Chapter 187 of 189 · 159 words · ~1 min read

CXV.

OF THE SAME.

Mentula! masterest thou some thirty acres of grass-land Full told, forty of field soil; others are sized as the sea. Why may he not surpass in his riches any a Croesus Who in his one domain owns such abundance of good, Grass-lands, arable fields, vast woods and forest and marish 5 Yonder to Boreal-bounds trenching on Ocean tide? Great are indeed all these, but thou by far be the greatest, Never a man, but a great Mentula of menacing might.

Mentula has something like thirty acres of meadow land, forty under cultivation: the rest are as the sea. Why might he not o'erpass Croesus in wealth, he who in one demesne possesses so much? Meadow, arable land, immense woods, and demesnes, and morasses, e'en to the uttermost north and to the ocean's tide! All things great are here, yet is the owner most great beyond all; not a man, but in truth a Mentule mighty, menacing!