The Standard Bearer: Say no more!
The Messenger: I will announce the accursed thing
That you may fall to the earth like men deprived of life,
For the King of men is dead.
All (crying aloud): Ho! ho!
The Messenger: At least I will tell what I know, for our detail was on guard at the crest of the mountain yonder,
And we saw our army advance in good order across the plain, and the men were like tiny specks.
And at noon they stopped to eat, and then resumed their march, and always we followed them.
The Standard Bearer: Well? Well?
The Messenger: Then a smoke arose from the earth and a thick dust blown by a violent wind, blotting out the army,