Once King Sigurd fell into low spirits, so that few could get him to
converse, and he sat but a short time at the drinking table. This was
heavy on his counsellors, friends, and court; and they begged King
Eystein to consider how they could discover the cause why the people who
came to the king could get no reply to what they laid before him. King
Eystein answered them, that it was difficult to speak with the king
about this; but at last, on the entreaty of many, he promised to do
it. Once, when they were both together, King Eystein brought the matter
before his brother, and asked the cause of his melancholy. "It is a
great grief, sire, to many to see thee so melancholy; and we would like
to know what has occasioned it, or if perchance thou hast heard any news
of great weight?"
King Sigurd replies, that it was not so.
"Is it then, brother," says King Eystein, "that you would like to travel
out of the country, and augment your dominions as our father did?"
He answered, that it was not that either.
"Is it, then, that any man here in the country has offended?"