[Takes the bottle and places it on the ground in the center of the stage.]
I drink from it, dry as it is,
As you from maxims, [To Second Chinese.]
Or you from melons. [To First Chinese.]
First Chinese. Not as I, from melons.
Be sure of that.
Second Chinese. Well, it is true of maxims.
[He finds a book in the pocket of his costume, and reads from it.]
"The court had known poverty and wretchedness; humanity had invaded its seclusion, with its suffering and its pity."
[The limb of the tree creaks.]
Yes: it is true of maxims,
Just as it is true of poets,
Or wise men, or nobles,
Or jade.
First Chinese. Drink from wise men? From jade?
Is there no spring?
[Turning to the negro, who has taken a jug from one of the baskets.]