the place dry as before and found nothing in the Court but a Sheep Wo is me saies he is 't this sheep that hath eaten up my grass how proud she is to have my Mistress in its belly should I adore or punish it But before I resolve I 'll go and see my souldiers He had no sooner turn'd his back but he bethought him that it were a sin to pardon the sheep But turning himself back he saw a Wolf in stead of it whereat he was extreamly vex'd believing that creature had devoured the other Now it was nothing but Marne who to avoid the dangers wherewith he threatned her chang'd herself from grass to a sheep and from a sheep to a wolf At last he suspected some such thing but desirous still to enjoy her he endeavoured to surprise the beast offering it a peece of flesh and prevail'd so far that he put a chain about her neck and ty'd hen up in the stable He by this time thought himself sure of what he desired and that he should now enjoy his Mistress whether she would or no. But the whole edifice immediately took fire and was all burnt in an instant It was to no purpose to cast water on the flame was never the more quench'd nay it lasted after all the combustible matter was spent nor was there any more Wolf to be seen Morin seeing this could not bethink him of any better invention then to put on a Cassock of Stone-allum which had been a Priests in the time of his ancestors wherein he was able to endure in the midst of the flames without being burned that so he might embrace his Mistress But as he was going to accomplish his design he could see nothing but a great River Wretch that I am says he this water hath quench'd my amiable fire And thereupon casts himself headlong into it but finding no satisfaction that way and being in danger to be drown'd because he could not swim well he came out presently and contented himself to take his Lute and play mournful airs upon her banks The water ran perpetually and was disgorg'd into the Seine For from that time the Gods being offended with Marne who had disdain'd so faithfull a Lover seeing she was chang'd into a River ordained that she should always continue so and there put an end to her metamorphoses Morin advertised of the decree of the Gods by one of their Priests was so transported with disquiet and despair that he lay down all along on the ground and began to distill into tears He wept in such abundance that his tears became a little River The Gods having compassion on him made him subject to the same decree as his Mistress so that whereas the other Gods of Rivers have Pitchers under their arms out of which flows their water it is pleasant to see how his issues at his eyes Having spent all his moisture to supply his source he had the liberty to wander in his own channel which from that time disburthen'd it self into Marne to the end that if they have been asunder while they were in a mortal condition they might be joyn'd together now that they are immortal But the brave Morin doth no longer remember his sorrows past and seeing that Marne doth no more respect him now then she did before and that she is always with the God of the Seine whom she loves better then him he takes as much pleasure to be with us as with her and if he hath lost the use of his voice that loss is recompenc'd by the melody of his Lute which he hath kept still As Synopa thus ended her story the God of the River made a deep confused noise two or three times which gave her occasion to say to Lysis See how he approves what I have said by his noise Now that I have given you his history and that I am in the good humour I must also give you my own which I had not the opportunity to tell you when you saw me at Hircan's It shall not be so long as to weary you Make it as long as you please replies Lysis my ears are fastned to your mouth and that with as much sweetness and delight as if it were Orpheus that playd over the same aires on his Harp as he did when he drew after him the Trees my Ancestors and Predecessors The Fable of the Fountain Synopa KNow then Lysis replies Synopa that I am the daughter of a Duke of Burgundy who promis'd me no meaner a match then a King of FRANCE but for all he could do I would not submit to the yoke of a marriage which did not any ways please me I was much enclin'd to hunting and I was ever in the woods sometimes with a Javelin and sometimes with a bow and arrows Diana having heard talk of me invited me to be of the quire of her Nymphs and taking an affection to me she gave me one of the chiefest places about her person which was to give her Dogs meat Having my hand on her Altar I solemnly swore I would observe chastity as long as I liv'd but I have since had much ado to keep my self from breaking this oath For I was passionately courted by an Earl of Champagne who being come to my fathers Court gave me so many assaults that he was sometimes upon the very point of storming my honor he protested I had brought him into that slavery that he ador'd whatever had relation to me and confest himself a slave to the fleas of my Greyhounds He suffer'd so many torments for my sake that he purposely learn'd Arithmetick that he might give me the number of them and playing with me one evening at picquet he took the counters and reckon'd them and the total sum came to three hundred thousand six hundred twenty six and a half not counting the smaller sorrows and cares of less consequence This was an excellent invention and if the Lovers of this age had it there should be but a few Mistresses which should be trip'd down and fall with their faces upward Yet presently calling to minde my vow I continued as firm as a rock and brought my Lover to such a despair that he swore he would cast himself headlong from some mountain if he should meet with one high enough His last recourse was to writing and he sent me so many Letters that he made paper dear in the Country and continued his addresses till the Solicitors and Pettifoggers petitioned against him I made no other thread so little did I regard them of all his Missives then to winde up thread on or to wrap up a piece of wilde Boar in if I had a minde to present some Neighbour or Gossip when I was come home from hunting Diana being advertis'd of his continual applications to me caus'd me to be bath'd in a certain fountain of hers which hath a propriety to make those that go into it all Ice if they wash but three times in it so
to massacre all men and bring the world to an end can be no other then the wife of Antichrist and I believe that he whom I have spoken with is Antichrist himself for he boasts that he can doe great matters As the Shepherd had said thus there was one Country-fellow more resolute then the rest who drew aside some of his companions and remonstrated to them how that that man should not be credited so lightly though he had always been of a good reputation and that the honestest men did sometimes lye whether out of hope of gain or otherwise Upon that account they all went to him and made a world of questions to him for to try him He seeing that they did not sufficiently credit his discourses began to weep of very grief making this complaint Alas my good friends what have I done to you that you should doubt of what I tell you I would to God it were not so true but I never lyed less in my life Presently a woman of the village who thought herself the most knowing among them interrupted him and said Alack my friend Richard tell me all Sayest thou not that this old she-Devil must kill all the men Doubtless replies the Shepherd I have been told nothing that she should doe to the women Alack what great pitty it is replies the woman what shall we doe here by our selves what 's a woman without a man she is but a Spindle without Flax or like an Oven without an Oven-fork 'T were better she should take some of both and that the shortest cut were drawn who should be eaten first To these fair complaints the other Gossips added others and that with so much weeping and sobbing that the whole house where they were did eccho again The Shepherd Richard thinking to comfort them bid them not be so much troubled that they should not be long without Husbands for they should go after them seeing the world was shortly to end But shall that be by fire says the master of the house shall we all burn together If I should put wet sheets on the top of my house as I did when my neighbours house was a fire should not I save my self I fear me says Richard that we must be destroyed by water methinks the vision threatened such a thing And as he spoke the word a light appeared in the sky which smit the sight of all that were present and immediately it began to rain Ah! we need no more doubt of it cry'd out a Waterman behold the deluge approaches I will go to the river with a horse for to draw my Boat ashore if I can I 'll bring it up to the top of my chimney where I will expect till the water rise to that height and that it carry me where God pleases As he had done saying so yet without any great desire to doe it the Master of the house's Son approving the invention would needs practise somewhat that were like it 'T was a Lad of some sixteen years of age of whom it might have been said that there were wiser at six Having gotten a great washing-tub he made a shift to get it up to the top of the house and placed himself in it as if it had been a Boat All this he did without speaking ought to any body for fear some body should dispute with him for the safety of this fine Vessel In the mean while the women altogether comfortless resolved among themselves to go to Mount Valerian to the Hermites and the men would doe the like saying that the water could not so soon rise to the top of that mountain and that till then they should be safe enough Thereupon they had an infinity of excellent considerations A Churchwarden of the Parish that was there came and made this complaint Alas to what purpose have we so much troubled our selves my good Parishioners about the repairing and adorning of our Church is it not so much lost seeing Antichrist will convert it into stables Ah! how should we have spared that pains if we had known the world should end so soon I who have quite new built my house and have fasted so much to spare somewhat had it not been better that I had enjoyed what God hath sent me Ah! how doth man purpose and God dispose And you that dress the Vineyards and have planted so many Stocks you shall not drink of the wine but the dog of Antichrist shall devour it Ought I not to think that he will shortly come seeing that when I went a while since to Paris with some Apricocks to my Landlord I heard his coming cry'd openly upon the New-bridge by the Almanack-sellers I wish now I had bought the book of it I remember I heard two or three leafs of it read by one that held it 'T was the most terrible thing that can be imagined and it must needs have been some new Prophet that had composed it In fine the time of our ruine is come upon us And yet my Gossip the Mistress of the house sticks not to be just now driving a buck and dreams not that the Linnen she washes is only to wipe the mustaches of the great Tyrant that we expect These words were heard with as much attention as if they had been prophesies and yet the Mistress of the house for sook not her Bucking-tub she was a woman so resolved that when she once began a thing she would go through with it The rain which fell down abundantly did not strike so much fear into her as the others and being oblig'd to be still stooping near the fire she thought not of any thing but her work But she had put into the fire a certain sort of wood that crackled after a strange manner and a great coal flew out of the fire and lighted on her coat Presently after feeling the heat she cry'd out Ah! I burn I burn the world will be destroy'd by fire He who was most amaz'd was her son who was upon the top of the house where he had been sufficiently wet and held his hands together shaking his teeth in expectation of what should happen Assoon as he heard them cry that the world was not to perish by water but by fire his transportation was so strange that he cast himself down together with the Tub which staid not much after him but soon tumbled down And if by chance there had not been a dunghil in the yard whereon he fell he had without dispute broke his neck His fall was easily perceiv'd and every one hearing him cry they went to succour him but they found he had more fear then receiv'd hurt All being entred into the house one of the Village spake these sententious words What doe we fear so much if we dye not to day we shall dye to morrow it is the way we must go sooner or later Let us not climb up on the tops of our houses nor yet to the mountains and leave all at random
belly and two hands so that he can eat no more then any of the rest and his body can contain no more then what is reasonable The mouth which he hath behinde serves him to no purpose but to draw in the wind which comes that away And I must tell you besides that he may be of good use at the Table seeing that out of respect to Saturn he must be admitted for now I think on 't he must be placed towards the side Table that with his hind-eyes he may look to the wine which this doting Silenus will not husband so well and so hinder that these drunken Satyrs who are to wait drink it not all As for the Office of Porter do not you trouble your self for I have given it the Sagittary of the Zodiack While Jupiter gave his wife these consolations the Gods made sport with Janus who to make appear to them that there was nothing to be found fault with as to his person went and kist Venus with the mouth behinde and with his hands drawing to him one of the Graces kiss'd her with the mouth before There 's a Wag says Phoebus he should have two wives he hath this advantage over us that he can kiss two at once But you may say as well says the subtil Prometheus that he may at the same time receive four boxes in the ear In the midst of this jesting Aurora the Muses and some others arrived so that there was a great noise of Chariots and neighing of Horses at the Palace gate Jupiter seeing all the Guests were come commanded the Banquet should be served up The Sun and his Sister had light enough about them to chase away the obscurity of the Hall however to observe order and decency they fastned to the walls certain plates of gold which instead of Torches had Armes of silver and at the hands thereof there were so many stars nailed Hereupon Mercury who was the Clark of the Kitchin enters with the Fawns and Satyrs who brought up Messes which he dispos'd upon the Table Jupiter Saturn Pluto Neptune Juno Venus and the rest of the Company having wash'd their hands in the water of Eridan sate them down without any dispute every one according to their quality The King of the Gods according to the custom of all great Princes had his Physician on the one side and his Jester on the other And that was Aesculapius and Momus the one whereof was there to oversee what meats were to be eaten and the other to carp at the actions and words of the presence The first bout Momus had was with his Master telling him that he knew not the reason why he had not invited Discord to his Banquet no more then he had not done at the Marriage of Thetis and therefore he must expect she should come to sow some dissention to trouble the Feast and that there is not on Mount Ida any Shepherd able to decide the differences of the Divinities If there be no more illustrious Shepherds on the Mountain of Ida says Lysis interrupting the Narration of Montenor be it known there is at this present one at the foot of the Mount of St. Geneuieusue and let not the Gods be any thing troubled I am as able a Iudge as Paris All this is long since past says Montenor do not think it a thing present There 's no question but that if you had been in the world when this Banquet was made Momus had remembred you I pray do not any further disturb the Gods at their meat A Masons Boy will have his hour Montenor having so said obtain'd silence and having look'd into his Paper went on in this manner Iupiter answered Momus that he had well considered what he said and that he had already taken order that their enjoyments should not be interrupted And if he had not invited Discord nor the Furies Famine Envy Sadness and Poverty whose company is ever unpleasant he would send them each their Mess that so they might not grumble While this past the most part of the Gods took bread Saturn cut it with his sithe Bacchus with his pruning-hook Mars with his cymiter and divers of the rest with Ceres's sickle which she lent them And as for meat Neptune took him some with his trident Pluto with his scepter which is made in the fashion of a fork Venus with the point of her Sons dart and the daughter of Latona would needs be doing with the point of her javelin and Pallas with the top of her lance For the Gods are never without their Arms no not when they are at table because if they had them not about them they could not be distinguished one from another As for example if you see a picture or statue of Mercury how will you know it is he if he have not his Caduceur It stood them upon at least to have about them the marks of their Divinity as Jupiter who had his thunderbolt which his Eagle held in his beak close by him Yet he thought it not handsom to permit the Gods to cut bread with their Arms for Saturn in using his great Sithe had already saluted his Gossip Janus in the jaw-bones with the handle of it and had drawn blood at his teeth Mercury was much blamed that he had not taken order for knives and forks at the table so that he was fain to go immediately to ask for some of Vulcan who had enough So he came immediately back and furnish'd all the company Momus whose chiefest desire was to see the the Gods quarrel reassum'd his discourse and said to Prometheus Thou art now very proud to eat at the table of the Gods whereas time was when thy own Liver was the food of birds Do not renew my antient miseries replies Prometheus it suffices that Jupiter hath pardoned me knowing my offence was not so great as he had thought He thought that having formed the body of a man I impudently came even to heaven to steal fire to animate it But I made appear to him my more modest carriage I only had the invention of the Burning-glass which when I expos'd to the Sun I drew his fire to me without stirring from earth I am glad of the occasion to tell thee thus much before so many other Gods who knew it not before It is a very commendable thing sayes Saturn interposing in the discourse to forget old quarrels Should I suffer any thing to be said of what hath happened to Prometheus I see it would be my turn at length to be made Table-talk In the mean time let there no stories be made of my fortune I am no other then what I would be It is true time hath been I sate on the same throne whereon Iupiter now sits but it was no longer then Innocencie dwelt among men and now that they are become mischievous I would not be oblig'd to govern them While I reign'd they cared not for riches and if that Age was call'd the
to note that he did it with an amorous subtilty that seem'd to him very excellent He shut his eyes in the action so to deceive himself and imagine that he kist Charite But he found himself deceiv'd more then he thought for that Nymph was of such a rough flesh that she had almost grated the skin off his lips whereas in his opinion his Mistress was of more tender complexion Being come to his own place again he whispers to Synopa saying I will not kiss any more these Hamadryads there 's no pleasure in it It is soon discover'd they are wooden Nymphs their skin is as rough as the bark of a tree Synopa smil'd to hear him and when she had sung in her turn she went and gave him a kiss which pleas'd him better Ha! saies he to himself how soft and tender are these Nymphs of the waters in comparison of those rugged Hamadryads I must avow that this last kiss hath taken away the hurt which I had received by the other He thought there was a great deal of pleasure to sport it so innocently and yet he wondred how it came to pass that Nymphs of reputation and Hamadryads so stately and gallant amus'd themselves to sing such Songs as Country-Chamber-maids do There was but the Musician Lucida who sang another kissing Song which was very well compos'd and pleased him much Being desirous to taste of all sorts of meat he went and kist the Nymph that sang and was more satisfied then with Synopa because it seem'd to him that she was yet of a softer complexion and handsomer This rais'd him into so good an humour that he would have been content to do nothing else all his life But one of the Hamadryads presently began another Song which was very ridiculous and wherein they made him dance so much that he was quite tyred Morin because he sang not did instead thereof caper it in very strange postures At length every one being weary they all lay down on the grass where Lysis having taken breath a while addressed himself to all the company in these words Ye great Divinities of this Country since that Fate hath decreed my abode among you I should wish the honour of your more particular acquaintance to the end that when ever I shall see you I may not so far forget my self as not to render you the civilities which are due unto you Therefore now that we have the leasure tell me if sometime you have not been something different from what you are now and what hath been the occasion of your Metamorphoses Divine Willow saies Synopa your demand is so just that here is not any present that would not be willing to give you satisfaction The God Morin himself would have been glad if he could have distinctly spoken that you might have had the History of his fortunes from his own mouth He is known by the shaking of his head and the noise that comes out of his throat whereby he signifies his consent to any thing Because he cannot I shall tell you what you desire to know of him The Fable of the God Morin and of the River of Marne IT was a long time before Pharamond became King of France that Brie had a King the number of whose vertues was equal of that of his Subjects His name was Brisefer and his Son was called Morin who is this honest God whom you see Now there past through this Countrey the little Neece of a Fairy who at her birth had had two gifts that of Beauty and that of Metamorphoses If she had a design to bewitch a man she had no more to do but to shew him her natural countenance which when she had done she put on what form she pleas'd as if her body had been made of soft clay She wandred about the world purchasing of hearts and all she got by her amorous looks she put them into a great Apron made like a Purse that she had about her Morin had no sooner seen Marne so was the Nymph caled but she drew from him those sighs that would have been able to make a ship sail and in testimony of his love he made a deed of gift of his heart to her in the presence of the Notaries of Cupids Kingdom She fastned this great heart of his to a part of her Girdle and made it afterward her Pin-cushion which was a great torment to him for she would be ever and anon thrusting of pins into it Yet her new Lover would have taken this Martyrdom as supportable had she but accepted his services But as he spoke to her of it being one day standing by her she made no more account of him nor indeed was he any more in comparison of her then the sheath of a knife hanging by her side For you are to know that she was of a Gyant stature however she was not esteemed the less for that because if a thing be good and fair and pleasant it is so much the better if it be great and there is no man so foolish but he had rather have a great Capon then a little one So you are to believe that if she had great cheeks and great breasts she had by so much the more Lilies Roses and Pinks and if her eyes were as large as Bucklers they were so much the more convenient for her Lovers to behold themselves in There was no calumny could obscure her glory there was no default could be objected against her but her cruelty The truth is she was somewhat touch'd with that vice and as she never boild her Kettle but with the fire of the affections she had enflamed so did she never wash her hands but in the tears of her Lovers You might see every morning her Chamber-maid standing at her door holding a great Tray whereinto those poor wretches went and pour'd their tears that there might not be want of that water and sometimes the cruel one went and held her own murthering hands under Morin was one of the first that paid her this duty yet she regarded him no more then the last years snow He therefore resolved to get that by force which he could not by fair means and being powerful in his fathers Kingdom he got a great number of Souldiers about Marn's house who made so many works and palisadoes about it that it was thought she could not get away without his leave He enters into the Nymphs Court where she was walking all alone but when he thought to embrace her he was much amaz'd that she vanish'd away He search'd for her all about and could finde nothing but a spacious Quadrangle which to his observation had ever before been cover'd with dry earth but now was carpeted with grass That gave him occasion to imagine it was the fair Marn had been so Metamorphos'd and being desirous to enjoy her any way he went into the house to look for a sickle to cut that grass Being return'd with one in his hand he findes
deluge I pray take heed for though I am a Tree and that I keep above the water and am not drown'd yet my timber would rot in time The God Morin hearing this discourse thought it so pleasant that he could not hold himself from laughing a little outright So that Lysis wondring at it He begins says he to laugh very decently there 's hope he may in time learn to speak French Lucida having given over pissing answered that she doubted not but that in time he might be taught all good things but that for the present they must go to a collation in her grot They all came out of the water and he that played on the Violin and the Hamadryads went away and said nothing so far that they were quite out of sight Synopa sate next to Morin and Lucida next to Lysis These two Nymphs did not much weigh the wetting their legs for it was not cold it only made them the more frolick Morin discovered a great affection to Synopa and having felt her breast kiss'd and embraced her often And sometimes he put himself into such wanton postures that Lysis knew not what to say of it however at last he concluded it was the custom of the Gods of the waters but he would have gladly known whether it was also the custom of the Deities of the thickets Lucida taking him by the hand wrung it hard between her own and sometimes brought it to her mouth but such was his shamefac'dness that he durst do nothing though the temptation was very great It fortunately came into his mind to desire Morin to play an aire or two on his Lute to which Lucida should sing for he would have gladly entertain'd her but knew not how to begin It was not long ere the Hamadryads and the Violist return'd with bottles and baskets which soon silenc'd the musick they had brought bread and great pieces of Pye-crust and a peece of Gammon of bacon with good wine and some boxes of Sweet-meats Morin and Synopa having begun to eat Lucida said to Lysis And will not you rural Demy-god do as we do What is there not any thing here that you like will you slight me so No that I do not assure your self answers Lysis but you know that we Trees do not eat any thing we do nought but drink we are not like you Fountains who eat and drink all is given you we cannot devour in that manner 'T is true you Trees cannot says Synopa but you who are the Souls of the Trees you may eat any thing I 'll never believe it says Lysis I 'll give you an example for it says Synopa There is your Comrade as to fortune that eats like a Wolf In saying so she gave the Violist what to be doing withall who having a good stomach soon made an end of all whereat Lysis much wondring and seeing the Hamadryads eat too he would needs try whether he could do the like Having eaten a piece of Pye it seem'd very favoury to him but after that all he had to do was to chew the cud His stomach increas'd for what he had eaten and he thought all had been brought not too much for himself One of the Hamadryads having fill'd a glass of wine he observed that Synopa and Lucida drank it not so but dash'd it above half water I wonder you should do so says he what need have you to mingle water with your wine seeing you your selves are already all water and that that liquor loses sufficiently of its force when it is within your bodies We only do this out of custom answers Synopa we must needs observe an antient ceremony But if I am not deceived says Lysis you do this in remembrance of the education of Bacchus among the Nymphs of the Fountains who for that reason requires water should be mixed with his liquor While he said so the Violist having eaten enough began to recreate the company with the sound of his Instrument so that Lysis calling him into his mind desired him to give them a more solid diversion and briefly to relate upon what occasion he had been metamorphosed and what life he had led before The Fable of the Cypress EVer from my childhood have I kept sheep replies he And having learned some grounds on the Violin by the advantage of my leisure I came in time to the perfection of the best Players on earth so that Pan never composed an air which I playd not immediately with a hundred times more grace then he did on his Oat-pipe I had an excellent Rebeck of Cypress which is the same I now have He asked me whether I would give it him for a Sheephook thinking that when he had it he had with it all my skill and that it wholly depended upon this Instrument I return'd him a flat denial though he was a God which so enraged him that he metamorphos'd me into a Cypress decreeing for my chastisement that my wood should ever be disposed to make Violins and Rebecks which should be better then that which I had denied him It seems then that you come out of your bark when you please as the soul comes out of the body says Lysis and I do so too Now I have no more to desire then the History of our two Hamadriads I know it as well as they says Synopa I 'l tell it you The Fable of the two Hamadryads THey have been both of them Shepherdesses who yet would be always tampering with some Apothecary-business They were skilfull in the confection and preserving of all Fruits But one of them having refused to preserve some Apricocks and the other some Cherries for one of Diana's Nymphs that was sick the Goddess to be revenged hath metamorphos'd them both into Trees one of them hath been changed into an Apricock-tree the other into a Cherry-tree But here is the miracle they do not bear raw fruit as other trees but what they bear is preserved What you have now eaten is of their fruit what think you of them are they not good They are exceeding good replies Lysis but if I am not deceiv'd they have eaten of them themselves I think that barbarous 't is the same case as if a man should eat his own hands or arms Do you think it so strange replies Synopa It is best of all for one to live on his own substance and it is in the same manner that we Nayads do often drink our own water and cast it out again Say what you will replies Lysis if all were as it should be it were fit the Apricock-Nymph should eat Cherries and the Cherry-Nymph Apricocks that so they might mutually assist one the other without sinning against nature and devouring their own members As for you who drink your own water the case is not the same there 's no great danger in that I have known many men drink their own urine Well we will consider of publishing certain proviso's in this case says Synopa but in the
shall be one of the first so that thou shalt take infinite pleasure to see so many Beauties all naked and in feeling them all over as thou must I shall then be jealous of thee and shall think thy condition better then my own But if thou art so high-minded that thou wilt have none but humane creatures to drink of thy waters there shall be notice given to all Shepherds Cowherds and Goatherds not to bring any of their Cattel thither to water These are indeed very excellent propositions says Carmelin but I have told you already that I care not for the company of those people of the other world I 'll never come among them again Thou canst not receive any more hurt replies Lysis for thou shalt be of the same condition with them and being an aquatick Demy-god thou wilt be far otherwise respected then when thou wert a poor mortal Possibly thou mayst have some authority over the rest and as to what concerns Men they shall address their vows and sacrifices to thee and I and all those whom thou hast seen in this country will adore thee These promises are great says Carmelin And for to taste them though I know not what you speak to me of and that it cannot enter into my imagination that a man of flesh and bone as I am can become water I assure you that I would gladly be one if you can make me become so For I swear to you that I am extreamly curious and I shall not much stand upon the changing of my condition often so that in the end I attain happiness But I pray tell me how I must carry my self for to be what you desire I should that I may know whether the pains exceed not the pleasure Thy obedience is commendable says Lysis since I see thou art so modest I tell thee there are divers wayes to become a Fountain 'T is true I find not in Antiquity any other way then that of weeping abundantly but it is to be conceiv'd that both the Gods men are become more subtile and ingenious since that time for among the modern Metamorphoses we find that Synopa who was all ice was melted into water by the fire of Love and that Lucida who had the Dropsie hath piss'd so much that it became a Source But all this is nothing proper for thee Carmelin For first thy disposition suffers thee not to weep and besides thou art not ice nor yet hast thou the dropsie We must therefore find out some other way I have known some men who by violent exercise sweated so that the water dropp'd down as if they had been Statues of snow exposed to the sun Go thy ways somewhither and play at Tennis or at Football a whole day together that may be a good means to accomplish thy intention You come not neer the mark says Clarimond why do you not rather bid Carmelin go and get him the disease which the French call the disease of Naples and the Neapolitans the French disease He might then go to Paris and sweat at his pleasure with some of those that force their Empirick bills upon all that pass by and then you shall see him better metamorphos'd into a Fountain then the fair Acis Let 's not busie our thoughts with mischief I pray thee Carmelin may be metamorphos'd without making himself infamous by any such filthiness If there be no more requisite then to sweat extreamly he need not make use of any sordid receit but go to some honest Hot-houses but I will furnish him with so many inventions that he shall have to choose The Alchimists extract water out of herbs flowers roots and divers other things which are more dry by putting them into the Alimbeck it will not be amiss so to dispose of our miserably amorous Shepherd that he may be distill'd No such matter I thank you says Carmelin I do not intend to be set afire behind nor do I conceive any goodness can proceed from all your subtilties What is more my mind is wholly perplex'd in this business methinks though all my body were melted into water as you would desire it there would not be as much as would fill an hogshead For measure me by a Geometrical proportion you will find that I am but three foot about and five foot high all which would not suffice to fill a Fountain-head and continually supply a brook that should measure the diameter of this ground or by crooked windings should find a passage into Morin and thence into Marne and thence into the Seine and so into the Ocean There thou hast spoken very learnedly says Lysis and besides that thy terms are excellent thy reason is miraculous I know thou doubtest of somwhat it is a sign of ingenuity for I have often heard it said that Doubt is the mother of Philosophy and that because when one is doubtfull of any thing he desires to be more assured of it and never leaves searching for it till he have found out what was most hidden and secret therein I believe that with a serious meditation thou wouldst thy own self comprehend how those things I told thee may be effected but I will shorten to thee the path of truth so that thou shalt touch it with thy finger Take notice then that according to the Metamorphoses which the Gods bring about the bodies are either dilated or contracted it is no more difficult to the supreme Powers to make a thing greater then to make it less and if it be certain that Arachne was chang'd into a Spider and the Inhabitants of Licia into Frogs it is as well possible that Pismires have been chang'd into men Atlas into a Mountain and some others into Rivers Ovid never omits to speak of this contraction and dilation nor should he but I know one secret which neither he nor any other ever thought on which yet if it be not known a man cannot explain the Metamorphoses and this is it when there is a necessity a man should be chang'd into something greater then himself then the Gods cause certain winds to enter into him which swell him up to the proportion required and when another is to be chang'd into some little creature they infuse a certain drought into him that consumes whatever is superfluous so though they do some miracles which appertain only to themselves and whereof there cannot likely any natural reason be given yet do they not hinder but the second causes may operate somewhat therein I have been fain to search the Cabinet of Jupiter for to be assur'd of this miracle and who ever understands it may take away the vail of his ignorance By this thou art to understand Carmelin that it is easie for the Gods to change thee into a fountain and that thou mayest supply water enough for that end since some men who were of no greater corpulence then thou have been chang'd into Rivers and Mountains The Inhabitants of heaven provide for whatever is
done here below and though they could not make the channel of thy current neither broad nor long yet would they so dispose of thee that thy waters about fifty paces from the source should be receiv'd under ground and by some secret conduits should return to the place whence they came that so thou mightst never dry up That were nothing extraordinary there are in the world great Rivers which finde themselves channells under ground nay it is to be believ'd that the sea it self is swallow'd in Abysses that it may restore the water it receiv'd that so the earth might not be dryed up Further to take things at the worst though the Gods should not do thee the favour which they have done to many others and allowing thee only so much water as thou art big and should leave thee in some ditch where thou mightst be drunk up by beasts or haply chang'd to Vapour by the attraction of the Sun beams yet would I take a course thou shouldst not lose any thing For I would cause thee to be taken up with pails and thou shouldst be put into a basin in some rich cabinet There would I have made an admirable engine whereof I will discover the invention for thy sake Thy water being in a cystem rais'd up on high should fall by a small channel upon a little mill which it should turn and thence should fall into a Basin that were under Now the mill should at one end have a wheel which should turn another and that another and that a beam about which there should be a pipe made wave-like or rather like a chevron whereof one end being plac'd in the water should be still supply'd and cause it by little and little to ascend the upper part becoming the lowest and then immediately ascending Thus the water should be pour'd as it were into a trough whence it should return into its first receptacle and be continually supplyed so that it should never fail Now I would take order that no body should drink of it no not so much as the flyes and thy water never diminishing but going and returning thou shouldst be an artificial fountain portative and eternal a thing was yet never seen and there were no speaking of thee without admiration all believing thee to be an enchantment Besides I am to tell thee that there were no great quantity of water requir'd for this for though thou shouldst afford but a pailful I should make it serve the turn by making my engine the less but I doubt not but thou wilt yield a great deal of water for before thou shouldst be metamorphos'd thou shouldst put on half a dozen cloaks and so many night gowns and all that will become liquid as well as thee The cloathes are ever metamorphos'd with the body in Ovid as I think I have told thee before and as the tail of Ocyrioes gown became a horse tail so the skirts and shreds of thy cloathes will melt into streams This then is the recompence you promis'd me for my services says Carmelin if I ever stand to it I will here swear once for all that you shall seek another servant and I will finde another Master You will load me with more cloaks then if I were some boy belonging to the guard You will have me sweat in Frying-pans you will enclose me in Alimbecks and at last you will dispose me into Basins and make me pass through Conduit-pipes Mills and Troughs Where to the Devil runs your wit shall I not be burn'd up and beaten to pieces after all this Let me know at least what I have done to deserve to be put thus to the Rack Gibbet and Pillory Have I massacred my Father Have I betray'd a City Have I coyn'd bad money Am I an unconscionable Seller or an Usurer Thou art nothing of all this I confess Carmelin saies Lysis nor are there any such punishments prepar'd for thee as thou conceivest When thy body shall be all reduc'd to water thou art no more sensible of any hurt poor fool There will be much gotten by pressing thee thy members cannot be crush'd for thou canst slide away through the least hole That then in good earnest is your meaning replies Carmelin and 't is worse then before Your will is I should not be any thing but water when I am to eat where will be my mouth If any body come near me where will be my eyes for to see him And if he speak where will be my ears to hear him In fine where will be all my members to execute the ordinary offices for which God hath ordain'd them Carmelin having so said Lysis was ready to give him some extravagant reason for his complaints and I believe he would have perswaded him that after he were chang'd into a fountain the Gods might easily form him a body of subtile vapors according to the doctrine which had been infus'd into him for he remembred him he had seen Lucida and Synopa who yet had bodies though they were chang'd into water But upon this Philiris comes and says Dispute not any more Shepherds your difference is easily reconciled 'T is true Carmelin hath reason to be metamorphos'd into a Fountain but he must stay till the Gods out of their full power ordain it so That we must expect from them and not cause him to be melted into water by natural inventions that were to tempt the Divinities and draw their indignation on us Lysis acknowledg'd this consideration to be very excellent and was angry with himself that he had not been the Author of it So that he promis'd Carmelin not to importune him any further as to his Metamorphosis His thoughts now returned to the Temple he had a design to build so that truning towards Fontenay and Clarimond who stood amaz'd at his subtil argumentations he ask'd them if they would assist him to begin his edifice We are no Masons saies Fontenay besides a sumptuous Temple cannot be built in a moment without materials or tools But after what manner would you have it Alas that I am not an Amphion that I might with the sound of my harp bring together all the stones in this Countrey saies Lysis I would build an incomparable Temple But since that 's wanting I must this day seek out divers workmen for to be employ'd in it To spare all that cost saies Clarimond 't were better you would content your self to dedicate your heart as a Temple to your Divinity There you may be the victim and the Priest together The fire of your love will there shine ever your sighs will serve for incense and your tears shall be the holy-water That 's well imagined replies Lysis but it hinders not but I may be much taken with my design To answer therefore the Shepherd Fontenay who desires the particulars of it I declare That my Temple being built of the fairest marble can be found I will place upon the Altar the picture of Charite which was drawn
are which you name replies Clarimond for all your Poets and Makers of Romances speaking of a Beauty say that the Graces and Cupids flye about her face I have a hundred times view'd some of the fairest imagining I should see an infinite number of little wing'd boys go plant themselves on her nose as it were on a Bulwark or hide themselves within it as in the Loop-hools and then go and suffer the Strapado in hee hair but I never could see any thing of all this That is not seen but with the eyes of the minde saies Lysis art thou now satisfied And if thou doubtest of the dignity of the two Suns of Charites's face because they remove not out the place as those which run through the Zodiak learn that those things which are most permanent are the most to be esteemed All these fine reasons could not withhold Clarimond from ever pleying on Lysis so that the Shepherd not being able any longer to suffer his abuses put up his picture in a fury So so put up your Metaphorical Deity saies Clarimond some other time we shall lay the foundation of her Temple I shall at the present entertain you with a more a necessary discourse Let us repose our selves a little I pray As soon as he had so said all that were present sate them down on the grass and he resuming the discourse ask'd Lysis Whether he would give him leave to say what he would The Shepherd answered yes So Clarimond entered into this discourse Gentle Shepherd I am very sorry to see your minde possessed with such an infinity of pestilent opinions and which is worst of all like a contagion you endeavour to communicate them to all that come near you You talk of nothing but Metamorphoses and you would make Carmelin and the other Shepherds of your acquaintance believe that a man may be metamorphos'd into a Fountain a Stone a Tree a Bird and divers other forms I must purge your brains of these strange imaginations and shew you that although you have found them in a many books yet are they but pure fables I will make it appear to you in what manner they came into credit in the world that you may perceive your error In the first place for what concerns the Aquatick Metamorphosis There was sometimes in Arcadia the son of a great Lord who fell into a fountain and was drown'd in 't his friends were extreamly discomforted at it But there was a Poet who to comfort them and get a little money from them made some verses wherein he feign'd that the Gods had taken away that childe from amongst men for to prefer him to a happier condition and that they had metamorphos'd him into a divine and sacred Fountain That was afterward by the superstitious people taken for truth A while after that a certain man whom some theeves had kill'd having been buried in a field there grew out by chance a flower out of the earth wherewith they had covered his body so that it was believ'd with much appearance that it was a Metamorphosis which the Gods had made of him Another having been shot through with arrows in the wars was negligently cover'd with earth the shafts not taken out of his body and being of a green and soon growing wood they easily took root and cast out branches so that it was given out that that body was chang'd into a Tree There were a sort of Countrey people who reported the same thing of another dead man whom they had buried at the foot of an Elm instead of a dog for to make it bud forth A certain traveller going along the fields a piece of a mountain fell on him and cover'd him so that he was never seen after Those who knew which way he was gone not meeting with him but finding instead a little mountain hard by the greatone imagin'd the Gods had bestowed that form on him As concerning those whom men have thought to have been chang'd into savage creatures they were onely some people who had cover'd themselves with wolf skins for to be thought wolves or had put on Lyons skins or any other beast for to run about frightning little children and exercising divers cruelties As for the Metamorphoses of men into Birds though it cannot be said it was effected by a like disguising because there is hardly any bird that hath not the body less then a mans yet it hinders not but the reason thereof may be found out and to that purpose I shall give you an example as pleasant as true There was sometime in the Province of Greece a subtle and mischievous fellow called in his language Raven who having committed a many Felonies and Adulteries was furiously persecuted by the Magistrates of the place The Constables having perceived him afar off in a field made as fast as they could after him but he was so well footed that he recovered a little thicket and being got out of that he was presently by a rivers side into which he resolv'd to cast himself for his safety he immediately put off his cloathes and got into the deepest of the water where he might hold out longest for he was one of the best Divers in the world The Constables being come to the Rivers side found nothing but his cloathes on which by chance a great black Bird was roosted They came nearer by little and little and imagin'd that he whom they came to take as he was capable of doing all sort of mischief so was he as well a Magician as a Thief and that by his charms he had chang'd his first body into that of a Bird for otherwise they could not conceive in what manner he should come to disappear But the bird having expected them some time and looking on them very fixtly as if he had defy'd them fled away when they were come within ten paces of it and 't was then in vain to think to shoot at it or by running hither and thither to get any tidings of it They never could learn any thing of certain of it so that they were forc'd to return into their City for to tell the Judges how that the Felon was metamorphos'd Since that time the Bird whereof he was thought to have taken the form was from his name called Raven and if that Bird be seen much about Gallow's and places of Execution to feed on carcases people would say that the Gods the just punishers of crimes did ordain that notwithstanding the change of his nature yet would he ever be about the place where he had deserv'd to end his life and that he could not live but he must feed on those like him As for the Thief after he had continued some time in the water he thought that those who sought after him were far enough but coming to the shore he found no cloathes for one of the Officers had taken them away both because there was nothing else to be gotten as also that he might shew
Besides it was reported that all the riches he had in the world was an Angel in gold but that it was so enchanted that when he had given it a Tradesman for some commodity it ever came back again into his purse a place it seems it affected better then any where else 'T was also believ'd for certain that if he took a gimlet and pierc'd one of the Posts of a Table he would make wine come forth and if they went afterwards into the Merchants Cellar they found the Pipe which had lost it for he by his magick would cause the wine to be transported to his house For what concerns the curing of diseases in that point he defied all Physitians and whenever he cured any of his friends he transplanted the diseases into his enemies that so he might not entrench upon Fate whose ordinance it was there should ever be somebody sick 'T is true I was not desirous to be fully cured of my disease I took such delight in it that I was content only to be a little eas'd I went therefore and knock'd at this Magicians door before day and he who was already at his study came presently to the door It was an old man whose beard was of such a length that besides that part he had left in the middle he had twisted what was on both sides and it served him for a girdle That was a thing strange enough to see but I was much more amaz'd when I observ'd that he had so many wrinkles on his face whereof some were in direct lines and others in oblique that they seem'd as so many magical characters that time had drawn there to make him master of life and death Assoon as he had bidden me good morrow I shook as a reed on the brink of a lake at the sound of his whizzing voice which seem'd to issue out of hell through some abyss But at length he spoke more mildly to me and restor'd me bidding me not fear at all because I was so much in favour with heaven that I should find the assistance I look'd for and that he well saw that what I ailed was nothing more then ordinary to Youth that is to say the disease of Love forwhich he was stor'd with all sorts of remedies How well have you already ghess'd answer'd I 'T is true I am in Love but 't is not with a mortal creature but a Nayad I saw yesterday in the River but cannot since recover the sight of though I waited till now Do me but the favour that I may see her once more before I die and I shall so recompence you that you will rest as well satisfied as I. Zenocritus promis'd me to do what I desired and having brought me into a dark chamber he put off my cloaths and put them on again mumbling over certain barbarous words Thence he led me into his Court where when he had made a circle and lighted three candles about it he cast a vail over my head and read a while in his Conjuring-book This done he took me by the hand and made me go a great way vail'd as I was then having made me kneel he took the vail off my head and told me I was where I desired to be and that it was in my power to remain two hours before my Mistress Upon that he left me as being unwilling to be a witness of my amorous thefts But the enchantments pass'd had made me so stupid that it was a good while ere I remembred me that I was on the Marne side As I cast my sight on the waters which were very clear thereabouts I saw in them a Nymph the fairest could be imagin'd she had on her head a dressing of cloth of silver with small purl-work and a blew gown I presently conceiv'd it was my Nayad and that I should make use of the opportunity to gain her favours since the charms of Zenocritus had come to so good effect Fair Nayad said I to her in an extreme transportation I confess modesty obliges you to appear so clad to the eys of men yet I must tell you I would rather have seen you naked as I did last night for it being now broad day I should have been incredibly satisfied in considering you all over Since the honour of beauty consists in nothing so much as to be seen why are you so carefull to hide your self Thus did I entertain her thinking she would speak to me but she answer'd me not at all and was only content to look on me with languishing eyes I perceiv'd her lips move but her voice reach'd not my ears so that I thought it might be the water hinder'd it That made me say to her Come out of the water my fair Sun behold the great Sun of the world comes out too Come and enlighten our earth where all men shall adore you Come give me your hand that I may help you to get out In so saying I kiss'd my right hand and presented it to her At the same time she kiss'd her left hand and presented it to me as if she had been desirous to come to me but though my fingers seem'd to be very neer hers yet could I not touch them which making me half desperate I fell to beating my breast The Nymph did the like for to sympathize with my grief whereat I was so troubled that it set me a weeping and methought she wept too You suffer too much said I then 't is necessary I come to you my fair one since you cannot come to me And in saying so I cast my self into the water which being shallow I was not so high as my middle but there being nothing but sand and gravel whereever I laid my hands I came out again presently looking afterward into the water which was all muddy I could see my Nayad no more whose loss I so much regretted that I laid me along on the ground as if I had been ready to die At length my grief being somewhat abated and my mind not being taken up with viewing the waters I look'd ore my self O Gods shall I tell all I perceiv'd that I had womans cloaths on and having put my hand on my head found I had a dressing on like that of the Nayads By that I discover'd the cheat of Zenocritus's enchantments and I had reason to doubt that the face I had so much admir'd was my own which being disguis'd I had mistaken Thereupon I return'd to the river less sad then before and there perceiving the same figure I spoke thus There 's none but will confess that this face is handsome and for my own part I should think my self happy could I finde a Wench that had one so fair I would to God it were so But why do I desire it is there any thing more pleasant then to be Mistress and Servant together I shall when I please see the beauty which hath surprised me If I sigh it will sigh too if I laugh it
will laugh also if I desire any favour it will be as soon obtain'd as desired if I give my Nymph any thing there will be nothing at all lost for I shall give all to my self if I bestow my endeavors to preserve her I shall preserve my self with her I shall not fear she will betray me for she will never be guilty of any thoughts which I shall not know and jealousie which possesses so many Lovers will exercise no tyranny over me I see many others much troubled that they have Rivals but for me to have any I shall account it a huge pleasure so nothing being able to bring me any discontent in my love I shall ever live fully satisfied And if it be objected that I trangress the ordinary Laws of men I will say that the fairest bird of natures making which is the Phoenix is content to love himself and seeks no further object for his affection After this discourse I paus'd a good while and as I was busied in viewing my own fair countenance Zenocritus comes and askes me Whether I had not sufficiently seen my Mistress and if I would not return to his house I am fully satisfied as to her sight said I to him but I would also have been glad to have heard her speak I have not yet been able to make her break her silence Ask her somewhat saies he no doubt but she 'll answer you I had the curiosity to try his skill so turning towards the water Fair Nymph said I may I be assur'd that you will have a memory for the most perfect Lover that lives Then I heard a feeble voice which seem'd to come from a league off me which said to me Assure thy self that the same arrow as hath wounded thy heart hath wounded mine also I was so astonish'd at this that I became as insensible as a stock Zenocritus put the vail again over my head and assuring me that his charm was at an end he led me back to his house I not saying any thing in the world to him I could not come certainly to know whether it were a Nymph I had seen or my own representation only the cloathes I had on made me suspect the cheat but withal the voyce I had heard made me believe there might be somewhat more in it Being in the dark chamber of Zenocritus he took off my maids cloathes and put on mans but though I perceiv'd all this yet had I not the courage to accuse him of imposture My comfort was that however he had given me some satisfaction by teaching me the invention of loving my self so that as I parted from his house to return to my own I gave him a Diamond for his recompence The very same day I spoke of him to a Gentleman a friend of mine who assur'd me he was the greatest cheat in the world and among other subtil tricks he had that of making a voyce proceed from the bottom of his stomack having his mouth shut as if it had been another person at some distance from him had spoken and that by this means he had abus'd many answering them to what they desir'd as if he had been a spirit or some departed soul I remembred I had heard say that in ancient time there were prophetesses that spoke through the belly so that I easily believ'd Zenocritus had the same power Yet thinking ever on the pleasure he had done me I would not wish him any hurt and forgetting the imaginary beauty of the Nayad which I had not clearly seen I admir'd none but my own I had at this time neither father nor mother but liv'd at my own liberty I caus'd womens cloathes to be made me which I ordinarily wore and being lockt up into my chamber where there was a looking-glass four foot high and three broad I view'd my self from head to foot I was quite ravish'd in that contemplation though all my happiness consisted in the superficies of a glass and I wish'd my eyes had been dispos'd into some other part then my face that I might have view'd that in its natural Yet my faithful ice representing it to the life to me I caus'd the Idea of those beauties to pass into my heart where it was preserv'd And thus was I surpris'd by an extraordinary love and if you have observ'd the adventure that gave it its beginning you will conclude that he that first presum'd to say there were Nayads had seen some that were suppris'd as I was That may very well be saies Philiris some Poet had had a glimpse of a maid in a River or else some Ideot seeing himself in the water had believed his own image was another Nymph As for your part I believe your design was to renew the fable of Narcissus but yet you have done nothing so simply as he if you knew not your self when you first beheld your self and if you took the figure you saw for a Nymph 't was because you had chang'd your cloathes but Narcissus who had no other then his ordinary cloathes took his own representation for some fair Goddess If that were true I should say that the yong man were turned fool but that being false I must say that the Poet who invented it had no judgement For put the case that Looking-glasses were not in use in the Country of Narcissus and that in his mothers house there were not neither skillets nor basins in the bottoms whereof he might have seen him self could he that was a Hunts-man and had much acquaintance with the fields be without ever beholding himself in a Fountain Had he lived to the age of sixteen and never met any And if he had met with any as it must be necessarily conceived why should he behold his own face as a new thing and imagine there were a Nymph under the water why had he not rather committed this simplicity at eight years of age then it might have been excused By this it is easie to see that for to make the adventure probable it should have been accommodated like that of the Shepherd Fontenay I do not grant you that replies Lysis for in the first place I will not have any thing reformed as to what hath been anciently believed concerning Narcissus because it may have hapned that he loved himself after one manner and Fontenay after another The lives of all men are different and consequently their Histories are so much the more delightful As concerning the Nayads though Zenocritus have deceived this gentle Shepherd and hath made him see his own image in the water instead of a Nymph it does not thence follow that there are none The fair one he had seen the night before was one indeed and I make no question but he knew her well enough since Wherefore let him continue his History and we shall see what were the end of his loves I have acquainted you erewhiles replies Fontenay that it was in my infancy that I believed there were Nayads
there might be some falsification in the matter He kept a memorial of the quantity and colour of my stools and his own and all he wanted was to know the weight and the taste But let that pass I should not have car'd if when he took glisters or any physick I had not also been oblig'd to take the same to see the difference of the operation and to make a short end of me he had a design to have a diet prescrib'd to see if the change of diet would change the disposition At certain times I must have fasted as he did to my great indignation but at length God took compassion on us both and my Master having recovered his health gave me leave to be well too that I might wait on him on all occasions Yet there was still a relique of folly in his head which did some injury to his feet However I lived peaceably with him and in all the precipitate journeys he put me upon I resolutely attended him to Paris where being advised by some wise and considerate persons I begg'd of him that he would put me out to some Trade whereby I might get my living in consideration of my assistance when he was sick he bound me Apprentice to a Joyner in that brave City where I chose rather to live then in my own I was not now so foolish as when I was yong when it being propos'd to me to be bound to this or that or the other Trade I said I would not be any of all those why do you not tell me of a great many others that are better It is better I were Apprentice to a Councellor or a Gentleman I thought that for to be a Judge or a Councellor 't was enough to be a Clerk or a Serving-man and to be a Lord or a Gentleman there were no more then to be a Lacquay but I was now grown wiser Tristan returning to Lyons left me with the Master where he had placed me of whom I thought in a little time to have learned the Trade and when he sometimes beat me because my work was not to his minde I was so ingenious as to go and perswade the Carriers of our Countrey that if my Master was rough to me was because it vexed him to see me already a better workman then himself I will tell you one remarkable thing that hapned in his house This Joyner was a good big fellow and none of the worst faces and had been chosen Corporal of the Trained Bands in his quarter and in that quality had appeared in several musters and had with his company guarded one of the gates This service had made him so proud that he imagined himself descended from one of the Nine Worthies When ever he had on the scarlet suit with gold lace which he had made him for his days of Triumph I must have doubled the accustomed honors and respects Having made acquaintance with a yong man a Painter he would needs be drawn in that fine suit which he was mightily taken with with a Gorget a gray Hat on his head with a great Feather a Sword by his side booted and spurr'd and having one hand on a little table wherein there was to be a Head-piece and two Gantlets The Painter having done this rare piece brought it to my Master and received his money There was no fault in it but that the colours had not lustre enough 'T is true the Painter told him that when the picture were dry there were no more to do then to take a wet napkin and rub it and that would make it the fairest thing in the world but that he should not put himself to that trouble unless he were to shew it to some people of good rank The Joyner believ'd it and a while after he invited seven or eight Citizens kinsfolk and friends to dine at his house and as it was on purpose to shew them his own fine picture When they had quaff'd it to some purpose in the Parlour where they had staid a while because of the coolness he told the guests that he would shew them a picture he had caus'd to be drawn He brought them up into his chamber where hung this Master-piece which every one look'd very strangely on They saw it was very poorly done yet no body durst say any thing because of displeasing him But my Master thinking they esteemed not that picture as they should because they saw not all the perfections of it was resolv'd to make use of his secret to make it look fair You shall presently see what miracle there is in this picture saies he to the company I 'll make it look for otherwise Boy bring hither a napkin and a pail of water I obeyed his command and the Joyner having wetted the cloath rubb'd the picture all over But O the strange Prodigy Was not this one of the Metamorphosis whereof the Shepherd Lysis hath so often spoken instead of having a plume of feathers on the hat there was onely a huge pair of horns instead of boots a high pair of Countrey shoes instead of a sword there was a compass and upon the table a plank and a smoothing place instead of the head-piece and gantlets O the great scandal there was I my Master having received such an affront before people that could not but laugh at it swore he would make the Painter repent it and that without any more ado he would indict him but he had left Paris and was gone to travel It was said he had in the first place drawn in oyl the picture of the horned Joyner and that afterwards he had made the Gentleman Joyner upon the other in distemper so that the water might easily wipe out this last draught This Painter bore a spight to my Master because that being once on the guard he had suffer'd him to stand sentinel longer then his time besides that he could not brook so great an insolence as that a Joyner would be painted like a Gentleman And this was the reason of the cheat but that which troubled my Master most were the horns for to threaten him with those was to make him utterly despair who had a yong woman to his wife All the misfortune fell on my head there being no other he could quarrel with he was angry that I had brought him the water so soon and it was not enough to excuse me to tell him I had done nothing but by his command He never bore me good will since and yet when my time was out I was a long while Jorneyman with him but I have nothiag to tell you as to that I am only to acquaint you that at length a famous Doctor in whose study I put up some shelves taking notice of me entertain'd me for to make me a knowing and learned man Since that I served a Stationer that made Almanacks as you have already heard and now I am in service with the Shepherd Lysis where if my condition be
will be yet have I ever been so transported by them that I have imagin'd it was no fiction Nay since you make us such excellent propositions I am much in doubt whether I should fully credit you says Clarimond But as for your plays I approve them beyond any thing I ever heard For to make them compleat I will contribute somewhat of my invention You know there are some Actors who never put off the parts they once take As for example one is the Doctor another the Captain and another the Fool. All the design is carried on accordingly their parts change not there is only a change in the story I do not intend we should do so it must necessarily be expected that our qualities and habits change if we will represent all sorts of ancient fables but as for our manner of speech it shall not change at all Every one shall have a certain language whereto he shall so accustome himself that it will be easie for him to find what he is to say as for example one shall speak by Allusions and Equivocations another by Hyperboles a third by Metaphors and a fourth by Galimathias All that heard Clarimond's proposition found it very excellent except Lysis who at the first could not digest it But Hircan forc'd him to do as the rest did so that every one had the liberty to choose his speech Fontenay chose the Allusions and Equivocations Polydor the Hyperboles Meliantes the Metaphors and Clarimond the Galamathias which is a stile composed of shifts and windings of words which render the sense so obscure that it can hardly be known what to make of it As for Lysis he said he would speak a neat and polish'd phrase which he call'd the amorous and passionate stile There was proposed also the Pedantick stile Paris-Expressions Proverbs Similitudes and the Poetical stile and some others which they resolv'd to make use of when there were need The Shepherdesses came not into the number of the Actors who appear'd on the Stage because Clarimond had resolved there should nothing be done but what were grotesque wherein it was not fit the Ladies should be engag'd As for Lysis he thought it well they were excluded for he was glad to see men acting womens parts as being a thing that seemed to him more comical All the question now was What piece should be first acted for tryal Some propos'd that of the Ravishing of Proserpina and that of Psyche and others the Descent of Orpheus into hell the Loves of Pyramus and Thisbe the Conquest of the Golden Fleece and the Deflowring of Philomela At last Hircan said that the next day they would represent the ravishing of Proserpina by Pluto which was an ordinary peece and as being often seen acted would be very easie It was resolv'd Polidor should act Venus that the fair Fontenay who had been us'd to be clad like a Maid should be the fair Proserpina that Lysis should be Cyana Clarimond Arethusa Hircan should act the part of Pluto Meliantes that of Jupiter and Philiris that of Ceres There wanted nothing but a Cupid And Clarimond seeing Carmelin who had newly acted him said he was as pretty for to act him as if he had been painted for that purpose Carmelin being very low in comparison of Polidor who was to be his mother Venus 't was thought no part could be more convenient for him and Lysis for his sake imagined a new stile which he call'd the Infantine stile wherein he thought he might be able enough because of his ordinary simplicities It was only he that made some resistance calling to mind that the part they gave him had not been very fortunate to him and had been the cause he had been well beaten that afternoon They perswaded him out of that fear and assured him that the part he was to have would be both pleasant and honorable to him Upon this one of the men went to Orontes's for an Ovids Metamorphoses and Philiris having read aloud the subject of the future Comedy shewed every one what he had to do The day being spent in these entertainments they left the wedding and all those of Orontes's company going along with him Hircan took away his to his Castle As they were ready to go in I am excessively hot says Lysis I know not whether it proceeds from the weather or from the Love which possesses my heart I have a great desire to go into the water to night is there any body else of the same mind It happened that Clarimond and Philiris had a mind to go into the water so that they left the rest of the company to go into the river Morin 'T was about half a league off and yet they cheerfully overcame the way discoursing of divers things with Carmelin whom they carried with them to look to their cloaths though there were no need of it As they were putting off their cloaths Lysis not able any longer to conceal the design he had spoke thus to them 'T is very true my friends that it is a pleasure to me to go into the water both for to refresh my self a little in this hot season and to wash my body But besides this my intention is to go and see the aquatick Divinities that lodge in this River I have not mention'd it to Hircan because I doubt he would have endeavoured to divert me by making me believe I am no Demy-god as I have sometimes been and that I am not any longer permitted to converse with those of that quality I know no reason why he should say so for in all Histories we have a many examples of humane persons that have spoken to Divinities Is it not because he hates them and will have me hate them too As for the aquatick Gods since he hath pluck'd off their beards 't is certain he loves them not much And if I should have spoken to him of going to see them he would not have come for fear of receiving some affront But I who am one of their greatest friends as I have good testimony I will confidently go and see them and if I can I will have their Chrystal palaces opened to you With these words the Shepherd cast himself headlong into the water Clarimond and Philiris fearing he might be drown'd made haste in after him and recovered him when he had drunk so much that he was almost gone Being a little sensible of his fault he told them there was no means to visit the Aquatick Divinities that day and that they desired not to be seen since they had not divided the water to make him a passage to their Courts He afterward wash'd himself quietly and put on his cloaths with the rest without any extravagancy at all Only he said it troubled him that he had not spoken to the Gods of the waters because he would have invited them to their sports to make them more compleat if they were to represent some Story wherein it were necessary some aquatick