Classical Wit
DR. MAGINN dining with a friend on ham and chicken, addressed Sukey
Boyle, his friend's housekeeper, thus: You know, Boyle, what old Ovid,
in his 'Art of Love' (book iii.), says; I give you the same wish:--
'Semper tibi pendeat hamus,'
May you always have a ham hanging in your kitchen. The doctor
insisted that tea was well known to the Romans, for, said he, even in
the time of Plautus it was a favorite beverage with the ladies,--
'Amant te omnes mulieres.'
Miles Glor., Act i., sc. i., v. 58.
Observing Sukey Boyle, he said to his friend, Ah! John, I see you
follow the old advice we both learned at school, [Greek: Charizou te
Psyche], 'Indulge yourself with Sukey.' There was some hock at dinner,
which he thus eulogized:--
'Hoc tum saevas paulatim mitigat iras,
Hoc minuit luctus moestaque corda levat.'
Ov. Trist., lib. iv., el. vi., v. 15, 16.