Page:Omniana 2.djvu/332

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322
OMNIANA.

of the grievous oppressions which his vassals endured in consequence. Certainly he was no fawner. The Admiral sends one day to consult him upon a case of conscience, whether he may lawfully keep any thing which he has found. Ah—ha! says Fray Luys, you found a hawk yesterday, and you want to keep her, though you know by her jesses and her bells that she belongs to another person! Whoever keeps any thing which he has found in such a way, and does not have it cried, is guilty of theft.

In this portion of the work is one of the most complete specimens of that sort of laborious trifling which gives two directly opposite meanings to one composition, according to the manner in which the lines are read. In this example the verses form a panegyric if they are read at length, or a satire, if read as two columns.