Page:Hudibras - Volume 2 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/14

211 I'd go no further in this courtship, To hazard soul, estate, and worship: For tho' an oath obliges not, Where anything is to be got, As thou hast prov'd, yet 'tis profane And sinful when men swear in vain. Quoth Ralph, Not far from hence doth dwell A cunning man, hight Sidrophel, That deals in destiny's dark counsels. And sage opinions of the moon sells, To whom all people far and near, On deep importances repair: When brass and pewter hap to stray, And linen slinks out of the way; When geese and pullen are seduc'd, And sows of sucking pigs are chows'd; When cattle feel indisposition, And need th' opinion of physician; When murrain reigns in hogs or sheep. And chickens languish of the pip; When yeast and outward means do fail, And have no pow'r to work on ale;