Her pocket is empty; Merryn has been here first. Hearken, and then begin: You have not touched a royal corpse before, But I have stretched a king and an old queen, A king's aunt and a king's brother too, Without much boasting of a still-born princess; So that I know, as a priest knows his prayers, All that is written in the chamberlain's book About the handling of exalted corpses, Stripping them and trussing them for the grave: And there it says that the chief corpse-washer Shall take for her own use by sacred right The coverlid, the upper sheet, the mattress Of any bed in which a queen has died, And the last robe of state the body wore; While humbler helpers may divide among them The under sheet, the pillow, and the bed-gown Stript from the cooling queen. Be thankful, then, and praise me every day That I have brought no other women with me To spoil you of your share. The Younger Woman: Ah, you have always been a friend to me: Many's the time I have said I did not know How I could even have lived but for your kindness. [The ELDER WOMAN draws down the bedclothes from the Queen's body, loosens them from the bed, and throws them on the floor.] The Elder Woman: Pull her feet straight: is your mind wandering? [She commences to fold the bedclothes, singing as she moves about.] A louse crept out of my lady's shift-- Ahumm, Ahumm, Ahee-- Crying "Oi! Oi! We are turned adrift; The lady's bosom is cold and stiffed, And her arm-pit's cold for me." [While the ELDER WOMAN sings, the YOUNGER WOMAN straightens the Queen's feet and ties them together, draws the pillow from under her head, gathers her hair in one hand and knots it roughly; then she loosens her nightgown, revealing a jewel hung on a cord round the Queen's neck.] The Elder Woman (running to the vacant side of the bed): What have you there? Give it to me. The Younger Woman: It is mine: I found it. The Elder Woman: Leave it. The Younger Woman: Let go. The Elder Woman: Leave it, I say. Will you not? Will you not? An eye for a jewel, then! [She attacks the face of the YOUNGER WOMAN with her disengaged hand.] The Younger Woman (starting back): Oh! [The ELDER WOMAN breaks the cord and thrusts the jewel into her pocket.] The Younger Woman: Aie! Aie! Aie! Old thief! You are always thieving! You stole a necklace on your wedding day: You could not bear a child, you stole your daughter: You stole a shroud the morn your husband died: Last week you stole the Princess Regan's comb ... [She stumbles into the chair by the bed, and, throwing her loose sleeves over her head, rocks herself and moans.] The Elder Woman (resuming her clothes-folding and her song): "The lady's linen's no longer neat;"-- Ahumm, Ahumm, Ahee-- "Her savour is neither warm nor sweet; It's close for two in a winding sheet, And lice are too good for worms to eat; So here's no place for me."