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FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES 123
with Italy, and that he hoped to attain his object,
asked the
king : Well, Sire, and what will you do then ? What shall I
do then, answered Pyrrhus,
I shall then attack Sicily
: And
then ? Cineas continued. Then, added the king, if the Gods
favour my enterprise, I shall conquer Carthage and the whole
of Africa. Then, when all that has turned out successfully, I
shall enjoy the delights of peace, sacrifice to the Gods, and
make merry with my friends. Alas, Sire, concluded Cineas,
live happy, for you can do all that now, without going
that trouble and pains.)
to all
A single glance at the original English wording of
the anecdote will suffice to tell us that this is no mere
translation. It is not the work of a man who has set
himself the task of, or who is paid for, translating from
one language into the other. It is
independent work,
a perfectly new wording of the short story. Parts of
the address have been suppressed, whereas the words
"vivez content," in the closing speech of Cineas, is a
perfectly new addition, inserted solely for the sake of
rhyme. In the opening lines a few rhymes are heard,
such as " faire la guerre," " venir-Sir'," but from the
second third of the poem, the delight in rhyming
visibly increases in all its drollery. If we were to give
a line to each rhyme, we should obtain an endless set
of verses ;
we
prefer to write the poem in long lines
indicating the greater part of the rhymes
rhymes :
as internal
Et ensuite de ce/a ? continua Cynee.
Alors, adjous/a le Roy,
si les Dieux favorisent mon
entrepnse,
i'espere de conquerir Carthage & toute 1'Afrique
:
Puis toutes les choses estant si \\eureusement terminus,
ie gousterqy les detices du repos, Sijeray des sacrifices
aux Dieux, me resiouyssaw/ auec mes amis.