TWO
MERCHANTS
stand without.
Yeats
I fear the wood things, Shemus.
[_A knock at the door. _
Do not open.
SHEMUS.
A crown and twenty pennies are not enough
To stop the hole that lets the famine in.
[_The little shrine falls. _
MAIRE.
Look! look!
SHEMUS.
[_Crushing it underfoot. _]
The Mother of God has dropped asleep,
And all her household things have gone to wrack.
MAIRE.
O Mary, Mother of God, be pitiful!
[_SHEMUS opens the door.
TWO MERCHANTS stand without.
They have bands of gold round their foreheads, and each
carries a bag upon his shoulder. _
FIRST MERCHANT.
Have you food here?
SHEMUS.
For those who can pay well.
SECOND MERCHANT.
We are rich merchants seeking merchandise.
SHEMUS.
Come in, your honours.
MAIRE.
No, do not come in:
We have no food, not even for ourselves.
FIRST MERCHANT.
There is a wolf on the big hook in the cupboard.
[_They enter. _
SHEMUS.
