He bravely broach'd his boiling bloody breast. And Thisby tarrying in the mulberry shade,

His dagger drew, and died. For all the reft, Let Lion, Moon-shine, Wall, and lovers twain, At large discourse, while here they do remain.

[Exeunt all but Wall.

THE. I wonder, if the Lion be to fpeak.
DEM. No wonder, my lord; one Lion may, when many

affes do.

WALL. In this fame interlude, it doth befall,
That I, one Snout by name, present a wall:
And fuch a wall, as I would have you think,
That had in it a crannied hole or chink;
Through which the lovers, Pyr'mus and Thisby,
Did whisper often very fecretly.

This loam, this rough-cast, and this stone doth fhew,
That I am that fame wall; the truth is fo.

And this the cranny is, right and finister,

Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.

THE. Would you defire lime and hair to speak better? DEM. It is the wittiest partition, that ever I heard difcourfe, my lord.

THE. Pyramus draws near the wall: filence!

Enter Pyramus.

PYR. O grim-look'd night! O night with hue fo black!
O night which ever art, when day is not!
night, O night, alack, alack, alack,

I fear, my Thisby's promife is forgot.
And thou, O wall, O fweet and lovely wall,

Shew me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
Thanks, courteous wall; Jove fhield thee well for this!

But what fee I? no Thifby do I fee.

O wicked wall, through whom I fee no blifs;
Curst be thy ftones for thus deceiving me!

THE. The wall, methinks, being fenfible, fhould curfe

again.

PYR. No, in truth, Sir, he fhould not.

Deceiving me," is Thifby's cue; fhe is to enter, and I am to fpy her through the wall. You shall see, it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder fhe comes.

Enter Thisby.

THIS. O wall, full often haft thou heard my moans,

For parting my fair Pyramus and me.

My cherry lips have often kifs'd thy ftones;

Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.

PYR. I fee a voice; now will I to the chink;
To spy, an' I can hear my Thisby's face.
Thisby!

THIS. My love! thou art, my love, I think.
PYR. Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace,

And like Limander am I trusty still.

THIS. And I like Helen, till the fates me kill.
PYR. Not Shafalus to Procrus was fo true.

THIS. As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.

PYR. O kifs me through the hole of this vile wall.
THIS. I kifs the wall's hole, not your lips at all.
PYR, Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me.ftraightway?
THIS. Tide life, tide death, I come without delay.
WALL. Thus have I Wall my part discharged fo:

And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.

[Exit.

THE. Now is the mural down between the two neighbours. DEM. No remedy, my lord, when walls are fo wilful, to

hear without warning.

HIP. This is is the fillieft ftuff that e'er I heard.

THE. The best in this kind are but fhadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them.

HIP. It must be your imagination then, and not theirs. THE. If we imagine no worfe of them, than they of themfelves, they may pafs for excellent men.

noble beasts in, a moon and a lion.

Enter Lion and Moonshine.

Here come two

LION. You, ladies, you whofe gentle hearts do fear,
The smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,
May now, perchance, both quake and tremble here,
When lion rough in wildest rage doth roar.
Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am
No lion fell, nor else no lion's dam;
For if I fhould as lion come in ftrife

Into this place, 'twere pity of my life.

THE. A very gentle beast, and of a good conscience.
DEM. The very best at a beast, my lord, that e'er I faw.
Lys. This lion is a very fox for his valour.

THE. True; and a goose for his difcretion.

DEM. Not fo, my lord; for his valour cannot carry his difcretion, and the fox carries the goofe.

THE. His difcretion, I am fure, cannot carry his valour; for the goofe carries not the fox. It is well: leave it to his difcretion, and let us hearken to the moon.

MOON. This lanthorn doth the horned moon prefent.
DEM. He fhould have worn the horns on his head.

THE. He is no crefcent, and his horns are invisible with in the circumference.

Moon. This lanthorn doth the horned moon present: Myfelf the man i'th' moon doth seem to be.

THE. This is the greatest error of all the rest; the man fhould be put into the lanthorn: how is it else the man i'th' moon?

DEм. He dares not come there for the candle; for you fee, it is already in fauff.

HIP. I am weary of this moon; 'would, he would change! THE. It appears by his fmall light of difcretion, that he is in the wane; but yet in courtesy, in all reason, we must stay the time.

*

Lys. Proceed, Moon.

MOON. All that I have to fay, is to tell you that the lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this thornbush, my thorn-bush, and this dog, my dog.

DEM. Why, all thefe fhould be in the lanthorn; for they are in the moon. But filence; here comes Thisby.

Enter Thisby.

THIS. This is old Ninny's tomb; where is my love?

HIP. Well fhone, Moon.

Truly, the Moon fhines, with a good grace.

THE. Well mouz'd, Lion.

DEM. And then came Pyramus.

Lys. And fo the lion vanish'd.

Enter Pyramus.

PYR. Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy funny beams;

I thank thee, Moon, for fhining now so bright;

For by thy gracious, golden, glittering streams,
I trust to taste of trueft Thisby's fight.

But ftay: O fpight!

But mark, poor knight,

What dreadful dole is here ?

Eyes, do you fee!

How can it be !

O dainty duck! O dear! Thy mantle good,

What, ftain'd with blood!

Approach, you furies fell:

O fates! come, come:

Cut thread and thrum;

Quail, crush, conclude and quell.

THE. This paffion, and the death of a dear friend would go near to make a man look fad.

HIP. Befhrew my heart, but I pity the man.

PYR. O wherefore, nature, didst thou Lions frame ?
Since Lion vile hath here deflour'd my dear :

Which is no, no-which was the fairest dame,

That liv'd, that lov'd, that lik'd, that look'd with cheer. Come tears, confound:

[Dies.

DEM. No die but an ace for him; for he is but one.