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As due to love, as thoughts, and dreams, and fighs, Lyf. Helen, to you our minds we will unfold:
Withes, and tears, poor fancy's followers.
To-morrow night, when Phoebe doth behold

Lys. A good perfuafion; therefore, hear me, Her filver vifage in the watry glass,

Hermia.

I have a widow aunt, a dowager
Of great revenue, and the hath no child :
From Athens is her house remote feven leagues;
And the refpects me as her only fon.
There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee;
And to that place the sharp Athenian law
Cannot purfue us: If thou lov'st me then,
Steal forth thy father's houfe to-morrow night;
And, in the wood, a league without the town,
Where I did meet thee once with Helena,
To do obfervance to a morn of May,
There will I ftay for thee.

Her. My good Lyfander!

I swear to thee, by Cupid's ftrongest bow;
By his beft arrow with the golden head ;
By the fimplicity of Venus' doves ;

By that which knitteth fouls, and prospers loves;
And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen,
When the falfe Trojan under fail was feen ;
By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number more than ever women spoke ;→→→
In that fame place thou haft appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee. [Helena.
Lyf. Keep promise, love: Look, here comes
Enter Helena.

Her. God fpeed, fair Helena! Whither away?
Hel. Call you me fair? that fair again unfay.
Demetrius loves your fair 1: O happy fair! [air
Your eyes are lode-stars 2; and your tongue's fweet
More tuneable than lark to fhepherd's ear,
When wheat is green, when haw-thorn buds appear.
Sickness is catching; O, were favour 3 fo!
Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go;
My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye,
My tongue fhould catch your tongue's fweet melody.
Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,
The reft I'll give to be to you tranflated +.
O, teach me how you look; and with what art
You fway the motion of Demetrius' heart.

Her. I frown upon him, yet he loves me still. Hel. Oh, that your frowns would teach my fmiles fuch skill!

Her. I give him curfes, yet he gives me love. Hel. Oh, that my prayers could fuch affection

move!

Her. The more I hate, the more he follows me.
Hel. The more I love, the more he hateth me.
Her. His folly, Helena, is no fault of mine.
Hel. None, but your beauty; 'Would that fault
were mine!

[face;
Her. Take comfort; he no more fhall fee fny
Lyfander and myself will fly this place.
Before the time I did Lyfander fee,
Seem'd Athens as a paradife to me :

O then, what graces in my love do dwell,
That he hath turn'd a heaven unto a hell!

Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grafs,
(A time that lovers' flights doth still conceal)
Through Athens' gates have we devis'd to steal.

Her. And in the wood, where often you and
Upon faint primrose-beds were wont to lye,
Emptying our bofoms of their counfels fwell'd;
There my Lyfander and myself shall meet :
And thence, from Athens, turn away our eyes,
To feek new friends and ftrange companions.
Farewel, fweet, play fellow : pray thou for us,
And good luck grant thee thy Demetrius !—
Keep word, Lyfander : we must starve our fight
From lovers' food, 'till morrow deep midnight.
[Exit Herms
Lyf. I will, my Hermia. Helena, adieu:
As you on him, Demetrius dote on you!

[Exit Lyf

Hel. How happy fonte, o'er other some, can be ! Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinks not fo; He will not know what all but he do know. And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes, So I, admiring of his qualities. Things bafe and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind; Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste; Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste : And therefore is Love said to be a child, Because in choice he is fo oft beguil'd. As waggish boys themfelves in game 5 forfwear, So the boy Love is perjur'd every where : For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne, He hail'd down oaths, that he was only mine; And when this hail fome heat from Hermia felt, So he diffolv'd, and fhowers of oaths did melt. I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight: Then to the wood will he, to-morrow night, Purfue her; and for this intelligence If I have thanks, it is a dear expence But herein mean I to enrich my pain, To have his fight thither, and back again. [Exit.

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Enter Quince the carpenter, Snug the joiner, Bottom the weaver, Flute the bellows-mender, Snout the tinker, and Starveling the taylor.

Quin. Is all our company here?

Bot. You were beft to call them generally, man by man, according to the fcrip.

Quin. Here is the fcrowl of every man's name, which is thought fit, through all Athens, to play in our interlude before the duke and dutchefs, on his wedding-day at night.

I That is, your beauty, or your complexion. 2 The lode-ftar is the leading or guiding-ftar, that is, the pole-ftar. 3 Favour here means feature, countenance. 4 To tranflate here implies to change, to transform. 5 i. e. in sport, in jest. i. c. the writing, or paper.

N

Bat.

Bot. First, good Peter Quince, fay what the play treats on; then read the names of the actors; and fo grow to a point.

Quin. Marry cur play is-The moft lamentable comedy, and moft cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby.

Star. Here, Peter Quince.

Quin. Robin Star veling, you must play Thisby's mother-Tom Snout, the tinker.

Snow. Here, Peter Quince.

Quin. You, Pyramus's father; myself, Thisby's father-Snug the joiner, you, the lion's part:and, I hope, there is a play fitted.

Snug. Have you the lion's part written? Pray

Bot. A very good piece of work, I affure you, and a merry.--Now, good Peter Quince, call forth your actors by the fcrowl: Mafters, Ipread, your-you, if it be, give it me, for I am flow of study 1. felves. Qurn. You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.

Quin. Anfier, as I call you-Nick Bottom the

weaver.

B. Let me play the lion too: I will roar, that Bot. Ready: Name what part I am for, and I will do any man's heart good to hear me; I will proceed. roar, that I will make the duke fay, Let him roar Quin. You, Nick Bottom, are fet down for Py-again, let him vuar again.

ramus.

Bot. What is Pyramus? a lover, or a tyrant? Quin. A lover, that kills himself moft gallantly for love.

Bot. That will a fome tears in the true performing of it: If I do it, let the audience look to their eyes; I will move ftorms, I will condole in fome measure. To the rest :-Yet my chief humour is for a tyrant: I could play Ercles rarely, or a part to tear a cat in, to make all split.

"The raging rocks,
"And fhivering fhocks,
"Shall break the locks

"Of prifon-gates:
"And Phibbus' car
"Shall fhine from far,
"And make and mar

"The foolish fates."

Quin. An you should do it too terribly, you would fright the dutchefs and the ladies, that they would fhriek; and that were enough to hang us all.

All. That would hang us every mother's fon. Bot. I grant you, friends, if that you should fright the ladies out of their wits, they would have no more difcretion but to hang us: but I will aggravate my voice fo, that I will roar you as gently as any fucking-dove; I will roar you an 'twere any nightingale.

Quin. You can play no part but Pyramus: for Pyramus is a fweet-fac'd man; a proper man, as one fhall fee in a fummer's day; a moft lovely, gentleman-like man; therefore you muit needs play Pyramus.

Bot. Well, I will undertake it. What beard were I beft to play it in ?

Quin. Why, what you will.

Bot. I will difcharge it in either your straw-coThis was lofty-Now name the reft of the play-loured beard, your orange-tawney beard, your pur ers.-This is Ercles' vein, a tyrant's vein; a lover ple-in-grain beard, or your French-crown-colour is more condoling.

Quin. Francis Flute, the bellows-mender.
Flu. Here, Peter Quince.

Quin. You must take Thisby on you.
Fla. What is Thifby? a wandering knight?
Quin. It is the lady that Pyramus must love.
Flu. Nay, faith, let me not play a woman;
have a beard coming.

beard, your perfect yellow.

Quin. Some of your French-crowns 3 have no heir at all, and then you will play bare-fac'd.--But, matters, here are your parts: and I am to entreat you, request you, and defire you, to con them by to-morrow night; and meet me in the Ipalace wood, a mile without the town, by moonlight; there will we rehearse; for if we meet in the city, we fhall be dog'd with company, and our devices known. In the mean time, I wilk bet. An I may hide my face, let me play Thif-draw a bill of properties +, fuch as our play wants. by too: I'll fpeak in a monitrous little voice;-I "Thifne, Thine,-Ah, Fyramus, my lover dear; "thy Thisby dear! and lady dear!"

Quin. That's all one; you fhall play it in a mafk, and you may speak as imall as you will.

pray you, fail me not.

Bot. We will meet; and there we may rehearse more obicencly, and courageously.

Quin. No, no, you must play Pyramus, and, be perfect; adieu.

Flute, you Thisby.

Bot. Well, proceed.

Quin. Robin Starveling, the taylor.

Take pains;

Quin. At the duke's oak we meet.
Bot. Enough; Hold, or cut bow-strings 5,
[Exeunt.

To fudy a part, in the language of the theatre, is to get it by rate. 2 This alludes to the custom of wearing coloured beards. 3 See note 2, p. 77. 4 See note 5, p. 68. 5 Dr. Warburton fays, this proverbial phrate came originally from the camp. When a rendezvous was appointed, the militia foldiers would frequently make excufe for not keeping word, that their bowstrings were broke, i. e. their arms unferviceable. Hence when one would give another abfolute affurance of meeting him, he would fay proverbially-Hold or cut bow-firings-i. e. whether the bow-firing held or broke."

ACT

ACT

SCENE I.

A Wood.

Enter a Fairy at one door, and Puck (or fellow) at another.

II.

Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:
And fometime lurk in a goffip's bowl,
Robin-good-And, when the drinks, against her lips I bob,
In very likeness of a roafted crab;

And on her wither'd dew-lap pour the ale.

[OW now, fpirit! whither wander you? The wifett aunt, telling the faddeft tale,
Over hill, over dale,

Pack.
Fai.

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Thorough buh, thorough briar,
Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander every where,
Swifter than the moones (phere;
And I ferve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs 1 upon the green;
The cowflips tall her penfioners be;
In their gold coats fpots you fee;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their favours:
I must go feek fome dew-drops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowflip's ear.
Farewel, thou lob of fpirits, I'll be gone;
Our queen and all her elves come here anon.
Puck. The king doth keep his revels here to-night;
Take heed, the queen come not within his fight.
For Oberon is paffing fell and wrath,
Because that the, as her attendant, hath
A lovely boy, ftolen from an Indian king;
She never had fo fweet a changeling:
And jealous Oberon would have the child
Knight of his train, to trace the forefts wild :
But the, per-force, with-holds the loved boy, [joy:
Crowns him with flowers, and makes him all her
And now they never meet in grove or green,
By fountain clear, or fpangled ftar-light theen 3,
But they do fquare 4; that all their elves, for fear,
Creep into acorn cups, and hide them there. [quite,
Fai. Either I mistake your fhape and making
Or else you are that fhrewd and knavish sprite,
Call'd Robin Good-fellow: Are you not he,
That frights the maidens of the villag'ry;
Skim milk; and fometimes labour in the quern 5,
And bootlefs make the breathlefs hufwife churn;
And fometime make the drink to bear no barm;
Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?
Thofe that Hobgoblin call you, and fweet Puck 7,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
Are not you he?

Puck. Thou fpeak'st aright;

I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jeft to Oberon, and make him smile,
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,

|

Sometime for three-foot ftool mistaketh me;
Then flip 1 from her hum, down topples fhe,
And taylor 9 cries, and falls into a cough:
And then the whole quire hold their hips, and loffe,
And waxen10 in their mirth, and neeze and fwear
A merrier hour was never wafted there.--

But room, Faery, here comes Oberon.

Fai. And here my miftreis:-Would that he were gone!

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Enter Oberon, king of Fairies, at one door with his
train and the queen at another with her'i.
Ob. Ill met by moon-light, proud Titania.
Queen. What, jealous Oberon? Fairy, ikip hence

I have forfworn his bed and company.

Ob. Tarry, rafh wanton; Am not I thy lord?
Queen. Then I must be thy lady: But I know
When thou haft ftol'n away from fairy land,
And in the fhape of Corin fat all day,
Playing on pipes of corn, and verfing love
To amorous Phillida. Why art thou here,
Come from the fartheft fteep of India?
But that, forfooth, the bouncing Amazon,
Your buikin'd miftrefs, and your warrior love,
To Thefeus must be wedded; and you come
To give their bed joy and profperity.

Ob. How can't thou thus, for fhame, Titania,
Glance at my credit with Hippolita,
Knowing I know thy love to Thefeus?
[night
Didit thou not lead him through the glimmering
From Perigune, whom he ravish'd?

And make him with fair Ægle break his faith,
With Ariadne, and Antiopa?

Queen. These are the forgeries of jealousy:
And never, fince the middle fummer's fpring 11,
Met we on hill, in dale, foreft, or mead,
By paved fountain, or by rushy brook,
Or on the beached margent of the fea,
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou haft difturb'd our sport.
Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,
As in revenge, have fuck'd up from the fea
Contagious fogs; which falling in the land,
Have every pelting 12 river made so proud,

5 A quern 7 Puck is

1 This alludes to the circles fuppofed to be made by the fairies on the ground, whofe verdure proceeds from the fairy's care to water them. 2 Lob, lubber, looby, lobcock, all imply both indolence of body and dulnefs of mind. 3 i.e. fhining. 4 To fquare here fignifies to quarrel. is a hand-mill, • Barm is a name for yeast, ftill ufed in our midland counties. faid to have been an old Gothick word, fignifying fiend or devil. 8 In Staffordshire the epithet of aunt is ftill applied indifcriminately to old women, and is there pronounced naunt. may perhaps allude to a custom of crying taylor at a fudden fall backwards, as a perfon who flips befide his chair falls as a taylor fquats upon his board. 10 j. e. encreafe. 11 By the middle fummer's /pring, our author fees to mean the beginning of middle or mid fummer. 121. e. defpicable, mean.

9 This

That

That they have over-borne their continents'.
The ox hath therefore ftretch'd his yoke in vain,
The ploughman loft his fweat; and the green corn
Hath rotted, ere his youth attain'd a beard :
The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
And crows are fatted with the murrain flock:
The nine-men's morris 2 is fill'd up with mud;
And the quaint mazes in the wanton green,
For lack of tread, are undistinguishable.
The human mortals want their winter here,
No night is now with hymn, or carol bleft:-
Therefore the moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air,
That rheumatick difeafes do abound 3:
And, thorough this diftemperature, we fee
The feafons alter: hoary-headed frofts
Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose;
And on old Hyems' chin, and icy crown,
An odorous chaplet of fweet fummer buds
Is, as in mockery, fet: The fpring, the fummer,
The childing autumn, angry winter, change
Their wonted liveries; and the 'mazed world,
By their increase, now knows not which is which:
And this fame progeny of evils comes
From our debate, from our diffention;
We are their parents and original.

Ob. Do you amend it then; it lies in you:
Why fhould Titania cross her Oberon ?
I do but beg a little changeling boy,
To be my henchman 7.

Queen. Set your heart at reft,

The fairy land buys not the child of me.
His mother was a votrefs of my order:
And, in the fpiced Indian air, by night,
Full often hath the goflip'd by my fide;
And fat with me on Neptune's yellow fands,
Marking the embark'd traders on the flood;
When we have laugh'd to fee the fails conceive,
And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind:
Which the, with pretty and with fwimming gait,
(Following her womb, then rich with my young
Would imitate; and fail upon the land, ['quire)
To fetch me trifles, and return again,
As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.
But the, being mortal, of that boy did die;
And, for her fake, I do rear up her boy;
And, for her fake, I will not part with him.
Ob. How long within this wood intend
Stay?

Since once I fat upon a prom ontery,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back,
Uttering fuch dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude fea grew civil at her fong;
And certain ftars fhot madly from their spheres,
To hear the fea-maid's mufick.

Puck. I remember.

Ob. That very time I saw, (but thou could'it not)
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid all arm'd a certain aim he took

At a fair veftal, throned by the weft;
And loos'd his love-fhaft smartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts:
But I might fee young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quench'd in the chafte beams of the watry moon 3
And the imperial votress paffed on,

In maiden meditation, fancy-free 3.

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,— {wound,—
Before, milk-white; now purple with love's
And maidens call it, love-in-idlenefs. [once;
Fetch me that flower; the herb I fhew'd thee
The juice of it on fleeping eye-lids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly doat
Upon the next live creature that it fees.
Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again,
Ere the leviathan can fwim a league.

Puck. I'll put a girdle round about the earth
In forty minutes.
[Exit.

Ob. Having once this juice,
I'll watch Titania when the is asleep,
And drop the liquor of it in her eyes:
The next thing when the waking looks upon,
(Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,
On meddling monkey, or on busy ape)
She fhall purfue it with the foul of love.
And ere I take this charm off from her fight,
As I can take it with another herb)
I'll make her render up her page to me.
But who comes here? I am invisible;
And I will over-hear their conference.

Enter Demetrius, Helena following him.
Der. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not..
Where is Lyfander and fair Hermia?
The one I'll flay, the other flayeth me.
Thou told'it me, they were ftoln unto this wood
And here am I, and wood 9 within this wood,
you Because I cannot meet my Hermia.
[day. Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.
Hel. You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant;
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as Reel: Leave you your power to draw,
And I thall have no power to follow you.

Queen. Perchance, till after Thefeus' wedding-
If you will patiently dance in our round,
And fee our moon-light revels, go with us;
If not, thun me, and I will fpare your haunts.
Ob. Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.
Queen. Not for thy fairy kingdom.-Fairies, away:
We hail chide down-right, if I longer stay.

Dem. Do I entice you? do I speak you fair?
Or, rather, do I not in plaineft truth
Tell you-I do not, nor I cannot love you?

[Exeunt Queen and ber train. Hel. And even for that do I love you the more. Ob. Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this I ain your spaniel; and, Demetrius, 'Till I torment thee for this injury.—- [grove, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you: My gentle Puck, come hither: Thou remember it Ufe me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me,

Meaning their banks. 2 Nine men's morris is a game fill played by the shepherds, cow-keepers, &c. in the midland counties. 3 The confufioh of feafons here defcribed, is no more than a portical account of the weather, which happened in England about the time when this play was first publighed. 4 That is, perturbation. s That is, the pregnant. 6 That is, produce. 7 Page of This was intended as a compliment to Queen Elizabeth. 9 Wood here meaas mad, wild, aving. In this fenfe it was formerly spelled wode. Neglea

honour.

Neglect me, lofe me; only give me leave,
Unworthy as 1 am, to follow you.
What worfer place can I beg in your love,
(And yet a place of high refpect with me)
Than to be used as you use your dog?

Dem. Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit;
For I am fick, when I do look on thee.

Hel. And I am fick, when I look not on you.
Dem. You do impeach your modefty too much,
To leave the city, and commit yourself
Into the hands of one that loves you not;
To truft the opportunity of night,
And the ill counsel of a defert place,
With the rich worth of your virginity.

Hel. Your virtue is my privilege for that.
It is not night, when I do fee your face,
Therefore I think I am not in the night:
Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company;
For you, in my refpect, are all the world:
Then how can it be faid, am alone,

When all the world is here to look on me?
Dem. I'll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes,
And leave thee to the mercy of wild beats.

Hel. The wildest hath not such a heart as you.
Run when you will, the story fhall be chang'd:
Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chafe;
The dove purfues the griffin; the mild hind
Makes fpeed to catch the tyger: Bootlefs fpeed!
When cowardice purfues, and valour flies.

Dem. I will not stay thy questions; let me go:
Or, if thou follow me, do not believe
But I fhall do thee mifchief in the wood.

Hel. Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field,
You do me mifchief. Fie, Demetrius!
Your wrongs do fet a fcandal on my fex:
We cannot fight for love, as men may do ;
We fhou'd be woo'd, and were not made to woo.
I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell,
To die upon the hand I love fo well. [Excunt.
Ob. Fare thee well, nymph: ere he do leave

this grove,

Thou shalt fly him, and he shall feek thy love.-
Haft thou the flower there? Welcome, wanderer.
Re-enter Puck.

Puck. Ay, there it is.

Ob. I pray thee, give it me.

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where ox-lips and the nodding violet grows;
Quite over-canopy'd with lufcious woodbine,
With fweet mufk rofes, and with eglantine:
There fleeps Titania, fome time of the night,
Lull'd in thefe flowers with dances and delight;
And there the fnake throws her enamell'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in :
And with the juice of this I'll ftreak her eyes,
And make her full of hateful fantafies.

Take thou fome of it, and feek through this grove:
A fweet Athenian lady is in love

With a difdainful youth: anoint his eyes;
But do it, when the next thing he efpies

1 The greater cowflip.

burton reads quaint ports.

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Another part of the Wood.

Enter the Queen of Fairies, with her train.
Queen. Come, now a roundel 2, and a fairy fong ;
Then, for the third part of a minute, hence:
Some, to kill cankers in the mufk-rose buds;
Some, war with rear-mice 3 for their leathern wings,
To make my fmall elves coats; and fome keep back
The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders
At our quaint fpirits 4: Sing me now asleep;
Then to your offices, and let me rest,
Firft Fairy.

You spotted fuakes, with double tongue,
Thorny bedge-logs, be not feen;
Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen:

Chorus.

Philomel, with melody,

Sing in your feet lullaby;

Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, tulla, lullaby:
Never harm, nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.
Second Fairy.

Weaving Spiders, come not bere;

Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hencez
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm, nor fnail, do no offence.

Chorus.

Philomel, with melody, &c.

First Fairy.

Hence, away; now all is well:
One, aloof, ftand sentinel.

[Exeunt Fairies. The Queen fleeps.
Enter Oberon.

Ob. What thou feeft, when thou doft wake,
[Squeezes the flower on her eye-lids.

Do it for thy true love take;
Love, and languish for his fake;
Be it ounce 5, or cat, or bear,
Pard, or boar with bristled hair,
La thy eye that shall appear
When thou wak'ft, it is thy dear;

Wake, when fome vile thing is near. [Exit Oberon.
Enter Lyfander and Hermia,

Lyf. Fair love, you faint with wandering in the

wood;

And, to speak troth, I have forgot our way:
We'll reft us, Hermia, if you think it good,
And tarry for the comfort of the day.

A roundel is a dance in a ring. 3 A rere-mouse is a bat, 4 Dr. War5 The ounce is a fmall tyger, or tyger-cat,

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