The Story of the King of Bohemia and His Seven Castles, Continued.

There was, an' please your honour, said the corporal, raising his voice
and rubbing the palms of his two hands cheerily together as he begun, a
certain king of Bohemia--

--Leave out the date entirely, Trim, quoth my uncle Toby, leaning
forwards, and laying his hand gently upon the corporal's shoulder to
temper the interruption--leave it out entirely, Trim; a story passes
very well without these niceties, unless one is pretty sure of 'em--Sure
of 'em! said the corporal, shaking his head--

Right; answered my uncle Toby, it is not easy, Trim, for one, bred up as
thou and I have been to arms, who seldom looks further forward than to
the end of his musket, or backwards beyond his knapsack, to know much
about this matter--God bless your honour! said the corporal, won by the
manner of my uncle Toby's reasoning, as much as by the reasoning itself,
he has something else to do; if not on action, or a march, or upon
duty in his garrison--he has his firelock, an' please your honour,
to furbish--his accoutrements to take care of--his regimentals to
mend--himself to shave and keep clean, so as to appear always like what
he is upon the parade; what business, added the corporal triumphantly,
has a soldier, an' please your honour, to know any thing at all of
geography?

--Thou would'st have said chronology, Trim, said my uncle Toby; for
as for geography, 'tis of absolute use to him; he must be acquainted
intimately with every country and its boundaries where his profession
carries him; he should know every town and city, and village and hamlet,
with the canals, the roads, and hollow ways which lead up to them; there
is not a river or a rivulet he passes, Trim, but he should be able at
first sight to tell thee what is its name--in what mountains it
takes its rise--what is its course--how far it is navigable--where
fordable--where not; he should know the fertility of every valley, as
well as the hind who ploughs it; and be able to describe, or, if it is
required, to give thee an exact map of all the plains and defiles, the
forts, the acclivities, the woods and morasses, thro' and by which his
army is to march; he should know their produce, their plants, their
minerals, their waters, their animals, their seasons, their climates,
their heats and cold, their inhabitants, their customs, their language,
their policy, and even their religion.

Is it else to be conceiv