_Petr._ Then again, Look on this side. You bid your friends to supper: That is a promise; and hath all your life An hour more suitable for skilful kindness? 1619 They come perturbed, fatigued, hungry and thirsty; Nature exhausts them for you, drains them empty To take all kinds of pleasure; their grated nerves Ask music, their wearied limbs soft cushioned couches, Their harassed mind wise cheerful conversation, Their body’s appetites fawn at the word Of food and wine: and yet we see these things, Which should be studied, ordered, suited, measured, All jumbled in confusion, till a feast, Instead of relaxation and renewal, Becomes, I say, for body and for mind 1630 The worst discomfort and the stiffest trial That life can show. _Par._ Bravo! bravo! _Ner._ For one, I am converted. Thou shalt be henceforth Arbiter of my table. _Br._ (_to servt._) ’Tis boiling hot; Taste it. _Ner._ (_to Petron._) Accept you the office? _Petr._ This would make me A Cæsar above Cæsar. _Ner._ In the province Of imperial æsthetics. _Servt. to Brit._ Pardon, your highness, I will add water to it: ’tis yet unmixed. [_They pour in the poison._ _Petr._ ’Twill be a tyranny. For look, I hold Man’s stomach is not to be trifled with. 1640 Not only should your table give delight Even to the ravishment of every palate, But since the end and final cause of food Is not to breed diseases in the flesh, Nor heat the spirits more than they can bear, But rather to build up and comfort health, I’d order first that there be served at table Nothing but what is wholesome. _Br._ (_after drinking nubile Petr. speaks_). Ah! [_Falls back._ _Oct._ The wine, the wine! _Br._ Ah! [_Dies._ _Oct._ He is dead. O dead! O dead! 1650 _Lucan, Petronius and Paris go to Britannicus. Domitia follows.—All rising._ _Agr._ What is this? _Ner._ He hath a fit. _Petr._ He doth not breathe. _Oct._ (_has come round to front_). Alas, alas! my brother; he is dead. _Ner._ Nay, sit you down; look not aghast, I say. He hath the falling sickness, and will oft Faint on a sudden, as ye see. He lies An hour as dead, and then awakes again With nought amiss. Best take him out in quiet. (_To servants._) Carry him from the room. _Luc._ Lift you his feet, Petronius. We two will take him.