Her face was paler that its wont, and her voice trembled as she spake
to him and said:
'Face-of-god, I would ask thee a gift.'
'All gifts,' he said, 'that thou mayest ask, and I may give, lie open
to thee.'
She said: 'If I be alive when the time comes this gift thou mayst
well give me.'
'Sweet kinswoman,' said he, 'tell me what it is that thou wouldest
have of me.' And he was ill-at-ease as he waited for her answer.
She said: 'Ah, kinsman, kinsman! Woe on the day that maketh kinship
accursed to me because thou desirest it!'
He held his peace and was exceeding sorry; and she said:
'This is the gift that I ask of thee, that in the days to come when
thou art wedded, thou wilt give me the second man-child whom thou
begettest.'
He said: 'This shalt thou have, and would that I might give thee
much more. Would that we were little children together other again,
as when we played here in other days.'
She said: 'I would have a token of thee that thou shalt show to the
God, and swear on it to give me the gift. For the times change.'
'What token wilt thou have?' said he.
She said: 'When next thou farest to the Wood, thou shalt bring me
back, it maybe a flower from the bank ye sit upon, or a splinter from
the dais of the hall wherein ye feast, or maybe a ring or some matter
that the strangers are wont to wear.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156