SCENE II. Athens. QUINCE'S house.

Enter QUINCE, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING

QUINCE:

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Have you sent to Bottom's house ? is he come home yet?

STARVELING:

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He cannot be heard of. Out of doubt he is

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transported.

FLUTE:

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

Marred meaning spoiled or ruined.

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not forward, doth it?

QUINCE:

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

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Athens able to discharge Pyramus but he.

FLUTE:

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No, he hath simply the best wit of any handicraft

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man in Athens.

QUINCE:

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Yea and the best person too, and he is a very

Quince here describes Bottom’s voice like that of a paramour. He doesn’t realize that he has swapped the word ‘paramour’ for ‘paragon’ which means model.

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paramour for a sweet voice.

Paramour meaning a lover. See above annotation.

FLUTE:

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

Flute here is correcting Quince by providing the correct word for what was meant. Deciding it’s pointless at this stage, he moves on delclaring that it is nonsense.

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a thing of naught.

Naught meaning nothing. In response to Quince and his nonsense statement.

Enter SNUG

SNUG:

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Masters, the duke is coming from the temple, and

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there is two or three lords and ladies more married:

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

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men.

FLUTE:

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O sweet bully Bottom! Thus hath he lost sixpence a

Sixpence was a british monetary unit that is no longer used. It was equivalent to six pennies

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day during his life, he could not have 'scaped

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sixpence a day: an the duke had not given him

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

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he would have deserved it: sixpence a day in

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Pyramus, or nothing.

Enter BOTTOM

BOTTOM:

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Where are these lads? where are these hearts?

QUINCE:

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

BOTTOM:

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

Discourse meaning a verbal interchange of words. In this case, it is Bottom coming to share the experience he has just been through.

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

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

QUINCE:

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Let us hear, sweet Bottom.

BOTTOM:

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

PERFORMANCE TIP: With forceful readiness and excitement. It’s truly the moment before a show when the actors gather to have one last moment together before opening. An important ritual experineced by all actors.

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the duke hath dined. Get your apparel together,

Apparel meaning thier costumes.

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good strings to your beards, new ribbons to your

“Good strings to your beards” meaning another element of the costume which is the fake beard held on by a string.

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pumps, meet presently at the palace, every man look

“New ribbons to your pumps” meaning ribbons for decorating shoes.

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

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play is preferred. In any case, let Thisby have

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clean linen, and let not him that plays the lion

“Let Thibsy have clean linen” meaning the costume should not be dirty or soiled.

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pair his nails, for they shall hang out for the

“Let not him that plays the lion pair his nails” meaning if the fingernails of the actor are long, leave them be and do not cut them so they have the appearance of a lion’s long nails.

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

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

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

“No onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath” Bottom exclaims to the actors. Essentially he is telling them not to eat onions or garlic before the performance for if the audience smells sweet breath, it must be a sweet comedy as well.

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

Exeunt