If it please thee, I am a woman.
INGUR. No. Thou art a hedgehog.
HAGGITH (_suddenly cajoling_). I ask pardon. When I saw thy great
handsomeness I grew afraid, and my tongue was stiffened. In my country
there is no man so handsome as thou art.
INGUR. Ah! (_Much mollified_.) And what then is thy country?
HAGGITH. I am a woman of the Hebrews, and I have come from Bethulia.
INGUR (_astonished_). A woman of the Hebrews! From Bethulia! (_To his
men_). Stand back from my face. (_The men retire. To_ Haggith.) This is
a rare strange tale.
HAGGITH. Could I lie to _thee_? I have escaped from the city, which is
given over to be consumed. I sought water for my thirst, for in Bethulia
there is no water, and the people faint in the streets.
INGUR. But it is a long journey from Bethulia, and thou art fresh and
delicate as though just risen from thy bed.
HAGGITH (_smiling_). I can hide nothing from thee, mighty wolf. I am,
indeed, but just risen from my bed. The night before last night I set
forth secretly, and came into the valley yesterday at noon, and lay soft
in a cave where three springs bubbled, and drank, and slept until this
morning's sunrise.
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