"This I cannot tell Your Highness."
"Ho! and why?"
"Never a word could I ever get from those people. There I saw many philosophers, travellers, and students, with whom I would gladly have spent half an hour in learned converse. They all seemed to be full of business, running about hither and yon, and yet had little to do."
"And what do those busy, silent people live on?"
"I don't know how they contrive to live, Your Highness, for once I tried a bunch of their fine ripe cherries. They had no manner of taste, and, although I was hungry enough that day, I could neither chew nor swallow them, but my mouth seemed filled with what I could have sworn was tufted silk."
THE LAND OF SATIN.
"Strange!" said Pantagruel. "I wish I had looked closer at those pictures. The next time you want to speak to me, good Xenomanes, shout! I may hear you then."