Page:The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart.pdf/229

Rh down their throats; others pitied these men and, to help them, merchants had to hurry to all parts of the world in search of things that might be to the taste of these men; cooks had to examine samples of spices, that were to give the dainties a peculiar smell, colour, taste, and aid in conveying them into the stomachs of these; doctors had … Thus with much trouble and expense that which was to be poured and crammed into them was sought out, and with much learning and cunning given unto them, causing them much pain in the stomach and elsewhere. And thus they constantly suffered of sickness …; they slept badly, hemmed, sneezed, slobbered, and vomited; the tables and corners of the hall were full of divers filth; they walked and wallowed about with …, podagric feet, trembling hands, blear eyes, and so forth. "Are such things, then, to be considered pleasures?" quoth I. "Let us hence, that I may not say somewhat, and evil befall me there through." Then averting my eyes and stopping my nose, I went thence.

P