To-morrow shall we hold a Gate-thing, and
then shall we hear all that thou hast to tell. Now eat thy meat and
drink a bowl of wine, and comfort thy troth-plight maiden.'
So Gold-mane sat down by the Bride, and ate and drank as he needs
must; but he was ill at ease and he durst not speak to her. For, on
the one hand, he thought concerning his love for the Sun-beam, and
how sweet and good a thing it was that she should take him by the
hand and lead him into noble deeds and great fame, caressing him so
softly and sweetly the while; and, on the other hand, there sat the
Bride beside him, sorrowful and angry, begrudging all that sweetness
of love, as though it were something foul and unseemly; and heavy on
him lay the weight of that grudge, for he was a man of a friendly
heart.
Stone-face sat outward from him on the other side of the Bride; and
he leaned across her towards Gold-mane and said:
'Fair shall be thy tale to-morrow, if thou tellest us all thine
adventure. Or wilt thou tell us less than all?'
Said Face-of-god: 'In good time shalt thou know it all, foster-
father; but it is not unlike that by the time that thou hast heard
it, there shall be so many other things to tell of, that my tale
shall seem of little account to thee--even as the saw saith that one
nail driveth out the other.
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