CATHLEEN
I come to barter a soul for a great price.
SECOND MERCHANT
What matter, if the soul be worth the price?
CATHLEEN
The people starve, therefore the people go
Thronging to you. I hear a cry come from them
And it is in my ears by night and day,
And I would have five hundred thousand crowns
That I may feed them till the dearth go by.
FIRST MERCHANT
It may be the soul's worth it.
CATHLEEN
There is more:
The souls that you have bought must be set free.