Page:A history of booksellers, the old and the new.djvu/242

206 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD< and thou shalt enjoy the fruits of our labour for a time, times or half a time. " And he answered and said unto them, What will ye unto me vvhereunto I may employ you ? " And they proffered unto him a Book, and they said unto him, Take thou this, and give us a piece of money, that we may eat and drink and our souls may live. " And we will put words into thy Book that shall astonish the children of thy people. And it shall be a light unto thy feet and a lamp unto thy path ; it shall also bring bread to thy household, and a portion to thy maidens. " And the man hearkened unto their voice, and he took their Book, and he gave them a piece of money, and they went away rejoicing in heart. And I heard a great noise, as if it had been the noise of many chariots, and of horsemen prancing upon their horses. " But after many days they put no words in the Book, and the man was astonied, and waxed wroth, and said unto them, What is this that ye have done unto me, and how shall I answer those to whom I am engaged ? And they said, What is that to us ? see thou to that. " And the man wist not what for to do ; and he called together the friends of his youth, and all those whose heart was as his heart, and he entreated them, and they put words into the Book ; and it went abroad, and all the world wondered after the Book, and after the two beasts that had put such amazing words into the Book. " Then the man who was crafty in counsel and cunning in all manner of work (Constable), when this man saw the Book, and beheld the things which were