make a
stand for their dignity, and number one among the nations of Mardi.
And even as before they had been weeded out of the surrounding
countries; so now, they went to weeding out themselves; banishing all
objectionable persons to still another island.

These events happened at a period so remote, that at present it was
uncertain whether those twice banished, were thrust into their second
exile by reason of their superlative knavery, or because of their
comparative honesty. If the latter, then must the residue have been a
precious enough set of scoundrels.

However it was, the commonwealth of knaves now mustered together
their gray-beards, and wise-pates, and knowing-ones, of which last
there was a plenty, chose a king to rule over them, and went to
political housekeeping for themselves.

And in the fullness of time, this people became numerous and mighty.
And the more numerous and mighty they waxed, by so much the more did
they take pride and glory in their origin, frequently reverting to it
with manifold boastings. The proud device of their monarch was a hand
with the forefinger crooked, emblematic of the peculatory
propensities of his ancestors.

And all this, at greater length, said Mohi.

"It would seem, then, my lord," said Babbalanja, reclining, "as if
these men of Ohonoo had canonized the derelictions of their
progenitors, though the same traits are deemed scandalous among
themselves. But it is time that makes the difference. The knave of a
thousand years ago seems a fine old fellow full of spirit and fun,
little malice in his soul; whereas, the knave of to-day seems a sour-
visaged wight, with nothing to redeem him. Many great scoundrels of
our Chronicler's chronicles are heroes to us:--witness, Marjora the
usurper. Ay, time truly works wonders. It sublimates wine; it
sublimates fame; nay, is the creator thereof; it enriches and darkens
our spears of the Palm; enriches and enlightens the mind; it ripens
cherries and young lips; festoons old ruins, and ivies old heads;
imparts a relish to old yams, and a pungency to the Ponderings of old
Bardianna; of fables distills truths; and finally, smooths, levels,
glosses, softens, melts, and meliorates all things. Why, my
lord, round Mardi itself is all the better for its antiquity, and the
more to be revered; to the cozy-minded, more comfortable to dwell in.
Ah! if ever it lay in embryo like a green seed in the pod, what a
damp, shapeless thing it must have be