The "bedtime story" that the boys' aunt reads to them is Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Specifically, she is reading them a speech by Caliban, a deformed, animalistic creature that once attempted to rape the protagonist's daughter and was enslaved as a result. The speech - found in Act 3, Scene 2 - is considered amongst Shakespearean critics as a moment of humanity for Caliban, as he comforts a newcomer to his island home by describing its natural beauty and tranquility.