Neither took they much notice of him as
they went by but proceeded forward till they came before the king,
unto whom they made their obeisance with their bodies, as they
were wont, without speaking a single word, but pouting out their
lips, and making mouths at the king, playing, "Blerwm, blerwm!"
upon their lips with their fingers, as they had seen the boy do.
This sight caused the king to wonder, and to deem within himself
that they were drunk with many liquors. Wherefore he commanded one
of his lords, who served at the board, to go to them and desire
them to collect their wits, and to consider where they stood, and
what it was fitting for them to do. And this lord did so gladly.
But they ceased not from their folly any more than before.
Whereupon he sent to them a second time, and a third, desiring
them to go forth from the hall. At the last the king ordered one
of his squires to give a blow to the chief of them, named Heinin
Vardd; and the squire took a broom and struck him on the head, so
that he fell back in his seat. Then he arose, and went on his
knees, and besought leave of the king's grace to show that this
their fault was not through want of knowledge, neither through
drunkenness, but by the influence of some spirit that was in the
hall. And he spoke on this wise: "O honorable king, be it known to
your grace that not from the strength of drink, or of too much
liquor, are we dumb, but through the influence of a spirit that
sits in the corner yonder, in the form of a child.
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