[OOMUZ _nods his head again._ ZOON: The Queen. MOOMOOMON: If the Queen knew such a thing she would flee from the palace. ZOON: I would pursue. MOOMOOMON: She would go by Aether Mountain, where her mother went once before her. ZOON: I would follow. HUZ: We would all follow. MELIFLOR: I would follow too. I would dance after her down the little street: the bright heels of my shoes would twinkle: my cloak would float out behind me: I would pursue her and call her name, beyond the street and over the moor as far as Aether Mountain: but I would not come up with her: that would be _too_ daring. ZOON: Love is not a toy, Prince Meliflor. Love is no less than a mood of Destiny. MELIFLOR: Pooh! We must enjoy the idle hours that are for us alone. ZOON: There will be no idle hours on Aether Mountain, following from crag to crag; if it be true that she would go that way. MOOMOOMON: It is true. They know it. They say her mother went that way before. It is one of the royal impulses. ZOON: Oomuz, did the mother of the Queen go once up Aether Mountain? OOMUZ: Aye, and _her_ mother. ZOON: It is true. XIMENUNG: You are sure of this? OOMUZ: We know it. It has been said. HUZ: We will all follow her up Aether Mountain. MELIFLOR: We will follow merrily. XIMENUNG: If we did this what would they do when we returned? MELIFLOR: Who? XIMENUNG: They. MELIFLOR: They? They would not dare to speak to _us_. XIMENUNG: Who knows what they would dare if we dared go after the Queen? MOOMOOMON: They would dare nothing, knowing whence we come. XIMENUNG: They care not whence we come. MOOMOOMON: But they care for the event that is in our hands. They dare never touch us because of the event. MELIFLOR: We are the heirs of the idle hours. For them is work. Surely they dare not leave their work to touch us. MOOMOOMON: They care only for the event. Because it is prophesied that we are needed for the event we are sacred. Were it not for the event, why ... MELIFLOR: Were it not for the event we might not dare to do it; but, being sacred, let us enjoy our idle hours. XIMENUNG: What if the event should one day befall? MELIFLOR: It was prophesied long ago and has not come. It will not come for a long time. MOOMOOMON: No, not for a long time. [_A sentry passes._ MELIFLOR: So we will follow the Queen. HUZ: Yes, we will follow. MOOMOOMON: We shall be a merry company. MELIFLOR: Splendid to see. ZOON: I would follow though I were not guarded for the event. Though the event should befall and we be immune no longer, still I should dare it. MELIFLOR: I would dare it if I knew what they would do. But knowing not ... MOOMOOMON: What matter? We are guarded by the event. ZOON: I say I care not. MELIFLOR: Let us drum with our heels and beat with our scabbards against the benches so that we frighten the Queen. She will run from the palace then, and we will go after her with all our merry company.