The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, January 1883: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Promotion of True Culture.; Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific CircleChautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
History
The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, January 1883: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Promotion of True Culture.; Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Institution -- Periodicals; Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle -- Periodicals
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 each other, sleeping on a grass plot; for Puck, to
make amends for his former mistake, had contrived to bring them all to
the same spot, unknown to each other; and he had 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 Lysander 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.
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, she 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.
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