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The shepherds' eyes are held no more,
They give him welcome o'er and o'er ;
And now they ask how all befell ;
And now the happy youth doth tell
That he, a slave in Tunis kept,
Yor years in bitter bondage wept,
Till sent from Amroom ransom came
Tor captive that should bear his name.
This burst his chains, and he hath come
To die upon his island home.
"And Melleff, son of Wolfe — hast brought
Tidings of him ?" He knoweth nought,
Not even his captivity !
Old man, he brings no joy to thee !
The price sharp self-denial won
Redeemed a slave, but not thy son !*
* There are no family names among the Frisians, the patronymic Wolf-
son, Peterson, &c., serving to distinguish different individuals of the same
Christian name. These names, too, are so few, that the same is borne by
many, and of course such an accident as is described in the text, and is
actually affirmed to have happened in the case narrated by Kohl, is by
no means improbable.
