You incline to scorn him because, his slippers misplaced, or asparagus not on his table the first day of a particular Spring month, he gazes blankly and sighs as one who saw the End.

To you it may appear small.

You call to him to be a man.

He is: but he is also an immortal, and his confidence in unceasing orderly progression is rudely dashed.
But the old gentleman has finished his dinner and his Madeira, and says: 'Now, Jonathan, "thock" the Port!'-- his joke when matters have gone well: meant to express the sound of the uncorking, probably.

The habit of making good jokes is rare, as you know: old gentlemen have not yet attained to it: nevertheless Jonathan enjoys this one, which has seen a generation in and out, for he knows its purport to be, 'My heart is open.' And now is a great time with this old gentleman.