Page:Cuthbert Bede - The White Wife.djvu/42

Rh awaken in time, thou shalt clip with thy scissors the top off my little finger."

"Then thou shalt sleep," said she.

So he laid his head in her lap, and went to sleep. And all this time the Dragon was drawing nearer; and his splashing was like a thousand whales, and his roaring like ten thousand bulls. And when he came close to the shore, the King's daughter thought it was time to rouse the young herd. And his head was in her lap, and she tweaked him many times, and cried, "Wilt thou not awake? the Dragon is upon us!" But he was sleeping on. Then she saw that he was under spells; and she remembered her of her scissors. So she took them out, and clipped the top off his little finger.

And the young herd awoke; and the Dragon was upon them. And he grasped his shining sword, and stood up, and faced the Dragon. It was a long fight, and it went hard with the young herd, and his sword was covered with blood.

"I myself would rather die, than that thou shouldst perish, thou young man!" said the King's daughter.