There is a cunning, which we in England call The turning of the cat in the pan;[1] which is, when that which a man says to another, he lays it as if another had said it to him. And to say truth, it is not easy, when such a matter passed between two, to make it appear from which of them it first moved and began.
It is away that some men have, to glance and dart at others by justifying themselves by negatives; as to say, This I do not: as Tigellinus did toward Burrhus, Se non diversas spes, sed incolumitatem imperatoris simplidter spectare.[2]
Some have in readiness so many tales and stories, as there is nothing they would insinuate, but they can wrap it into a tale; which serveth both to keep themselves more in[3] guard, and to make others carry it with more pleasure.
It is a good point of cunning, for a man to shape the answer he would have in his own words and propositions; for it makes the other party stick the less.
It is strange how long some men will lie in wait to speak somewhat they desire to say; and how far about they will fetch;[4] and how many other matters
- ↑ To turn the cat in the pan. To reverse the order of things so dexterously as to make them appear the very opposite of what they really are. The origin of the phrase is obscure.
- ↑ That he had not expectations from different quarters, but looked simply to the safety of the emperor. Tacitus. Annalium Liber XIV. 57.
- ↑ In. On. "But look you pray, all you that kiss my Lady Peace at home, that our armies join not in a hot day." Shakspere. II. King Henry IV. i. 2.
- ↑ To fetch about. To take a roundabout course or method.
"And, like a shifted wind unto a sail,
It makes the course of thoughts to fetch about."
Shakspere. King John. iv. 2.
