The hair of boors and beldams bristled at it;
(Such bloodless fancies wake to nought but fear:)
Then, heard with grave derision by the wise,
And, from contempt, unsearch'd and unrefuted,
It pass'd upon the laziness of faith,
Like many a lie, gross, and impossible.
Fab. A lie believ'd, may in the end, my lord,
Prove fatal as a written gospel truth.
Therefore——
Count. Take heed; and ere the lightning strike,