Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
Ver. 7. Let him drink and forget his poverty.] And yet let him drink moderately too, lest he increase his sorrows, as Lot did, and not diminish them, for drunkenness leaves a sting behind it worse than that of a serpent or of a cockatrice. Pro 23:32 Wine is a prohibited ware among the Turks, which makes some drink with scruple - others with danger. The baser sort, when taken drunk, are often bastinadoed a upon the bare feet. And I have seen some, saith mine author, b after a fit of drunkenness, lie a whole night crying, and praying to Mohammed for intercession, that I could not sleep near them, so strong is conscience, even where the foundation is but imaginary.
a To beat or cane on the soles of the feet.
b Blunt's Voyage, p. 105.