The two young men, with habits kilted to the knee, were just straighteningtheir backs and dusting the soil from their hands, as well aware as he of thehour. Brother Columbanus would not for the world have let slip one grain of hisduties, or countenanced such a backsliding in any of his fellows. A verycomely, well-made, upstanding young fellow he was, with a round, formidable,Norman head, as he came from a formidable, aristocratic Norman family, ayounger son despatched to make his way in the monastic ranks as next-best toinheriting the land. He had stiff, upstanding yellow hair and full blue eyes,and his modest demeanour and withdrawn pallor tended to obscure the muscularforce of his build. Not a very comfortable colleague, Brother Columbanus, forin spite of his admirable body equipment he had some while since proved that hehad a mental structure of alarming sensitivity, and was liable to fits ofemotional stress, crises of conscience, and apocalyptic visions far removedfrom the implications of his solid skull. But he was young and idealistic, hehad time to get over his self-torments. Brother Cadfael had worked with him forsome months, and had every hope for him. He was willing, energetic, and almosttoo eager to please. Possibly he felt his debt to his aristocratic house toonearly, and feared a failure that would reflect on his kin. You cannot be ofhigh Norman blood, and not excel! Brother Cadfael felt for any such victims asfound themselves in this trap, coming as he did, of antique Welsh stock withoutsuperhuman pretensions. So he tolerated Brother Columbanus with equanimity, anddoctored his occasional excesses philosophically. The juice of the paynimpoppies had quieted Columbanus more than once when his religious fervourprostrated him.