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[More softly.] Once upon a time there was a high-born knight, of whom there went the strange report

Mistress Elina,—what ails you?

[Sits down again.] Me? Nothing. Go on.

Well, as I was saying—did this knight but look straight in a woman's eyes, never could she forget it after; her thoughts must follow him wherever he went, and she must waste away with sorrow.

I have heard that tale.—Moreover, 'tis no tale you are telling, for the knight you speak of is Nils Lykke, who sits even now in the Council of Denmark

May be so.

Well, let it pass—go on!

Now it happened once on a time