Memory Lane Monday ✨ A Midsummer Night's Dream

Before we begin, I would like you to close your eyes and breathe in and out nice and deeply. Take a few seconds to inhale, and then hold your breath for a few seconds more, and then release and breathe out. Do this a few times if you need to. While you listen to the music and you listen to my voice, give yourself time to let your body relax and your mind settle. It's important that we allow time for us to feel safe, cozy, and completely at ease. And now it's time for this week's story.

if she refused to obey him. The Duke gave her four days to think about it, and at the end of that time, if she still refused to marry Demetrius, she would have to die Lessander, of course, was nearly mad with grief, and the best thing to do seemed to him for Hermia to run away to his aunt's house at a place beyond the reach of that cruel law, and there he would come to her and marry her. But before she started, she told her friend Helena what

she was going to do. Lena had been Demetrius's sweetheart long before his marriage with Hermia had been thought of, and being very silly like all jealous people, she could not see that it was not poor Hermia's fault that Demetrius wished to marry her instead of his own lady Helena. She knew that if she told Demetrius that Hermia was going as she was to the wood outside Athens, he would follow her. And I can follow him, and at least I shall see him, she said to herself. So

she went to him and betrayed her friend's secret. Now, this wood, where Lyssander was to meet Hermia, and where the other two had decided to follow them, was full of fairies, as most woods are if only one had eyes to see them. And in this wood, on this night were the King and Queen of the fairies, Oberon and Titania. Now fairies are very wise people, but now and then they can be quite as foolish as mortal folk.

Oberon and Titania, who might have been as happy as the days were long, had thrown away all their joy in a foolish quarrel. They never met without saying disagreeable things to each other, and scolded each other so dreadfully that all their little fairy followers, for fear, would creep

into acorn cups and hide them there. So, instead of keeping one happy court and dancing all night through the moonlight as his fairies use, the king and his attendants wandered through one part of the wood, while the queen with hers kept state in another. And the cause of all this trouble was a little Indian boy whom Titania had taken to be one of her followers. Oberon wanted the child to follow him and be one of his fairy knights, but the queen would not give him up.

On this night, in a mossy, moonlit glade, the King and Queen of the fairies met. I'll meet by moonlight. Proud Titania, said the King. What jealous? Oberon answered the queen. You spoil everything with your quarreling. Come, fairies, let us leave him. I am not friends with him. Now it rests with you to make up the quarrel, said the King. Give me that little Indian boy, and I will again be your humble servant and suitor. Set your mind at rest,

said the queen. Your whole fairy kingdom buys not that boy from me. Come, fairies, and she and her train rode off down the moonbeams. Well go your ways, said Oberon, but I'll be even with you before you leave this wood. Then Oberon called his favorite fairy Puck. Puck was the

spirit of mischief. He used to slip into the dairies, and take the cream away, and get into the churn so that the butter would not come, and turn the beer sour, and lead peace out of their way on dark nights, and then laugh at them and tumble people's stools from under them when they were going to sit down, and upset their hot ale over their chins when they were going to drink. Now, said Oberon, to this little sprite,

fetch me the flower called love in idleness. The juice of that little purple flower, laid on the eyes of those who sleep, will make them when they awake, to love the first thing they see. I will put some of the juice of that flower on my Titania's eyes, and when she awakes, she will love the first thing she sees, were it a lion, bear, or wolf, or bull, or meddling monkey, or a busy ape. While Puck was gone,

Demetrius passed through the glade, followed by poor Helena. And still she told him how she loved him, and reminded him of all his promises, And still he told her that he did not and could not love her, and that his promises were nothing. Oberon was sorry for poor Helena, and when Puck returned with the flower, he bade him follow Demetrius and put some of the juice on his eyes, so that he might love Helena when he woke and

looked on her as much as she loved him. So Puck set off, and wandering through the wood, found not Demetrius but Lysander, on whose eyes he put the juice. But when Lysander woke, he saw not his own Hermia, but Helena, who was walking through the wood looking for the cruel Demetrius. And directly he saw her, he loved her, and he left his own lady under the spell of the purple flower. When Hermia awoke, she found Lyssander gone

and wondered about the wood, trying to find him. Puck went back and told Oberon what he had done, and Oberon soon found that he had made a mistake and set about looking for Demetrius, and having found him, put some of the juice on his eyes, And the first thing Demetrius saw when he woke was also Helena. So now Demetrius and Lyssander were both following her through the wood, and it was Hermia's turn to follow her lover, as

Helena had done before. Or the end of it was that Helena and Hermia began to quarrel, and Demetrius and Lyssander went off to fight. Oberon was very sorry to see his kind scheme to help these lovers turn out so badly. So he said to Puck, these two young men are going to fight. You must overhang the night with drooping fog and lead them so astray that one will never find the other. When they are tired out,

they will fall asleep. Then drop this other herb on Lessander's eyes that will give him his old sight and his old love. Then each man will have the lady who loves him, and they will all think that this has only been a midsummer night's dream. Then when this

is done, all will be well with them. So Puck went and did as he was told, And when the two had fallen asleep without meeting each other, Puck poured the juice on Lyssander's eyes and said, when thou wakest, thou takest true delight in the sight of thy former lady's eye, Jack shall have Jill, not shall go ill. Meanwhile, Oberon found Titania asleep on a bank where grew wild thyme, ox lips and violets, and woodbine, musk roses, and egglantine. There Titania always slept a part of the night wrapped

in the enameled skin of a snake. Oberon stooped her and laid the juice on her eyes, saying, what thou seest when thou awake, do it for thy true love? Take now. It happened that when Titania woke, the first thing she saw was a stupid clown, one of a party of players who had come out into the wood to rehearse their play. This clown had met with Puck, who had clapped an ass's head on his shoulders so that it looked as if it grew there directly. Titania

woke and saw this dreadful monster. She said, what angel is this? Are you as wise as you are beautiful? If I am wise enough to find my way out of this wood, that's a night for me, said the foolish clown. Do not desire to go out of the wood, said Titania. The spell of the love juice was on her, and to her the clown seemed the most beautiful and delightful creature on all the earth. I love you, she went on, Come with me, and I will give you

fairies to attend on you. So she called four fairies, whose names were pease Blossom, Cobweb, Moth, and mustard seed. You must attend this gentleman, said the queen. Feed him with apricots and dewberries, purple grapes, green figs and mulberries. Steal honey bags for him from the bumble bees, and with the wings of painted butterflies, fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes. I will, said one of the fairies,

and all the others said I will. Now sit down with me, said the queen to the clown, and let me stroke your dear cheeks, and stick muskroses in your smooth, sleek head, and kiss your fair large ears. My gentle joy, where's pease Blossom, asked the clown with the ass's head. He did not much care about the Queen's affection, but he was very proud of having fairies to wait on him. Ready, said pease Blossom. Scratch my head, pease Blossom, said the clown.

Where's Cobweb? Ready, said Cobweb, kill me, said the clown. The red bumblebee. On the top of this thistle yonder and bring me the honey bag. Where's muster seed ready, said mustard seed. Oh I want nothing, said the clown, Only just help cobweb to scratch. I must go to the barber for methinks, I am marvelous hairy about the face. Would you like anything to eat? Said the fairy queen. I should like some good dry oats, said the clown, for his donkey's head made him desire donkey's food and

some hay to follow. Shall some of my fairies fetch you new nuts from the squirrel's house, asked the queen. I'd rather have a handful of two or good dried peas, said the clown. But please don't let any of your people disturb me. I'm going to sleep, then, said the queen,

and I will wind thee in my arms. And so when Oberon came along, he found his beautiful queen lavishing kisses and endearments on a clown with a donkey's head, And before he released her from the enchantment, he persuaded her to give him the little Indian boy he so much desired to have. Then he took pity on her and threw some of the juice of the disenchanting flower on her pretty eyes, and then in a moment she saw plainly the donkey headed clown she had been loving,

and knew how foolish she had been. Oberon took off the ass's head from the clown and left him to finish his sleep with his own silly head, lying on the time in violets. Thus all was made plain and straight again. Oberon and Titania loved each other more than ever. Demetrius thought of no one but Helena, and Helena had never any thought of any one but Demetrius. As for Hermia and Lysander, they were as loving a couple as you could meet in a day's march, even through a

fairy wood. So the four mortal lovers went back to Athens and were married, and the fairy king and Queen lived happily together in that very wood to this very day. A midsummer night's dream. Hermia and Lysander were lovers, but Hermia's father wished her to marry another man named Demetrius. Now in Athens, where they lived, there was a wicked law by which any girl who refused to marry a according to her father's wishes might be put to death. Hermia's father was so angry with her for refusing to

do as he wished. That he actually brought her before the Duke of Athens to ask that she might be killed if she refused to obey him. The Duke gave her four days to think about it, and at the end of that time, if she still refused to marry Demetrius, she would have to die. Lessander, of course, was nearly mad with grief, and the best thing to do seemed to him for Hermia to run away to his aunt's house at a place beyond the reach of that cruel law, and there he would come to her and marry her.

But before she started, she told her friend Helen what she was going to do. Helena had been Demetrius's sweetheart long before his marriage with Hermia had been thought of, and being very silly like all jealous people, she could not see that it was not poor Hermia's fault that Demetrius wished to marry her instead of his own. Lady Helena, she knew that if she told Demetrius that Hermia was going as she was to the wood outside Athens, he

would follow her. And I can follow him, and at least I shall see him, she said to herself, So she went to him and betrayed her friend's secret. Now, this wood, where Lyssander was to meet Hermia, and where the other two had decided to follow them, was full of fairies, as most woods are, if only one had eyes to see them. And in this wood, on this night were the King and Queen of the fairies, Oberon

and Titania. Now fairies are very wise people, but now and then they can be quite as foolish as mortal folk. Oberon and Titania, who might have been as happy as the days were long, had thrown away all their joy in a foolish quarrel. They never met without saying disagreeable things to each other, and scolded each other so dreadfully that all their little fairy followers, for fear, would creep

into acorn cups and hide them there. Oh, instead of keeping one happy court and dancing all night through the moonlight as his fairies use, the king and his attendants wandered through one part of the wood, while the queen with hers kept state in another. And the cause of all this trouble was a little Indian boy, whom Titania had taken to be one of her followers. Oberon wanted the child to follow him and be one of his fairy knights, but the queen would not give him up.

On this night, in a mossy, moonlit glade, the King and Queen of the fairies met. I'll meet by moonlight. Proud Titania, said the king. What jealous? Oberon answered the queen. You spoil everything with your quarreling. Come, fairies, let us leave him. I am not friends with him. Now it rests with you to make up the quarrel, said the King. Give me that little Indian boy, and I will again be your humble servant and suitor. Set your mind at rest,

said the queen. Your whole fairy kingdom buys not that boy from me. Come fairies, and she and her train rode off down the moonbeams. Well go your ways, said Oberon, but I'll be even with you before you leave this wood. Then Oberon called his favorite fairy Puck. Puck was the

spirit of mischief. He used to slip into the dairies and take the cream away and get into the churns so that the butter would not come and turn the beer sour, and lead people out of their way on dark nights, and then laugh at them and tumble people's stools from under them when they were going to sit down, and upset their hot ale over their chins when they were going to drink. Now, said Oberon to this little sprite,

fetch me the flower called love in idleness. The juice of that little purple flower, laid on the eyes of those who sleep, will make them, when they awake, to love the first thing they see. I will put some of the juice of that flower on my Titania's eyes, and when she awakes, she will love the first thing she sees, were it a lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,

or meddling monkey, or a busy ape. While Puck was gone, Demetrius passed through the glade, followed by poor Helena, and still she told him how she loved him, and reminded him of all his promises, And still he told her that he did not and could not love her, and

that his promises were nothing. Oberon was sorry for poor Helena, and when Puck returned with the flower, he bade him follow Demetrius and put some of the juice on his eyes, so that he might love Helena when he woke, and looked on her as much as she loved him, so Puck set off, and wandering through the wood, found not Demetrius but Lysander, on whose eyes he put the juice. But when Lysander woke, he saw not his own Hermia, but Helena, who was walking through the wood looking for

the cruel Demetrius, and directly he saw her. He loved her, and he left his own lady under the spell of the purple flower. When Hermia awoke, she found Lyssander gone and wondered about the wood trying to find him. Puck went back and told Oberon what he had done, and Oberon soon found that he had made a mistake and set about looking for Demetrius, and having found him, put some of the juice on his eyes. And the first

thing Demetrius saw when he woke was also Helena. So now Demetrius and Lessander were both following her through the wood, and it was Hermia's turn to follow her lover, as Helena had done before the end of it was that Helena and Hermia began to quarrel, and Demetrius and Lyssander went off to fight. Oberon was very sorry to see his kind scheme to help these lovers turn out so badly, so he said to Puck, these two young men are

going to fight. You must overhang the night with drooping fog and lead them so astray that one will never find the other. When they are tired out, they will fall asleep. Then drop this other herb on Lessander's eyes that will give him his old sight and his old love. Then each man will have the lady who loves him. They will all think that this has only been a midsummer night's dream. Then when this is done, all will

be well with them. So Puck went and did as he was told, And when the two had fallen asleep without meeting each other, Puck poured the juice on Lyssander's eyes and said, when thou wakest, thou takest true delight in the sight of thy former lady's eye, Jack shall have Jill, Nought shall go ill. Meanwhile, Oberon found Titania asleep on a bank where grew wild thyme, ox lips and violets, and woodbine, musk roses and egglantine. There Titania always slept a part of the night, wrapped in the

enameled skin of a snake. Oberon stooped over her and laid the juice on her eyes, saying, what thou seest when thou awake, do it for thy true love? Take now. It happened that when Titania woke, the first thing she saw was a stupid clown, one of a party of players who had come out into the wood to rehearse their play. This clown had met with Puck, who had clapped an ass's head on his shoulders so that it looked as if it grew there Directly. Titania woke and

saw this dreadful monster. She said, what angel is this? Are you as wise as you are beautiful? If I am wise enough to find my way out of this wood, that's enough for me, said the foolish clown. Do not desire to go out of the wood, said Titania. The spell of the love juice was on her, and to her the clown seemed the most beautiful and delightful creature on all the earth. I love you, she went on, Come with me, and I will give you fairies to attend on you. So she called four fairies, whose names

were pease blossom, cobweb moth, and mustard seed. You must attend this gentleman, said the queen. Feed him with apricots and dewberries, purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries, steal honey bags for him from the bumble bees, and with the wings of painted butterflies, fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes. I will, said one of the fairies, and all the

others said, I will. Now sit down with me, said the queen to the clown, and let me stroke your dear cheeks, and stick muskroses in your smooth sleek head, and kiss your fair large ears. My gentle joy, where's pease blossom? Asked the clown with the ass's head. He did not much care about the queen's affection, but he was very proud of having fairies to wait on him. Ready, said pease Blossom. Scratch my head, pease Blossom, said the clown.

Where's Cobweb? Ready? Said cobweb? Kill me, said the clown. The red bumblebee on the top of it. Thistle yonder and bring me the honey bag. Where's mustard seed? Ready? Said mustard seed. Oh? I want nothing, said the clown, Only just help Cobweb to scratch. I must go to the barber for methinks. I am marvelous, hairy about the face. Would you like anything to eat, said the fairy queen. I should like some good dry oats, said the clown, for his donkey's head made him desire donkey's food and

some hay to follow. Shall some of my fairies fetch you new nuts from the squirrel's house, asked the queen. I'd rather have a handful of two or good dried peas, said the clown. But please don't let any of your people disturb me. I'm going to sleep, then, said the queen,

and I will wind thee in my arms. And so when Oberon came along, he found his beautiful queen lavishing kisses and endearments on a clown with a donkey's head, And before he released her from the enchantment, he persuaded her to give him the little Indian boy he so much desired to have. Then he took pity on her and threw some of the juice of the disenchanting flower on her pretty eyes. And then in a moment, she saw plainly the donkey headed clown she had been loving,

and knew how foolish she had been. Oberon took off the ass's head from the clown and left him to finish his sleep with his own silly head, lying on the time in violets. Thus all was made plain straight again. Oberon and Titania loved each other more than ever. Demetrius thought of no one but Helena, and Helena had never any thought of anyone but Demetrius. As for Hermia and Lyssander, they were as loving a couple as you could meet

in a day's march, even through a fairy wood. So the four mortal lovers went back to Athens and were married, And the fairy king and Queen live happily together in that very wood to this very day.