Nor did men seem to value it before.
How great a change hath now come o’er the times!
For many men now lend a willing ear
To what they counted folly in the past,
Greedy for wisdom, Felix can reveal.
And when my dear good husband has to talk
(Felix Balde comes out of the house.)
Hour upon hour on end, as oft he doth,
I long for those old days of which I spake.
How oft would Felix earnestly declare