_Venator._ Give ye good-den, my masters twain, I'll flout ye, when we meet again: Sad lover, lay thee down and pine; Go thou, and blink o'er thy noon-day wine; I'll to the woods. Well may ye fare With two such deer, as Love and Care. THE "ORIGINAL" DRAGON. A LEGEND OF THE CELESTIAL EMPIRE. _Freely translated from an undeciphered MS. of Con-fuse-us,_[49] _and dedicated to Colonel Bolsover, (of the Horse Marines,) by C. J. Davids, Esq._ I. A desperate dragon, of singular size,-- (His name was _Wing-Fang-Scratch-Claw-Fum_,)-- Flew up one day to the top of the skies, While all the spectators with terror were dumb. The vagabond vow'd, as he sported his tail, He'd have a _sky lark_, and some glorious fun; For he'd nonplus the natives that day without fail, By causing a _total eclipse of the sun_![50] He collected a crowd by his impudent boast, (Some decently dress'd--some with hardly a rag on,) Who said that the country was ruin'd and lost, Unless they could compass the death of the _dragon_. II. The emperor came with the whole of his court,-- (His majesty's name was _Ding-Dong-Junk_)-- And he said--to delight in such profligate sport, The monster was mad, or disgracefully drunk. He call'd on the army: the troops to a man Declar'd--though they didn't feel frighten'd the least-- They never could think it a sensible plan To go within reach of so ugly a beast. So he offer'd his daughter, the lovely _Nan-Keen_, And a painted pavilion, with many a flag on, To any brave knight who would step in between The _solar eclipse_ and the dare-devil _dragon_. III. Presently came a reverend bonze,-- (His name, I'm told, was _Long-Chin-Joss_,)-- With a phiz very like the complexion of bronze; And for suitable words he was quite at a loss. But, he humbly submitted, the orthodox way To succour the _sun_, and to bother the foe, Was to make a new church-rate without more delay, As the clerical funds were deplorably low. Though he coveted nothing at all for himself, (A virtue he always delighted to brag on,) He thought, if the priesthood could pocket some pelf, It might hasten the doom of this impious _dragon_.