Titania

Let’s have a dance and a fairy song, and then you should all head off to work: some of you will kill worms in rosebuds, some of you will fight bats for their leathery wings so that you can make coats for my small elves, and some of you will ward off the loud owl that hoots while we sleep. Sing me to sleep now. Then go do your jobs and let me rest. 

First Fairy

Go away snakes with spots and forked tongues. Go away spiky hedgehogs. Don’t harm us, newts and worms. Don’t come near Queen Titania. 

Chorus

Nightingale, join us in singing a lullaby to our queen. Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby. May no harm or spells fall upon our beautiful queen. We sing goodnight with this lullaby. 

First Fairy

Don’t come near her, spiders that weave webs. Go away, you long-legged web spinners. Don’t come near, black beetles. Do no harm, worms and snails. 

Chorus

Nightingale, join us in singing a lullaby to our queen. Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby. May no harm or spells fall upon our beautiful queen. We sing goodnight with this lullaby. 

Second Fairy

Go away. Now everything is fine. One of us should stand guard. 

Oberon

When you wake up, believe that the first thing you see is your true love. Love him and long for him. Whether you see a lynx, a cat, a bear, a leopard, or a boar with bristly hair when you wake up, you’ll think it is your dearest love. Wake up when something hideous is near. 

Lysander

Beautiful love, all this wandering around in the forest has you feeling faint. And to be honest, I’ve gotten us lost. If you think it’s a good idea, let’s rest here, Hermia, and wait for the sunrise. 

Hermia

Yes, let’s do that Lysander. Find yourself a bed — I’ll rest here on this bank. 

Lysander

But we can both sleep in the same place. One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one vow. 

Hermia

No, Lysander. Go to sleep somewhere else, for my sake my dear. Don’t lie so close to me. 

Lysander

Please understand, my dear, I only have innocent intentions. When two people who love each other talk, they should understand each other perfectly. What I meant was this: my heart is tied to yours, so we can really consider our two hearts to be one. We have tied together our two bosoms with an oath, which is why I said “two bosoms and one vow.” So don’t prohibit me from sleeping next to you. If I lie next to you, I cannot lie to you. 

Hermia

Lysander has a way with words. Curse my manners and my pride — I didn’t mean to say that you lied, Lysander. But for the sake of love, manners, and modesty, sleep farther away from me. That’s what’s considered appropriate for a virtuous single man and a virginal woman. So please sleep at a distance, and good night, dear Lysander. May your love for me never change until you die. 

Lysander

Amen to that. May I die if I am no longer loyal to you. I’ll sleep here. I hope you sleep well. 

Hermia

I hope you sleep well, too. 

Robin

I’ve looked everywhere in this forest, but I haven’t found the Athenian man on whom I’m supposed to cast a spell with the flower’s nectar. Nothing but night and silence. But who is this? He’s wearing Athenian clothes. This must be the man who, Oberon says, hates this woman who loves him. And here she is, sleeping deeply on the damp, dirty ground. This pretty girl doesn’t dare lie near this despicable, unloving man. Villain! I’ll put the full strength of this nectar’s spell on your eyes. 

Love will prevent you from sleeping. So wake up as soon as I’m gone. Now, I have to go see Oberon. 

Helena

Wait, even though you kill me, dear Demetrius. 

Demetrius

Go away. Stop following me like this. 

Helena

You’re going to leave me here in the dark? Don’t do that.

Demetrius

Stay here at your own risk. I’m going on alone. 

Helena

Oh, chasing Demetrius has made me run out of breath. The more I pray for him, the less he seems to like me. Hermia is so lucky, wherever she is, because her eyes are so beautiful. How did she get such bright eyes? It can’t be tears — I cry way more than she does. I must be as ugly as a bear, because beasts that see me are so scared that they run away. No wonder Demetrius keeps running away from me. What evil, lying mirror convinced me that my eyes were as beautiful as Hermia’s? But who’s this? Lysander, lying on the ground? Is he dead or asleep? I can’t see any blood, or a wound. If you’re alive, wake up Lysander. 

Lysander

[Waking up] I’ll run through fire for you. Beautiful Helena, nature’s magic has made me able to see into your heart. Where is Demetrius? That hateful name is fit to die on my sword. 

Helena

Don’t say that, Lysander. So what if Demetrius loves Hermia? So what? Hermia loves you. So be happy. 

Lysander

Happy with Hermia? No, I regret every tedious minute I spent with her. I don’t love Hermia — I love Helena. Who wouldn’t love a raven over a dove? A man’s will is controlled by his reason, and reason says that you are worthier of my love than Hermia is. Just as things don’t become ripe until they’re in season, I haven’t grown ripe to reason until now, because I was young. But now that I have grown up, reason has taken control of me, and leads me to you, who are a rich book, full of love stories. 

Helena

Why do I deserve this mockery? What did I do to deserve your scorn? Is it not enough, not enough, young man, that I never did and never will receive a fond look from Demetrius? You have to pile on by pointing out how worthless I am? You have truly done me wrong — truly — by wooing me as a joke. Good bye. I once thought you were a true gentleman. How awful that a woman like me, rejected by one man, should be treated so terribly by another. 

Lysander

She hasn’t seen Hermia. Hermia, stay asleep over there, and don’t ever come near me. Just as too much sweet food makes the stomach upset, just as the false beliefs men once held are most hated by those same men who renounce them, so I hate you, a sweet false love I once had, more than anyone else. I’ll do everything in my power to honor Helen and fight for her. 

Hermia

Help me, Lysander, help me! Do everything you can to take this snake off of me. For pity’s sake. What was I dreaming? Lysander, see how I am shaking. I thought a serpent was eating my heart, and that you watched, smiling. Lysander? Are you gone? Lysander, have you gone out of hearing? Not a sound? Not a word? Where are you? Speak, if you hear me. Speak, love. I’m about to faint for fear. No word? Well then I guess you must not be near. I’ll die if I don’t find you soon.