The Betrothal Part 16

That one is the richest.... It appears we were very rich at one time, but that didn't last.... However, it doesn't matter here: the only thing that counts, it seems, is what a man has done or thought.... For instance, you see those beggars over there, coming out of the church?

(_Enter from the twelfth-century church some four or five_ BEGGARS, _clad in rags that are pitiful to look at, but idealized by the fairy atmosphere_.)

TYLTYL

Yes, any number of them.

GAFFER TYL

Well, it seems that several generations of us were beggars.... We succeeded one another, father and son, at the same church and in the same doorway. It was very good for us, they say. It taught us patience, resignation, endurance, temperance and the habit of never catching cold.... But do you see the oldest, the one who looks poorest of all?

TYLTYL

The one with the beautiful white beard?

GAFFER TYL

Precisely.... Well, he's the Great Mendicant, the one whom we respect most, first because he has an iron const.i.tution and next because he appears to have thought a very great deal in his corner under the porch.... They say it's he who did most to develop our brains.

TYLTYL

But I don't see any women among them. Where are their wives? Weren't they married?

GRANNY TYL

Of course they were; but there's nothing for us women to do to-day. The men choose the women and the women the men.... When Mytyl comes, it will be our turn.

TYLTYL

Look, there are three more.

(_A diseased_ MAN _comes out of the hospital; another, carrying a bottle and looking rather tipsy, out of the tavern; and, lastly, out of the prison, a third figure, hairy and savage of aspect, brandis.h.i.+ng a blood-stained knife_.)

GAFFER TYL

(_Dismayed_.) I don't like this.... It's very tiresome that they should have been told....

TYLTYL

Why, who are they?

GAFFER TYL

An ugly lot, those three: the sick man, the drunkard and the murderer.... They've done us a deal of harm.

TYLTYL

Then there was a murderer in the family?

GAFFER TYL

Of course, as in every family. Fortunately, none of the three has much influence over us. As you see, they are small and sickly; they shrink from century to century and are nothing like as healthy as the others.... But it won't do for them to meddle in your choice.... If the Great Peasant, the Great Mendicant and the Great Ancestor are there, all will go well: the others won't dare to breathe a word; if not, they will try to force their choice upon you and that will be a bad thing for you and for the future of the entire family.

(_Enter from the old farm-house a tall_ PEASANT, _dressed in the mediaeval style. He closes the door carefully and steps forward whittling a switch_.)

GAFFER TYL

Here comes the Great Peasant! That's good, that's good!

TYLTYL

That long, thin fellow?

GAFFER TYL

He certainly isn't fat; but he has great influence. He is one of the mainstays of the family.

(_Next enter from the villa one or two_ GALLO-ROMANS _and then, from the hack of the street, among other_ MEN _of the Stone Age, an exceedingly tall old_ MAN, _dressed in skins and leaning on a heavy club_.)

TYLTYL

Why, we've got right back to savages now!

GAFFER TYL

That's the one!

TYLTYL

Who?

GAFFER TYL

The Great Ancestor!

TYLTYL

What? The one like an ape, with the big stick?

GAFFER TYL

You _must_ be quiet!... Don't treat him with disrespect!... It's a great favour that he's showing you; he doesn't often go out.... Of all our race he's the most important, the greatest, the most respected....

Everything's shaping well: it'll probably be he, the Great Peasant and the Great Mendicant who will put their heads together and choose your bride for you.

TYLTYL

(_Indignantly_.) But I won't have that!... It doesn't concern them!...

What do they know about it?... A peasant, a savage and a beggar: what next?