It is no business of the countryfolk To mix with things they do not understand. Yet there are many hereabouts today Who do naught else but go from place to place And fan the embers of revolt and strife. Things have already come to such a pass That sick folk have to cry in vain for aid. The good man who in former days was wont To help so many in sore need, can now No more pass out beyond the castle gates, So cruelly have folk belaboured him. THIRD COUNTRYWOMAN: Of course! for many people were enraged On hearing from what source the sickness came That broke out, all at once, among our cows. The Jew brought this upon them by his spells. He only seems to make sick people well In order, by the use of hellish arts, Better to serve the ends of evil powers. THIRD COUNTRYMAN: This fuss about vile heresy is nought, And matters not. The fact is that these folk Had all they needed, and nought else to do But spend their leisure in abusive talk. A clever judge of human nature then Devised this silly tale about the Jew, How he had laid a spell upon our stock. And so from this alone the storm arose. FOURTH COUNTRYMAN: I think that every one of you might know What wars do mean, with all their misery. Have not our fathers told us all that they Must needs endure, when all the countryside Was overrun by bands of soldiery? FOURTH COUNTRYWOMAN: I always said that it would come to pass: Their lordships' rule must shortly fade away. Already hath a dream revealed to me How we can be of service to the troops When they arrive to carry out the siege, And take good care of all their creature needs. FIFTH COUNTRYMAN: If dreams today are still to be believed, That is a matter we need not discuss. The knights have tried to make us cleverer Than were our fathers. Now they have to learn How much our cleverness hath been increased. Our fathers let them in; in our turn we Shall drive them out. I know the secret tracks That yield an entrance to the fortalice. I used to work within it until rage Drove me away; now will I show the knights How we can make their science serve our ends. FIFTH COUNTRYWOMAN: He surely hath no good thought in his heart; I trembled as I listened to his words. SIXTH COUNTRYMAN: In spirit-vision I have lately seen A traitor leading hostile soldiery By secret ways into the castle's keep. SIXTH COUNTRYWOMAN: Such visions are destructive, I should say. No one who thinks as Christians ought to think But is aware that honesty alone, Not treason, can from evil set us free. SIXTH COUNTRYMAN: