The parched wheat was set out in baskets,
and the new cheeses were heaped together. The blushing apple, the golden
pear, the shining plum, and the rough-coated chesnut were scattered in
attractive confusion. Here were the polished cherry and the downy peach;
and here the eager gooseberry, and the rich and plenteous clusters of
the purple grape. The neighbouring fountain afforded them a cool and
sparkling beverage, and the lowing herds supplied the copious bowl with
white and foaming draughts of milk. The meaner bards accompanied the
artless luxury of the feast with the symphony of their harps.
The repast being finished, the company now engaged in those less active
sports, that exercise the subtility of the wit, more than the agility or
strength of the body. Their untutored minds delighted themselves in the
sly enigma, and the quaint conundrum. Much was their laughter at the
wild guesses of the thoughtless and the giddy; and great the triumph of
the swain who penetrated the mystery, and successfully removed the
abstruseness of the problem. Many were the feats of skill exhibited by
the dextrous shepherd, and infinite were the wonder and admiration of
the gazing spectators. The whole scene indeed was calculated to display
the triumph of stratagem and invention.
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