The King's Threshold; and On Baile's StrandYeats, W. B. (William Butler)
General
The King's Threshold; and On Baile's Strand
Yeats, W. B. (William Butler)
Ireland -- Drama
_Daire._ I was at the Smith’s
When he that was the boy Setanta then----
[_Sound, of fighting outside._
_Third King._ He will have killed him.
They have begun the fight!
[_They all go out, leaving the house silent and empty. There is a
pause during which one hears the clashing of the swords. BARACH and
FINTAIN come in from side door. BARACH is dragging FINTAIN._
_Barach._ You have eaten it, you have eaten it, you have left me nothing
but the bones.
_Fintain._ O, that I should have to endure such a plague. O, I ache all
over. O, I am pulled in pieces. This is the way you pay me for all the
good I have done you!
_Barach._ You have eaten it, you have told me lies about a wild dog.
Nobody has seen a wild dog about the place this twelve month. Lie there
till the Kings come. O, I will tell Concobar and Cuchullain and all the
Kings about you!
_Fintain._ What would have happened to you but for me, and you without
your wits? If I did not take care of you what would you do for food and
warmth?
_Barach._ You take care of me? You stay safe and send me into every kind
of danger. You sent me down the cliff for gull’s eggs while you warmed
your blind eyes in the sun. And then you ate all that were good for
food. You left me the eggs that were neither egg nor bird. [_The blind
man tries to rise. BARACH makes him lie down again._] Keep quiet now
till I shut the door. There is some noise outside. There are swords
crossing; a high vexing noise so that I can’t be listening to myself.
[_He goes to the big door at the back and shuts it._] Why can’t they be
quiet, why can’t they be quiet! Ah, you would get away, would you? [_He
follows the blind man who has been crawling along the wall and makes him
lie down close to the KING’S chair._] Lie there, lie there. No, you
won’t get away. Lie there till the Kings come, I’ll tell them all about
you. I shall tell it all. How you sit warming yourself, when you have
made me light a fire of sticks, while I sit blowing it with my mouth. Do
you not always make me take the windy side of the bush when it blows and
the rainy side when it rains?
_Fintain._ O good fool, listen to me. Think of the care I have taken of
you. I have brought you to many a warm hearth, where there was a good
welcome for you, but you would not stay there, you were always wandering
about.
_Barach._ The last time you brought me in, it was not I who wandered
away, but you that got put out because you took the crubeen out of the
pot, when you thought nobody was looking. Keep quiet now, keep quiet
till I shut the door. Here is Cuchullain, now you will be beaten. I am
going to tell him everything.
_Cuchullain._ [_Comes in and says to the fool._] Give me that horn.
[_The fool gives him a horn which CUCHULLAIN fills with ale and
drinks._
_Fintain._ Do not listen to him, listen to me.
_Cuchullain._ What are you wrangling over?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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