Part 16 (1/2)

Do you believe in G.o.d and in the soul?

FOOL

So you ask me now. I thought when you were asking your pupils, 'Will he ask Teigue the Fool? Yes, he will, he will; no, he will not--yes, he will.' But Teigue will say nothing. Teigue will say nothing.

WISE MAN

Tell me quickly.

FOOL

I said, 'Teigue knows everything, not even the green-eyed cats and the hares that milk the cows have Teigue's wisdom'; but Teigue will not speak, he says nothing.

WISE MAN

Speak, speak, for underneath the cover there The sand is running from the upper gla.s.s, And when the last grain's through, I shall be lost.

FOOL

I will not speak. I will not tell you what is in my mind. I will not tell you what is in my bag. You might steal away my thoughts. I met a bodach on the road yesterday, and he said, 'Teigue, tell me how many pennies are in your bag; I will wager three pennies that there are not twenty pennies in your bag; let me put in my hand and count them.'

But I gripped the bag the tighter, and when I go to sleep at night I hide the bag where n.o.body knows.

WISE MAN

There's but one pinch of sand, and I am lost If you are not he I seek.

FOOL

O, what a lot the Fool knows, but he says nothing.

WISE MAN

Yes, I remember now. You spoke of angels.

You said but now that you had seen an angel.

You are the one I seek, and I am saved.

FOOL

Oh no. How could poor Teigue see angels? Oh, Teigue tells one tale here, another there, and everybody gives him pennies. If Teigue had not his tales he would starve.

[_He breaks away and goes out._

WISE MAN

The last hope is gone, And now that it's too late I see it all, We perish into G.o.d and sink away Into reality--the rest's a dream.

[_The Fool comes back._