AXEL'S WIFE
Who will say that?
PETER the Cobbler
[discreetly]
Not I; but the Inscription,
[He points to the Rathaus wall.]
AXEL the Smith
Of our own making?
PETER the Cobbler
On the Rathaus wall!
At our own bidding it was made and graved:—
How,—on that day and down this very street,
He led them,—he, the Wonderfully-clothed,
The Strange Man, with his piping;
[They cross themselves]
And they went,—
And never came again.
HANS' WIFE
But they may come!
PETER the Cobbler
[pityingly]
Marble is final, woman;—nay, poor soul!
When once a man be buried, and over him
The stone doth say Hic Jacet, or Here Lies,
When did that man get up?—There is the stone.
They come no more, for piping or for prayer;
Until the trump of the Lord Gabriel.
And if they came, 'tis not in Hamelin men
To alter any stone, so graven.—Marble
Is final. Marble has the last word, ever.
[Groans from the burghers.]
HANS the Butcher
O little Ilse!—Oh! and Lump—poor Lump!
More than a dog could bear!—More than a dog—
[They all break down. The Shoemaker consoles them.
PETER the Cobbler
Bear up, sweet neighbors.—We are all but dust.
No mice, no children.—Hem! And now Jacobus,—
His child, not even safe with Holy Church,
But lost and God knows where!
AXEL'S WIFE
Bewitched,—bewitched!
[Hans and his wife, arm in arm, turn left, towards their house,
peering ahead.