the friars used to be fasting and serving the poor, I saw them
drinking wine and obeying their wives. And when I asked what
misfortune had brought all these changes, they said it was no
misfortune, but it was the wisdom they had learned from your
teaching.

WISE MAN. Run round to the kitchen, and my wife will give you
something to eat.

FOOL. That is foolish advice for a wise man to give.

WISE MAN. Why, Fool?

FOOL. What is eaten is gone. I want pennies for my bag. I must buy
bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and strong drink for
the time when the sun is weak. And I want snares to catch the
rabbits and the squirrels and the bares, and a pot to cook them in.

WISE MAN. Go away. I have other things to think of now than giving
you pennies.

FOOL. Give me a penny and I will bring you luck. Bresal the
Fisherman lets me sleep among the nets in his loft in the
winter-time because he says I bring him luck; and in the
summer-time the wild creatures let me sleep near their nests
and their holes. It is lucky even to look at me or to touch me,
but it is much more lucky to give me a penny. [Holds out his
hand.] If I wasn't lucky, I'd starve.

WISE MAN. What have you got the shears for?