The Magistrate.
[Kindly.]
Pray you, skip antecedent mothers!
The Old Slave Woman.
Hard was the heart of Decius, hard, hard,
Stone-hard!... Who loved the Christos whom we love
He hated, had them beaten, burned alive,
Or thrown to hungry lions! [Enthralled, the Children exclaim.]
Even so,
Children as you are, too!