Page:Satires, Epistles, Art of Poetry of Horace - Coningsby (1874).djvu/101



O, Catius! whence and whither? C.Not to-day: I cannot stop to talk: I must away To set down words of wisdom, which surpass The Athenian sage and deep Pythagoras.
 * H. Faith, I did ill at such an awkward time

To cross your path; but you'll forgive the crime: If you've lost aught, you'll get it back ere long By nature or by art; in both you're strong.
 * C. Ah, 'twas a task to keep the whole in mind,

For style and matter were alike refined.
 * H. But who was lecturer? tell me whence he came.
 * C. I give the precepts, but suppress the name.
 * The oblong eggs by connoisseurs are placed

Above the round for whiteness and for taste: Procure them for your table without fail, For they're more fleshy, and their yolk is male. The cabbage of dry fields is sweeter found Than the weak growth of washed-out garden ground.