He has not a penny left to buy an halter. He has no property, «ne in pelle quidem», not even in his skin. «Ne obolus quidem relictus est», he has totally dissipated and wasted his property, not a morsel, or the smallest particle of it remains. He is as poor as a church mouse. «Beg», Gratiano says to Shylock, «that thou mayest have leave to hang thyself»; «And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Thou hast not left the value of a cord; Therefore thou must be hanged at the state's charge». No le alcaça la sal al agua, «he is so poor», the Spaniards say, «that he hath not salt enough to season his water». Xenophon, in his dialogues, makes one of the interlocutors say, «he had not so much land as would furnish dust for the body of a wrestler».

«Necessity is the mother of invention, and the most powerful provoker of industry, and ingenuity». La necessité n'a point de loi, and La necessidad carece de ley. Necessity has no law, and Hunger will break through stone walls.

–––«Ingenii largitor venter,
Cautum e rudi reddit magistra necessitas».

Necessity makes the dull man bright, the sluggard active, the unwary cautious. It sharpens the wit, and makes men more apt for instruction.

«Jejunus raro stomachus vulgaria terabit».

Hunger is the best cure for daintiness, it is the best sauce; and A la hambre, no ay pan malo; A hungry dog will eat dirty pudding. To these may be added the following,

Impletus venter, non vult studere libenter.

A full belly does not excite to mental labour or exertion, and want sharpens, but luxury blunts the disposition to study.