[_Lifting her dagger to stab herself_]
I, too, on the grey wing"s path.
CUCHULAIN
[_Seizing dagger_]
Do you dare, do you dare, do you dare?
Bear children and sweep the house.
[_Forcing his way through the Servants who gather round_]
Wail, but keep from the road.
[_He kneels before RED MAN. There is a pause_]
Quick to your work, old Radish, you will fade when the c.o.c.ks have crowed.
[_A black cat-headed Man holds out the Helmet. The RED MAN takes it_]
RED MAN
I have not come for your hurt, I"m the Rector of this land, And with my spitting cat-heads, my frenzied moon-bred band, Age after age I sift it, and choose for its championship The man who hits my fancy.
[_He places the Helmet on CUCHULAIN"S head_]
And I choose the laughing lip That shall not turn from laughing whatever rise or fall, The heart that grows no bitterer although betrayed by all; The hand that loves to scatter; the life like a gambler"s throw; And these things I make prosper, till a day come that I know, When heart and mind shall darken that the weak may end the strong, And the long remembering harpers have matter for their song.
[Ill.u.s.tration]