Thus far all went on tolerably; but loudly, with a dreadful voice, she cried the following words:—
"How am I crushed!"
The good surgeon was startled, and emptied the lather-basin into my father's bosom. There was a great uproar, and a severe investigation Wis held, especially with respect to the mischief which might have been done if the shaving had been actually going forward. In order to relieve ourselves of all suspicious of wantonness in the affair, we confessed our Satanic characters, and the misfortune occasioned by the hexameters was so apparent, that they were again condemned and banished.
Thin children and common people are accustomed to transform the great and sublime into a sport, and even a jest; and how indeed could they otherwise abide and tolerate it?
[1] A pun upon the name of Ochsenstein.—Trans.
[2] The Messiah is written in hexameter verse.—Trans.