THE MAID. I tie his slippers for him, and pour his drink.
THE GYPSY. It is a great honour! So great an honour that you come here before the sun is up to be ready for your duties. Do you entertain the King with conversation while he takes his morning drink?
THE MAID. No—the Gazetteer does that.
THE GYPSY. The Gazetteer—what is the Gazetteer?
THE MAID. The Gazetteer is a man whose duty it is to find out all that happens in the city each day, and recite it to the King the next morning.
THE GYPSY. Has the King as much curiosity as that? I would never have thought it.
THE MAID. It isn't curiosity. It's just a custom that has sprung up. All the merchants and well-to-do people hire a Gazetteer. It may be useful to them—but I think the King regards it more as a duty than a pleasure.
THE GYPSY. I remember now. They have something like it in the taverns.
I foresee a great future for it….
THE MAID. And it seems to go with that new drink.
THE GYPSY. What new drink?