SCENE II. Athens. QUINCE'S house. A Midsummer Night's Dream  Shakespeare homepage  |  Midsummer Night's Dream  | Act 4, Scene 2 

 Previous scene  |  Next scene  SCENE II. Athens. QUINCE'S house. 

 Enter QUINCE, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING  QUINCE  Have you sent to Bottom's house ? is he come home yet? 

 STARVELING  He cannot be heard of. Out of doubt he is 

 transported. 

 FLUTE  If he come not, then the play is marred: it goes 

 not forward, doth it? 

 QUINCE  It is not possible: you have not a man in all 

 Athens able to discharge Pyramus but he. 

 FLUTE  No, he hath simply the best wit of any handicraft 

 man in Athens. 

 QUINCE  Yea and the best person too; and he is a very 

 paramour for a sweet voice. 

 FLUTE  You must say 'paragon:' a paramour is, God bless us, 

 a thing of naught. 



 Enter SNUG  SNUG  Masters, the duke is coming from the temple, and 

 there is two or three lords and ladies more married: 

 if our sport had gone forward, we had all been made 

 men. 

 FLUTE  O sweet bully Bottom! Thus hath he lost sixpence a 

 day during his life; he could not have 'scaped 

 sixpence a day: an the duke had not given him 

 sixpence a day for playing Pyramus, I'll be hanged; 

 he would have deserved it: sixpence a day in 

 Pyramus, or nothing. 



 Enter BOTTOM  BOTTOM  Where are these lads? where are these hearts? 

 QUINCE  Bottom! O most courageous day! O most happy hour! 

 BOTTOM  Masters, I am to discourse wonders: but ask me not 

 what; for if I tell you, I am no true Athenian. I 

 will tell you every thing, right as it fell out. 

 QUINCE  Let us hear, sweet Bottom. 

 BOTTOM  Not a word of me. All that I will tell you is, that 

 the duke hath dined. Get your apparel together, 

 good strings to your beards, new ribbons to your 

 pumps; meet presently at the palace; every man look 

 o'er his part; for the short and the long is, our 

 play is preferred. In any case, let Thisby have 

 clean linen; and let not him that plays the lion 

 pair his nails, for they shall hang out for the 

 lion's claws. And, most dear actors, eat no onions 

 nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath; and I 

 do not doubt but to hear them say, it is a sweet 

 comedy. No more words: away! go, away! 



 Exeunt  Shakespeare homepage  |  Midsummer Night's Dream  | Act 4, Scene 2 

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