A thousand ducats for a loaf of bread!

Ten thousand ducats for a glass of water!

A pile of ingots for a helping hand!

Was that a laugh? Aye, 'twas a fiend that laughed

To see a miser in the grip of death.

Offended Heaven, have mercy! I will give

In alms all this vile rubbish; aid me thou

In this most dreadful strait! I'll build a church—

A hospital! Vain, vain! Too late, too late!

Heaven knows the miser's heart too well to trust him!