Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/86

72

As for books they tell us:

Don't vault on the saddle,

Buckle not thy sword on,

Drink no wine that fuddles,

Never kiss a maiden.

But the young man harkens

Not to what they tell him:

Keenest sword he seizes,

Hottest wine he drinketh,

Fairest maids he kisses.

W. F. H.

When so learned a man as our Serb succumbs to the tempting kiss, what is to be said then about all the rest who are less instructed? And let us remember ere we sit in judgment on any one—and it ought to be regarded as peculiarly extenuating circumstances—that a woman's mouth is a direct incentive to kissing, that it is formed, as you know, for that purpose, asserts an old troubadour, and created to kiss and smile:—

The roguish mouth with the white teeth and the moist red, delicately-shaped lips say to