CANTO I.]
HUDIBRAS.
281
And mighty heaps of coin increase,Reflected from a single piece;To draw in fools, whose nat'ral itches 335Incline perpetually to witches,And keep me in continual fears,And danger of my neck and ears;When less delinquents have been scourg'd,And hemp on wooden anvils forg'd,[1] 340Which others for cravats have wornAbout their necks, and took a turn. I pitied the sad punishment The wretched caitiff underwent,And held my drubbing of his bones 345Too great an honour for poltroons; For knights are bound to feel no blows From paltry and unequal foes,[2]Who, when they slash and cut to pieces, Do all with civillest addresses: 350Their horses never give a blow, But when they make a leg and bow. I therefore spar'd his flesh, and prest him About the witch, with many a question. Quoth he, For many years he drove 355A kind of broking-trade in love,[3]Employ'd in all th' intrigues, and trust,Of feeble, speculative lust; Procurer to th' extravagancy,And crazy ribaldry of fancy, 360By those the devil had forsook, As things below him, to provoke; But b'ing a virtuoso, able To smatter, quack, and cant, and dabble, He held his talent most adroit, 365For any mystical exploit,
- ↑ Alluding to the occupation of minor criminals in Bridewell, who beat the hemp with which greater criminals were hanged.
- ↑ According to the rules of knight-errantry. See Don Quixote (book iii. ch. 1), and romances in general.
- ↑ Meaning that he was a pimp, or pander.
hibitors of these curiosities were in some danger of being sentenced to Bridewell, the pillory, or the halter.
