Ludovicus Vives (in Aug. de Civit, Dei, lib. XV.) writeth of a town in Spain, consisting of about an hundred houses, all of them inhabited by the seed of one old man, then living; so that the youngest of them knew not what to call him: Quia lingua Hispana supra abavum non ascendit, because the Spanish tongue goeth no higher than the great-grandfather’s father. And Bas. Johan. Heroldus hath a pretty epigram of an aged matron that lived to see her children’s children to the sixth degree:—
1Mater ait 2natæ die quod 3sua filia 4natam
Admoneat 5natæ plangere 6filiolam.
The 1Mother said, Go tell my 2Child
That 3her Girl should her 4Daughter tell
She must now mourn (that lately smiled),
Her 5Daughter’s little 6Babe’s not well.
MEANS OF RECOGNITION.
When the English suite of Lord Macartney was invited to a grand entertainment in China, one of them, understanding that it was not expedient to venture upon every dish which appeared under the guise of the native cookery, was desirous of ascertaining how far he might venture with safety, and as the Chinese waiters could understand a little English, he pointed to a dish before him, and said to the attendant in an interrogative tone, “Quack-quack?” meaning to inquire if it was a duck. The attendant perfectly understood him, and immediately replied, with great solemnity and sincerity, “Bow-wow!”