But when it
is once laid in the grave and covered with a little earth, there is an
end to its lust and ambition."
* * * * *
Shakspeare's well-known masterly description of the Seven Ages of Man,
which he puts into the mouth of the melancholy Jaques (_As You Like It_,
ii, 7), was anticipated by Rabbi Simon, the son of Eliezer, in this
Talmudic description of
_The Seven Stages of Human Life._
Seven times in one verse did the author of Ecclesiastes make use of the
word _vanity_, in allusion to the seven stages of human life.[95]
[95] Eccles., i, 2. The word Vanity (remarks Hurwitz, the
translator) occurs twice in the plural, which the Rabbi
considered as equivalent to four, and three times in the
singular, making altogether _seven_.
The first commences in the first year of human existence, when the
_infant_ lies like a king on a soft couch, with numerous attendants
about him, all ready to serve him, and eager to testify their love and
attachment by kisses and embraces.
The second commences about the age of two or three years, when the
darling _child_ is permitted to crawl on the ground, and, like an
unclean animal, delights in dirt and filth.
Then at the age of ten, the thoughtless _boy_, without reflecting on the
past or caring for the future, jumps and skips about like a young kid on
the enamelled green, contented to enjoy the present moment.
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