Date:         Thu, 28 Sep 1995 14:12:49 +0100
Reply-To:     Grail <u4d41@CC.KEELE.AC.UK>
Sender:       Highlander TV show stories <HLFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
From:         Grail <u4d41@CC.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject:      Amanda (Act One Scene Three)

======================
Scene III. Magwitch's Farm.
======================

Enter Magwitch and Helen.

Magwitch : Poor farmer I may be, Helen dear,
        But I would sacrifice all for thee.

Helen : Thou shallt ne'er do so, Magwitch,
        For I love you with every breath.
        Though I may be daughter to Lady Peregrine,
        A poor farmer is all I need
        When that farmer is you.

Magwitch : Truly thou dost love me,
        And more truly still do I love thee.
        Yet I must ask thee to go now,
        For soon I fear the collectors will be here.

Helen : Yet thou dost not owe our family money!

Magwitch : 'Tis not thy family which collect,
        But two villainous villains,
        Whose villainy knows no bounds,
        But is bound to succeed,
        For none can stand against them.
        Albarn and Gallagher, they are called,
        And they do injure most grievously
        If I do not pay money every week.
        Go, quick! Here they come!

Exit Helen.
Enter Albarn and Gallagher.

Albarn : My name is Albarn, and this
        My associate, his name Gallagher.
        We are come for our tithes,
        For we are but poor dishonest folk,
        Who rob old ladies for money.
        Give us thy cash, farmer Magwitch.

Gallagher : And if you refuse,
        We will beat you to a pulp.

Enter Helen, having overheard.

Helen : Fiends! I will summon my mother,
        Lady Peregrine, and her husband-to-be
        Mr Hawk, and they will despatch you
        To the gallows!

Magwitch : Helen, flee! I will not have thee
        Hurt on my account.

Gallagher : Friend, your account's overdrawn.
        Pay, before we deposit on thee a mighty
        Beating, and you are forced to withdraw
        From this mortal coil.

Helen : He is my love! Do not harm him!

Enter Amanda, with sword.

Amanda : Despite the ache in my feet,
        I have come here to this lonely farm,
        For I hear tell that the daughter
        Of the local lady does come here,
        And I hope for information of Hawk.
        But wait, do I see a fight here?
        Friends, what goes on?

Albarn : Aha, a comely wench. I hope
        Thou art not a friend of farmer Magwitch,
        Else I will have to hurt thee too.

Gallagher : Aye, the bucket in the
        Well of violence draws near to the top,
        And wishing will not help you.

Amanda : Does thy friend always talk
        Like that?

Albarn : Aye, he has a bad habit of reading,
        Caught from his days as a monk,
        Before he used a crucifix to clean
        His ears. Now he is a thug,
        Like me, a man most violent,
        But still with wordy tongue.

Amanda : You are thugs? Come to threaten
        And perhaps injure farmer Magwitch?

Albarn : Aye, that's the idea.

Amanda : Stay back!

Albarn : Odds bodkins, thou hast a sword!

Amanda : Aye, for my name is Amanda,
        I am a swordswoman most skilled,
        For many have I killed,
        And I defend Magwitch against thee.

Gallagher : Stand aside, brother Albarn,
        For this sister is like my mother,
        Fierce she was, 'till she met my father,
        When she became like my quiet aunt.
        So will this woman, cousin to violence,
        Become neighbour to submission
        When I display my uncle's fighting style
        That I learned from him in Nice.

Amanda : Thy familial threats do not scare me,
        For I have faced Oedipal thugs before.
        But be warned that whether sober
        Or in the arms of Bacchus,
        I have the knowledge of travelling Ulysses
        And the speed of Mercury,
        So with a sword in my hand I am as Zeus
        With his thunderbolts,
        A vengeful Diana - and you are no Apollo.

Albarn : Egad, she's as bad as Gallagher.

Amanda : Stand ready to fight, my dear Sir Thug,
        And I will kill thee, for thou art nought but a slug.

Albarn : Nay, we will retreat and fight another day,
        For we are thumping great cowards.

Exit Gallagher and Albarn.

Magwitch : Friend Amanda, I thank you!
        You have saved my farm,
        And my dearest Helen,
        From a fate worse than death.

Amanda : You are welcome, Magwitch.
        But now I would hear from you
        And your beloved Helen,
        Of the troubles you face.

Magwitch : Come inside, Amanda dear,
        And I shall talk about my fear.

Exit Magwitch, Amanda and Helen.
--
 //=== ||==||   //\\   || ||       u4d41@keele.ac.uk OR ksc15@keele.ac.uk
//     ||__||  //__\\  || ||
\\__|| || \\  //    \\ || ||===    ...nearly 20 but definitely in love...
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