' And she replied in a low voice, 'Fly, David, fly;
for the man you have stricken is a prince among the people.'
'He will be merciful, my sister; and, doubtless, since he first erred,
by this time he has forgotten my offence.'
'Justice and mercy! Oh, my brother, what can these foul tyrants know
of either! Already he has perhaps doomed you to some refined and
procrastinated torture, already---- Ah! what unutterable woe is mine!
fly, my brother, fly!'
'Fly, fly, fly!'
'There is no fear, my Miriam; would all his accursed race could trouble
us as little as their sometime ruler. See, he sleeps soundly. But his
carcass shall not defile our fresh fountain and our fragrant flowers.
I'll stow it in the woods, and stroll here at night to listen to the
jackals at their banquet.'
'You speak wildly, David. What! No! It is impossible! He is not dead!
You have not slain him!
He sleeps, he is afraid. He mimics death that we may leave his side,
and he may rise again in safety. Girls, look to him. David, you do not
answer. Brother, dear brother, surely he has swooned! I thought he had
fled. Bear water, maidens, to that terrible man. I dare not look upon
him.'
'Away! I'll look on him, and I'll triumph.
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