Augustine and St. Gregory; and
the Apologues or Fables from Aesop.[viii]
"Oh, put those stupid books aside," exclaimed the prince; "this is your
first day in town, and I mean to take a holiday; that surly old Dunstan
should have left word to that effect last night."
"Will he not be here soon?"
"Yes, he is coming this morning, the old bear, to superintend my
progress, and I wish him joy thereof."
"What has he given you to do?" inquired Elfric.
"Why, a wretched exercise to write out. There, you see it before you;
isn't it a nuisance?"
"It is not very hard, is it?"
"Don't you think it hard? See whether you can do it!"
Elfric smiled, and wrote out the simple Latin with ease, for he had been
well instructed by Father Cuthbert at Aescendune.
He had scarcely finished when a firm step was heard upon the stairs.
"Hush," said Edwy; "here comes Dunstan. Be sure you look solemn enough,"
and he composed his own countenance into an expression of preternatural
gravity.
The door opened, and an ecclesiastic in the prime of life entered the
room, one whose mien impressed the beholder with an indefinable awe.
He was dressed in the Benedictine habit, just then becoming common in
England, and his features were those of a man formed by nature to
command, while they reconciled the beholder to the admission of the fact
by the sad yet sweet smile which frequently played on the shapely
countenance.
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