d Moliere
joined for a measure； both talking at once； Moliere in Greek and
Aristophanes in German。 I thought this odd； because it occurred to me
that German was a dead language before Aristophanes was born。
Bright…eyed Shelley brought in a fluttering lark which burst into the
song of Chaucer's chanticleer。 Henry Esmond gave his hand in a stately
minuet to Diana of the Crossways。 He evidently did not understand her
nieenth century wit； for he did not laugh。 Perhaps he had lost his
taste for clever women。 Anon Dante and Swedenborg came together
conversing earnestly about things remote and mystical。 Swedenborg said
it was very warm。 Dante replied that it might rain in the night。
Suddenly there was a great clamour； and I found that 〃The Battle of the
Books〃 had begun raging anew。 Two figures entered in lively dispute。 One
was dressed in plain homespun and the other wore a scholar's gown over a
suit of motley。 I gathered from their conversation that they were Cotton
Mather and William Shakspere。 Mather insisted that the witches in
〃Macbeth〃 should be caught and hanged。 Shakspere replied that the
witches had already suffered enough at the hands of mentators。 They
were pushed aside by the twelve knights of the Round Table； who marched
in bearing on a salver the goose that laid golden eggs。 〃The Pope's
Mule〃 and 〃The Golden Bull〃 had a bat of history and fiction such as
I had read of in books； but never before witnessed。 These little animals
were put to rout by a huge elephant which lumbered in with Rudyard
Kipling riding high on its trunk。 The elephant changed suddenly to 〃a
rakish craft。〃 （I do not know what a