GAFFER TYL
Well, it seems that several generations of us were beggars.... We succeeded one another, father and son, at the same church and in the same doorway. It was very good for us, they say. It taught us patience, resignation, endurance, temperance and the habit of never catching cold.... But do you see the oldest, the one who looks poorest of all?
TYLTYL
The one with the beautiful white beard?
GAFFER TYL
Precisely.... Well, he's the Great Mendicant, the one whom we respect most, first because he has an iron constitution and next because he appears to have thought a very great deal in his corner under the porch.... They say it's he who did most to develop our brains.
TYLTYL
But I don't see any women among them. Where are their wives? Weren't they married?
GRANNY TYL
Of course they were; but there's nothing for us women to do to-day. The men choose the women and the women the men.... When Mytyl comes, it will be our turn.