On Eating and Drinking

Then an old man, a keeper of aninn, said, Speak to us of Eating andDrinking.

And he said:

Would that you could live on thefragrance of the earth, and like an airplant be sustained by the light.

But since you must kill to eat, and robthe newly born of its mother’s milk toquench your thirst, let it then be anact of worship,

And let your board stand an altar onwhich the pure and the innocent offorest and plain are sacrificed for thatwhich is purer and still more innocentin man.

When you kill a beast say to him in yourheart,

“By the same power that slays you, I tooam slain; and I too shall be consumed.

For the law that delivered you intomy hand shall deliver me into a mightierhand.

Your blood and my blood is naught butthe sap that feeds the tree of heaven.”

And when you crush an apple with yourteeth, say to it in your heart,

“Your seeds shall live in my body,

And the buds of your tomorrow shallblossom in my heart,

And your fragrance shall be my breath,And together we shall rejoice throughall the seasons.”

And in the autumn, when you gatherthe grapes of your vineyards for thewinepress, say in your heart,

“I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shallbe gathered for the winepress,

And like new wine I shall be kept ineternal vessels.”

And in winter, when you draw the wine,let there be in your heart a songfor each cup;

And let there be in the song aremembrance for the autumn days, and forthe vineyard, and for the winepress.