"What books have you read?" said I.

"I have read the Bible, sir, and one or two other books."

"Did you ever read the Bardd Cwsg?" said I.

He looked at me with some surprise. "No," said he, after a moment
or two, "I have never read it. I have seen it, but it was far too
deep Welsh for me."

"I have read it," said I.

"Are you a Welshman?" said he.

"No," said I; "I am an Englishman."

"And how is it," said he, "that you can read Welsh without being a
Welshman?"

"I learned to do so," said I, "even as you learned to mow, without
being bred up to farming work."

"Ah! "said he, "but it is easier to learn to mow than to read the
Bardd Cwsg."

"I don't think that," said I; "I have taken up a scythe a hundred
times but I cannot mow."

"Will your honour take mine now, and try again?" said he.