Cries on All Sides
He is a robber, a thief!
The Grand-duke
He cheats us!
All the Owls
He cheats us! Cheats us!
The Grand-duke
Of the good bit of night there still is left.
An Owlet
He compels us to leave our posts beside the warrens—
The Screech-owl
Our feasts of steaming flesh!
The Wood-owl
The witches’ routs where we ride perched on the fist of a hag!
The Grand-duke
After cock-crow an Owl is no longer in his normal state—
The Screech-owl
He does evil in a hurry!
The Grand-duke
And bungles it in consequence!