And crop-full out of doors he flings
Ere the first cock his matin rings.
Thus done the tales, to bed they creep,
By whispering winds soon lull'd asleep."
Of "fairy Mab" we have a graphic description from the merry Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (i. 4. 53–94); and the "drudging goblin," or Robin Goodfellow, is the Puck of the Midsummer-Night's Dream, to whom the Fairy says (ii. 1. 40):—
"Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck."
In the same scene Puck himself tells of the practical jokes he plays upon "the wisest aunt telling the saddest tale" to a fireside group, and of many another sportive trick with which he "frights the maidens" and vexes the housewives.
The children had their stories to tell, like their elders; and Shakespeare has pictured a home scene in The Winter's Tale (ii. 1. 21) which may have been suggested by his own experience as a boy. As Mr. Charles Knight asks, "may we not read for Hermione, Mary Shakespeare, and for Mamillius, William?"