The Lunary Copris 



mouth, bitters absinthe, amer Picon, In short 

 the whole collection of stupefying drugs. 

 Such tastes as these make the fields seem too 

 humble and the soil too stubborn. Since the 

 receipts no longer come up to the expenses, 

 they leave the land for the town, which Is 

 better-suited, so they Imagine, for money- 

 making. Alas, saving is no more practi- 

 cable there than here ! The workshop, 

 where opportunities of spending money lie 

 in wait by the score, makes a man no richer 

 than the plough. But it Is too late : you have 

 made your bed ; and you remain a poverty- 

 stricken townsman, in terror of paternity. 



And yet this country, with Its glorious 

 climate, fertility, and geographical position, 

 is Invaded by a host of cosmopolitans, sharks 

 and sharpers of every sort. Long ago, It 

 used to attract the sea-roving Phoenicians; 

 the peace-loving Greeks, who brought us the 

 alphabet, the vine and the olive-tree; the 

 Romans, those harsh rulers, who handed 

 down to us barbarities very difficult to eradi- 

 cate. Swooping on this rich prey came the 

 Cymrl, the Teutons, the Vandals, the Goths, 

 the Huns, the Burgundians, the Suevi, the 

 Alani, the Franks, the Saracens, hordes 

 driven hither by every wind that blows. 

 And all this heterogeneous mixture was 



