"His
bosom serpent has stung him then!"
Often, it pleased the unfortunate young man to vex people with a
lighter satire, yet still characterized by somewhat of snake-like
virulence. One day he encountered an ambitious statesman, and
gravely inquired after the welfare of his boa-constrictor; for of that
species, Roderick affirmed, this gentleman's serpent must needs be,
since its appetite was enormous enough to devour the whole country and
constitution. At another time, he stopped a close-fisted old fellow,
of great wealth, but who skulked about the city in the guise of a
scare-crow, with a patched blue surtout, brown hat, and mouldy
boots, scraping pence together, and picking up rusty nails. Pretending
to look earnestly at this respectable person's stomach, Roderick
assured him that his snake was a copper-head, and had been generated
by the immense quantities of that base metal, with which he daily
defiled his fingers. Again, he assaulted a man of rubicund visage, and
told him that few bosom serpents had more of the devil in them, than
those that breed in the vats of a distillery.
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