15 - Deirdre - Book 2, Chapters 9, 10

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section fifteen of Deirdre by James Stephens. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain. Read by Michel Frye Matonrouge Louisiana,
Book two, Chapters nine and ten, Chapter nine. But Connahor

(00:21):
had not retired. He was seated in the central room,
away in the heart of his monstrous palace, and the
great crystal ball swung at his shoulder. He had stared
into it for hours and had seen nothing. Laversham also
was there, seated humbly on a stool. Fill my cup,
said Ganahor. I am thirsty to night, my heart. I

(00:44):
could drain a sea and not drown this thirst. You
are troubled, Lord. All this business has fevered you, and
you are you not excited at the thought of seeing
your babe again. I have interested myself in so many
things these seven long years, Master, I have almost forgotten her.

(01:05):
She has dropped out of my mind. And now I
would as readily not see her as see her. I
thought you loved that babe. After all, she is not
my babe. Philamid Macedaal's wife bore her? Is it so?
Connorhur mused, I had almost forgotten that old tail. I

(01:26):
had but the labor of rearing her, and of being
disappointed by her. She said bitterly, you did not fill
my cup Laversham. I did, Master, but you have emptied it.
Feel it again, good friend. She was beautiful, Laversham. She
was a thing of joy and wonder. Young girls are

(01:47):
beautiful while they are young, Master, But in a few
years they look like any other person. You think so
they get fat or they get thin. It is not
girls that are lovely, Master, it is youth. And I
am forty seven years of age. The years go by
doing what I know to me. But for her there

(02:08):
has been only the time to ripen what was immature.
The green fruit will be ruddy and fragrant, worked on
by the sun and the wind. What age is she now? Woman?
She is seven years older in time and twenty years
older in hardship. She will have forgotten how to lie
in a bed, or how to eat proper food. She

(02:32):
will surely have changed, said Kanahor a brisk moment returned
to the great man, and he aroused himself. How was
she looked after her years of lying in the butt
of a wet dish or in a bog ah Me
said Laversham. She will have plodded over tough hills with
a thin belly and a dry lip. She will have

(02:55):
slept with her fingers in her mouth to keep them
warm in the winter. You will be lean and red
handed and windy faced, with the arches of her feet
broken down by too much walking, and her knees sagging
under her like an old plowman's. Is that how the
trebler will look Leversham, I think, Master, that she may

(03:17):
be a long, thin, tough woman. She will be rheumatic.
She will awaken in the night coughing like a sick orse,
said the tearful King. I do not wish to see her,
said Laversham, sourly. No more do, I said Kane. Let
her go my cup. He murmured, Laversham, you do not

(03:39):
attend me well again, he became moody. If I were
not the King, I would steal to the red branch
and spy on her ruin through a window. I should
like to see that she is lank and depressed. Go you, Leaversham.
The guards know your privileges. Look through the window and
bring me back that tail. I don't want to go

(04:03):
see her at all. Master, Let her stay with the
people she has chosen, and let her torment our sleep
no more. Go nevertheless, and bring me a full account
of her. Fill up my glass. Examine her carefully, my soul,
so that you can bring me a true report. But
do not delay, for I shall be waiting for you.

(04:25):
I am lonely. To night woman, I am very lonely.
Send me a man of the guard to fill my cup.
Leversham with every sign of distaste, almost of annoyance, set
on her. Errand sit there and take your ease, the
king ordered the guard who came in. Do not stare
at the flora, good soul, nor at the ceiling. Ah me,

(04:48):
stand behind my chair then, and when my cup is empty,
refill it for me. The embarrassed soldier moved gratefully to cover,
and the king fell again to his woeful meditation guard.
He said, Aria, you sell the guard rolled sonorously. Have
you ever looked in a crystal? Never her King, Look

(05:10):
at this crystal, my friend, can you see anything. There
is a fog in the crystal. It has been there
these three days. Look again, good lad, I think there
is a woman's face. What sort of a woman. Oh
it has gone, majesty, what sort was she? I saw

(05:34):
the loveliest face that ever brightened the world. It seemed
like the face of a sky woman or a lady
of the She sit on this little stool and fill
my cup. What age are you guard? Twenty two years? Majesty?
What is your name? I am called strong fist. Sir,

(05:54):
I remember you, Trendorn. You are my hereditary man. Your
father was a man before you. How did he die?
He was killed by Nisha, the son of Ishnak. Sir,
I remember, said Kanahor. And your two brothers were killed
by that Nisha. Do you remember that also? I would

(06:16):
not forget it, sir. There are things that one should
not forget. Guard, would you do an ill turn to
the same Nichshe? If I had the chance, I would
take it. Sir. He is in the red branch, said Kanahor.
He is there with the woman whose face you saw
in the crystal. Go there for me, good soldier, and

(06:38):
look through the window. See that no person within observes you,
For these are murderous and skillful men, and if they
saw you, they would stop your breath. The guard stood glowering.
In what way do I get equal with Nishe? He
demanded each thing in its time, good soul, for you

(06:59):
would not understand how the king moves. This is but
the first step and the second shall be taken in
no short time. Climb to the window and look carefully
at the woman who was there with Nishe examine her well,
and bring me back news of how she seems and
what she looks like. You have seen women before, I have, majesty,

(07:23):
You know what to look for. You will know how
to look at a woman. Go fill my cup, guard
and go on my errand chapter ten still, said Ardan.
We are not treated too badly. There's plenty of food,
and there are beds in the alcove, said Anoud. We

(07:47):
shall sleep well to night, said Deirdre, and she burst
into tears. They sat dumb, each feeling as if a
chill wind had touched him. Forgive me, said Deir. I
shall not complain any more. Let us sit to our beat.
I shall eat and eat, and eat, said Ordaun. I

(08:09):
am so hungry I could growl over my food. You
shall be served first, ardonnine, said Deirdre. And if there
is one tender piece, you shall have it. Our Boignya
is even hungrier than I am. Let him have the
first piece. Deirdre looked kindly at Boonia, but as she looked,

(08:30):
her eyes widened and she went quite to the lips.
She spoke to him with a shy smile. You will
have the first piece, Boionia, she stammered. I shall take
what comes, said rough red Boonia. Deirdre sank back in
her chair. Nisha, my dear, please carve for me. I

(08:53):
am not well. Bonia is sensible, said Nisha. He has
a head on his shoulders. He stumbled in his carving
and cast a swift glance at Deirdre. The first portion,
he continued gravely, shall be for Boigna, the second for Ireland,

(09:14):
the third for Deirdre, the fourth for Anla, the fifth
for Ardon, and the sixth for Nisha. My piece is
to be the tenderest, said Ardon complacently. Deirdre said, so
fight for me, dear dren. Ardon, my dear brother, said Deirdre.
Come to me and give me ten kisses. I'll miss

(09:38):
my turn, he wailed, as he moved round to her.
They ate their supper and were sitting at chess. That is,
Deirdre and Nisha were playing while the others watched the game.
When there came a tapping at the door which was
nearest to them. Nishea held a piece poised in his fingers.
Go on, lah and challenge that person. It is a

(10:00):
woman's voice, said Almah. Let her come in. The great
bolts were pushed back, and Laversham entered. My babe, my treasure,
she cried, and she ran to Deirdre. Oh, my sweet mother,
said Deirdre. I have no time, Laversham panted. I must
fly back to the king. He sent me to spy

(10:22):
on you through the window. There is danger, mother, there
is terrible danger. Connohor's household men are standing to arms
in the speckled branch, and there is a posse at
each of the gates of this place. He will attack
before morning. Oh Deirdre, Deirdre, that you could have come
here knowing Conahor, as I taught him to you? What

(10:45):
madness brought you from Scotland? Child? Are you glad to
see me? Do you love your mother still? Little one?
I have told the king that you would be ruined
with hardship and sorrow. Alas you are more beautiful than ever,
I shall tell him that you are one eyed and lame.
I shall tell him anything to quieten him for this night.

(11:07):
Tomorrow Niose's people will get news of your return, and
he may fear to attack. If only I can quieten
him for this night he is drinking, he may go
to sleep. Oh, my darling, my one love, I must fly.
Keep all the doors barred, do not open to any one.
I shall send messengers to Ishnach's people. Kiss me again, Oh,

(11:31):
my love of all loves, I must fly, an lah Ardon,
run round all the doors, see that they are secure,
said Nisha. He turned to Bonnya, and Ireland, your father
may be too late to help us. I give you
back your protection. Gentlemen, I shall stay with you, said Bornya,

(11:52):
And I said Ireland, good comrades. Nisha cried, and his
eyes sparkled with delight and gratitude. We are five, he said,
trained to arms from the moment we could walk. No
person of our quality will be against us, for no
gentleman of Ireland would take part in such an attack.
There will be only the common soldiery hard men, but

(12:16):
as skillful at our trade as plowmen. They cannot break in,
for the red branch was designed not to be broken
into these bronze doors the windows, said Anla, God, pity
the man that gets in through a window, said Nisha. Moreover,
they are too high. A man's legs would be splintered
if he jumped from them fire, said Ardan. Conaho will

(12:40):
not burn his own fortress. There's a man at the
window now, said Deirdre. Nisha's hand was on the table.
He picked up a heavy chess man of gold and ivory,
and with an underhand flick he sent it buzzing up
and through the glass. A roar of pain came from without,
and then a scream, my eye, my eye, a voice wailed.

(13:04):
He won't peep through windows again. In a hurry, said
anla Connahor has overreached himself, said Nishe. We can hold
out until the morning. And if Laversham sends her messages,
my people will be baying around Connahor like wolves, and
there will be many another one with them. The people
of Fergus mac Roy will be with them, cried Bognia.

(13:27):
That king will learn what it is to dare my
father's protection. I all unraged, Why, said Nisha joyfully, We
are as safe as if we were in Scotland. If
we are only as safe as that, said Ardan, with
a giggle, Bionya, my soul. We used to be running
from morning until night. We ate our food on the run.

(13:49):
We used to run in our sleep. I tell the
world that in six years I have not felt safe
for a minute until this minute. For there are stout
walls around us, and food to last a week's siege.
The gods be praised, he said piously. We can't run
even if we have to. The band of young men
shouted with laughter, and Deirdre chimed in as joyously as

(14:13):
any of them. End of Section fifteen.