Page:The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart.pdf/227

Rh fifth chirped, a sixth twittered, a seventh croaked; and so forth; and at the same time they made strange grimaces.

4. And then the interpreter asked me how I liked this harmony. "Not a bit," I said. Then he said: "What, then, will please thee? Art thou, then, a log of wood, that not even this merriment can enliven thee?" Meanwhile, some of those who sat round the tables see me; and one began to drink my health, a second winked at me with his eye, inviting me to sit down with them; a third began to cross-question me as to who I was and what I wanted; a fourth asked me, in a menacing manner, why I did not say: "May God bless you!" Then becoming incensed, I said: "What, is God then to bless this swinish feasting?" Then, lo! before I had even finished my speech, plates, dishes, goblets, and glasses begin to hail down upon me; I was hardly able to escape them, and to hurry forth hastily. But it was easier for me, who was sober, to flee, than for those drunkards to strike me. Then the interpreter said: "Well, did I not say to thee long ago: 'Keep thy tongue within thy teeth and cavil not.' Strive to conduct thyself according to man's way, and do not imagine that others will heed thy noddle!"