From Parnassus to Parsnips Available to Purchase

We started off here with a staff of one, a share in a County Council back office, a handful of catalogues and very grandiose ideas. From the idyllic heights of Parnassus whose treacherous slopes so often lead, in one swift horrid rush or by imperceptible degrees of declension, to Avernus, (though, God aiding, I somehow avoided that dark destination by some miles and a fraction) I was in due course compelled to descend to less lofty hills and dales whose clime and atmosphere were more closely attuned to the realities of the work‐a‐day world.