CANTO I.]
HUDIBRAS.
315
Or all thy tricks, in this new trade,
Thy holy brotherhood o' th' blade?[1]
By saunt'ring still on some adventure,
And growing to thy horse a centaur?[2]
To stuff thy skin with swelling knobs 1345
Of cruel and hard-wooded drubs?
For still thou'st had the worst on't yet,
As well in conquest as defeat:
Night is the sabbath of mankind,
To rest the body and the mind, 1350
Which now thou art deny'd to keep,
And cure thy labour'd corpse with sleep.
The Knight, who heard the words, explain'd
As meant to him this reprimand,
Because the character did hit 1355
Point-blank upon his case so fit;
Believ'd it was some drolling spright
That staid upon the guard that night,
And one of those he'd seen, and felt
The drubs he had so freely dealt; 1360
When, after a short pause and groan,
The doleful spirit thus went on:
This 'tis t' engage with dogs and bears
Pell-mell together by the ears.
And after painful bangs and knocks, 1365
To lie in limbo in the stocks,
And from the pinnacle of glory
Fall headlong into purgatory;
Thy holy brotherhood o' th' blade?[1]
By saunt'ring still on some adventure,
And growing to thy horse a centaur?[2]
To stuff thy skin with swelling knobs 1345
Of cruel and hard-wooded drubs?
For still thou'st had the worst on't yet,
As well in conquest as defeat:
Night is the sabbath of mankind,
To rest the body and the mind, 1350
Which now thou art deny'd to keep,
And cure thy labour'd corpse with sleep.
The Knight, who heard the words, explain'd
As meant to him this reprimand,
Because the character did hit 1355
Point-blank upon his case so fit;
Believ'd it was some drolling spright
That staid upon the guard that night,
And one of those he'd seen, and felt
The drubs he had so freely dealt; 1360
When, after a short pause and groan,
The doleful spirit thus went on:
This 'tis t' engage with dogs and bears
Pell-mell together by the ears.
And after painful bangs and knocks, 1365
To lie in limbo in the stocks,
And from the pinnacle of glory
Fall headlong into purgatory;
- ↑ Meaning this religious knight-errantry: this search after trifling offences, with intent to punish them as crying sins. Ralpho, who now supposed himself alone, vents his sorrows in this soliloquy, which is so artfully worded, as equally to suit his own case and the Knight's, and to censure the conduct of both. Hence the latter applies the whole as meant to be directed to himself, and comments upon it accordingly to v. 1400, after which the squire improves on his master's mistake, and counterfeits the ghost in earnest. This seems to have been Butler's meaning, though not readily to be collected from his words. Holy brotherhood alludes to the society instituted in Spain, called La Santa Hermandad, employed in detecting and apprehending thieves and robbers, and executing other parts of the police.
- ↑ The Centaurs were a people of Thessaly, and supposed to be the first managers of horses. Strangers, who had never seen any such thing before, reported them to be half man and half beast.
