Once, if I dared to weep, the bottle lacking,

My blubbering involved a serious smacking!

"We grew up in the usual way—my friend,

My foster-brother, daily growing thinner,

While gradually I began to mend,

And thrived amazingly on double dinner.

And every one, besides my foster-mother,

Believed that either of us was the other.

"I came into his wealth—I bore his name,

I bear it still—his property I squandered—