Some more thoughts, Joe Offer...

You said that you wondered if there were hiddden jibes in this piece - there's a satirical verse by the 14th century German poet Oswald von Wolkenstein that came to my mind when I re-read your comment. It's also a jibe aimed at a member of the court of emperor Sigismund, his secretary actually. It's done as a comparison with an animal, in this case a pike. The emperor's secretary was one Hermann Hecht (Hecht means pike in German)from Jülich near Cologne -"Gülcher" means "man from Jülich"- , and he was said to drink a lot. Also, he was old Oswald's pet enemy, so one day, being really PO'd, he wrote the following verse:

Wer nach der Waage ringe hechte kaufen welle
für ungefelle
so vail geselle ainen der ain staine leber trug .
Vorsch in des kaisers canceleie
wo man solche fisch erjag.
Gülcher, mach kund:
Was galt ein pfund?
Pro cinc soldi et tre zesin.
Also galt sich das leberlin fin
von diesem sütten hechtekin.

This translates into English as:

He who wants to buy puny pikes by the pound
making a bad bargain
should buy one, buddy, that carries a liver of stone.
Ask in the emperor's chancellery
where you can catch such a fish.
Man from Jülich, tell us:
How much is a pound?
Five soldi and three ceccine (sp.?)
That's how much the liver
of this cute little pike costs.

Hope I didn't bore you, but I wanted to share that one with you.

Mad Maudlin.