Cuesheet

Woman of Flowers, Blodeuwedd

Lines spoken by Blodeuwedd (Total: 710)

 
(1, 0) 101 Lord, I received your message.
 
(1, 0) 103 And Gwydion too?
 
(1, 0) 105 The day is short, and soon it will be night.
(1, 0) 106 My Lord, stay here. I do not wish
(1, 0) 107 To spend tonight without you.
 
(1, 0) 110 I've never parted from you before;
(1, 0) 111 Being left here frightens me.
 
(1, 0) 113 My spirit is restless. Nothing good will come
(1, 0) 114 Of your going today. Await tomorrow's dawn;
(1, 0) 115 The sun will speed your journey to Caer Dathal.
 
(1, 0) 119 Magician – am I beautiful?
 
(1, 0) 121 No deviousness. No device.
(1, 0) 122 You captured my essence from between green leaves.
(1, 0) 123 Tell me – are you pleased with your work?
 
(1, 0) 128 Why then, when I beg of my husband
(1, 0) 129 The only favour I've ever asked
(1, 0) 130 Does he not grant it me?
 
(1, 0) 132 The only one.
 
(1, 0) 138 Yes. Peasant women know more than I about men.
(1, 0) 139 Gwydion, you did me a disfavour
(1, 0) 140 When you chained me with flesh and sinew;
(1, 0) 141 I should despise you
(1, 0) 142 And yet my instinct is to like you.
(1, 0) 143 You too spent summers beneath the leaves.
(1, 0) 144 You know the feel of earth on flesh
(1, 0) 145 And the sounds of nature's stirrings in the grass.
 
(1, 0) 147 Ask my soul what shame is. I don't know
(1, 0) 148 What it is to be ashamed...
(1, 0) 149 Stay with me
(1, 0) 150 Until my lord returns
(1, 0) 151 Be my protector in his absence.
 
(1, 0) 164 Kind lord
(1, 0) 165 Shall we three ever be together again?
(1, 0) 166 My heart is heavy. Farewell.
 
(1, 0) 168 My Llew
(1, 0) 169 If you believed me you wouldn't set forth today.
(1, 0) 170 In my bones I feel that this portends some ill.
 
(1, 0) 172 I know the seasons better than you.
(1, 0) 173 I sense each change in wind and rain and sun.
(1, 0) 174 Why shouldn't I also read the seasons of a man?
 
(1, 0) 190 My lord has gone away!
 
(1, 0) 193 Rhagnell, you don't know
(1, 0) 194 What fear grips my heart.
 
(1, 0) 200 No. It's not men I fear
(1, 0) 201 But being on my own – this solitude.
(1, 0) 202 My lord has gone away!
 
(1, 0) 207 You'll never understand
(1, 0) 208 My agony. Not you or anyone.
(1, 0) 209 You don't know the loneliness that gnaws.
(1, 0) 210 Your world is full – you have a home.
(1, 0) 211 Loved ones, family, father, mother, brothers,
(1, 0) 212 You're not an alien in this world.
(1, 0) 213 Wherever mankind walks, you have familiar paths
(1, 0) 214 And all of Gwynedd, where your forebears lived,
(1, 0) 215 Is your hearth, a dwelling place passed on
(1, 0) 216 By the generations of your father's fathers.
(1, 0) 217 You're at home among kith and countrymen
(1, 0) 218 As in a snug bed made comfortable
(1, 0) 219 By familiar and loving hands.
(1, 0) 220 I, however do not possess a home or hearth
(1, 0) 221 Not any place in man's domain. Search Gwynedd
(1, 0) 222 And Britain too – there's no headstone
(1, 0) 223 Bearing my name. This world is cold
(1, 0) 224 And alien to me, without a friend's comforting
(1, 0) 225 Or a nation's bonds. That is why I fear.
(1, 0) 226 I fear my freedom. I'm like a ship without a rudder, lost
(1, 0) 227 On mankind's treacherous seas.
(1, 0) 228 Listen – what horn sounds there?
 
(1, 0) 230 My lord has gone away. Oh. Between us there was never any
(1, 0) 231 passion. He knows nothing
(1, 0) 232 Of the dark desires woven into my nature
(1, 0) 233 And I know nothing of his nobility.
(1, 0) 234 His tame mind, his joy in friendships
(1, 0) 235 That have nurtured him throughout the years.
(1, 0) 236 Yet amongst men he's the only one
(1, 0) 237 I have as kin. The single link I have
(1, 0) 238 With human bonds, bonds
(1, 0) 239 Which equate honour with ancestry. Without him
(1, 0) 240 I'm alone, anchorless in their midst
(1, 0) 241 With nature's reckless surging in my blood.
(1, 0) 242 God be my witness – I don't want the blame
(1, 0) 243 When this harm falls upon us.
 
(1, 0) 248 Listen.
 
(1, 0) 251 Rhagnell, where is your heart? Oh – as hidden
(1, 0) 252 As the oak's stout heart in wettest weather.
 
(1, 0) 254 Listen woman. The hunting horn. They're in full cry.
(1, 0) 255 The stag's hooves are skimming the earth
(1, 0) 256 Like oars hitting spume.
(1, 0) 257 The scenting dogs
(1, 0) 258 Bound over the trail, and thundering horses
(1, 0) 259 Pound out the passing furlongs.
(1, 0) 260 Oh, there is nature
(1, 0) 261 At its glorious best, full of breathless beauty.
(1, 0) 262 The hunter as one with the vibrant land –
(1, 0) 263 I could love a hunter –
 
(1, 0) 265 Go, go woman,
(1, 0) 266 Ask who that horseman is who hunts there.
 
(1, 0) 272 Describe him to me.
 
(1, 0) 275 Bring me
(1, 0) 276 Golden goblets, and the wine I tasted
(1, 0) 277 The morning I was created. Bring fruit,
(1, 0) 278 Cherries and red apples.
(1, 0) 279 Receive this young knight.
(1, 0) 280 Allow him to change, giving water
(1, 0) 281 For washing, then lead him to our hall,
(1, 0) 282 For tonight we'll fete this stranger
(1, 0) 283 Lest my absent lord finds fault with me
(1, 0) 284 For turning a man away as dusk unseats the day.
 
(1, 0) 293 Be silent now my beating breast, your hour has now come...
(1, 0) 294 A year's bowing to the court's customs
(1, 0) 295 And man's imperatives is now to be lifted from me.
(1, 0) 296 Freedom, excitement; these are my masters now
(1, 0) 297 And my imperative is lust – the lust that drives the seed
(1, 0) 298 To prise through a shroud of earth to reach the sun.
(1, 0) 299 There's a shoot in me that seeks the light
(1, 0) 300 And wants to flourish and bear copious fruit
(1, 0) 301 Without a blade to prune it back. I know
(1, 0) 302 That this huntsman is an emperor of passion;
(1, 0) 303 I know the music of a horn – it was not my husband's
(1, 0) 304 Thin lips that pursed to blow those lusty calls
(1, 0) 305 But stronger lips, swelling with blood red bloom,
(1, 0) 306 A much more fitting match for mine.
 
(1, 0) 310 How barren are those words. A brazen bugle
(1, 0) 311 Not a wench's tongue should announce that name.
(1, 0) 312 Give me your arm – let's go to welcome him.
 
(1, 0) 317 Have you had enough?
 
(1, 0) 319 What else is there?
 
(1, 0) 321 Are you afraid of saying?
 
(1, 0) 324 Fear never caught a stag, or woman.
 
(1, 0) 326 Yes. Over the hills where loping wolves
(1, 0) 327 Howl their hunger at the moon on high.
 
(1, 0) 329 No on would dare do that. Except me.
 
(1, 0) 331 The night and I are cousins
(1, 0) 332 And wolves don't hunt the scent of flowers.
 
(1, 0) 335 Do you see these – how still they are.
(1, 0) 336 You could imagine their beauty eternal,
(1, 0) 337 And yet they'll die. They were plucked
(1, 0) 338 And placed some time ago as this hall's decoration.
(1, 0) 339 Arranged to stand sweetly, like this – but without root.
(1, 0) 340 Their life ducts are already speared with decay
(1, 0) 341 And those stems are dying. Soon they'll wilt
(1, 0) 342 And drop these wings of vibrant colour to the floor.
(1, 0) 343 They'll pale and fade and die before their time...
(1, 0) 344 Lord, would you say I'm beautiful?
 
(1, 0) 346 Yet, I too am fading.
(1, 0) 347 I have no root nor earth among men.
(1, 0) 348 A drop of water can ease these flowers' drooping
(1, 0) 349 And stay their death – but I was wrenched
(1, 0) 350 By an uncaring hand and put here to die
(1, 0) 351 Without one soothing element to save my bloom.
 
(1, 0) 353 Tell me your secret
(1, 0) 354 Then I'll tell you my desires.
 
(1, 0) 356 And is that why you want to leave me?
 
(1, 0) 360 And now?
 
(1, 0) 369 And no more talk of leaving?
 
(1, 0) 371 And your noble peers, your own good standing
(1, 0) 372 Within your family, and their code of honour?
 
(1, 0) 374 No – don't forget anything
(1, 0) 375 In case they return one day to prey upon you,
(1, 0) 376 To still your blood and douse the fires of lust.
(1, 0) 377 But, choose between us, between them and me.
(1, 0) 378 Their sober morals, honed by civilisation;
(1, 0) 379 And my unfettered kisses and my lust.
(1, 0) 380 And think before you choose. From them
(1, 0) 381 The security of lifelong friends, a future partner
(1, 0) 382 Perhaps, to share your estate and life,
(1, 0) 383 Traditions and expectations to smother you,
(1, 0) 384 An honourable burial in your forebears' vault
(1, 0) 385 And dutiful children to carry your coffin.
(1, 0) 386 With me there's no security beyond the present
(1, 0) 387 He who loves me must love danger, and tread
(1, 0) 388 The lonely road to freedom. In his life
(1, 0) 389 He'll have no friends, nor children to nurse him
(1, 0) 390 To his grave. Only this wild cascade of hair
(1, 0) 391 To swamp his senses, and these, my breasts
(1, 0) 392 To give him hidden moments away from worldly care –
(1, 0) 393 And these seconds shall be his heaven... You choose.
 
(1, 0) 403 My whole will is desire's decree.
(1, 0) 404 Listen, my lad. The day that I was caught
(1, 0) 405 And made captive to the court and bed of my husband
(1, 0) 406 Gwydion gave me a strange and heady wine
(1, 0) 407 Stolen, so it's said, by Prince Pryderi from the Underworld.
(1, 0) 408 This I tasted, then hid away, promising myself
(1, 0) 409 That I would not taste of it again
(1, 0) 410 Until I revelled with a man of my choosing
(1, 0) 411 The pitcher's long been locked
(1, 0) 412 Away, and often I was tempted to taste of it.
(1, 0) 413 But today, at dusk, I heard the horn call
(1, 0) 414 In the woodlands, its sound a kingly command
(1, 0) 415 To end my months of subjugation. I knew
(1, 0) 416 That the mouth which sounded that far urging
(1, 0) 417 Would drink with me from love's cup tonight.
(1, 0) 418 Drink Gronw – my seal is on the rim.
 
(1, 0) 420 No, dearest, don't pledge me anything.
(1, 0) 421 Leave oaths to other men
(1, 0) 422 Who guard fragile feelings with the rites
(1, 0) 423 And frightened rituals of their religions.
(1, 0) 424 What would oaths signify, except
(1, 0) 425 That this moment's bliss does not itself suffice?
(1, 0) 426 No more talk on this, the tenderest night,
(1, 0) 427 No thoughts of what may follow.
(1, 0) 428 Nature's powers swell within me now, to sate you.
(1, 0) 429 And unless I tire, you shall not ebb.
 
(1, 0) 434 Rhagnell. Rhagnell...
 
(1, 0) 436 Prepare my bed tonight
(1, 0) 437 In the crystal chamber. Place on it
(1, 0) 438 The whitest, finest linen, as before
(1, 0) 439 When I slept that first night of all.
 
(1, 0) 441 Friend – what did you see to make you like me?
 
(1, 0) 444 And nothing else? Didn't you witness
(1, 0) 445 The wonder of my awakening? Before you came
(1, 0) 446 This body was a prison round me
(1, 0) 447 Like a dead husk trapping a chrysalis;
(1, 0) 448 You came like a spring to breathe verdant life where I lay
(1, 0) 449 To give my flesh its wings, my blood its surge.
(1, 0) 450 I'll no longer be lonely among families;
(1, 0) 451 This relationship will form my roots. It allows me
(1, 0) 452 To belong among men. The same nature
(1, 0) 453 Courses through sap and blood – no feeble morals
(1, 0) 454 Nor judgements can chain the heart that hears
(1, 0) 455 The pounding of love within. Come lover,
(1, 0) 456 We lay claim to life – and to make love is to be free.
 
(2, 0) 484 Must you go?
 
(2, 0) 486 No my love. If there's to be a kill
(2, 0) 487 It won't be you that's killed.
 
(2, 0) 490 Yes. Go. Don't delay. His name tolls
(2, 0) 491 Like a death knell in my heart.
(2, 0) 492 Do you know, in the woodlands in June
(2, 0) 493 When the golden seed adorns the blackbird's beak
(2, 0) 494 And the leaves' murmuring is louder than the sound of the stream...
(2, 0) 495 Then, suddenly, all becomes still.
(2, 0) 496 The sweet piping stops, the hedgerows silent.
(2, 0) 497 And in the roots and stems the sap's rise is arrested...
(2, 0) 498 And in that moment the leaves grow old
(2, 0) 499 As the summer bears down
(2, 0) 500 On the bushes. And spring dies. So too for me
(2, 0) 501 That in the first steps of love's dance
(2, 0) 502 I'm suddenly reminded of him.
(2, 0) 503 His name, his being, and I stumble to a halt.
 
(2, 0) 508 I tasted joy like a piercing in my breast,
(2, 0) 509 The exquisite bite of burgeoning love
(2, 0) 510 And this, my body, once a prison,
(2, 0) 511 A lifeless form – has now become a perfumed garden
(2, 0) 512 Full of my spring's intoxication.
(2, 0) 513 A new world struck open by your wand
(2, 0) 514 Brimful with new blessings. You, friend,
(2, 0) 515 Not Math nor Gwydion, have created me.
 
(2, 0) 517 Our bodies are inexhaustible. O, Gronw,
(2, 0) 518 The real wonder would be to delve into their riches, all of them.
(2, 0) 519 To awaken the mysteries of the senses;
(2, 0) 520 The season of our stillness, the peace of sleep
(2, 0) 521 In a loved one's arms, breathing in unison.
(2, 0) 522 Love has the gift of grafting bodies together
(2, 0) 523 And from the two create a new and greater one
(2, 0) 524 In which men can shut their minds to the dull
(2, 0) 525 Ache of humdrum being, and sport freely
(2, 0) 526 In the arena of love's passion. To me you are
(2, 0) 527 The portal to this paradise. And without you
(2, 0) 528 Nothing awaits me but tears welling in the night
(2, 0) 529 As I watch, asleep, beside me, there,
(2, 0) 530 Some strange, cold, rapist.
 
(2, 0) 533 I want to live. Love and living are one.
(2, 0) 534 With you I saw love's sun rise. I want now
(2, 0) 535 To see its moon.
 
(2, 0) 537 Why do you say his name? Isn't it enough
(2, 0) 538 That he stands between us and the path of love
(2, 0) 539 Like some dark despoiler.
 
(2, 0) 542 Is there a cast or trick, to deceive Llew?
 
(2, 0) 544 Where?
 
(2, 0) 550 You don't know
(2, 0) 551 His strength. With him comes Math
(2, 0) 552 And the massive might of Gwynedd
(2, 0) 553 And Gwydion the sorcerer. No earthly fortress
(2, 0) 554 Can repel them. And I don't want
(2, 0) 555 To be caught like some doe in this lion's claws,
(2, 0) 556 My flesh ripped to shreds.
 
(2, 0) 561 I'll never go.
(2, 0) 562 I can't impose myself unbidden on strangers.
(2, 0) 563 It's easy for you to trust in new allies.
(2, 0) 564 You are, like them, a man. I have no common bond
(2, 0) 565 Nor cause to trust their word.
(2, 0) 566 I fear all things strange.
 
(2, 0) 568 To his kind. But as I am outside
(2, 0) 569 Their pack, why should they venture their trust?
(2, 0) 570 Nor will I trust them.
(2, 0) 571 Unless he is tied to me by love
(2, 0) 572 Everyone is my enemy... My only brother,
(2, 0) 573 Don't take me away from here.
 
(2, 0) 575 Kiss. Forget. And farewell.
 
(2, 0) 577 I know no better.
 
(2, 0) 579 Forgetfulness is a skill that's quickly learnt.
(2, 0) 580 It grows easier by the day.
 
(2, 0) 582 We're all loath to learn new disciplines
(2, 0) 583 At first.
 
(2, 0) 585 Do you?
 
(2, 0) 587 Kiss me, my lover... Before long
(2, 0) 588 He'll claim again the homage of these lips
(2, 0) 589 His hands will grasp at these shoulders
(2, 0) 590 And mark out his demands on this white flesh.
(2, 0) 591 I wish there were a poison in my teeth,
(2, 0) 592 That like a serpent I could coil about his neck,
(2, 0) 593 Constricting him, crush him in an embrace
(2, 0) 594 Like this... like this...
(2, 0) 595 My fangs would finish him.
 
(2, 0) 597 How long it's taken you to read my mind.
 
(2, 0) 599 It needs be, it must. What place is there for him
(2, 0) 600 In a world that knows the tempest of our passions?
(2, 0) 601 He stands like a withered trunk
(2, 0) 602 In the path of a mighty whirlwind.
 
(2, 0) 604 It won't be easy. He's fated
(2, 0) 605 That no one else shall know the manner of his death.
(2, 0) 606 He's the sole possessor of that secret.
 
(2, 0) 608 Love is a rare bloom. It grows
(2, 0) 609 Up on the cliff of death. Some snatch at it.
(2, 0) 610 Others graze upon it gently.
 
(2, 0) 616 Leave that to me. These slender fingers
(2, 0) 617 Can play his hungry body like a harp,
(2, 0) 618 Can lull him, lure from him
(2, 0) 619 The secret sealed inside his heart.
(2, 0) 620 His temper is a child's tantrum.
(2, 0) 621 He'll return today, lonely and restive
(2, 0) 622 And I shall kiss him.
 
(2, 0) 624 A soul for a kiss,
(2, 0) 625 Is the price too much?
 
(2, 0) 629 Yes. My spirit is a flame that burns.
(2, 0) 630 He who first lit that fire
(2, 0) 631 Shall be consumed by it. What's our plan?
 
(2, 0) 644 You'll keep your word?
 
(2, 0) 646 Gronw – what does your fidelity mean to me?
(2, 0) 647 Will you still want me? Desire is what holds
(2, 0) 648 Man's will a slave and keeps its arrow true
(2, 0) 649 When fidelity's bow has rusted. Look at me,
(2, 0) 650 Feast your lips upon this kiss
(2, 0) 651 And fill your nostrils with my scent... Now go.
 
(2, 0) 653 Before nightfall.
 
(2, 0) 660 What did you say?
 
(2, 0) 662 For whom?
 
(2, 0) 664 In a grave.
 
(2, 0) 669 Yes, go. Tell him all my secret.
 
(2, 0) 671 You're born of a woman's womb, like him.
 
(2, 0) 674 No, no. You shan't mock me. I know
(2, 0) 675 My looks can turn a young man's head
(2, 0) 676 And make him wild, a slave to my will.
(2, 0) 677 But you're a woman and I can never chain you.
 
(2, 0) 680 Yes, you have your chains. Woman, you
(2, 0) 681 Are fair. Your flowing hair
(2, 0) 682 Is a golden tress cascading on your nape
(2, 0) 683 As soft as silk. But... why don't you
(2, 0) 684 Wear it like a torque around your throat,
(2, 0) 685 A golden torque. A present from your mistress,
(2, 0) 686 A reward for your loyalty. Wear it tight,
(2, 0) 687 Tight enough to choke you, Rhagnell.
(2, 0) 688 You can lie for ever more... wise and mute,
(2, 0) 689 The perpetual guardian of my secret.
 
(2, 0) 693 I want to tie up this fragile neck
(2, 0) 694 With this silk, so that not one
(2, 0) 695 Traitorous utterance shall pass through these pale lips
(2, 0) 696 That used to kiss my hand each night...
(2, 0) 697 You've waited on me countless times, sweet Rhagnell.
(2, 0) 698 You've soothed me to sleep. Now I
(2, 0) 699 Can tend to you, and rock you
(2, 0) 700 To a deeper sleep than I've experienced ever.
 
(2, 0) 703 You won't get that chance, my dear;
(2, 0) 704 I'll lock your tongue within these lips
(2, 0) 705 Away from all temptation.
 
(2, 0) 715 Here I am.
 
(2, 0) 717 You journeyed safely?
 
(2, 0) 723 You never been away from me before.
 
(2, 0) 725 Pray that be true.
 
(2, 0) 727 Ask Rhagnell. Tell him, woman.
(2, 0) 728 Here's your chance.
 
(2, 0) 742 Put aside past doubts. Let this reunion
(2, 0) 743 Seal a new marriage between us.
 
(2, 0) 748 I was given to you my Lord as bounty,
(2, 0) 749 As a captive, without choice or say.
(2, 0) 750 You didn't learn to love me before you took me
(2, 0) 751 Or worry about winning me over. In this fort
(2, 0) 752 You have weapons and suits of burnished armour
(2, 0) 753 That cost you battles and blood to win.
(2, 0) 754 You look at them. You remember the each occasion
(2, 0) 755 Of their taking. Each one a token of your prowess
(2, 0) 756 And the pain they cost you. But me?
(2, 0) 757 I cost you nothing, not a second's sacrifice
(2, 0) 758 And that's why you've never sought
(2, 0) 759 To see the dents, the scars that line my heart
(2, 0) 760 Nor the marks of battle beneath this breast.
 
(2, 0) 765 I was a wife to you before I was a girl.
(2, 0) 766 You demanded the fruit before the flower opened
(2, 0) 767 But I am the woman of flowers, Blodeuwedd.
 
(2, 0) 783 I don't my love, I have never
(2, 0) 784 Kept any part of me from you.
 
(2, 0) 786 I gave you my trust. You're the only one
(2, 0) 787 Whom I have upon this earth. What would I do
(2, 0) 788 If you were killed, leaving me without a mate?
 
(2, 0) 793 The day you left me
(2, 0) 794 Despair almost broke my heart. I feared
(2, 0) 795 That never again would I see you alive.
 
(2, 0) 797 I have no family but you.
 
(2, 0) 810 If you were killed?
 
(2, 0) 815 You're reckless and neglectful.
(2, 0) 816 These details often slip your mind
(2, 0) 817 But my care for you makes me ever mindful.
(2, 0) 818 Share this secret with me, that my heart
(2, 0) 819 Need never again be weighed with worry.
 
(2, 0) 824 You're certain of this?
 
(2, 0) 832 Let God be praised. Such a fate
(2, 0) 833 Should be easy to avoid.
 
(2, 0) 844 Is there anything of Man
(2, 0) 845 That can't be changed or challenged?
 
(2, 0) 869 Rhagnell, I tried to kill you.
 
(2, 0) 871 Then why didn't you betray me?
 
(2, 0) 874 I can't understand mankind. Men seek
(2, 0) 875 To be defined by traditions,
(2, 0) 876 Fellowship, family, community, creed...
(2, 0) 877 The bonds of belonging... Do you love me?
 
(2, 0) 883 Forgive me. I know you're wise
(2, 0) 884 And you have all the knowledge granted to woman.
(2, 0) 885 Me, my only wisdom is to want
(2, 0) 886 And seek with all my skill whatever pleases me.
(2, 0) 887 Will you be my messenger to the Lord of Penllyn?
 
(2, 0) 889 Tell him this:
(2, 0) 890 He's to make a spear of steel and poison
(2, 0) 891 And its fashioning must coincide
(2, 0) 892 With the Sacrifice at Sunday Mass.
(2, 0) 893 He must take a whole year in its making.
(2, 0) 894 When that year is up he is to return here
(2, 0) 895 And meet me at the foot of Cyfergyr hill.
(2, 0) 896 Go, hurry, that no one see you.
(2, 0) 897 Give him this signet as a token.
(2, 0) 898 :
 
(2, 0) 901 That's all.
 
(2, 0) 903 Tell him
(2, 0) 904 How happy my Lord is, and that today
(2, 0) 905 We're to feast and dance
(2, 0) 906 As if it were a holiday.
(2, 0) 907 Go, and don't delay.
 
(3, 0) 915 To the minute, brave soldier.
(3, 0) 916 Before the sun breaks over Cyfergyr hill.
(3, 0) 917 Don't hold me, Gronw.
 
(3, 0) 922 The Llew's collar still grips,
(3, 0) 923 I've come here now straight from his arms.
 
(3, 0) 925 Across his corpse.
(3, 0) 926 While he lives, don't touch me
(3, 0) 927 In case your aim should falter. Is that the spear?
 
(3, 0) 931 Do you fear that? There's the route home to Penllyn.
(3, 0) 932 A man's fate is not like the course of a river
(3, 0) 933 Nor a woman made of flowers. You can choose.
 
(3, 0) 946 Gronw, you had an easier year than I.
(3, 0) 947 You indulged your craving, gave your longing lease
(3, 0) 948 Without having to bite back sobs
(3, 0) 949 And stifle tears. My heart
(3, 0) 950 Lived in hiding night and day.
(3, 0) 951 I detested the weight of his flesh
(3, 0) 952 Pressing on my breasts, erasing your impression.
(3, 0) 953 I'll say no more; I'll talk tonight –
(3, 0) 954 Tonight, tomorrow and every other tomorrow,
(3, 0) 955 And I'll be free! But now's the time to strike.
 
(3, 0) 957 Is that your Captain?
 
(3, 0) 961 Brave Captain,
(3, 0) 962 On this trough shall Llew Llaw Gyffes be killed.
(3, 0) 963 Go to your horsemen. Be ready. The minute
(3, 0) 964 He's killed your Lord's hunting horn will sound.
(3, 0) 965 Ride to the fort. Rhagnell will open the gates.
(3, 0) 966 Only one or two soldiers stand guard there.
(3, 0) 967 Then we'll unite Penllyn and Ardudwy.
(3, 0) 968 You, Rhagnell, go, tell my Lord
(3, 0) 969 That I await him on the bank of the Cynfael
(3, 0) 970 Under Cyfergyr hill, by the goat's watering place.
(3, 0) 971 And here, as I promised him last night
(3, 0) 972 I shall share some news with him.
 
(3, 0) 975 Why shouldn't my loving husband
(3, 0) 976 Come to his wife?
 
(3, 0) 978 A hint that will bring him scurrying here.
 
(3, 0) 980 It won't be hard.
(3, 0) 981 I'll hide you here below the riverbank.
(3, 0) 982 He can't be killed whilst his feet are on the ground.
(3, 0) 983 He must be standing on a water trough
(3, 0) 984 Positioned beside a river. When you see him here
(3, 0) 985 Standing proudly, on top of this trough, rise
(3, 0) 986 And spear him through the back with the poisoned barb...
(3, 0) 987 Sound the hunting horn, and seize your prize.
 
(3, 0) 989 Don't fail with your blow; And I won't fail
(3, 0) 990 To get him on this trough.
 
(3, 0) 999 How interesting it will be
(3, 0) 1000 To remember this day in a year's time.
 
(3, 0) 1002 Why not? Violent means, executed quickly
(3, 0) 1003 And cleanly, yield the easiest spoils.
(3, 0) 1004 :
 
(3, 0) 1006 You kill him. His wake will become your welcome.
 
(3, 0) 1008 Tomorrow, make them terrified. After that
(3, 0) 1009 They'll run like little pups to lap your hand.
 
(3, 0) 1011 You'd find the ruling instinct in a flea.
(3, 0) 1012 She and I just want to follow nature.
(3, 0) 1013 Quick, hide yourself my hunter. The Llew comes.
(3, 0) 1014 Join your will with mine, to urge him
(3, 0) 1015 Up on this stone. Then the final deed.
(3, 0) 1016 And afterwards we'll laugh, and live as we like.
 
(3, 0) 1020 The sunrise shimmered white this morning.
(3, 0) 1021 Its sweet light drew me out
(3, 0) 1022 Like a rabbit to lap at the dew.
 
(3, 0) 1024 A husband notices such things. And would you
(3, 0) 1025 Make me a shoe, as you did for your mother?
 
(3, 0) 1028 Is that the time you killed the wren
(3, 0) 1029 With a spear?
 
(3, 0) 1033 A needle of course. How stupid of me.
(3, 0) 1034 Tell me how you killed the wren. Tell me.
 
(3, 0) 1037 The wren's story first.
 
(3, 0) 1040 And then the tale of killing the wren?
 
(3, 0) 1042 You're so impatient. Didn't I tell you last night?
 
(3, 0) 1046 Your imagination is slow to wake this morning.
(3, 0) 1047 Have you been happy this last year lord?
 
(3, 0) 1051 You still fear wild things, my Llew?
 
(3, 0) 1060 Now you've confounded all your mother's curses.
 
(3, 0) 1062 What was that, my friend? You've had a name;
(3, 0) 1063 Despite her you've had weapons; you've had a wife.
 
(3, 0) 1072 I understand. But tell me, when will you
(3, 0) 1073 Be free of that curse?
 
(3, 0) 1075 And that news?
 
(3, 0) 1078 And that would break your mother's hold on you?
 
(3, 0) 1097 Without that you won't be happy with me?
 
(3, 0) 1100 But that wouldn't be a song in my honour.
(3, 0) 1101 Just a serenade of triumph over your mother.
(3, 0) 1102 It hurts me Llew that you can't once look at me
(3, 0) 1103 And say – "You, you are enough for me."
(3, 0) 1104 If you said that –
 
(3, 0) 1106 What fateful words! Listen to my secret.
(3, 0) 1107 I have an heir for you, here.
 
(3, 0) 1109 As every woman knows.
 
(3, 0) 1111 He is a lad, I swear it.
 
(3, 0) 1116 Death strike now? Aren't you charmed against
(3, 0) 1117 Any attempt your mother might make to kill you?
 
(3, 0) 1120 Keen in his kissing. I can see him now,
(3, 0) 1121 His lips eager for my lips.
(3, 0) 1122 A hunter. His horn will startle the stags
(3, 0) 1123 And Ardudwy's halls will echo with his dancing.
 
(3, 0) 1125 Will you teach him to throw a spear, and a needle?
 
(3, 0) 1128 And will you tell him the story of shooting the wren?
 
(3, 0) 1133 Tell me that story, as if I were your heir.
(3, 0) 1134 Let's pretend that this trough is the boat.
(3, 0) 1135 Where did Gwydion stand?
 
(3, 0) 1138 And you, the nameless youth
(3, 0) 1139 Stitching the shoe leather, where were you?
 
(3, 0) 1141 Did your mother look at you?
 
(3, 0) 1143 But without recognising you?
 
(3, 0) 1147 Like this? Facing out to sea? And then?
 
(3, 0) 1153 Here? Show me how it stood.
 
(3, 0) 1164 A needle, not a spear...
 
(3, 0) 1171 He shuddered, struck his head
(3, 0) 1172 Twice on the ground, and then was still.
(3, 0) 1173 There's no sign of life.
 
(3, 0) 1177 Come, the new heir...
 
(3, 0) 1179 He is a lad, I swear it.
 
(3, 0) 1182 A man dies so easily.
 
(3, 0) 1184 Let's wait a minute.
(3, 0) 1185 I can't believe his death happened so simply.
 
(3, 0) 1187 A scream, then gone.
(3, 0) 1188 Will it be like this when it's my turn?
 
(3, 0) 1190 I never saw death before. What shall we do with this?
 
(3, 0) 1192 I heard a sound in the trees, like armour jangling.
 
(3, 0) 1194 They've gone to the fort.
 
(3, 0) 1196 Has his spirit flown to the woods in fury?
 
(3, 0) 1198 He fell like a broken flower.
(3, 0) 1199 Is that how you'll die?
 
(4, 0) 1317 Happy or sad.
 
(4, 0) 1319 Lives? Who says that?
 
(4, 0) 1321 Ha! The day's come. I've been expecting this.
 
(4, 0) 1323 Since a year ago this day. Since I saw you
(4, 0) 1324 Frown as you hesitated by the gate.
(4, 0) 1325 The day that Penllyn and Ardudwy were united;
(4, 0) 1326 Your expression mocked the celebrations.
 
(4, 0) 1328 You stayed silent – that silence was a lie
(4, 0) 1329 And a malice against me, a plot
(4, 0) 1330 To fell and smash my fragile joy –
(4, 0) 1331 You didn't bury Llew.
 
(4, 0) 1333 Gwydion took him.
 
(4, 0) 1335 I know that wizard's ways. Who but he
(4, 0) 1336 Could snatch beasts and men
(4, 0) 1337 From the Underworld's jaws, and save
(4, 0) 1338 Their souls. He'll come here today?
 
(4, 0) 1340 Let them come. I've had my day.
 
(4, 0) 1342 Should I advise someone who's happy to betray me?
 
(4, 0) 1344 – That your escape is already planned.
 
(4, 0) 1346 Saddles strapped on the horses, sunlight glinting on shields.
(4, 0) 1347 Jangling armour, clattering hooves...
(4, 0) 1348 An avenger stalks the woods.
(4, 0) 1349 Ready to spring, to reclaim his land.
 
(4, 0) 1351 You've arranged to escape before he comes.
 
(4, 0) 1355 Are the soldiers to decide for their lord?
 
(4, 0) 1358 It's easy to get you to voice your traitorous
(4, 0) 1359 Feelings and spit your poison, Penteulu.
 
(4, 0) 1363 Did you hear Gronw?
 
(4, 0) 1365 Your captain urges us to flee to Penllyn.
 
(4, 0) 1401 Gronw, why need you?
 
(4, 0) 1405 You'll come too Gronw?
 
(4, 0) 1411 Let's escape to Dyfed then.
(4, 0) 1412 Math's enemies will welcome us there.
(4, 0) 1413 They'll offer sustenance and security.
 
(4, 0) 1431 Gronw, my Gronw –
 
(4, 0) 1434 I won't leave here without you.
(4, 0) 1435 I won't leave you alone in Gwydion's hands.
 
(4, 0) 1438 I can't go to total strangers.
(4, 0) 1439 They'll kill me without you.
 
(4, 0) 1447 Rhagnell left the fort a while ago.
 
(4, 0) 1449 I'm not sure. Towards the river.
 
(4, 0) 1452 I must wait.
(4, 0) 1453 Don't ask me to leave without you.
(4, 0) 1454 Blood has united us – we can't be parted.
(4, 0) 1455 I stood with you by the goat's watering trough.
(4, 0) 1456 I watched you aim the spear. I saw the killing.
(4, 0) 1457 I'll stay to face him again.
 
(4, 0) 1471 They've gone Gronw.
 
(4, 0) 1473 There's no one staying behind, but us.
 
(4, 0) 1475 I wish Rhagnell would return.
 
(4, 0) 1478 I'm frightened.
(4, 0) 1479 She was never devious.
(4, 0) 1480 She was our go-between, remember?
 
(4, 0) 1483 Why do we have to stay here? Why Gronw?
 
(4, 0) 1485 You don't even have your weapons, Shall I fetch
(4, 0) 1486 A sword, a shield? Don't you want to fight?
 
(4, 0) 1488 And you'll fall to your knees in front of him?
(4, 0) 1489 He can't forgive. I know my Llew.
 
(4, 0) 1492 Do you want to die?
 
(4, 0) 1494 What do you think you'll achieve by your death?
 
(4, 0) 1496 I don't understand you.
(4, 0) 1497 Over there are horses, ready, saddled to go,
(4, 0) 1498 And freedom in their stirrups. Why don't we go?
 
(4, 0) 1500 I understand, or my heart does, that "with you"
(4, 0) 1501 I feared earlier Gronw, but no, I see now...
(4, 0) 1502 Your freedom is us dying in each other's arms
(4, 0) 1503 And we crown a short life's love with this last defiance.
 
(4, 0) 1507 Reject me, would you? Blame me
(4, 0) 1508 For making you a murderer? Plead before Llew
(4, 0) 1509 That a woman's wiles were to blame for what you did?
(4, 0) 1510 Is that how you'll gain your freedom?
 
(4, 0) 1516 Now your freedom is to escape from me?
 
(4, 0) 1590 My man of magic, you've travelled far today,
(4, 0) 1591 May I fetch some food and drink for your both?
 
(4, 0) 1593 You needn't fear. Rhagnell will be back soon.
(4, 0) 1594 She'll prepare the food – I'll serve it.
 
(4, 0) 1597 Is this your work? Did you drown her?
 
(4, 0) 1599 She was a sister to me- the only one
(4, 0) 1600 Who didn't want to use me. She reached out a hand
(4, 0) 1601 And forgave. She goes to her grave
(4, 0) 1602 Without reproach. Do you want to drown me now?
 
(4, 0) 1604 She was always the quiet one.
(4, 0) 1605 Now she's gone without a sound.
 
(4, 0) 1608 And what I have I done to deserve punishment?
 
(4, 0) 1611 Am I the first unfaithful wife?
 
(4, 0) 1613 You're a sorcerer Gwydion, steeped in learning,
(4, 0) 1614 Strong and bold enough to challenge nature
(4, 0) 1615 To toy with it and battle with the power
(4, 0) 1616 Hidden in the rocks. Why?
(4, 0) 1617 To satisfy your lust? You had a nephew
(4, 0) 1618 Whom you loved more than your own offspring.
(4, 0) 1619 I understand that. You chose him as your heir
(4, 0) 1620 And sought to make him worthy
(4, 0) 1621 Of Math's own throne, a future king of Gwynedd,
(4, 0) 1622 And father to a line of princes.
(4, 0) 1623 Bt his life was weighed down by conditions,
(4, 0) 1624 The chains of fate made him an outcast.
(4, 0) 1625 There are such men, exiled men,
(4, 0) 1626 Cut off from every generation. But you,
(4, 0) 1627 The oak wizard, master of creation's code,
(4, 0) 1628 You couldn't accept your heir's derisory condition.
(4, 0) 1629 You had to bend fate's course, to challenge
(4, 0) 1630 Nature, to satisfy your pride and standing.
(4, 0) 1631 Defying fate you put a spell upon the sea
(4, 0) 1632 And raped the woodland to flesh him a wife
(4, 0) 1633 So I became your captive and his slave-girl
(4, 0) 1634 Given this form to breed, to give him children,
(4, 0) 1635 To soothe away his cares, help him forget his birth-lot.
(4, 0) 1636 Tell me Gwydion, wasn't that your grand design?
 
(4, 0) 1639 Thank you, wizard. It was fated that Arianrhod's son
(4, 0) 1640 Should never have a wife of woman born
(4, 0) 1641 Nor sire a son. He wouldn't submit to his fate,
(4, 0) 1642 Not him, nor you. I was caught, a weapon,
(4, 0) 1643 A tool in your tinkering, to trick his fate.
(4, 0) 1644 Is it wrong of me at least to be true
(4, 0) 1645 To my instinct? I begged of him,
(4, 0) 1646 This youth not meant for love, to look at me
(4, 0) 1647 And take me once for what I was.
(4, 0) 1648 But he struck a song of jubilation for his son
(4, 0) 1649 And told his last story to his heir and hope;
(4, 0) 1650 He wouldn't leave his dream of tomorrow
(4, 0) 1651 To share the today of my empty heart.
 
(4, 0) 1655 Gronw has chosen to die. Rhagnell is dead.
(4, 0) 1656 Why should I live?
 
(4, 0) 1660 You fought against your fate, I against mine;
(4, 0) 1661 We've both battled against what must be.
 
(4, 0) 1663 Different imperatives lie at the root of my passion.
 
(4, 0) 1666 One tried. I gave him to you as your heir.
 
(4, 0) 1668 And your jealousy needs to claim his life.
(4, 0) 1669 Because he could love, and set my love alight.
(4, 0) 1670 What will you do without me, poor husband,
(4, 0) 1671 Since you'll have no other wife of woman born?
 
(4, 0) 1674 I hear your mother's triumphant laugh.
 
(4, 0) 1676 You hearth will be arid, your bed ever cold.
 
(4, 0) 1679 It's your destiny that you'll never know love.
 
(4, 0) 1681 A small residue of your copious self pity.
 
(4, 0) 1683 So I could gain a life myself.
(4, 0) 1684 Take your revenge.
 
(4, 0) 1686 How gracious is my lord. I may go freely –
(4, 0) 1687 To my family? To my loved ones? To my lover?
(4, 0) 1688 And where will you go? To your mother?
(4, 0) 1689 ;
 
(4, 0) 1693 Gladly, my heart. I didn't know you could be so frivolous.
(4, 0) 1694 I'll go to the woods till then. Fare you well.
(4, 0) 1695 Good day uncle.
 
(4, 0) 1709 I'll fly to Arianrhod's fort. From your sister
(4, 0) 1710 I'll receive a rare welcome for a daughter in law.