A few lines in the plainest language found in the file here tell to such a greybeard a story that fills his eyes with tears.
"Hodge and His Masters"
Richard Jefferies
Our position in all these plays is the same as that of the greybeard, the stranger, the two girls, and the crowd in The Interior, and the acting of the family in this play is an example of the "active silence" which Maeterlinck in his essay, "Everyday Tragedy," was to suggest for the theatre when the actor is become an automaton through which the soul speaks more than words can say.
"Life and Writings of Maurice Maeterlinck"
Jethro Bithell
The greybeard is to tell the bad news before the crowd arrives with the corpse.
"Life and Writings of Maurice Maeterlinck"
Jethro Bithell