1st GUARD.
Back, crowd not there! Stand back!
2d Guard.
The children may
Stand in the front, but hold them. There crawls one!
1st Guard (pushing the child back into the crowd).
My little friend, get back! Now see, I'll make
A line upon the ground, and if thy toes,
But by a hair's breadth, cross that line again,
I'll drop my spear on them and they shall be
As flat as any barley cake. [Laughter.]
1st Girl.
Ha, Ha!
2d Girl.
Hast thou become a baker, oh Gilain!
1st Guard (lifting his mailed hand).
Ay, wench, would'st see me knead my dough?
[Laughter.]
A Boy.
Be still
I hear the crier's voice from down below!
A Girl.
He's wandered up and down the streets since dawn
And called until my blood runs cold!
The Boy.
Hush.
The Girl.
Hark!
Voice of the Crier (distant and ringing).
Today at noon, because King Mark has found
Her faithless and untrue, shall Queen Iseult
Be given to the lepers of Lubin,—
A gift to take or leave. And, furthermore,
Lord Tristram, who was once her paramour,
Transgressed King Mark's decree by entering
His realm. Whoever catches him and brings
Him quick or dead unto the King shall have
One hundred marks of gold for his reward.
'Tis good King Mark's decree that every one
Should hear and know these things that I have cried.
A Child.
Oh, I'm afraid! Will he come here, that man?
The Girl.
I know it all by heart, and still he cries!
A Man.
Ay, let him cry!
Another Man.
Lord Tristram, he's a fox;
To catch him they must have a good deep pit
Or else he'll scratch them so that all their lives
They'll think thereon.
A Girl.
Tristram's a noble lord,
I'd shield him an I could.
A Second Girl.
I want to see
The Queen close by.
A Third Girl.
Ay, so do I!
A Fourth Girl.
I'll strew
Some flowers in her path as she goes past.
1st Girl.
My father made her once a pair of shoes
Of fine white satin, bound with golden clasps
And crimson 'broidery. He says her feet
Are delicate and small; as white and slim
As are the Virgin Mary's in the shrine
That stands within Tintagel's lofty church
Above the great high altar.
4th Girl.
Poor, poor soul!
Old Woman.
Ay, let her see where those white feet of hers
Have carried her!
3d Guard (to a boy who has climbed upon the wall).
Hey, thou! Come down! The wall
And rocks are full an hundred fathoms high,
So, if thou fall, thy howling will not help.
The Boy.
I want to sit here when the lepers come!
Another Boy.
A good place that! I'll climb up too.
A Fourth Boy.
I too!
1st GUARD.
Now none of you may stay within the court
To stare when Queen Iseult is given o'er
Unto the lepers. Mark has granted this
Unto the Queen since 'twas her only wish.
Ye all must go into the church.
A Man.
May none
Then stay without and watch the lepers?
Another Man.
's wounds!
Why then I came for nothing, all this way!
A Woman (indignantly).
Oh shame, thou beast, would'st gloat and make a show
Of that which one scarce dares to think of? Fie!
For such foul thoughts thou shouldst be thrown
To Husdent to devour!
2d Guard.
Stop wrangling, there!
A Girl.
Poor Queen! I pity her!
A Second Girl.
King Mark's too harsh!
A Man.
She's made a cuckold of him, Girl!
Old Woman.
And now
He's tossing her with those new horns of his!
Young Shepherd.
Is then the Queen Iseult so wondrous fair
As she is said to be?
A Girl.
Hast thou not seen
The Queen?
Shepherd.
No, never yet!
A Girl.
He's never seen
The Queen?
A Boy.
Behold, here's one who never saw
Our Queen!
A Voice.
Who is he?
1st GUARD.
Speak, where wast thou, friend,
When Queen Iseult stood bound here to the stake?
A Girl.
All naked in her wondrous beauty—
Another Girl.
All
For her great love.
The Boy.
We all did see her then.
Shepherd.
I've come since then from Toste in the hills.
A Woman.
Here, let this fellow stand in front, that he
May see the Queen's fair face before this swarm
Of vultures has devoured it.
1st GUARD.
Come here;
If thou hast never seen the Queen thou may'st
Stand here beside the steps.
Shepherd.
I thank thee.
A Soldier (drawing him beside him).
Here!
A Voice.
Here come the soldiers!
A Child.
Lift me, father.
A Voice.
Hsh—!