2 The choicest viands and the most delicious wines were on the boards; and maids, in gay attire, served all with grace and cheerfulness.
3 And men and women, richly clad, were there; and they were wild with joy; they sipped from every cup of mirth.
4 And Jesus watched the happy throng in silence for a time, and then a man in garb of sage came up and said, Most happy is the man who, like the bee, can gather sweets from every flower.
5 The wise man is the one who seeks for pleasure, and can find it everywhere,
6 At best man’s span of life on earth is short, and then he dies and goes, he knows not where.
7 Then let us eat, and drink, and dance, and sing, and get the joys of life, for death comes on apace.
8 It is but foolishness to spend a life for other men. Behold, all die and lie together in the grave, where none can know and none can show forth gratitude.
9 But Jesus answered not; upon the tinseled guests in all their rounds of mirth he gazed in silent thought.
10 And then among the guests he saw a man whose clothes were coarse; who showed in face and hands the lines of toil and want.
11 The giddy throng found pleasure in abusing him; they jostled him against the wall, and laughed at his discomfiture.