GESSL.
Is that boy thine, Tell?
TELL.
Yes, my gracious lord.
GESSL.
Hast any more of them?
TELL.
Two boys, my lord.
GESSL.
And, of the two, which dost thou love the most?
TELL.
Sir, both the boys are dear to me alike.
GESSL.
Then, Tell, since at a hundred yards thou canst
Bring down the apple from the tree, thou shalt
Approve thy skill before me. Take thy bow—
Thou hast it there at hand—make ready, then,
To shoot an apple from the stripling's head!
But take this counsel,—look well to thine aim,
See, that thou hit'st the apple at the first,
For, shouldst thou miss, thy head shall pay the forfeit.
[All give signs of horror.]
TELL.
What monstrous thing, my lord, is this you ask?
What! from the head of mine own child!—No, no!
It cannot be, kind sir, you meant not that—
God, in His grace, forbid! You could not ask
A father seriously to do that thing!
GESSL.
Thou art to shoot an apple from his head!
I do desire—command it so.