DLTK's Stories for Kids
A Mid Summer Night's Dream

One evening, in the woods close to Athens, two fairies greeted each other.

“How now, spirit! whither wander you?” Asked Puck, a mischievous fairy.

Peasblossom smiled and said “I serve the fairy queen, Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone:

the queen and all of her elves come here anon.” Puck chuckled and said “The king doth keep his revels here to-night: Take heed the queen come not within his sight.” You see, Oberon, The king of the fairies and Titania, the Queen of the fairies had been fighting and had been avoiding each other.

Just then from one side of the forest floated the Titania, the Fairy Queen and from the other, sauntered Oberon, King of the Fairies. They scowled at each other.

“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.” Oberon teased. Titania shrugged off Oberon and said: “What, jealous Oberon! Fairies, skip hence.” You see Titania had a small human boy, a changeling in the fairy world and Oberon wanted the boy for himself.

“Give me that boy,” Oberon demanded. Titania laughed, “Not for thy fairy kingdom. Fairies, away!” And with that Titania and her fairies disappeared into the night.

Angry, Oberon hatched a plan, he asked his friend Puck to gather a flower that Cupid had accidentally hit with his bow. The flower would create a love spell. Puck rushed off to find the flower. “I'll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes.”

When Puck returned with the flower Oberon excitedly placed the pollen in Titania’s sleeping eyes, the first creature she will see when she wakes she will fall in love with.

“Wake when some vile thing is near.” Oberon laughed.

A group of humans went into the woods by Athens to rehearse a play. What luck, Puck thought to himself, they were so close to the sleeping fairy queen.

When one of the actors, who went by the name Nick Bottom went behind a tree- Puck turned Bottom’s head into that of a donkey.

When Bottom re-entered the scene from around the tree, his friends screamed in fright. “O Bottom, thou art changed!” They cried and they fled.

Bottom believed they were trying to make a fool of him and play a joke on him. So he sang so they would know he was not afraid and he waited for his friends to return.

Just then Titania awoke and who did she see? Why, Bottom with his Donkey head and she instantly feel in love with him.

Titania had all of her fairies wait on her new love and Puck reported back to Oberon: “My mistress with a monster is in love.”

While she was busy with her new love. Oberon stole the changeling boy from Titania. But as he watched his wife fawn over the donkey man, he began to feel poorly. So once Titania had fallen asleep, he used a spell to undo the love spell.

“Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen.” he cooed. “My Oberon! What visions have I seen!” Titania said as she awoke. Oberon and Titania walked off arm in arm and went to dance.