of Homer,
of the inhabitants {155} of heaven? But inform me, I beseech you,
which way you got up, and how you procured so many ladders; for, by
your appearance, I should not take you for another Phrygian boy,
{156} to be carried up by an eagle, and made a cup-bearer of.

MENIPPUS.

You are an old scoffer, I know, and therefore I am not surprised
that an account of things above the comprehensions of the vulgar
should appear like a fable to you; but, let me tell you, I wanted no
ladders, nor an eagle's beak, to transport me thither, for I had
wings of my own.

FRIEND.

This was beyond Daedalus himself, to be metamorphosed thus into a
hawk, or jay, and we know nothing of it.

MENIPPUS.

You are not far from the mark, my friend; for my wings were a kind
of Daedalian contrivance.

FRIEND.

Thou art a bold rogue indeed, and meant no doubt, if you had chanced
to fall into any part of the ocean, to have called it, as Icarus
{157a} did, by your own name, and styled it the Menippean Sea.

MENIPPUS.

Not so; his wings were glued on with wax, and when the sun melted
it, could not escape falling; but mine had no wax in them.

FRIEND.

Indeed! now shall I quickly know the truth of this affair.

MENIPPUS.

You shall: I took, you must know, a very large eagle {157b} and a
vulture also, one of the strongest I could get, and cut off their
wings; but, if you have leisure, I will tell you the whole
expedition from beginning to end.

FRIEND.

Pray do, for I long to hear it: by Jove the Friendly, I entreat
thee, keep me no longer in suspense, for I am hung by the ears.

MENIPPUS.

Listen, then, for I would by no means baulk an inquisitive friend,
especially one who is nailed by the ears, as you are. Finding, on a
close examination, that everything here below, such as riches,
honours, empire, and dominion, were all ridiculous and absurd, of no
real value or estimation, considering them, withal, as so many
obstacles to the study of things more worthy of contemplation, I
looked up towards nobler objects, and meditated on the great
universe before me; doubts immediately arose concerning what
philosophers call the world; nor could I discover how it came into
existence, its creator, the beginning or the end of it. When I
descended to its several parts, I was still more in the dark: I
beheld the stars, scattered as it were by the hand of chance, over
the heavens; I saw the sun, and wished to know what it was; above