Beautiful Stories from ShakespeareShakespeare, William
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Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Shakespeare, William
Children's literature; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stories, plots, etc. -- Juvenile literature
So he made heavenly music to sound in the air, and appeared to them in
his proper shape as the Duke of Milan. Because they repented, he
forgave them and told them the story of his life since they had cruelly
committed him and his baby daughter to the mercy of wind and waves.
Alonso, who seemed sorriest of them all for his past crimes, lamented
the loss of his heir. But Prospero drew back a curtain and showed them
Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess. Great was Alonso's joy to greet
his loved son again, and when he heard that the fair maid with whom
Ferdinand was playing was Prospero's daughter, and that the young folks
had plighted their troth, he said--
“Give me your hands, let grief and sorrow still embrace his heart that
doth not wish you joy.”
So all ended happily. The ship was safe in the harbor, and next day they
all set sail for Naples, where Ferdinand and Miranda were to be married.
Ariel gave them calm seas and auspicious gales; and many were the
rejoicings at the wedding.
Then Prospero, after many years of absence, went back to his own
dukedom, where he was welcomed with great joy by his faithful subjects.
He practiced the arts of magic no more, but his life was happy, and not
only because he had found his own again, but chiefly because, when his
bitterest foes who had done him deadly wrong lay at his mercy, he took
no vengeance on them, but nobly forgave them.
As for Ariel, Prospero made him free as air, so that he could wander
where he would, and sing with a light heart his sweet song--
“Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I couch 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.”
AS YOU LIKE IT
There was once a wicked Duke named Frederick, who took the dukedom that
should have belonged to his brother, sending him into exile. His
brother went into the Forest of Arden, where he lived the life of a bold
forester, as Robin Hood did in Sherwood Forest in merry England.
The banished Duke's daughter, Rosalind, remained with Celia, Frederick's
daughter, and the two loved each other more than most sisters. One day
there was a wrestling match at Court, and Rosalind and Celia went to see
it. Charles, a celebrated wrestler, was there, who had killed many men
in contests of this kind. Orlando, the young man he was to wrestle with,
was so slender and youthful, that Rosalind and Celia thought he would
surely be killed, as others had been; so they spoke to him, and asked
him not to attempt so dangerous an adventure; but the only effect of
their words was to make him wish more to come off well in the encounter,
so as to win praise from such sweet ladies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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