to change the mood of 15
every bearded passenger. In they turned, one and all; the
young and lightsome, with no irreverent pause, the aged
and decrepit, with a sensible alacrity: 'twas the Grand
Rabbi's abode, in short. Struck with curiosity, I lost no
time in learning Syriac--(these are vowels, you dogs--follow 20
my stick's end in the mud--_Celarent, Darii, Ferio!_)
and one morning presented myself, spelling-book in hand,
a, b, c--I picked it out letter by letter, and what was the
purport of this miraculous posy? Some cherished legend
of the past, you'll say--"_How Moses hocus-pocussed_ 25
_Egypt's land with fly and locust_"--or, "_How to Jonah
sounded harshish, Get thee up and go to Tarshish_"--or,
"_How the angel meeting Balaam, Straight his ass returned
a salaam._" In no wise! "_Shackabrack--Boach--somebody
or other--Isaach, Re-cei-ver, Pur-cha-ser, and_ 30
_Ex-chan-ger of--Stolen Goods!_" So, talk to me of the
religion of a bishop! I have renounced all bishops save
Bishop Beveridge--mean to live so--and die--_As some
Greek dog-sage, dead and merry, Hellward bound in
Charon's wherry with food for both worlds, under and_ 35
_upper, Lupine-seed and Hecate's supper, and never an
obolus._ (Though thanks to you, or this Intendant through
you, or this Bishop through his Intendant--I possess a
burning pocketful of _zwanzigers_) _To pay Stygian Ferry!_

_1st Policeman._ There is the girl, then; go and deserve 40
them the moment you have pointed out to us Signor
Luigi and his mother. [_To the rest._] I have been
noticing a house yonder, this long while--not a shutter
unclosed since morning!

_2nd Policeman._ Old Luca Gaddi's, that owns the silk-mills 45
here: he dozes by the hour, wakes up, sighs deeply,
says he should like to be Prince Metternich, and then
dozes again, after having bidden young Sebald, the
foreigner, set his wife to playing draughts. Never
molest such a household; they mean well. 50

_Bluphocks._ Only, cannot you tell me something of
this little Pippa I must have to do with? One could
make something of that name. Pippa--that is, short for
Felippa--rhyming to _Panurge consults Hertrippa--Believest
thou, King Agrippa?_ Something might be done 55
with that