Note to As You Like It, 3.2.177: "Pythagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat"
Pythagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat: During Pythagoras' life [Pythagoras believed in the reincarnation of the soul again and again into the bodies of humans, animals, or vegetables until they become immortal], I was a rat who lived in Ireland. —There was an old belief that Irish enchanters could rhyme rats to death. Rosalind's humorous point is that all of these poems posted on trees have almost done her in—rhymed her to death.
By Paula Rego, 1989