“Scarlet cloak? His scarlet cloak too
“I remember; genuine scarlet,
“And the price per ell eight florins,—
“Not all paid for to this moment.
“His old father, Moses Jitscher,
“Know I well; he’s circumciser
“To the Portuguese, I fancy,
“And to various sovereigns also.
“And his mother is a cousin
“Of my sister’s husband, trading
“On the Gracht in pickled gherkins,
“And in worn-out pairs of breeches.
“In their son they take no pleasure;
“On the lyre he plays not badly,
“But, I grieve to say, far better
“Plays he at taroc and ombre.
“He is likewise a free-thinker,
“Lost his place through eating swine’s flesh,
“And then travell’d round the country
“With some painted low comedians.
“In the shops and on the markets
“Has he acted as Jack-pudding,
“Holofernes, or King David,
“But the latter most excell’d in.
“For the king’s own sorrows sang he
“In the king’s own mother language,
“Giving all the proper quavers
“In the proper olden fashion.
“Recently some wenches took he
“From the Amsterdam casino,
“And he’s travelling with these Muses
“Round the country as Apollo.
“One amongst them is a stout one,
“Squeaking very much and grunting:
“On account of her green laurel
“Head-dress, they ‘the green sow’ call her.”