Sir, quoth my uncle _Toby_, addressing himself to Dr. _Slop_, --the curtins my brother _Shandy_ mentions here, have nothing to do with bedsteads; --tho', I know _Du Cange_ says, "That bed-curtains, in all probability, have taken their name from them;" --nor have the hornworks he speaks of, anything in the world to do with the horn-works of cuckoldom: --But the _Curtin_, Sir, is the word we use in fortification, for that part of the wall or rampart which lies between the two bastions and joins them --Besiegers seldom offer to carry on their attacks directly against the curtin, for this reason, because they are so well _flanked_. 
'Sir,' quoth my uncle Toby to Dr. Slop, 'the curtins my brother Shandy mentions have nothing to do with bedsteads; - though, I know Du Cange says that bed-curtains, in all probability, have taken their name from them. - Nor have the hornworks he speaks of, anything to do with the horn-works of cuckoldom. The Curtin, Sir, is the word we use in fortification, for that part of the rampart which lies between two bastions. Besiegers seldom attack the curtins directly, because they are so well flanked.'
