And parted, perfectly contented.
What next the hero of our tale befell,
How long he liv’d, how wise, how well,
How roundly he pursu’d his course,—
And smok’d his pipe, and strok’d his horse,—
The willing muse shall tell:
He chaffer’d on, he bought, he sold,
Nor once perceiv’d his growing old,
Nor thought of death as near:
His friends not false, his wife no shrew,