A midsummer Nights Dream

Theseus's Wedding Day

Oberon and Puck went through the wood in search of Titania. The magic

juice  was  still  working,  and  Titania  was  in  love  with  Bottom.  They  found  her

sleeping next to Bottom who was still wearing the donkey's head. Oberon felt a

little ashamed of the trick he had played on his Queen when he saw how much

she loved the strange creature. He looked down at the sleeping couple for a little

while.

'It's  time  to  end  this  game,'  the  King  told  his  servant  quietly.  'My  quarrel

with  the  Queen  is  over,  Puck.  She  has  given  me  the  servant  boy  I  wanted.  I'll

bring  her  back  to  her  usual  self.  You  do  the  same  for  Bottom.  Remove  the

donkey's  head,  and  let  him  sleep  for  a  while.  When  he  wakes,  he'll  think

everything that happened here was just a dream.'

Oberon  poured  some  magic  juice  into  Titania's  eyes,  and  she  began  to

wake. She opened her eyes, and smiled at the King.

'Oberon,' she said with a tender smile, 'it's you! But I've had such a strange

dream,' she told him. 'I thought I was in love with a donkey!'

'There's your donkey.' Oberon told her, and he pointed to Bottom, who was

still asleep by her side.

'How  ugly  he  is!'  the  Queen  said.  She  moved  away  from  Bottom.  'But

what's been happening here - I don't understand this at all!'

'Hush,' said Oberon. 'I'll explain everything later. Now we must get ready.

Today is Theseus's wedding day, and we must go to the palace tonight to help in

the celebrations.'

He turned to Puck.

'We're all going to Athens,' he told him. 'Lysander will marry Hermia, and

Demetrius will marry Helena - and we'll be there to make the day a special one

for everybody!'

It was now morning, and Theseus and Hippolyta had come into the wood

to  go  hunting.  They  had  many  servants  with  them.  Theseus  was  very  proud  of

his hunting dogs, and he wanted to show Hippolyta how splendid they were.

'These  are  the  best  hunting  dogs  in  the  world,'  he  told  her  proudly.  'Soon

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we'll let them run through the wood - it'll be a splendid sight!'

As Theseus was speaking, he saw something on the ground in front of him.

He stepped forward, and then gave a cry of surprise.

'There are people sleeping here!' he said. 'Who can they be, I wonder?'

'It's my daughter!' cried Egeus. 'And look, there's Lysander, and Demetrius

and Helena. What are they all doing here together?'

'Perhaps  they  came  into  the  wood  to  see  the  hunting,'  Theseus  answered.

'It's a good thing we met them here, Egeus. Today is my wedding day. It's today

that  Hermia  has  to  make  her  choice  about  marrying  Demetrius  or  going  into  a

convent.'

Theseus ordered one of his servants to wake the young people. The servant

blew his hunting horn, and all the hounds began to bark. The four young people

began  to  wake.  They  looked  confused,  as  if  they  were  not  sure  what  was

happening. Theseus smiled at them. Then he spoke to Lysander.

'I'm  surprised  to  see  you  all  together,'  he  told  him.  'In  Athens  you  and

Demetrius  were  enemies.  What  has  happened  to  make  you  such  good  friends?'

Lysander hesitated for a moment before replying.

'I don't know what to say, sir,' he began. 'I don't really understand what has

happened, or why we're all together here. It's as if I've been dreaming. All I can

tell you is that Hermia and I came into the wood together. We wanted to escape

from Athens'

'...  and  from  the  law,  no  doubt!'  Egeus  interrupted  angrily.  He  turned  to

Demetrius.  'Do  you  hear  that,  Demetrius?  Lysander  wanted  to  run  away  with

Hermia.  He  would  have  stolen  the  girl  you're  going  to  marry!  The  law  should

punish him, Theseus.'

Demetrius then spoke.

'It's  true  that  Lysander  and  Hermia  ran  away  from  Athens.  They  told

Helena  their  secret,  and  I  followed  them.  I  was  angry  with  Lysander,  and  I

wanted to stop them. But then… something happened… I can't describe it… All

I know is that my love for Hermia has disappeared… it's Helena that I love now.'

Demetrius looked at Theseus, then he went on.

'You  know  that  I  was  in  love  with  her  before  I  saw  Hermia.  Now  I'm  in

love with her again. I don't want to marry Hermia.'

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Egeus was very surprised at what Demetrius had said, and he did not know

what  to  say.  No  one  spoke  for  a  while,  and  then  Theseus  made  a  sudden

decision.

'I've  changed  my  mind,  Egeus.'  he  announced.  'I'm  not  going  to  punish

Lysander  and  Hermia,  after  all.  We'll  all  be  married  together.  Lysander  will

marry Hermia, Demetrius will marry Helena, and I will marry Hippolyta. It'll be

a wonderful ceremony! Come on everybody,' he ordered them, 'we'll go back to

Athens  together.  You  can  tell  me  everything  that  happened  here  in  the  wood

while we're travelling.'

The four young people went back to the city with Theseus and the others.

When Bottom woke up he found himself alone in the wood. He sat up, and

looked around him. He, too, did not understand what had happened to him.

'What  a  dream  I've  had!'  he  thought.  'I  thought  I  was...  I  thought…  '  He

shook his head. 'I don't remember it all, but… no one has ever had a dream like

that…  it  was  splendid!'  Then  he  remembered  what  day  it  was.  'Theseus's

wedding!'  he  reminded  himself.  'I  must  get  back  to  the  city.  We're  performing

our play tonight.'

Bottom jumped up, and began to walk quickly through the wood towards

Athens.

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