And I mocked him with my ha-has, saying:
“My Son, I adjure thee, wed any woman thou canst! For the buds of the Nation are not collecting antiques. Yet, peradventure, one of these shall accept thee as a good thing; or another shall take thee as a last resort, when she hath passed her fifth season. Go to! Thou hast eaten the bread of life without honey thereon, and thou shalt hereafter be satisfied with the crumbs.”
Verily, verily, life without love is as a pipe without a light; but a man without a wife is as a helpless barge without a tow-boat.
CHAPTER FOUR
My Daughter, hear now the Thanksgiving Day prayer of a bachelor:
Oh, Lord, I thank Thee that Thou hast vouchsafed me another year of freedom. That I am still safe!
That Thou hast made me what I am—wise, unconquerable, immune!
That, although I have many times lost my heart, I have never yet lost my head.
That I did not marry my first love.