Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Adaptations; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stories, plots, etc. -- Juvenile literature
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.
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 Hernia, and
to run after another lady, and leave Hermia asleep quite alone in
a wood at midnight, was a sad chance indeed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account