15
Now pray observe the second part,
And you shall hear his sottish heart:
He did in taverns so frequent
Till he three hundred pounds had spent.
16
This being done, we understand
He pawnd the deeds of all his land
Unto a tavern-keeper, who
When poor did him no favour shew.
17
For to fulfil his father’s will
He did command this cottage still;
At length great sorrow was his share,
Quite moneyless, with garments bare.
18
Being not able for to work,
He in the tavern there did lurk,
From box to box, among rich men,
Who often times revil’d him then.
19
To see him sneak so up and down,
The vintner on him he did frown,
And one night kickd him out of door,
Charging him to come there no more.
20
He in a stall did lie all night,
In this most sad and w[r]etched plight;
Then thought it was high time for he
His father’s legacy to see.
21
Next morning, then, opprest with woe,
This young man got an iron crow,
And, as in tears he did lament,
Unto this little cottage went.
22
When he this door had open got,
This poor distressëd drunken sot,
Who did for store of money hope,
He saw a gibbet and a rope.

23
Under this rope was plac’d a stool,
Which made him look much like a fool,
Crying, Alas, what shall I do!
Destruction now appears in view.
24
‘As my father foresaw this thing,
What sottishness to me would bring,
As moneyless and free of grace,
This legacy I will embrace.’
25
So then, opprest with discontent,
Upon the stool he sighing went,
And then, his precious life to check,
Did place this rope about his neck.
26
Crying, Thou God, who sittst on high,
Who on my sorrows hast an eye,
But thou knowst I have not done well,
Preserve my precious soul from hell.
27
‘’Tis true the slighting of thy grace
Brought me to this most wretched case,
And as thro folly I’m undone,
I’ll now eclipse my morning sun.’
28
When he with sigh had these words spoke,
Jumpt off, and down the gibbet broke;
In falling, as it plain appears,
Droppd down about this young man’s ears,
29
In shining gold, a thousand pound,
Which made the blood his ears surround:
Tho in amaze, he cry’d, I’m sure
This golden salve will heal the sore.
30
‘Blest be my father,’ then he cry’d,
‘Who did this portion for me hide,
And while I do alive remain
I never will be drunk again.’

Part III

31
Now by [the] third part you will hear
This young man, as it does appear,
With care he then secur’d his chink,
And to this vintner went to drink.
32
When the proud vintner did him see,
He frownd on him immediately,
And said, Begone, or else with speed
I’ll kick thee out of doors indeed.
33
With smiles the young man he did say,
Thou cruel knave, tell me, I pray,
As I have here consum’d my store,
What makes thee kick me out of door?
34
To me thou hast been too severe;
The deeds of eight-score pounds a year
I pawnd them for three hundred pound;
Which I spent here; what makes thee frown?
35
The vintner said unto him, Sirrah,
Bring me one hundred pounds tomorrow
By nine o’clock, take them again:
So get you out of doors till then.
36
He answerd, If this chink I bring,
I fear thou wilt do no such thing;
He said, I’ll give under mine hand
A note that I to this will stand.
37
Having the note, away he goes,
And straightway went to one of those
Who made him drink when moneyless,
And did the truth to him confess.
38
They both went to this heap of gold,
Wherre in a bag he fairly told
A thousand pounds in yellow boys,
And to this tavern went their ways.
39
This bag they on the table set,
Which made the vintner for to fret,
And said, Young man, this will not do,
For I was but in jest with you.
40
So then bespoke this young man’s friend,
And [said], Vintner, thou mayst depend
In law this note it will you cast,
And he must have his land at last.
41
This made the vintner to comply,
Who fetchd the deeds immediately;
He had one hundred pounds, and then
The young man got his deeds again.
42
At length, the vintner, for to think
How he was foold out of his chink,
Said, When ’tis found how I came off
My neighbours will me game and scoff.
43
So, to prevent their game and laughter,
The vintner, in a few days after,
Being void of grace, as will appear,
He cut his throat from ear to ear.
44
Thus he untimely left the world,
Who to this young man prov’d a churl;
Now he who followd drunkenness
Lives sober and [does] his lands possess.
45
Instead of wasting all his store,
As formerly, resolves no more
To act the same, but does inde[e]d
Poor fatherless and mother- feed.
46
‘And let all young men, for my sake,
Take care how you such havock make,
For drunkenness, you plain may see,
Was near my ruin for to be.’

Printed and sold in Bow-Church-Yard, London.

FOOTNOTES:

[17] Cane in hand, 103, 223. This is bad enough, but not quite so bad as the woman with cane in hand, ‘Tam Lin,’ III, 505, O 162, and ‘The Kitchie-Boy,’ No 252, E 62. The mantle and cane are a commonplace. See also E 14 of No 252, No 76, G 3, and No 97, B 202.

[18] The Gallowgate port of B a 35 belongs to Aberdeen.

[19] Of the 212 lines of Percy’s ballad, some 80, or the substance of them, occur in the MS. copy, and half a dozen more of the 216 lines of the 4th edition.

[20] Reprinted by Dixon, Ancient Poems, Ballads, etc., p. 151, Percy Society, vol. xvii, from a chap-book.

[21] 44. Χρυσὸν ἀνὴρ εὑρὼν ἔλιπε βρόχον· αὐτὰρ ὁ χρυσὸν ὃν λίπεν οὐχ εὑρὼν ἧψεν ὃν εὗρε βρόχον.

[22] All the above tales, except Pauli’s, have been cited, in one connection or another, by Dunlop, History of Fiction, (II, 201, of Wilson’s late edition); by Benfey, Pantschatantra, I, 97 f.; or by Liebrecht, Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen, 1868, p. 1891. Oesterley, in his note to Pauli, 16, p. 552 f., refers to three sixteenth-century story-books which I have not seen. Robert, Fables Inédites, etc., II, 232, in his note to La Fontaine, IX, 16, refers to other fabulists. Clouston, Popular Tales and Fictions, II, 55, gives from some old magazine a story after the pattern of the Greek distich.