LE CHERCHEUR DE TRESORS

Page 24. The Treasure Seeker, a ballad by Goethe, was written in 1797.

Weahh is a proper object of pursuit, but as Goethe hère shows it may be bought at too high a price. In the sixth century before Christ, Alcaeus wrote:

The worst of ills, and hardest to endure,

Past hope, past cure,

Is Penury

This truth the Sage of Sparta told,

Aristodemus old, — "Wealth makes the man." On him that's poor,

Proud worth looks down, and honor shuts the door.

— Sir Wm. Jones's Translation.

2z. bois le désir d'une vie plus pure:

" Taste the draught of pure existence

Sparkling in this golden urn, And no more with baleful magie

Shalt thou hitherward return.

Do not seek for treasures longer;

Let thy future spell-word be, Days of labor, nights of resting:

So shall peace return to thee ! "

— W. E. Aytoun's Translation.