees. Come, sit with me,” said
she to the clown, “and let me play with your amiable
hairy cheeks, my beautiful ass! and kiss your fair large
ears, my gentle joy.”
“Where is Peas-blossom?” said the ass-headed
clown, not much regarding the fairy queen’s courtship,

34
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

but very proud of his new attendants.

“Here, sir,” said little Peas-blossom.
“Scratch my head,” said the clown. “Where is
Cobweb?”
“Here, sir,” said Cobweb.
“Good Mr. Cobweb,” said the foolish clown,
“kill me the red humblebee on the top of that thistle
yonder; and, good Mr. Cobweb, bring me the honey-
bag. Do not fret yourself too much in the action, Mr.
Cobweb, and take care the honey-bag break not; I
should be sorry to have you overflown with a honey-
bag. Where is Mustard-seed?”
“Here, sir,” said Mustard-seed. “What is your
will?”
“Nothing,” said the clown, “good Mr. Mustard-
seed, but to help Mr. Peas-blossom to scratch; I must
go to a barber’s, Mr. Mustard-seed, for methinks I am
marvelous hairy about the face.”
“My sweet love,” said the queen, “what will you
have to eat? I have a venturous fairy shall seek the
squirrel’s hoard, and fetch you some new nuts.”
“I had rather have a handful of dried peas,” said
the clown, who with his ass’s head had got an ass’s
appetite. “But, I pray, let none of your people disturb
me, for I have a mind to sleep.”
“Sleep, then,” said the queen, “and I will wind
you in my arms. Oh, how I love you! how I dote upon
you!”

35
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

When the fairy king saw the clown sleeping in

the arms of his queen, he advanced within her sight,
and reproached her with having lavished her favors
upon an ass.
This she could not deny, as the clown was then
sleeping within her arms, with his ass’s head crowned
by her with flowers.
When Oberon had teased her for some time, he
again demanded the changeling boy; which she,
ashamed of being discovered by her lord with her new
favorite, did not dare to refuse him.
Oberon, having thus obtained the little boy he
had so long wished for to be his page, took pity on the
disgraceful situation into which, by his merry
contrivance, he had brought his Titania, and threw
some of the juice of the other flower into her eyes; and
the fairy queen immediately recovered her senses, and
wondered at her late dotage, saying how she now
loathed the sight of the strange monster.
Oberon likewise took the ass’s head from off
the clown, and left him to finish his nap with his own
fool’s head upon his shoulders.
Oberon and his Titania being now perfectly
reconciled, he related to her the history of the lovers
and their midnight quarrels, and she agreed to go with
him and see the end of their adventures.
The fairy king and queen found the lovers and
their fair ladies, at no great distance from one another,
sleeping on a grass-plot; for Puck, to make amends for
his former mistake, had contrived with the utmost

36
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

diligence to bring them all to the same spot, unknown

to one another; and he had carefully removed the
charm from off the eyes of Lysander with the antidote
the fairy king gave to him.

Hermia first awoke, and, finding her lost Lysan-

der asleep so near her, was looking at him and
wondering at his strange inconstancy. Lysander
presently opening his eyes, and seeing his dear Hermia,
recovered his reason which the fairy charm had before
clouded, and with his reason his love for Hermia; and
they began to talk over the adventures of the night,
doubting if these things had really happened, or if they
had both been dreaming the same bewildering dream.

37
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Helena and Demetrius were by this time awake;

and a sweet sleep having quieted Helena’s disturbed
and angry spirits, she listened with delight to the
professions of love which Demetrius still made to her,
and which, to her surprise as well as pleasure, she
began to perceive were sincere.
These fair night-wandering ladies, now no
longer rivals, became once more true friends; all the
unkind words which had passed were forgiven, and
they calmly consulted together what was best to be
done in their present situation. It was soon agreed that,
as Demetrius had given up his pretensions to Hermia,
he should endeavor to prevail upon her father to
revoke the cruel sentence of death which had been
passed against her. Demetrius was preparing to return
to Athens for this friendly purpose, when they were
surprised with the sight of Egeus, Hermia’s father,
who came to the wood in pursuit of his runaway
daughter.
When Egeus understood that Demetrius would
not now marry his daughter, he no longer opposed her
marriage with Lysander, but gave his consent that they
should be wedded on the fourth day from that time,
being the same day on which Hermia had been
condemned to lose her life; and on that same day
Helena joyfully agreed to marry her beloved and now
faithful Demetrius.
The fairy king and queen, who were invisible
spectators of this reconciliation, and now saw the
happy ending of the lovers’ history, brought about
through the good offices of Oberon, received so much

38
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

pleasure that these kind spirits resolved to celebrate

the approaching nuptials with sports and revels
throughout their fairy kingdom.
And now, if any are offended with this story of
fairies and their pranks, as judging it incredible and
strange, they have only to think that they have been
asleep and dreaming, and that all these adventures
were visions which they saw in their sleep. And I hope
none of my readers will be so unreasonable as to be
offended with a pretty, harmless Midsummer Night’s
Dream.

39