ne things in the
world are due to Want.'

"'And I?' said Dame Hunger. 'Dost thou also love me?'

"'_Si_, _Dio ti benedicha_!' replied the Signore. '_La fame ghastiga il
ghiotto_'--'Hunger corrects gluttony.

"'Hunger causes our delight,
For it gives us appetite;
For dainties without hunger sent
Form a double punishment.'

'Hunger is the best sauce.' Thou makest men bold, for _chane affamato
non prezza bastone_--a hungry dog fears no stick. Thou makest the
happiness of every feast.'

"'_Ed io_, _Signore_?' said Thirst. 'Hast thou also a good word for me?'

"'_A Dio_, _grazie_! God be praised that thou art. For without thee I
should have no wine. Nor do men speak in pity of any one when they say
in a wine-shop, "He is thirsty enough to drink up the Arno." I remember
a Venetian who once said, coming to a feast, "I would not take five gold
_zecchini_ for this thirst which I now have." And to sum it all up, I
find that poverty with want to urge it is better than wealth without
power to enjoy, and, taking one with another, the poor are honester and
have better hearts than the rich.'

"'Truly thou art great,' replied Poverty. '_Gentile_, _buono_, _e
galantuomo a parlare_--gentle, good, and noble in thy speech. In such
wise thou wilt ever be rich, for as thou art rich thou art good and
charitable. And thou hast well said that Plenty comes from us, and it is
we who truly own the horn of plenty; and therefore take from me this horn
as a gift, and while thou livest be as rich as thou art good and wise!'

"'And I,' said Hunger, 'give thee another, and while it is thine thou
shalt never want either a good appetite nor the means to gratify it. For
thou hast seen the truth that I was not created to starve men to death,
but to keep them from starving.'

"'And I,' said Thirst, 'give thee a third horn of plenty; that is, plenty
of wine and temperate desire--_e buon pro vi faccia_. Much good may it
do you!'

"Saying this they vanished, and he would have thought it all a dream but
for the three horns which they left behind them. So he had a long life
and a happy, and in gratitude to his benefactresses he placed on his
shield three horns, as men may see them to this day."

* * * * *

When I received this legend, I did not know that the three horns on a
shield form the coat of arms of Messer Guicciardini, the historian, nor
had I ever seen them. It happened by p