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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=431376" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Magic Cup</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE worst of ills, with jealousy compared,<br>Are trifling torments ev'ry where declared.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">IMAGINE, to yourself a silly fool,<br>To dark suspicion grown an easy tool;<br>No soft repose he finds, by night or day;<br>But rings his ear, he's wretched ev'ry way!<br>Continually he dreams his forehead sprouts;<br>The truth of reveries he never doubts.<br>But this I would not fully guaranty,<br>For he who dreams, 'tis said, asleep should be;<br>And those who've caught, from time to time, a peep,<br>Pretend to say--the jealous never sleep.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">A MAN who has suspicions soon will rouse;<br>But buz a fly around his precious spouse,<br>At once he fancies cuckoldom is brought,<br>And nothing can eradicate the thought;<br>In spite of reason he must have a place,<br>And numbered be, among the horned race;<br>A cuckold to himself he freely owns,<br>Though otherwise perhaps in flesh and bones.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">GOOD folks, of cuckoldom, pray what's the harm,<br>To give, from time to time, such dire alarm?<br>What injury 's received, and what 's the wrong,<br>At which so many sneer and loll their tongue?<br>While unacquainted with the fact, 'tis naught;<br>If known:--e'en then 'tis scarcely worth a thought.<br>You think, however, 'tis a serious grief;<br>Then try to doubt it, which may bring relief,<br>And don't resemble him who took a sup,<br>From out the celebrated magic cup.<br>Be warned by others' ills; the tale I'll tell;<br>Perhaps your irksomeness it may dispel.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">BUT first, by reason let me prove, I pray,<br>That evil such as this, and which you say,<br>Oft weighs you down with soul-corroding care;<br>Is only in the mind:--mere spright of air:<br>Your hat upon your head for instance place,<br>Less gently rather than's your usual case;<br>Pray, don't it presently at ease remain?<br>And from it do you aught amiss retain?<br>Not e'en a spot; there's nothing half so clear;<br>The features, too, they as before appear?<br>No difference assuredly you see?<br>Then how can cuckoldom an evil be?<br>Such my conclusion, spite of fools or brutes,<br>With whose ideas reason never suits.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">YES, yes, but honour has, you know, a claim:<br>Who e'er denied it?--never 'twas my aim.<br>But what of honour?--nothing else is heard;<br>At Rome a different conduct is preferred;<br>The cuckold there, who takes the thing to heart,<br>Is thought a fool, and acts a blockhead's part;<br>While he, who laughs, is always well received<br>And honest fellow through the town believed.<br>Were this misfortune viewed with proper eyes,<br>Such ills from cuckoldom would ne'er arise.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THAT advantageous 'tis, we now will prove:<br>Folks laugh; your wife a pliant glove shall move;<br>But, if you've twenty favourites around,<br>A single syllable will ne'er resound.<br>Whene'er you speak, each word has double force;<br>At table, you've precedency of course,<br>And oft will get the very nicest parts;<br>Well pleased who serves you!--all the household smarts<br>No means neglect your favour to obtain;<br>You've full command; resistance would be vain.<br>Whence this conclusion must directly spring:<br>To be a cuckold is a useful thing.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">AT cards, should adverse fortune you pursue;<br>To take revenge is ever thought your due;<br>And your opponent often will revoke,<br>That you for better luck may have a cloak:<br>If you've a friend o'er head and ears in debt:<br>At once, to help him numbers you can get.<br>You fancy these your rind regales and cheers<br>She's better for it; more beautiful appears;<br>The Spartan king, in Helen found new charms,<br>When he'd recovered her from Paris' arms.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">YOUR wife the same; to make her, in your eye,<br>More beautiful 's the aim you may rely;<br>For, if unkind, she would a hag be thought,<br>Incapable soft love scenes to be taught.<br>These reasons make me to my thesis cling,--<br>To be a cuckold is a useful thing.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">IF much too long this introduction seem,<br>The obvious cause is clearly in the theme,<br>And should not certainly be hurried o'er,<br>But now for something from th' historick store.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">A CERTAIN man, no matter for his name,<br>His country, rank, nor residence nor fame,<br>Through fear of accidents had firmly sworn,<br>The marriage chain should ne'er by him be worn;<br>No tie but friendship, from the sex he'd crave:<br>If wrong or right, the question we will wave.<br>Be this as 't will, since Hymen could not find<br>Our wight to bear the wedded knot inclined,<br>The god of love, to manage for him tried,<br>And what he wished, from time to time supplied;<br>A lively fair he got, who charms displayed,<br>And made him father to a little maid;<br>Then died, and left the spark dissolved in tears:<br>Not such as flow for wives, (as oft appears)<br>When mourning 's nothing more than change of dress:<br>His anguish spoke the soul in great distress.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE daughter grew in years, improved in mien,<br>And soon the woman in her air was seen;<br>Time rolls apace, and once she's ridded of her bib,<br>Then alters daily, and her tongue gets glib,<br>Each year still taller, till she's found at length;<br>A perfect belle in look, in age, in strength.<br>His forward child, the father justly feared,<br>Would cheat the priest of fees so much revered;<br>The lawyer too, and god of marriage-joys;<br>Sad fault, that future prospects oft destroys:<br>To trust her virtue was not quite so sure;<br>He chose a convent, to be more secure,<br>Where this young charmer learned to pray and sew;<br>No wicked books, unfit for girls to know,<br>Corruption's page the senses to beguile<br>Dan Cupid never writes in convent style:</div><div style="margin:10px 0">OF nothing would she talk but holy-writ;<br>On which she could herself so well acquit,<br>That oft the gravest teachers were confused;<br>To praise her beauty, scarcely was excused;<br>No flatt'ry pleasure gave, and she'd reply:<br>Good sister stay!--consider, we must die;<br>Each feature perishes:--'tis naught but clay;<br>And soon will worms upon our bodies prey:<br>Superior needle-work our fair could do;<br>The spindle turn at ease:--embroider too;<br>Minerva's skill, or Clotho's, could impart;<br>In tapestry she'd gained Arachne's art;<br>And other talents, too, the daughter showed;<br>Her sense, wealth, beauty, soon were spread abroad:<br>But most her wealth a marked attention drew;<br>The belle had been immured with prudent view,<br>To keep her safely till a spouse was found,<br>Who with sufficient riches should abound.<br>From convents, heiresses are often led<br>Directly to the altar to be wed.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">SOME time the father had the girl declared<br>His lawful child, who all his fondness shared.<br>As soon as she was free from convent walls,<br>Her taste at once was changed from books to balls;<br>Around Calista (such was named our fair)<br>A host of lovers showed attentive care;<br>Cits, courtiers, officers, the beau, the sage,<br>Adventurers of ev'ry rank and age.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">FROM these Calista presently made choice,<br>Of one for whom her father gave his voice;<br>A handsome lad, and thought good humoured too<br>Few otherwise appear when first they woo.<br>Her fortune ample was; the dow'r the same;<br>The belle an only child; the like her flame.<br>But better still, our couple's chief delight,<br>Was mutual love and pleasure to excite.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">TWO years in paradise thus passed the pair,<br>When bliss was changed to Hell's worst cank'ring care;<br>A fit of jealousy the husband grieved,<br>And, strange to tell, he all at once believed,<br>A lover with success his wife addressed,<br>When, but for him, the suit had ne'er been pressed;<br>For though the spark, the charming fair to gain,<br>Would ev'ry wily method try, 'twas plain,<br>Yet had the husband never terrors shown,<br>The lover, in despair, had quickly flown.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">WHAT should a husband do whose wife is sought,<br>With anxious fondness by another? Naught.<br>'Tis this that leads me ever to advise,<br>To sleep at ease whichever side he lies.<br>In case she lends the spark a willing ear,<br>'Twill not be better if you interfere:<br>She'll seek more opportunities you'll find;<br>But if to pay attention she's inclined,<br>You'll raise the inclination in her brain,<br>And then the danger will begin again.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">WHERE'ER suspicion dwells you may be sure,<br>To cuckoldom 'twill prove a place secure.<br>But Damon (such the husband's name), 'tis clear,<br>Thought otherwise, as we shall make appear.<br>He merits pity, and should be excused,<br>Since he, by bad advice, was much abused;<br>When had he trusted to himself to guide,<br>He'd acted wisely,'--hear and you'll decide.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE Enchantress Neria flourished in those days;<br>E'en Circe, she excelled in Satan's ways;<br>The storms she made obedient to her will,<br>And regulated with superior skill;<br>In chains the destinies she kept around;<br>The gentle zephyrs were her sages found;<br>The winds, her lacqueys, flew with rapid course;<br>Alert, but obstinate, with pow'rful force.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">WITH all her art th' enchantress could not find,<br>A charm to guard her 'gainst the urchin blind;<br>Though she'd the pow'r to stop the star of day,<br>She burned to gain a being formed of clay.<br>If merely a salute her wish had been,<br>She might have had it, easily was seen;<br>But bliss unbounded clearly was her view,<br>And this with anxious ardour she'd pursue.<br>Though charms she had, still Damon would remain,<br>To her who had his heart a faithful swain:<br>In vain she sought the genial soft caress:<br>To Neria naught but friendship he'd express.<br>Like Damon, husbands nowhere now are found,<br>And I'm not certain, such were e'er on ground.<br>I rather fancy, hist'ry is not here,<br>What we would wish, since truth it don't revere,<br>I nothing in the hippogriff perceive,<br>Or lance enchanted, but we may believe;<br>Yet this I must confess has raised surprise,<br>Howe'er, to pass it will perhaps suffice;<br>I've many passed the same,--in ancient days;<br>Men different were from us: had other ways;<br>Unlike the present manners, we'll suppose;<br>Or history would other facts disclose.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE am'rous Neria to obtain her end,<br>Made use of philters, and would e'en descend;<br>To ev'ry wily look and secret art,<br>That could to him she loved her flame impart.<br>Our swain his marriage vow to this opposed;<br>At which th' enchantress much surprise disclosed.<br>You doubtless fancy, she exclaimed one day,<br>That your fidelity must worth display;<br>But I should like to know if equal care,<br>Calista takes to act upon the square.<br>Suppose your wife had got a smart gallant,<br>Would you refuse as much a fair to grant?<br>And if Calista, careless of your fame,<br>Should carry to extremes a guilty flame,<br>Would you but half way go? I truly thought,<br>By sturdy hymen thus you'd not be caught.<br>Domestick joys should be to cits confined;<br>For none but such were scenes like those designed.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">BUT as to you:--decline Love's choice pursuit!<br>No anxious wish to taste forbidden fruit?<br>Though such you banish from your thoughts I see,<br>A friend thereto I fain would have you be.<br>Come make the trial: you'll Calista find,<br>Quite new again when to her arms resigned.<br>But let me tell you, though your wife be chaste,<br>Erastus to your mansion oft is traced.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">AND do you think, cried Damon with an air,<br>Erastus visits as a lover there?<br>Too much he seems, my friend, to act a part,<br>That proves the villain both in head and heart.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">SAID Neria, mortified at this reply,<br>Though he's a friend on whom you may rely,<br>Calista beauty has; much worth the man,<br>With smart address to execute his plan;<br>And when we meet accomplishments so rare;<br>Few women but will tumble in the snare.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THIS conversation was by Damon felt,<br>A wife, brisk, young, and formed 'mid joys to melt;<br>A man well versed in Cupid's wily way;<br>No courtier bolder of the present day;<br>Well made and handsome, with attractive mind;<br>Wo what might happen was the husband blind?<br>Whoever trusts implicitly to friends,<br>Too oft will find, on shadows he depends.<br>Pray where's the devotee, who could withstand,<br>The tempting glimpse of charms that all command;<br>Which first invite by halves: then bolder grow,<br>Till fascination spreads, and bosoms glow?<br>Our Damon fancied this already done,<br>Or, at the best, might be too soon begun:<br>On these foundations gloomy views arose,<br>Chimeras dire, destructive of repose.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">TH' enchantress presently a hint received,<br>That those suspicions much the husband grieved;<br>And better to succeed and make him fret,<br>She told him of a thing, 'mong witches met,<br>'Twas metamorphose-water (such the name)<br>With this could Damon take Erastus' frame;<br>His gait, his look, his carriage, air and voice<br>Thus changed, he easily could mark her choice,<br>Each step observe:--enough, he asked no more,<br>Erastus' shape the husband quickly bore;<br>His easy manner, and appearance caught:<br>With captivating smiles his wife he sought.<br>And thus addressed the fair with ev'ry grace:--<br>How blithe that look! enchanting is your face;<br>Your beauty's always great, I needs must say,<br>But never more delightful than to-day.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">CALISTA saw the flatt'ring lover's scheme;<br>And turned to ridicule the wily theme.<br>His manner Damon changed, from gay to grave:<br>Now sighs, then tears; but nothing could enslave;<br>The lady, virtue firmly would maintain;<br>At length, the husband, seeing all was vain,<br>Proposed a bribe, and offered such a sum,<br>Her anger dropt: the belle was overcome.<br>The price was very large, it might excuse,<br>Though she at first was prompted to refuse;<br>At last, howe'er her chastity gave way:<br>To gold's allurements few will offer nay!<br>The cash, resistance had so fully laid,<br>Surrender would at any time be made.<br>The precious ore has universal charms,<br>Enchains the will, or sets the world in arms!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THOUGH elegant your form, and smart your dress,<br>Your air, your language, ev'ry warmth express<br>Yet, if a banker, or a financier,<br>With handsome presents happen to appear,<br>At once is blessed the wealthy paramour,<br>While you a year may languish at the door.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THIS heart, inflexible, it seems, gave ground,<br>To money's pow'rful, all-subduing sound;<br>The rock now disappeared--and, in its stead,<br>A lamb was found, quite easy to be led,<br>Who, as a proof, resistance she would wave,<br>A kiss, by way of earnest freely gave.<br>No further would the husband push the dame,<br>Nor be himself a witness of his shame,<br>But straight resumed his form, and to his wife,<br>Cried, O Calista! once my soul and life<br>Calista, whom I fondly cherished long;<br>Calista, whose affection was so strong;<br>Is gold more dear than hearts in union twined?<br>To wash thy guilt, thy blood should be assigned.<br>But still I love thee, spite of evil thought;<br>My death will pay the ills thou'st on me brought.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE metamorphosis our dame surprised;<br>To give relief her tears but just sufficed;<br>She scarcely spoke; the husband, days remained,<br>Reflecting on the circumstance that pained.<br>Himself a cuckold could he ever make,<br>By mere design a liberty to take?<br>But, horned or not? the question seemed to be,<br>When Neria told him, if from doubts not free,<br>Drink from the cup:--with so much art 'tis made,<br>That, whose'er of cuckoldom 's afraid,<br>Let him but put it to his eager lips<br>If he's a cuckold, out the liquor slips;<br>He naught can swallow; and the whole is thrown<br>About his face or clothes, as oft 's been shown.<br>But should, from out his brow, no horns yet pop--<br>He drinks the whole, nor spills a single drop.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE doubt to solve, our husband took a sup,<br>From this famed, formidably, magic cup;<br>Nor did he any of the liquor waste:--<br>Well, I am safe, said he, my wife is chaste,<br>Though on myself it wholly could depend;<br>But from it what have I to apprehend?<br>Make room, good folks, who leafless branches wear;<br>If you desire those honours I should share.<br>Thus Damon spoke, and to his precious wife<br>A curious sermon preached, it seems, on life.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">IF cuckoldom, my friends, such torments give;<br>'Tis better far 'mong savages to live!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">LEST worse should happen, Damon settled spies,<br>Who, o'er his lady watched with Argus' eyes.<br>She turned coquette; restraints the FAIR awake,<br>And only prompt more liberties to take.<br>The silly husband secrets tried to know,<br>And rather seemed to seek the wily foe,<br>Which fear has often rendered fatal round,<br>When otherwise the ill had ne'er been found.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">FOUR times an hour his lips to sip he placed;<br>And clearly, for a week was not disgraced.<br>Howe'er, no further went his ease of mind;<br>Oh, fatal science! fatally designed!<br>With fury Damon threw the cup away,<br>And, in his rage, himself inclined to slay.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">HIS wife he straight shut up within a tower,<br>Where, morn and night, he showed a husband's pow'r,<br>Reproach bestowed: while she bewailed her lot,<br>'Twere better far, if he'd concealed the blot;<br>For now, from mouth to mouth, and ear to ear,<br>It echoed, and re-echoed far and near.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">MEANWHILE Calista led a wretched life;<br>No gold nor jewels Damon left his wife,<br>Which made the jailer faithful, since 'twere vain<br>To hope, unbribed, this Cerberus to gain.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">AT length, the wife a lucky moment sought,<br>When Damon seemed by soft caresses caught.<br>Said she, I've guilty been, I freely own;<br>But though my crime is great, I'm not alone;<br>Alas! how few escape from like mishap;<br>'Mong Hymen's band so common is the trap;<br>And though at you the immaculate may smile,<br>What use to fret and all the sex revile?</div><div style="margin:10px 0">WELL I'll console myself, and pardon you,<br>Cried Damon, when sufficient I can view,<br>Of ornamented foreheads, just like mine,<br>To form among themselves a royal line;<br>'Tis only to employ the magic cup,<br>From which I learned your secrets by a sup.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">HIS plan to execute, the husband went,<br>And ev'ry passenger was thither sent,<br>Where Damon entertained, with sumptuous fare;<br>And, at the end, proposed the magic snare:<br>Said he, my wife played truant to my bed;<br>Wish you to know if your's be e'er misled?<br>'Tis right how things go on at home to trace,<br>And if upon the cup your lips you place,<br>In case your wife be chaste, there'll naught go wrong;<br>But, if to Vulcan's troop you should belong,<br>And prove an antlered brother, you will spill<br>The liquor ev'ry way, in spite of skill.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">TO all the men, that Damon could collect,<br>The cup he offered, and they tried th' effect;<br>But few escaped, at which they laughed or cried,<br>As feelings led, or cuckoldom they spied,<br>Whose surly countenance the wags believed,<br>In many houses near, might be perceived.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">ALREADY Damon had sufficient found,<br>To form a regiment and march around;<br>At times they threatened governors to hang,<br>Unless they would surrender to their gang;<br>But few they wanted to complete the force,<br>And soon a royal army made of course.<br>From day to day their numbers would augment,<br>Without the beat of drum, to great extent;<br>Their rank was always fixed by length of horn:<br>Foot soldiers those, whose branches short were borne;<br>Dragoons, lieutenants, captains, some became,<br>And even colonels, those of greater fame.<br>The portion spilled by each from out the vase<br>Was taken for the length, and fixed the place.<br>A wight, who in an instant spilled the whole,<br>Was made a gen'ral: not commander sole,<br>For many followed of the same degree,<br>And 'twas determined they should equals be.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE rank and file now nearly found complete,<br>And full enough an enemy to beat,<br>Young Reynold, nephew of famed Charlemain,<br>By chance came by: the spark they tried to gain,<br>And, after treating him with sumptuous cheer,<br>At length the magic cup mas made appear;<br>But no way Reynold could be led to drink:<br>My wife, cried he, I truly faithful think,<br>And that's enough; the cup can nothing more;<br>Should I, who sleep with two eyes, sleep with four?<br>I feel at ease, thank heav'n, and have no dread,<br>Then why to seek new cares should I be led?<br>Perhaps, if I the cup should hold awry,<br>The liquor out might on a sudden fly;<br>I'm sometimes awkward, and in case the cup<br>Should fancy me another, who would sup,<br>The error, doubtless, might unpleasant be:<br>To any thing but this I will agree,<br>To give you pleasure, Damon, so adieu;<br>Then Reynold from the antlered corps withdrew.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">SAID Damon, gentlemen, 'tis pretty clear,<br>So wise as Reynold, none of us appear;<br>But let's console ourselves;--'tis very plain,<br>The same are others:--to repine were vain.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">AT length, such numbers on their rolls they bore;<br>Calista liberty obtained once more,<br>As promised formerly, and then her charms<br>Again were taken to her spouse's arms.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">LET Reynold's conduct, husbands, be your line;<br>Who Damon's follows surely will repine.<br>Perhaps the first should have been made the chief;<br>Though, doubtless, that is matter of belief.<br>No mortal can from danger feel secure;<br>To be exempt from spilling, who is sure?<br>Nor Roland, Reynold, nor famed Charlemain,<br>But what had acted wrong to risk the stain.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=La+Fontaine">La Fontaine</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=431376" data-title="The Magic Cup de La Fontaine" data-description="THE worst of ills, with jealousy compared,
Are trifling torments ev'ry where declared.

IMAGINE, to yourself a silly fool,
To dark suspicion grown an easy tool;
No soft repose he finds, by night or day;
But rings his ear, he's wretched ev'ry way!
..."></div>
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