“Which was most excellent, with most brave drink cooled in ice (which at this hot time was welcome), and I drinking no wine, had metheglin for the King’s owne drinking, which did please me mightily.”

I sat where the King had eaten, the meat left upon the dish looking as good as ever it tasted when fresh from his own hand. The drink served to me was watered with ice, a rare coolness in this burning heat that made the very air feel lighter than before. I did not touch wine, saving only the metheglin meant for the King’s lips, yet the flavor of it pleased me mightily, tasting of favor and presence where none was due to a mere clerk.

Tell me plainly if you have ever tasted something so good that it seemed to wash away the dust of your whole life. Do not speak of grand battles or great sums of money gained; tell me only of the bread that filled your belly and the wine that made your heart beat faster, for those are the only things that truly matter when the world goes up in smoke.