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1This vast
leviathan1
, whose breathing blows2Huge floods and
shoals2
of fishes through his nose;3He
whose fair consort in salt pickle lies3
4To feast the Jews (or else their
Talmud4
lies);5Even
he who treated Jonah in his belly5
6With wholesome
chilus6
and provoking jelly7
,7With
poignant8
sauce and unctuous9
caviar,8A diet as restorative as rare—
9Even he, the
chief of all the sons of pride10
,10Cannot pursue his prey without a guide.
11
The little musculus doth swim before11
,12Lest
he12
in shelves or sands his bulk should moor.13
And of the whale’s abundance she but lives13
;14Th’imperious
monster14
scraps and mammocks15
gives.15So may you see Nile’s
caiman16
gaping lie16Whilst in and out his mouth
the wren17
doth fly17To wake him when the
ichneumon18
, her19
foe,18Into her loathéd
entrails20
strives to go;19For which the putrid flesh
she21
picks away20Between her teeth, this being all her pay.
21So greatest monarchs poorest vassals need;
22So hungry peasants pampered nobles feed.
23Then let those that are placed the rest above
24Answer their labor with their care and love,
25
And pity those which labor at the plough22
;26’Tis God that made the difference and not thou.