 | Ethwald |  |
SCENE III.
A narrow stone gallery or passage.(Voice without.)
Haste, lazy comrade, there!
Enter two servants by opposite sides, one of them carrying mats of rushes in his arms.
1st serv.
Setst thou thy feet thus softly to the ground,—
As if thou hadst been paid to count thy steps?
What made thee stay so long?
2d serv.
Heard you the news?
1st serv.
The news?
2d serv.
Ay, by the mass! sharp news indeed.
And mark me well! beforehand I have said it;
Some of those spears now hanging in the hall
Will wag i' the field ere long.
1st serv.
Thou hast a marv'llous gift of prophecy.
I know it well; but let us hear thy news.
2d serv.
Marry! the Britons and their restless prince,
Join'd with West Anglia's king, a goodly host,
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And over and besides, God save us all!
They are but five leagues off.
'Tis true. And over and besides again,
Our king is on his way to give them battle.
Ay, and moreover all, if the late floods
Have broken down the bridge, as it is fear'd
He must perforce pass by our castle walls,
And then thou shalt behold a goodly show!
1st serv.
Who brought the tidings?
2d serv.
A soldier sent on horseback, all express:
E'en now I heard him tell it to the Thane,
Who caution'd me to tell it unto none,
That Ethwald might not hear it.
1st serv.
And thou in sooth obeyst his caution well.
Now hear thou this from me; thou art a lout;
And over and besides a babbling fool;
Ay, and moreover all, I'll break thy head
If thou dost tell again, in any wise,
The smallest tittle of it.
2d serv.
Marry! I can be secret as thyself!
I tell not those who blab.
1st serv.
Yes, yes, thy caution is most scrupulous;
Thou'lt whisper it in Ethwald's hither ear,
And bid the further not to know of it.
Give me those trusses.
2d serv.
Yes, this is made for my old master's seat,
And this, so soft, for gentle lady Bertha. (Giving the mats.)
And this, and this, and this for Ethelbert.
But see thou put a sprig of mountain-ash
Beneath it snugly. Dost thou understand?
1st serv.
What is thy meaning?
2d serv.
It hath a power to cross all wicked spells;
So that a man may sit next stool to th' devil,
If he can lay but slily such a twig
Beneath his seat, nor suffer any harm.
1st serv.
I wish there were some herb of secret power
To save from daily scath of blund'ring fools:
I know beneath whose stool it should be press'd.
Get thee along! the feast smokes in the hall.
[Exeunt.
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