The Citron. 169 



for several centuries B.C. and A.D. Towards the end of 

 the second century A.D., the most famous and valuable 

 of them all, the so-called Targum of Onkelos upon the 

 Pentateuch, appears to have been committed to writing. 

 In this one the Leviticus words are explained by others 

 which make them signify the citron, and here the vindica- 

 tion of it ends. The Septuagint had rendered 'ets hadhar 

 by " goodly fruit of trees." The Vulgate has " fruit of a 

 very lovely tree." Luther "fruit of beautiful trees;" 

 Kalisch "fruit of a beautiful tree." 



Whatever the history prior to the time of Virgil, say 40 

 B.C., citrons had then reached Rome, as proved by the 

 celebrated lines in the second Georgic : 



"Media fert tristes succos, tardumque saporem 

 Felicis mali," 



tristis, or sad, denoting the flavour of the fresh rind, 

 while the " delayed taste " neatly implies its long con- 

 tinuance upon the palate, and felix, or "happy," the 

 consummate virtues of the fruit. These were considered 

 to be almost miraculously restorative, a circumstance not 

 forgotten by those who think that the citron was the 

 tappuach " Comfort me with apples." To this very day 

 the ladies of the Orient are accustomed to carry a piece 

 of the rind for use as a vinaigrette. Even when quite 

 ripe, the citron is scarcely eatable as it comes from the 

 tree. The supreme value of this famous fruit consists in 

 the suitableness of the thick and spongy rind for change 

 into the candied sweetmeat so familiar in the shops 

 towards Christmas-time, the indispensable ingredient of 

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