isest. You play the Part of a Poet. I am loath to give you
the Lye.

_Er._ I am the greatest Lyar in the World, if _Pliny_, an Author of
undoubted Credit, has not written, that a Bear in fourteen Days Time
will grow wonderfully fat with nothing but Sleep: And that he will sleep
so sound, that you can scarce wake him, by wounding him: Nay, to make
you admire the more, I will add what _Theophrastus_ writes, that during
that Time, if the Flesh of the Bear be boil'd, and kept some Time, it
will come to Life again.

_Ch._ I am afraid that _Parmeno_ in _Terence_ will hardly be able to
comprehend these Things. I believe it readily. I would help you to some
Venison, if I were well enough accomplished.

_Er._ Where have you any Hunting now? How came you by Venison?

_Ch._ _Midas_, the most generous spirited Man living, and a very good
Friend of mine, sent it me for a Present; but so, that I oftentimes buy
it for less.

_Er._ How so?

_Ch._ Because I am obliged to give more to his Servants, than I could
buy it for in the Market.

_Er._ Who obliges you to that?

_Ch._ The most violent Tyrant in the World.

_Er._ Who is he?

_Ch._ Custom.

_Er._ Indeed, that Tyrant does frequently impose the most unjust Laws
upon Mankind.

_Ch._ The same Tyrant hunted this Stag, but the Day before Yesterday.
What did you do, who used to be a very great Lover of that Sport?

_Au._ Indeed I have left off that Sport, and now I hunt after nothing
but Learning.

_Ch._ In my Opinion, Learning is fleeter than any Stag.

_Au._ But I hunt chiefly with two Dogs, that is to say, with Love and
Industry: For Love affords a great Deal of Eagerness to learn, and as
the most elegant Poet says,

----_Labor improbus omnia vincit._

_Ch. Austin_, you admonish after a friendly Manner, as you use to do;
and therefore, I won't give over, nor rest, nor tire, till I attain.

_Au._ Venison is now in the Prime. _Pliny_ tells us a very admirable
Story concerning this Animal.

_Ch._ What is it, I pray you?

_Au._ That as often as they prick up their Ears, they are very quick of
Hearing; but on the contrary, when they let them down, they are deaf.

_Ch._ That very often happens to myself; for if I happen to hear a Word
spoken of receiving Guineas, there is no Body quicker of Hearing than I;
for then with _Pamphilus_ in _Terence_, I prick up my Ears; but when
there is any Mention made of paying them away, I let them down, and am
presently hard