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Modern Text |
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THESEUS I wonder if the lion be to speak.
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THESEUS I wonder if the lion’s going to talk.
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DEMETRIUS No wonder, my lord. One lion may when many asses do.
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DEMETRIUS It wouldn’t surprise me, my lord. If these asses can
speak, a lion should be able to.
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Exeunt PROLOGUE,
PYRAMUS, THISBE,
LION, and MOONSHINE
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PROLOGUE, THISBE,
LION, and MOONSHINE
exit.
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WALL
(played by
SNOUT) In this same interlude it doth
befall
150That I, one Snout by name, present a wall.
And such a wall, as I would have you think,
That had in it a crannied hole, or chink,
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe,
Did whisper often very secretly.
155This loam, this roughcast, and this stone doth show
That I am that same wall. The truth is so.
And this the cranny is, right and sinister,
Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.
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WALL
(played by
SNOUT) At this point I, Snout, play a
wall. But not just any wall. I want you to understand that
I’m pretending to be a kind of wall that has a little
hole in it. The lovers Pyramus and Thisbe often whispered very
secretly through that hole. This clay, this cement, and this stone
that I’m carrying around show that I’m that
wall. It’s the truth. And this is the crack, right side
and left side
(points with two fingers), through
which the frightened lovers will be whispering.
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THESEUS Would you desire lime and hair to speak better?
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THESEUS Can you imagine cement and stone talking better?
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DEMETRIUS
160It is the wittiest partition that ever I heard discourse,
my lord.
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DEMETRIUS It’s the smartest partition I’ve ever heard
speak, my lord.
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Enter PYRAMUS
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PYRAMUS enters.
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THESEUS Pyramus draws near the wall. Silence!
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THESEUS Pyramus is coming up to the wall. Be quiet!
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PYRAMUS
(played by
BOTTOM)
O grim-looked night! O night with hue so black!
165O night, which ever art when day is not!
O night, O night! Alack, alack, alack,
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PYRAMUS
(played by
BOTTOM) Oh, grim-looking night! Oh,
night that is so black in color! Oh night, which is always there
when it is not day! Oh night! Oh night! So sad, sad, sad,
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