Aye, thou’rt away:—and my unguarded heart—
Whither, ah, whither has the truant gone?
In vain I search;—didst thou, fair maiden, take it?
Then, cast it not away, for rudeness sure would break it!
RUMINATIONS OF A BOVINE GENTLEMAN.
AUTHOR’S CHARACTER.
“——Secum meditari ingenium est boûm.”
Virgil.
“Cows, of all animals, have the greatest propensity for rumination. For the most part, they are gentle, quiet, affectionate, unpretending, useful animals; all they require is kindness, and kindness they will return. Yet they have their antipathies and their whims, (red shawls are their abomination,) but, on the whole, they are inoffensive ruminators—not obtrusive, (except when they take a fancy to gore.) Their caresses are rough as their tongues; yet their roughest licks are meant in kindness. They never bite—their teeth are ground down. They are neither snappish nor carnivorous. They are remarkably fond of salt, and are quick to detect its presence. Although timid and yielding in general, they will fight any one, or any thing, in defense of their young.”
Baron Munchausen.