Polite Conversation in Three Dialogues

by Jonathan Swift

Ld. Sparkish. Come, it will do you more good than a Month’s Fasting; here, take it.

Miss. No, I thank your Lordship; enough’s as good as a Feast.

Ld. Sparkish. Well; but if you always say No, you’ll never be married.

Lady Answ. Do, my Lord, give her a Dish; for, they say, Maids will say No, and take it.

Ld. Sparkish. Well; and I dare say, Miss is a Maid in Thought, Word, and Deed.

Neverout. I would not take my Oath of that.

Miss. Pray, Sir, speak for yourself.

Lady Smart. Fie, Miss; they say, Maids should be seen, and not heard.

Lady Answ. Good Miss, stir the Fire, that the Tea-Kettle may boil.—You have done it very well; now it burns purely. Well, Miss, you’ll have a chearful Husband.