I'm caught--I am a sinner!
My wife, good soul--my wife has brought
The parson home to dinner!"

And with a little spice of wit,
To which he was inclined,
Though none to spare the deacon had,
He thus relieved his mind:

"I've often heard the preacher say
That good may come of evil;
Still every hour, with all our might,
We must resist the devil.

"If horn and hoof be any proof,
And if the foot be riven,
Surely I am the very man
That with the beast has striven!"

Now hurried steps without are heard,
And earnest voices blend;
"I'm in a vice," the deacon groans--
"When will this torture end?"

Young Peter, being first within,
For he had run ahead,
Loudly exclaims, "Another bull
Lies in the parlor, dead!"

They enter all, with hands upraised