Page:A trip to the moon (IA triptomoon00mcde).pdf/70

 severally on separate Pieces of Paper: Those Pieces are generally square, and one of their Sides never exceed a Quarter of an Inch. Soft Clay is what they work at, with those Letters strew'd in it: They beat this Clay till a Line, or half a Line, may be read on some Side of it; which being written, as before, they begin to hammer afresh for another Line, and so on. This Work is, indeed, more difficult than the former, and requires great Art in managing the Hammer, and tempering the Clay; yet a skilful Man will beat forty Line, or more sometimes, out of one Piece of Clay. There are some who work at the Anvil that do not, as yet, pretend to beat out whole Lines, and are employ'd in making Epithets, Proper Names, and poetical Blunders. But, said I, to what End is all this Pains taken, since you have no Commerce with those upon dry Land. He smil'd, and told me, that I was mistaken; for it was to those Men which I saw at work, that the People in the Moon were indebted for all the Poetry which they had among them. My Master, said he, has certain invisible Messengers, which he calls the Muses; those he sends to vend the Wares as fast as he gets them ready for Sale. The Muses carry his Goods up to the Moon, and sell them there to the highest Bidder; but he rates his tolerable Productions so dear, that it generally costs a Man all that he is worth to purchase one or more of them, according to their Value, and the Buyer's Abilities, which is a Reason that those that are accounted the best Poets, are generally the poorest. I ask'd him then, why his Master sold any Poems that were bad? or why he did not claim all the Praise which was given to some of his Works, as his own proper Due? He answer'd, that his Master had Workmen of all sorts, and consequently some bad ones, which would have their Wages paid them as punctually as the best; and since he had Hopes