THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

192 THE FAIRIES OF SHAKESPEARE
Whether the diminution of the fairies was the result
of the invention or of the poetic exaggeration of Shake-
speare, their infinitesimal proportions furthered in no
small measure Shakespeare's presentation, in several in-
stances, of the fairies as comic and ridiculous figures.
The ceremony of the meeting between Bottom and the
fairies, for instance; the incongruity between their fig-
ures and his; and the mock heroic form of address
adopted toward them by him, made them almost as much
figures of fun as Bottom himself. The spectacle of
Mustard-seed and Peas-blossom, applying themselves
assiduously to the scratching of an ass's head was both
humorous and incongruous, especially when viewed with
the idea of the traditional fairies of the time in mind.'''
The solicitude of Bottom for Monsieur Cobweb in his
assault upon a humble-bee, and the fear he expresses lest
the fairy be swept away by a burst honey bag put the
proportions and the activities of the fairies in a most
ridiculous light. And no more amusing picture of the
fairy queen was ever presented than that presented by
Titania in love with Bottom, and by the lines with which
she expresses her devotion :
Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,
While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,
And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head,
And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy.lo1
This treatment of the fairies was as new as it was un-
usual, and proved of great importance in the subsequent
history of the Shakespearean fairies.
his .friends, lurking by day, and walkeing in the night for feare
of his adversaries; and such of the countrey as happened to have
a sight of him and his followers, said they were the fairies, and
soe ran away.' " Rhys, Celtic Folklore, Vol. 11, p. 670.
100111, 2; IV, I.
101 IV, I, 11. 1-4.