Chapter Four. "It was the nightingale"

That same evening, Lord and Lady Capulet were downstairs talking about Juliet. Count Paris was with them and they were making plans. ‘She's crying and crying,' said Lady Capulet, ‘I don't know what to do. She's so unhappy about Tybalt.'

‘She must get married,' said Lord Capulet. ‘The wedding will make her happy again, then she'll forget about Tybalt. Let's have the wedding on Thursday.'

Count Paris and Lady Capulet agreed. ‘I'll tell her tomorrow,' said Lady Capulet.

Very early the next morning, Romeo and Juliet were still together in Juliet's room. ‘I must go,' said Romeo sadly. ‘The larks are singing and the sun is coming up. I don't want anyone to find me here.'

Juliet wanted him to stay. ‘But it's still dark. It isn't morning yet,' she said. ‘That isn't a lark, it's a nightingale you can hear.'

Romeo knew that it wasn't true, but he stayed a little longer. Then Juliet's nurse arrived. ‘You must go. Go quickly!' she said, ‘Lady Capulet's coming.'

Romeo kissed Juliet for the last time. He climbed out of the window and started his long, sad journey to Mantua.

Lady Capulet came into Juliet's room. ‘How are you, Juliet?' she said.

‘I'm not well, mother,' Juliet replied.

‘Are you still crying about your cousin, Tybalt? Well, stop crying about him. Romeo, his killer, is still alive. It's better to cry about that, don't you think?'

‘I want Romeo to die. I want someone to poison him,' Juliet lied to her mother.

‘Well, you find the poison and I'll find the man to do it,' said Lady Capulet. ‘Anyway, stop crying, I've got some good news. You're going to marry Count Paris on Thursday.'

‘No, no,' said Juliet. ‘I can't. I won't. I'm too young to marry Paris. I don't know him. I don't like him. I'd prefer to marry Romeo and you know how much I hate him. I'll marry Romeo before I marry Paris.'

Lady Capulet was very angry. She called Lord Capulet, who was very angry too. Juliet cried and cried. She argued with her parents, but they didn't listen. ‘You'll marry Paris on Thursday. That's my final word,' said Lord Capulet, and he left the room.

‘Oh, please, mother. Help me,' said Juliet.

‘No. You'll marry Paris and that's my final word, too,' said Lady Capulet, and she followed her husband out of the room.

Juliet turned to her nurse to ask for help. ‘What can I do?' she said.

‘Marry Count Paris, of course!' said the nurse. ‘Forget Romeo and listen to your father. Paris is a lovely man and he'll be a better husband than Romeo.'

Juliet realized that the nurse wasn't her true friend anymore. ‘I can't trust her,' she thought, ‘I have to speak to Friar Laurence. He'll help me and if he can't, I'll kill myself.'

Juliet went to see the friar. When she arrived, Count Paris was there. He was talking about his wedding. The friar was very worried because he knew that the wedding was impossible. ‘I don't think this wedding is a good idea,' he said to Count Paris. ‘You don't know Juliet very well. You need more time.'

But Count Paris was sure. He wanted to marry Juliet on Thursday. He looked at the friar and at Juliet. ‘I'll leave you two to talk about the wedding,' he said happily.

When Friar Laurence and Juliet were alone, they talked about the problem of the wedding. ‘You must help me,' said Juliet, ‘I don't know what to do. I can't live without Romeo. I must be with him.'

‘I think I can find a way,' replied the friar. ‘Listen carefully while I explain.'

The friar told Juliet his plan. ‘You must be very brave. You must go home and prepare to marry Count Paris. Say that you're happy to marry him now. I'll make a special potion for you. Drink it on Wednesday evening. When you drink it, you'll go into a deep sleep and you'll sleep for forty-two hours. Your body will be cold, so everyone will think you're dead. Your family will find you in the morning and they'll take your body to the church. They'll put you in the family vault. I'll send a message to Romeo and he'll come to meet us. When you wake up, Romeo and I will both be there beside you. Romeo will take you to Mantua.'

‘That's a very good plan,' said Juliet. ‘Give me the potion. My love for Romeo will make me brave and I'll drink the potion on Wednesday night.'

‘Good,' said the friar, ‘I'll send a message to Romeo with my friend, Friar John.'

Juliet took the bottle and ran home happily.

Back at Lord Capulet's house, everybody was very busy. They were all preparing for the wedding. In the kitchen there were twenty cooks, who were working very hard. In the hall, the musicians were getting ready. Some of the servants were decorating the hall with flowers. Others were preparing the tables. Lord Capulet was giving instructions to everyone. Juliet came into the room and spoke to her father. ‘I'm sorry, father,' she said, ‘I was wrong. I'll marry Count Paris on Thursday. I'll be happy to marry him.'

Her father was very pleased. ‘Good!' he said, ‘I'm happy you've changed your mind. We won't wait until Thursday, let's have the wedding tomorrow! I'll send a message to Friar Laurence and to Count Paris now.'

Juliet went to her room alone. When she was in her room, she looked at the potion. She was worried and suddenly she didn't feel very brave anymore. ‘Maybe it's dangerous to drink this potion. Maybe it's poison,' she thought. ‘Maybe I won't wake up. Maybe it won't work. Maybe I'll wake up early. Maybe Romeo won't be there. Maybe I'll wake up and see Tybalt's dead body. Maybe I'll see Tybalt's ghost.'

She was very worried. But then she thought of her Romeo and she felt brave. She drank the potion and went into a deep sleep.

The next morning, everything was ready for the wedding. Lord Capulet called Juliet's nurse. ‘Where's Juliet?' he asked. ‘She's late. Go and wake her up.'

The nurse went to Juliet's room. ‘Wake up, Juliet. Come on, wake up you lazy girl. You're very slow this morning.'

The nurse touched Juliet's hand. It was cold, as cold as death. ‘She's dead! She's dead!' the nurse cried. ‘My lord! My lady! My Juliet is dead!'

Lord and Lady Capulet ran to Juliet's room. ‘What's all this noise?' they shouted. Then they saw Juliet.

‘Oh no! My beautiful daughter is dead!' cried Lady Capulet.

‘Her hands are cold. Her face is cold. There's no life in her!' cried Lord Capulet.

At that moment, Friar Laurence and Count Paris arrived. ‘Is Juliet ready to go to church?' asked the friar.

‘She's ready to go, but she'll never come back. Juliet's dead,' replied Lord Capulet. ‘This is the worst day of my life. It won't be a wedding now. It'll be a funeral.'

‘This terrible day. This horrible, black day,' said his wife.

Count Paris was very shocked and Juliet's nurse just cried and cried.

Friar Laurence spoke to everybody. ‘Juliet's now in heaven,' he said. ‘Stop crying. She'll be happy there. Let's take her to the church and let's put her into the family vault.'

‘Yes,' said Lord Capulet, ‘bring the wedding flowers. Put them with her. They'll be her funeral flowers. Take her to the church.'

They took the sleeping Juliet away.

That morning, Romeo was waiting in Mantua. He was waiting for news about Juliet. He saw his servant arrive and ran up to him.

‘What's the news? How's Juliet? How's my mother? How's my father? Tell me everything.'

‘I have terrible news, my Lord,' said the servant. ‘Lady Juliet is dead. I saw her body with my own eyes. They've put her in the family vault.'

‘That can't be true. No! I don't believe it. Go and get my horse. I'll go to Verona immediately,' cried Romeo.

The servant left.

‘What can I do?' Romeo thought, ‘I can't live without my Juliet. I'll buy some poison and I'll kill myself. I'll be with Juliet in heaven tonight.'

Romeo knew a poor old man who was an apothecary. He ran to the apothecary's house to buy some poison. ‘I want to buy some poison from you,' he said, ‘I know you've got some. Please let me buy it.'

‘No,' said the apothecary, ‘I can't sell poison to you. It's too dangerous. You know it's not allowed.'

Romeo saw that the old man was very poor. ‘Look,' he said, ‘here are forty gold pieces. If I give you this money, will you give me the poison?'

The old man took the money. ‘I'm very poor,' he said, ‘so you can have your poison. I don't want to give it to you, but that's a lot of money. The money will help my family.'

Romeo paid the apothecary, took the poison and left Mantua.