270
HUDIBRAS.
[PART III.
And for my sake and service, vow'd
To lay upon 't a heavy load,
And what 't would bear to a scruple prove,
As other knights do oft make love.
Which, whether you have done or no, 195
Concerns yourself, not me, to know;
But if you have, I shall confess,
Y' are honester than I could guess.
Quoth he, If you suspect my troth,
I cannot prove it but by oath; 200
And, if you make a question on 't,
I'll pawn my soul that I have done 't:
And he that makes his soul his surety,
I think does give the best secur'ty.
Quoth she, Some say the soul's secure 205
Against distress and forfeiture;
Is free from action, and exempt
From execution and contempt;
And to be summon'd to appear
In the other world 's illegal here,[1] 210
And therefore few make any account,
Int' what incumbrances they run't:
For most men carry things so even
Between this world, and hell, and heaven,[2]
Without the least offence to either, 215
They freely deal in all together,
And equally abhor to quit
This world for both, or both for it.
And when they pawn and damn their souls,
They are but pris'ners on paroles. 220
For that, quoth he, 'tis rational,
They may be accountable in all:
To lay upon 't a heavy load,
And what 't would bear to a scruple prove,
As other knights do oft make love.
Which, whether you have done or no, 195
Concerns yourself, not me, to know;
But if you have, I shall confess,
Y' are honester than I could guess.
Quoth he, If you suspect my troth,
I cannot prove it but by oath; 200
And, if you make a question on 't,
I'll pawn my soul that I have done 't:
And he that makes his soul his surety,
I think does give the best secur'ty.
Quoth she, Some say the soul's secure 205
Against distress and forfeiture;
Is free from action, and exempt
From execution and contempt;
And to be summon'd to appear
In the other world 's illegal here,[1] 210
And therefore few make any account,
Int' what incumbrances they run't:
For most men carry things so even
Between this world, and hell, and heaven,[2]
Without the least offence to either, 215
They freely deal in all together,
And equally abhor to quit
This world for both, or both for it.
And when they pawn and damn their souls,
They are but pris'ners on paroles. 220
For that, quoth he, 'tis rational,
They may be accountable in all:
- ↑ Alluding to the famous story of Peter and John de Carvajal, who, being unjustly condemned for murder, and taken for execution, summoned the king, Ferdinand the Fourth of Spain, to appear before God's tribunal in thirty days. The king laughed at the summons, but it nevertheless disquieted him, and though he remained apparently in good health on the day before, he was found dead in his bed on the morning of the thirtieth day. Mariana says there can be no doubt of the truth of this story.
- ↑ Meaning the combination of saintship, or being righteous over-much, with selfishness and knavery.
