University of Virginia Library

Scene Second.

—A Chamber in the Palace.
Enter Queen, disguised in a cloak and hood.
Queen.
Had I but died an hour before this row
'Tis ten to one I hadn't lived till now;
And so should have escaped the anguish wild
Of feeling I have drawn it much too mild,—
And, striving but her vanity to tickle,
Preserved the rod and made my child a pickle!
My hints, my prayers, my tears all disregarded,
Of lovers the whole pack she has discarded.
But wed she shall—aye, marry shall she! though
How it's to be contrived I do not know.
The only soul who might hit on a plan
Is the great Desert Fairy, Haridan!
But to approach her is, for any stranger,
A work of some considerable danger;
The monstrous lions that patrol the dale
Might make the British Lion e'en turn tail!
Lions with two heads! on eight feet that run!
And make you own two heads are worse than one.
To choke 'em off the traveller must make
A certain sort of sugar-candy cake,
With eggs of crocodiles and millet flour,
Which the said lions will with joy devour,
And let the bearer pass without a scratch.
Of these said cakes I lately made a batch,
And, as time presses, it must be conceded,
My cake has not been made before 'twas needed.

Music—She goes off and returns with a covered basket containing the cakes, then exit.