282
HUDIBRAS.
[PART III.
As others of his tribe had done,
And rais'd their prices three to one;
For one predicting pimp has th' odds
Of chaldrons of plain downright bawds. 370
But as an elf, the dev'l's valet,
Is not so slight a thing to get,[1]
For those that do his bus'ness best,
In hell are us'd the ruggedest;
Before so meriting a person 375
Cou'd get a grant, but in reversion,
He serv'd two 'prenticeships, and longer,
I' th' myst'ry of a lady-monger.
For, as some write, a witch's ghost,
As soon as from the body loos'd, 380
Becomes a puisné-imp itself,
And is another witch's elf;
He, after searching far and near,
At length found one in Lancashire,
With whom he bargain'd beforehand, 385
And, atter hanging, entertain'd:
Since which he's play'd a thousand feats,
And practis'd all mechanic cheats:
Transform'd himself to th' ugly shapes
Of wolves and bears, baboons and apes; 390
Which he has varied more than witches,
Or Pharaoh's wizards could their switches;
And all with whom he's had to do,
Turn'd to as monstrous figures too;
Witness myself, whom he's abus'd, 395
And to this beastly shape reduc'd;
By feeding me on beans and peas,
He crams in nasty crevices,
And turns to comfits by his arts,
To make me relish for desserts, 400
And one by one, with shame and fear,
Lick up the candied provender.
And rais'd their prices three to one;
For one predicting pimp has th' odds
Of chaldrons of plain downright bawds. 370
But as an elf, the dev'l's valet,
Is not so slight a thing to get,[1]
For those that do his bus'ness best,
In hell are us'd the ruggedest;
Before so meriting a person 375
Cou'd get a grant, but in reversion,
He serv'd two 'prenticeships, and longer,
I' th' myst'ry of a lady-monger.
For, as some write, a witch's ghost,
As soon as from the body loos'd, 380
Becomes a puisné-imp itself,
And is another witch's elf;
He, after searching far and near,
At length found one in Lancashire,
With whom he bargain'd beforehand, 385
And, atter hanging, entertain'd:
Since which he's play'd a thousand feats,
And practis'd all mechanic cheats:
Transform'd himself to th' ugly shapes
Of wolves and bears, baboons and apes; 390
Which he has varied more than witches,
Or Pharaoh's wizards could their switches;
And all with whom he's had to do,
Turn'd to as monstrous figures too;
Witness myself, whom he's abus'd, 395
And to this beastly shape reduc'd;
By feeding me on beans and peas,
He crams in nasty crevices,
And turns to comfits by his arts,
To make me relish for desserts, 400
And one by one, with shame and fear,
Lick up the candied provender.
- ↑ William Lilly says he was fourteen years before he could get an elf or ghost of a departed witch, but at last found one in Lancashire. This country has always been famous for witches, but the ladies there are now so called out of compliment to their witchery or beauty.
