FOOL. I want to buy bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and strong drink for the time when the sun is weak, and snares to catch rabbits and the squirrels that steal the nuts, and hares, and a great pot to cook them in.
A YOUNG M. Why don"t your friends tell you where buried treasures are?
Why don"t they make you dream about treasures? If one dreams three times there is always treasure.
FOOL [_holding out his hat_]. Give me pennies! Give me pennies!
[_They throw pennies into his hat. He is standing close to the door, that he may hold out his hat to each newcomer._]
A YOUNG M. Master, will you have Teigue the Fool for a scholar?
ANOTHER YOUNG M. Teigue, will you give us your pennies if we teach you lessons? No, he goes to school for nothing on the mountains. Tell us what you learn on the mountains, Teigue.
WISE M. Be silent all! [_He has been standing silent, looking away._]
Stand still in your places, for there is something I would have you tell me.
[_A moment"s pause. They all stand round in their places._ TEIGUE _still stands at the door._]
WISE M. Is there anyone amongst you who believes in G.o.d? In Heaven? Or in Purgatory? Or in h.e.l.l?
ALL THE YOUNG MEN. No one, Master! No one!
WISE M. I knew you would all say that; but do not be afraid. I will not be angry. Tell me the truth. Do you not believe?
A YOUNG M. We once did, but you have taught us to know better.
WISE M. Oh, teaching! teaching does not go very deep! The heart remains unchanged under it all. You have the faith that you have always had, and you are afraid to tell me.
A YOUNG M. No, no, Master!
WISE M. If you tell me that you have not changed, I shall be glad and not angry.
A YOUNG M. [_to his_ NEIGHBOUR]. He wants somebody to dispute with.
HIS NEIGHBOUR. I knew that from the beginning.
A YOUNG M. That is not the subject for to-day; you were going to talk about the words the beggar wrote upon the walls of Babylon.
WISE M. If there is one amongst you that believes, he will be my best friend. Surely there is one amongst you. [_They are all silent._]
Surely what you learned at your mother"s knees has not been so soon forgotten.
A YOUNG M. Master, till you came, no teacher in this land was able to get rid of foolishness and ignorance. But every one has listened to you, every one has learned the truth. You have had your last disputation.
ANOTHER. What a fool you made of that monk in the market-place! He had not a word to say.
WISE M. [_comes from his desk and stands among them in the middle of the room_]. Pupils, dear friends, I have deceived you all this time. It was I myself who was ignorant. There is a G.o.d. There is a Heaven. There is fire that pa.s.ses and there is fire that lasts for ever.
[TEIGUE, _through all this, is sitting on a stool by the door, reckoning on his fingers what he will buy with his money._]
A YOUNG M. [_to_ Another]. He will not be satisfied till we dispute with him. [_To the_ WISE MAN.] Prove it, Master. Have you seen them?
WISE M. [_in a low, solemn voice_]. Just now, before you came in, someone came to the door, and when I looked up I saw an angel standing there.
A YOUNG M. You were in a dream. Anybody can see an angel in his dreams.
WISE M. Oh, my G.o.d! It was not a dream! I was awake, waking as I am now. I tell you I was awake as I am now.
A YOUNG M. Some dream when they are awake, but they are the crazy, and who would believe what they say? Forgive me, Master, but that is what you taught me to say. That is what you said to the monk when he spoke of the visions of the saints and the martyrs.
ANOTHER YOUNG M. You see how well we remember your teaching.
WISE M. Out, out from my sight! I want someone with belief. I must find that grain the Angel spoke of before I die. I tell you I must find it, and you answer me with arguments. Out with you, out of my sight! [_The_ YOUNG MEN _laugh._]
A YOUNG M. How well he plays at faith! He is like the monk when he had nothing more to say.
WISE M. Out, out, this is no time for laughter! Out with you, though you are a king"s son! [_They begin to hurry out._]
A YOUNG M. Come, come; he wants us to find someone who will dispute with him.
[_All go out._]
WISE M. [_alone; he goes to the door at the side_]. I will call my wife. She will believe; women always believe. [_He opens the door and calls._] Bridget! Bridget! [BRIDGET _comes in, wearing her ap.r.o.n, her sleeves turned up from her floury arms._] Bridget, tell me the truth; do not say what you think will please me. Do you sometimes say your prayers?
BRIDGET. Prayers! No, you taught me to leave them off long ago. At first I was sorry, but I am glad now, for I am sleepy in the evening.
WISE M. But do you not believe in G.o.d?
BRIDGET. Oh, a good wife only believes what her husband tells her!
WISE M. But sometimes, when you are alone, when I am in the school and the children asleep, do you not think about the saints, about the things you used to believe in? What do you think of when you are alone?
BRIDGET [_considering_]. I think about nothing. Sometimes I wonder if the linen is bleaching white, or I go out to see if the cows are picking up the chickens" food.
WISE M. Oh, what can I do! Is there n.o.body who believes he can never die? I must go and find somebody! [_He goes towards the door, but stops with his eyes fixed on the hour-gla.s.s._] I cannot go out; I cannot leave that; go and call my pupils again--I will make them understand--I will say to them that only amid spiritual terror, or only when all that laid hold on life is shaken can we see truth--but no, do not call them, they would answer as I have bid.
BRIDGET. You want somebody to get up an argument with.
WISE M. Oh, look out of the door and tell me if there is anybody there in the street! I cannot leave this gla.s.s; somebody might shake it! Then the sand would fall more quickly.
BRIDGET. I don"t understand what you are saying. [_Looks out._] There is a great crowd of people talking to your pupils.
WISE M. Oh, run out, Bridget, and see if they have found somebody that all the time while I was teaching understood nothing or did not listen.
BRIDGET [_wiping her arms in her ap.r.o.n and pulling down her sleeves_].
It"s a hard thing to be married to a man of learning that must be always having arguments. [_Goes out and shouts through the kitchen door._] Don"t be meddling with the bread, children, while I"m out.
WISE M. [_kneels down_]. "_Confiteor Deo omnipotente beatae Mariae...._"
I have forgotten it all. It is thirty years since I have said a prayer.
I must pray in the common tongue, like a clown begging in the market, like Teigue the Fool! [_He prays._] Help me, Father, Son, and Spirit!