I've heard a voice like his before,
And liked some little voice the more;
I'd sooner have, if I'd my choice,
A big heart and a small voice.
MISER. Ho! ho! Raftery, making poems as usual. Well, there is
great joy on us, indeed, to see you in our midst.
BLIND MAN. What is the present you have brought to the
new-married woman?
MISER. What is the present I brought? O _maisead_! the times
are too bad on a poor man. I brought a few fleeces of wool I had to the
market to-day, and I couldn't sell it; I had to bring it home again. And
calves I had there, I couldn't get any buyer for at all. There is
misfortune on these times.
BLIND MAN. Every person that came in brought his own present
with him. There is the new-married woman, and let you put down a good
present.
MISER. O _maisead_, much good may it do her! (_He takes out of
his pocket a small parcel of snuff; takes a_ _piece of paper from the
floor, and pours into it, slowly and carefully, a little of the snuff,
and puts it on the table._)