bridget. You want somebody to get up an argument with.
wise man. Oh, look out of the door and tell me if there is anybody there in the street. I cannot leave this glass; somebody might shake it! Then the sand would fall more quickly.
bridget. I don’t understand what you are saying. [Looks out.] There is a great crowd of people talking to your pupils.
wise man. Oh, run out, Bridget, and see if they have found somebody that, all the time I was teaching, understood nothing or did not listen!
bridget [wiping her arms in her apron and pulling down her sleeves]. It’s a hard thing to be married to a man of learning that must be always having arguments. [Goes out and shouts through the kitchen door.] Don’t be meddling with the bread, children, while I’m out.
wise man [kneels down]. 'Confiteor Deo Omnipotent, beatae Mariae—salvum—salvum. . .' I have forgotten it all. It is thirty years since I have said a prayer. I must pray in the common tongue, like a clown begging in the market, like Teigue the Fool! [He prays.] Help me, Father, Son and Spirit!
[bridget enters, followed by the fool, who is holding out his hat to her.
