University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

—The outside of Copmanhurst Hermitage.— Ivanhoe enters.
Ivanhoe.
Farewell my noble steed! the kites and crows
Will be thy monument. I needs must rest;
My fresh scars ache with weariness. And yet
King Richard's mandate was most urgent. Well,
To-morrow I may join him. Ho—within.

He knocks at the door.
Clerk
(within.)
Pass on; disturb not in his prayers
St. Dunstan's servant.

Ivanhoe.
Holy father mine,
St. Dunstan is a kind good-natur'd saint,
And I'll be sworn can better lack your prayers
Than I your hospitality.

Clerk
(within.)
Pass on.

Ivanhoe.
Pray you point out the road.

The Clerk of Copmanhurst opens the window and looks out.
Clerk.
Pray you pass on.
One pater and two credos you have marr'd
Already.

Ivanhoe.
I am weary.

Clerk.
Rest thee then;
'Tis a soft bed, the green sward.

Ivanhoe.
Yes, indeed,
Rather too soft; 'tis soak'd with rain; besides,
The night-wind's bleak: I pray thee let me in.

Clerk.
An thou art weary, as thou say'st thou art,
Thou wilt sleep soundly; he who soundly sleeps
Feels neither wind nor rain.

Ivanhoe.
Good rhetoric!
Yet 'twill not coax me to rest under Heaven
While you sleep under shelter.

Clerk.
Aye, in troth!
How wilt then help thyself?

Ivanhoe.
By breaking down
Thy churlish door.

Clerk.
Well said! but wilt thou do it?

Ivanhoe.
Ay, by St. Julian will I.

Clerk.
Have thy will then.
But an I like thee not the better; mark—
I warn thee now—thou'lt find some little cause
To rue my courtesy. Now, then, walk in.

Ivanhoe enters the Hermitage.