"Is this the Land? Is this the Land?"

But Hallblithe wondered, and he laughed and said: "Wayfarers, look
under the sun down the plain which lieth betwixt the mountains and
the sea, and ye shall behold the meadows all gleaming with the spring
lilies; yet do we not call this the Glittering Plain, but Cleveland
by the Sea. Here men die when their hour comes, nor know I if the
days of their life be long enough for the forgetting of sorrow; for I
am young and not yet a yokefellow of sorrow; but this I know, that
they are long enough for the doing of deeds that shall not die. And
as for Lord, I know not this word, for here dwell we, the sons of the
Raven, in good fellowship, with our wives that we have wedded, and
our mothers who have borne us, and our sisters who serve us. Again I
bid you light down off your horses, and eat and drink, and be merry;
and depart when ye will, to seek what land ye will."

They scarce looked on him, but cried out together mournfully:

"This is not the Land! This is not the Land!"

No more than that they said, but turned about their horses and rode
out through the garth gate, and went clattering up the road that led
to the pass of the mountains. But Hallblithe hearkened wondering,
till the sound of their horse-hoofs died away, and then turned back
to his work: and it was then two hours after high-noon.



CHAPTER II: EVIL TIDINGS COME TO HAND AT CLEVELAND