OSRICK.
On Monday next; till then you are my guest.
ETHENWALD.
Well, Osrick, when our nuptial rites are past,
I must to court of business to the king.
ALFRIDA.
Let that be as you please, my lord; but stay
Not long, for I shall hardly brook your absence then.
ETHENWALD.
Fear not, Alfrida, I will not stay there long.
But come, let us in; Father, pray lead the way.
[Exeunt.
Enter the KING and DUNSTAN.
KING.
Tell me, Dunstan, what thinkest thou of the favours of kings?
DUNSTAN.
I think of kings' favours as of a marigold flower
That, as long as the sun shineth openeth her leaves
And with the least cloud closeth again:
Or like the violets in America, that in summe yield an odoriferous smell,
And in winter a most infectious savour:
For at every full sea they flourish, or at every dead ebb[307] they vade.
The fish palerna, being perfect white in the calm,
Yet turneth black with every storm.
Or like the trees in the deserts of Africa,
That flourish but while the south-west wind bloweth:
Even so, my lord, the favours of kings to them they favour;
For as their favours give life, so their frowns yield death.
KING. Well said, Dunstan: but what merits he, that dissembles with his sovereign?
DUNSTAN.
In my opinion, my lord, he merits death.