The Sleeping Bard; Or, Visions of the World, Death, and HellWynne, Ellis
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The Sleeping Bard; Or, Visions of the World, Death, and Hell
Wynne, Ellis
Allegories; Christian life; Religious literature, Welsh; Welsh literature -- 18th century; Welsh literature -- Translations into English
Next appeared four catchpoles, an informer, and fifteen damned, hauling
two _devils_ forward. "See," said the informer, "lest you should lay the
blame of all that is mismanaged on the seed of Adam, we bring you two of
your old angels, who have spent their time above, quite as badly as the
two preceding. Here is a fellow who has been making as great a fool of
himself, as the Devil did at Shrewsbury the other day; who, in the midst
of the interlude of Doctor Faustus, whilst some, according to the custom
on such occasions, were committing adultery with their eyes, some with
their hands, others making assignations for the same purpose, and doing
various other things profitable to your kingdom, made his appearance to
play his own part; by which blunder, he drove every one from taking his
pleasure to praying. In like manner did this numskull act; for, whilst
journeying over the world, on hearing two wenches talking of walking
round the church at night, in order to see their sweethearts, he must
needs show himself in the figure he wears at home, to the two fools, who
on recovering their senses, which at first they lost from fright,
solemnly abjured all frivolity for ever. There's a ninny-hammer for you!
Instead of appearing like a devil, he ought to have divided himself and
assumed the forms of two dirty, unlicked boors; for the girls would have
imagined themselves bound to accept them, and then the filthy goblin
might have lived as husband with the two female parties, without
troubling a clergyman to perform the marriage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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