"Our help standeth in the name of the Lord, Who hath made heaven and
earth," replied Father Guthlac.
Meanwhile, Alfred rapidly gained strength. Happily no bones were broken,
he was only sadly bruised. The next day he expressed his earnest wish to
return home, but his host would not permit him, saying he should have to
answer to Dunstan some day for his guest.
The time passed monotonously enough that second day, yet not
unpleasantly: there were a thousand things to observe in the woods and
marshes around, full of animal life.
Early in the morning, a sweet fresh morning, the cowherd drove his
cattle forth to graze, where he knew the pastures were sweetest, and
Alfred would willingly have gone, too, but they told him he must rest.
So he took his breakfast of hot milk and bread, with oat cakes baked on
the hearth, and waited patiently till the warmth of the day tempted him
out, under the care of Oswy, to watch the distant herd, to drink of the
clear spring or recline under some huge spreading beech, while the
breeze made sweet melodies in his ears, and lulled him pleasantly to sleep.
At midday they returned to the customary dinner, which was not of such
inferior quality as one would now expect to find in such a place,
contrasting strongly with the fare on the tables of the rich: then there
was far more equality in the food of rich and poor, and Alfred had no
cause to complain of the cowherd's table.
Pages:
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155