Cæsar and Hercules applaud thy fame,
And Alexander owns thy greater name,
Tho’ one himself, one foes, and one the world o’ercame:
Great conquests all! but bounteous Heav’n in thee,
To make a greater, join’d the former three.
The comedies of William Congreve, brilliantly witty though they are, offer no suitable passages to quote.
Likewise the works of Daniel Defoe, who, beside the story of Robinson Crusoe, wrote satirical humor.
FROM ROBINSON CRUSOE
Friday’s Conflict with the Bear
But never was a fight managed so hardily, and in such a surprising manner, as that between Friday and the bear, which gave us all—though at first we were surprised and afraid for him—the greatest diversion imaginable.
My man Friday had delivered our guide, and when we came up to him he was helping him off from his horse, for the man was both hurt and frightened, and indeed the last more than the first, when on a sudden we espied the bear come out of the wood, and a vast, monstrous one it was, the biggest by far that ever I saw. We were all a little surprised when we saw him; but when Friday saw him, it was easy to see joy and courage in the fellow’s countenance. “Oh, oh, oh!” says Friday three times, pointing to him; “oh, master! you give me te leave, me shakee te hand with him; me makee you good laugh.”