And if tomfoolery’s the thing for winning,
Play the tomfool, and set the folks a-grinning.
Keep him supplied with news, and ferret out
Fresh scandal, gossip, all that folks will tell you;
And, so to speak, what the whole town’s about,
Down from His Highness even to Stenterello....[[10]]
· · · · ·
Say there arise a scandal, a dispute,
A hurly-burly in your patron’s house,—
“Know-nought knew much, who knew when to be mute,”