[175:B] Pliny, in speaking of the goose, says that "It may be thought there is visible in the creature some sparks of wisdom, for Lacydes, the philosopher, is said to have had one of them attached to him as a constant companion, which would never leave him night or day, neither in the open street nor in the baths." One does not quite see where the wisdom comes in. It appears either to suggest that the bird showed great fidelity, or, as some might think it, became an intolerable nuisance. However that may be, Pliny points to a remedy for the latter when he adds quaintly--"But our countrymen are wiser, who know how to make a dainty of their liver!" He then goes on to describe the cramming to which they are exposed. Polladius says that they were chiefly fed on powdered figs. Martial also mentions the great size to which the liver was developed--all of which goes to show that "There is nothing new under the sun," and that the equivalent of Strasburg paté has been an appreciated delicacy for many years before Derby hampers were dreamt of. [179:A] "One swallow proueth not that summer is neare."--"Treatise against Dauncing," 1577. [181:A] "The eagle suffers little birds to sing, And is not careful what they mean thereby." [182:A] "Pheasants are fools if they invite the hawk to dinner. And wer't not madness then To make the fox surveyor of the fold." --_Shakespeare._ [182:B] On the other hand, the Portuguese warn those who do not want to be taken for wolves not to wear the skin: "Quem nao quer ser loubo nao che vista a pelle." [184:A] "That's a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion."--SHAKESPEARE, _King Henry V._ [185:A] As, for instance, in Gascoigne's "Steele Glas," 1575, where we read: "Where favor sways the sentence of the law, Where al is fishe that cometh to net." [188:A] "Contrary to reason ye stamp and ye stare, Ye fret and ye fume, as mad as a March hare."--_Heywood._ "Thou madde Marche hare."--_Skelton_, 1520. [188:B] "He that worse may must holde the candle, but my Maister is not so wise as God might have made him: hee is gone to seeke a Hayre in a Hennes nest, a Needle in a Bottle of Haye, which is as sildome seene as a black Swan."--"Angrie Women of Abington." CHAPTER VII