He now is here, so near you, that you ere many hours, in truth, may greet him.”
[146]
Then spake the kingly Sigeband: “To cheat there is no need;
The loss of my dear little one, who hath so long been dead,
Still my heart’s deep sorrow doth too oft awaken.”
“Ask, then, the queen, your lady, if for a falsehood should our word be taken?
[147]
“The little boy so often in her fond care has been,
She knows if on his bosom a golden cross was seen.
And if upon this wanderer be found the self-same token,