The Dance of the Usurer and the Devil.
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LAST Christmas ’twas my chance,
To be in Paris City;
Where I did see a Dance,
In my conceit was very pretty—By men of France.
First came the Lord of Pool,
And he begun his Measure;
The next came in a Fool,
And danc’d with him for pleasure—With his Tool.
The next a Knight came in,
Who look’d as he would swagger;
And after follow’d him
A merry needy Beggar—Dancing in.
The next a Gentleman,
On him a Servant tending,
And there the Dance began,
With nimble Bodies bending—Like two Friends.
Then in a Lawyer came,
With him a Knave came leaping;
And as they Danc’d in Frame,
So Hand in Hand went skipping—To the Term.
The next a Citizen,
And he a Cuckold leading;
So round about the Room,
Their Masque they fell a Treading—And fain they would.
The next an Usurer,
Old fat Guts he came grunting;
The Devil left all care,
For joy he fell a Jumping—To see him there.
And ending then their Masque,
The Fool his Lord he carries
Upon his Back in hast,
No longer there he tarries—But left the place.
The Beggar took the Knight,
Who took it in Derision;
The Searjeant took in Spite,
The Gentleman to Prison—For all his might.
The Cuckold, silly Man,
Altho’ he was abhorred:
He took the Citizen,
And led him by the Forehead—And out he ran.
The Devil lik’d it well,
His lot it was to carry;
The Usurer to Hell,
And there with him to tarry.
