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Oberon

Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.

Titania

What, jealous Oberon? — Fairies, skip hence,
I have forsworn his bed and company.

Oberon

Tarry, rash wanton. Am not I thy lord?

Titania

Then I must be thy lady. But I know
When thou hast stol’n away from fairyland,
And in the shape of Corin sat all day
Playing on pipes of corn and versing love
To amorous Phillida. Why art thou here,
Come from the farthest step of India,
But that, forsooth, the bouncing Amazon,
Your buskined mistress and your warrior love,
To Theseus must be wedded, and you come
To give their bed joy and prosperity?

Oberon

Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.

Titania

What, jealous Oberon? — Fairies, skip hence,
I have forsworn his bed and company.

Oberon

Tarry, rash wanton. Am not I thy lord?

Titania

Then I must be thy lady. But I know
When thou hast stol’n away from fairyland,
And in the shape of Corin sat all day
Playing on pipes of corn and versing love
To amorous Phillida. Why art thou here,
Come from the farthest step of India,
But that, forsooth, the bouncing Amazon,
Your buskined mistress and your warrior love,
To Theseus must be wedded, and you come
To give their bed joy and prosperity?

Robin 

                            Thou speak'st aright;
I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal.
And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl
In very likeness of a roasted crab;
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her withered dewlap pour the ale.
The wisest aunt telling the saddest tale
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me.
Then slip I from her bum. Down topples she,
And “tailor” cries, and falls into a cough.
And then the whole choir hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there.

Fairy

Either I mistake your shape and making quite,
Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite
Called Robin Goodfellow. Are not you he
That frights the maidens of the villag’ry,
Skim milk, and sometimes labor in the quern,
And bootless make the breathless housewife churn,
And sometime make the drink to bear no barm,
Mislead night wanderers, laughing at their harm?
Those that “hobgoblin” call you and “sweet puck,”
You do their work and they shall have good luck.
Are not you he?

Robin 

Fairy

[Enter King Oberon and his fairies from one side, Queen Titania and her fairies from the other]

Oberon

Titania

Oberon

Titania

Oberon

Titania

Oberon

Titania

Oberon

Titania

Oberon

Titania

[Exit Titania with her fairies]

Oberon

Robin 

Oberon

Robin 

[Exit Robin]

Oberon

[Enter Demetrius with Helena following him. Oberon remains nearby.]

Demetrius

Helena

Demetrius

Helena

Demetrius

Helena

Demetrius

Helena

Demetrius

Helena

Demetrius

Helena

[Exit Demetrius, Helena following him, leaving Oberon alone on the stage]

Oberon

[Enter Robin with the flower which had been struck by Cupid's bow]

Robin (Puck)

Oberon

[Oberon gives some of the flowers to Robin]

Robin

[Exit Robin and Oberon separately]
[Enter two supernatural spirits from opposite sides of the stage. One is a typical female fairy; the other is a puck, a mischievous spirit, named Robin Goodfellow]

Robin 

How now, spirit? Whither wander you?

Fairy

Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire.
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see,
Those be rubies, fairy favors;
In those freckles live their savors.
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone.
Our Queen and all her elves come here anon.
[Enter two supernatural spirits from opposite sides of the stage. One is a typical female fairy; the other is a puck, a mischievous spirit, named Robin Goodfellow]

Robin 

How now, spirit? Whither wander you?

Fairy

Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire.
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see,
Those be rubies, fairy favors;
In those freckles live their savors.
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone.
Our Queen and all her elves come here anon.

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