Britain ... - Blue-Lite

358 THE VARANGIAN. [Act III.
Strongly of mystery. O, could 1 but pry
Into these deep state secrets ! I would give
My very head to
THIRD SERVANT.
Thou mayst, for aught 'tis worth.
Nor greatly by the gift thy wisdom lessen.
Would I could pry into a venison pasty,
Or forthwith strict examination make
Of a well-roasted bustard or fat crane,
For I am lean and faint. But I will see
What cheer the buttery yields.
SECOND SERVANT.
Then art thou come
In right good time : there's glorious feasting here.
But thou, dull fellow, hast no great regard
For plots and state affairs.
THIRD SERVANT.
No ; but I have
For the sad state of my deserted bowels,
From which good cheer hath absent been so long,
That they are troublesome and noisy grown
As a parched tribe of melancholy frogs,
Croaking for summer rain. [Exeunt.
SCENE V.The great Hall of the Abbey. A magni-
ficent Banquet. The tables, as they recede, are elevated
one above the other. The Earls of Norfolk,
Hereford, and Northumberland, with a crowd of
Norman and Saxon conspirators, discovered. The
Abbot is seated at the head of the upper table:
behind him large folding doors, which are closed.
ABBOT.
My Lord of Norfolk, there is fatal truth