of a mere shepherd to the point of disowning him, whereupon the lover dons the pastoral garb, and so continues his suit to his unresponsive mistress.  Castarina meanwhile informs her lover that she will show no favour to any suitor until the return of her banished father, Paromet.  Both swains are of course in despair at the cruelty of their loves, but the behaviour of the nymphs is throughout marked by a certain sanity of feeling, which contrasts with the exaggerated devotions, and yet more exaggerated iciness, of their Italian predecessors.  Philaritus, in the hope of rousing Arismena to jealousy, feigns love to Castarina, who readily meets his advances.  He is so far successful that he awakes his mistress to the fact that she really loves him, but she determines to play the same trick upon him by feigning in her turn to love Lariscus.  This has the immediate effect of making Philaritus challenge his supposed rival, who, having witnessed his pretended advances to Castarina, eagerly responds.  Their meeting is, however, interrupted, in the one tolerably good scene in the play, by the appearance of the two shepherdesses, who threaten to slay one another unless their lovers desist.  Arismena’s coldness, it may be mentioned, has been shaken by Philaritus having rescued her from the pursuit of a satyr, and the two maidens now consent to make return for the long suit of their lovers.  While, however, they are yet in the first transport of joy, a troop of satyrs appear, and carry off the girls by force, leaving the lovers to a despair rendered all the more bitter for Philaritus by the announcement that his father relents of his anger, and is willing to countenance his marriage with Arismena.  After a vain search for traces of their loves the swains return home, where they are met by the same satyrs, still guarding their captives.  They offer to run at them, when the two leaders discover themselves as the fathers respectively of Philaritus and Arismena.  No satisfactory account of their motive for this outrage is offered, for while they are disputing of the matter the other satyrs, supposed to be their servants in disguise, suddenly disappear with the girls.  Consternation follows, and great preparations are made for pursuit.  Arismena and Castarina, however, apparently escape from their captors, for we next find them sleeping quietly in an arbour.  Again a satyr enters, and carries off Arismena, whom Castarina on waking follows to the dwelling of the satyrs, where she finds her friend being courted by her captor.  Meanwhile the rash pursuers have fallen into the hands of the pursued, and are brought in bound.  Matters appear desperate, and the nymphs are actually brought on the stage apparently dead and lying in their coffins.  They soon, however, show themselves to be alive, and the chief satyr reveals himself as the banished Paromet, who has been endeavouring to induce Arismena to marry him, in the hope thereby to get his sentence of banishment revoked.  This, it appears, has already been done, and all now ends happily.