Lysander, Theseus and Demetrius now engage in a clever game of wits, but the wordplay is so obscure that even the Oxford edition of this play describes these lines as "complicated, confusing and labored". Since it’s almost impossible to figure out exactly what Shakespeare was trying to do in these lines, we’re going to walk you through them and give you our best guess. Snug, who’s playing the role of the lion, has just informed the women in the audience that he’s not a real lion, and that he’s not going to roar because he doesn’t want to frighten them. Lysander comments that when it comes to displaying his valor – that is, his fierceness – this lion is more like a fox – that is, he’s being cleverly discreet. Theseus then jokes that when it comes to discretion – and by that he means intelligence – this lion is more like a goose, which is the symbol of stupidity. Demetrius then joins into the game, noting that these fox and goose metaphors are inconsistent. It’s true that in a struggle, a fox will kill a goose, but valor does not defeat discretion intelligence. This idea reflects the conventional wisdom that in a fight, the clever warrior will defeat a simpleminded, but courageous one. Theseus counters, saying that Snug is the exception to the rule - his discretion, his intelligence, is so lacking that it will lose out to valor. At this point Theseus, along with Shakespeare, has grown tired of this strained wordplay.