“‘STOP!’ CRIED THE QUEEN, WITH SUDDEN EXCITEMENT.”
Next the queen, on both sides of the table, sat her most favored nobles and their ladies; farther down were the rich merchants and officers of the army; and at the lower end were servants and members of the household. For this was the custom in the land of Ix.
Quavo the harpist sat near the lower end; and, when all had been comfortably fed, the queen called upon him for a song. This was the moment Quavo had eagerly awaited. He took his harp, seated himself in a niche of the wall, and, according to the manner of ancient minstrels, he sang of the things he had seen in other lands, thus serving his hearers with the news of the day as well as pleasing them with his music. This is the way he began:
“Of Noland now a tale I’ll sing,
Where reigns a strangely youthful king—
A boy, who has by chance alone
Been called to sit upon a throne.
His sister shares his luck, and she
The fairies’ friend is said to be;