Tales from Shakespeare

by Charles

  While he slept, Pericles dreamed a dream which made him resolve to go to Ephesus. His dream was, that Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians, appeared to him, and commanded him to go to her temple at Ephesus, and there before her altar to declare the story of his life and misfortunes; and by her silver bow she swore, that if he performed her injunction, he should meet with some rare felicity. When he awoke; being miraculously refreshed, he told his dream, and that his resolution was to obey the bidding of the goddess.

  Then Lysimachus invited Pericles to come on shore, and refresh himself with such entertainment as he should find at Mitylene, which courteous offer Pericles accepting, agreed to tarry with him for the space of a day or two. During which time we may well suppose what feastings, what rejoicings, what costly shows and entertainments the governor made in Mitylene, to greet the royal father of his dear Marina, whom in her obscure fortunes he had so respected. Nor did Pericles frown upon Lysimachus’s suit, when he understood how he had honoured his child in the days of her low estate, and that Marina showed herself not averse to his proposals; only he made it a condition, before he gave his consent, that they should visit with him the shrine of the Ephesian Diana: to whose temple they shortly after all three undertook a voyage; and, the goddess herself filling their sails with prosperous winds, after a few weeks they arrived in safety at Ephesus.

  There was standing near the altar of the goddess, when Pericles with his train entered the temple, the good Cerimon (now grown very aged) who had restored Thaisa, the wife of Pericles, to life; and Thaisa, now a priestess of the temple, was standing before the altar; and though the many years he had passed in sorrow for her loss had much altered Pericles, Thaisa thought she knew her husband’s features, and when he approached the altar and began to speak, she remembered his voice, and listened to his words with wonder and a joyful amazement. And these were the words that Pericles spoke before the altar: ‘Hail, Diana! to perform thy just commands, I here confess myself the prince of Tyre, who, frighted from my country, at Pentapolis wedded the fair Thaisa: she died at sea in childbed, but brought forth a maid child called Marina. She at Tarsus was nursed with Dionysia, who at fourteen years thought to kill her, but her better stars brought her to Mitylene, by whose shores as I sailed, her good fortunes brought this maid on board, where by her most clear remembrance she made herself known to be my daughter.’

  Thaisa, unable to bear the transports which his words had raised in her, cried out: ‘You are, you are, O royal Pericles’ – and fainted. ‘What means this woman?’ said Pericles: ‘she dies! gentlemen, help.’ ‘Sir,’ said Cerimon, ‘if you have told Diana’s altar true, this is your wife.’ ‘Reverend gentleman, no,’ said Pericles: ‘I threw her overboard with these very arms.’ Cerimon then recounted how, early one tempestuous morning, this lady was thrown upon the Ephesian shore; how, opening the coffin, he found therein rich jewels, and a paper; how, happily, he recovered her, and placed her here in Diana’s temple. And now, Thaisa being restored from her swoon said: ‘O my lord, are you not Pericles? Like him you speak, like him you are. Did you not name a tempest, a birth, and death?’ He astonished said: ‘The voice of dead Thaisa!’ ‘That Thaisa am I,’ she replied, ‘supposed dead and drowned.’ ‘O true Diana!’ exclaimed Pericles, in a passion of devout astonishment. ‘And now,’ said Thaisa, ‘I know you better. Such a ring as I see on your finger did the king my father give you, when we with tears parted from him at Pentapolis.’ ‘Enough, you gods!’ cried Pericles, ‘your present kindness makes my past miseries sport. O come, Thaisa, be buried a second time within these arms.’

  And Marina said: ‘My heart leaps to be gone into my mother’s bosom.’ Then did Pericles show his daughter to her mother, saying: ‘Look who kneels here, flesh of thy flesh, thy burthen at sea, and called Marina, because she was yielded there.’ ‘Blessed and my own!’ said Thaisa: and while she hung in rapturous joy over her child, Pericles knelt before the altar, saying: ‘Pure Diana, bless thee for thy vision. For this, I will offer oblations nightly to thee.’ And then and there did Pericles, with the consent of Thaisa, solemnly affiance their daughter, the virtuous Marina, to the well-deserving Lysimachus in marriage.

  Thus have we seen in Pericles, his queen, and daughter, a famous example of virtue assailed by calamity (through the sufferance of Heaven, to teach patience and constancy to men), under the same guidance becoming finally successful, and triumphing over chance and change. In Helicanus we have beheld a notable pattern of truth, of faith, and loyalty, who, when he might have succeeded to a throne, chose rather to recall the rightful owner to his possession, than to become great by another’s wrong. In the worthy Cerimon, who restored Thaisa to life, we are instructed how goodness directed by knowledge, in bestowing benefits upon mankind, approaches to the nature of the gods. It only remains to be told, that Dionysia, the wicked wife of Cleon, met with an end proportionable to her deserts; the inhabitants of Tarsus, when her cruel attempt upon Marina was known, rising in a body to revenge the daughter of their benefactor, and setting fire to the palace of Cleon, burnt both him and her, and their whole household: the gods seeming well pleased, that so foul a murder, though but intentional, and never carried into act, should be punished in a way befitting its enormity.

  PUFFIN CLASSICS

  Tales from

  SHAKESPEARE

  With Puffin Classics, the adventure isn't over when you reach the final page.

  Want to discover more about your favourite characters, their creators and their worlds?

  Read on…

  CONTENTS

  AUTHOR FILES

  WHO’S WHO IN TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

  AROUND THE GLOBE AND STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

  SHAKESPEAREAN TRIVIA

  SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT…

  SOME THINGS TO DO…

  AUTHOR FILE

  NAMES: Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb (brother and sister)

  BORN: Charles: 10 February 1775 in London; Mary: 3 December 1764 in London

  DIED: Charles: 27 December 1834 in London; Mary: 20 May 1847 in London

  NATIONALITY: Both British

  LIVED: Charles and Mary Lamb both spent the majority of their lives in London

  MARRIED: Charles and Mary were unmarried when they died

  CHILDREN: They adopted Emma Isola, an orphan

  What were they like?

  Both Charles and Mary were popular personalities acknowledged for their dedication to literature. Charles was in particular noted for his sense of humour. But he had an unfortunate stammer, which made a profound impact on his professional life. Despite living in poverty, Charles and Mary’s home became the centre of the small group of literary and intellectual figures, who included the likes of the famous poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Both Charles and Mary suffered family tragedies through mental illnesses, whereby Mary ended up stabbing their mother in the heart.

  Where did they grow up?

  Charles grew up in the Inner Temple area of London, where his father John worked as a clerk. He was the youngest child and got on well with Mary, who was eleven years older. He was cared for by his aunt and his paternal grandmother. Not a lot is known of Mary’s childhood apart from the fact that she and Charles lived together and Mary taught him to read at a young age.

  What did they do, apart from writing books?

  Both Charles and Mary loved literature and were keen readers. They were very active socially in that they mingled with fellow intellectuals. Charles also enjoyed sketching from a young age.

  What other books/plays did they write?

  Charles Lamb tried his hand at writing poetry and plays, but they weren’t terribly good. His great success came later in life with the adult Essays of Elia (1823) which are said to be among the best essays ever written. He is better known as half of the partnership with his sister Mary, which produced Tales from Shakespeare. Published in 1807, it was the first book to retell Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Tales from Shakespeare grew in popularity because the retellings w
ere beautifully written and offered an alternative to the moral tales that had dominated eighteenth-century children’s literature. Mary Lamb also wrote a series of letters known as Mrs Leicester’s School, which are tales about a variety of motherless and orphan girls and explores themes of guilt and grief.

  AUTHOR FILE

  NAME: William Shakespeare

  BORN: Original date of birth unknown, but he was baptized on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England

  DIED: 23 April 1616, aged fifty-two, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford

  NATIONALITY: British

  LIVED: Shakespeare divided most of time between London and Stratford-upon-Avon

  MARRIED: In 1582 to Anne Hathaway, daughter of a farmer

  CHILDREN: One daughter, Susannah, in 1583, and twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585

  What was he like?

  During his lifetime William Shakespeare worked as an actor, a playwright and a poet and by 1596 he had become extremely rich and successful both in London and in his hometown of Stratford where he owned several properties. Today he is renowned for being the world’s greatest poet and playwright, but while we know a lot about his work, very little is actually known about the man himself. He is a bit of a mystery!

  Where did he grow up?

  William Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was the third of eight children born to John and Mary Shakespeare. There are no specific records but most biographers believe that he went to King Edward IV Grammar School (also referred to as King’s New School) in his hometown until the age of fourteen, where he would have studied Latin, classical writers such as Ovid, and Roman history. He didn’t go on to higher education because his father, although a wealthy businessman, had fallen temporarily on hard times. It is thought that Shakespeare left school to find work and at just eighteen he married a woman eight years his senior. William went to live in London in 1588, where he became a famous actor and playwright.

  What did he do apart from writing plays?

  Shakespeare’s success in the London theatres made him wealthy and in 1597 he bought ‘New Place’, one of the largest houses in his hometown of Stratford. Aside from writing plays and poems, Shakespeare was a founder member of The King’s Men’s company of actors, often performing in his own plays as well as those of other playwrights, such as Ben Jonson. Shakespeare’s plays were often presented in the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.

  What did people think of Shakespeare when he was originally published?

  Shakespeare became a very well-respected playwright and there was a huge demand for his work. Although Shakespeare was extremely popular, it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that his reputation became firmly established. Some of his biggest literary fans were: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy.

  What else did he write?

  As well as his plays, Shakespeare is renowned for his poetry and sonnets. One of his most famous sonnets, popularized by its use in television programmes and movies, is Sonnet no. 18, which begins with the lines:

  Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

  Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

  Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

  And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date…

  WHO’S WHO IN TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

  THE TEMPEST

  Prospero – a magician and the rightful Duke of Milan, usurped by his brother Antonio.

  Miranda – Prospero’s daughter.

  Ariel – a lively spirit bound to serve Prospero.

  Caliban – a misshapen being, son of a witch called Sycorax; he is enslaved by Prospero.

  Alonso – the King of Naples.

  Antonio – the usurping Duke of Milan and Prospero’s brother.

  Ferdinand – Alonso’s son; he falls in love with Miranda.

  Gonzalo – an honest old counsellor who helped Prospero and Miranda.

  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

  Lysander – an Athenian youth who is in love with Hermia.

  Hermia – the daughter of Egeus; she is in love with Lysander.

  Demetrius – a noble Athenian who once loved Helena.

  Helena – a friend of Hermia who is in love with Demetrius.

  Oberon – the king of the Fairies.

  Titania – the queen of the Fairies.

  Puck – also called Robin Goodfellow, a mischievous sprite and servant to Oberon.

  Theseus – the duke of Athens.

  Egeus – the father of Hermia; he wants her to marry Demetrius.

  A clown – a fool who falls asleep in the woods and has an ass’s head put on him by Puck.

  Pease-blossom – a fairy attendant on Titania.

  Cobweb – a fairy attendant on Titania.

  Moth – a fairy attendant on Titania.

  Mustard-seed – a fairy attendant on Titania.

  THE WINTER’S TALE

  Leontes – the king of Sicily and childhood friend of the Bohemian king, Polixenes.

  Hermione – the virtuous and beautiful queen of Leontes.

  Polixenes – the king of Bohemia, and Leontes’ boyhood friend.

  Perdita – the daughter of Leontes and Hermione.

  Florizel – Polixenes’ only son and heir.

  Camillo – an honest Sicilian nobleman.

  Paulina – a Sicilian noblewoman and friend of Hermione.

  Antigonus – Paulina’s husband.

  Shepherd – an old and honourable peasant.

  Emilia – Hermione’s lady-in-waiting.

  Cleomenes – a Sicilian lord.

  Dion – a Sicilian lord.

  Mamillius – the young son of Leontes and Hermione.

  MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

  Leonato – the governor of Messina.

  Hero – Leonato’s beautiful and gentle daughter.

  Beatrice – Leonato’s lively and witty niece.

  Don Pedro – a Prince of Aragon.

  Benedick – a lord of Padua, companion of Don Pedro; he falls in love with Beatrice.

  Claudio – a lord of Florence, companion of Don Pedro; he falls in love with Hero.

  Don John – the scheming brother of Don Pedro.

  Borachio – a wicked servant of Don John.

  Margaret and Ursula – ladies-in-waiting to Hero.

  A friar – a priest.

  AS YOU LIKE IT

  The duke – Rosalind’s father and the rightful ruler of the dukedom, usurped by his younger brother.

  Frederick, a usurper – the duke’s usurping younger brother and Celia’s father.

  Rosalind – the daughter of the rightful duke and cousin to Celia. Disguises herself as Ganymede.

  Celia – the daughter of the usurper and cousin to Rosalind. Disguises herself as Aliena.

  Orlando – the youngest son of Rowland de Boys (now dead), friend of the rightful duke and lover of Rosalind.

  Oliver – the eldest son and heir of Rowland de Boys.

  Adam – a faithful old servant who follows Orlando into exile.

  A countryman – a servant to ‘Ganymede’ and ‘Aliena’.

  THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA

  Valentine – a gentleman of Verona and friend of Proteus.

  Proteus – a gentleman of Verona and friend of Valentine.

  Julia – a fair lady of Verona who is in love with Proteus.

  Silvia – the daughter of the Duke of Milan, beloved of Valentine.