“Better come back to the forest than bear any harness!” the young hunter who sat next to the Songsmith cried scornfully; and a chorus rose after him:
“Never did I think you would stand it, who hate rules as a bear hates a chain!”
“You are a fool to stay in it—”
“Sooner should the Troll take me than I should follow a man who behaved overbearingly, as one of Starkad’s breed must needs—”
“It is not possible that you can be contented in his service—”
“Come back—”
“What is the jest?”
“What is the cause of your grinning?”
The song-maker’s smile ended in his short laugh.
“You,” he answered. “It crossed my mind to fancy myself listening to a pack of wild wolves yelping at a tame one, who had found love for a man and followed him home and broken himself to house-ways. But I will give you a better answer than that to your foolishness.”