_Pen._ O, thou knowest little. Now is the end. I’ll tell thee. When at first These princes came to woo me against my will, I put them off with guile; and some good spirit Prompting my heart, I set up in the hall A loom, and rolled upon the beam a warp 2020 Ample and long, and said _My lordly wooers, Abide, nor press my marriage till this cloth Be made, for I would weave the threads I span. ’Tis old Laertes’ shroud, against the day Which is not far, when death must take him hence. For since my lord is dead, I would not leave His house, without this honour paid his sire._ And stealing thus their courteous consent, I used by day to weave, but every night Would silently creep down, and by the loom 2030 Setting the torches, soon unravelling all, Undid the work of the day. Thus for three years I wove and prospered, and the web stood still: But in the fourth, by blabbing of my maidens Was all discovered, and since then I have known Reproach, nor now can longer ’scape. My friends And parents urge me, and my son himself, Who once was with me, begs me leave the house, Ere his good father’s wealth be all consumed. _Ul._ Well done of thee! Fear not. Ulysses cometh To slay these robbers like a flock of sheep. 2041 _Pen._ Against conviction, friend, thy words are pleasant: None yet hath thus talked with me; and ere I go To sleep or weep upon my lonely couch, I’ll tell thee of a dream I lately dreamed, Much of thy meaning. There were twenty geese, Which in the courtyard I had watched with pleasure, Raising their bills above their well-filled trough. Now in my dream a furious eagle flew 2049 Down from the hills, and with his crooked beak Brake all their necks, and killed them, and they lay Strewn in the yard; but he flew off to heaven. Then cried I out, as in my sleep it seemed, Aloud, and all my maidens came about me, And mourned with me my geese the eagle had killed. But he returned, and perching on the wall, Spake in man’s voice to me and said, _Fear not, O daughter of Icarius, No dream thou sawest, but a vision true. The geese are all thy wooers, and the eagle_ 2060 _That was, am now thy husband safe returned, Who will slay all those men as thou hast seen._ Thus spake he, and I awaked; and looking forth I saw my geese all standing by the trough, Eating the wheaten meal as heretofore. _Ul._ Now blessed be the gods, who thus will visit In sleep the attentive spirits of them they love.