I am out of life; I am rolled up, and yet,
Hedgehog although I am, I'll not unroll
For you, King's dog!
Hedgehog although I am, I'll not unroll
For you, King's dog!
Yeats
While
SECOND GIRL is stroking his arm, FIRST GIRL leaves go
and gives him the dish. _
SOLDIER.
Well, well; but not your way. [_To SEANCHAN. _] Here's meat for you.
It has been carried from too good a table
For men like you, and I am offering it
Because these women have made a fool of me.
[_A pause. _
You mean to starve? You will have none of it?
I'll leave it there, where you can sniff the savour.
Snuff it, old hedgehog, and unroll yourself!
But if I were the King, I'd make you do it
With wisps of lighted straw.
SEANCHAN.
You have rightly named me.
I lie rolled up under the ragged thorns
That are upon the edge of those great waters
Where all things vanish away, and I have heard
Murmurs that are the ending of all sound.
I am out of life; I am rolled up, and yet,
Hedgehog although I am, I'll not unroll
For you, King's dog! Go to the King, your master.
Crouch down and wag your tail, for it may be
He has nothing now against you, and I think
The stripes of your last beating are all healed.
[_The SOLDIER has drawn his sword. _
CHAMBERLAIN.
[_Striking up sword. _]
Put up your sword, sir; put it up, I say!
The common sort would tear you into pieces
If you but touched him.
SOLDIER.
If he's to be flattered,
Petted, cajoled, and dandled into humour,
We might as well have left him at the table.
[_Goes to one side sheathing sword. _
SEANCHAN.
You must need keep your patience yet awhile,
For I have some few mouthfuls of sweet air
To swallow before I have grown to be as civil
As any other dust.
CHAMBERLAIN.
You wrong us, Seanchan.
There is none here but holds you in respect;
And if you'd only eat out of this dish,
The King would show how much he honours you.
SECOND GIRL is stroking his arm, FIRST GIRL leaves go
and gives him the dish. _
SOLDIER.
Well, well; but not your way. [_To SEANCHAN. _] Here's meat for you.
It has been carried from too good a table
For men like you, and I am offering it
Because these women have made a fool of me.
[_A pause. _
You mean to starve? You will have none of it?
I'll leave it there, where you can sniff the savour.
Snuff it, old hedgehog, and unroll yourself!
But if I were the King, I'd make you do it
With wisps of lighted straw.
SEANCHAN.
You have rightly named me.
I lie rolled up under the ragged thorns
That are upon the edge of those great waters
Where all things vanish away, and I have heard
Murmurs that are the ending of all sound.
I am out of life; I am rolled up, and yet,
Hedgehog although I am, I'll not unroll
For you, King's dog! Go to the King, your master.
Crouch down and wag your tail, for it may be
He has nothing now against you, and I think
The stripes of your last beating are all healed.
[_The SOLDIER has drawn his sword. _
CHAMBERLAIN.
[_Striking up sword. _]
Put up your sword, sir; put it up, I say!
The common sort would tear you into pieces
If you but touched him.
SOLDIER.
If he's to be flattered,
Petted, cajoled, and dandled into humour,
We might as well have left him at the table.
[_Goes to one side sheathing sword. _
SEANCHAN.
You must need keep your patience yet awhile,
For I have some few mouthfuls of sweet air
To swallow before I have grown to be as civil
As any other dust.
CHAMBERLAIN.
You wrong us, Seanchan.
There is none here but holds you in respect;
And if you'd only eat out of this dish,
The King would show how much he honours you.
