All day I sell for trifling sums the wares of my own land,
And buy for many cash such things as people wish to sell,
That I may sell them again to others,
With some profit to myself.
One night a white-skinned damsel came to me
And offered, with fair words, something she wished to sell.
Now if I desire a jacket I can buy it with coin,
Or barter for it something of my stock.
If I desire rice-spirit, that, too, I can buy;
And elegant entertainments and delights are all to be had for cash.
But there is one good thing above all precious,
That no man may buy.
And though I buy readily most things that I desire,
This thing that the white maid offered at my own price
I would not buy.
The Power of Music
In the little room behind my shop
I refresh myself of an evening with my machine-that-sings.
Two songs has my machine-that-sings:
And these are 'Hitchy Koo' and 'We don't want to lose you.'
When, in the evening, a friend honours me with a visit,
I engage his ears with the air of 'Hitchy Koo';
But when I am afflicted with a visit
>From those who fill me with a spirit of no-satisfaction,
I command my machine-that-sings
To render the music of 'We don't want to lose you.
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