"Graybeards and wisdom were married one day;--
'Tis a very long time since then--
But they parted by chance upon the highway
And ne'er came together again.
"Leave wine, and leave women, graybeard, and leave oaths,
Leave dicing, and jesting, and scoffing;
And thou'lt find thine old wife, dressed in her best clothes,
At thy long journey's end--in the coffin."
"There Seckendorf," cried the Count of Ehrenstein, "you have enough, methinks. For my part; I will not tempt our friend."
"Then you shall have counsel without asking," answered the jester, and he went on in his usual rude verse as follows:--