Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Prodigal
And he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
St. Luke, Chap. xv. Verses 15, 16.
Shall I keep your hogs, and eat husks with them? What prodigal portion have I spent, that I should come to such penury?
Shakespeare.—As You Like It, Act I. Scene 1.