“'Gintlemen,' says he to the rest, 'we'll be disgraced all out,' says he, 'for except the Prowost sacks that Munsther spalpeen, he'll bate us all, an' we'll never be able to hould up our heads afther.'
“Accordingly, the Prowost attacks Tim; and such a meetin' as they had, never was seen in Thrinity College since its establishment. At last when they had been nine hours and a half at it, the Prowost put one word to him that Tim couldn't expound, so he lost it by one word only. For the last two hours the Prowost carried on the examinashun in Hebrew, thinking, you see, he had Tim there; but he was mistaken, for Tim answered him in good Munsther Irish, and it so happened that they understood each other, for the two languages are first cousins, or, at all evints, close blood relations. Tim was then pronounced to be the best scholar in Ireland except the Prowost; though among ourselves, they might have thought of the man that taught him. That, however, wasn't all. A young lady fell in love wid Tim, and is to make him a present of herself and her great fortune (three estates) the moment he becomes a counsellor; and in the meantime she allows him thirty pounds a year to bear his expenses, and live like a gintleman.
“Now to return to the youth in the corner: Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit, Jemmy keep your money, or give it to the priest to keep, and it will be safest; but by no means let the Hyblean honey of the schoolmaster's blarney deprive you of it, otherwise it will be a vale, vale, longum vale between you. Crede experto!”
“Masther,” said the farmer, “many a sthrange accident you met wid on yer thravels through Munsther?”
“No doubt of that, Mr. Lanigan. I and another boy thravelled it in society together. One day we were walking towards a gintleman's house on the road side, and it happened that we met the owner of it in the vicinity, although we didn't know him to be such.
“'Salvete Domini!' said he, in good fresh Latin.
“'Tu sis salvus, quoque!' said I to him, for my comrade wasn't cute, an' I was always orathor.
“'Unde veniti?' said he, comin' over us wid another deep piece of larnin' the construction of which was, 'where do yez come from?'
“I replied, 'Per varios casus et tot discrimina rerum, venimus a Mayo.'
“'Good!' said he, 'you're bright; follow me.'