Page:Magdalen by J S Machar.pdf/173

 Knotek, Alderman Vrzal, the apothecary, the flour-dealer Vrba, Doctor medicinæ universæ Řehák, and the wives and daughters of the celebrating veterans, who now stood in a circle around the platform. All was quiet, and only the branches of the oaks rustled to the ripple of the nearby water.

Jiří was the speaker. At first he spoke calmly, cleared his throat in places, looked into his notes, and at times passed his fingers through his thin hair. The farther he proceeded, the more excited he became: he emphasized, thundered, now and then made effective pauses and proper gestures, and shook his head.

He began with the White Mountain, and the two centuries’ deep sleep of our lion, then spoke of the marvellous awakening, and here he quoted Kollár (about the shepherd’s