You do not
need to ask it now.
TALKER (still at the window). It has been a happy week. The week
has liked me well.
MOTHER. You take the road again this afternoon. Your plan still
holds?
TALKER (with a sigh). They say so, lady.
MOTHER. Who say so? Is not Master Johannes the master of his
company? Who say so?
TALKER. The birds. I held converse with a cuckoo-bird this morning.
"Cuckoo," he said--in this manner (he imitates it on his pipe)--
meaning, as I gathered, "O fool!" I bowed low to him, and "Pardon,
bird," said I,--"but I would have you tell me why I am a fool." He
answered thus in parables--"Cuckoo."
MOTHER. And what did _that_ mean?
TALKER (sighing). It meant, "There's no fool like an old fool."
(She looks away. He waits a little, then sighs again and leaves the
window, entering a moment later by the door.)
MOTHER (looking up). Well, Sir?
TALKER. Madame, I am a man of good family, although--although I
quarrelled with my good family. I left them many years ago and took
to the road. I have seen something of the world since then, but I
think I must always have had at the back of my mind some dim
picture of what a home was--some ancient memory, perhaps. That
memory has been very strong within me these last days.
MOTHER. You have liked my home, Master Johannes?
TALKER.
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