On Eating and Drinking

Then an old man, a keeper of an

inn, said, Speak to us of Eating and

Drinking.

And he said:

Would that you could live on the

fragrance of the earth, and like an air

plant be sustained by the light.

But since you must kill to eat, and rob

the newly born of its mother’s milk to

quench your thirst, let it then be an

act of worship,

And let your board stand an altar on

which the pure and the innocent of

forest and plain are sacrificed for that

which is purer and still more innocent

in man.

When you kill a beast say to him in your

heart,

“By the same power that slays you, I too

am slain; and I too shall be consumed.

For the law that delivered you into

my hand shall deliver me into a mightier

hand.

Your blood and my blood is naught but

the sap that feeds the tree of heaven.”

And when you crush an apple with your

teeth, say to it in your heart,

“Your seeds shall live in my body,

And the buds of your tomorrow shall

blossom in my heart,

And your fragrance shall be my breath,

And together we shall rejoice through

all the seasons.”

And in the autumn, when you gather

the grapes of your vineyards for the

winepress, say in your heart,

“I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall

be gathered for the winepress,

And like new wine I shall be kept in

eternal vessels.”

And in winter, when you draw the wine,

let there be in your heart a song

for each cup;

And let there be in the song a

remembrance for the autumn days, and for

the vineyard, and for the winepress.