On Eating and Drinking - Kahlil Gibran

...together they ate... and together they would drink...

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 book and my book 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 the 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.