Of strange things, too, we hear from other parts. I spoke with one but now, from Baden come, Who said a knight was on his way to court, And, as he rode along, a swarm of wasps Surrounded him, and settling on his horse, So fiercely stung the beast, that it fell dead, And he proceeded to the court on foot. TELL. The weak are also furnish'd with a sting. ARMGART (_enters with several children, and places herself at the entrance of the pass_). STUSSI. 'Tis thought to bode disaster to the land-- Some horrid deeds against the course of nature. TELL. Why, every day brings forth such fearful deeds; There needs no prodigy to herald them. STUSSI. Ay, happy he, who tills his field in peace, And sits at home untroubled with his kin. TELL. The very meekest cannot be at peace If his ill neighbor will not let him rest. [TELL _looks frequently with restless expectation toward the top of the pass_.] STUSSI. So fare you well! You're waiting someone here? TELL. I am. STUSSI. God speed you safely to your home! You are from Uri, are you not? His grace The governor's expected thence today. TRAVELER (_entering_). Look not to see the governor today. The streams are flooded by the heavy rains, And all the bridges have been swept away. [TELL _rises_.] ARMGART (_coming forward_). Gessler not coming? STUSSI. Want you aught with him? ARMGART. Alas, I do! STUSSI. Why then, thus place yourself Where you obstruct his passage down the pass? ARMGART. Here he cannot escape me. He _must_ hear me. FRIESSHARDT (_coming hastily down the pass and calls upon the stage_). Make way, make way! My lord, the governor, Is close behind me, riding down the pass. [_Exit_ TELL.] ARMGART (_excitedly_). The Viceroy comes! [_She goes toward the pass with her children_. GESSLER _and_ RUDOLPH DER HARRAS _appear on horseback at the upper end of the pass_.] STUSSI (_to_ FRIESSHARDT). How got ye through the stream, When all the bridges have been carried down? FRIESS. We've fought, friend, with the tempest on the lake; An Alpine torrent's nothing after that. STUSSI. How! Were you out, then, in that dreadful storm? FRIESS. We were! I'll not forget it while I live. STUSSI. Stay, speak-- FRIESS. I can't--must to the castle haste, And tell them, that the governor's at hand. [_Exit_.] STUSSI. If honest men, now, had been in the ship, It had gone down with every soul on board:-- Some folks are proof 'gainst fire and water both. [_Looking round_.] Where has the huntsman gone with whom I spoke? [_Exit_.] _Enter_ GESSLER _and_ RUDOLPH DER HARRAS _on horseback_ GESSLER.