—That reminds me of an anecdote.... Let us grant I have said nothing.
I
In the beginning was Tityrus.
And Tityrus being alone and completely surrounded by swamps was bored.—Then Menalcas passed by, who put an idea into the head of Tityrus, a seed in the swamp before him. And this idea was the seed and this seed was the Idea. And with the help of God the seed germinated and became a little plant, and Tityrus in the evening and in the morning knelt before it, thanking God for having given it to him. And the plant became tall and great, and as it had powerful roots it very soon completely dried up the soil around it, and thus Tityrus had at last firm earth on which to set his feet, rest his head, and strengthen the works of his hands.
When this plant had grown to the height of Tityrus, Tityrus tasted the joy of sleeping stretched under its shadow. Now, this tree, being an oak-tree, grew enormously; so much so that soon Tityrus’ hands were no longer sufficient to till and hoe the earth around the oak—to water the oak, to prune, to trim, to decorticate, to destroy the caterpillars, and to ensure in due season the picking of its many and diverse fruits. He engaged, therefore, a tiller and a hoer, and a trimmer and a decorticator, and a man to destroy the caterpillars, and a man to water the oak, and two or three fruit boys. And as each had to keep strictly to his own speciality, there was a chance of each person’s work being well done.
In order to arrange for the paying of the wages, Tityrus had to have an accountant, who soon shared with a cashier the worries of Tityrus’ fortune; this grew like the oak.
Certain arguments arising between the trimmer, and the pruner, and the depilator—as to where each man’s work began and finished, Tityrus saw the necessity of an arbitrator, who called for two lawyers to expose both sides of the question.
Tityrus took a secretary to record their judgments, and as they were only recorded for future reference, there had to be a keeper of the rolls.
On the soil meanwhile houses appeared one by one, and it was necessary to have police for the streets, to guard against excesses. Tityrus, overcome by work, began to feel ill. He sent for a doctor who told him to take a wife—and finding the work too much for him, Tityrus was forced to choose a sheriff, and he himself was therefore appointed mayor. From this time he had only very few hours of leisure, when he could fish with a line from the windows of his house, which still continued to open on the swamp.
Then Tityrus instituted bank holidays so that his people might enjoy themselves; but as this was expensive and no one was very rich, Tityrus, in order to be able to lend them all money, first began by raising it from each of them separately.