"My child you wed without delay. "She's well brought up, young, full of health "If fortune has not granted wealth, "Her beauty you do not deny, "So wed her, or prepare to die." To hesitate in such a case Would surely have been out of place The girl he loved to take to wife, Or in his prime to lose his life, The point in truth needs no debate, Nor did our Richard hesitate. Besides, the most supreme delight Of life he'd tasted one short night, But one, in lovely Kitty's arms; Could he so soon resign her charms! While Richard, pleased with his escape From what he feared an awkward scrape, Was dreaming of his happy choice, Our Kitty, by her father's voice Awakened, from her hand let go The cause of all her joy and woe, And round her naked beauties wound The sheet picked up from off the ground: Meanwhile the notary appears To put an end to all their fears. They wrote, they signed, the sealed--and thus The wedding ended free from fuss. They left the happy couple there. His satisfaction to declare, Thus spoke their father to the pair: "Take courage, children, have no care; "The nightingale in cage is pent, "May sing now to his heart's content." EPITAPH OF LA FONTAINE MADE BY HIMSELF JOHN, as he came, so went away, Consuming capital and pay, Holding superfluous riches cheap; The trick of spending time he knew, Dividing it in portions two, For idling one, and one for sleep. THE END.