Till my weary brain was racking;
But this zeal brought me no blessing.
Merrily would then my thoughts fly
From my studies to that time when
Old Cujacius' lovely daughter
Mounted in her father's rostrum,
With her voice sweet and melodious,
Read for him his written lectures
To the lucky youth of Paris.
Usucaption and inheritance,
And Novella hundred and eighteen,
Changed into a dark-haired maiden
Peeping from the Corpus Juris.
From my trembling hands the pen fell,
Overturned were sand and inkstand,
And I caught hold of the trumpet:
Usucaption and inheritance,
And Novella hundred and eighteen,
Wailing in adagio tempo.
Flew forth from the study window
Far into the starry night.

"Yes, this zeal brought me no blessing.
I one day went from my lodging,
'Neath my arm the Corpus Juris
('Twas the Elzevir edition,
Which at Rotterdam was published)
To the Heugass', to the pawn-house,
Where the Jew, Levi Ben Machol,
With his squinting eyes rapacious,
Took it in his arms paternal,
Paid me then two golden ducats--
Someone else may now redeem it!
I became a saucy fellow,
Wandered much o'er hill and valley
Clinking spurs and serenading.
If I ever caught one sneering,
Quickly grasped my hand the rapier:
'Fight a duel! draw your weapons!
Now advance!' That whistled nicely
Through the air; on many smooth cheeks
Wrote my sword so sharp and steady
A memento everlasting.
I, however, must confess here,
That I did not choose the finest
Company to wander round with.
What I liked, was to sit drinking
Up in the Elector's Castle,
By our age's greatest marvel
Which the German mind has wrought out,
By the tun of Heidelberg.
A most worthy hermit dwelt there,
Who was the Elector's court fool,
Was my dear old friend Perkeo;
Who had out of life's wild whirlpool
Peacefully withdrawn himself where
He could meditate while drinking,
And the cellar was his refuge.
Here he lived, his care dividing
'Twixt himself and the big wine-tun;
And he loved it--truer friendship
Never has the world yet witnessed;
'Twas as if it were his bride.
With a broom he swept it shini