An outline of humor: Being a true chronicle from prehistoric ages to the twentieth century
History
An outline of humor: Being a true chronicle from prehistoric ages to the twentieth century
Wit and humor
They set edges upon scimetars, cutlasses, badelairs, backswords, tucks,
rapiers, bayonets, arrow-heads, dags, daggers, mandousians, poniards,
whinyards, knives, skenes, chipping knives, and raillons.
Diogenes seeing them all so warm at work, and himself not employed
by the magistrates in any business whatsoever, he did very seriously
(for many days together, without speaking one word) consider, and
contemplate the countenance of his fellow-citizens.
Then on a sudden, as if he had been roused up and inspired by a martial
spirit, he girded his cloak, scarf-ways, about his left arm, tucked
up his sleeves to the elbow, trussed himself like a clown gathering
apples, and giving to one of his old acquaintance his wallet, books,
and opistographs, away went he out of town towards a little hill or
promontory of Corinth called Craneum; and there on, the strand, a
pretty level place, did he roll his jolly tub, which served him for an
house to shelter him from the injuries of the weather: there, I say, in
a great vehemency of spirit, did he turn it veer it, wheel it, whirl
it, frisk it, jumble it, shuffle it, hurdle it, tumble it, hurry it,
jolt it, jostle it, overthrow it, evert it, invert it, subvert it,
overturn it, beat it, thwack it, bump it, batter it, knock it, thrust
it, push it, jerk it, shock it, shake it, toss it, throw it, overthrow
it upside down, topsyturvy, tread it, trample it, stamp it, tap it,
ting it, ring it, tingle it, towl it, sound it, resound it, stop it,
shut it, unbung it, close it, unstopple it. And then again in a mighty
bustle he bandied it, slubbered it, hacked it, whittled it, wayed it,
darted it, hurled it, staggered it, reeled it, swinged it, brangled it,
tottered it, lifted it, heaved it, transformed it, transfigured it,
transposed it, transplaced it, reared it, raised it, hoised it, washed
it, dighted it, cleansed it, rinsed it, nailed it, settled it, fastened
it, shackled it, fettered it, levelled it, blocked it, tugged it, tewed
it, carried it, bedashed it, bewrayed it, parched it, mounted it,
broached it, nicked it, notched it, bespattered it, decked it, adorned
it, trimmed it, garnished it, gaged it, furnished it, bored it, pierced
it, tapped it, rumbled it, slid it down the hill, and precipitated it
from the very height of the Craneum; then from the foot to the top
(like another Sisyphus with his stone) bore it up again, and every way
so banged it and belabored it, that it was ten thousand to one he had
not struck the bottom of it out.
Which when one of his friends had seen, and asked him why he did
so toil his body, perplex his spirit, and torment his tub? the
philosopher’s answer was, that not being employed in any other office
by the Republic, he thought it expedient to thunder and storm it so
tempestuously upon his tub, that amongst a people so fervently busy
and earnest at work, he alone might not seem a loitering slug and lazy
fellow. To the same purpose may I say to myself,--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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