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Mercutio

Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail,
Tickling a parson's nose as he lies asleep —
Then dreams he of another benefice.

Mercutio

And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies straight;
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees;
O'er ladies ' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are.
Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;

Mercutio

And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies straight;
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees;
O'er ladies ' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are.

Mercutio

Her chariot is an empty hazelnut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coach-makers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;

Mercutio

O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you;
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomi
Over men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon spokes made of long spiders' legs;
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers;
Her traces of the smallest spider web;
Her collars of the moonshine's wat'ry beams;             
Her whip of cricket's bone, the lash of film;
Her wagoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid.

Mercutio

Tut, dun's the mouse, the constable's own word.
If thou art dun, we'll draw thee from the mire,
Or — save your reverence — love, wherein thou stickest
Up to the ears. Come, we burn daylight, ho!

Romeo

Nay, that's not so.

Mercutio

                               I mean, sir, in delay
We waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day.
Take our good meaning, for our judgment sits
Five times in that ere once in our five wits.

Benvolio

Come, knock and enter, and no sooner in,
But every man betake him to his legs.

Romeo

A torch for me. Let wantons, light of heart,
Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels;
For I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase.
I'll be a candle-holder and look on;
The game was ne'er so fair, and I am done.

Romeo

Give me a torch; I am not for this ambling.
Being but heavy, I will bear the light.

Mercutio

Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.

Romeo

Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes
With nimble soles. I have a soul of lead
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.

Mercutio

You are a lover; borrow Cupid's wings,
And soar with them above a common bound.

Benvolio

But let them measure us by what they will,
We'll measure them a measure and be gone.

Romeo

Give me a torch; I am not for this ambling.
Being but heavy, I will bear the light.

Mercutio

Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.

Romeo

Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes
With nimble soles. I have a soul of lead
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.
[Enter Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio, along with several other partygoers on their way to Lord Capulet’s house for a masquerade, a formal costume party. Several are carrying lanterns suspended on poles to light their way.]

Romeo

What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse?
Or shall we on without apology?

Benvolio

The date is out of such prolixity.
We'll have no Cupid hoodwinked with a scarf,
Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath,
Scaring the ladies like a crow-keeper;
But let them measure us by what they will,
We'll measure them a measure and be gone.

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