ronia Silentbob On the night that Ronia was born a thunderstorm was raging over the mountains, such as storm that all the goblinfolk in Matt's Forest crept back in terror to their holes and hiding places. Only the fierce harpies preferred stormy weather to any other and flew, shrieking and hooting, around the robbers' stronghold on Matt's mountain. Their noise disturbed Lovis, who was lying within, preparing to give birth, and she said to Matt, "Drive the hell-harpies away and let me have some quiet. Otherwise I can't hear what I'm singing!" The fact was that Lovis liked to sing while she was having her baby. It made things easier, she insisted, and the baby would probably be all the jollier if it arritved on earth to the sound of a song. Matt took his crossbow and shot off a few arrows through one of the arrow slits of the fort. "Be off with you, harpies!" he shouted. "I'm going to have a baby tonight -- get that into hour heads, you hags!" "Ho, ho, he's going to have a baby tonight," hooted the harpies. "A thunder-and-lightning baby, small and ugly it'll be, ho, ho!" Then Matt shot again, straight into the flock, but they simply jeered at him and flew off across the treetops, hooting angrily. While Lovis lay there, giving birth and singing, and while Matt quelled the wild harpies as best as he could, his robbers were sitting by the fire down in the great stone hall, eating and drinking and behaving as rowdily as the harpies themselves. After all, they had to do something while they waited, and all twelve of them were waiting for what was about to happen up there in the tower room. No child had ever been born in Matt's Fort in all their robber days there. Noddle-Pete was waiting most of all. "That robber baby had better come soon," he said. "I'm old and rickety, and my robbing days will soon be over. It would be fine to see a new robber chief here before I'm finished." He had scarcely stopped speaking when the door opened and Matt rushed in, quite witless with delight. He raced all the way around the hall, leaping high with joy and shrieking like a madman. "I've got a child! Do you hear me -- I've got a child!" "What sort of child is it?" asked Noddle-Pete over in his corner. "A robber's daughter, joy and gladness!" shouted Matt. "A robber's daugther -- here she comes!" 010910 what's it to you? who go blather from