A Midsummer Night's Dream

In the ancient city of Athens, there was a very cruel law. This law said that fathers could make their daughters marry whom they chose. If a daughter refused to marry the man her father chose for her, then the father could have her killed. Of course, fathers do not often want their daughters to die. So this law was rarely followed by the Athenian people. However, there was one man named Egeus who did want to obey the law. One day Egeus went to see Theseus, the Duke of Athens. Egeus said that his daughter, Hermia, would not marry Demetrius, a young man from a good family. Hermia loved another Athenian man, named Lysander. Egeus told Theseus that he wanted Hermia to die for her disobedience.

As for Hermia, she felt there was a good reason why she couldn't marry Demetrius—Demetrius was in love with her good friend, Helena Helena also loved Demetrius. But when Hermia explained this to her father, he did not care. "I will give you four days to change your mind," Egeus told Hermia "If you still refuse to marry Demetrius, you must die!"

Hermia ran to her lover, Lysander, and told him everything. "I must marry Demetrius in four days, or die!" she cried. Lysander was very upset when he heard the terrible news. However, he soon thought up a plan. "We must escape from Athens," he said. "I have an aunt, who lives far from the city. We can go to her. Outside of Athens, the terrible law doesn't exist. We can marry at my aunt's house." Lysander told Hermia to meet him that night in a forest near the city. "We have often walked with Helena there, in the lovely month of May," he said.

Hermia happily agreed to this. She told no one about her plans but Helena. Unfortunately, the silly Helena decided to tell the whole story to Demetrius. Helena knew that when Demetrius discovered Hermia was gone, he would try to find her. She wanted to follow Demetrius into the forest.

Now, this forest was a special one. It was the home of those strange creatures called fairies. The fairies' king and queen were named Oberon and Titania. Every night, Oberon and Titania would lead all the fairies in songs, drinking, and dancing. Sadly, at this time the king and queen were very angry with each other. All the fairies were very upset. It seemed that Titania knew a little human boy, whose mother had been her friend. When the poor woman died, Titania stole the baby from its nurse, and took it to live with her. Now Oberon wanted the little boy for a servant, but Titania would not give the child to him.

It was the same night that Hermia and Lysander planned to meet in the woods. Titania was walking with some of her maidens in the woods. Suddenly she met Oberon. He had all his servants with him.

"So it is you, proud Titania!" said Oberon.

"Jealous Oberon! Fairies, we are leaving. I am not speaking to him," said Titania angrily. She turned to leave.

"Stop!I am still your lord!" said Oberon. "Why do you treat me this way? Give me the child!"

"Your whole fairy kingdom buys not the boy of me," said Titania coldly. She then left.

"Well, go then!" said Oberon. "Before morning comes, you'll be sorry!" He then called for Puck, who was his favorite servant. Puck was known for playing tricks on everyone. He was always ready to do what his master Oberon asked.

"Come here, Puck. I want you to find me the flower which is called 'Love in Idleness.' It is a small purple flower. You put its juice on the eyes of a sleeping person. When they awake, they will fall in love with the first thing they see! Bring me the flower, and I will put its juice on my queen Titania's eyes. The first thing she sees when she awakes will be an ugly monkey, or a lion, or an ape. She will fall in love with it! And I won't undo the magic, until she gives me that little human boy."

Puck loved this idea and was very excited. He ran away to find the flower. While Puck was away, Oberon saw Demetrius and Helena enter the forest. The fairy king watched them in secret. Oberon saw that Demetrius was angry with Helena for following him. He said many unkind things to her, but Helena did not seem to care. She gently reminded Demetrius that he had once loved her. "I'm leaving you here! I hope the wild animals eat you!" cried Demetrius, and ran away. But Helena just ran after him, as quickly as she could.

Oberon was always friendly to lovers. He felt very sorry for Helena. When Puck returned with the purple flower, Oberon said, "Puck, there is a sweet lady in trouble. She loves a man but he does not love her. Take a few of these flowers into the forest. You will find the young man, Demetrius, sleeping on the ground. Drop some of the love juice into his eyes. Make sure that the girl is near him, so that the first thing he sees when he awakes is her. You will know the man by his clothes. He is from Athens."

"Yes, of course, my king!" said Puck proudly, and ran into the forest. Then Oberon took the rest of the flowers and went to find Titania. Titania was asleep in her usual place. It was beautiful and peaceful, and filled with flowers. All her fairies were away, doing their night time work. Oberon quietly walked up to Titania and dropped some of the magical juice on her eyes. "What you see when you awake, do it for your true love take," he whispered.

Meanwhile, Hermia and Lysander had met with each other in another part of the forest. They were traveling through the forest in the direction of Lysander's aunt's house. However, they soon became tired, so they lay down to sleep. Lysander slept a little distance away from Hermia. Here, Puck found them. He saw Lysander's Athenian clothes, and Hermia sleeping nearby. It is not surprising that Puck thought these two were Demetrius and Helena! Quickly, he dropped the love juice onto the closed eyes of Lysander. He flew away, saying "Won't my king Oberon be pleased with me!"

Then some very strange things began to happen.

In the middle of the night, Helena walked through the forest. She was looking for Demetrius, who had run away from her. She could not find him, and was feeling quite upset. Suddenly, she saw Lysander sleeping on the ground.

"Lysander, if you are alive, then awake," she said. So when Lysander's eyes opened, Helena was the first person he saw. The magical love juice caused him to fall in love with her. He completely forgot about Hermia!

Lysander stood up and told Helena that she was much more beautiful than Hermia. He told her he loved her deeply. "I would run through fire for you, sweet lady," he cried.

Helena was extremely angry. She thought Lysander was making fun of her. "Why are you pretending to love me? You are Hermia's lover!" she said. But Lysander told her he didn't love Hermia, only her. Helena ran away, but Lysander followed her.

When Hermia awoke, she was very frightened to see that she was alone. She walked around, looking for Lysander.

Meanwhile, Demetrius had also fallen asleep. He had not found Hermia, or his enemy Lysander. Oberon the fairy king saw him sleeping. By this time, Oberon knew that Puck had given the love juice to the wrong man. Now Oberon put some love juice on Demetrius' eyes. And who was walking by when he awoke, but Helena! Now both men were in love with Helena. Demetrius was about to speak to her, when Lysander ran over. The unfortunate Hermia followed behind him.

Both men began to speak words of love to Helena. Helena did not know what to think. She thought all of them were making fun of her. But Hermia was just as surprised as her friend. She did not know why Lysander and Demetrius, who had first loved her, now loved only Helena. Hermia didn't think it was very funny. Now the women, who had always been good friends, became angry with each other.

"Unkind Hermia," said Helena, "why are you treating me this way? Before, Demetrius would not look at me, only you. He almost hated me. Now he calls me a goddess and a jewel! And Lysander is your lover. Why is he sitting at my feet? You told them to make fun of me! We have been friends for many years. How terrible that you would be so cruel!"

"I am amazed at your words," said Hermia. "I am not cruel to you. It seems that you are cruel to me!"

"Oh, I know you are all laughing at me, when my back is turned!" shouted Helena.

While the women were arguing, the men had left them. They had gone to fight each other for the love of Helena. Soon the women left to find the men.

Oberon and Puck had been listening to these quarrels. When the four people left, Oberon said, "Puck, look what you did!"

"Believe me, king," said Puck, "it was a mistake! You did tell me I would know the man, from his Athenian clothes. Well, both these men are from Athens! But I am not sorry this happened. I love to see them shout and cry! How funny!" And Puck began to laugh.

But Oberon said. "Puck, I order you to find these people. Then you must fill the air with mist, so that they become separated from each other. Then, make them think that they hear voices. After they have become tired from walking, they will lie down and sleep. When they are sleeping, drop the juice of this other flower on Lysander's eyes. When he awakes he will love Hermia again. Each lady will have a lover. They will think everything was a terrible dream! Now, I must go and see what my queen Titania is doing!"

Titania was still sleeping. Oberon wanted to find something silly for her to fall in love with. He soon saw a fat, silly looking man sleeping nearby. He had become lost in the woods. Oberon placed a donkey's head on the sleeping man. "There! Now this man will be my queen's true love!" he said. After a few minutes the man woke up. He did not see Titania at first. But then she woke up and saw him.

"Oh, what angel is this?" cried Titania. "Are you as wise, as you are handsome?"

"Well, my lady," said the man, whose name was Bottom, "If I can find my way out of this forest, then I think I'm wise enough!"

"I do not want you to leave," cried Titania. "I am the fairy queen, and I love you. Come with me, and I will give you fairy servants."

Bottom thought this was a very good idea.

Titania then called four of her fairies. Their names were Pease-blossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustard-seed. "Take care of this gentleman," Titania ordered them. "Feed him with grapes and apricots, and honey from the bees. Now, sit with me, my beautiful donkey! Let me kiss your wonderful large ears!"

Bottom was not very interested in the queen. But he was very interested in the other fairies. "Where is Pease-blossom?" he asked.

"Here, sir," said Pease-blossom.

"Scratch my head," said Bottom. "Now, Cobweb, go and find me some honey. Mustard-seed, you can help Pease-blossom. I must go to a barber. I think my hair has grown!"

"My sweet love," said Titania, "what would you like to eat? I can have a fairy go and find you some nuts."

"I would like some dried grass," said Bottom. Now that he had a donkey's head, he wanted donkey's food. "But first, I will sleep for awhile."

"Oh, how I love you," said Titania. "Sleep then, and I will hold you in my arms."

Oberon thought this was very funny. But he pretended to be upset, when he walked by. He scolded Titania for loving a donkey. Then he asked for the little human boy. Titania was very embarrassed that Oberon found her with her new lover. So she gave the boy to him immediately.

Now that Oberon had gotten what he wanted, he decided to end the magic. He didn't want his queen to be in love with a donkey! He threw the juice of another flower into her eyes. Titania felt normal again. "What is this strange monster doing in my bed?" she asked. Oberon took the donkey's head off Bottom. Oberon and Titania left him sleeping there, peacefully.

Now that the fairy king and queen were happy again, Oberon told Titania all about the adventures of the four lovers. She agreed to go with him to spy on the lovers once more. They found the four lovers asleep on the ground. Puck had managed to bring them all into the same place, to correct his mistake. Puck carefully removed the love juice from Lysander's eyes, with the juice of the other flower.

Hermia woke up first. She looked at Lysander, wondering how he could be so strange and cruel to her. Soon Lysander opened his eyes and saw Hermia. Now, of course, he loved Hermia again. Lysander and Hermia discussed the night's strange events. They doubted if it was real; perhaps they had dreamed the same dream.

Now Helena and Demetrius were awake, also. Now that Helena had slept sweetly, she listened with delight to Demetrius' words of love. She was surprised and happy to see that his words were sincere. Hermia and Helena were now friends again, and all unkind words were forgotten. The four people talked about what they should do now. They agreed that Demetrius would tell Hermia's father that he wouldn't marry her. Then Egeus would let Hermia live. However, just as Demetrius was preparing to return to Athens, they saw Egeus. He had come into the forest, looking for his daughter.

Soon Egeus learned that Demetrius would not now marry Hermia. He agreed that Lysander and Hermia could marry in three days. It would be the same day Hermia was supposed to die! Helena also agreed to marry Demetrius on this same day.

Oberon and Titania were watching the happy people. They decided to celebrate the marriages of the lovers. On the day of the marriages, there would be songs and dances throughout the fairy kingdom.

Now, some readers might be upset by this story of fairies and their tricks. They might think it is incredible, and strange. But those readers can just imagine that they have been asleep and dreaming themselves. Perhaps they dreamed this whole story. But who could be upset by a dream of a pretty, harmless midsummer night?

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