The Tempest CHARACTERS Prospero, the true Duke of Milan Antonio, his brother, the unlawful duke The King of Naples Ferdinand, his son Miranda, daughter of Prospero Ariel, a spirit serving Prospero (Caliban, a monster There was 2 certain island in the sea, on which there lived only 2= old man. whose name was Prospero, and his daughter Miranda 2 very beautiful young lady. Ther ined Tt was divided into several parts, scady. There he kept his books, © found the knowledge of fm - He bad been thrown by a strange « under a spell by a power of his art to set the bodies of vl commands. ees we air che oboe wo the will of 2 found this coratuse tht looked far less like a me to his caveand wiughe him to apeak and would have been very kind to him, Prospero answered, ‘You did, and more. How is it that this still . a i it this stil 5 ve in your mind? Do you remember how you came here?” would not allow hin to learn anything, pe vod or useful. So he was ‘No, sir; said Miranda,“I remember nothing more? oinployed like « slave, to carry wood, and do the most tiring jobs; ; but the bad nature which Caliban had from his mother, Sycorax, viel Ariel hud the duty of forcing him to earry out these services. ° When Calihan jyvy and did not do his work, Ariel (who “Twelve years ago, Miranda; continued Prospero, ‘I was Duke of valid he avon hy ne eyed except Proxpero’s) would come quietly Milan, and you were a princess and my only child. 1 had a sy andl tube Hold af hint painfully, and sometimes throw him younger brother, whose name was Antonio, to whom I trusted ira lw the wud aud then Ariel would take the form of a everything; and as I was fond of quiet and deep study, T usually jvoniey, anil Hake faces at hin, With many cruel tricks like these left the management of my state affairs to your uncle, my false Hel would apaet hin, whenever Caliban failed to do the work brother (for so he proved). I, uninterested in all worldly aims, hich Veen sonmmanded him to do. buried among my books, gave my whole time to the Hootie these pawerful spirits obedient to his will, Prospero improvement of my mind. Since my brother Antonio was in J be chet mene command the winds, and the waves of the possession of my power, he began to think that he was the duke. Hallow ing hie orders they started a great storm, in the middle The opportunity I gave him of making himself popular among, J ochich ve ehawed hin daughter a large ship struggling with the iy subjects led him to the proud desire to rob me of my hd oven that every moment seemed about to swallow it up. position, This he soon did with the help of the King of Naples, a Five obiiyh tie tale her, was (ull of living beings like themselves. powerfi prince who was my enemy? ih tay dear father, said she, ‘if by your art you have brought Why did they hot destroy us then?’ asked Miranda. jie territde storm, have pity on them. See! The ship will be My child! anewered her fither, ‘they dared not, so dear was hyken to pleces, and they will all be drowned. If I had power, I e lave aie jy people felt for me, Antonio carried us on board wild otk the nen beneath the earth, rather than destroy the soli ane when we were sone niles out at sea, he forced us into i : sornill owt, without etter oatle ar ropes there he left us, as he : sople inside her! . vod ship with all the poor peop W 40, Miranda, said Prospero; "there 1 no harm Hoult: to die Hata hind land af ily court, a man called yer worry ao, Miranda, sa s ; ‘the hi thane v8 die it \ Jerod that no person in the ship shall receive any joa who loved mie Had aeeretly placed inthe boat water, fone Ehave ordered tn Jear child. You do foviol, laehinny anal aunie book» whieh F value above my tile, sen for you, my ¢ seen for you, MY Oy bitten! said Miranda, what a trouble Fmnust have been Frere you came from, and you know ‘ther and live in this poor ame here? 1 think jt What E have done hav | whe you are, On w wo you then! jet he rion of me except that Tam your i Faun you remember a me before you came he yet) fae you were then not three years of age: ~ ike the voily Fear ain replied Miranda, ‘Ie ot ® = ae A ts bn fn a se en ad tes have fou I (y droann, Hut did F net ones ‘iow lowane you have learned well: Moc my loves sald Prospero, 'you were the beautifil lide jourie whee aniilen made me bear ny Hinfortines bravely, Our jel voted neil we landed on this devert land) and since then‘Heaven thank you, my dear father? said Miranda. ‘Now tell me, sir, your reason for ordering this storm?” ‘I will) said her father. ‘By means of this storm, my enemies, the King of Naples and my cruel brother, are being driven on to this island’ Having said this, Prospero gently touched his daughter with his magic stick, and she fell fast asleep; for the spirit Ariel just then appeared before his master, to give an account of the tempest, and of what he had done with the ship’s company. ‘Though the spirits could never be seen by Miranda, Prospero did not wish her to hear him speaking (as it would seem to hex) to the empty air. ‘Well, my brave spirit; said Prospero to Ariel, ‘how have you performed your work? Ariel gave a description of the storm, and of the fears of the sailors; and how the king’s son, Ferdinand, was the first who jumped into the sea, and his father thought he saw his dear son swallowed up by the waves and lost. “But he is safe, said Ariel, ‘in a corner of the island, sitting with his arms folded, crying for the loss of the king, his father, whom he believes has been drowned. Not a hair of his head has been hurt, and his princely clothes, though wet from the waves of the sea, look fresher than before’ “That’s my delicate Ariel; said Prospero. ‘Bring him here: my daughter must see this young prince, Where is the king, and my brother?” ‘T left them, answered Ariel, ‘searching for Ferdinand, whom they have little hope of finding. Of the sailors not one is missing, though each one thinks himself the only one saved; and the ship, though out of sight, is safe in the port? Atiel, said Prospero, ‘you have done your work well, but there in more to do? '\y there more work? said Ariel. ‘Let me remind you, master, 4 yu) have promised me my freedom. I have served you well and without complaint, told you no lies, made no mistakes? Wha treed you from. said Prospero. “You do not remember what pain I e you forgotten the evil witch Sycorax, who wi almost bent double with age and jealousy? Where was she horn? Speak; tell me? ‘Sin, in Algiers, said Ariel. ‘Oh, was she?’ said Prospero. ‘I must remind you of things that | lind you have forgotten. This witch, Sycorax, was driven from Alwiers for the things she did, too terrible for human ears, and was left here by the sailors; and because you were a spirit too delicate to carry out her evil commands, she shut you up in a lee, where I found you crying. This pain, remember, I freed you from. ‘Pardon me, dear master, said Ariel, ashamed to seem Ungrateful. ‘T will obey your commands? “Do so; said Prospero, ‘and I will set you free? He then gave more orders, and away went Ariel. First the spirit went to where he had lef Ferdinand, and found him still sitting on the grass in the same sad state. ‘Oh, my young gentleman; said Ariel, when he saw him, ‘I will woon move you. You must be brought, I find, for the Lady Miranda to have a sight of your pretty figure. Come, sit, follow me, He began to sing, and the prince followed the magic sound of Ariel’s voice until it led him to Prospero and Miranda, who were sitting under the shade of a large tree. Now Miranda had never seen a man before, except her own father. ‘Miranda? said Prospero, ‘tell me what you are looking at over there? ‘Oh, father? said Miranda, in surprise, ‘surely that is a spirit. Believe me, sir, it is a beautifial creature. Is it not a spirit?” ‘No, girl? answered her father, ‘it eats, and sleeps, and has 5senses just as we have. This young man you see was on the ship. He is rather changed by grief, or you might call him beautiful. He has lost his companions, and is wandering about to find them. Miranda, who thought all men had serious faces and grey beards like her father, was excited by the appearance of this beautiful young prince. And Ferdinand, seeing such a lovely lady in this empty place, thought he was on a magic island, and that Miranda was the goddess of the place. He began to address her with the respect a goddess deserves. She answered, a little fearfully, that she was no goddess, but a simple girl, and was going to give him an account of herself, when Prospero interrupted her. He was well pleased to find they admired each other; he saw clearly they had (as we say) fallen in love at first sight.'To test Ferdinand’s love, though, he decided to throw some difficulties in their way; stepping forward, he addressed the prince severely, telling him he came to the island as a thief, to steal it from its real master, himself. “Follow me; said Prospero. ‘I will tie you up. You shall drink seawater; shellfish and dead roots shall be your food’ ‘No; said Ferdinand. ‘I will fight against that kind of entertainment until I see a more powerful enemy’ He pulled out his sword; but Prospero, waving his magic stick, fixed him to the spot where he stood, so that he had no power to move. Miranda ran to her father, saying, ‘Why are you so unkind? Have pity, sit. This is the second man I have ever seen, and to me he seems a true one! ° ‘Silence, said the father, ‘one more word will make me angry with you, girl! What! Will you speak for a thief? You think there are no finer men, because you have seen only him and Caliban? 6 He said this to test his daughter's love; and she replied, ‘I have no wish to see a finer man? ‘Come on, young man, said Prospero to the prince, ‘you have ho power to disobey me? ‘| have not; answered Ferdinand; and not knowing that it was by magic he was robbed of all power to fight, he was surprised to find himself so strangely forced to follow Prospero. Looking back on Miranda as long as he could see her, he said, as he went alter Prospero into the cave, I feel as if I were in a dream; but this man’s threats, and the weakness which I feel, would be nothing if I could see this fair young woman once a day from my prison’ Prospero did not keep Ferdinand shut up long inside the cave. He soon brought out his prisoner and gave him a difficult job, taking care to let his daughter know what he had done. Then, pretending to go into his study, he secretly watched them both. Prospero had commanded Ferdinand to pile up some heavy pieces of wood. Kings’ sons are not used to hard physical work, so Miranda soon found her lover almost dying with tiredness. “Oh, sir!’ said she, ‘do not work so hard; my father is at his studies, and will not come out for at least three hours. Please rest yourself? ‘Oh, my dear lady” said Ferdinand, ‘I dare not. 1 must finish my job before I rest? ‘If you will sit down, said Miranda, ‘I will carry your wood for a little while? But Ferdinand would not agree to this. Instead of helping Ferdinand with his work, Miranda prevented him from doing it, since they began a long conversation and the business of wood-carrying went on very slowly. Prospero, who had given Ferdinand this job as a test of his love, was not at his books, as his daughter thought, but was standing near them unseen, to hear what they said. Ferdinand asked her name, which she told him, saying that shedid so against her father’s command. Prospero only smiled at this first example of his daughter's disobedience; having, by his magic art, caused his daughter to fall in love so suddenly, he was not angry that she showed her love by forgetting to obey his commands. And he listened with pleasure to a long speech of Ferdinand’s, in which he said he loved her more than any lady he had ever seen. In answer to his praises of her beauty, which he said was greater than any other woman’s in the world, she replied, ‘I do not remember the face of any woman, nor have I seen any more men than you, my good friend, and my dear father. But, believe me, sir, | would not wish for any companion in the world except you, nor can my imagination form any shape that I could like more than yours. But, sir, I fear I am talking to you too freely, and I am forgetting my father’s commands’ At this Prospero smiled to himself, as much as to say, “This is going exactly as I wished; my girl will be Queen of Naples’ And then Ferdinand, in another fine long speech (for young, princes speak in courtly language), told the sweet Miranda that he would be the next king of Naples, and that she should be his queen. “Ah, sir} said she, ‘I am a fool to cry at what I am glad of. I will be your wife, if you wish to marry me? Before Ferdinand could thank her, Prospero appeared before them. ‘Fear nothing, my child) said he. ‘I have heard and approve of all you have said. And Ferdinand, if I have used you too severely, I will pay you well by giving you my daughter. All your troubles were only tests of your love, and you have stood the tests well. So take my daughter as my gift, which your true love has bought, and do not smile when I tell you she is above all praise’ Phen, telling them that he had business in another place, he sked them to sit down and talk together, until he returned; and (his command Miranda seemed unlikely to disobey. ° When Prospero left them, he called his spirit Ariel, who quickly appeared before him, cager to tell him what he had done with Prospero’s brother and the King of Naples. Ariel said he had left them almost out of their senses with fear at the strange things he had caused them to see and hear, When they were tired of wandering about, and half dead for want of food, he had suddenly set a fine meal in front of them. And then, just as they were going to eat, he had appeared before them in the shape of a hungry monster with wings, and the meal had disappeared,'Then, to their great surprise, this monster spoke to them, reminding them of their cruelty in driving Prospero from his own country, and leaving him and his little daughter to die at sea; for this reason, they were now suffering these terrors. The King of Naples and Antonio, the false brother, were filled with sorrow for the injustice they had done to Prospero, and Ariel told his master he was certain their guilt was sincere, and that he, though a spirit, could not help pitying them. ‘Then bring them here, Ariel} said Prospero. ‘If you, who are only a spirit, feel for their grief, surely I, who am a human being like themselves, will have pity on them. Bring them quickly, my pretty Ariel’? Ariel soon returned with the king, Antonio and old Gonzalo. ‘They had followed him, trapped by the wild music he played in the air to lead them to his master’s presence. This Gonzalo was the same man who had so kindly provided Prospero with books and food, when his evil brother had left him to die in an open boat at sea. Grief and terror had so deadened the senses of the three meneee that they did not know Prospero. He first made himself known to good old Gonzalo, calling him his life-saver; and then his brother and the king realized that he was the Prospero they had tried to kill. Antonio, with tears of sorrow and true shame, begged his brother's forgiveness, and the king said he, too, was sorry that he had helped Antonio to take his brother’s place. And Prospero forgave them; and when they promised to give back his title and property, he said to the King of Naples, I have a gift for you, too’; and opening a door, Prospero showed him his son Ferdinand with Miranda. Nothing could have been greater than the joy of the father and the son at this unexpected meeting, since they each thought that the other had been drowned in the storm. “Oh, heavens!” said Miranda. “What lovely creatures these are! Tt must surely be a fine world that has such people in it? The King of Naples was almost as surprised at the beauty of Miranda as his son had been. ‘Who is this young woman?” said he. ‘She must be the goddess that has parted us and has brought us together. “No, sit, answered Ferdinand, smiling to find his father had made the same mistake that he had made when he first saw Miranda, ‘she is only a woman, but by God’s goodness she is mine. I chose her when I could not ask you, my father, for your permission, not knowing you were alive. She is the daughter of this Prospero, who is the Duke of Milan, of whose fame I have heard so much. I have never seen him until now, but from him I have received a new life; he has made himself my second father by giving me this dear lady’ “Then I must be her father, said the king, ‘but oh, how strange i will sound when I ask my own child’s forgiveness. ‘No more of that, said Prospero. ‘Let us not remember our past troubles, since they have ended so happily? And then 10 Prospero kissed his brother, and gave him his forgiveness again. He said that a wise, all-powerful God had allowed him to be driven from his home in Milan so that his daughter could become Queen of Naples, since through their meeting on this desert island it had happened that the king’s son had fallen in love with Miranda. These kind words which Prospero spoke, meaning to comfort his brother, filled Antonio with such shame and sorrow that he cried and was unable to speak. And the kind old Gonzalo also cried to see this joyful union of hearts, and prayed for the young people’s happiness. Prospero now told them that their ship was safe in the port, and the sailors were all on board, and that he and his daughter would go home with them the next morning. “But now, said he, let’s share whatever food my poor cave can provide; and for your evening's entertainment I will tell you the history of my life from my first landing on this desert island? He then called for Caliban to prepare some food and set the cave in order. The company were shocked at the strange form and wild appearance of this ugly monster, who (Prospero said) was the only servant he had to help him. Before Prospero left the island, he dismissed Ariel from his service, to the great joy of that little spirit. Although he had been a good servant to his master, he was always longing to enjoy his freedom, to wander uncontrolled in the air, like a wild bird, under green trees, among pleasant fruits and sweet-smelling flowers. “My pretty Ariel? said Prospero to the little spirit when he set him free,‘I shall miss you; but you can have your freedom? “Thank you, my dear mastery said Ariel. ‘But allow me to help your ship home with favourable winds, before you say goodbye to your honest spirit. And then, master, when I am free, how happily I shall live!”Prospero buried his magical books and his stick deep in the carth, because he was determined never more to make use of the magic art. And having defeated his enemies, and being united with his brother and the King of Naples, nothing now remained to complete his happiness, except to revisit his homeland, to take possession of Milan, and to witness the happy marriage of his daughter Miranda and Prince Ferdinand, which the king said should be celebrated immediately after their return to Naples. And, after a pleasant journey, and under the protection of the spirit Ariel, they soon arrived there. A Midsummer Night’s Dream CHARACTERS Theseus, Duke of Athens Hgeus, a citizen of Athens Demetrius, a young Athenian Lysander A country man Hermia, daughter of Egeus Helena, her friend. Oberon, king of the fairies Titania, queen of the fairies Puck, adviser to Oberon Vairies, serving Titania “There was a Jaw in the city of Athens which gave its citizens the power to force their daughters to marry whoever they pleased. If 4 daughter refused to marry the man her father had chosen to be her husband, the father could by this law cause her to be killed. But as fathers do not often desire the death of their own daughters, even if they are a little disobedient, this law was rarely or never used. But there was one case of an old man, whose name was Egeus, who actually did come to Theseus (at that time the Duke of Athens), to make a complaint about his daughter Hermia. He lid commanded Hermia to marry Demetrius, a young man of in old Athenian family, but she refused to obey him, because she loved another young Athenian, named Lysander. Egeus ilemanded justice from Theseus, and asked for this cruel law to be used against his daughter.