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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Venetian Years: Military Career
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Venetian Years: Military Career
+       The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt 1725-1798
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2006 [EBook #2953]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENETIAN YEARS: MILITARY CAREER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+
+VENETIAN YEARS, Volume 1c--MILITARY CAREER
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
+WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+MILITARY CAREER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+I Renounce the Clerical Profession, and Enter the Military
+Service--Therese Leaves for Naples, and I Go to Venice--I Am Appointed
+Ensign in the Army of My Native Country--I Embark for Corfu, and Land at
+Orsera to Take a Walk
+
+I had been careful, on my arrival in Bologna, to take up my quarters at a
+small inn, so as not to attract any notice, and as soon as I had
+dispatched my letters to Therese and the French officer, I thought of
+purchasing some linen, as it was at least doubtful whether I should ever
+get my trunk. I deemed it expedient to order some clothes likewise. I was
+thus ruminating, when it suddenly struck me that I was not likely now to
+succeed in the Church, but feeling great uncertainty as to the profession
+I ought to adopt, I took a fancy to transform myself into an officer, as
+it was evident that I had not to account to anyone for my actions. It was
+a very natural fancy at my age, for I had just passed through two armies
+in which I had seen no respect paid to any garb but to the military
+uniform, and I did not see why I should not cause myself to be respected
+likewise. Besides, I was thinking of returning to Venice, and felt great
+delight at the idea of shewing myself there in the garb of honour, for I
+had been rather ill-treated in that of religion.
+
+I enquired for a good tailor: death was brought to me, for the tailor
+sent to me was named Morte. I explained to him how I wanted my uniform
+made, I chose the cloth, he took my measure, and the next day I was
+transformed into a follower of Mars. I procured a long sword, and with my
+fine cane in hand, with a well-brushed hat ornamented with a black
+cockade, and wearing a long false pigtail, I sallied forth and walked all
+over the city.
+
+I bethought myself that the importance of my new calling required a
+better and more showy lodging than the one I had secured on my arrival,
+and I moved to the best inn. I like even now to recollect the pleasing
+impression I felt when I was able to admire myself full length in a large
+mirror. I was highly pleased with my own person! I thought myself made by
+nature to wear and to honour the military costume, which I had adopted
+through the most fortunate impulse. Certain that nobody knew me, I
+enjoyed by anticipation all the conjectures which people would indulge in
+respecting me, when I made my first appearance in the most fashionable
+cafe of the town.
+
+My uniform was white, the vest blue, a gold and silver shoulder-knot, and
+a sword-knot of the same material. Very well pleased with my grand
+appearance, I went to the coffee-room, and, taking some chocolate, began
+to read the newspapers, quite at my ease, and delighted to see that
+everybody was puzzled. A bold individual, in the hope of getting me into
+conversation, came to me and addressed me; I answered him with a
+monosyllable, and I observed that everyone was at a loss what to make of
+me. When I had sufficiently enjoyed public admiration in the coffee-room,
+I promenaded in the busiest thoroughfares of the city, and returned to
+the inn, where I had dinner by myself.
+
+I had just concluded my repast when my landlord presented himself with
+the travellers' book, in which he wanted to register my name.
+
+"Casanova."
+
+"Your profession, if you please, sir?"
+
+"Officer."
+
+"In which service?"
+
+"None."
+
+"Your native place?"
+
+"Venice."
+
+"Where do you come from?"
+
+"That is no business of yours."
+
+This answer, which I thought was in keeping with my external appearance,
+had the desired effect: the landlord bowed himself out, and I felt highly
+pleased with myself, for I knew that I should enjoy perfect freedom in
+Bologna, and I was certain that mine host had visited me at the instance
+of some curious person eager to know who I was.
+
+The next day I called on M. Orsi, the banker, to cash my bill of
+exchange, and took another for six hundred sequins on Venice, and one
+hundred sequins in gold after which I again exhibited myself in the
+public places. Two days afterwards, whilst I was taking my coffee after
+dinner, the banker Orsi was announced. I desired him to be shewn in, and
+he made his appearance accompanied my Monsignor Cornaro, whom I feigned
+not to know. M. Orsi remarked that he had called to offer me his services
+for my letters of exchange, and introduced the prelate. I rose and
+expressed my gratification at making his acquaintance. "But we have met
+before," he replied, "at Venice and Rome." Assuming an air of blank
+surprise, I told him he must certainly be mistaken. The prelate, thinking
+he could guess the reason of my reserve, did not insist, and apologized.
+I offered him a cup of coffee, which he accepted, and, on leaving me, he
+begged the honour of my company to breakfast the next day.
+
+I made up my mind to persist in my denials, and called upon the prelate,
+who gave me a polite welcome. He was then apostolic prothonotary in
+Bologna. Breakfast was served, and as we were sipping our chocolate, he
+told me that I had most likely some good reasons to warrant my reserve,
+but that I was wrong not to trust him, the more so that the affair in
+question did me great honour. "I do not know," said I, "what affair you
+are alluding to." He then handed me a newspaper, telling me to read a
+paragraph which he pointed out. My astonishment may be imagined when I
+read the following correspondence from Pesaro: "M. de Casanova, an
+officer in the service of the queen, has deserted after having killed his
+captain in a duel; the circumstances of the duel are not known; all that
+has been ascertained is that M. de Casanova has taken the road to Rimini,
+riding the horse belonging to the captain, who was killed on the spot."
+
+In spite of my surprise, and of the difficulty I had in keeping my
+gravity at the reading of the paragraph, in which so much untruth was
+blended with so little that was real, I managed to keep a serious
+countenance, and I told the prelate that the Casanova spoken of in the
+newspaper must be another man.
+
+"That may be, but you are certainly the Casanova I knew a month ago at
+Cardinal Acquaviva's, and two years ago at the house of my sister, Madame
+Lovedan, in Venice. Besides the Ancona banker speaks of you as an
+ecclesiastic in his letter of advice to M. Orsi:"
+
+"Very well, monsignor; your excellency compels me to agree to my being
+the same Casanova, but I entreat you not to ask me any more questions as
+I am bound in honour to observe the strictest reserve."
+
+"That is enough for me, and I am satisfied. Let us talk of something
+else."
+
+I was amused at the false reports which were being circulated about me,
+and, I became from that moment a thorough sceptic on the subject of
+historical truth. I enjoyed, however, very great pleasure in thinking
+that my reserve had fed the belief of my being the Casanova mentioned in
+the newspaper. I felt certain that the prelate would write the whole
+affair to Venice, where it would do me great honour, at least until the
+truth should be known, and in that case my reserve would be justified,
+besides, I should then most likely be far away. I made up my mind to go
+to Venice as soon as I heard from Therese, as I thought that I could wait
+for her there more comfortably than in Bologna, and in my native place
+there was nothing to hinder me from marrying her openly. In the mean time
+the fable from Pesaro amused me a good deal, and I expected every day to
+see it denied in some newspaper. The real officer Casanova must have
+laughed at the accusation brought against him of having run away with the
+horse, as much as I laughed at the caprice which had metamorphosed me
+into an officer in Bologna, just as if I had done it for the very purpose
+of giving to the affair every appearance of truth.
+
+On the fourth day of my stay in Bologna, I received by express a long
+letter from Therese. She informed me that, on the day after my escape
+from Rimini, Baron Vais had presented to her the Duke de Castropignano,
+who, having heard her sing, had offered her one thousand ounces a year,
+and all travelling expenses paid, if she would accept an engagement as
+prima-donna at the San Carlo Theatre, at Naples, where she would have to
+go immediately after her Rimini engagement. She had requested and
+obtained a week to come to a decision. She enclosed two documents, the
+first was the written memorandum of the duke's proposals, which she sent
+in order that I should peruse it, as she did not wish to sign it without
+my consent; the second was a formal engagement, written by herself, to
+remain all her life devoted to me and at my service. She added in her
+letter that, if I wished to accompany her to Naples, she would meet me
+anywhere I might appoint, but that, if I had any objection to return to
+that city, she would immediately refuse the brilliant offer, for her only
+happiness was to please me in all things.
+
+For the first time in my life I found myself in need of thoughtful
+consideration before I could make up my mind. Therese's letter had
+entirely upset all my ideas, and, feeling that I could not answer it a
+once, I told the messenger to call the next day.
+
+Two motives of equal weight kept the balance wavering; self-love and love
+for Therese. I felt that I ought not to require Therese to give up such
+prospects of fortune; but I could not take upon myself either to let her
+go to Naples without me, or to accompany her there. On one side, I
+shuddered at the idea that my love might ruin Therese's prospects; on the
+other side, the idea of the blow inflicted on my self-love, on my pride,
+if I went to Naples with her, sickened me.
+
+How could I make up my mind to reappear in that city, in the guise of a
+cowardly fellow living at the expense of his mistress or his wife? What
+would my cousin Antonio, Don Polo and his dear son, Don Lelio Caraffa,
+and all the patricians who knew me, have said? The thought of Lucrezia
+and of her husband sent a cold shiver through me. I considered that, in
+spite of my love for Therese, I should become very miserable if everyone
+despised me. Linked to her destiny as a lover or as a husband, I would be
+a degraded, humbled, and mean sycophant. Then came the thought, Is this
+to be the end of all my hopes? The die was cast, my head had conquered my
+heart. I fancied that I had hit upon an excellent expedient, which at all
+events made me gain time, and I resolved to act upon it. I wrote to
+Therese, advising her to accept the engagement for Naples, where she
+might expect me to join her in the month of July, or after my return from
+Constantinople. I cautioned her to engage an honest-looking
+waiting-woman, so as to appear respectably in the world, and, to lead
+such a life as would permit me to make her my wife, on my return, without
+being ashamed of myself. I foresaw that her success would be insured by
+her beauty even more than by her talent, and, with my nature, I knew that
+I could never assume the character of an easy-going lover or of a
+compliant husband.
+
+Had I received Therese's letter one week sooner, it is certain that she
+would not have gone to Naples, for my love would then have proved
+stronger than my reason; but in matters of love, as well as in all
+others, Time is a great teacher.
+
+I told Therese to direct her answer to Bologna, and, three days after, I
+received from her a letter loving, and at the same time sad, in which she
+informed me that she had signed the engagement. She had secured the
+services of a woman whom she could present as her mother; she would reach
+Naples towards the middle of May, and she would wait for me there till
+she heard from me that I no longer wanted her.
+
+Four days after the receipt of that letter, the last but one that Therese
+wrote me, I left Bologna for Venice. Before my departure I had received
+an answer form the French officer, advising me that my passport had
+reached Pesaro, and that he was ready to forward it to me with my trunk,
+if I would pay M. Marcello Birna, the proveditore of the Spanish army,
+whose address he enclosed, the sum of fifty doubloons for the horse which
+I had run away with, or which had run away with me. I repaired at once to
+the house of the proveditore, well pleased to settle that affair, and I
+received my trunk and my passport a few hours before leaving Bologna. But
+as my paying for the horse was known all over the town, Monsignor Cornaro
+was confirmed in his belief that I had killed my captain in a duel.
+
+To go to Venice, it was necessary to submit to a quarantine, which had
+been adhered to only because the two governments had fallen out. The
+Venetians wanted the Pope to be the first in giving free passage through
+his frontiers, and the Pope insisted that the Venetians should take the
+initiative. The result of this trifling pique between the two governments
+was great hindrance to commerce, but very often that which bears only
+upon the private interest of the people is lightly treated by the rulers.
+I did not wish to be quarantined, and determined on evading it. It was
+rather a delicate undertaking, for in Venice the sanitary laws are very
+strict, but in those days I delighted in doing, if not everything that
+was forbidden, at least everything which offered real difficulties.
+
+I knew that between the state of Mantua and that of Venice the passage
+was free, and I knew likewise that there was no restriction in the
+communication between Mantua and Modena; if I could therefore penetrate
+into the state of Mantua by stating that I was coming from Modena, my
+success would be certain, because I could then cross the Po and go
+straight to Venice. I got a carrier to drive me to Revero, a city
+situated on the river Po, and belonging to the state of Mantua.
+
+The driver told me that, if he took the crossroads, he could go to
+Revero, and say that we came from Mantua, and that the only difficulty
+would be in the absence of the sanitary certificate which is delivered in
+Mantua, and which was certain to be asked for in Revero. I suggested that
+the best way to manage would be for him to say that he had lost it, and a
+little money removed every objection on his part.
+
+When we reached the gates of Revero, I represented myself as a Spanish
+officer going to Venice to meet the Duke of Modena (whom I knew to be
+there) on business of the greatest importance. The sanitary certificate
+was not even demanded, military honours were duly paid to me, and I was
+most civilly treated. A certificate was immediately delivered to me,
+setting forth that I was travelling from Revero, and with it I crossed
+the Po, without any difficulty, at Ostiglia, from which place I proceeded
+to Legnago. There I left my carrier as much pleased with my generosity as
+with the good luck which had attended our journey, and, taking
+post-horses, I reached Venice in the evening. I remarked that it was the
+and of April, 1744, the anniversary of my birth, which, ten times during
+my life, has been marked by some important event.
+
+The very next morning I went to the exchange in order to procure a
+passage to Constantinople, but I could not find any passenger ship
+sailing before two or three months, and I engaged a berth in a Venetian
+ship called, Our Lady of the Rosary, Commander Zane, which was to sail
+for Corfu in the course of the month.
+
+Having thus prepared myself to obey my destiny, which, according to my
+superstitious feelings, called me imperiously to Constantinople, I went
+to St: Mark's Square in order to see and to be seen, enjoying by
+anticipation the surprise of my acquaintances at not finding me any
+longer an abbe. I must not forget to state that at Revero I had decorated
+my hat with a red cockade.
+
+I thought that my first visit was, by right, due to the Abbe Grimani. The
+moment he saw me he raised a perfect shriek of astonishment, for he
+thought I was still with Cardinal Acquaviva, on the road to a political
+career, and he saw standing before him a son of Mars. He had just left
+the dinner-table as I entered, and he had company. I observed amongst the
+guests an officer wearing the Spanish uniform, but I was not put out of
+countenance. I told the Abbe Grimani that I was only passing through
+Venice, and that I had felt it a duty and a pleasure to pay my respects
+to him.
+
+"I did not expect to see you in such a costume."
+
+"I have resolved to throw off the garb which could not procure me a
+fortune likely to satisfy my ambition."
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"To Constantinople; and I hope to find a quick passage to Corfu, as I
+have dispatches from Cardinal Acquaviva."
+
+"Where do you come from now?"
+
+"From the Spanish army, which I left ten days ago."
+
+These words were hardly spoken, when I heard the voice of a young
+nobleman exclaiming;
+
+"That is not true."
+
+"The profession to which I belong," I said to him with great animation,
+"does not permit me to let anyone give me the lie."
+
+And upon that, bowing all round, I went away, without taking any notice
+of those who were calling me back.
+
+I wore an uniform; it seemed to me that I was right in showing that
+sensitive and haughty pride which forms one of the characteristics of
+military men. I was no longer a priest: I could not bear being given the
+lie, especially when it had been given to me in so public a manner.
+
+I called upon Madame Manzoni, whom I was longing to see. She was very
+happy to see me, and did not fail to remind me of her prediction. I told
+her my history, which amused her much; but she said that if I went to
+Constantinople I should most likely never see her again.
+
+After my visit to Madame Manzoni I went to the house of Madame Orio,
+where I found worthy M. Rosa, Nanette, and Marton. They were all greatly
+surprised, indeed petrified at seeing me. The two lovely sisters looked
+more beautiful than ever, but I did not think it necessary to tell them
+the history of my nine months absence, for it would not have edified the
+aunt or pleased the nieces. I satisfied myself with telling them as much
+as I thought fit, and amused them for three hours. Seeing that the good
+old lady was carried away by her enthusiasm, I told her that I should be
+very happy to pass under her roof the four or five weeks of my stay in
+Venice, if she could give me a room and supper, but on condition that I
+should not prove a burden to her or to her charming nieces.
+
+"I should be only too happy," she answered, "to have you so long, but I
+have no room to offer you."
+
+"Yes, you have one, my dear," exclaimed M. Rosa, "and I undertake to put
+it to rights within two hours."
+
+It was the room adjoining the chamber of the two sisters. Nanette said
+immediately that she would come downstairs with her sister, but Madame
+Orio answered that it was unnecessary, as they could lock themselves in
+their room.
+
+"There would be no need for them to do that, madam," I said, with a
+serious and modest air; "and if I am likely to occasion the slightest
+disturbance, I can remain at the inn."
+
+"There will be no disturbance whatever; but forgive my nieces, they are
+young prudes, and have a very high opinion of themselves:"
+
+Everything being satisfactorily arranged, I forced upon Madame Orio a
+payment of fifteen sequins in advance, assuring her that I was rich, and
+that I had made a very good bargain, as I should spend a great deal more
+if I kept my room at the inn. I added that I would send my luggage, and
+take up my quarters in her house on the following day. During the whole
+of the conversation, I could see the eyes of my two dear little wives
+sparkling with pleasure, and they reconquered all their influence over my
+heart in spite of my love for Therese, whose image was, all the same,
+brilliant in my soul: this was a passing infidelity, but not inconstancy.
+
+On the following day I called at the war office, but, to avoid every
+chance of unpleasantness, I took care to remove my cockade. I found in
+the office Major Pelodoro, who could not control his joy when he saw me
+in a military uniform, and hugged me with delight. As soon as I had
+explained to him that I wanted to go to Constantinople, and that,
+although in uniform, I was free, he advised me earnestly to seek the
+favour of going to Turkey with the bailo, who intended to leave within
+two months, and even to try to obtain service in the Venetian army.
+
+His advice suited me exactly, and the secretary of war, who had known me
+the year before, happening to see me, summoned me to him. He told me that
+he had received letters from Bologna which had informed him of a certain
+adventure entirely to my honour, adding that he knew that I would not
+acknowledge it. He then asked me if I had received my discharge before
+leaving the Spanish army.
+
+"I could not receive my discharge, as I was never in the service."
+
+"And how did you manage to come to Venice without performing quarantine?"
+
+"Persons coming from Mantua are not subject to it."
+
+"True; but I advise you to enter the Venetian service like Major
+Pelodoro."
+
+As I was leaving the ducal palace, I met the Abbe Grimani who told me
+that the abrupt manner in which I had left his house had displeased
+everybody.
+
+"Even the Spanish officer?"
+
+"No, for he remarked that, if you had truly been with the army, you could
+not act differently, and he has himself assured me that you were there,
+and to prove what he asserted he made me read an article in the
+newspaper, in which it is stated that you killed your captain in a duel.
+Of course it is only a fable?"
+
+"How do you know that it is not a fact?"
+
+"Is it true, then?"
+
+"I do not say so, but it may be true, quite as true as my having been
+with the Spanish army ten days ago."
+
+"But that is impossible, unless you have broken through the quarantine."
+
+"I have broken nothing. I have openly crossed the Po at Revero, and here
+I am. I am sorry not to be able to present myself at your excellency's
+palace, but I cannot do so until I have received the most complete
+satisfaction from the person who has given me the lie. I could put up
+with an insult when I wore the livery of humility, but I cannot bear one
+now that I wear the garb of honour."
+
+"You are wrong to take it in such a high tone. The person who attacked
+your veracity is M. Valmarana, the proveditore of the sanitary
+department, and he contends that, as nobody can pass through the cordon,
+it would be impossible for you to be here. Satisfaction, indeed! Have you
+forgotten who you are?"
+
+"No, I know who I am; and I know likewise that, if I was taken for a
+coward before leaving Venice, now that I have returned no one shall
+insult me without repenting it."
+
+"Come and dine with me."
+
+"No, because the Spanish officer would know it."
+
+"He would even see you, for he dines with me every day."
+
+"Very well, then I will go, and I will let him be the judge of my quarrel
+with M. Valmarana."
+
+I dined that day with Major Pelodoro and several other officers, who
+agreed in advising me to enter the service of the Republic, and I
+resolved to do so. "I am acquainted," said the major, "with a young
+lieutenant whose health is not sufficiently strong to allow him to go to
+the East, and who would be glad to sell his commission, for which he
+wants one hundred sequins. But it would be necessary to obtain the
+consent of the secretary of war." "Mention the matter to him," I replied,
+"the one hundred sequins are ready." The major undertook the commission.
+
+In the evening I went to Madame Orio, and I found myself very comfortably
+lodged. After supper, the aunt told her nieces to shew me, to my room,
+and, as may well be supposed, we spent a most delightful night. After
+that they took the agreeable duty by turns, and in order to avoid any
+surprise in case the aunt should take it into her head to pay them a
+visit, we skilfully displaced a part of the partition, which allowed them
+to come in and out of my room without opening the door. But the good lady
+believed us three living specimens of virtue, and never thought of
+putting us to the test.
+
+Two or three days afterwards, M. Grimani contrived an interview between
+me and M. Valmarana, who told me that, if he had been aware that the
+sanitary line could be eluded, he would never have impugned my veracity,
+and thanked me for the information I had given him. The affair was thus
+agreeably arranged, and until my departure I honoured M. Grimani's
+excellent dinner with my presence every day.
+
+Towards the end of the month I entered the service of the Republic in the
+capacity of ensign in the Bala regiment, then at Corfu; the young man who
+had left the regiment through the magical virtue of my one hundred
+sequins was lieutenant, but the secretary of war objected to my having
+that rank for reasons to which I had to submit, if I wished to enter the
+army; but he promised me that, at the end of the year, I would be
+promoted to the grade of lieutenant, and he granted me a furlough to go
+to Constantinople. I accepted, for I was determined to serve in the army.
+
+M. Pierre Vendramin, an illustrious senator, obtained me the favour of a
+passage to Constantinople with the Chevalier Venier, who was proceeding
+to that city in the quality of bailo, but as he would arrive in Corfu a
+month after me, the chevalier very kindly promised to take me as he
+called at Corfu.
+
+A few days before my departure, I received a letter from Therese, who
+informed me that the Duke de Castropignano escorted her everywhere. "The
+duke is old," she wrote, "but even if he were young, you would have no
+cause for uneasiness on my account. Should you ever want any money, draw
+upon me from any place where you may happen to be, and be quite certain
+that your letters of exchange will be paid, even if I had to sell
+everything I possess to honour your signature."
+
+There was to be another passenger on board the ship of the line on which
+I had engaged my passage, namely, a noble Venetian, who was going to
+Zante in the quality of counsellor, with a numerous and brilliant
+retinue. The captain of the ship told me that, if I was obliged to take
+my meals alone, I was not likely to fare very well, and he advised me to
+obtain an introduction to the nobleman, who would not fail to invite me
+to share his table. His name was Antonio Dolfin, and he had been
+nicknamed Bucentoro, in consequence of his air of grandeur and the
+elegance of his toilet. Fortunately I did not require to beg an
+introduction, for M. Grimani offered, of his own accord, to present me to
+the magnificent councillor, who received me in the kindest manner, and
+invited me at once to take my meals at his table. He expressed a desire
+that I should make the acquaintance of his wife, who was to accompany him
+in the journey. I called upon her the next day, and I found a lady
+perfect in manners, but already of a certain age and completely deaf. I
+had therefore but little pleasure to expect from her conversation. She
+had a very charming young daughter whom she left in a convent. She became
+celebrated afterwards, and she is still alive, I believe, the widow of
+Procurator Iron, whose family is extinct.
+
+I have seldom seen a finer-looking man, or a man of more imposing
+appearance than M. Dolfin. He was eminently distinguished for his wit and
+politeness. He was eloquent, always cheerful when he lost at cards, the
+favourite of ladies, whom he endeavoured to please in everything, always
+courageous, and of an equal temper, whether in good or in adverse
+fortune.
+
+He had ventured on travelling without permission, and had entered a
+foreign service, which had brought him into disgrace with the government,
+for a noble son of Venice cannot be guilty of a greater crime. For this
+offence he had been imprisoned in the Leads--a favour which destiny kept
+also in reserve for me.
+
+Highly gifted, generous, but not wealthy, M. Dolfin had been compelled to
+solicit from the Grand Council a lucrative governorship, and had been
+appointed to Zante; but he started with such a splendid suite that he was
+not likely to save much out of his salary. Such a man as I have just
+portrayed could not make a fortune in Venice, because an aristocratic
+government can not obtain a state of lasting, steady peace at home unless
+equality is maintained amongst the nobility, and equality, either moral
+or physical, cannot be appreciated in any other way than by appearances.
+The result is that the man who does not want to lay himself open to
+persecution, and who happens to be superior or inferior to the others,
+must endeavour to conceal it by all possible means. If he is ambitious,
+he must feign great contempt for dignities; if he seeks employment, he
+must not appear to want any; if his features are handsome, he must be
+careless of his physical appearance; he must dress badly, wear nothing in
+good taste, ridicule every foreign importation, make his bow without
+grace, be careless in his manner; care nothing for the fine arts, conceal
+his good breeding, have no foreign cook, wear an uncombed wig, and look
+rather dirty. M. Dolfin was not endowed with any of those eminent
+qualities, and therefore he had no hope of a great fortune in his native
+country.
+
+The day before my departure from Venice I did not go out; I devoted the
+whole of the day to friendship. Madame Orio and her lovely nieces shed
+many tears, and I joined them in that delightful employment. During the
+last night that I spent with both of them, the sisters repeated over and
+over, in the midst of the raptures of love, that they never would see me
+again. They guessed rightly; but if they had happened to see me again
+they would have guessed wrongly. Observe how wonderful prophets are!
+
+I went on board, on the 5th of May, with a good supply of clothing,
+jewels, and ready cash. Our ship carried twenty-four guns and two hundred
+Sclavonian soldiers. We sailed from Malamacca to the shores of Istria
+during the night, and we came to anchor in the harbour of Orsera to take
+ballast. I landed with several others to take a stroll through the
+wretched place where I had spent three days nine months before, a
+recollection which caused me a pleasant sensation when I compared my
+present position to what it was at that time. What a difference in
+everything--health, social condition, and money! I felt quite certain
+that in the splendid uniform I was now wearing nobody would recognize the
+miserable-looking abbe who, but for Friar Stephano, would have
+become--God knows what!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+An Amusing Meeting in Orsera--Journey to Corfu--My Stay in
+Constantinople--Bonneval--My Return to Corfu--Madame F.--The False
+Prince--I Run Away from Corfu--My Frolics at Casopo--I Surrender My self
+a Prisoner--My Speedy Release and Triumph--My Success with Madame F.
+
+I affirm that a stupid servant is more dangerous than a bad one, and a
+much greater plague, for one can be on one's guard against a wicked
+person, but never against a fool. You can punish wickedness but not
+stupidity, unless you send away the fool, male or female, who is guilty
+of it, and if you do so you generally find out that the change has only
+thrown you out of the frying-pan into the fire.
+
+This chapter and the two following ones were written; they gave at full
+length all the particulars which I must now abridge, for my silly servant
+has taken the three chapters for her own purposes. She pleaded as an
+excuse that the sheets of paper were old, written upon, covered with
+scribbling and erasures, and that she had taken them in preference to
+nice, clean paper, thinking that I would care much more for the last than
+for the first. I flew into a violent passion, but I was wrong, for the
+poor girl had acted with a good intent; her judgment alone had misled
+her. It is well known that the first result of anger is to deprive the
+angry man of the faculty of reason, for anger and reason do not belong to
+the same family. Luckily, passion does not keep me long under its sway:
+'Irasci, celerem tamen et placabilem esse'. After I had wasted my time in
+hurling at her bitter reproaches, the force of which did not strike her,
+and in proving to her that she was a stupid fool, she refuted all my
+arguments by the most complete silence. There was nothing to do but to
+resign myself, and, although not yet in the best of tempers, I went to
+work. What I am going to write will probably not be so good as what I had
+composed when I felt in the proper humour, but my readers must be
+satisfied with it they will, like the engineer, gain in time what they
+lose in strength.
+
+I landed at Orsera while our ship was taking ballast, as a ship cannot
+sail well when she is too light, and I was walking about when I remarked
+a man who was looking at me very attentively. As I had no dread of any
+creditor, I thought that he was interested by my fine appearance; I could
+not find fault with such a feeling, and kept walking on, but as I passed
+him, he addressed me:
+
+"Might I presume to enquire whether this is your first visit to Orsera,
+captain?"
+
+"No, sir, it is my second visit to this city."
+
+"Were you not here last year?"
+
+"I was."
+
+"But you were not in uniform then?"
+
+"True again; but your questions begin to sound rather indiscreet."
+
+"Be good enough to forgive me, sir, for my curiosity is the offspring of
+gratitude. I am indebted to you for the greatest benefits, and I trust
+that Providence has brought you here again only to give me the
+opportunity of making greater still my debt of gratitude to you."
+
+"What on earth have I done, and what can I do for you? I am at a loss to
+guess your meaning."
+
+"Will you be so kind as to come and breakfast with me? My house is near
+at hand; my refosco is delicious, please to taste it, and I will convince
+you in a few words that you are truly my benefactor, and that I have a
+right to expect that you have returned Orsera to load me with fresh
+benefits."
+
+I could not suspect the man of insanity; but, as I could not make him
+out, I fancied that he wanted to make me purchase some of his refosco,
+and I accepted his invitation. We went up to his room, and he left me for
+a few moments to order breakfast. I observed several surgical
+instruments, which made me suppose that he was a surgeon, and I asked him
+when he returned.
+
+"Yes, captain; I have been practising surgery in this place for twenty
+years, and in a very poor way, for I had nothing to do, except a few
+cases of bleeding, of cupping, and occasionally some slight excoriation
+to dress or a sprained ankle to put to rights. I did not earn even the
+poorest living. But since last year a great change has taken place; I
+have made a good deal of money, I have laid it out advantageously, and it
+is to you, captain, to you (may God bless you!) that I am indebted for my
+present comforts."
+
+"But how so?"
+
+"In this way, captain. You had a connection with Don Jerome's
+housekeeper, and you left her, when you went away, a certain souvenir
+which she communicated to a friend of hers, who, in perfect good faith,
+made a present of it to his wife. This lady did not wish, I suppose, to
+be selfish, and she gave the souvenir to a libertine who, in his turn,
+was so generous with it that, in less than a month, I had about fifty
+clients. The following months were not less fruitful, and I gave the
+benefit of my attendance to everybody, of course, for a consideration.
+There are a few patients still under my care, but in a short time there
+will be no more, as the souvenir left by you has now lost all its virtue.
+You can easily realize now the joy I felt when I saw you; you are a bird
+of good omen. May I hope that your visit will last long enough to enable
+you to renew the source of my fortune?"
+
+I laughed heartily, but he was grieved to hear that I was in excellent
+health. He remarked, however, that I was not likely to be so well off on
+my return, because, in the country to which I was going, there was
+abundance of damaged goods, but that no one knew better than he did how
+to root out the venom left by the use of such bad merchandise. He begged
+that I would depend upon him, and not trust myself in the hands of
+quacks, who would be sure to palm their remedies upon me. I promised him
+everything, and, taking leave of him with many thanks, I returned to the
+ship. I related the whole affair to M. Dolfin, who was highly amused. We
+sailed on the following day, but on the fourth day, on the other side of
+Curzola, we were visited by a storm which very nearly cost me my life.
+This is how it happened:
+
+The chaplain of the ship was a Sclavonian priest, very ignorant, insolent
+and coarse-mannered, and, as I turned him into ridicule whenever the
+opportunity offered, he had naturally become my sworn enemy. 'Tant de
+fiel entre-t-il dans l'ame d'un devot!' When the storm was at its height,
+he posted himself on the quarter-deck, and, with book in hand, proceeded
+to exorcise all the spirits of hell whom he thought he could see in the
+clouds, and to whom he pointed for the benefit of the sailors who,
+believing themselves lost, were crying, howling, and giving way to
+despair, instead of attending to the working of the ship, then in great
+danger on account of the rocks and of the breakers which surrounded us.
+
+Seeing the peril of our position, and the evil effect of his stupid,
+incantations upon the minds of the sailors whom the ignorant priest was
+throwing into the apathy of despair, instead of keeping up their courage,
+I thought it prudent to interfere. I went up the rigging, calling upon
+the sailors to do their duty cheerfully, telling them that there were no
+devils, and that the priest who pretended to see them was a fool. But it
+was in vain that I spoke in the most forcible manner, in vain that I went
+to work myself, and shewed that safety was only to be insured by active
+means, I could not prevent the priest declaring that I was an Atheist,
+and he managed to rouse against me the anger of the greatest part of the
+crew. The wind continued to lash the sea into fury for the two following
+days, and the knave contrived to persuade the sailors who listened to him
+that the hurricane would not abate as long as I was on board. Imbued with
+that conviction, one of the men, thinking he had found a good opportunity
+of fulfilling the wishes of the priest, came up to me as I was standing
+at the extreme end of the forecastle, and pushed me so roughly that I was
+thrown over. I should have been irretrievably lost, but the sharp point
+of an anchor, hanging along the side of the ship, catching in my clothes,
+prevented me from falling in the sea, and proved truly my sheet-anchor.
+Some men came to my assistance, and I was saved. A corporal then pointed
+out to me the sailor who had tried to murder me, and taking a stout stick
+I treated the scoundrel to a sound thrashing; but the sailors, headed by
+the furious priest, rushed towards us when they heard his screams, and I
+should have been killed if the soldiers had not taken my part. The
+commander and M. Dolfin then came on deck, but they were compelled to
+listen to the chaplain, and to promise, in order to pacify the vile
+rabble, that they would land me at the first opportunity. But even this
+was not enough; the priest demanded that I should give up to him a
+certain parchment that I had purchased from a Greek at Malamocco just
+before sailing. I had no recollection of it, but it was true. I laughed,
+and gave it to M. Dolfin; he handed it to the fanatic chaplain, who,
+exulting in his victory, called for a large pan of live coals from the
+cook's galley, and made an auto-da-fe of the document. The unlucky
+parchment, before it was entirely consumed, kept writhing on the fire for
+half an hour, and the priest did not fail to represent those contortions
+as a miracle, and all the sailors were sure that it was an infernal
+manuscript given to me by the devil. The virtue claimed for that piece of
+parchment by the man who had sold it to me was that it insured its lucky
+possessor the love of all women, but I trust my readers will do me the
+justice to believe that I had no faith whatever in amorous philtres,
+talismans, or amulets of any kind: I had purchased it only for a joke.
+
+You can find throughout Italy, in Greece, and generally in every country
+the inhabitants of which are yet wrapped up in primitive ignorance, a
+tribe of Greeks, of Jews, of astronomers, and of exorcists, who sell
+their dupes rags and toys to which they boastingly attach wonderful
+virtues and properties; amulets which render invulnerable, scraps of
+cloth which defend from witchcraft, small bags filled with drugs to keep
+away goblins, and a thousand gewgaws of the same description. These
+wonderful goods have no marketable value whatever in France, in England,
+in Germany, and throughout the north of Europe generally, but, in
+revenge, the inhabitants of those countries indulge in knavish practices
+of a much worse kind.
+
+The storm abated just as the innocent parchment was writhing on the fire,
+and the sailors, believing that the spirits of hell had been exorcised,
+thought no more of getting rid of my person, and after a prosperous
+voyage of a week we cast anchor at Corfu. As soon as I had found a
+comfortable lodging I took my letters to his eminence the
+proveditore-generale, and to all the naval commanders to whom I was
+recommended; and after paying my respects to my colonel, and making the
+acquaintance of the officers of my regiment, I prepared to enjoy myself
+until the arrival of the Chevalier Venier, who had promised to take me to
+Constantinople. He arrived towards the middle of June, but in the mean
+time I had been playing basset, and had lost all my money, and sold or
+pledged all my jewellery.
+
+Such must be the fate awaiting every man who has a taste for gambling,
+unless he should know how to fix fickle fortune by playing with a real
+advantage derived from calculation or from adroitness, which defies
+chance. I think that a cool and prudent player can manage both without
+exposing himself to censure, or deserving to be called a cheat.
+
+During the month that I spent in Corfu, waiting for the arrival of M.
+Venier, I did not devote any time to the study, either moral or physical,
+of the country, for, excepting the days on which I was on duty, I passed
+my life at the coffee-house, intent upon the game, and sinking, as a
+matter of course, under the adverse fortune which I braved with
+obstinacy. I never won, and I had not the moral strength to stop till all
+my means were gone. The only comfort I had, and a sorry one truly, was to
+hear the banker himself call me--perhaps sarcastically--a fine player,
+every time I lost a large stake. My misery was at its height, when new
+life was infused in me by the booming of the guns fired in honour of the
+arrival of the bailo. He was on board the Europa, a frigate of
+seventy-two guns, and he had taken only eight days to sail from Venice to
+Corfu. The moment he cast anchor, the bailo hoisted his flag of
+captain-general of the Venetian navy, and the proveditore hauled down his
+own colours. The Republic of Venice has not on the sea any authority
+greater than that of Bailo to the Porte. The Chevalier Venier had with
+him a distinguished and brilliant suite; Count Annibal Gambera, Count
+Charles Zenobio, both Venetian noblemen of the first class, and the
+Marquis d'Anchotti of Bressan, accompanied him to Constantinople for
+their own amusement. The bailo remained a week in Corfu, and all the
+naval authorities entertained him and his suite in turn, so that there
+was a constant succession of balls and suppers. When I presented myself
+to his excellency, he informed me that he had already spoken to the
+proveditore, who had granted me a furlough of six months to enable me to
+accompany him to Constantinople as his adjutant; and as soon as the
+official document for my furlough had been delivered to me, I sent my
+small stock of worldly goods on board the Europa, and we weighed anchor
+early the next day.
+
+We sailed with a favourable wind which remained steady and brought us in
+six days to Cerigo, where we stopped to take in some water. Feeling some
+curiosity to visit the ancient Cythera, I went on shore with the sailors
+on duty, but it would have been better for me if I had remained on board,
+for in Cerigo I made a bad acquaintance. I was accompanied by the captain
+of marines.
+
+The moment we set foot on shore, two men, very poorly dressed and of
+unprepossessing appearance, came to us and begged for assistance. I asked
+them who they were, and one, quicker than the other, answered;
+
+"We are sentenced to live, and perhaps to die, in this island by the
+despotism of the Council of Ten. There are forty others as unfortunate as
+ourselves, and we are all born subjects of the Republic.
+
+"The crime of which we have been accused, which is not considered a crime
+anywhere, is that we were in the habit of living with our mistresses,
+without being jealous of our friends, when, finding our ladies handsome,
+they obtained their favours with our ready consent. As we were not rich,
+we felt no remorse in availing ourselves of the generosity of our friends
+in such cases, but it was said that we were carrying on an illicit trade,
+and we have been sent to this place, where we receive every day ten sous
+in 'moneta lunga'. We are called 'mangia-mayroni', and are worse off than
+galley slaves, for we are dying of ennui, and we are often starving
+without knowing how to stay our hunger. My name is Don Antonio Pocchini,
+I am of a noble Paduan family, and my mother belongs to the illustrious
+family of Campo San-Piero."
+
+We gave them some money, and went about the island, returning to the ship
+after we had visited the fortress. I shall have to speak of that Pocchini
+in a few years.
+
+The wind continued in our favour, and we reached the Dardanelles in eight
+or ten days; the Turkish barges met us there to carry us to
+Constantinople. The sight offered by that city at the distance of a
+league is truly wonderful; and I believe that a more magnificent panorama
+cannot be found in any part of the world. It was that splendid view which
+was the cause of the fall of the Roman, and of the rise of the Greek
+empire. Constantine the Great, arriving at Byzantium by sea, was so much
+struck with the wonderful beauty of its position, that he exclaimed,
+"Here is the proper seat of the empire of the whole world!" and in order
+to secure the fulfilment of his prediction, he left Rome for Byzantium.
+If he had known the prophecy of Horace, or rather if he had believed in
+it, he would not have been guilty of such folly. The poet had said that
+the downfall of the Roman empire would begin only when one of the
+successors of Augustus bethought him removing the capital of the empire
+to where it had originated. The road is not far distant from Thrace.
+
+We arrived at the Venetian Embassy in Pera towards the middle of July,
+and, for a wonder, there was no talk of the plague in Constantinople just
+then. We were all provided with very comfortable lodgings, but the
+intensity of the heat induced the baili to seek for a little coolness in
+a country mansion which had been hired by the Bailo Dona. It was situated
+at Bouyoudere. The very first order laid upon me was never to go out
+unknown to the bailo, and without being escorted by a janissary, and this
+order I obeyed to the letter. In those days the Russians had not tamed
+the insolence of the Turkish people. I am told that foreigners can now go
+about as much as they please in perfect security.
+
+The day after our arrival, I took a janissary to accompany me to Osman
+Pacha, of Caramania, the name assumed by Count de Bonneval ever since he
+had adopted the turban. I sent in my letter, and was immediately shewn
+into an apartment on the ground floor, furnished in the French fashion,
+where I saw a stout elderly gentleman, dressed like a Frenchman, who, as
+I entered the room, rose, came to meet me with a smiling countenance, and
+asked me how he could serve the 'protege' of a cardinal of the Roman
+Catholic Church, which he could no longer call his mother. I gave him all
+the particulars of the circumstances which, in a moment of despair, had
+induced me to ask the cardinal for letters of introduction for
+Constantinople, and I added that, the letters once in my possession, my
+superstitious feelings had made me believe that I was bound to deliver
+them in person.
+
+"Then, without this letter," he said, "you never would have come to
+Constantinople, and you have no need of me?"
+
+"True, but I consider myself fortunate in having thus made the
+acquaintance of a man who has attracted the attention of the whole of
+Europe, and who still commands that attention."
+
+His excellency made some remark respecting the happiness of young men
+who, like me, without care, without any fixed purpose, abandon themselves
+to fortune with that confidence which knows no fear, and telling me that
+the cardinal's letter made it desirable that he should do something for
+me, he promised to introduce me to three or four of his Turkish friends
+who deserved to be known. He invited me to dine with him every Thursday,
+and undertook to send me a janissary who would protect me from the
+insults of the rabble and shew me everything worth seeing.
+
+The cardinal's letter representing me as a literary man, the pacha
+observed that I ought to see his library. I followed him through the
+garden, and we entered a room furnished with grated cupboards; curtains
+could be seen behind the wirework; the books were most likely behind the
+curtains.
+
+Taking a key out of his pocket, he opened one of the cupboards, and,
+instead of folios, I saw long rows of bottles of the finest wines. We
+both laughed heartily.
+
+"Here are," said the pacha, "my library and my harem. I am old, women
+would only shorten my life but good wine will prolong it, or at least,
+make it more agreeable.
+
+"I imagine your excellency has obtained a dispensation from the mufti?"
+
+"You are mistaken, for the Pope of the Turks is very far from enjoying as
+great a power as the Christian Pope. He cannot in any case permit what is
+forbidden by the Koran; but everyone is at liberty to work out his own
+damnation if he likes. The Turkish devotees pity the libertines, but they
+do not persecute them; there is no inquisition in Turkey. Those who do
+not know the precepts of religion, say the Turks, will suffer enough in
+the life to come; there is no need to make them suffer in this life. The
+only dispensation I have asked and obtained, has been respecting
+circumcision, although it can hardly be called so, because, at my age, it
+might have proved dangerous. That ceremony is generally performed, but it
+is not compulsory."
+
+During the two hours that we spent together, the pacha enquired after
+several of his friends in Venice, and particularly after Marc Antonio
+Dieto. I told him that his friends were still faithful to their affection
+for him, and did not find fault with his apostasy. He answered that he
+was a Mahometan as he had been a Christian, and that he was not better
+acquainted with the Koran than he had been with the Gospel. "I am
+certain," he added, "that I shall die-calmer and much happier than Prince
+Eugene. I have had to say that God is God, and that Mahomet is the
+prophet. I have said it, and the Turks care very little whether I believe
+it or not. I wear the turban as the soldier wears the uniform. I was
+nothing but a military man; I could not have turned my hand to any other
+profession, and I made up my mind to become lieutenant-general of the
+Grand Turk only when I found myself entirely at a loss how to earn my
+living. When I left Venice, the pitcher had gone too often to the well,
+it was broken at last, and if the Jews had offered me the command of an
+army of fifty thousand men, I would have gone and besieged Jerusalem."
+
+Bonneval was handsome, but too stout. He had received a sabre-cut in the
+lower part of the abdomen, which compelled him to wear constantly a
+bandage supported by a silver plate. He had been exiled to Asia, but only
+for a short time, for, as he told me, the cabals are not so tenacious in
+Turkey as they are in Europe, and particularly at the court of Vienna. As
+I was taking leave of him, he was kind enough to say that, since his
+arrival in Turkey, he had never passed two hours as pleasantly as those
+he had just spent with me, and that he would compliment the bailo about
+me.
+
+The Bailo Dona, who had known him intimately in Venice, desired me to be
+the bearer of all his friendly compliments for him, and M. Venier
+expressed his deep regret at not being able to make his acquaintance.
+
+The second day after my first visit to him being a Thursday, the pacha
+did not forget to send a janissary according to his promise. It was about
+eleven in the morning when the janissary called for me, I followed him,
+and this time I found Bonneval dressed in the Turkish style. His guests
+soon arrived, and we sat down to dinner, eight of us, all well disposed
+to be cheerful and happy. The dinner was entirely French, in cooking and
+service; his steward and his cook were both worthy French renegades.
+
+He had taken care to introduce me to all his guests and at the same time
+to let me know who they were, but he did not give me an opportunity of
+speaking before dinner was nearly over. The conversation was entirely
+kept up in Italian, and I remarked that the Turks did not utter a single
+word in their own language, even to say the most ordinary thing. Each
+guest had near him a bottle which might have contained either white wine
+or hydromel; all I know is that I drank, as well as M. de Bonneval, next
+to whom I was seated, some excellent white Burgundy.
+
+The guests got me on the subject of Venice, and particularly of Rome, and
+the conversation very naturally fell upon religion, but not upon dogmatic
+questions; the discipline of religion and liturgical questions were alone
+discussed.
+
+One of the guests, who was addressed as effendi, because he had been
+secretary for foreign affairs, said that the ambassador from Venice to
+Rome was a friend of his, and he spoke of him in the highest manner. I
+told him that I shared his admiration for that ambassador, who had given
+me a letter of introduction for a Turkish nobleman, whom he had
+represented as an intimate friend. He enquired for the name of the person
+to whom the letter was addressed, but I could not recollect it, and took
+the letter out of my pocket-book. The effendi was delighted when he found
+that the letter was for himself. He begged leave to read it at once, and
+after he had perused it, he kissed the signature and came to embrace me.
+This scene pleased M. de Bonneval and all his friends. The effendi, whose
+name was Ismail, entreated the pacha to come to dine with him, and to
+bring me; Bonneval accepted, and fixed a day.
+
+Notwithstanding all the politeness of the effendi, I was particularly
+interested during our charming dinner in a fine elderly man of about
+sixty, whose countenance breathed at the same time the greatest sagacity
+and the most perfect kindness. Two years afterwards I found again the
+same features on the handsome face of M. de Bragadin, a Venetian senator
+of whom I shall have to speak at length when we come to that period of my
+life. That elderly gentleman had listened to me with the greatest
+attention, but without uttering one word. In society, a man whose face
+and general appearance excite your interest, stimulates strongly your
+curiosity if he remains silent. When we left the dining-room I enquired
+from de Bonneval who he was; he answered that he was wealthy, a
+philosopher, a man of acknowledged merit, of great purity of morals, and
+strongly attached to his religion. He advised me to cultivate his
+acquaintance if he made any advances to me.
+
+I was pleased with his advice, and when, after a walk under the shady
+trees of the garden, we returned to a drawing-room furnished in the
+Turkish fashion, I purposely took a seat near Yusuf Ali. Such was the
+name of the Turk for whom I felt so much sympathy. He offered me his pipe
+in a very graceful manner; I refused it politely, and took one brought to
+me by one of M. de Bonneval's servants. Whenever I have been amongst
+smokers I have smoked or left the room; otherwise I would have fancied
+that I was swallowing the smoke of the others, and that idea which is
+true and unpleasant, disgusted me. I have never been able to understand
+how in Germany the ladies, otherwise so polite and delicate, could inhale
+the suffocating fumes of a crowd of smokers.
+
+Yusuf, pleased to have me near him, at once led the conversation to
+subjects similar to those which had been discussed at table, and
+particularly to the reasons which had induced me to give up the peaceful
+profession of the Church and to choose a military life; and in order to
+gratify his curiosity without losing his good opinion, I gave him, but
+with proper caution, some of the particulars of my life, for I wanted him
+to be satisfied that, if I had at first entered the career of the holy
+priesthood, it had not been through any vocation of mine. He seemed
+pleased with my recital, spoke of natural vocations as a Stoic
+philosopher, and I saw that he was a fatalist; but as I was careful not
+to attack his system openly, he did not dislike my objections, most
+likely because he thought himself strong enough to overthrow them.
+
+I must have inspired the honest Mussulman with very great esteem, for he
+thought me worthy of becoming his disciple; it was not likely that he
+could entertain the idea of becoming himself the disciple of a young man
+of nineteen, lost, as he thought, in a false religion.
+
+After spending an hour in examining me, in listening to my principles, he
+said that he believed me fit to know the real truth, because he saw that
+I was seeking for it, and that I was not certain of having obtained it so
+far. He invited me to come and spend a whole day with him, naming the
+days when I would be certain to find him at home, but he advised me to
+consult the Pacha Osman before accepting his invitation. I told him that
+the pacha had already mentioned him to me and had spoken very highly of
+his character; he seemed much pleased. I fixed a day for my visit, and
+left him.
+
+I informed M. de Bonneval of all that had occurred; he was delighted, and
+promised that his janissary would be every day at the Venetian palace,
+ready to execute my orders.
+
+I received the congratulations of the baili upon the excellent
+acquaintances I had already made, and M. Venier advised me not to neglect
+such friends in a country where weariness of life was more deadly to
+foreigners than the plague.
+
+On the day appointed, I went early to Yusuf's palace, but he was out. His
+gardener, who had received his instructions, shewed me every attention,
+and entertained me very agreeably for two hours in doing the honours of
+his master's splendid garden, where I found the most beautiful flowers.
+This gardener was a Neapolitan, and had belonged to Yusuf for thirty
+years. His manners made me suspect that he was well born and well
+educated, but he told me frankly that he had never been taught even to
+read, that he was a sailor when he, was taken in slavery, and that he was
+so happy in the service of Yusuf that liberty would be a punishment to
+him. Of course I did not venture to address him any questions about his
+master, for his reserve might have put my curiosity to the blush.
+
+Yusuf had gone out on horseback; he returned, and, after the usual
+compliments, we dined alone in a summerhouse, from which we had a fine
+view of the sea, and in which the heat was cooled by a delightful breeze,
+which blows regularly at the same hour every day from the north-west; and
+is called the mistral. We had a good dinner; there was no prepared dish
+except the cauroman, a peculiar delicacy of the Turks. I drank water and
+hydromel, and I told Yusuf that I preferred the last to wine, of which I
+never took much at that time. "Your hydromel," I said, "is very good, and
+the Mussulmans who offend against the law by drinking wine do not deserve
+any indulgence; I believe they drink wine only because it is forbidden."
+"Many of the true believers," he answered, "think that they can take it
+as a medicine. The Grand Turk's physician has brought it into vogue as a
+medicine, and it has been the cause of his fortune, for he has captivated
+the favour of his master who is in reality constantly ill, because he is
+always in a state of intoxication." I told Yusuf that in my country
+drunkards were scarce, and that drunkenness was a vice to be found only
+among the lowest people; he was much astonished. "I cannot understand,"
+he said, "why wine is allowed by all religions, when its use deprives man
+of his reason."--"All religions," I answered, "forbid excess in drinking
+wine, and the crime is only in the abuse." I proved him the truth of what
+I had said by telling him that opium produced the same results as wine,
+but more powerfully, and consequently Mahomet ought to have forbidden the
+use of it. He observed that he had never taken either wine or opium in
+the course of his life.
+
+After dinner, pipes were brought in and we filled them ourselves. I was
+smoking with pleasure, but, at the same time, was expectorating. Yusuf,
+who smoked like a Turk, that is to say, without spitting, said,--
+
+"The tobacco you are now smoking is of a very fine quality, and you ought
+to swallow its balsam which is mixed with the saliva."
+
+"I suppose you are right; smoking cannot be truly enjoyed without the
+best tobacco."
+
+"That is true to a certain extent, but the enjoyment found in smoking
+good tobacco is not the principal pleasure, because it only pleases our
+senses; true enjoyment is that which works upon the soul, and is
+completely independent of the senses."
+
+"I cannot realize pleasures enjoyed by the soul without the
+instrumentality of the senses."
+
+"Listen to me. When you fill your pipe do you feel any pleasure?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Whence does that pleasure arise, if it is not from your soul? Let us go
+further. Do you not feel pleased when you give up your pipe after having
+smoked all the tobacco in it--when you see that nothing is left but some
+ashes?"
+
+"It is true."
+
+"Well, there are two pleasures in which your senses have certainly
+nothing to do, but I want you to guess the third, and the most
+essential."
+
+"The most essential? It is the perfume."
+
+"No; that is a pleasure of the organ of smelling--a sensual pleasure."
+
+"Then I do not know."
+
+"Listen. The principal pleasure derived from tobacco smoking is the sight
+of a smoke itself. You must never see it go out of the bowl of your
+pipe,--but only from the corner o your mouth, at regular intervals which
+must not be too frequent. It is so truly the greatest pleasure connected
+with the pipe, that you cannot find anywhere a blind man who smokes. Try
+yourself the experiment of smoking a pipe in your room, at night and
+without a light; you will soon lay the pipe down."
+
+"It is all perfectly true; yet you must forgive me if I give the
+preference to several pleasures, in which my senses are interested, over
+those which afford enjoyment only to my soul."
+
+"Forty years ago I was of the same opinion, and in forty years, if you
+succeed in acquiring wisdom, you will think like me. Pleasures which give
+activity to our senses, my dear son, disturb the repose of our soul--a
+proof that they do not deserve the name of real enjoyments."
+
+"But if I feel them to be real enjoyments, it is enough to prove that
+they are truly so."
+
+"Granted; but if you would take the trouble of analyzing them after you
+have tasted them, you would not find them unalloyed."
+
+"It may be so, but why should I take a trouble which would only lessen my
+enjoyment."
+
+"A time will come when you will feel pleasure in that very trouble."
+
+"It strikes me, dear father, that you prefer mature age to youth."
+
+"You may boldly say old age."
+
+"You surprise me. Must I believe that your early life has been unhappy?"
+
+"Far from it. It was always fortunate in good health, and the master of
+my own passions; but all I saw in my equals was for me a good school in
+which I have acquired the knowledge of man, and learned the real road to
+happiness. The happiest of men is not the most voluptuous, but the one
+who knows how to choose the highest standards of voluptuousness, which
+can be found, I say again, not in the pleasures which excite our senses,
+but in those which give greater repose to the soul."
+
+"That is the voluptuousness which you consider unalloyed."
+
+"Yes, and such is the sight of a vast prairie all covered with grass. The
+green colour, so strongly recommended by our divine prophet, strikes my
+eyes, and at the same moment I feel that my soul is wrapped up in a calm
+so delightful that I fancy myself nearer the Creator. I enjoy the same
+peace, the same repose, when I am seated on the banks of a river, when I
+look upon the water so quiet, yet always moving, which flows constantly,
+yet never disappears from my sight, never loses any of its clearness in
+spite of its constant motion. It strikes me as the image of my own
+existence, and of the calm which I require for my life in order to reach,
+like the water I am gazing upon, the goal which I do not see, and which
+can only be found at the other end of the journey."
+
+Thus did the Turk reason, and we passed four hours in this sort of
+conversation. He had buried two wives, and he had two sons and one
+daughter. The eldest son, having received his patrimony, had established
+himself in the city of Salonica, where he was a wealthy merchant; the
+other was in the seraglio, in the service of the Grand Turk and his
+fortune was in the hands of a trustee. His daughter, Zelmi, then fifteen
+years of age, was to inherit all his remaining property. He had given her
+all the accomplishments which could minister to the happiness of the man
+whom heaven had destined for her husband. We shall hear more of that
+daughter anon. The mother of the three children was dead, and five years
+previous to the time of my visit, Yusuf had taken another wife, a native
+of Scio, young and very beautiful, but he told me himself that he was now
+too old, and could not hope to have any child by her. Yet he was only
+sixty years of age. Before I left, he made me promise to spend at least
+one day every week with him.
+
+At supper, I told the baili how pleasantly the day had passed.
+
+"We envy you," they said, "the prospect you have before you of spending
+agreeably three or four months in this country, while, in our quality of
+ministers, we must pine away with melancholy."
+
+A few days afterwards, M. de Bonneval took me with him to dine at
+Ismail's house, where I saw Asiatic luxury on a grand scale, but there
+were a great many guests, and the conversation was held almost entirely
+in the Turkish language--a circumstance which annoyed me and M. de
+Bonneval also. Ismail saw it, and he invited me to breakfast whenever I
+felt disposed, assuring me that he would have much pleasure in receiving
+me. I accepted the invitation, and I went ten or twelve days afterwards.
+When we reach that period my readers must kindly accompany me to the
+breakfast. For the present I must return to Yusuf who, during my second
+visit, displayed a character which inspired, me with the greatest esteem
+and the warmest affection.
+
+We had dined alone as before, and, conversation happening to turn upon
+the fine arts, I gave my opinion upon one of the precepts in the Koran,
+by which the Mahometans are deprived of the innocent enjoyment of
+paintings and statues. He told me that Mahomet, a very sagacious
+legislator, had been right in removing all images from the sight of the
+followers of Islam.
+
+"Recollect, my son, that the nations to which the prophet brought the
+knowledge of the true God were all idolators. Men are weak; if the
+disciples of the prophet had continued to see the same objects, they
+might have fallen back into their former errors."
+
+"No one ever worshipped an image as an image; the deity of which the
+image is a representation is what is worshipped."
+
+"I may grant that, but God cannot be matter, and it is right to remove
+from the thoughts of the vulgar the idea of a material divinity. You are
+the only men, you Christians, who believe that you see God."
+
+"It is true, we are sure of it, but observe that faith alone gives us
+that certainty."
+
+"I know it; but you are idolators, for you see nothing but a material
+representation, and yet you have a complete certainty that you see God,
+unless you should tell me that faith disaffirms it."
+
+"God forbid I should tell you such a thing! Faith, on the contrary,
+affirms our certainty."
+
+"We thank God that we have no need of such self-delusion, and there is
+not one philosopher in the world who could prove to me that you require
+it."
+
+"That would not be the province of philosophy, dear father, but of
+theology--a very superior science."
+
+"You are now speaking the language of our theologians, who differ from
+yours only in this; they use their science to make clearer the truths we
+ought to know, whilst your theologians try to render those truths more
+obscure."
+
+"Recollect, dear father, that they are mysteries."
+
+"The existence of God is a sufficiently important mystery to prevent men
+from daring to add anything to it. God can only be simple; any kind of
+combination would destroy His essence; such is the God announced by our
+prophet, who must be the same for all men and in all times. Agree with me
+that we can add nothing to the simplicity of God. We say that God is one;
+that is the image of simplicity. You say that He is one and three at the
+same time, and such a definition strikes us as contradictory, absurd, and
+impious."
+
+"It is a mystery."
+
+"Do you mean God or the definition? I am speaking only of the definition,
+which ought not to be a mystery or absurd. Common sense, my son, must
+consider as absurd an assertion which substantiallv nonsensical. Prove to
+me that three is not a compound, that it cannot be a compound and I will
+become a Christian at once."
+
+"My religion tells me to believe without arguing, and I shudder, my dear
+Yusuf, when I think that, through some specious reasoning, I might be led
+to renounce the creed of my fathers. I first must be convinced that they
+lived in error. Tell me whether, respecting my father's memory, I ought
+to have such a good opinion of myself as to sit in judgement over him,
+with the intention of giving my sentence against him?"
+
+My lively remonstrance moved Yusuf deeply, but after a few instants of
+silence he said to me,--
+
+"With such feelings, my son, you are sure to find grace in the eyes of
+God, and you are, therefore, one of the elect. If you are in error, God
+alone can convince you of it, for no just man on earth can refute the
+sentiment you have just given expression to."
+
+We spoke of many other things in a friendly manner, and in the evening we
+parted with the often repeated assurance of the warmest affection and of
+the most perfect devotion.
+
+But my mind was full of our conversation, and as I went on pondering over
+the matter, I thought that Yusuf might be right in his opinion as to the
+essence of God, for it seemed evident that the Creator of all beings
+ought to be perfectly simple; but I thought at the same time how
+impossible it would be for me, because the Christian religion had made a
+mistake, to accept the Turkish creed, which might perhaps have just a
+conception of God, but which caused me to smile when I recollected that
+the man who had given birth to it had been an arrant imposter. I had not
+the slightest idea, however, that Yusuf wished to make a convert of me.
+
+The third time I dined with him religion was again the subject of
+conversation.
+
+"Do you believe, dear father, that the religion of Mahomet is the only
+one in which salvation can be secured?"
+
+"No, my dear son, I am not certain of it, and no man can have such a
+certainty; but I am sure that the Christian religion is not the true one,
+because it cannot be universal."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because there is neither bread nor wine to be found in three-fourths of
+the world. Observe that the precepts of the Koran can be followed
+everywhere."
+
+I did not know how to answer, and I would not equivocate.
+
+"If God cannot be matter," I said, "then He must be a spirit?"
+
+"We know what He is not but we do not know what He is: man cannot affirm
+that God is a spirit, because he can only realize the idea in an abstract
+manner. God immaterial; that is the extent of our knowledge and it can
+never be greater."
+
+I was reminded of Plato, who had said exactly the same an most certainly
+Yusuf never read Plato.
+
+He added that the existence of God could be useful only to those who did
+not entertain a doubt of that existence, and that, as a natural
+consequence, Atheists must be the most miserable of men. God has made in
+man His own image in order that, amongst all the animals created by Him,
+there should be one that can understand and confess the existence of the
+Creator. Without man, God would have no witness of His own glory, and man
+must therefore understand that his first and highest duty is to glorify
+God by practising justice and trusting to His providence.
+
+"Observe, my son, that God never abandons the man who, in the midst of
+misfortunes, falls down in prayer before Him, and that He often allows
+the wretch who has no faith in prayer to die miserably."
+
+"Yet we meet with Atheists who are fortunate and happy."
+
+"True; but, in spite of their tranquillity, I pity them because they have
+no hope beyond this life, and are on a level with animals. Besides, if
+they are philosophers, they must linger in dark ignorance, and, if they
+never think, they have no consolation, no resource, when adversity
+reaches them. God has made man in such a manner that he cannot be happy
+unless he entertains no doubt of the existence of his Divine Creator; in
+all stations of life man is naturally prone to believe in that existence,
+otherwise man would never have admitted one God, Creator of all beings
+and of all things."
+
+"I should like to know why Atheism has only existed in the systems of the
+learned, and never as a national creed."
+
+"Because the poor feel their wants much more than the rich, There are
+amongst us a great many impious men who deride the true believers because
+they have faith in the pilgrimage to Mecca. Wretches that they are, they
+ought to respect the ancient customs which, exciting the devotion of
+fervent souls, feed religious principles, and impart courage under all
+misfortunes. Without such consolation, people would give way to all the
+excess of despair."
+
+Much pleased with the attention I gave to all he said, Yusuf would thus
+yield to the inclination he felt to instruct me, and, on my side, feeling
+myself drawn towards him by the charm which amiable goodness exerts upon
+all hearts, I would often go and spend the day with him, even without any
+previous invitation, and Yusuf's friendship soon became one of my most
+precious treasures.
+
+One morning, I told my janissary to take me to the palace of Ismail
+Effendi, in order to fulfil my promise to breakfast with him. He gave me
+the most friendly welcome, and after an excellent breakfast he invited me
+to take a walk in his garden. We found there a pretty summer-house which
+we entered, and Ismail attempted some liberties which were not at all to
+my taste, and which I resented by rising in a very abrupt manner. Seeing
+that I was angry, the Turk affected to approve my reserve, and said that
+he had only been joking. I left him after a few minutes, with the
+intention of not visiting him again, but I was compelled to do so, as I
+will explain by-and-by.
+
+When I saw M. de Bonneval I told him what had happened and he said that,
+according to Turkish manners, Ismail had intended to give me a great
+proof of his friendship, but that I need not be afraid of the offence
+being repeated. He added that politeness required that I should visit him
+again, and that Ismail was, in spite of his failing, a perfect gentleman,
+who had at his disposal the most beautiful female slaves in Turkey.
+
+Five or six weeks after the commencement of our intimacy, Yusuf asked me
+one day whether I was married. I answered that I was not; the
+conversation turned upon several moral questions, and at last fell upon
+chastity, which, in his opinion, could be accounted a virtue only if
+considered from one point of view, namely, that of total abstinence, but
+he added that it could not be acceptable to God; because it transgressed
+against the very first precept He had given to man.
+
+"I would like to know, for instance," he said, "what name can be given to
+the chastity of your knights of Malta. They take a vow of chastity, but
+it does not mean that they will renounce women altogether, they renounce
+marriage only. Their chastity, and therefore chastity in general, is
+violated only by marriage; yet I observe that marriage is one of your
+sacraments. Therefore, those knights of Malta promise not to give way to
+lustful incontinence in the only case in which God might forgive it, but
+they reserve the license of being lustful unlawfully as often as they
+please, and whenever an opportunity may offer itself; and that immoral,
+illicit license is granted to them to such an extent, that they are
+allowed to acknowledge legally a child which can be born to them only
+through a double crime! The most revolting part of it all is that these
+children of crime, who are of course perfectly innocent themselves, are
+called natural children, as if children born in wedlock came into the
+world in an unnatural manner! In one word, my dear son, the vow of
+chastity is so much opposed to Divine precepts and to human nature that
+it can be agreeable neither to God nor to society, nor to those who
+pledge themselves to keep it, and being in such opposition to every
+divine and human law, it must be a crime."
+
+He enquired for the second time whether I was married; I replied in the
+negative, and added that I had no idea of ever getting married.
+
+"What!" he exclaimed; "I must then believe that you are not a perfect
+man, or that you intend to work out your own damnation; unless you should
+tell me that you are a Christian only outwardly."
+
+"I am a man in the very strongest sense of the word, and I am a true
+Christian. I must even confess that I adore women, and that I have not
+the slightest idea of depriving myself of the most delightful of all
+pleasures."
+
+"According to your religion, damnation awaits you."
+
+"I feel certain of the contrary, because, when we confess our sins, our
+priests are compelled to give us absolution."
+
+"I know it, but you must agree with me that it is absurd to suppose that
+God will forgive a crime which you would, perhaps, not commit, if you did
+not think that, after confession, a priest, a man like you, will give you
+absolution. God forgives only the repenting sinner."
+
+"No doubt of it, and confession supposes repentance; without it,
+absolution has no effect."
+
+"Is onanism a crime amongst you?"
+
+"Yes, even greater than lustful and illegitimate copulation."
+
+"I was aware of it, and it has always caused me great surprise, for the
+legislator who enacts a law, the execution of which is impossible, is a
+fool. A man in good health, if he cannot have a woman, must necessarily
+have recourse to onanism, whenever imperious nature demands it, and the
+man who, from fear of polluting his soul, would abstain from it, would
+only draw upon himself a mortal disease."
+
+"We believe exactly the reverse; we think that young people destroy their
+constitutions, and shorten their lives through self-abuse. In several
+communities they are closely watched, and are as much as possible
+deprived of every opportunity of indulging in that crime."
+
+"Those who watch them are ignorant fools, and those who pay the watchers
+for such a service are even more stupid, because prohibition must excite
+the wish to break through such a tyrannical law, to set at nought an
+interdiction so contrary to nature."
+
+"Yet it seems to me that self-abuse in excess must be injurious to
+health, for it must weaken and enervate."
+
+"Certainly, because excess in everything is prejudicial and pernicious;
+but all such excess is the result of our severe prohibition. If girls are
+not interfered with in the matter of self-abuse, I do not see why boys
+should be."
+
+"Because girls are very far from running the same risk; they do not lose
+a great deal in the action of self-abuse, and what they lose does not
+come from the same source whence flows the germinal liquid in men."
+
+"I do not know, but we have some physicians who say that chlorosis in
+girls is the result of that pleasure indulged in to excess."
+
+After many such conversations, in which he seemed to consider me as
+endowed with reason and talent, even when I was not of his opinion, Yusuf
+Ali surprised me greatly one day by the following proposition:
+
+"I have two sons and a daughter. I no longer think of my sons, because
+they have received their share of my fortune. As far as my daughter is
+concerned she will, after my death, inherit all my possessions, and I am,
+besides, in a position while I am alive to promote the fortune of the man
+who may marry her. Five years ago I took a young wife, but she has not
+given me any progeny, and I know to a certainty that no offspring will
+bless our union. My daughter, whose name is Zelmi, is now fifteen; she is
+handsome, her eyes are black and lovely like her mother's, her hair is of
+the colour of the raven's wing, her complexion is animated alabaster; she
+is tall, well made, and of a sweet disposition; I have given her an
+education which would make her worthy of our master, the Sultan. She
+speaks Greek and Italian fluently, she sings delightfully, and
+accompanies herself on the harp; she can draw and embroider, and is
+always contented and cheerful. No living man can boast of having seen her
+features, and she loves me so dearly that my will is hers. My daughter is
+a treasure, and I offer her to you if you will consent to go for one year
+to Adrianople to reside with a relative of mine, who will teach you our
+religion, our language, and our manners. You will return at the end of
+one year, and as soon as you have become a Mussulman my daughter shall be
+your wife. You will find a house ready furnished, slaves of your own, and
+an income which will enable you to live in comfort. I have no more to say
+at present. I do not wish you to answer me either to-day, or to-morrow,
+or on any fixed day. You will give me your decision whenever you feel
+yourself called upon by your genius to give it, and you need not give me
+any answer unless you accept my offer, for, should you refuse it, it is
+not necessary that the subject should be again mentioned. I do not ask
+you to give full consideration to my proposal, for now that I have thrown
+the seed in your soul it must fructify. Without hurry, without delay,
+without anxiety, you can but obey the decrees of God and follow the
+immutable decision of fate. Such as I know you, I believe that you only
+require the possession of Zelmi to be completely happy, and that you will
+become one of the pillars of the Ottoman Empire."
+
+Saying those words, Yusuf pressed me affectionately in his arms, and left
+me by myself to avoid any answer I might be inclined to make. I went away
+in such wonder at all I had just heard, that I found myself at the
+Venetian Embassy without knowing how I had reached it. The baili thought
+me very pensive, and asked whether anything was the matter with me, but I
+did not feel disposed to gratify their curiosity. I found that Yusuf had
+indeed spoken truly: his proposal was of such importance that it was my
+duty, not only not to mention it to anyone, but even to abstain from
+thinking it over, until my mind had recovered its calm sufficiently to
+give me the assurance that no external consideration would weigh in the
+balance and influence my decision. I had to silence all my passions;
+prejudices, principles already formed, love, and even self-interest were
+to remain in a state of complete inaction.
+
+When I awoke the next morning I began to think the matter over, and I
+soon discovered that, if I wanted to come to a decision, I ought not to
+ponder over it, as the more I considered the less likely I should be to
+decide. This was truly a case for the 'sequere Deum' of the Stoics.
+
+I did not visit Yusuf for four days, and when I called on him on the
+fifth day, we talked cheerfully without once mentioning his proposal,
+although it was very evident that we were both thinking of it. We
+remained thus for a fortnight, without ever alluding to the matter which
+engrossed all our thoughts, but our silence was not caused by
+dissimulation, or by any feeling contrary to our mutual esteem and
+friendship; and one day Yusuf suggested that very likely I had
+communicated his proposal to some wise friend, in order to obtain good
+advice. I immediately assured him it was not so, and that in a matter of
+so delicate a nature I thought I ought not to ask anybody's advice.
+
+"I have abandoned myself to God, dear Yusuf, and, full of confidence in
+Him, I feel certain that I shall decide for the best, whether I make up
+my mind to become your son, or believe that I ought to remain what I am
+now. In the mean time, my mind ponders over it day and night, whenever I
+am quiet and feel myself composed and collected. When I come to a
+decision, I will impart it to you alone, and from that moment you shall
+have over me the authority of a father."
+
+At these words the worthy Yusuf, his eyes wet with tears, placed his left
+hand over my head, and the first two fingers of the right hand on my
+forehead, saying:
+
+"Continue to act in that way, my dear son, and be certain that you can
+never act wrongly."
+
+"But," I said to him, "one thing might happen, Zelmi might not accept
+me."
+
+"Have no anxiety about that. My daughter loves you; she, as well as my
+wife and her nurse, sees you every time that we dine together, and she
+listens to you with pleasure."
+
+"Does she know that you are thinking of giving her to me as my wife?"
+
+"She knows that I ardently wish you to become a true believer, so as to
+enable me to link her destiny to yours."
+
+"I am glad that your habits do not permit you to let me see her, because
+she might dazzle me with her beauty, and then passion would soon have too
+much weight in the scale; I could no longer flatter myself that my
+decision had been taken in all the unbiased, purity of my soul."
+
+Yusuf was highly delighted at hearing me speak in that manner, and I
+spoke in perfect good faith. The mere idea of seeing Zelmi caused me to
+shudder. I felt that, if I had fallen in love with her, I would have
+become a Mussulman in order to possess her, and that I might soon have
+repented such a step, for the religion of Mahomet presented to my eyes
+and to my mind nothing but a disagreeable picture, as well for this life
+as for a future one. As for wealth, I did not think it deserved the
+immense sacrifice demanded from me. I could find equal wealth in Europe,
+without stamping my forehead with the shameful brand of apostasy. I cared
+deeply for the esteem of the persons of distinction who knew me, and did
+not want to render myself unworthy of it. Besides, I felt an immense
+desire to obtain fame amongst civilized and polite nations, either in the
+fine arts or in literature, or in any other honourable profession, and I
+could not reconcile myself to the idea of abandoning to my equals the
+triumph which I might win if I lived amongst them. It seemed to me, and I
+am still of the same opinion, that the decision of wearing the turban
+befits only a Christian despairing of himself and at the end of his wits,
+and fortunately I was lost not in that predicament. My greatest objection
+was to spend a year in Adrianople to learn a language for which I did not
+feel any liking, and which I should therefore have learned but
+imperfectly. How could I, at my age, renounce the prerogative, so
+pleasant to my vanity, of being reputed a fine talker? and I had secured
+that reputation wherever I was known. Then I would often think that
+Zelmi, the eighth wonder of creation in the eyes of her father might not
+appear such in my eyes, and it would have been enough to make me
+miserable, for Yusuf was likely to live twenty years longer, and I felt
+that gratitude, as well as respect, would never have permitted me to give
+that excellent man any cause for unhappiness by ceasing to shew myself a
+devoted and faithful husband to his daughter. Such were my thoughts, and,
+as Yusuf could not guess them, it was useless to make a confidant of him.
+
+A few days afterwards, I dined with the Pacha Osman and met my Effendi
+Ismail. He was very friendly to me, and I reciprocated his attentions,
+though I paid no attention to the reproaches he addressed to me for not
+having come to breakfast with him for such a long time. I could not
+refuse to dine at his house with Bonneval, and he treated me to a very
+pleasing sight; Neapolitan slaves, men and women, performed a pantomime
+and some Calabrian dances. M. de Bonneval happened to mention the dance
+called forlana, and Ismail expressing a great wish to know it, I told him
+that I could give him that pleasure if I had a Venetian woman to dance
+with and a fiddler who knew the time. I took a violin, and played the
+forlana, but, even if the partner had been found, I could not play and
+dance at the same time.
+
+Ismail whispered a few words to one of his eunuchs, who went out of the
+room and returned soon with some message that he delivered to him. The
+effendi told me that he had found the partner I wanted, and I answered
+that the musician could be had easily, if he would send a note to the
+Venetian Embassy, which was done at once. The Bailo Dona sent one of his
+men who played the violin well enough for dancing purposes. As soon as
+the musician was ready, a door was thrown open, and a fine looking woman
+came in, her face covered with a black velvet mask, such as we call
+moretta in Venice. The appearance of that beautiful masked woman
+surprised and delighted every one of the guests, for it was impossible to
+imagine a more interesting object, not only on account of the beauty of
+that part of the face which the mask left exposed, but also for the
+elegance of her shape, the perfection of her figure, and the exquisite
+taste displayed in her costume. The nymph took her place, I did the same,
+and we danced the forlana six times without stopping.
+
+I was in perspiration and out of breath, for the foylana is the most
+violent of our national dances; but my beautiful partner stood near me
+without betraying the slightest fatigue, and seemed to challenge me to a
+new performance. At the round of the dance, which is the most difficult
+step, she seemed to have wings. I was astounded, for I had never seen
+anyone, even in Venice, dance the forlana so splendidly. After a few
+minutes rest, rather ashamed of my feeling tired, I went up to her, and
+said, 'Ancora sei, a poi basta, se non volete vedermi a morire.' She
+would have answered me if she had been able, but she wore one of those
+cruel masks which forbid speech. But a pressure of her hand which nobody
+could see made me guess all I wanted to know. The moment we finished
+dancing the eunuch opened the door, and my lovely partner disappeared.
+
+Ismail could not thank me enough, but it was I who owed him my thanks,
+for it was the only real pleasure which I enjoyed in Constantinople. I
+asked him whether the lady was from Venice, but he only answered by a
+significant smile.
+
+"The worthy Ismail," said M. de Bonneval to me, as we were leaving the
+house late in the evening, "has been to-day the dupe of his vanity, and I
+have no doubt that he is sorry already for what he has done. To bring out
+his beautiful slave to dance with you! According to the prejudices of
+this country it is injurious to his dignity, for you are sure to have
+kindled an amorous flame in the poor girl's breast. I would advise you to
+be careful and to keep on your guard, because she will try to get up some
+intrigue with you; but be prudent, for intrigues are always dangerous in
+Turkey."
+
+I promised to be prudent, but I did not keep my promise; for, three or
+four days afterwards, an old slave woman met me in the street, and
+offered to sell me for one piaster a tobacco-bag embroidered in gold; and
+as she put it in my hand she contrived to make me feel that there was a
+letter in the bag.
+
+I observed that she tried to avoid the eyes of the janissary who was
+walking behind me; I gave her one piaster, she left me, and I proceeded
+toward Yusuf's house. He was not at home, and I went to his garden to
+read the letter with perfect freedom. It was sealed and without any
+address, and the slave might have made a mistake; but my curiosity was
+excited to the highest pitch; I broke the seal, and found the following
+note written in good enough Italian:
+
+"Should you wish to see the person with whom you danced the forlana, take
+a walk towards evening in the garden beyond the fountain, and contrive to
+become acquainted with the old servant of the gardener by asking her for
+some lemonade. You may perchance manage to see your partner in the
+forlana without running any risk, even if you should happen to meet
+Ismail; she is a native of Venice. Be careful not to mention this
+invitation to any human being."
+
+"I am not such a fool, my lovely countrywoman," I exclaimed, as if she
+had been present, and put the letter in my pocket. But at that very
+moment, a fine-looking elderly woman came out of a thicket, pronounced my
+name, and enquired what I wanted and how I had seen her. I answered that
+I had been speaking to the wind, not supposing that anyone could hear me,
+and without any more preparation, she abruptly told me that she was very
+glad of the opportunity of speaking with me, that she was from Rome, that
+she had brought up Zelmi, and had taught her to sing and to play the
+harp. She then praised highly the beauty and the excellent qualities of
+her pupil, saying that, if I saw her, I would certainly fall in love with
+her, and expressing how much she regretted that the law should not allow
+it.
+
+"She sees us at this very moment," she added, "from behind that green
+window-blind, and we love you ever since Yusuf has informed us that you
+may, perhaps, become Zelmi's husband."
+
+"May I mention our conversation to Yusuf?" I enquired.
+
+"No."
+
+Her answering in the negative made me understand that, if I had pressed
+her a little, she would have allowed me to see her lovely pupil, and
+perhaps it was with that intention that she had contrived to speak to me,
+but I felt great reluctance to do anything to displease my worthy host. I
+had another reason of even greater importance: I was afraid of entering
+an intricate maze in which the sight of a turban hovering over me made me
+shudder.
+
+Yusuf came home, and far from being angry when he saw me with the woman,
+he remarked that I must have found much pleasure in conversing with a
+native of Rome, and he congratulated me upon the delight I must have felt
+in dancing with one of the beauties from the harem of the voluptuous
+Ismail.
+
+"Then it must be a pleasure seldom enjoyed, if it is so much talked of?"
+
+"Very seldom indeed, for there is amongst us an invincible prejudice
+against exposing our lovely women to the eyes of other men; but everyone
+may do as he pleases in his own house: Ismail is a very worthy and a very
+intelligent man."
+
+"Is the lady with whom I danced known?"
+
+"I believe not. She wore a mask, and everybody knows that Ismail
+possesses half a dozen slaves of surpassing beauty."
+
+I spent a pleasant day with Yusuf, and when I left him, I ordered my
+janissary to take me to Ismail's. As I was known by his servants, they
+allowed me to go in, and I proceeded to the spot described in the letter.
+The eunuch came to me, informed me that his master was out, but that he
+would be delighted to hear of my having taken a walk in the garden. I
+told him that I would like a glass of lemonade, and he took me to the
+summerhouse, where I recognized the old woman who had sold me the
+tobacco-pouch. The eunuch told her to give me a glass of some liquid
+which I found delicious, and would not allow me to give her any money. We
+then walked together towards the fountain, but he told me abruptly that
+we were to go back, as he saw three ladies to whom he pointed, adding
+that, for the sake of decency, it was necessary to avoid them. I thanked
+him for his attentions, left my compliments for Ismail, and went away not
+dissatisfied with my first attempt, and with the hope of being more
+fortunate another time.
+
+The next morning I received a letter from Ismail inviting me to go
+fishing with him on the following day, and stating that he intended to
+enjoy the sport by moonlight. I immediately gave way to my suppositions,
+and I went so far as to fancy that Ismail might be capable of arranging
+an interview between me and the lovely Venetian. I did not mind his being
+present. I begged permission of Chevalier Venier to stop out of the
+palace for one night, but he granted it with the greatest difficulty,
+because he was afraid of some love affair and of the results it might
+have. I took care to calm his anxiety as much as I could, but without
+acquainting him with all the circumstances of the case, for I thought I
+was wise in being discreet.
+
+I was exact to the appointed time, and Ismail received me with the utmost
+cordiality, but I was surprised when I found myself alone with him in the
+boat. We had two rowers and a man to steer; we took some fish, fried in
+oil, and ate it in the summer-house. The moon shone brightly, and the
+night was delightful. Alone with Ismail, and knowing his unnatural
+tastes, I did not feel very comfortable for, in spite of what M. de
+Bonneval had told me, I was afraid lest the Turk should take a fancy to
+give me too great a proof of his friendship, and I did not relish our
+tete-a-tete. But my fears were groundless.
+
+"Let us leave this place quietly," said Ismail, "I have just heard a
+slight noise which heralds something that will amuse us."
+
+He dismissed his attendants, and took my hand, saying,
+
+"Let us go to a small room, the key of which I luckily have with me, but
+let us be careful not to make any noise. That room has a window
+overlooking the fountain where I think that two or three of my beauties
+have just gone to bathe. We will see them and enjoy a very pleasing
+sight, for they do not imagine that anyone is looking at them. They know
+that the place is forbidden to everybody except me."
+
+We entered the room, we went to the window, and, the moon shining right
+over the basin of the fountain, we saw three nymphs who, now swimming,
+now standing or sitting on the marble steps, offered themselves to our
+eyes in every possible position, and in all the attitudes of graceful
+voluptuousness. Dear reader, I must not paint in too vivid colours the
+details of that beautiful picture, but if nature has endowed you with an
+ardent imagination and with equally ardent senses, you will easily
+imagine the fearful havoc which that unique, wonderful, and enchanting
+sight must have made upon my poor body.
+
+A few days after that delightful fishing and bathing party by moonlight,
+I called upon Yusuf early in the morning; as it was raining, I could not
+go to the garden, and I went into the dining-room, in which I had never
+seen anyone. The moment I entered the room, a charming female form rose,
+covering her features with a thick veil which fell to the feet. A slave
+was sitting near the window, doing some tambour-work, but she did not
+move. I apologized, and turned to leave the room, but the lady stopped
+me, observing, with a sweet voice, that Yusuf had commanded her to
+entertain me before going out. She invited me to be seated, pointing to a
+rich cushion placed upon two larger ones, and I obeyed, while, crossing
+her legs, she sat down upon another cushion opposite to me. I thought I
+was looking upon Zelmi, and fancied that Yusuf had made up his mind to
+shew me that he was not less courageous than Ismail. Yet I was surprised,
+for, by such a proceeding, he strongly contradicted his maxims, and ran
+the risk of impairing the unbiased purity of my consent by throwing love
+in the balance. But I had no fear of that, because, to become enamoured,
+I should have required to see her face.
+
+"I suppose," said the veiled beauty, "that you do not know who I am?"
+
+"I could not guess, if I tried."
+
+"I have been for the last five years the wife of your friend, and I am a
+native of Scio. I was thirteen years of age when I became his wife."
+
+I was greatly astonished to find that my Mussulman philosopher had gone
+so far as to allow me to converse with his wife, but I felt more at ease
+after I had received that information, and fancied that I might carry the
+adventure further, but it would be necessary to see the lady's face, for
+a finely-dressed body, the head of which is not seen, excites but feeble
+desires. The fire lighted by amorous desires is like a fire of straw; the
+moment it burns up it is near its end. I had before me a magnificent
+appearance, but I could not see the soul of the image, for a thick gauze
+concealed it from my hungry gaze. I could see arms as white as alabaster,
+and hands like those of Alcina, 'dove ne nodo appasisce ne vena accede',
+and my active imagination fancied that all the rest was in harmony with
+those beautiful specimens, for the graceful folds of the muslin, leaving
+the outline all its perfection, hid from me only the living satin of the
+surface; there was no doubt that everything was lovely, but I wanted to
+see, in the expression of her eyes, that all that my imagination created
+had life and was endowed with feeling. The Oriental costume is a
+beautiful varnish placed upon a porcelain vase to protect from the touch
+the colours of the flowers and of the design, without lessening the
+pleasure of the eyes. Yusuf's wife was not dressed like a sultana; she
+wore the costume of Scio, with a short skirt which concealed neither the
+perfection of the leg nor the round form of the thigh, nor the voluptuous
+plump fall of the hips, nor the slender, well-made waist encompassed in a
+splendid band embroidered in silver and covered with arabesques. Above
+all those beauties, I could see the shape of two globes which Apelles
+would have taken for the model of those of his lovely Venus, and the
+rapid, inequal movement of which proved to me that those ravishing
+hillocks were animated. The small valley left between them, and which my
+eyes greedily feasted upon, seemed to me a lake of nectar, in which my
+burning lips longed to quench their thirst with more ardour than they
+would have drunk from the cup of the gods.
+
+Enraptured, unable to control myself, I thrust my arm forward by a
+movement almost independent of my will, and my hand, too audacious, was
+on the point of lifting the hateful veil, but she prevented me by raising
+herself quickly on tiptoe, upbraiding me at the same time for my
+perfidious boldness, with a voice as commanding as her attitude.
+
+"Dost thou deserve," she said, "Yusuf's friendship, when thou abusest the
+sacred laws of hospitality by insulting his wife?"
+
+"Madam, you must kindly forgive me, for I never had any intention to
+insult you. In my country the lowest of men may fix his eyes upon the
+face of a queen."
+
+"Yes, but he cannot tear off her veil, if she chooses to wear it. Yusuf
+shall avenge me."
+
+The threat, and the tone in which it was pronounced, frightened me. I
+threw myself at her feet, and succeeded in calming her anger.
+
+"Take a seat," she said.
+
+And she sat down herself, crossing her legs with so much freedom that I
+caught a glimpse of charms which would have caused me to lose all control
+over myself if the delightful sight had remained one moment longer
+exposed to my eyes. I then saw that I had gone the wrong way to work, and
+I felt vexed with myself; but it was too late.
+
+"Art thou excited?" she said.
+
+"How could I be otherwise," I answered, "when thou art scorching me with
+an ardent fire?"
+
+I had become more prudent, and I seized her hand without thinking any
+more of her face.
+
+"Here is my husband," she said, and Yusuf came into the room. We rose,
+Yusuf embraced me, I complimented him, the slave left the room. Yusuf
+thanked his wife for having entertained me, and offered her his arm to
+take her to her own apartment. She took it, but when she reached the
+door, she raised her veil, and kissing her husband she allowed me to see
+her lovely face as if it had been done unwittingly. I followed her with
+my eyes as long as I could, and Yusuf, coming back to me, said with a
+laugh that his wife had offered to dine with us.
+
+"I thought," I said to him, "that I had Zelmi before me."
+
+"That would have been too much against our established rules. What I have
+done is not much, but I do not know an honest man who would be bold
+enough to bring his daughter into the presence of a stranger."
+
+"I think your wife must be handsome; is she more beautiful than Zelmi?"
+
+"My daughter's beauty is cheerful, sweet, and gentle; that of Sophia is
+proud and haughty. She will be happy after my death. The man who will
+marry her will find her a virgin."
+
+I gave an account of my adventure to M. de Bonneval, somewhat
+exaggerating the danger I had run in trying to raise the veil of the
+handsome daughter of Scio.
+
+"She was laughing at you," said the count, "and you ran no danger. She
+felt very sorry, believe me, to have to deal with a novice like you. You
+have been playing the comedy in the French fashion, when you ought to
+have gone straight to the point. What on earth did you want to see her
+nose for? She knew very well that she would have gained nothing by
+allowing you to see her. You ought to have secured the essential point.
+If I were young I would perhaps manage to give her a revenge, and to
+punish my friend Yusuf. You have given that lovely woman a poor opinion
+of Italian valour. The most reserved of Turkish women has no modesty
+except on her face, and, with her veil over it, she knows to a certainty
+that she will not blush at anything. I am certain that your beauty keeps
+her face covered whenever our friend Yusuf wishes to joke with her."
+
+"She is yet a virgin."
+
+"Rather a difficult thing to admit, my good friend; but I know the
+daughters of Scio; they have a talent for counterfeiting virginity."
+
+Yusuf never paid me a similar compliment again, and he was quite right.
+
+A few days after, I happened to be in the shop of an Armenian merchant,
+looking at some beautiful goods, when Yusuf entered the shop and praised
+my taste; but, although I had admired a great many things, I did not buy,
+because I thought they were too dear. I said so to Yusuf, but he remarked
+that they were, on the contrary, very cheap, and he purchased them all.
+We parted company at the door, and the next morning I received all the
+beautiful things he had bought; it was a delicate attention of my friend,
+and to prevent my refusal of such a splendid present, he had enclosed a
+note stating that, on my arrival in Corfu, he would let me know to whom
+the goods were to be delivered. He had thus sent me gold and silver
+filigrees from Damascus, portfolios, scarfs, belts, handkerchiefs and
+pipes, the whole worth four or five hundred piasters. When I called to
+thank him, I compelled him to confess that it was a present offered by
+his friendship.
+
+The day before my departure from Constantinople, the excellent man burst
+into tears as I bade him adieu, and my grief was as great as his own. He
+told me that, by not accepting the offer of his daughter's hand, I had so
+strongly captivated his esteem that his feelings for me could not have
+been warmer if I had become his son. When I went on board ship with the
+Bailo Jean Dona, I found another case given to me by him, containing two
+quintals of the best Mocha coffee, one hundred pounds of tobacco leaves,
+two large flagons filled, one with Zabandi tobacco, the other with
+camussa, and a magnificent pipe tube of jessamine wood, covered with gold
+filigrane, which I sold in Corfu for one hundred sequins. I had not it in
+my power to give my generous Turk any mark of my gratitude until I
+reached Corfu, but there I did not fail to do so. I sold all his
+beautiful presents, which made me the possessor of a small fortune.
+
+Ismail gave me a letter for the Chevalier de Lezze, but I could not
+forward it to him because I unfortunately lost it; he presented me with a
+barrel of hydromel, which I turned likewise into money. M. de Bonneval
+gave me a letter for Cardinal Acquaviva, which I sent to Rome with an
+account of my journey, but his eminence did not think fit to acknowledge
+the receipt of either. Bonneval made me a present of twelve bottles of
+malmsey from Ragusa, and of twelve bottles of genuine scopolo--a great
+rarity, with which I made a present in Corfu which proved very useful to
+me, as the reader will discover.
+
+The only foreign minister I saw much in Constantinople was the lord
+marshal of Scotland, the celebrated Keith, who represented the King of
+Prussia, and who, six years later was of great service to me in Paris.
+
+We sailed from Constantinople in the beginning of September in the same
+man-of-war which had brought us, and we reached Corfu in fourteen days.
+The Bailo Dona did not land. He had with him eight splendid Turkish
+horses; I saw two of them still alive in Gorizia in the year 1773.
+
+As soon as I had landed with my luggage, and had engaged a rather mean
+lodging, I presented myself to M. Andre Dolfin, the proveditore-generale,
+who promised me again that I should soon be promoted to a lieutenancy.
+After my visit to him, I called upon M. Camporese, my captain, and was
+well received by him. My third visit was to the commander of galleases,
+M. D---- R-----, to whom M. Antonio Dolfin, with whom I had travelled from
+Venice to Corfu, had kindly recommended me. After a short conversation,
+he asked me if I would remain with him with the title of adjutant. I did
+not hesitate one instant, but accepted, saying how deeply honoured I felt
+by his offer, and assuring him that he would always find me ready to
+carry out his orders. He immediately had me taken to my room, and, the
+next day, I found myself established in his house. I obtained from my
+captain a French soldier to serve me, and I was well pleased when I found
+that the man was a hairdresser by trade, and a great talker by nature,
+for he could take care of my beautiful head of hair, and I wanted to
+practise French conversation. He was a good-for-nothing fellow, a
+drunkard and a debauchee, a peasant from Picardy, and he could hardly
+read or write, but I did not mind all that; all I wanted from him was to
+serve me, and to talk to me, and his French was pretty good. He was an
+amusing rogue, knowing by heart a quantity of erotic songs and of smutty
+stories which he could tell in the most laughable manner.
+
+When I had sold my stock of goods from Constantinople (except the wines),
+I found myself the owner of nearly five hundred sequins. I redeemed all
+the articles which I had pledged in the hands of Jews, and turned into
+money everything of which I had no need. I was determined not to play any
+longer as a dupe, but to secure in gambling all the advantages which a
+prudent young man could obtain without sullying his honour.
+
+I must now make my readers acquainted with the sort of life we were at
+that time leading in Corfu. As to the city itself, I will not describe
+it, because there are already many descriptions better than the one I
+could offer in these pages.
+
+We had then in Corfu the 'proveditore-generale' who had sovereign
+authority, and lived in a style of great magnificence. That post was then
+filled by M. Andre Dolfin, a man sixty years of age, strict, headstrong,
+and ignorant. He no longer cared for women, but liked to be courted by
+them. He received every evening, and the supper-table was always laid for
+twenty-four persons.
+
+We had three field-officers of the marines who did duty on the galleys,
+and three field-officers for the troops of the line on board the
+men-of-war. Each galeass had a captain called 'sopracomito', and we had
+ten of those captains; we had likewise ten commanders, one for each
+man-of-war, including three 'capi di mare', or admirals. They all
+belonged to the nobility of Venice. Ten young Venetian noblemen, from
+twenty to twenty-two years of age, were at Corfu as midshipmen in the
+navy. We had, besides, about a dozen civil clerks in the police of the
+island, or in the administration of justice, entitled 'grandi offciali di
+terra'. Those who were blessed with handsome wives had the pleasure of
+seeing their houses very much frequented by admirers who aspired to win
+the favours of the ladies, but there was not much heroic love-making,
+perhaps for the reason that there were then in Corfu many Aspasias whose
+favours could be had for money. Gambling was allowed everywhere, and that
+all absorbing passion was very prejudicial to the emotions of the heart.
+
+The lady who was then most eminent for beauty and gallantry was Madame
+F----. Her husband, captain of a galley, had come to Corfu with her the
+year before, and madam had greatly astonished all the naval officers.
+Thinking that she had the privilege of the choice, she had given the
+preference to M. D---- R-----, and had dismissed all the suitors who
+presented themselves. M. F---- had married her on the very day she had
+left the convent; she was only seventeen years of age then, and he had
+brought her on board his galley immediately after the marriage ceremony.
+
+I saw her for the first time at the dinner-table on the very day of my
+installation at M. D---- R-----'s, and she made a great impression upon
+me. I thought I was gazing at a supernatural being, so infinitely above
+all the women I had ever seen, that it seemed impossible to fall in love
+with her She appeared to me of a nature different and so greatly superior
+to mine that I did not see the possibility of rising up to her. I even
+went so far as to persuade myself that nothing but a Platonic friendship
+could exist between her and M. D---- R-----, and that M. F---- was quite
+right now not to shew any jealousy. Yet, that M. F---- was a perfect fool,
+and certainly not worthy of such a woman. The impression made upon me by
+Madame F---- was too ridiculous to last long, and the nature of it soon
+changed, but in a novel manner, at least as far as I was concerned.
+
+My position as adjutant procured me the honour of dining at M.
+D---- R-----'s table, but nothing more. The other adjutant, like me, an
+ensign in the army, but the greatest fool I had ever seen, shared that
+honour with me. We were not, however, considered as guests, for nobody
+ever spoke to us, and, what is more, no one ever honoured us with a look.
+It used to put me in a rage. I knew very well that people acted in that
+manner through no real contempt for us, but it went very hard with me. I
+could very well understand that my colleague, Sanzonio, should not
+complain of such treatment, because he was a blockhead, but I did not
+feel disposed to allow myself to be put on a par with him. At the end of
+eight or ten days, Madame F----, not having con descended to cast one
+glance upon my person, began to appear disagreeable to me. I felt piqued,
+vexed, provoked, and the more so because I could not suppose that the
+lady acted in that manner wilfully and purposely; I would have been
+highly pleased if there had been premeditation on her part. I felt
+satisfied that I was a nobody in her estimation, and as I was conscious
+of being somebody, I wanted her to know it. At last a circumstance
+offered itself in which, thinking that she could address me, she was
+compelled to look at me.
+
+M. D---- R---- having observed that a very, very fine turkey had been
+placed before me, told me to carve it, and I immediately went to work. I
+was not a skilful carver, and Madame F----, laughing at my want of
+dexterity, told me that, if I had not been certain of performing my task
+with credit to myself, I ought not to have undertaken it. Full of
+confusion, and unable to answer her as my anger prompted, I sat down,
+with my heart overflowing with spite and hatred against her. To crown my
+rage, having one day to address me, she asked me what was my name. She
+had seen me every day for a fortnight, ever since I had been the adjutant
+of M. D---- R----; therefore she ought to have known my name. Besides, I
+had been very lucky at the gaming-table, and I had become rather famous
+in Corfu. My anger against Madame F was at its height.
+
+I had placed my money in the hands of a certain Maroli, a major in the
+army and a gamester by profession, who held the faro bank at the
+coffee-house. We were partners; I helped him when he dealt, and he
+rendered me the same office when I held the cards, which was often the
+case, because he was not generally liked. He used to hold the cards in a
+way which frightened the punters; my manners were very different, and I
+was very lucky. Besides I was easy and smiling when my bank was losing,
+and I won without shewing any avidity, and that is a manner which always
+pleases the punters.
+
+This Maroli was the man who had won all my money during my first stay in
+Corfu, and finding, when I returned, that I was resolved not to be duped
+any more, he judged me worthy of sharing the wise maxims without which
+gambling must necessarily ruin all those who meddle with it. But as
+Maroli had won my confidence only to a very slight extent, I was very
+careful. We made up our accounts every night, as soon as playing was
+over; the cashier kept the capital of the bank, the winnings were
+divided, and each took his share away. Lucky at play, enjoying good
+health and the friendship of my comrades, who, whenever the opportunity
+offered, always found me generous and ready to serve them, I would have
+been well pleased with my position if I had been a little more considered
+at the table of M. D---- R-----, and treated with less haughtiness by his
+lady who, without any reason, seemed disposed to humiliate me. My
+self-love was deeply hurt, I hated her, and, with such a disposition of
+mind, the more I admired the perfection of her charms, the more I found
+her deficient in wit and intelligence. She might have made the conquest
+of my heart without bestowing hers upon me, for all I wanted was not to
+be compelled to hate her, and I could not understand what pleasure it
+could be for her to be detested, while with only a little kindness she
+could have been adored. I could not ascribe her manner to a spirit of
+coquetry, for I had never given her the slightest proof of the opinion I
+entertained of her beauty, and I could not therefore attribute her
+behaviour to a passion which might have rendered me disagreeable in her
+eyes; M. D---- R---- seemed to interest her only in a very slight manner,
+and as to her husband, she cared nothing for him. In short, that charming
+woman made me very unhappy, and I was angry with myself because I felt
+that, if it had not been for the manner in which she treated me, I would
+not have thought of her, and my vexation was increased by the feeling of
+hatred entertained by my heart against her, a feeling which until then I
+had never known to exist in me, and the discovery of which overwhelmed me
+with confusion.
+
+One day a gentleman handed me, as we were leaving the dinner-table, a
+roll of gold that he had lost upon trust; Madame F---- saw it, and she
+said to me very abruptly,--
+
+"What do you do with your money?"
+
+"I keep it, madam, as a provision against possible losses."
+
+"But as you do not indulge in any expense it would be better for you not
+to play; it is time wasted."
+
+"Time given to pleasure is never time lost, madam; the only time which a
+young man wastes is that which is consumed in weariness, because when he
+is a prey to ennui he is likely to fall a prey to love, and to be
+despised by the object of his affection."
+
+"Very likely; but you amuse yourself with hoarding up your money, and
+shew yourself to be a miser, and a miser is not less contemptible than a
+man in love. Why do you not buy yourself a pair of gloves?"
+
+You may be sure that at these words the laughter was all on her side, and
+my vexation was all the greater because I could not deny that she was
+quite right. It was the adjutant's business to give the ladies an arm to
+their carriages, and it was not proper to fulfil that duty without
+gloves. I felt mortified, and the reproach of avarice hurt me deeply. I
+would a thousand times rather that she had laid my error to a want of
+education; and yet, so full of contradictions is the human heart, instead
+of making amends by adopting an appearance of elegance which the state of
+my finances enabled me to keep up, I did not purchase any gloves, and I
+resolved to avoid her and to abandon her to the insipid and dull
+gallantry of Sanzonio, who sported gloves, but whose teeth were rotten,
+whose breath was putrid, who wore a wig, and whose face seemed to be
+covered with shrivelled yellow parchment.
+
+I spent my days in a continual state of rage and spite, and the most
+absurd part of it all was that I felt unhappy because I could not control
+my hatred for that woman whom, in good conscience, I could not find
+guilty of anything. She had for me neither love nor dislike, which was
+quite natural; but being young and disposed to enjoy myself I had become,
+without any wilful malice on her part, an eye-sore to her and the butt of
+her bantering jokes, which my sensitiveness exaggerated greatly. For all
+that I had an ardent wish to punish her and to make her repent. I thought
+of nothing else. At one time I would think of devoting all my
+intelligence and all my money to kindling an amorous passion in her
+heart, and then to revenge myself by treating her with contempt. But I
+soon realized the impracticability of such a plan, for even supposing
+that I should succeed in finding my way to her heart, was I the man to
+resist my own success with such a woman? I certainly could not flatter
+myself that I was so strong-minded. But I was the pet child of fortune,
+and my position was suddenly altered.
+
+M. D---- R---- having sent me with dispatches to M. de Condulmer, captain
+of a 'galeazza', I had to wait until midnight to deliver them, and when I
+returned I found that M. D---- R---- had retired to his apartment for the
+night. As soon as he was visible in the morning I went to him to render
+an account of my mission. I had been with him only a few minutes when his
+valet brought a letter saying that Madame F----'s adjutant was waiting
+for an answer. M. D---- R---- read the note, tore it to pieces, and in his
+excitement stamped with his foot upon the fragments. He walked up and
+down the room for a little time, then wrote an answer and rang for the
+adjutant, to whom he delivered it. He then recovered his usual composure,
+concluded the perusal of the dispatch sent by M. de Condulmer, and told
+me to write a letter. He was looking it over when the valet came in,
+telling me that Madame F---- desired to see me. M. D---- R---- told me that
+he did not require my services any more for the present, and that I might
+go. I left the room, but I had not gone ten yards when he called me back
+to remind me that my duty was to know nothing; I begged to assure him
+that I was well aware of that. I ran to Madame F-----'s house, very eager
+to know what she wanted with me. I was introduced immediately, and I was
+greatly surprised to find her sitting up in bed, her countenance flushed
+and excited, and her eyes red from the tears she had evidently just been
+shedding. My heart was beating quickly, yet I did not know why.
+
+"Pray be seated," she said, "I wish to speak with you."
+
+"Madam," I answered, "I am not worthy of so great a favour, and I have
+not yet done anything to deserve it; allow me to remain standing."
+
+She very likely recollected that she had never been so polite before, and
+dared not press me any further. She collected her thoughts for an instant
+or two, and said to me:
+
+"Last evening my husband lost two hundred sequins upon trust at your faro
+bank; he believed that amount to be in my hands, and I must therefore
+give it to him immediately, as he is bound in honour to pay his losses
+to-day. Unfortunately I have disposed of the money, and I am in great
+trouble. I thought you might tell Maroli that I have paid you the amount
+lost by my husband. Here is a ring of some value; keep it until the 1st
+of January, when I will return the two hundred sequins for which I am
+ready to give you my note of hand."
+
+"I accept the note of hand, madam, but I cannot consent to deprive you of
+your ring. I must also tell you that M. F---- must go himself to the bank,
+or send some one there, to redeem his debt. Within ten minutes you shall
+have the amount you require."
+
+I left her without waiting for an answer, and I returned within a few
+minutes with the two hundred ducats, which I handed to her, and putting
+in my pocket her note of hand which she had just written, I bowed to take
+my leave, but she addressed to me these precious words:
+
+"I believe, sir, that if I had known that you were so well disposed to
+oblige me, I could not have made up my mind to beg that service from
+you."
+
+"Well, madam, for the future be quite certain that there is not a man in
+the world capable of refusing you such an insignificant service whenever
+you will condescend to ask for it in person."
+
+"What you say is very complimentary, but I trust never to find myself
+again under the necessity of making such a cruel experiment."
+
+I left Madame F-----, thinking of the shrewdness of her answer. She had
+not told me that I was mistaken, as I had expected she would, for that
+would have caused her some humiliation: she knew that I was with M.
+D---- R---- when the adjutant had brought her letter, and she could not
+doubt that I was aware of the refusal she had met with. The fact of her
+not mentioning it proved to me that she was jealous of her own dignity;
+it afforded me great gratification, and I thought her worthy of
+adoration. I saw clearly that she could have no love for M. D---- R-----,
+and that she was not loved by him, and the discovery made me leap for
+joy. From that moment I felt I was in love with her, and I conceived the
+hope that she might return my ardent affection.
+
+The first thing I did, when I returned to my room, was to cross out with
+ink every word of her note of hand, except her name, in such a manner
+that it was impossible to guess at the contents, and putting it in an
+envelope carefully sealed, I deposited it in the hands of a public notary
+who stated, in the receipt he gave me of the envelope, that he would
+deliver it only to Madame F-----, whenever she should request its
+delivery.
+
+The same evening M. F---- came to the bank, paid me, played with cash in
+hand, and won some fifty ducats. What caused me the greatest surprise was
+that M. D---- R---- continued to be very gracious to Madame F----, and
+that she remained exactly the same towards him as she used to be before.
+He did not even enquire what she wanted when she had sent for me. But if
+she did not seem to change her manner towards my master, it was a very
+different case with me, for whenever she was opposite to me at dinner,
+she often addressed herself to me, and she thus gave me many
+opportunities of shewing my education and my wit in amusing stories or in
+remarks, in which I took care to blend instruction with witty jests. At
+that time F---- had the great talent of making others laugh while I kept a
+serious countenance myself. I had learnt that accomplishment from M. de
+Malipiero, my first master in the art of good breeding, who used to say
+to me,--
+
+"If you wish your audience to cry, you must shed tears yourself, but if
+you wish to make them laugh you must contrive to look as serious as a
+judge."
+
+In everything I did, in every word I uttered, in the presence of Madame
+F----, the only aim I had was to please her, but I did not wish her to
+suppose so, and I never looked at her unless she spoke to me. I wanted to
+force her curiosity, to compel her to suspect nay, to guess my secret,
+but without giving her any advantage over me: it was necessary for me to
+proceed by slow degrees. In the mean time, and until I should have a
+greater happiness, I was glad to see that my money, that magic talisman,
+and my good conduct, obtained me a consideration much greater than I
+could have hoped to obtain either through my position, or from my age, or
+in consequence of any talent I might have shewn in the profession I had
+adopted.
+
+Towards the middle of November, the soldier who acted as my servant was
+attacked with inflammation of the chest; I gave notice of it to the
+captain of his company, and he was carried to the hospital. On the fourth
+day I was told that he would not recover, and that he had received the
+last sacraments; in the evening I happened to be at his captain's when
+the priest who had attended him came to announce his death, and to
+deliver a small parcel which the dying man had entrusted to him to be
+given up to his captain only after his death. The parcel contained a
+brass seal engraved with ducal arms, a certificate of baptism, and a
+sheet of paper covered with writing in French. Captain Camporese, who
+only spoke Italian, begged me to translate the paper, the contents of
+which were as follows:
+
+"My will is that this paper, which I have written and signed with my own
+hand, shall be delivered to my captain only after I have breathed my
+last: until then, my confessor shall not make any use of it, for I
+entrust it to his hands only under the seal of confession. I entreat my
+captain to have me buried in a vault from which my body can be exhumed in
+case the duke, my father, should request its exhumation. I entreat him
+likewise to forward my certificate of baptism, the seal with the armorial
+bearings of my family, and a legal certificate of my birth to the French
+ambassador in Venice, who will send the whole to the duke, my father, my
+rights of primogeniture belonging, after my demise, to the prince, my
+brother. In faith of which I have signed and sealed these presents:
+Francois VI. Charles Philippe Louis Foucaud, Prince de la Rochefoucault."
+
+The certificate of baptism, delivered at St. Sulpice gave the same names,
+and the title of the father was Francois V. The name of the mother was
+Gabrielle du Plessis.
+
+As I was concluding my translation I could not help bursting into loud
+laughter; but the foolish captain, who thought my mirth out of
+place, hurried out to render an account of the affair to the
+proveditore-generale, and I went to the coffee-house, not doubting for
+one moment that his excellency would laugh at the captain, and that the
+post-mortem buffoonery would greatly amuse the whole of Corfu.
+
+I had known in Rome, at Cardinal Acquaviva's, the Abbe de Liancourt,
+great-grandson of Charles, whose sister, Gabrielle du Plessis, had been
+the wife of Francois V., but that dated from the beginning of the last
+century. I had made a copy from the records of the cardinal of the
+account of certain circumstances which the Abbe de Liancourt wanted to
+communicate to the court of Spain, and in which there were a great many
+particulars respecting the house of Du Plessis. I thought at the same
+time that the singular imposture of La Valeur (such was the name by which
+my soldier generally went) was absurd and without a motive, since it was
+to be known only after his death, and could not therefore prove of any
+advantage to him.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, as I was opening a fresh pack of cards, the
+Adjutant Sanzonio came in, and told the important news in the most
+serious manner. He had just come from the office of the proveditore,
+where Captain Camporese had run in the utmost hurry to deposit in the
+hands of his excellency the seal and the papers of the deceased prince.
+His excellency had immediately issued his orders for the burial of the
+prince in a vault with all the honours due to his exalted rank. Another
+half hour passed, and M. Minolto, adjutant of the proveditore-generale,
+came to inform me that his excellency wanted to see me. I passed the
+cards to Major Maroli, and went to his excellency's house. I found him at
+supper with several ladies, three or four naval commanders, Madame F----,
+and M. D---- R-----.
+
+"So, your servant was a prince!" said the old general to me.
+
+"Your excellency, I never would have suspected it, and even now that he
+is dead I do not believe it."
+
+"Why? He is dead, but he was not insane. You have seen his armorial
+bearings, his certificate of baptism, as well as what he wrote with his
+own hand. When a man is so near death, he does not fancy practical
+jokes."
+
+"If your excellency is satisfied of the truth of the story, my duty is to
+remain silent."
+
+"The story cannot be anything but true, and your doubts surprise me."
+
+"I doubt, monsignor, because I happen to have positive information
+respecting the families of La Rochefoucault and Du Plessis. Besides, I
+have seen too much of the man. He was not a madman, but he certainly was
+an extravagant jester. I have never seen him write, and he has told me
+himself a score of times that he had never learned."
+
+"The paper he has written proves the contrary. His arms have the ducal
+bearings; but perhaps you are not aware that M. de la Rochefoucault is a
+duke and peer of the French realm?"
+
+"I beg your eminence's pardon; I know all about it; I know even more, for
+I know that Francois VI. married a daughter of the house of Vivonne."
+
+"You know nothing."
+
+When I heard this remark, as foolish as it was rude, I resolved on
+remaining silent, and it was with some pleasure that I observed the joy
+felt by all the male guests at what they thought an insult and a blow to
+my vanity. An officer remarked that the deceased was a fine man, a witty
+man, and had shewn wonderful cleverness in keeping up his assumed
+character so well that no one ever had the faintest suspicion of what he
+really was. A lady said that, if she had known him, she would have been
+certain to find him out. Another flatterer, belonging to that mean,
+contemptible race always to be found near the great and wealthy of the
+earth, assured us that the late prince had always shewn himself cheerful,
+amiable, obliging, devoid of haughtiness towards his comrades, and that
+he used to sing beautifully. "He was only twenty-five years of age," said
+Madame Sagredo, looking me full in the face, "and if he was endowed with
+all those qualities, you must have discovered them."
+
+"I can only give you, madam, a true likeness of the man, such as I have
+seen him. Always gay, often even to folly, for he could throw a
+somersault beautifully; singing songs of a very erotic kind, full of
+stories and of popular tales of magic, miracles, and ghosts, and a
+thousand marvellous feats which common-sense refused to believe, and
+which, for that very reason, provoked the mirth of his hearers. His
+faults were that he was drunken, dirty, quarrelsome, dissolute, and
+somewhat of a cheat. I put up with all his deficiences, because he
+dressed my hair to my taste, and his constant chattering offered me the
+opportunity of practising the colloquial French which cannot be acquired
+from books. He has always assured me that he was born in Picardy, the son
+of a common peasant, and that he had deserted from the French army. He
+may have deceived me when he said that he could not write."
+
+Just then Camporese rushed into the room, and announced that La Veleur
+was yet breathing. The general, looking at me significantly, said that he
+would be delighted if the man could be saved.
+
+"And I likewise, monsignor, but his confessor will certainly kill him
+to-night."
+
+"Why should the father confessor kill him?"
+
+"To escape the galleys to which your excellency would not fail to send
+him for having violated the secrecy of the confessional."
+
+Everybody burst out laughing, but the foolish old general knitted his
+brows. The guests retired soon afterwards, and Madame F-----, whom I had
+preceded to the carriage, M. D---- R---- having offered her his arm,
+invited me to get in with her, saying that it was raining. It was the
+first time that she had bestowed such an honour upon me.
+
+"I am of your opinion about that prince," she said, "but you have
+incurred the displeasure of the proveditore."
+
+"I am very sorry, madam, but it could not have been avoided, for I cannot
+help speaking the truth openly."
+
+"You might have spared him," remarked M. D---- R-----, "the cutting jest
+of the confessor killing the false prince."
+
+"You are right, sir, but I thought it would make him laugh as well as it
+made madam and your excellency. In conversation people generally do not
+object to a witty jest causing merriment and laughter."
+
+"True; only those who have not wit enough to laugh do not like the jest."
+
+"I bet a hundred sequins that the madman will recover, and that, having
+the general on his side, he will reap all the advantages of his
+imposture. I long to see him treated as a prince, and making love to
+Madame Sagredo."
+
+Hearing the last words, Madame F-----, who did not like Madame Sagredo,
+laughed heartily, and, as we were getting out of the carriage, M.
+D---- R---- invited me to accompany them upstairs. He was in the habit of
+spending half an hour alone with her at her own house when they had taken
+supper together with the general, for her husband never shewed himself.
+It was the first time that the happy couple admitted a third person to
+their tete-a-tete. I felt very proud of the compliment thus paid to me,
+and I thought it might have important results for me. My satisfaction,
+which I concealed as well as I could, did not prevent me from being very
+gay and from giving a comic turn to every subject brought forward by the
+lady or by her lord.
+
+We kept up our pleasant trio for four hours; and returned to the mansion
+of M. D---- R---- only at two o'clock in the morning. It was during that
+night that Madame F---- and M. D---- R---- really made my acquaintance.
+Madame F---- told him that she had never laughed so much, and that she had
+never imagined that a conversation, in appearance so simple, could afford
+so much pleasure and merriment. On my side, I discovered in her so much
+wit and cheerfulness, that I became deeply enamoured, and went to bed
+fully satisfied that, in the future, I could not keep up the show of
+indifference which I had so far assumed towards her.
+
+When I woke up the next morning, I heard from the new soldier who served
+me that La Valeur was better, and had been pronounced out of danger by
+the physician. At dinner the conversation fell upon him, but I did not
+open my lips. Two days afterwards, the general gave orders to have him
+removed to a comfortable apartment, sent him a servant, clothed him, and
+the over-credulous proveditore having paid him a visit, all the naval
+commanders and officers thought it their duty to imitate him, and to
+follow his example: the general curiosity was excited, there was a rush
+to see the new prince. M. D---- R---- followed his leaders, and Madame
+Sagredo, having set the ladies in motion, they all called upon him, with
+the exception of Madame F----, who told me laughingly that she would not
+pay him a visit unless I would consent to introduce her. I begged to be
+excused. The knave was called your highness, and the wonderful prince
+styled Madame Sagredo his princess. M. D---- R---- tried to persuade me to
+call upon the rogue, but I told him that I had said too much, and that I
+was neither courageous nor mean enough to retract my words. The whole
+imposture would soon have been discovered if anyone had possessed a
+peerage, but it just happened that there was not a copy in Corfu, and the
+French consul, a fat blockhead, like many other consuls, knew nothing of
+family trees. The madcap La Valeur began to walk out a week after his
+metamorphosis into a prince. He dined and had supper every day with the
+general, and every evening he was present at the reception, during which,
+owing to his intemperance, he always went fast asleep. Yet, there were
+two reasons which kept up the belief of his being a prince: the first was
+that he did not seem afraid of the news expected from Venice, where the
+proveditore had written immediately after the discovery; the second was
+that he solicited from the bishop the punishment of the priest who had
+betrayed his secret by violating the seal of confession. The poor priest
+had already been sent to prison, and the proveditore had not the courage
+to defend him. The new prince had been invited to dinner by all the naval
+officers, but M. D---- R---- had not made up his mind to imitate them so
+far, because Madame F---- had clearly warned him that she would dine at
+her own house on the day he was invited. I had likewise respectfully
+intimated that, on the same occasion, I would take the liberty of dining
+somewhere else.
+
+I met the prince one day as I was coming out of the old fortress leading
+to the esplanade. He stopped, and reproached me for not having called
+upon him. I laughed, and advised him to think of his safety before the
+arrival of the news which would expose all the imposture, in which case
+the proveditore was certain to treat him very severely. I offered to help
+him in his flight from Corfu, and to get a Neapolitan captain, whose ship
+was ready to sail, to conceal him on board; but the fool, instead of
+accepting my offer, loaded me with insults.
+
+He was courting Madame Sagredo, who treated him very well, feeling proud
+that a French prince should have given her the preference over all the
+other ladies. One day that she was dining in great ceremony at M.
+D---- R-----'s house, she asked me why I had advised the prince to run
+away.
+
+"I have it from his own lips," she added, "and he cannot make out your
+obstinacy in believing him an impostor."
+
+"I have given him that advice, madam, because my heart is good, and my
+judgment sane."
+
+"Then we are all of us as many fools, the proveditore included?"
+
+"That deduction would not be right, madam. An opinion contrary to that of
+another does not necessarily make a fool of the person who entertains it.
+It might possibly turn out, in ten or twelve days, that I have been
+entirely mistaken myself, but I should not consider myself a fool in
+consequence. In the mean time, a lady of your intelligence must have
+discovered whether that man is a peasant or a prince by his education and
+manners. For instance, does he dance well?"
+
+"He does not know one step, but he is the first to laugh about it; he
+says he never would learn dancing."
+
+"Does he behave well at table?"
+
+"Well, he doesn't stand on ceremony. He does not want his plate to be
+changed, he helps himself with his spoon out of the dishes; he does not
+know how to check an eructation or a yawn, and if he feels tired he
+leaves the table. It is evident that he has been very badly brought up."
+
+"And yet he is very pleasant, I suppose. Is he clean and neat?"
+
+"No, but then he is not yet well provided with linen."
+
+"I am told that he is very sober."
+
+"You are joking. He leaves the table intoxicated twice a day, but he
+ought to be pitied, for he cannot drink wine and keep his head clear.
+Then he swears like a trooper, and we all laugh, but he never takes
+offence."
+
+"Is he witty?"
+
+"He has a wonderful memory, for he tells us new stories every day."
+
+"Does he speak of his family?"
+
+"Very often of his mother, whom he loved tenderly. She was a Du Plessis."
+
+"If his mother is still alive she must be a hundred and fifty years old."
+
+"What nonsense!"
+
+"Not at all; she was married in the days of Marie de Medicis."
+
+"But the certificate of baptism names the prince's mother, and his
+seal--"
+
+"Does he know what armorial bearings he has on that seal?"
+
+"Do you doubt it?"
+
+"Very strongly, or rather I am certain that he knows nothing about it."
+
+We left the table, and the prince was announced. He came in, and Madame
+Sagredo lost no time in saying to him, "Prince, here is M. Casanova; he
+pretends that you do not know your own armorial bearings." Hearing these
+words, he came up to me, sneering, called me a coward, and gave me a
+smack on the face which almost stunned me. I left the room very slowly,
+not forgetting my hat and my cane, and went downstairs, while M.
+D---- R---- was loudly ordering the servants to throw the madman out of
+the window.
+
+I left the palace and went to the esplanade in order to wait for him. The
+moment I saw him, I ran to meet him, and I beat him so violently with my
+cane that one blow alone ought to have killed him. He drew back, and
+found himself brought to a stand between two walls, where, to avoid being
+beaten to death, his only resource was to draw his sword, but the
+cowardly scoundrel did not even think of his weapon, and I left him, on
+the ground, covered with blood. The crowd formed a line for me to pass,
+and I went to the coffee-house, where I drank a glass of lemonade,
+without sugar to precipitate the bitter saliva which rage had brought up
+from my stomach. In a few minutes, I found myself surrounded by all the
+young officers of the garrison, who joined in the general opinion that I
+ought to have killed him, and they at last annoyed me, for it was not my
+fault if I had not done so, and I would certainly have taken his life if
+he had drawn his sword.
+
+I had been in the coffee-house for half an hour when the general's
+adjutant came to tell me that his excellency ordered me to put myself
+under arrest on board the bastarda, a galley on which the prisoners had
+their legs in irons like galley slaves. The dose was rather too strong to
+be swallowed, and I did not feel disposed to submit to it. "Very good,
+adjutant," I replied, "it shall be done." He went away, and I left the
+coffee-house a moment after him, but when I reached the end of the
+street, instead of going towards the esplanade, I proceeded quickly
+towards the sea. I walked along the beach for a quarter of an hour, and
+finding a boat empty, but with a pair of oars, I got in her, and
+unfastening her, I rowed as hard as I could towards a large caicco,
+sailing against the wind with six oars. As soon as I had come up to her,
+I went on board and asked the carabouchiri to sail before the wind and to
+take me to a large wherry which could be seen at some distance, going
+towards Vido Rock. I abandoned the row-boat, and, after paying the master
+of the caicco generously, I got into the wherry, made a bargain with the
+skipper who unfurled three sails, and in less than two hours we were
+fifteen miles away from Corfu. The wind having died away, I made the men
+row against the current, but towards midnight they told me that they
+could not row any longer, they were worn out with fatigue. They advised
+me to sleep until day-break, but I refused to do so, and for a trifle I
+got them to put me on shore, without asking where I was, in order not to
+raise their suspicions. It was enough for me to know that I was at a
+distance of twenty miles from Corfu, and in a place where nobody could
+imagine me to be. The moon was shining, and I saw a church with a house
+adjoining, a long barn opened on both sides, a plain of about one hundred
+yards confined by hills, and nothing more. I found some straw in the
+barn, and laying myself down, I slept until day-break in spite of the
+cold. It was the 1st of December, and although the climate is very mild
+in Corfu I felt benumbed when I awoke, as I had no cloak over my thin
+uniform.
+
+The bells begin to toll, and I proceed towards the church. The
+long-bearded papa, surprised at my sudden apparition, enquires whether I
+am Romeo (a Greek); I tell him that I am Fragico (Italian), but he turns
+his back upon me and goes into his house, the door of which he shuts
+without condescending to listen to me.
+
+I then turned towards the sea, and saw a boat leaving a tartan lying at
+anchor within one hundred yards of the island; the boat had four oars and
+landed her passengers. I come up to them and meet a good-looking Greek, a
+woman and a young boy ten or twelve years old. Addressing myself to the
+Greek, I ask him whether he has had a pleasant passage, and where he
+comes from. He answers in Italian that he has sailed from Cephalonia with
+his wife and his son, and that he is bound for Venice; he had landed to
+hear mass at the Church of Our Lady of Casopo, in order to ascertain
+whether his father-in-law was still alive, and whether he would pay the
+amount he had promised him for the dowry of his wife.
+
+"But how can you find it out?"
+
+"The Papa Deldimopulo will tell me; he will communicate faithfully the
+oracle of the Holy Virgin." I say nothing and follow him into the church;
+he speaks to the priest, and gives him some money. The papa says the
+mass, enters the sanctum sanctorum, comes out again in a quarter of an
+hour, ascends the steps of the altar, turns towards his audience, and,
+after meditating for a minute and stroking his long beard, he delivers
+his oracle in a dozen words. The Greek of Cephalonia, who certainly could
+not boast of being as wise as Ulysses, appears very well pleased, and
+gives more money to the impostor. We leave the church, and I ask him
+whether he feels satisfied with the oracle.
+
+"Oh! quite satisfied. I know now that my father-in-law is alive, and that
+he will pay me the dowry, if I consent to leave my child with him. I am
+aware that it is his fancy and I will give him the boy."
+
+"Does the papa know you?"
+
+"No; he is not even acquainted with my name."
+
+"Have you any fine goods on board your tartan?"
+
+"Yes; come and breakfast with me; you can see all I have."
+
+"Very willingly."
+
+Delighted at hearing that oracles were not yet defunct, and satisfied
+that they will endure as long as there are in this world simple-minded
+men and deceitful, cunning priests, I follow the good man, who took me to
+his tartan and treated me to an excellent breakfast. His cargo consisted
+of cotton, linen, currants, oil, and excellent wines. He had also a stock
+of night-caps, stockings, cloaks in the Eastern fashion, umbrellas, and
+sea biscuits, of which I was very fond; in those days I had thirty teeth,
+and it would have been difficult to find a finer set. Alas! I have but
+two left now, the other twenty-eight are gone with other tools quite as
+precious; but 'dum vita super est, bene est.' I bought a small stock of
+everything he had except cotton, for which I had no use, and without
+discussing his price I paid him the thirty-five or forty sequins he
+demanded, and seeing my generosity he made me a present of six beautiful
+botargoes.
+
+I happened during our conversation to praise the wine of Xante, which he
+called generoydes, and he told me that if I would accompany him to Venice
+he would give me a bottle of that wine every day including the
+quarantine. Always superstitious, I was on the point of accepting, and
+that for the most foolish reason-namely, that there would be no
+premeditation in that strange resolution, and it might be the impulse of
+fate. Such was my nature in those days; alas; it is very different now.
+They say that it is because wisdom comes with old age, but I cannot
+reconcile myself to cherish the effect of a most unpleasant cause.
+
+Just as I was going to accept his offer he proposes to sell me a very
+fine gun for ten sequins, saying that in Corfu anyone would be glad of it
+for twelve. The word Corfu upsets all my ideas on the spot! I fancy I
+hear the voice of my genius telling me to go back to that city. I
+purchase the gun for the ten sequins, and my honest Cephalonian, admiring
+my fair dealing, gives me, over and above our bargain, a beautiful
+Turkish pouch well filled with powder and shot. Carrying my gun, with a
+good warm cloak over my uniform and with a large bag containing all my
+purchases, I take leave of the worthy Greek, and am landed on the shore,
+determined on obtaining a lodging from the cheating papa, by fair means
+or foul. The good wine of my friend the Cephalonian had excited me just
+enough to make me carry my determination into immediate execution. I had
+in my pockets four or five hundred copper gazzette, which were very
+heavy, but which I had procured from the Greek, foreseeing that I might
+want them during my stay on the island.
+
+I store my bag away in the barn and I proceed, gun in hand, towards the
+house of the priest; the church was closed.
+
+I must give my readers some idea of the state I was in at that moment. I
+was quietly hopeless. The three or four hundred sequins I had with me did
+not prevent me from thinking that I was not in very great security on the
+island; I could not remain long, I would soon be found out, and, being
+guilty of desertion, I should be treated accordingly. I did not know what
+to do, and that is always an unpleasant predicament. It would be absurd
+for me to return to Corfu of my own accord; my flight would then be
+useless, and I should be thought a fool, for my return would be a proof
+of cowardice or stupidity; yet I did not feel the courage to desert
+altogether. The chief cause of my decision was not that I had a thousand
+sequins in the hands of the faro banker, or my well-stocked wardrobe, or
+the fear of not getting a living somewhere else, but the unpleasant
+recollection that I should leave behind me a woman whom I loved to
+adoration, and from whom I had not yet obtained any favour, not even that
+of kissing her hand. In such distress of mind I could not do anything
+else but abandon myself to chance, whatever the result might be, and the
+most essential thing for the present was to secure a lodging and my daily
+food.
+
+I knock at the door of the priest's dwelling. He looks out of a window
+and shuts it without listening to me, I knock again, I swear, I call out
+loudly, all in vain, Giving way to my rage, I take aim at a poor sheep
+grazing with several others at a short distance, and kill it. The
+herdsman begins to scream, the papa shows himself at the window, calling
+out, "Thieves! Murder!" and orders the alarm-bell to be rung. Three bells
+are immediately set in motion, I foresee a general gathering: what is
+going to happen? I do not know, but happen what will, I load my gun and
+await coming events.
+
+In less than eight or ten minutes, I see a crowd of peasants coming down
+the hills, armed with guns, pitchforks, or cudgels: I withdraw inside of
+the barn, but without the slightest fear, for I cannot suppose that,
+seeing me alone, these men will murder me without listening to me.
+
+The first ten or twelve peasants come forward, gun in hand and ready to
+fire: I stop them by throwing down my gazzette, which they lose no time
+in picking up from the ground, and I keep on throwing money down as the
+men come forward, until I had no more left. The clowns were looking at
+each other in great astonishment, not knowing what to make out of a
+well-dressed young man, looking very peaceful, and throwing his money to
+them with such generosity. I could not speak to them until the deafening
+noise of the bells should cease. I quietly sit down on my large bag, and
+keep still, but as soon as I can be heard I begin to address the men. The
+priest, however, assisted by his beadle and by the herdsman, interrupts
+me, and all the more easily that I was speaking Italian. My three
+enemies, who talked all at once, were trying to excite the crowd against
+me.
+
+One of the peasants, an elderly and reasonable-looking man, comes up to
+me and asks me in Italian why I have killed the sheep.
+
+"To eat it, my good fellow, but not before I have paid for it."
+
+"But his holiness, the papa, might choose to charge one sequin for it."
+
+"Here is one sequin."
+
+The priest takes the money and goes away: war is over. The peasant tells
+me that he has served in the campaign of 1716, and that he was at the
+defence of Corfu. I compliment him, and ask him to find me a lodging and
+a man able to prepare my meals. He answers that he will procure me a
+whole house, that he will be my cook himself, but I must go up the hill.
+No matter! He calls two stout fellows, one takes my bag, the other
+shoulders my sheep, and forward! As we are walking along, I tell him,--
+
+"My good man, I would like to have in my service twenty-four fellows like
+these under military discipline. I would give each man twenty gazzette a
+day, and you would have forty as my lieutenant."
+
+"I will," says the old soldier, "raise for you this very day a body-guard
+of which you will be proud."
+
+We reach a very convenient house, containing on the ground floor three
+rooms and a stable, which I immediately turned into a guard-room.
+
+My lieutenant went to get what I wanted, and particularly a needlewoman
+to make me some shirts. In the course of the day I had furniture,
+bedding, kitchen utensils, a good dinner, twenty-four well-equipped
+soldiers, a super-annuated sempstress and several young girls to make my
+shirts. After supper, I found my position highly pleasant, being
+surrounded with some thirty persons who looked upon me as their
+sovereign, although they could not make out what had brought me to their
+island. The only thing which struck me as disagreeable was that the young
+girls could not speak Italian, and I did not know Greek enough to enable
+me to make love to them.
+
+The next morning my lieutenant had the guard relieved, and I could not
+help bursting into a merry laugh. They were like a flock of sheep: all
+fine men, well-made and strong; but without uniform and without
+discipline the finest band is but a herd. However, they quickly learned
+how to present arms and to obey the orders of their officer. I caused
+three sentinels to be placed, one before the guardroom, one at my door,
+and the third where he could have a good view of the sea. This sentinel
+was to give me warning of the approach of any armed boat or vessel. For
+the first two or three days I considered all this as mere amusement, but,
+thinking that I might really want the men to repel force by force, I had
+some idea of making my army take an oath of allegiance. I did not do so,
+however, although my lieutenant assured me that I had only to express my
+wishes, for my generosity had captivated the love of all the islanders.
+
+My sempstress, who had procured some young needlewomen to sew my shirts,
+had expected that I would fall in love with one and not with all, but my
+amorous zeal overstepped her hopes, and all the pretty ones had their
+turn; they were all well satisfied with me, and the sempstress was
+rewarded for her good offices. I was leading a delightful life, for my
+table was supplied with excellent dishes, juicy mutton, and snipe so
+delicious that I have never tasted their like except in St. Petersburg. I
+drank scopolo wine or the best muscatel of the Archipelago. My lieutenant
+was my only table companion. I never took a walk without him and two of
+my body-guard, in order to defend myself against the attacks of a few
+young men who had a spite against me because they fancied, not without
+some reason, that my needlewomen, their mistresses, had left them on my
+account. I often thought while I was rambling about the island, that
+without money I should have been unhappy, and that I was indebted to my
+gold for all the happiness I was enjoying; but it was right to suppose at
+the same time that, if I had not felt my purse pretty heavy, I would not
+have been likely to leave Corfu.
+
+I had thus been playing the petty king with success for a week or ten
+days, when, towards ten o'clock at night I heard the sentinel's
+challenge. My lieutenant went out, and returned announcing that an
+honest-looking man, who spoke Italian, wished to see me on important
+business. I had him brought in, and, in the presence of my lieutenant, he
+told me in Italian:
+
+"Next Sunday, the Papa Deldimopulo will fulminate against you the
+'cataramonachia'. If you do not prevent him, a slow fever will send you
+into the next world in six weeks."
+
+"I have never heard of such a drug."
+
+"It is not a drug. It is a curse pronounced by a priest with the Host in
+his hands, and it is sure to be fulfilled."
+
+"What reason can that priest have to murder me?"
+
+"You disturb the peace and discipline of his parish. You have seduced
+several young girls, and now their lovers refuse to marry them."
+
+I made him drink, and thanking him heartily, wished him good night. His
+warning struck me as deserving my attention, for, if I had no fear of the
+'cataramonachia', in which I had not the slightest faith, I feared
+certain poisons which might be by far more efficient. I passed a very
+quiet night, but at day-break I got up, and without saying anything to my
+lieutenant, I went straight to the church where I found the priest, and
+addressed him in the following words, uttered in a tone likely to enforce
+conviction:
+
+"On the first symptom of fever, I will shoot you like a dog. Throw over
+me a curse which will kill me instantly, or make your will. Farewell!"
+
+Having thus warned him, I returned to my royal palace. Early on the
+following Monday, the papa called on me. I had a slight headache; he
+enquired after my health, and when I told him that my head felt rather
+heavy, he made me laugh by the air of anxiety with which he assured me
+that it could be caused by nothing else than the heavy atmosphere of the
+island of Casopo.
+
+Three days after his visit, the advanced sentinel gave the war-cry. The
+lieutenant went out to reconnoitre, and after a short absence he gave me
+notice that the long boat of an armed vessel had just landed an officer.
+Danger was at hand.
+
+I go out myself, I call my men to arms, and, advancing a few steps, I see
+an officer, accompanied by a guide, who was walking towards my dwelling.
+As he was alone, I had nothing to fear. I return to my room, giving
+orders to my lieutenant to receive him with all military honours and to
+introduce him. Then, girding my sword, I wait for my visitor.
+
+In a few minutes, Adjutant Minolto, the same who had brought me the order
+to put myself under arrest, makes his appearance.
+
+"You are alone," I say to him, "and therefore you come as a friend. Let
+us embrace."
+
+"I must come as a friend, for, as an enemy, I should not have enough men.
+But what I see seems a dream."
+
+"Take a seat, and dine with me. I will treat you splendidly."
+
+"Most willingly, and after dinner we will leave the island together."
+
+"You may go alone, if you like; but I will not leave this place until I
+have the certainty, not only that I shall not be sent to the 'bastarda',
+but also that I shall have every satisfaction from the knave whom the
+general ought to send to the galleys."
+
+"Be reasonable, and come with me of your own accord. My orders are to
+take you by force, but as I have not enough men to do so, I shall make my
+report, and the general will, of course, send a force sufficient to
+arrest you."
+
+"Never; I will not be taken alive."
+
+"You must be mad; believe me, you are in the wrong. You have disobeyed
+the order I brought you to go to the 'bastarda; in that you have acted
+wrongly, and in that alone, for in every other respect you were perfectly
+right, the general himself says so."
+
+"Then I ought to have put myself under arrest?"
+
+"Certainly; obedience is necessary in our profession."
+
+"Would you have obeyed, if you had been in my place?"
+
+"I cannot and will not tell you what I would have done, but I know that
+if I had disobeyed orders I should have been guilty of a crime:"
+
+"But if I surrendered now I should be treated like a criminal, and much
+more severely than if I had obeyed that unjust order."
+
+"I think not. Come with me, and you will know everything."
+
+"What! Go without knowing what fate may be in store for me? Do not expect
+it. Let us have dinner. If I am guilty of such a dreadful crime that
+violence must be used against me, I will surrender only to irresistible
+force. I cannot be worse off, but there may be blood spilled."
+
+"You are mistaken, such conduct would only make you more guilty. But I
+say like you, let us have dinner. A good meal will very likely render you
+more disposed to listen to reason."
+
+Our dinner was nearly over, when we heard some noise outside. The
+lieutenant came in, and informed me that the peasants were gathering in
+the neighbourhood of my house to defend me, because a rumour had spread
+through the island that the felucca had been sent with orders to arrest
+me and take me to Corfu. I told him to undeceive the good fellows, and to
+send them away, but to give them first a barrel of wine.
+
+The peasants went away satisfied, but, to shew their devotion to me, they
+all fired their guns.
+
+"It is all very amusing," said the adjutant, "but it will turn out very
+serious if you let me go away alone, for my duty compels me to give an
+exact account of all I have witnessed."
+
+"I will follow you, if you will give me your word of honour to land me
+free in Corfu."
+
+"I have orders to deliver your person to M. Foscari, on board the
+bastarda."
+
+"Well, you shall not execute your orders this time."
+
+"If you do not obey the commands of the general, his honour will compel
+him to use violence against you, and of course he can do it. But tell me,
+what would you do if the general should leave you in this island for the
+sake of the joke? There is no fear of that, however, and, after the
+report which I must give, the general will certainly make up his mind to
+stop the affair without shedding blood."
+
+"Without a fight it will be difficult to arrest me, for with five hundred
+peasants in such a place as this I would not be afraid of three thousand
+men."
+
+"One man will prove enough; you will be treated as a leader of rebels.
+All these peasants may be devoted to you, but they cannot protect you
+against one man who will shoot you for the sake of earning a few pieces
+of gold. I can tell you more than that: amongst all those men who
+surround you there is not one who would not murder you for twenty
+sequins. Believe me, go with me. Come to enjoy the triumph which is
+awaiting you in Corfu. You will be courted and applauded. You will
+narrate yourself all your mad frolics, people will laugh, and at the same
+time will admire you for having listened to reason the moment I came
+here. Everybody feels esteem for you, and M. D---- R---- thinks a great
+deal of you. He praises very highly the command you have shewn over your
+passion in refraining from thrusting your sword through that insolent
+fool, in order not to forget the respect you owed to his house. The
+general himself must esteem you, for he cannot forget what you told him
+of that knave."
+
+"What has become of him?"
+
+"Four days ago Major Sardina's frigate arrived with dispatches, in which
+the general must have found all the proof of the imposture, for he has
+caused the false duke or prince to disappear very suddenly. Nobody knows
+where he has been sent to, and nobody ventures to mention the fellow
+before the general, for he made the most egregious blunder respecting
+him."
+
+"But was the man received in society after the thrashing I gave him?"
+
+"God forbid! Do you not recollect that he wore a sword? From that moment
+no one would receive him. His arm was broken and his jaw shattered to
+pieces.
+
+"But in spite of the state he was in, in spite of what he must have
+suffered, his excellency had him removed a week after you had treated him
+so severely. But your flight is what everyone has been wondering over. It
+was thought for three days that M. D---- R---- had concealed you in his
+house, and he was openly blamed for doing so. He had to declare loudly at
+the general's table that he was in the most complete ignorance of your
+whereabouts. His excellency even expressed his anxiety about your escape,
+and it was only yesterday that your place of refuge was made known by a
+letter addressed by the priest of this island to the Proto-Papa Bulgari,
+in which he complained that an Italian officer had invaded the island of
+Casopo a week before, and had committed unheard-of violence. He accused
+you of seducing all the girls, and of threatening to shoot him if he
+dared to pronounce 'cataramonachia' against you. This letter, which was
+read publicly at the evening reception, made the general laugh, but he
+ordered me to arrest you all the same."
+
+"Madame Sagredo is the cause of it all."
+
+"True, but she is well punished for it. You ought to call upon her with
+me to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow? Are you then certain that I shall not be placed under
+arrest?"
+
+"Yes, for I know that the general is a man of honour."
+
+"I am of the same opinion. Well, let us go on board your felucca. We will
+embark together after midnight."
+
+"Why not now?"
+
+"Because I will not run the risk of spending the night on board M.
+Foscari's bastarda. I want to reach Corfu by daylight, so as to make your
+victory more brilliant."
+
+"But what shall we do for the next eight hours?"
+
+"We will pay a visit to some beauties of a species unknown in Corfu, and
+have a good supper."
+
+I ordered my lieutenant to send plenty to eat and to drink to the men on
+board the felucca, to prepare a splendid supper, and to spare nothing, as
+I should leave the island at midnight. I made him a present of all my
+provisions, except such as I wanted to take with me; these I sent on
+board. My janissaries, to whom I gave a week's pay, insisted upon
+escorting me, fully equipped, as far as the boat, which made the adjutant
+laugh all the way.
+
+We reached Corfu by eight o'clock in the morning, and we went alongside
+the 'bastarda. The adjutant consigned me to M. Foscari, assuring me that
+he would immediately give notice of my arrival to M. D---- R-----, send my
+luggage to his house, and report the success of his expedition to the
+general.
+
+M. Foscari, the commander of the bastarda, treated me very badly. If he
+had been blessed with any delicacy of feeling, he would not have been in
+such a hurry to have me put in irons. He might have talked to me, and
+have thus delayed for a quarter of an hour that operation which greatly
+vexed me. But, without uttering a single word, he sent me to the 'capo di
+scalo' who made me sit down, and told me to put my foot forward to
+receive the irons, which, however, do not dishonour anyone in that
+country, not even the galley slaves, for they are better treated than
+soldiers.
+
+My right leg was already in irons, and the left one was in the hands of
+the man for the completion of that unpleasant ceremony, when the adjutant
+of his excellency came to tell the executioner to set me at liberty and
+to return me my sword. I wanted to present my compliments to the noble M.
+Foscari, but the adjutant, rather ashamed, assured me that his excellency
+did not expect me to do so. The first thing I did was to pay my respects
+to the general, without saying one word to him, but he told me with a
+serious countenance to be more prudent for the future, and to learn that
+a soldier's first duty was to obey, and above all to be modest and
+discreet. I understood perfectly the meaning of the two last words, and
+acted accordingly.
+
+When I made my appearance at M. D---- R-----'s, I could see pleasure on
+everybody's face. Those moments have always been so dear to me that I
+have never forgotten them, they have afforded me consolation in the time
+of adversity. If you would relish pleasure you must endure pain, and
+delights are in proportion to the privations we have suffered. M.
+D---- R---- was so glad to see me that he came up to me and warmly
+embraced me. He presented me with a beautiful ring which he took from his
+own finger, and told me that I had acted quite rightly in not letting
+anyone, and particularly himself, know where I had taken refuge.
+
+"You can't think," he added, frankly, "how interested Madame F---- was in
+your fate. She would be really delighted if you called on her
+immediately."
+
+How delightful to receive such advice from his own lips! But the word
+"immediately" annoyed me, because, having passed the night on board the
+felucca, I was afraid that the disorder of my toilet might injure me in
+her eyes. Yet I could neither refuse M. D---- R-----, nor tell him the
+reason of my refusal, and I bethought myself that I could make a merit of
+it in the eyes of Madame F---- I therefore went at once to her house; the
+goddess was not yet visible, but her attendant told me to come in,
+assuring me that her mistress's bell would soon be heard, and that she
+would be very sorry if I did not wait to see her. I spent half an hour
+with that young and indiscreet person, who was a very charming girl, and
+learned from her many things which caused me great pleasure, and
+particularly all that had been said respecting my escape. I found that
+throughout the affair my conduct had met with general approbation.
+
+As soon as Madame F---- had seen her maid, she desired me to be shewn in.
+The curtains were drawn aside, and I thought I saw Aurora surrounded with
+the roses and the pearls of morning. I told her that, if it had not been
+for the order I received from M. D---- R---- I would not have presumed to
+present myself before her in my travelling costume; and in the most
+friendly tone she answered that M. D---- R-----, knowing all the interest
+she felt in me, had been quite right to tell me to come, and she assured
+me that M. D---- R----- had the greatest esteem for me.
+
+"I do not know, madam, how I have deserved such great happiness, for all
+I dared aim at was toleration."
+
+"We all admired the control you kept over your feelings when you
+refrained from killing that insolent madman on the spot; he would have
+been thrown out of the window if he had not beat a hurried retreat."
+
+"I should certainly have killed him, madam, if you had not been present."
+
+"A very pretty compliment, but I can hardly believe that you thought of
+me in such a moment."
+
+I did not answer, but cast my eyes down, and gave a deep sigh. She
+observed my new ring, and in order to change the subject of conversation
+she praised M. D---- R----- very highly, as soon as I had told her how he
+had offered it to me. She desired me to give her an account of my life on
+the island, and I did so, but allowed my pretty needlewomen to remain
+under a veil, for I had already learnt that in this world the truth must
+often remain untold.
+
+All my adventures amused her much, and she greatly admired my conduct.
+
+"Would you have the courage," she said, "to repeat all you have just told
+me, and exactly in the same terms, before the proveditore-generale?"
+
+"Most certainly, madam, provided he asked me himself."
+
+"Well, then, prepare to redeem your promise. I want our excellent general
+to love you and to become your warmest protector, so as to shield you
+against every injustice and to promote your advancement. Leave it all to
+me."
+
+Her reception fairly overwhelmed me with happiness, and on leaving her
+house I went to Major Maroli to find out the state of my finances. I was
+glad to hear that after my escape he had no longer considered me a
+partner in the faro bank. I took four hundred sequins from the cashier,
+reserving the right to become again a partner, should circumstances prove
+at any time favourable.
+
+In the evening I made a careful toilet, and called for the Adjutant
+Minolto in order to pay with him a visit to Madame Sagredo, the general's
+favourite. With the exception of Madame F---- she was the greatest beauty
+of Corfu. My visit surprised her, because, as she had been the cause of
+all that had happened, she was very far from expecting it. She imagined
+that I had a spite against her. I undeceived her, speaking to her very
+candidly, and she treated me most kindly, inviting me to come now and
+then to spend the evening at her house.
+
+But I neither accepted nor refused her amiable invitation, knowing that
+Madame F---- disliked her; and how could I be a frequent guest at her
+house with such a knowledge! Besides, Madame Sagredo was very fond of
+gambling, and, to please her, it was necessary either to lose or make her
+win, but to accept such conditions one must be in love with the lady or
+wish to make her conquest, and I had not the slightest idea of either.
+The Adjutant Minolto never played, but he had captivated the lady's good
+graces by his services in the character of Mercury.
+
+When I returned to the palace I found Madame F---- alone, M.
+D---- R---- being engaged with his correspondence. She asked me to sit
+near her, and to tell her all my adventures in Constantinople. I did so,
+and I had no occasion to repent it. My meeting with Yusuf's wife pleased
+her extremely, but the bathing scene by moonlight made her blush with
+excitement. I veiled as much as I could the too brilliant colours of my
+picture, but, if she did not find me clear, she would oblige me to be
+more explicit, and if I made myself better understood by giving to my
+recital a touch of voluptuousness which I borrowed from her looks more
+than from my recollection, she would scold me and tell me that I might
+have disguised a little more. I felt that the way she was talking would
+give her a liking for me, and I was satisfied that the man who can give
+birth to amorous desires is easily called upon to gratify them it was the
+reward I was ardently longing for, and I dared to hope it would be mine,
+although I could see it only looming in the distance.
+
+It happened that, on that day, M. D---- R---- had invited a large company
+to supper. I had, as a matter of course, to engross all conversation, and
+to give the fullest particulars of all that had taken place from the
+moment I received the order to place myself under arrest up to the time
+of my release from the 'bastarda'. M. Foscari was seated next to me, and
+the last part of my narrative was not, I suppose, particularly agreeable
+to him.
+
+The account I gave of my adventures pleased everybody, and it was decided
+that the proveditore-generale must have the pleasure of hearing my tale
+from my own lips. I mentioned that hay was very plentiful in Casopo, and
+as that article was very scarce in Corfu, M. D---- R---- told me that I
+ought to seize the opportunity of making myself agreeable to the general
+by informing him of that circumstance without delay. I followed his
+advice the very next day, and was very well received, for his excellency
+immediately ordered a squad of men to go to the island and bring large
+quantities of hay to Corfu.
+
+A few days later the Adjutant Minolto came to me in the coffee-house, and
+told me that the general wished to see me: this time I promptly obeyed
+his commands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Progress of My Amour--My Journey to Otranto--I Enter the Service of
+Madame F.--A Fortunate Excoriation
+
+The room I entered was full of people. His excellency, seeing me, smiled
+and drew upon me the attention of all his guests by saying aloud, "Here
+comes the young man who is a good judge of princes."
+
+"My lord, I have become a judge of nobility by frequenting the society of
+men like you."
+
+"The ladies are curious to know all you have done from the time of your
+escape from Corfu up to your return."
+
+"Then you sentence me, monsignor, to make a public confession?"
+
+"Exactly; but, as it is to be a confession, be careful not to omit the
+most insignificant circumstance, and suppose that I am not in the room."
+
+"On the contrary, I wish to receive absolution only from your excellency.
+But my history will be a long one."
+
+"If such is the case, your confessor gives you permission to be seated."
+
+I gave all the particulars of my adventures, with the exception of my
+dalliance with the nymphs of the island.
+
+"Your story is a very instructive one," observed the general.
+
+"Yes, my lord, for the adventures shew that a young man is never so near
+his utter ruin than when, excited by some great passion, he finds himself
+able to minister to it, thanks to the gold in his purse."
+
+I was preparing to take my leave, when the majordomo came to inform me
+that his excellency desired me to remain to supper. I had therefore the
+honour of a seat at his table, but not the pleasure of eating, for I was
+obliged to answer the questions addressed to me from all quarters, and I
+could not contrive to swallow a single mouthful. I was seated next to the
+Proto-Papa Bulgari, and I entreated his pardon for having ridiculed
+Deldimopulo's oracle. "It is nothing else but regular cheating," he said,
+"but it is very difficult to put a stop to it; it is an old custom."
+
+A short time afterwards, Madame F---- whispered a few words to the
+general, who turned to me and said that he would be glad to hear me
+relate what had occurred to me in Constantinople with the wife of the
+Turk Yusuf, and at another friend's house, where I had seen bathing by
+moonlight. I was rather surprised at such an invitation, and told him
+that such frolics were not worth listening to, and the general not
+pressing me no more was said about it. But I was astonished at Madame
+F----'s indiscretion; she had no business to make my confidences public.
+I wanted her to be jealous of her own dignity, which I loved even more
+than her person.
+
+Two or three days later, she said to me,
+
+"Why did you refuse to tell your adventures in Constantinople before the
+general?"
+
+"Because I do not wish everybody to know that you allow me to tell you
+such things. What I may dare, madam, to say to you when we are alone, I
+would certainly not say to you in public."
+
+"And why not? It seems to me, on the contrary, that if you are silent in
+public out of respect for me, you ought to be all the more silent when we
+are alone."
+
+"I wanted to amuse you, and have exposed myself to the danger of
+displeasing you, but I can assure you, madam, that I will not run such a
+risk again."
+
+"I have no wish to pry into your intentions, but it strikes me that if
+your wish was to please me, you ought not to have run the risk of
+obtaining the opposite result. We take supper with the general this
+evening, and M. D---- R----- has been asked to bring you. I feel certain
+that the general will ask you again for your adventures in
+Constantinople, and this time you cannot refuse him."
+
+M. D---- R---- came in and we went to the general's. I thought as we were
+driving along that, although Madame F---- seemed to have intended to
+humiliate me, I ought to accept it all as a favour of fortune, because,
+by compelling me to explain my refusal to the general; Madame F---- had,
+at the same time, compelled me to a declaration of my feelings, which was
+not without importance.
+
+The 'proveditore-generale' gave me a friendly welcome, and kindly handed
+me a letter which had come with the official dispatches from
+Constantinople. I bowed my thanks, and put the letter in my pocket: but
+he told me that he was himself a great lover of news, and that I could
+read my letter. I opened it; it was from Yusuf, who announced the death
+of Count de Bonneval. Hearing the name of the worthy Yusuf, the general
+asked me to tell him my adventure with his wife. I could not now refuse,
+and I began a story which amused and interested the general and his
+friends for an hour or so, but which was from beginning to end the work
+of my imagination.
+
+Thus I continued to respect the privacy of Yusuf, to avoid implicating
+the good fame of Madame F----, and to shew myself in a light which was
+tolerably advantageous to me. My story, which was full of sentiment, did
+me a great deal of honour, and I felt very happy when I saw from the
+expression of Madame F----'s face that she was pleased with me, although
+somewhat surprised.
+
+When we found ourselves again in her house she told me, in the presence
+of M. D---- R-----, that the story I had related to the general was
+certainly very pretty, although purely imaginary, that she was not angry
+with me, because I had amused her, but that she could not help remarking
+my obstinacy in refusing compliance with her wishes. Then, turning to M.
+D---- R-----, she said,
+
+"M. Casanova pretends that if he had given an account of his meeting with
+Yusuf's wife without changing anything everybody would think that I
+allowed him to entertain me with indecent stories. I want you to give
+your opinion about it. Will you," she added, speaking to me, "be so good
+as to relate immediately the adventure in the same words which you have
+used when you told me of it?"
+
+"Yes, madam, if you wish me to do so."
+
+Stung to the quick by an indiscretion which, as I did not yet know women
+thoroughly, seemed to me without example, I cast all fears of displeasing
+to the winds, related the adventure with all the warmth of an impassioned
+poet, and without disguising or attenuating in the least the desires
+which the charms of the Greek beauty had inspired me with.
+
+"Do you think," said M. D---- R---- to Madame F-----, "that he ought to
+have related that adventure before all our friends as he has just related
+it to us?"
+
+"If it be wrong for him to tell it in public, it is also wrong to tell it
+to me in private."
+
+"You are the only judge of that: yes, if he has displeased you; no, if he
+has amused you. As for my own opinion, here it is: He has just now amused
+me very much, but he would have greatly displeased me if he had related
+the same adventure in public."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Madame F----, "I must request you never to tell me in
+private anything that you cannot repeat in public."
+
+"I promise, madam, to act always according to your wishes."
+
+"It being understood," added M. D---- R-----, smiling, "that madam
+reserves all rights of repealing that order whenever she may think fit."
+
+I was vexed, but I contrived not to show it. A few minutes more, and we
+took leave of Madame F----.
+
+I was beginning to understand that charming woman, and to dread the
+ordeal to which she would subject me. But love was stronger than fear,
+and, fortified with hope, I had the courage to endure the thorns, so as
+to gather the rose at the end of my sufferings. I was particularly
+pleased to find that M. D---- R---- was not jealous of me, even when she
+seemed to dare him to it. This was a point of the greatest importance.
+
+A few days afterwards, as I was entertaining her on various subjects, she
+remarked how unfortunate it had been for me to enter the lazzaretto at
+Ancona without any money.
+
+"In spite of my distress," I said, "I fell in love with a young and
+beautiful Greek slave, who very nearly contrived to make me break through
+all the sanitary laws."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"You are alone, madam, and I have not forgotten your orders."
+
+"Is it a very improper story?"
+
+"No: yet I would not relate it to you in public."
+
+"Well," she said, laughing, "I repeal my order, as M. D---- R---- said I
+would. Tell me all about it."
+
+I told my story, and, seeing that she was pensive, I exaggerated the
+misery I had felt at not being able to complete my conquest.
+
+"What do you mean by your misery? I think that the poor girl was more to
+be pitied than you. You have never seen her since?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, madam; I met her again, but I dare not tell you when
+or how."
+
+"Now you must go on; it is all nonsense for you to stop. Tell me all; I
+expect you have been guilty of some black deed."
+
+"Very far from it, madam, for it was a very sweet, although incomplete,
+enjoyment."
+
+"Go on! But do not call things exactly by their names. It is not
+necessary to go into details."
+
+Emboldened by the renewal of her order, I told her, without looking her
+in the face, of my meeting with the Greek slave in the presence of
+Bellino, and of the act which was cut short by the appearance of her
+master. When I had finished my story, Madame F---- remained silent, and I
+turned the conversation into a different channel, for though I felt
+myself on an excellent footing with her, I knew likewise that I had to
+proceed with great prudence. She was too young to have lowered herself
+before, and she would certainly look upon a connection with me as a
+lowering of her dignity.
+
+Fortune which had always smiled upon me in the most hopeless cases, did
+not intend to ill-treat me on this occasion, and procured me, on that
+very same day, a favour of a very peculiar nature. My charming ladylove
+having pricked her finger rather severely, screamed loudly, and stretched
+her hand towards me, entreating me to suck the blood flowing from the
+wound. You may judge, dear reader, whether I was long in seizing that
+beautiful hand, and if you are, or if you have ever been in love, you
+will easily guess the manner in which I performed my delightful work.
+What is a kiss? Is it not an ardent desire to inhale a portion of the
+being we love? Was not the blood I was sucking from that charming wound a
+portion of the woman I worshipped? When I had completed my work, she
+thanked me affectionately, and told me to spit out the blood I had
+sucked.
+
+"It is here," I said, placing my hand on my heart, "and God alone knows
+what happiness it has given me."
+
+"You have drunk my blood with happiness! Are you then a cannibal?"
+
+"I believe not, madam; but it would have been sacrilege in my eyes if I
+had suffered one single drop of your blood to be lost."
+
+One evening, there was an unusually large attendance at M. D---- R-----'s
+assembly, and we were talking of the carnival which was near at hand.
+Everybody was regretting the lack of actors, and the impossibility of
+enjoying the pleasures of the theatre. I immediately offered to procure a
+good company at my expense, if the boxes were at once subscribed for, and
+the monopoly of the faro bank granted to me. No time was to be lost, for
+the carnival was approaching, and I had to go to Otranto to engage a
+troop. My proposal was accepted with great joy, and the
+proveditore-generale placed a felucca at my disposal. The boxes were all
+taken in three days, and a Jew took the pit, two nights a week excepted,
+which I reserved for my own profit.
+
+The carnival being very long that year, I had every chance of success. It
+is said generally that the profession of theatrical manager is difficult,
+but, if that is the case, I have not found it so by experience, and am
+bound to affirm the contrary.
+
+I left Corfu in the evening, and having a good breeze in my favour, I
+reached Otranto by day-break the following morning, without the oarsmen
+having had to row a stroke. The distance from Corfu to Otranto is only
+about fifteen leagues.
+
+I had no idea of landing, owing to the quarantine which is always
+enforced for any ship or boat coming to Italy from the east. I only went
+to the parlour of the lazaretto, where, placed behind a grating, you can
+speak to any person who calls, and who must stand behind another grating
+placed opposite, at a distance of six feet.
+
+As soon as I announced that I had come for the purpose of engaging a
+troupe of actors to perform in Corfu, the managers of the two companies
+then in Otranto came to the parlour to speak to me. I told them at once
+that I wished to see all the performers, one company at a time.
+
+The two rival managers gave me then a very comic scene, each manager
+wanting the other to bring his troupe first. The harbour-master told me
+that the only way to settle the matter was to say myself which of the two
+companies I would see first: one was from Naples, the other from Sicily.
+Not knowing either I gave the preference to the first. Don Fastidio, the
+manager, was very vexed, while Battipaglia, the director of the second,
+was delighted because he hoped that, after seeing the Neapolitan troupe,
+I would engage his own.
+
+An hour afterwards, Fastidio returned with all his performers, and my
+surprise may be imagined when amongst them I recognized Petronio and his
+sister Marina, who, the moment she saw me, screamed for joy, jumped over
+the grating, and threw herself in my arms. A terrible hubbub followed,
+and high words passed between Fastidio and the harbour-master. Marina
+being in the service of Fastidio, the captain compelled him to confine
+her to the lazaretto, where she would have to perform quarantine at his
+expense. The poor girl cried bitterly, but I could not remedy her
+imprudence.
+
+I put a stop to the quarrel by telling Fastidio to shew me all his
+people, one after the other. Petronio belonged to his company, and
+performed the lovers. He told me that he had a letter for me from
+Therese. I was also glad to see a Venetian of my acquaintance who played
+the pantaloon in the pantomime, three tolerably pretty actresses, a
+pulcinella, and a scaramouch. Altogether, the troupe was a decent one.
+
+I told Fastidio to name the lowest salary he wanted for all his company,
+assuring him that I would give the preference to his rival, if he should
+ask me too much.
+
+"Sir," he answered, "we are twenty, and shall require six rooms with ten
+beds, one sitting-room for all of us, and thirty Neapolitan ducats a day,
+all travelling expenses paid. Here is my stock of plays, and we will
+perform those that you may choose."
+
+Thinking of poor Marina who would have to remain in the lazaretto before
+she could reappear on the stage at Otranto, I told Fastidio to get the
+contract ready, as I wanted to go away immediately.
+
+I had scarcely pronounced these words than war broke out again between
+the manager-elect and his unfortunate competitor. Battipaglia, in his
+rage, called Marina a harlot, and said that she had arranged beforehand
+with Fastidio to violate the rules of the lazaretto in order to compel me
+to choose their troupe. Petronio, taking his sister's part, joined
+Fastidio, and the unlucky Battipaglia was dragged outside and treated to
+a generous dose of blows and fisticuffs, which was not exactly the thing
+to console him for a lost engagement.
+
+Soon afterwards, Petronio brought me Therese's letter. She was ruining
+the duke, getting rich accordingly, and waiting for me in Naples.
+
+Everything being ready towards evening, I left Otranto with twenty
+actors, and six large trunks containing their complete wardrobes. A light
+breeze which was blowing from the south might have carried us to Corfu in
+ten hours, but when we had sailed about one hour my cayabouchiri informed
+me that he could see by the moonlight a ship which might prove to be a
+corsair, and get hold of us. I was unwilling to risk anything, so I
+ordered them to lower the sails and return to Otranto. At day-break we
+sailed again with a good westerly wind, which would also have taken us to
+Corfu; but after we had gone two or three hours, the captain pointed out
+to me a brigantine, evidently a pirate, for she was shaping her course so
+as to get to windward of us. I told him to change the course, and to go
+by starboard, to see if the brigantine would follow us, but she
+immediately imitated our manoeuvre. I could not go back to Otranto, and I
+had no wish to go to Africa, so I ordered the men to shape our course, so
+as to land on the coast of Calabria, by hard rowing and at the nearest
+point. The sailors, who were frightened to death, communicated their
+fears to my comedians, and soon I heard nothing but weeping and sobbing.
+Every one of them was calling earnestly upon some saint, but not one
+single prayer to God did I hear. The bewailings of scaramouch, the dull
+and spiritless despair of Fastidio, offered a picture which would have
+made me laugh heartily if the danger had been imaginary and not real.
+Marina alone was cheerful and happy, because she did not realize the
+danger we were running, and she laughed at the terror of the crew and of
+her companions.
+
+A strong breeze sprang up towards evening, so I ordered them to clap on
+all sail and scud before the wind, even if it should get stronger. In
+order to escape the pirate, I had made up my mind to cross the gulf. We
+took the wind through the night, and in the morning we were eighty miles
+from Corfu, which I determined to reach by rowing. We were in the middle
+of the gulf, and the sailors were worn out with fatigue, but I had no
+longer any fear. A gale began to blow from the north, and in less than an
+hour it was blowing so hard that we were compelled to sail close to the
+wind in a fearful manner. The felucca looked every moment as if it must
+capsize. Every one looked terrified but kept complete silence, for I had
+enjoined it on penalty of death. In spite of our dangerous position, I
+could not help laughing when I heard the sobs of the cowardly scaramouch.
+The helmsman was a man of great nerve, and the gale being steady I felt
+we would reach Corfu without mishap. At day-break we sighted the town,
+and at nine in the morning we landed at Mandrachia. Everybody was
+surprised to see us arrive that way.
+
+As soon as my company was landed, the young officers naturally came to
+inspect the actresses, but they did not find them very desirable, with
+the exception of Marina, who received uncomplainingly the news that I
+could not renew my acquaintance with her. I felt certain that she would
+not lack admirers. But my actresses, who had appeared ugly at the
+landing, produced a very different effect on the stage, and particularly
+the pantaloon's wife. M. Duodo, commander of a man-of-war, called upon
+her, and, finding master pantaloon intolerant on the subject of his
+better-half, gave him a few blows with his cane. Fastidio informed me the
+next day that the pantaloon and his wife refused to perform any more, but
+I made them alter their mind by giving them a benefit night.
+
+The pantaloon's wife was much applauded, but she felt insulted because,
+in the midst of the applause, the pit called out, "Bravo, Duodo!" She
+presented herself to the general in his own box, in which I was
+generally, and complained of the manner in which she was treated. The
+general promised her, in my name, another benefit night for the close of
+the carnival, and I was of course compelled to ratify his promise. The
+fact is, that, to satisfy the greedy actors, I abandoned to my comedians,
+one by one, the seventeen nights I had reserved for myself. The benefit I
+gave to Marina was at the special request of Madame F----, who had taken
+her into great favour since she had had the honour of breakfasting alone
+with M. D---- R---- in a villa outside of the city.
+
+My generosity cost me four hundred sequins, but the faro bank brought me
+a thousand and more, although I never held the cards, my management of
+the theatre taking up all my time. My manner with the actresses gained me
+great kindness; it was clearly seen that I carried on no intrigue with
+any of them, although I had every facility for doing so. Madame
+F---- complimented me, saying that she had not entertained such a good
+opinion of my discretion. I was too busy through the carnival to think of
+love, even of the passion which filled my heart. It was only at the
+beginning of Lent, and after the departure of the comedians, that I could
+give rein to my feelings.
+
+One morning Madame F---- sent, a messenger who, summoned me to her
+presence. It was eleven o'clock; I immediately went to her, and enquired
+what I could do for her service.
+
+"I wanted to see you," she said, "to return the two hundred sequins which
+you lent me so nobly. Here they are; be good enough to give me back my
+note of hand."
+
+"Your note of hand, madam, is no longer in my possession. I have
+deposited it in a sealed envelope with the notary who, according to this
+receipt of his, can return it only to you."
+
+"Why did you not keep it yourself?"
+
+"Because I was afraid of losing it, or of having it stolen. And in the
+event of my death I did not want such a document to fall into any other
+hands but yours."
+
+"A great proof of your extreme delicacy, certainly, but I think you ought
+to have reserved the right of taking it out of the notary's custody
+yourself."
+
+"I did not forsee the possibility of calling for it myself."
+
+"Yet it was a very likely thing. Then I can send word to the notary to
+transmit it to me?"
+
+"Certainly, madam; you alone can claim it."
+
+She sent to the notary, who brought the himself.
+
+She tore the envelope open, and found only a piece of paper besmeared
+with ink, quite illegible, except her own name, which had not been
+touched.
+
+"You have acted," she said, "most nobly; but you must agree with me that
+I cannot be certain that this piece of paper is really my note of hand,
+although I see my name on it."
+
+"True, madam; and if you are not certain of it, I confess myself in the
+wrong."
+
+"I must be certain of it, and I am so; but you must grant that I could
+not swear to it."
+
+"Granted, madam."
+
+During the following days it struck me that her manner towards me was
+singularly altered. She never received me in her dishabille, and I had to
+wait with great patience until her maid had entirely dressed her before
+being admitted into her presence.
+
+If I related any story, any adventure, she pretended not to understand,
+and affected not to see the point of an anecdote or a jest; very often
+she would purposely not look at me, and then I was sure to relate badly.
+If M. D---- R---- laughed at something I had just said, she would ask what
+he was laughing for, and when he had told her, she would say it was
+insipid or dull. If one of her bracelets became unfastened, I offered to
+fasten it again, but either she would not give me so much trouble, or I
+did not understand the fastening, and the maid was called to do it. I
+could not help shewing my vexation, but she did not seem to take the
+slightest notice of it. If M. D---- R---- excited me to say something
+amusing or witty, and I did not speak immediately, she would say that my
+budget was empty, laughing, and adding that the wit of poor M. Casanova
+was worn out. Full of rage, I would plead guilty by my silence to her
+taunting accusation, but I was thoroughly miserable, for I did not see
+any cause for that extraordinary change in her feelings, being conscious
+that I had not given her any motive for it. I wanted to shew her openly
+my indifference and contempt, but whenever an opportunity offered, my
+courage would forsake me, and I would let it escape.
+
+One evening M. D---- R---- asking me whether I had often been in love, I
+answered,
+
+"Three times, my lord."
+
+"And always happily, of course."
+
+"Always unhappily. The first time, perhaps, because, being an
+ecclesiastic, I durst not speak openly of my love. The second, because a
+cruel, unexpected event compelled me to leave the woman I loved at the
+very moment in which my happiness would have been complete. The third
+time, because the feeling of pity, with which I inspired the beloved
+object, induced her to cure me of my passion, instead of crowning my
+felicity."
+
+"But what specific remedies did she use to effect your cure?"
+
+"She has ceased to be kind."
+
+"I understand she has treated you cruelly, and you call that pity, do
+you? You are mistaken."
+
+"Certainly," said Madame F----, "a woman may pity the man she loves, but
+she would not think of ill-treating him to cure him of his passion. That
+woman has never felt any love for you."
+
+"I cannot, I will not believe it, madam."
+
+"But are you cured?"
+
+"Oh! thoroughly; for when I happen to think of her, I feel nothing but
+indifference and coldness. But my recovery was long."
+
+"Your convalescence lasted, I suppose, until you fell in love with
+another."
+
+"With another, madam? I thought I had just told you that the third time I
+loved was the last."
+
+A few days after that conversation, M. D---- R---- told me that Madame
+F---- was not well, that he could not keep her company, and that I ought
+to go to her, as he was sure she would be glad to see me. I obeyed, and
+told Madame F---- what M. D---- R---- had said. She was lying on a sofa.
+Without looking at me, she told me she was feverish, and would not ask me
+to remain with her, because I would feel weary.
+
+"I could not experience any weariness in your society, madam; at all
+events, I can leave you only by your express command, and, in that case,
+I must spend the next four hours in your ante-room, for M. D--- R---- has
+told me to wait for him here."
+
+"If so, you may take a seat."
+
+Her cold and distant manner repelled me, but I loved her, and I had never
+seen her so beautiful, a slight fever animating her complexion which was
+then truly dazzling in its beauty. I kept where I was, dumb and as
+motionless as a statue, for a quarter of an hour. Then she rang for her
+maid, and asked me to leave her alone for a moment. I was called back
+soon after, and she said to me,
+
+"What has become of your cheerfulness?"
+
+"If it has disappeared, madam, it can only be by your will. Call it back,
+and you will see it return in full force."
+
+"What must I do to obtain that result?"
+
+"Only be towards me as you were when I returned from Casopo. I have been
+disagreeable to you for the last four months, and as I do not know why, I
+feel deeply grieved."
+
+"I am always the same: in what do you find me changed?"
+
+"Good heavens! In everything, except in beauty. But I have taken my
+decision."
+
+"And what is it?"
+
+"To suffer in silence, without allowing any circumstance to alter the
+feelings with which you have inspired me; to wish ardently to convince
+you of my perfect obedience to your commands; to be ever ready to give
+you fresh proofs of my devotion."
+
+"I thank you, but I cannot imagine what you can have to suffer in silence
+on my account. I take an interest in you, and I always listen with
+pleasure to your adventures. As a proof of it, I am extremely curious to
+hear the history of your three loves."
+
+I invented on the spot three purely imaginary stories, making a great
+display of tender sentiments and of ardent love, but without alluding to
+amorous enjoyment, particularly when she seemed to expect me to do so.
+Sometimes delicacy, sometimes respect or duty, interfered to prevent the
+crowning pleasure, and I took care to observe, at such moments of
+disappointment, that a true lover does not require that all important
+item to feel perfectly happy. I could easily see that her imagination was
+travelling farther than my narrative, and that my reserve was agreeable
+to her. I believed I knew her nature well enough to be certain that I was
+taking the best road to induce her to follow me where I wished to lead
+her. She expressed a sentiment which moved me deeply, but I was careful
+not to shew it. We were talking of my third love, of the woman who, out
+of pity, had undertaken to cure me, and she remarked,
+
+"If she truly loved you, she may have wished not to cure you, but to cure
+herself."
+
+On the day following this partial reconciliation, M. F----, her husband,
+begged my commanding officer, D---- R-----, to let me go with him to
+Butintro for an excursion of three days, his own adjutant being seriously
+ill.
+
+Butintro is seven miles from Corfu, almost opposite to that city; it is
+the nearest point to the island from the mainland. It is not a fortress,
+but only a small village of Epirus, or Albania, as it is now called, and
+belonging to the Venetians. Acting on the political axiom that "neglected
+right is lost right," the Republic sends every year four galleys to
+Butintro with a gang of galley slaves to fell trees, cut them, and load
+them on the galleys, while the military keep a sharp look-out to prevent
+them from escaping to Turkey and becoming Mussulmans. One of the four
+galleys was commanded by M. F---- who, wanting an adjutant for the
+occasion, chose me.
+
+I went with him, and on the fourth day we came back to Corfu with a large
+provision of wood. I found M. D---- R---- alone on the terrace of his
+palace. It was Good Friday. He seemed thoughtful, and, after a silence of
+a few minutes, he spoke the following words, which I can never forget:
+
+"M. F-----, whose adjutant died yesterday, has just been entreating me to
+give you to him until he can find another officer. I have told him that I
+had no right to dispose of your person, and that he, ought to apply to
+you, assuring him that, if you asked me leave to go with him, I would not
+raise any objection, although I require two adjutants. Has he not
+mentioned the matter to you?"
+
+"No, monsignor, he has only tendered me his thanks for having accompanied
+him to Butintro, nothing else."
+
+"He is sure to speak to you about it. What do you intend to say?"
+
+"Simply that I will never leave the service of your excellency without
+your express command to do so."
+
+"I never will give you such an order."
+
+As M. D---- R---- was saying the last word, M. and Madame F---- came in.
+Knowing that the conversation would most likely turn upon the subject
+which had just been broached, I hurried out of the room. In less than a
+quarter of an hour I was sent for, and M. F---- said to me,
+confidentially,
+
+"Well, M. Casanova, would you not be willing to live with me as my
+adjutant?"
+
+"Does his excellency dismiss me from his service?"
+
+"Not at all," observed M. D---- R----, "but I leave you the choice."
+
+"My lord, I could not be guilty of ingratitude."
+
+And I remained there standing, uneasy, keeping my eyes on the ground, not
+even striving to conceal my mortification, which was, after all, very
+natural in such a position. I dreaded looking at Madame F----, for I knew
+that she could easily guess all my feelings. An instant after, her
+foolish husband coldly remarked that I should certainly have a more
+fatiguing service with him than with M. D---- R----, and that, of course,
+it was more honourable to serve the general governor of the galeazze than
+a simple sopra-committo. I was on the point of answering, when Madame
+F---- said, in a graceful and easy manner, "M. Casanova is right," and she
+changed the subject. I left the room, revolving in my mind all that had
+just taken place.
+
+My conclusion was that M. F---- had asked M. D---- R---- to let me go with
+him at the suggestion of his wife, or, at least with her consent, and it
+was highly flattering to my love and to my vanity. But I was bound in
+honour not to accept the post, unless I had a perfect assurance that it
+would not be disagreeable to my present patron. "I will accept," I said
+to myself, "if M. D---- R---- tells me positively that I shall please him
+by doing so. It is for M. F to make him say it."
+
+On the same night I had the honour of offering my arm to Madame
+F---during the procession which takes place in commemoration of the death
+of our Lord and Saviour, which was then attended on foot by all the
+nobility. I expected she would mention the matter, but she did not. My
+love was in despair, and through the night I could not close my eyes. I
+feared she had been offended by my refusal, and was overwhelmed with
+grief. I passed the whole of the next day without breaking my fast, and
+did not utter a single word during the evening reception. I felt very
+unwell, and I had an attack of fever which kept me in bed on Easter
+Sunday. I was very weak on the Monday, and intended to remain in my room,
+when a messenger from Madame F---- came to inform me that she wished to
+see me. I told the messenger not to say that he had found me in bed, and
+dressing myself rapidly I hurried to her house. I entered her room, pale,
+looking very ill: yet she did not enquire after my health, and kept
+silent a minute or two, as if she had been trying to recollect what she
+had to say to me.
+
+"Ah! yes, you are aware that our adjutant is dead, and that we want to
+replace him. My husband, who has a great esteem for you, and feels that
+M. D---- R---- leaves you perfectly free to make your choice, has taken
+the singular fancy that you will come, if I ask you myself to do us that
+pleasure. Is he mistaken? If you would come to us, you would have that
+room."
+
+She was pointing to a room adjoining the chamber in which she slept, and
+so situated that, to see her in every part of her room, I should not even
+require to place myself at the window.
+
+"M. D---- R-----," she continued, "will not love you less, and as he will
+see you here every day, he will not be likely to forget his interest in
+your welfare. Now, tell me, will you come or not?"
+
+"I wish I could, madam, but indeed I cannot."
+
+"You cannot? That is singular. Take a seat, and tell me what there is to
+prevent you, when, in accepting my offer, you are sure to please M.
+D---- R---- as well as us."
+
+"If I were certain of it, I would accept immediately; but all I have
+heard from his lips was that he left me free to make a choice."
+
+"Then you are afraid to grieve him, if you come to us?"
+
+"It might be, and for nothing on earth...."
+
+"I am certain of the contrary."
+
+"Will you be so good as to obtain that he says so to me himself?"
+
+"And then you will come?"
+
+"Oh, madam! that very minute!"
+
+But the warmth of my exclamation might mean a great deal, and I turned my
+head round so as not to embarrass her. She asked me to give her her
+mantle to go to church, and we went out. As we were going down the
+stairs, she placed her ungloved hand upon mine. It was the first time
+that she had granted me such a favour, and it seemed to me a good omen.
+She took off her hand, asking me whether I was feverish. "Your hand," she
+said, "is burning."
+
+When we left the church, M. D---- R-----'s carriage happened to pass, and
+I assisted her to get in, and as soon as she had gone, hurried to my room
+in order to breathe freely and to enjoy all the felicity which filled my
+soul; for I no longer doubted her love for me, and I knew that, in this
+case, M. D---- R---- was not likely to refuse her anything.
+
+What is love? I have read plenty of ancient verbiage on that subject, I
+have read likewise most of what has been said by modern writers, but
+neither all that has been said, nor what I have thought about it, when I
+was young and now that I am no longer so, nothing, in fact, can make me
+agree that love is a trifling vanity. It is a sort of madness, I grant
+that, but a madness over which philosophy is entirely powerless; it is a
+disease to which man is exposed at all times, no matter at what age, and
+which cannot be cured, if he is attacked by it in his old age. Love being
+sentiment which cannot be explained! God of all nature!--bitter and sweet
+feeling! Love!--charming monster which cannot be fathomed! God who, in
+the midst of all the thorns with which thou plaguest us, strewest so many
+roses on our path that, without thee, existence and death would be united
+and blended together!
+
+Two days afterwards, M. D---- R-----, told me to go and take orders from
+M. F---- on board his galley, which was ready for a five or six days'
+voyage. I quickly packed a few things, and called for my new patron who
+received me with great joy. We took our departure without seeing madam,
+who was not yet visible. We returned on the sixth day, and I went to
+establish myself in my new home, for, as I was preparing to go to M.
+D---- R-----, to take his orders, after our landing, he came himself, and
+after asking M. F---- and me whether we were pleased with each other, he
+said to me,
+
+"Casanova, as you suit each other so well, you may be certain that you
+will greatly please me by remaining in the service of M. F."
+
+I obeyed respectfully, and in less than one hour I had taken possession
+of my new quarters. Madame F---- told me how delighted she was to see that
+great affair ended according to her wishes, and I answered with a deep
+reverence.
+
+I found myself like the salamander, in the very heart of the fire for
+which I had been longing so ardently.
+
+Almost constantly in the presence of Madame F----, dining often alone
+with her, accompanying her in her walks, even when M. D---- R---- was not
+with us, seeing her from my room, or conversing with her in her chamber,
+always reserved and attentive without pretension, the first night passed
+by without any change being brought about by that constant intercourse.
+Yet I was full of hope, and to keep up my courage I imagined that love
+was not yet powerful enough to conquer her pride. I expected everything
+from some lucky chance, which I promised myself to improve as soon as it
+should present itself, for I was persuaded that a lover is lost if he
+does not catch fortune by the forelock.
+
+But there was one circumstance which annoyed me. In public, she seized
+every opportunity of treating me with distinction, while, when we were
+alone, it was exactly the reverse. In the eyes of the world I had all the
+appearance of a happy lover, but I would rather have had less of the
+appearance of happiness and more of the reality. My love for her was
+disinterested; vanity had no share in my feelings.
+
+One day, being alone with me, she said,
+
+"You have enemies, but I silenced them last night."
+
+"They are envious, madam, and they would pity me if they could read the
+secret pages of my heart. You could easily deliver me from those
+enemies."
+
+"How can you be an object of pity for them, and how could I deliver you
+from them?"
+
+"They believe me happy, and I am miserable; you would deliver me from
+them by ill-treating me in their presence."
+
+"Then you would feel my bad treatment less than the envy of the wicked?"
+
+"Yes, madam, provided your bad treatment in public were compensated by
+your kindness when we are alone, for there is no vanity in the happiness
+I feel in belonging to you. Let others pity me, I will be happy on
+condition that others are mistaken."
+
+"That's a part that I can never play."
+
+I would often be indiscreet enough to remain behind the curtain of the
+window in my room, looking at her when she thought herself perfectly
+certain that nobody saw her; but the liberty I was thus guilty of never
+proved of great advantage to me. Whether it was because she doubted my
+discretion or from habitual reserve, she was so particular that, even
+when I saw her in bed, my longing eyes never could obtain a sight of
+anything but her head.
+
+One day, being present in her room while her maid was cutting off the
+points of her long and beautiful hair, I amused myself in picking up all
+those pretty bits, and put them all, one after the other, on her
+toilettable, with the exception of one small lock which I slipped into my
+pocket, thinking that she had not taken any notice of my keeping it; but
+the moment we were alone she told me quietly, but rather too seriously,
+to take out of my pocket the hair I had picked up from the floor.
+Thinking she was going too far, and such rigour appearing to me as cruel
+as it was unjust and absurd, I obeyed, but threw the hair on the
+toilet-table with an air of supreme contempt.
+
+"Sir, you forget yourself."
+
+"No, madam, I do not, for you might have feigned not to have observed
+such an innocent theft."
+
+"Feigning is tiresome."
+
+"Was such petty larceny a very great crime?"
+
+"No crime, but it was an indication of feelings which you have no right
+to entertain for me."
+
+"Feelings which you are at liberty not to return, madam, but which hatred
+or pride can alone forbid my heart to experience. If you had a heart you
+would not be the victim of either of those two fearful passions, but you
+have only head, and it must be a very wicked head, judging by the care it
+takes to heap humiliation upon me. You have surprised my secret, madam,
+you may use it as you think proper, but in the meantime I have learned to
+know you thoroughly. That knowledge will prove more useful than your
+discovery, for perhaps it will help me to become wiser."
+
+After this violent tirade I left her, and as she did not call me back
+retired to my room. In the hope that sleep would bring calm, I undressed
+and went to bed. In such moments a lover hates the object of his love,
+and his heart distils only contempt and hatred. I could not go to sleep,
+and when I was sent for at supper-time I answered that I was ill. The
+night passed off without my eyes being visited by sleep, and feeling weak
+and low I thought I would wait to see what ailed me, and refused to have
+my dinner, sending word that I was still very unwell. Towards evening I
+felt my heart leap for joy when I heard my beautiful lady-love enter my
+room. Anxiety, want of food and sleep, gave me truly the appearance of
+being ill, and I was delighted that it should be so. I sent her away very
+soon, by telling her with perfect indifference that it was nothing but a
+bad headache, to which I was subject, and that repose and diet would
+effect a speedy cure.
+
+But at eleven o'clock she came back with her friend, M. D---- R-----, and
+coming to my bed she said, affectionately,
+
+"What ails you, my poor Casanova?"
+
+"A very bad headache, madam, which will be cured to-morrow."
+
+"Why should you wait until to-morrow? You must get better at once. I have
+ordered a basin of broth and two new-laid eggs for you."
+
+"Nothing, madam; complete abstinence can alone cure me."
+
+"He is right," said M. D---- R-----, "I know those attacks."
+
+I shook my head slightly. M. D---- R---- having just then turned round to
+examine an engraving, she took my hand, saying that she would like me to
+drink some broth, and I felt that she was giving me a small parcel. She
+went to look at the engraving with M. D---- R-----.
+
+I opened the parcel, but feeling that it contained hair, I hurriedly
+concealed it under the bed-clothes: at the same moment the blood rushed
+to my head with such violence that it actually frightened me. I begged
+for some water, she came to me, with M. D---- R-----, and then were both
+frightened to see me so red, when they had seen me pale and weak only one
+minute before.
+
+Madame F---- gave me a glass of water in which she put some Eau des carmes
+which instantly acted as a violent emetic. Two or three minutes after I
+felt better, and asked for something to eat. Madame F---- smiled. The
+servant came in with the broth and the eggs, and while I was eating I
+told the history of Pandolfin. M. D---- R---- thought it was all a
+miracle, and I could read, on the countenance of the charming woman,
+love, affection, and repentance. If M. D---- R---- had not been present,
+it would have been the moment of my happiness, but I felt certain that I
+should not have long to wait. M. D---- R---- told Madame F---- that, if he
+had not seen me so sick, he would have believed my illness to be all
+sham, for he did not think it possible for anyone to rally so rapidly.
+
+"It is all owing to my Eau des carmes," said Madame F-----, looking at
+me, "and I will leave you my bottle."
+
+"No, madam, be kind enough to take it with you, for the water would have
+no virtue without your presence."
+
+"I am sure of that," said M. D---- R-----, "so I will leave you here with
+your patient."
+
+"No, no, he must go to sleep now."
+
+I slept all night, but in my happy dreams I was with her, and the reality
+itself would hardly have procured me greater enjoyment than I had during
+my happy slumbers. I saw I had taken a very long stride forward, for
+twenty-four hours of abstinence gave me the right to speak to her openly
+of my love, and the gift of her hair was an irrefutable confession of her
+own feelings.
+
+On the following day, after presenting myself before M. F----, I went to
+have a little chat with the maid, to wait until her mistress was visible,
+which was not long, and I had the pleasure of hearing her laugh when the
+maid told her I was there. As soon as I went in, without giving me time
+to say a single word, she told me how delighted she was to see me looking
+so well, and advised me to call upon M. D---- R-----.
+
+It is not only in the eyes of a lover, but also in those of every man of
+taste, that a woman is a thousand times more lovely at the moment she
+comes out of the arms of Morpheus than when she has completed her toilet.
+Around Madame F---- more brilliant beams were blazing than around the sun
+when he leaves the embrace of Aurora. Yet the most beautiful woman thinks
+as much of her toilet as the one who cannot do without it--very likely
+because more human creatures possess the more they want.
+
+In the order given to me by Madame F---- to call on M. D---- R-----, I saw
+another reason to be certain of approaching happiness, for I thought
+that, by dismissing me so quickly, she had only tried to postpone the
+consummation which I might have pressed upon her, and which she could not
+have refused.
+
+Rich in the possession of her hair, I held a consultation with my love to
+decide what I ought to do with it, for Madame F----, very likely in her
+wish to atone for the miserly sentiment which had refused me a small bit,
+had given me a splendid lock, full a yard and a half long. Having thought
+it over, I called upon a Jewish confectioner whose daughter was a skilful
+embroiderer, and I made her embroider before me, on a bracelet of green
+satin, the four initial letters of our names, and make a very thin chain
+with the remainder. I had a piece of black ribbon added to one end of the
+chain, in the shape of a sliding noose, with which I could easily
+strangle myself if ever love should reduce me to despair, and I passed it
+round my neck. As I did not want to lose even the smallest particle of so
+precious a treasure, I cut with a pair of scissors all the small bits
+which were left, and devoutly gathered them together. Then I reduced them
+into a fine powder, and ordered the Jewish confectioner to mix the powder
+in my presence with a paste made of amber, sugar, vanilla, angelica,
+alkermes and storax, and I waited until the comfits prepared with that
+mixture were ready. I had some more made with the same composition, but
+without any hair; I put the first in a beautiful sweetmeat box of fine
+crystal, and the second in a tortoise-shell box.
+
+From the day when, by giving me her hair, Madame F---- had betrayed the
+secret feelings of her heart, I no longer lost my time in relating
+stories or adventures; I only spoke to her of my cove, of my ardent
+desires; I told her that she must either banish me from her presence, or
+crown my happiness, but the cruel, charming woman would not accept that
+alternative. She answered that happiness could not be obtained by
+offending every moral law, and by swerving from our duties. If I threw
+myself at her feet to obtain by anticipation her forgiveness for the
+loving violence I intended to use against her, she would repulse me more
+powerfully than if she had had the strength of a female Hercules, for she
+would say, in a voice full of sweetness and affection,
+
+"My friend, I do not entreat you to respect my weakness, but be generous
+enough to spare me for the sake of all the love I feel for you."
+
+"What! you love me, and you refuse to make me happy! It is impossible! it
+is unnatural. You compel me to believe that you do not love me. Only
+allow me to press my lips one moment upon your lips, and I ask no more."
+
+"No, dearest, no; it would only excite the ardour of your desires, shake
+my resolution, and we should then find ourselves more miserable than we
+are now."
+
+Thus did she every day plunge me in despair, and yet she complained that
+my wit was no longer brilliant in society, that I had lost that
+elasticity of spirits which had pleased her so much after my arrival from
+Constantinople. M. D---- R-----, who often jestingly waged war against me,
+used to say that I was getting thinner and thinner every day. Madame
+F---- told me one day that my sickly looks were very disagreeable to her,
+because wicked tongues would not fail to say that she treated me with
+cruelty. Strange, almost unnatural thought! On it I composed an idyll
+which I cannot read, even now, without feeling tears in my eyes.
+
+"What!" I answered, "you acknowledge your cruelty towards me? You are
+afraid of the world guessing all your heartless rigour, and yet you
+continue to enjoy it! You condemn me unmercifully to the torments of
+Tantalus! You would be delighted to see me gay, cheerful, happy, even at
+the expense of a judgment by which the world would find you guilty of a
+supposed but false kindness towards me, and yet you refuse me even the
+slightest favours!"
+
+"I do not mind people believing anything, provided it is not true."
+
+"What a contrast! Would it be possible for me not to love you, for you to
+feel nothing for me? Such contradictions strike me as unnatural. But you
+are growing thinner yourself, and I am dying. It must be so; we shall
+both die before long, you of consumption, I of exhausting decline; for I
+am now reduced to enjoying your shadow during the day, during the night,
+always, everywhere, except when I am in your presence."
+
+At that passionate declaration, delivered with all the ardour of an
+excited lover, she was surprised, deeply moved, and I thought that the
+happy hour had struck. I folded her in my arms, and was already tasting
+the first fruits of enjoyment. . . . The sentinel knocked twice! . . . Oh!
+fatal mischance! I recovered my composure and stood in front of her. . . .
+M. D---- R---- made his appearance, and this time he found me in so
+cheerful a mood that he remained with us until one o'clock in the
+morning.
+
+My comfits were beginning to be the talk of our society. M. D---- R-----,
+Madame F----, and I were the only ones who had a box full of them. I was
+stingy with them, and no one durst beg any from me, because I had said
+that they were very expensive, and that in all Corfu there was no
+confectioner who could make or physician who could analyse them. I never
+gave one out of my crystal box, and Madame F. remarked it. I certainly
+did not believe them to be amorous philtre, and I was very far from
+supposing that the addition of the hair made them taste more delicious;
+but a superstition, the offspring of my love, caused me to cherish them,
+and it made me happy to think that a small portion of the woman I
+worshipped was thus becoming a part of my being.
+
+Influenced perhaps by some secret sympathy, Madame F. was exceedingly
+fond of the comfits. She asserted before all her friends that they were
+the universal panacea, and knowing herself perfect mistress of the
+inventor, she did not enquire after the secret of the composition. But
+having observed that I gave away only the comfits which I kept in my
+tortoise-shell box, and that I never eat any but those from the crystal
+box, she one day asked me what reason I had for that. Without taking time
+to think, I told her that in those I kept for myself there was a certain
+ingredient which made the partaker love her.
+
+"I do not believe it," she answered; "but are they different from those I
+eat myself?"
+
+"They are exactly the same, with the exception of the ingredient I have
+just mentioned, which has been put only in mine."
+
+"Tell me what the ingredient is."
+
+"It is a secret which I cannot reveal to you."
+
+"Then I will never eat any of your comfits."
+
+Saying which, she rose, emptied her box, and filled it again with
+chocolate drops; and for the next few days she was angry with me, and
+avoided my company. I felt grieved, I became low-spirited, but I could
+not make up my mind to tell her that I was eating her hair!
+
+She enquired why I looked so sad.
+
+"Because you refuse to take my comfits."
+
+"You are master of your secret, and I am mistress of my diet."
+
+"That is my reward for having taken you into my confidence."
+
+And I opened my box, emptied its contents in my hand, and swallowed the
+whole of them, saying, "Two more doses like this, and I shall die mad
+with love for you. Then you will be revenged for my reserve. Farewell,
+madam."
+
+She called me back, made me take a seat near her, and told me not to
+commit follies which would make her unhappy; that I knew how much she
+loved me, and that it was not owing to the effect of any drug. "To prove
+to you," she added, "that you do not require anything of the sort to be
+loved, here is a token of my affection." And she offered me her lovely
+lips, and upon them mine remained pressed until I was compelled to draw a
+breath. I threw myself at her feet, with tears of love and gratitude
+blinding my eyes, and told her that I would confess my crime, if she
+would promise to forgive me.
+
+"Your crime! You frighten me. Yes, I forgive you, but speak quickly, and
+tell me all."
+
+"Yes, everything. My comfits contain your hair reduced to a powder. Here
+on my arm, see this bracelet on which our names are written with your
+hair, and round my neck this chain of the same material, which will help
+me to destroy my own life when your love fails me. Such is my crime, but
+I would not have been guilty of it, if I had not loved you."
+
+She smiled, and, bidding me rise from my kneeling position, she told me
+that I was indeed the most criminal of men, and she wiped away my tears,
+assuring me that I should never have any reason to strangle myself with
+the chain.
+
+After that conversation, in which I had enjoyed the sweet nectar of my
+divinity's first kiss, I had the courage to behave in a very different
+manner. She could see the ardour which consumed me; perhaps the same fire
+burned in her veins, but I abstained from any attack.
+
+"What gives you," she said one day, "the strength to control yourself?"
+
+"After the kiss which you granted to me of your own accord, I felt that I
+ought not to wish any favour unless your heart gave it as freely. You
+cannot imagine the happiness that kiss has given me."
+
+"I not imagine it, you ungrateful man! Which of us has given that
+happiness?"
+
+"Neither you nor I, angel of my soul! That kiss so tender, so sweet, was
+the child of love!"
+
+"Yes, dearest, of love, the treasures of which are inexhaustible."
+
+The words were scarcely spoken, when our lips were engaged in happy
+concert. She held me so tight against her bosom that I could not use my
+hands to secure other pleasures, but I felt myself perfectly happy. After
+that delightful skirmish, I asked her whether we were never to go any
+further.
+
+"Never, dearest friend, never. Love is a child which must be amused with
+trifles; too substantial food would kill it."
+
+"I know love better than you; it requires that substantial food, and
+unless it can obtain it, love dies of exhaustion. Do not refuse me the
+consolation of hope."
+
+"Hope as much as you please, if it makes you happy."
+
+"What should I do, if I had no hope? I hope, because I know you have a
+heart."
+
+"Ah! yes. Do you recollect the day, when, in your anger, you told me that
+I had only a head, but no heart, thinking you were insulting me grossly!"
+
+"Oh! yes, I recollect it."
+
+"How heartily I laughed, when I had time to think! Yes, dearest, I have a
+heart, or I should not feel as happy as I feel now. Let us keep our
+happiness, and be satisfied with it, as it is, without wishing for
+anything more."
+
+Obedient to her wishes, but every day more deeply enamoured, I was in
+hope that nature at last would prove stronger than prejudice, and would
+cause a fortunate crisis. But, besides nature, fortune was my friend, and
+I owed my happiness to an accident.
+
+Madame F. was walking one day in the garden, leaning on M. D---- R-----'s
+arm, and was caught by a large rose-bush, and the prickly thorns left a
+deep cut on her leg. M. D---- R---- bandaged the wound with his
+handkerchief, so as to stop the blood which was flowing abundantly, and
+she had to be carried home in a palanquin.
+
+In Corfu, wounds on the legs are dangerous when they are not well
+attended to, and very often the wounded are compelled to leave the city
+to be cured.
+
+Madame F---- was confined to her bed, and my lucky position in the house
+condemned me to remain constantly at her orders. I saw her every minute;
+but, during the first three days, visitors succeeded each other without
+intermission, and I never was alone with her. In the evening, after
+everybody had gone, and her husband had retired to his own apartment, M.
+D---- R---- remained another hour, and for the sake of propriety I had to
+take my leave at the same time that he did. I had much more liberty
+before the accident, and I told her so half seriously, half jestingly.
+The next day, to make up for my disappointment, she contrived a moment of
+happiness for me.
+
+An elderly surgeon came every morning to dress her wound, during which
+operation her maid only was present, but I used to go, in my morning
+dishabille, to the girl's room, and to wait there, so as to be the first
+to hear how my dear one was.
+
+That morning, the girl came to tell me to go in as the surgeon was
+dressing the wound.
+
+"See, whether my leg is less inflamed."
+
+"To give an opinion, madam, I ought to have seen it yesterday."
+
+"True. I feel great pain, and I am afraid of erysipelas."
+
+"Do not be afraid, madam," said the surgeon, "keep your bed, and I answer
+for your complete recovery."
+
+The surgeon being busy preparing a poultice at the other end of the room,
+and the maid out, I enquired whether she felt any hardness in the calf of
+the leg, and whether the inflammation went up the limb; and naturally, my
+eyes and my hands kept pace with my questions.... I saw no inflammation,
+I felt no hardness, but... and the lovely patient hurriedly let the
+curtain fall, smiling, and allowing me to take a sweet kiss, the perfume
+of which I had not enjoyed for many days. It was a sweet moment; a
+delicious ecstacy. From her mouth my lips descended to her wound, and
+satisfied in that moment that my kisses were the best of medicines, I
+would have kept my lips there, if the noise made by the maid coming back
+had not compelled me to give up my delightful occupation.
+
+When we were left alone, burning with intense desires, I entreated her to
+grant happiness at least to my eyes.
+
+"I feel humiliated," I said to her, "by the thought that the felicity I
+have just enjoyed was only a theft."
+
+"But supposing you were mistaken?"
+
+The next day I was again present at the dressing of the wound, and as
+soon as the surgeon had left, she asked me to arrange her pillows, which
+I did at once. As if to make that pleasant office easier, she raised the
+bedclothes to support herself, and she thus gave me a sight of beauties
+which intoxicated my eyes, and I protracted the easy operation without
+her complaining of my being too slow.
+
+When I had done I was in a fearful state, and I threw myself in an
+arm-chair opposite her bed, half dead, in a sort of trance. I was looking
+at that lovely being who, almost artless, was continually granting me
+greater and still greater favours, and yet never allowed me to reach the
+goal for which I was so ardently longing.
+
+"What are you thinking of?" she said.
+
+"Of the supreme felicity I have just been enjoying."
+
+"You are a cruel man."
+
+"No, I am not cruel, for, if you love me, you must not blush for your
+indulgence. You must know, too, that, loving you passionately, I must not
+suppose that it is to be a surprise that I am indebted for my happiness
+in the enjoyment of the most ravishing sights, for if I owed it only to
+mere chance I should be compelled to believe that any other man in my
+position might have had the same happiness, and such an idea would be
+misery to me. Let me be indebted to you for having proved to me this
+morning how much enjoyment I can derive from one of my senses. Can you be
+angry with my eyes?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"They belong to you; tear them out."
+
+The next day, the moment the doctor had gone, she sent her maid out to
+make some purchases.
+
+"Ah!" she said a few minutes after, "my maid has forgotten to change my
+chemise."
+
+"Allow me to take her place."
+
+"Very well, but recollect that I give permission only to your eyes to
+take a share in the proceedings."
+
+"Agreed!"
+
+She unlaced herself, took off her stays and her chemise, and told me to
+be quick and put on the clean one, but I was not speedy enough, being too
+much engaged by all I could see.
+
+"Give me my chemise," she exclaimed; "it is there on that small table."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There, near the bed. Well, I will take it myself."
+
+She leaned over towards the table, and exposed almost everything I was
+longing for, and, turning slowly round, she handed me the chemise which I
+could hardly hold, trembling all over with fearful excitement. She took
+pity on me, my hands shared the happiness of my eyes; I fell in her arms,
+our lips fastened together, and, in a voluptuous, ardent pressure, we
+enjoyed an amorous exhaustion not sufficient to allay our desires, but
+delightful enough to deceive them for the moment.
+
+With greater control over herself than women have generally under similar
+circumstances, she took care to let me reach only the porch of the
+temple, without granting me yet a free entrance to the sanctuary.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Venetian Years: Military Career
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+Project Gutenberg Etext of Military Career, by Jacques Casanova
+#3 in our series by Jacques Casanova
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+Title: Military Career
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+Author: Jacques Casanova
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+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+VENETIAN YEARS, Volume 1c--MILITARY CAREER
+
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR
+MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED
+BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+MILITARY CAREER
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+I Renounce the Clerical Profession, and Enter the Military Service--
+Therese Leaves for Naples, and I Go to Venice--I Am Appointed Ensign
+in the Army of My Native Country--I Embark for Corfu, and Land at
+Orsera to Take a Walk
+
+
+I had been careful, on my arrival in Bologna, to take up my quarters
+at a small inn, so as not to attract any notice, and as soon as I had
+dispatched my letters to Therese and the French officer, I thought of
+purchasing some linen, as it was at least doubtful whether I should
+ever get my trunk.  I deemed it expedient to order some clothes
+likewise.  I was thus ruminating, when it suddenly struck me that I
+was not likely now to succeed in the Church, but feeling great
+uncertainty as to the profession I ought to adopt, I took a fancy to
+transform myself into an officer, as it was evident that I had not to
+account to anyone for my actions.  It was a very natural fancy at my
+age, for I had just passed through two armies in which I had seen no
+respect paid to any garb but to the military uniform, and I did not
+see why I should not cause myself to be respected likewise.  Besides,
+I was thinking of returning to Venice, and felt great delight at the
+idea of shewing myself there in the garb of honour, for I had been
+rather ill-treated in that of religion.
+
+I enquired for a good tailor: death was brought to me, for the tailor
+sent to me was named Morte.  I explained to him how I wanted my
+uniform made, I chose the cloth, he took my measure, and the next day
+I was transformed into a follower of Mars.  I procured a long sword,
+and with my fine cane in hand, with a well-brushed hat ornamented
+with a black cockade, and wearing a long false pigtail, I sallied
+forth and walked all over the city.
+
+I bethought myself that the importance of my new calling required a
+better and more showy lodging than the one I had secured on my
+arrival, and I moved to the best inn.  I like even now to recollect
+the pleasing impression I felt when I was able to admire myself full
+length in a large mirror.  I was highly pleased with my own person!
+I thought myself made by nature to wear and to honour the military
+costume, which I had adopted through the most fortunate impulse.
+Certain that nobody knew me, I enjoyed by anticipation all the
+conjectures which people would indulge in respecting me, when I made
+my first appearance in the most fashionable caf‚ of the town.
+
+My uniform was white, the vest blue, a gold and silver shoulder-knot,
+and a sword-knot of the same material.  Very well pleased with my
+grand appearance, I went to the coffee-room, and, taking some
+chocolate, began to read the newspapers, quite at my ease, and
+delighted to see that everybody was puzzled.  A bold individual, in
+the hope of getting me into conversation, came to me and addressed
+me; I answered him with a monosyllable, and I observed that everyone
+was at a loss what to make of me.  When I had sufficiently enjoyed
+public admiration in the coffee-room, I promenaded in the busiest
+thoroughfares of the city, and returned to the inn, where I had
+dinner by myself.
+
+I had just concluded my repast when my landlord presented himself
+with the travellers' book, in which he wanted to register my name.
+
+"Casanova."
+
+"Your profession, if you please, sir?"
+
+"Officer."
+
+"In which service?"
+
+"None."
+
+"Your native place?"
+
+"Venice."
+
+"Where do you come from?"
+
+"That is no business of yours."
+
+This answer, which I thought was in keeping with my external
+appearance, had the desired effect: the landlord bowed himself out,
+and I felt highly pleased with myself, for I knew that I should enjoy
+perfect freedom in Bologna, and I was certain that mine host had
+visited me at the instance of some curious person eager to know who I
+was.
+
+The next day I called on M. Orsi, the banker, to cash my bill of
+exchange, and took another for six hundred sequins on Venice, and one
+hundred sequins in gold after which I again exhibited myself in the
+public places.  Two days afterwards, whilst I was taking my coffee
+after dinner, the banker Orsi was announced.  I desired him to be
+shewn in, and he made his appearance accompanied my Monsignor
+Cornaro, whom I feigned not to know.  M. Orsi remarked that he had
+called to offer me his services for my letters of exchange, and
+introduced the prelate.  I rose and expressed my gratification at
+making his acquaintance.  "But we have met before," he replied, "at
+Venice and Rome."  Assuming an air of blank surprise, I told him he
+must certainly be mistaken.  The prelate, thinking he could guess the
+reason of my reserve, did not insist, and apologized.  I offered him
+a cup of coffee, which he accepted, and, on leaving me, he begged the
+honour of my company to breakfast the next day.
+
+I made up my mind to persist in my denials, and called upon the
+prelate, who gave me a polite welcome.  He was then apostolic
+prothonotary in Bologna.  Breakfast was served, and as we were
+sipping our chocolate, he told me that I had most likely some good
+reasons to warrant my reserve, but that I was wrong not to trust him,
+the more so that the affair in question did me great honour.  "I do
+not know," said I, "what affair you are alluding to."  He then handed
+me a newspaper, telling me to read a paragraph which he pointed out.
+My astonishment may be imagined when I read the following
+correspondence from Pesaro: "M. de Casanova, an officer in the
+service of the queen, has deserted after having killed his captain in
+a duel; the circumstances of the duel are not known; all that has
+been ascertained is that M. de Casanova has taken the road to Rimini,
+riding the horse belonging to the captain, who was killed on the
+spot."
+
+In spite of my surprise, and of the difficulty I had in keeping my
+gravity at the reading of the paragraph, in which so much untruth was
+blended with so little that was real, I managed to keep a serious
+countenance, and I told the prelate that the Casanova spoken of in
+the newspaper must be another man.
+
+"That may be, but you are certainly the Casanova I knew a month ago
+at Cardinal Acquaviva's, and two years ago at the house of my sister,
+Madame Lovedan, in Venice.  Besides the Ancona banker speaks of you
+as an ecclesiastic in his letter of advice to M. Orsi:"
+
+"Very well, monsignor; your excellency compels me to agree to my
+being the same Casanova, but I entreat you not to ask me any more
+questions as I am bound in honour to observe the strictest reserve."
+
+"That is enough for me, and I am satisfied.  Let us talk of something
+else."
+
+I was amused at the false reports which were being circulated about
+me, and, I became from that moment a thorough sceptic on the subject
+of historical truth.  I enjoyed, however, very great pleasure in
+thinking that my reserve had fed the belief of my being the Casanova
+mentioned in the newspaper.  I felt certain that the prelate would
+write the whole affair to Venice, where it would do me great honour,
+at least until the truth should be known, and in that case my reserve
+would be justified, besides, I should then most likely be far away.
+I made up my mind to go to Venice as soon as I heard from Therese, as
+I thought that I could wait for her there more comfortably than in
+Bologna, and in my native place there was nothing to hinder me from
+marrying her openly.  In the mean time the fable from Pesaro amused
+me a good deal, and I expected every day to see it denied in some
+newspaper.  The real officer Casanova must have laughed at the
+accusation brought against him of having run away with the horse, as
+much as I laughed at the caprice which had metamorphosed me into an
+officer in Bologna, just as if I had done it for the very purpose of
+giving to the affair every appearance of truth.
+
+On the fourth day of my stay in Bologna, I received by express a long
+letter from Therese.  She informed me that, on the day after my
+escape from Rimini, Baron Vais had presented to her the Duke de
+Castropignano, who, having heard her sing, had offered her one
+thousand ounces a year, and all travelling expenses paid, if she
+would accept an engagement as prima-donna at the San Carlo Theatre,
+at Naples, where she would have to go immediately after her Rimini
+engagement.  She had requested and obtained a week to come to a
+decision.  She enclosed two documents, the first was the written
+memorandum of the duke's proposals, which she sent in order that I
+should peruse it, as she did not wish to sign it without my consent;
+the second was a formal engagement, written by herself, to remain all
+her life devoted to me and at my service.  She added in her letter
+that, if I wished to accompany her to Naples, she would meet me
+anywhere I might appoint, but that, if I had any objection to return
+to that city, she would immediately refuse the brilliant offer, for
+her only happiness was to please me in all things.
+
+For the first time in my life I found myself in need of thoughtful
+consideration before I could make up my mind.  Therese's letter had
+entirely upset all my ideas, and, feeling that I could not answer it
+a once, I told the messenger to call the next day.
+
+Two motives of equal weight kept the balance wavering; self-love and
+love for Therese.  I felt that I ought not to require Therese to give
+up such prospects of fortune; but I could not take upon myself either
+to let her go to Naples without me, or to accompany her there.  On
+one side, I shuddered at the idea that my love might ruin Therese's
+prospects; on the other side, the idea of the blow inflicted on my
+self-love, on my pride, if I went to Naples with her, sickened me.
+
+How could I make up my mind to reappear in that city, in the guise of
+a cowardly fellow living at the expense of his mistress or his wife?
+What would my cousin Antonio, Don Polo and his dear son, Don Lelio
+Caraffa, and all the patricians who knew me, have said?  The thought
+of Lucrezia and of her husband sent a cold shiver through me.  I
+considered that, in spite of my love for Therese, I should become
+very miserable if everyone despised me.  Linked to her destiny as a
+lover or as a husband, I would be a degraded, humbled, and mean
+sycophant.  Then came the thought, Is this to be the end of all my
+hopes?  The die was cast, my head had conquered my heart.  I fancied
+that I had hit upon an excellent expedient, which at all events made
+me gain time, and I resolved to act upon it.  I wrote to Therese,
+advising her to accept the engagement for Naples, where she might
+expect me to join her in the month of July, or after my return from
+Constantinople.  I cautioned her to engage an honest-looking waiting-
+woman, so as to appear respectably in the world, and, to lead such a
+life as would permit me to make her my wife, on my return, without
+being ashamed of myself.  I foresaw that her success would be insured
+by her beauty even more than by her talent, and, with my nature, I
+knew that I could never assume the character of an easy-going lover
+or of a compliant husband.
+
+Had I received Therese's letter one week sooner, it is certain that
+she would not have gone to Naples, for my love would then have proved
+stronger than my reason; but in matters of love, as well as in all
+others, Time is a great teacher.
+
+I told Therese to direct her answer to Bologna, and, three days
+after, I received from her a letter loving, and at the same time sad,
+in which she informed me that she had signed the engagement.  She had
+secured the services of a woman whom she could present as her mother;
+she would reach Naples towards the middle of May, and she would wait
+for me there till she heard from me that I no longer wanted her.
+
+Four days after the receipt of that letter, the last but one that
+Therese wrote me, I left Bologna for Venice.  Before my departure I
+had received an answer form the French officer, advising me that my
+passport had reached Pesaro, and that he was ready to forward it to
+me with my trunk, if I would pay M. Marcello Birna, the proveditore
+of the Spanish army, whose address he enclosed, the sum of fifty
+doubloons for the horse which I had run away with, or which had run
+away with me.  I repaired at once to the house of the proveditore,
+well pleased to settle that affair, and I received my trunk and my
+passport a few hours before leaving Bologna.  But as my paying for
+the horse was known all over the town, Monsignor Cornaro was
+confirmed in his belief that I had killed my captain in a duel.
+
+To go to Venice, it was necessary to submit to a quarantine, which
+had been adhered to only because the two governments had fallen out.
+The Venetians wanted the Pope to be the first in giving free passage
+through his frontiers, and the Pope insisted that the Venetians
+should take the initiative.  The result of this trifling pique
+between the two governments was great hindrance to commerce, but very
+often that which bears only upon the private interest of the people
+is lightly treated by the rulers.  I did not wish to be quarantined,
+and determined on evading it.  It was rather a delicate undertaking,
+for in Venice the sanitary laws are very strict, but in those days I
+delighted in doing, if not everything that was forbidden, at least
+everything which offered real difficulties.
+
+I knew that between the state of Mantua and that of Venice the
+passage was free, and I knew likewise that there was no restriction
+in the communication between Mantua and Modena; if I could therefore
+penetrate into the state of Mantua by stating that I was coming from
+Modena, my success would be certain, because I could then cross the
+Po and go straight to Venice.  I got a carrier to drive me to Revero,
+a city situated on the river Po, and belonging to the state of
+Mantua.
+
+The driver told me that, if he took the crossroads, he could go to
+Revero, and say that we came from Mantua, and that the only
+difficulty would be in the absence of the sanitary certificate which
+is delivered in Mantua, and which was certain to be asked for in
+Revero.  I suggested that the best way to manage would be for him to
+say that he had lost it, and a little money removed every objection
+on his part.
+
+When we reached the gates of Revero, I represented myself as a
+Spanish officer going to Venice to meet the Duke of Modena (whom I
+knew to be there) on business of the greatest importance.  The
+sanitary certificate was not even demanded, military honours were
+duly paid to me, and I was most civilly treated.  A certificate was
+immediately delivered to me, setting forth that I was travelling from
+Revero, and with it I crossed the Po, without any difficulty, at
+Ostiglia, from which place I proceeded to Legnago.  There I left my
+carrier as much pleased with my generosity as with the good luck
+which had attended our journey, and, taking post-horses, I reached
+Venice in the evening.  I remarked that it was the and of April,
+1744, the anniversary of my birth, which, ten times during my life,
+has been marked by some important event.
+
+The very next morning I went to the exchange in order to procure a
+passage to Constantinople, but I could not find any passenger ship
+sailing before two or three months, and I engaged a berth in a
+Venetian ship called, Our Lady of the Rosary, Commander Zane, which
+was to sail for Corfu in the course of the month.
+
+Having thus prepared myself to obey my destiny, which, according to
+my superstitious feelings, called me imperiously to Constantinople, I
+went to St: Mark's Square in order to see and to be seen, enjoying by
+anticipation the surprise of my acquaintances at not finding me any
+longer an abbe.  I must not forget to state that at Revero I had
+decorated my hat with a red cockade.
+
+I thought that my first visit was, by right, due to the Abbe Grimani.
+The moment he saw me he raised a perfect shriek of astonishment, for
+he thought I was still with Cardinal Acquaviva, on the road to a
+political career, and he saw standing before him a son of Mars.  He
+had just left the dinner-table as I entered, and he had company.  I
+observed amongst the guests an officer wearing the Spanish uniform,
+but I was not put out of countenance.  I told the Abbe Grimani that I
+was only passing through Venice, and that I had felt it a duty and a
+pleasure to pay my respects to him.
+
+"I did not expect to see you in such a costume."
+
+"I have resolved to throw off the garb which could not procure me a
+fortune likely to satisfy my ambition."
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"To Constantinople; and I hope to find a quick passage to Corfu, as I
+have dispatches from Cardinal Acquaviva."
+
+"Where do you come from now?"
+
+"From the Spanish army, which I left ten days ago."
+
+These words were hardly spoken, when I heard the voice of a young
+nobleman exclaiming;
+
+"That is not true."
+
+"The profession to which I belong," I said to him with great
+animation, "does not permit me to let anyone give me the lie."
+
+And upon that, bowing all round, I went away, without taking any
+notice of those who were calling me back.
+
+I wore an uniform; it seemed to me that I was right in showing that
+sensitive and haughty pride which forms one of the characteristics of
+military men.  I was no longer a priest: I could not bear being given
+the lie, especially when it had been given to me in so public a
+manner.
+
+I called upon Madame Manzoni, whom I was longing to see.  She was
+very happy to see me, and did not fail to remind me of her
+prediction.  I told her my history, which amused her much; but she
+said that if I went to Constantinople I should most likely never see
+her again.
+
+After my visit to Madame Manzoni I went to the house of Madame Orio,
+where I found worthy M. Rosa, Nanette, and Marton.  They were all
+greatly surprised, indeed petrified at seeing me.  The two lovely
+sisters looked more beautiful than ever, but I did not think it
+necessary to tell them the history of my nine months absence, for it
+would not have edified the aunt or pleased the nieces.  I satisfied
+myself with telling them as much as I thought fit, and amused them
+for three hours.  Seeing that the good old lady was carried away by
+her enthusiasm, I told her that I should be very happy to pass under
+her roof the four or five weeks of my stay in Venice, if she could
+give me a room and supper, but on condition that I should not prove a
+burden to her or to her charming nieces.
+
+"I should be only too happy," she answered, "to have you so long, but
+I have no room to offer you."
+
+"Yes, you have one, my dear," exclaimed M. Rosa, "and I undertake to
+put it to rights within two hours."
+
+It was the room adjoining the chamber of the two sisters.  Nanette
+said immediately that she would come downstairs with her sister, but
+Madame Orio answered that it was unnecessary, as they could lock
+themselves in their room.
+
+"There would be no need for them to do that, madam," I said, with a
+serious and modest air; "and if I am likely to occasion the slightest
+disturbance, I can remain at the inn."
+
+"There will be no disturbance whatever; but forgive my nieces, they
+are young prudes, and have a very high opinion of themselves:"
+
+Everything being satisfactorily arranged, I forced upon Madame Orio a
+payment of fifteen sequins in advance, assuring her that I was rich,
+and that I had made a very good bargain, as I should spend a great
+deal more if I kept my room at the inn.  I added that I would send my
+luggage, and take up my quarters in her house on the following day.
+During the whole of the conversation, I could see the eyes of my two
+dear little wives sparkling with pleasure, and they reconquered all
+their influence over my heart in spite of my love for Therese, whose
+image was, all the same, brilliant in my soul: this was a passing
+infidelity, but not inconstancy.
+
+On the following day I called at the war office, but, to avoid every
+chance of unpleasantness, I took care to remove my cockade.  I found
+in the office Major Pelodoro, who could not control his joy when he
+saw me in a military uniform, and hugged me with delight.  As soon as
+I had explained to him that I wanted to go to Constantinople, and
+that, although in uniform, I was free, he advised me earnestly to
+seek the favour of going to Turkey with the bailo, who intended to
+leave within two months, and even to try to obtain service in the
+Venetian army.
+
+His advice suited me exactly, and the secretary of war, who had known
+me the year before, happening to see me, summoned me to him.  He told
+me that he had received letters from Bologna which had informed him
+of a certain adventure entirely to my honour, adding that he knew
+that I would not acknowledge it.  He then asked me if I had received
+my discharge before leaving the Spanish army.
+
+"I could not receive my discharge, as I was never in the service."
+
+"And how did you manage to come to Venice without performing
+quarantine?"
+
+"Persons coming from Mantua are not subject to it."
+
+"True; but I advise you to enter the Venetian service like Major
+Pelodoro."
+
+As I was leaving the ducal palace, I met the Abbe Grimani who told me
+that the abrupt manner in which I had left his house had displeased
+everybody.
+
+"Even the Spanish officer?"
+
+"No, for he remarked that, if you had truly been with the army, you
+could not act differently, and he has himself assured me that you
+were there, and to prove what he asserted he made me read an article
+in the newspaper, in which it is stated that you killed your captain
+in a duel.  Of course it is only a fable?"
+
+"How do you know that it is not a fact?"
+
+"Is it true, then?"
+
+"I do not say so, but it may be true, quite as true as my having been
+with the Spanish army ten days ago."
+
+"But that is impossible, unless you have broken through the
+quarantine."
+
+"I have broken nothing.  I have openly crossed the Po at Revero, and
+here I am.  I am sorry not to be able to present myself at your
+excellency's palace, but I cannot do so until I have received the
+most complete satisfaction from the person who has given me the lie.
+I could put up with an insult when I wore the livery of humility, but
+I cannot bear one now that I wear the garb of honour."
+
+"You are wrong to take it in such a high tone.  The person who
+attacked your veracity is M. Valmarana, the proveditore of the
+sanitary department, and he contends that, as nobody can pass through
+the cordon, it would be impossible for you to be here.  Satisfaction,
+indeed!  Have you forgotten who you are?"
+
+"No, I know who I am; and I know likewise that, if I was taken for a
+coward before leaving Venice, now that I have returned no one shall
+insult me without repenting it."
+
+"Come and dine with me."
+
+"No, because the Spanish officer would know it."
+
+"He would even see you, for he dines with me every day."
+
+"Very well, then I will go, and I will let him be the judge of my
+quarrel with M. Valmarana."
+
+I dined that day with Major Pelodoro and several other officers, who
+agreed in advising me to enter the service of the Republic, and I
+resolved to do so.  "I am acquainted," said the major, "with a young
+lieutenant whose health is not sufficiently strong to allow him to go
+to the East, and who would be glad to sell his commission, for which
+he wants one hundred sequins.  But it would be necessary to obtain
+the consent of the secretary of war."  "Mention the matter to him," I
+replied, "the one hundred sequins are ready."  The major undertook
+the commission.
+
+In the evening I went to Madame Orio, and I found myself very
+comfortably lodged.  After supper, the aunt told her nieces to shew
+me, to my room, and, as may well be supposed, we spent a most
+delightful night.  After that they took the agreeable duty by turns,
+and in order to avoid any surprise in case the aunt should take it
+into her head to pay them a visit, we skilfully displaced a part of
+the partition, which allowed them to come in and out of my room
+without opening the door.  But the good lady believed us three living
+specimens of virtue, and never thought of putting us to the test.
+
+Two or three days afterwards, M.  Grimani contrived an interview
+between me and M. Valmarana, who told me that, if he had been aware
+that the sanitary line could be eluded, he would never have impugned
+my veracity, and thanked me for the information I had given him.  The
+affair was thus agreeably arranged, and until my departure I honoured
+M. Grimani's excellent dinner with my presence every day.
+
+Towards the end of the month I entered the service of the Republic in
+the capacity of ensign in the Bala regiment, then at Corfu; the young
+man who had left the regiment through the magical virtue of my one
+hundred sequins was lieutenant, but the secretary of war objected to
+my having that rank for reasons to which I had to submit, if I wished
+to enter the army; but he promised me that, at the end of the year, I
+would be promoted to the grade of lieutenant, and he granted me a
+furlough to go to Constantinople.  I accepted, for I was determined
+to serve in the army.
+
+M. Pierre Vendramin, an illustrious senator, obtained me the favour
+of a passage to Constantinople with the Chevalier Venier, who was
+proceeding to that city in the quality of bailo, but as he would
+arrive in Corfu a month after me, the chevalier very kindly promised
+to take me as he called at Corfu.
+
+A few days before my departure, I received a letter from Therese, who
+informed me that the Duke de Castropignano escorted her everywhere.
+"The duke is old," she wrote, "but even if he were young, you would
+have no cause for uneasiness on my account.  Should you ever want any
+money, draw upon me from any place where you may happen to be, and be
+quite certain that your letters of exchange will be paid, even if I
+had to sell everything I possess to honour your signature."
+
+There was to be another passenger on board the ship of the line on
+which I had engaged my passage, namely, a noble Venetian, who was
+going to Zante in the quality of counsellor, with a numerous and
+brilliant retinue.  The captain of the ship told me that, if I was
+obliged to take my meals alone, I was not likely to fare very well,
+and he advised me to obtain an introduction to the nobleman, who
+would not fail to invite me to share his table.  His name was Antonio
+Dolfin, and he had been nicknamed Bucentoro, in consequence of his
+air of grandeur and the elegance of his toilet.  Fortunately I did
+not require to beg an introduction, for M. Grimani offered, of his
+own accord, to present me to the magnificent councillor, who received
+me in the kindest manner, and invited me at once to take my meals at
+his table.  He expressed a desire that I should make the acquaintance
+of his wife, who was to accompany him in the journey.  I called upon
+her the next day, and I found a lady perfect in manners, but already
+of a certain age and completely deaf.  I had therefore but little
+pleasure to expect from her conversation.  She had a very charming
+young daughter whom she left in a convent.  She became celebrated
+afterwards, and she is still alive, I believe, the widow of
+Procurator Iron, whose family is extinct.
+
+I have seldom seen a finer-looking man, or a man of more imposing
+appearance than M. Dolfin.  He was eminently distinguished for his
+wit and politeness.  He was eloquent, always cheerful when he lost at
+cards, the favourite of ladies, whom he endeavoured to please in
+everything, always courageous, and of an equal temper, whether in
+good or in adverse fortune.
+
+He had ventured on travelling without permission, and had entered a
+foreign service, which had brought him into disgrace with the
+government, for a noble son of Venice cannot be guilty of a greater
+crime.  For this offence he had been imprisoned in the Leads--a
+favour which destiny kept also in reserve for me.
+
+Highly gifted, generous, but not wealthy, M. Dolfin had been
+compelled to solicit from the Grand Council a lucrative governorship,
+and had been appointed to Zante; but he started with such a splendid
+suite that he was not likely to save much out of his salary.  Such a
+man as I have just portrayed could not make a fortune in Venice,
+because an aristocratic government can not obtain a state of lasting,
+steady peace at home unless equality is maintained amongst the
+nobility, and equality, either moral or physical, cannot be
+appreciated in any other way than by appearances.  The result is that
+the man who does not want to lay himself open to persecution, and who
+happens to be superior or inferior to the others, must endeavour to
+conceal it by all possible means.  If he is ambitious, he must feign
+great contempt for dignities; if he seeks employment, he must not
+appear to want any; if his features are handsome, he must be careless
+of his physical appearance; he must dress badly, wear nothing in good
+taste, ridicule every foreign importation, make his bow without
+grace, be careless in his manner; care nothing for the fine arts,
+conceal his good breeding, have no foreign cook, wear an uncombed
+wig, and look rather dirty.  M. Dolfin was not endowed with any of
+those eminent qualities, and therefore he had no hope of a great
+fortune in his native country.
+
+The day before my departure from Venice I did not go out; I devoted
+the whole of the day to friendship.  Madame Orio and her lovely
+nieces shed many tears, and I joined them in that delightful
+employment.  During the last night that I spent with both of them,
+the sisters repeated over and over, in the midst of the raptures of
+love, that they never would see me again.  They guessed rightly; but
+if they had happened to see me again they would have guessed wrongly.
+Observe how wonderful prophets are!
+
+I went on board, on the 5th of May, with a good supply of clothing,
+jewels, and ready cash.  Our ship carried twenty-four guns and two
+hundred Sclavonian soldiers.  We sailed from Malamacca to the shores
+of Istria during the night, and we came to anchor in the harbour of
+Orsera to take ballast.  I landed with several others to take a
+stroll through the wretched place where I had spent three days nine
+months before, a recollection which caused me a pleasant sensation
+when I compared my present position to what it was at that time.
+What a difference in everything--health, social condition, and money!
+I felt quite certain that in the splendid uniform I was now wearing
+nobody would recognize the miserable-looking abbe who, but for Friar
+Stephano, would have become--God knows what!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+An Amusing Meeting in Orsera--Journey to Corfu--My Stay in
+Constantinople--Bonneval--My Return to Corfu--Madame F.--The False
+Prince--I Run Away from Corfu--My Frolics at Casopo--I Surrender My
+self a Prisoner--My Speedy Release and Triumph--My Success with
+Madame F.
+
+
+I affirm that a stupid servant is more dangerous than a bad one, and
+a much greater plague, for one can be on one's guard against a wicked
+person, but never against a fool.  You can punish wickedness but not
+stupidity, unless you send away the fool, male or female, who is
+guilty of it, and if you do so you generally find out that the change
+has only thrown you out of the frying-pan into the fire.
+
+This chapter and the two following ones were written; they gave at
+full length all the particulars which I must now abridge, for my
+silly servant has taken the three chapters for her own purposes.  She
+pleaded as an excuse that the sheets of paper were old, written upon,
+covered with scribbling and erasures, and that she had taken them in
+preference to nice, clean paper, thinking that I would care much more
+for the last than for the first.  I flew into a violent passion, but
+I was wrong, for the poor girl had acted with a good intent; her
+judgment alone had misled her.  It is well known that the first
+result of anger is to deprive the angry man of the faculty of reason,
+for anger and reason do not belong to the same family.  Luckily,
+passion does not keep me long under its sway: 'Irasci, celerem tamen
+et placabilem esse'.  After I had wasted my time in hurling at her
+bitter reproaches, the force of which did not strike her, and in
+proving to her that she was a stupid fool, she refuted all my
+arguments by the most complete silence.  There was nothing to do but
+to resign myself, and, although not yet in the best of tempers, I
+went to work.  What I am going to write will probably not be so good
+as what I had composed when I felt in the proper humour, but  my
+readers must be satisfied with it they will, like the engineer, gain
+in time what they lose in strength.
+
+I landed at Orsera while our ship was taking ballast, as a ship
+cannot sail well when she is too light, and I was walking about when
+I remarked a man who was looking at me very attentively.  As I had no
+dread of any creditor, I thought that he was interested by my fine
+appearance; I could not find fault with such a feeling, and kept
+walking on, but as I passed him, he addressed me:
+
+"Might I presume to enquire whether this is your first visit to
+Orsera, captain?"
+
+"No, sir, it is my second visit to this city."
+
+"Were you not here last year?"
+
+"I was."
+
+"But you were not in uniform then?"
+
+"True again; but your questions begin to sound rather indiscreet."
+
+"Be good enough to forgive me, sir, for my curiosity is the offspring
+of gratitude.  I am indebted to you for the greatest benefits, and I
+trust that Providence has brought you here again only to give me the
+opportunity of making greater still my debt of gratitude to you."
+
+"What on earth have I done, and what can I do for you?  I am at a
+loss to guess your meaning."
+
+"Will you be so kind as to come and breakfast with me?  My house is
+near at hand; my refosco is delicious, please to taste it, and I will
+convince you in a few words that you are truly my benefactor, and
+that I have a right to expect that you have returned Orsera to load
+me with fresh benefits."
+
+I could not suspect the man of insanity; but, as I could not make him
+out, I fancied that he wanted to make me purchase some of his
+refosco, and I accepted his invitation.  We went up to his room, and
+he left me for a few moments to order breakfast.  I observed several
+surgical instruments, which made me suppose that he was a surgeon,
+and I asked him when he returned.
+
+"Yes, captain; I have been practising surgery in this place for
+twenty years, and in a very poor way, for I had nothing to do, except
+a few cases of bleeding, of cupping, and occasionally some slight
+excoriation to dress or a sprained ankle to put to rights.  I did not
+earn even the poorest living.  But since last year a great change has
+taken place; I have made a good deal of money, I have laid it out
+advantageously, and it is to you, captain, to you (may God bless
+you!) that I am indebted for my present comforts."
+
+"But how so?"
+
+"In this way, captain.  You had a connection with Don Jerome's
+housekeeper, and you left her, when you went away, a certain souvenir
+which she communicated to a friend of hers, who, in perfect good
+faith, made a present of it to his wife.  This lady did not wish, I
+suppose, to be selfish, and she gave the souvenir to a libertine who,
+in his turn, was so generous with it that, in less than a month, I
+had about fifty clients.  The following months were not less
+fruitful, and I gave the benefit of my attendance to everybody, of
+course, for a consideration.  There are a few patients still under my
+care, but in a short time there will be no more, as the souvenir left
+by you has now lost all its virtue.  You can easily realize now the
+joy I felt when I saw you; you are a bird of good omen.  May I hope
+that your visit will last long enough to enable you to renew the
+source of my fortune?"
+
+I laughed heartily, but he was grieved to hear that I was in
+excellent health.  He remarked, however, that I was not likely to be
+so well off on my return, because, in the country to which I was
+going, there was abundance of damaged goods, but that no one knew
+better than he did how to root out the venom left by the use of such
+bad merchandise.  He begged that I would depend upon him, and not
+trust myself in the hands of quacks, who would be sure to palm their
+remedies upon me.  I promised him everything, and, taking leave of
+him with many thanks, I returned to the ship.  I related the whole
+affair to M. Dolfin, who was highly amused.  We sailed on the
+following day, but on the fourth day, on the other side of Curzola,
+we were visited by a storm which very nearly cost me my life.  This
+is how it happened:
+
+The chaplain of the ship was a Sclavonian priest, very ignorant,
+insolent and coarse-mannered, and, as I turned him into ridicule
+whenever the opportunity offered, he had naturally become my sworn
+enemy.  'Tant de fiel entre-t-il dans l'ame d'un devot!'  When the
+storm was at its height, he posted himself on the quarter-deck, and,
+with book in hand, proceeded to exorcise all the spirits of hell whom
+he thought he could see in the clouds, and to whom he pointed for the
+benefit of the sailors who, believing themselves lost, were crying,
+howling, and giving way to despair, instead of attending to the
+working of the ship, then in great danger on account of the rocks and
+of the breakers which surrounded us.
+
+Seeing the peril of our position, and the evil effect of his stupid,
+incantations upon the minds of the sailors whom the ignorant priest
+was throwing into the apathy of despair, instead of keeping up their
+courage, I thought it prudent to interfere.  I went up the rigging,
+calling upon the sailors to do their duty cheerfully, telling them
+that there were no devils, and that the priest who pretended to see
+them was a fool.  But it was in vain that I spoke in the most
+forcible manner, in vain that I went to work myself, and shewed that
+safety was only to be insured by active means, I could not prevent
+the priest declaring that I was an Atheist, and he managed to rouse
+against me the anger of the greatest part of the crew.  The wind
+continued to lash the sea into fury for the two following days, and
+the knave contrived to persuade the sailors who listened to him that
+the hurricane would not abate as long as I was on board.  Imbued with
+that conviction, one of the men, thinking he had found a good
+opportunity of fulfilling the wishes of the priest, came up to me as
+I was standing at the extreme end of the forecastle, and pushed me so
+roughly that I was thrown over.  I should have been irretrievably
+lost, but the sharp point of an anchor, hanging along the side of the
+ship, catching in my clothes, prevented me from falling in the sea,
+and proved truly my sheet-anchor.  Some men came to my assistance,
+and I was saved.  A corporal then pointed out to me the sailor who
+had tried to murder me, and taking a stout stick I treated the
+scoundrel to a sound thrashing; but the sailors, headed by the
+furious priest, rushed towards us when they heard his screams, and I
+should have been killed if the soldiers had not taken my part.  The
+commander and M. Dolfin then came on deck, but they were compelled to
+listen to the chaplain, and to promise, in order to pacify the vile
+rabble, that they would land me at the first opportunity.  But even
+this was not enough; the priest demanded that I should give up to him
+a certain parchment that I had purchased from a Greek at Malamocco
+just before sailing.  I had no recollection of it, but it was true.
+I laughed, and gave it to M.  Dolfin; he handed it to the fanatic
+chaplain, who, exulting in his victory, called for a large pan of
+live coals from the cook's galley, and made an auto-da-fe of the
+document.  The unlucky parchment, before it was entirely consumed,
+kept writhing on the fire for half an hour, and the priest did not
+fail to represent those contortions as a miracle, and all the sailors
+were sure that it was an infernal manuscript given to me by the
+devil.  The virtue claimed for that piece of parchment by the man who
+had sold it to me was that it insured its lucky possessor the love of
+all women, but I trust my readers will do me the justice to believe
+that I had no faith whatever in amorous philtres, talismans, or
+amulets of any kind: I had purchased it only for a joke.
+
+You can find throughout Italy, in Greece, and generally in every
+country the inhabitants of which are yet wrapped up in primitive
+ignorance, a tribe of Greeks, of Jews, of astronomers, and of
+exorcists, who sell their dupes rags and toys to which they
+boastingly attach wonderful virtues and properties; amulets which
+render invulnerable, scraps of cloth which defend from witchcraft,
+small bags filled with drugs to keep away goblins, and a thousand
+gewgaws of the same description.  These wonderful goods have no
+marketable value whatever in France, in England, in Germany, and
+throughout the north of Europe generally, but, in revenge, the
+inhabitants of those countries indulge in knavish practices of a much
+worse kind.
+
+The storm abated just as the innocent parchment was writhing on the
+fire, and the sailors, believing that the spirits of hell had been
+exorcised, thought no more of getting rid of my person, and after a
+prosperous voyage of a week we cast anchor at Corfu.  As soon as I
+had found a comfortable lodging I took my letters to his eminence the
+proveditore-generale, and to all the naval commanders to whom I was
+recommended; and after paying my respects to my colonel, and making
+the acquaintance of the officers of my regiment, I prepared to enjoy
+myself until the arrival of the Chevalier Venier, who had promised to
+take me to Constantinople.  He arrived towards the middle of June,
+but in the mean time I had been playing basset, and had lost all my
+money, and sold or pledged all my jewellery.
+
+Such must be the fate awaiting every man who has a taste for
+gambling, unless he should know how to fix fickle fortune by playing
+with a real advantage derived from calculation or from adroitness,
+which defies chance.  I think that a cool and prudent player can
+manage both without exposing himself to censure, or deserving to be
+called a cheat.
+
+During the month that I spent in Corfu, waiting for the arrival of M.
+Venier, I did not devote any time to the study, either moral or
+physical, of the country, for, excepting the days on which I was on
+duty, I passed my life at the coffee-house, intent upon the game, and
+sinking, as a matter of course, under the adverse fortune which I
+braved with obstinacy.  I never won, and I had not the moral strength
+to stop till all my means were gone.  The only comfort I had, and a
+sorry one truly, was to hear the banker himself call me--perhaps
+sarcastically--a fine player, every time I lost a large stake.  My
+misery was at its height, when new life was infused in me by the
+booming of the guns fired in honour of the arrival of the bailo.  He
+was on board the Europa, a frigate of seventy-two guns, and he had
+taken only eight days to sail from Venice to Corfu.  The moment he
+cast anchor, the bailo hoisted his flag of captain-general of the
+Venetian navy, and the proveditore hauled down his own colours. The
+Republic of Venice has not on the sea any authority greater than that
+of Bailo to the Porte.  The Chevalier Venier had with him a
+distinguished and brilliant suite; Count Annibal Gambera, Count
+Charles Zenobio, both Venetian noblemen of the first class, and the
+Marquis d'Anchotti of Bressan, accompanied him to Constantinople for
+their own amusement.  The bailo remained a week in Corfu, and all the
+naval authorities entertained him and his suite in turn, so that
+there was a constant succession of balls and suppers.  When I
+presented myself to his excellency, he informed me that he had
+already spoken to the proveditore, who had granted me a furlough of
+six months to enable me to accompany him to Constantinople as his
+adjutant; and as soon as the official document for my furlough had
+been delivered to me, I sent my small stock of worldly goods on board
+the Europa, and we weighed anchor early the next day.
+
+We sailed with a favourable wind which remained steady and brought us
+in six days to Cerigo, where we stopped to take in some water.
+Feeling some curiosity to visit the ancient Cythera, I went on shore
+with the sailors on duty, but it would have been better for me if I
+had remained on board, for in Cerigo I made a bad acquaintance.  I
+was accompanied by the captain of marines.
+
+The moment we set foot on shore, two men, very poorly dressed and of
+unprepossessing appearance, came to us and begged for assistance.  I
+asked them who they were, and one, quicker than the other, answered;
+
+"We are sentenced to live, and perhaps to die, in this island by the
+despotism of the Council of Ten.  There are forty others as
+unfortunate as ourselves, and we are all born subjects of the
+Republic.
+
+"The crime of which we have been accused, which is not considered a
+crime anywhere, is that we were in the habit of living with our
+mistresses, without being jealous of our friends, when, finding our
+ladies handsome, they obtained their favours with our ready consent.
+As we were not rich, we felt no remorse in availing ourselves of the
+generosity of our friends in such cases, but it was said that we were
+carrying on an illicit trade, and we have been sent to this place,
+where we receive every day ten sous in 'moneta lunga'.  We are called
+'mangia-mayroni', and are worse off than galley slaves, for we are
+dying of ennui, and we are often starving without knowing how to stay
+our hunger.  My name is Don Antonio Pocchini, I am of a noble Paduan
+family, and my mother belongs to the illustrious family of Campo San-
+Piero."
+
+We gave them some money, and went about the island, returning to the
+ship after we had visited the fortress.  I shall have to speak of
+that Pocchini in a few years.
+
+The wind continued in our favour, and we reached the Dardanelles in
+eight or ten days; the Turkish barges met us there to carry us to
+Constantinople.  The sight offered by that city at the distance of a
+league is truly wonderful; and I believe that a more magnificent
+panorama cannot be found in any part of the world.  It was that
+splendid view which was the cause of the fall of the Roman, and of
+the rise of the Greek empire.  Constantine the Great, arriving at
+Byzantium by sea, was so much struck with the wonderful beauty of its
+position, that he exclaimed, "Here is the proper seat of the empire
+of the whole world!" and in order to secure the fulfilment of his
+prediction, he left Rome for Byzantium.  If he had known the prophecy
+of Horace, or rather if he had believed in it, he would not have been
+guilty of such folly.  The poet had said that the, downfall of the
+Roman empire would begin only when one of the successors of Augustus
+bethought him removing the capital of the empire to where it had
+originated.  The Troad is not far distant from Thrace.
+
+We arrived at the Venetian Embassy in Pera towards the middle of
+July, and, for a wonder, there was no talk of the plague in
+Constantinople just then.  We were all provided with very comfortable
+lodgings, but the intensity of the heat induced the baili to seek for
+a little coolness in a country mansion which had been hired by the
+Bailo Dona.  It was situated at Bouyoudere.  The very first order
+laid upon me was never to go out unknown to the bailo, and without
+being escorted by a janissary, and this order I obeyed to the letter.
+In those days the Russians had not tamed the insolence of the Turkish
+people.  I am told that foreigners can now go about as much as they
+please in perfect security.
+
+The day after our arrival, I took a janissary to accompany me to
+Osman Pacha, of Caramania, the name assumed by Count de Bonneval ever
+since he had adopted the turban.  I sent in my letter, and was
+immediately shewn into an apartment on the ground floor, furnished in
+the French fashion, where I saw a stout elderly gentleman, dressed
+like a Frenchman, who, as I entered the room, rose, came to meet me
+with a smiling countenance, and asked me how he could serve the
+'protege' of a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, which he could
+no longer call his mother.  I gave him all the particulars of the
+circumstances which, in a moment of despair, had induced me to ask
+the cardinal for letters of introduction for Constantinople, and I
+added that, the letters once in my possession, my superstitious
+feelings had made me believe that I was bound to deliver them in
+person.
+
+"Then, without this letter," he said, "you never would have come to
+Constantinople, and you have no need of me?"
+
+"True, but I consider myself fortunate in having thus made the
+acquaintance of a man who has attracted the attention of the whole of
+Europe, and who still commands that attention."
+
+His excellency made some remark respecting the happiness of young men
+who, like me, without care, without any fixed purpose, abandon
+themselves to fortune with that confidence which knows no fear, and
+telling me that the cardinal's letter made it desirable that he
+should do something for me, he promised to introduce me to three or
+four of his Turkish friends who deserved to be known.  He invited me
+to dine with him every Thursday, and undertook to send me a janissary
+who would protect me from the insults of the rabble and shew me
+everything worth seeing.
+
+The cardinal's letter representing me as a literary man, the pacha
+observed that I ought to see his library.  I followed him through the
+garden, and we entered a room furnished with grated cupboards;
+curtains could be seen behind the wirework; the books were most
+likely behind the curtains.
+
+Taking a key out of his pocket, he opened one of the cupboards, and,
+instead of folios, I saw long rows of bottles of the finest wines.
+We both laughed heartily.
+
+"Here are," said the pacha.  "my library and my harem.  I am old,
+women would only shorten my life but good wine will prolong it, or
+at least, make it more agreeable.
+
+"I imagine your excellency has obtained a dispensation from the
+mufti?"
+
+"You are mistaken, for the Pope of the Turks is very far from
+enjoying as great a power as the Christian Pope.  He cannot in any
+case permit what is forbidden by the Koran; but everyone is at
+liberty to work out his own damnation if he likes.  The Turkish
+devotees pity the libertines, but they do not persecute them; there
+is no inquisition in Turkey.  Those who do not know the precepts of
+religion, say the Turks, will suffer enough in the life to come;
+there is no need to make them suffer in this life.  The only
+dispensation I have asked and obtained, has been respecting
+circumcision, although it can hardly be called so, because, at my
+age, it might have proved dangerous.  That ceremony is generally
+performed, but it is not compulsory."
+
+During the two hours that we spent together, the pacha enquired after
+several of his friends in Venice, and particularly after Marc Antonio
+Dieto.  I told him that his friends were still faithful to their
+affection for him, and did not find fault with his apostasy.  He
+answered that he was a Mahometan as he had been a Christian, and that
+he was not better acquainted with the Koran than he had been with the
+Gospel.  "I am certain," he added, "that I shall die-calmer and much
+happier than Prince Eugene.  I have had to say that God is God, and
+that Mahomet is the prophet.  I have said it, and the Turks care very
+little whether I believe it or not.  I wear the turban as the soldier
+wears the uniform.  I was nothing but a military man; I could not
+have turned my hand to any other profession, and I made up my mind to
+become lieutenant-general of the Grand Turk only when I found myself
+entirely at a loss how to earn my living.  When I left Venice, the
+pitcher had gone too often to the well, it was broken at last, and if
+the Jews had offered me the command of an army of fifty thousand men,
+I would have gone and besieged Jerusalem.
+
+Bonneval was handsome, but too stout.  He had received a sabre-cut in
+the lower part of the abdomen, which compelled him to wear constantly
+a bandage supported by a silver plate.  He had been exiled to Asia,
+but only for a short time, for, as he told me, the cabals are not so
+tenacious in Turkey as they are in Europe, and particularly at the
+court of Vienna.  As I was taking leave of him, he was kind enough to
+say that, since his arrival in Turkey, he had never passed two hours
+as pleasantly as those he had just spent with me, and that he would
+compliment the bailo about me.
+
+The Bailo Dona, who had known him intimately in Venice, desired me to
+be the bearer of all his friendly compliments for him, and M. Venier
+expressed his deep regret at not being able to make his acquaintance.
+
+The second day after my first visit to him being a Thursday, the
+pacha did not forget to send a janissary according to his promise.
+It was about eleven in the morning when the janissary called for me,
+I followed him, and this time I found Bonneval dressed in the Turkish
+style.  His guests soon arrived, and we sat down to dinner, eight of
+us, all well disposed to be cheerful and happy.  The dinner was
+entirely French, in cooking and service; his steward and his cook
+were both worthy French renegades.
+
+He had taken care to introduce me to all his guests and at the same
+time to let me know who they were, but he did not give me an
+opportunity of speaking before dinner was nearly over.  The
+conversation was entirely kept up in Italian, and I remarked that the
+Turks did not utter a single word in their own language, even to say
+the most ordinary thing.  Each guest had near him a bottle which
+might have contained either white wine or hydromel; all I know is
+that I drank, as well as M. de Bonneval, next to whom I was seated,
+some excellent white Burgundy.
+
+The guests got me on the subject of Venice, and particularly of Rome,
+and the conversation very naturally fell upon religion, but not upon
+dogmatic questions; the discipline of religion and liturgical
+questions were alone discussed.
+
+One of the guests, who was addressed as effendi, because he had been
+secretary for foreign affairs, said that the ambassador from Venice
+to Rome was a friend of his, and he spoke of him in the highest
+manner.  I told him that I shared his admiration for that ambassador,
+who had given me a letter of introduction for a Turkish nobleman,
+whom he had represented as an intimate friend.  He enquired for the
+name of the person to whom the letter was addressed, but I could not
+recollect it, and took the letter out of my pocket-book.  The effendi
+was delighted when he found that the letter was for himself.  He
+begged leave to read it at once, and after he had perused it, he
+kissed the signature and came to embrace me.  This scene pleased M.
+de Bonneval and all his friends.  The effendi, whose name was Ismail,
+entreated the pacha to come to dine with him, and to bring me;
+Bonneval accepted, and fixed a day.
+
+Notwithstanding all the politeness of the effendi, I was particularly
+interested during our charming dinner in a fine elderly man of about
+sixty, whose countenance breathed at the same time the greatest
+sagacity and the most perfect kindness.  Two years afterwards I found
+again the same features on the handsome face of M. de Bragadin, a
+Venetian senator of whom I shall have to speak at length when we come
+to that period of my life.  That elderly gentleman had listened to me
+with the greatest attention, but without uttering one word.  In
+society, a man whose face and general appearance excite your
+interest, stimulates strongly your curiosity if he remains silent.
+When we left the dining-room I enquired from de Bonneval who he was;
+he answered that he was wealthy, a philosopher, a man of acknowledged
+merit, of great purity of morals, and strongly attached to his
+religion.  He advised me to cultivate his acquaintance if he made any
+advances to me.
+
+I was pleased with his advice, and when, after a walk under the shady
+trees of the garden, we returned to a drawing-room furnished in the
+Turkish fashion, I purposely took a seat near Yusuf Ali.  Such was
+the name of the Turk for whom I felt so much sympathy. He offered me
+his pipe in a very graceful manner; I refused it politely, and took
+one brought to me by one of M. de Bonneval's servants.  Whenever I
+have been amongst smokers I have smoked or left the room; otherwise I
+would have fancied that I was swallowing the smoke of the others, and
+that idea which is true and unpleasant, disgusted me.  I have never
+been able to understand how in Germany the ladies, otherwise so
+polite and delicate, could inhale the suffocating fumes of a crowd of
+smokers.
+
+Yusuf, pleased to have me near him, at once led the conversation to
+subjects similar to those which had been discussed at table, and
+particularly to the reasons which had induced me to give up the
+peaceful profession of the Church and to choose a military life; and
+in order to gratify his curiosity without losing his good opinion, I
+gave him, but with proper caution, some of the particulars of my
+life, for I wanted him to be satisfied that, if I had at first
+entered the career of the holy priesthood, it had not been through
+any vocation of mine.  He seemed pleased with my recital, spoke of
+natural vocations as a Stoic philosopher, and I saw that he was a
+fatalist; but as I was careful not to attack his system openly, he
+did not dislike my objections, most likely because he thought himself
+strong enough to overthrow them.
+
+I must have inspired the honest Mussulman with very great esteem, for
+he thought me worthy of becoming his disciple; it was not likely that
+he could entertain the idea of becoming himself the disciple of a
+young man of nineteen, lost, as he thought, in a false religion.
+
+After spending an hour in examining me, in listening to my
+principles, he said that he believed me fit to know the real truth,
+because he saw that I was seeking for it, and that I was not certain
+of having obtained it so far.  He invited me to come and spend a
+whole day with him, naming the days when I would be certain to find
+him at home, but he advised me to consult the Pacha Osman before
+accepting his invitation.  I told him that the pacha had already
+mentioned him to me and had spoken very highly of his character; he
+seemed much pleased.  I fixed a day for my visit, and left him.
+
+I informed M. de Bonneval of all that had occurred; he was delighted,
+and promised that his janissary would be every day at the Venetian
+palace, ready to execute my orders.
+
+I received the congratulations of the baili upon the excellent
+acquaintances I had already made, and M. Venier advised me not to
+neglect such friends in a country where weariness of life was more
+deadly to foreigners than the plague.
+
+On the day appointed, I went early to Yusuf's palace, but he was out.
+His gardener, who had received his instructions, shewed me every
+attention, and entertained me very agreeably for two hours in doing
+the honours of his master's splendid garden, where I found the most
+beautiful flowers.  This gardener was a Neapolitan, and had belonged
+to Yusuf for thirty years.  His manners made me suspect that he was
+well born and well educated, but he told me frankly that he had never
+been taught even to read, that he was a sailor when he, was taken in
+slavery, and that he was so happy in the service of Yusuf that
+liberty would be a punishment to him.  Of course I did not venture to
+address him any questions about his master, for his reserve might
+have put my curiosity to the blush.
+
+Yusuf had gone out on horseback; he returned, and, after the usual
+compliments, we dined alone in a summerhouse, from which we had a
+fine view of the sea, and in which the heat was cooled by a
+delightful breeze, which blows regularly at the same hour every day
+from the north-west; and is called the mistral.  We had a good
+dinner; there was no prepared dish except the cauroman, a peculiar
+delicacy of the Turks.  I drank water and hydromel, and I told Yusuf
+that I preferred the last to wine, of which I never took much at that
+time.  "Your hydromel," I said, "is very good, and the Mussulmans who
+offend against the law by drinking wine do not deserve any
+indulgence; I believe they drink wine only because it is forbidden."
+"Many of the true believers," he answered.  "think that they can take
+it as a medicine.  The Grand Turk's physician has brought it into
+vogue as a medicine, and it has been the cause of his fortune, for he
+has captivated the favour of his master who is in reality constantly
+ill, because he is always in a state of intoxication."  I told Yusuf
+that in my country drunkards were scarce, and that drunkenness was a
+vice to be found only among the lowest people; ,he was much
+astonished.  "I cannot understand," he said, "why wine is allowed by
+all religions, when its use deprives man of his reason."  "All
+religions," I answered, "forbid excess in drinking wine, and the
+crime is only in the abuse."  I proved him the truth of what I had
+said by telling him that opium produced the same results as wine, but
+more powerfully, and consequently Mahomet ought to have forbidden the
+use of it.  He observed that he had never taken either wine or opium
+in the course of his life.
+
+After dinner, pipes were brought in and we filled them ourselves.  I
+was smoking with pleasure, but, at the same time, was expectorating.
+Yusuf, who smoked like a Turk, that is to say, without spitting,
+said,--
+
+"The tobacco you are now smoking is of a very fine quality, and you
+ought to swallow its balsam which is mixed with the saliva."
+
+"I suppose you are right; smoking cannot be truly enjoyed without the
+best tobacco."
+
+"That is true to a certain extent, but the enjoyment found in smoking
+good tobacco is not the principal pleasure, because it only pleases
+our senses; true enjoyment is that which works upon the soul, and is
+completely independent of the senses."
+
+"I cannot realize pleasures enjoyed by the soul without the
+instrumentality of the senses."
+
+"Listen to me. When you fill your pipe do you feel any pleasure?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Whence does that pleasure arise, if it is not from your soul?  Let
+us go further.  Do you not feel pleased when you give up your pipe
+after having smoked all the tobacco in it--when you see that nothing
+is left but some ashes?"
+
+"It is true."
+
+"Well, there are two pleasures in which your senses have certainly
+nothing to do, but I want you to guess the third, and the most
+essential."
+
+"The most essential?  It is the perfume."
+
+"No; that is a pleasure of the organ of smelling--a sensual
+pleasure."
+
+"Then I do not know."
+
+"Listen.  The principal pleasure derived from tobacco smoking is the
+sight of a smoke itself. You must never see it go out of the bowl of
+your pipe,--but only from the corner o your mouth, at regular
+intervals which must not be too frequent. It is so truly the greatest
+pleasure connected with the pipe, that you cannot find anywhere a
+blind man who smokes.  Try yourself the experiment of smoking a pipe
+in your room, at night and without a light; you will soon lay the
+pipe down."
+
+"It is all perfectly true; yet you must forgive me if I give the
+preference to several pleasures, in which my senses are interested,
+over those which afford enjoyment only to my soul."
+
+"Forty years ago I was of the same opinion, and in forty years, if
+you succeed in acquiring wisdom, you will think like me.  Pleasures
+which give activity to our senses, my dear son, disturb the repose of
+our soul--a proof that they do not deserve the name of real
+enjoyments."
+
+"But if I feel them to be real enjoyments, it is enough to prove that
+they are truly so."
+
+"Granted; but if you would take the trouble of analyzing them after
+you have tasted them, you would not find them unalloyed."
+
+"It may be so, but why should I take a trouble which would only
+lessen my enjoyment."
+
+"A time will come when you will feel pleasure in that very trouble."
+
+"It strikes me, dear father, that you prefer mature age to youth."
+
+"You may boldly say old age."
+
+"You surprise me.  Must I believe that your early life has been
+unhappy?"
+
+"Far from it.  It was always fortunate in good health, and the master
+of my own passions; but all I saw in my equals was for me a good
+school in which I have acquired the knowledge of man, and learned the
+real road to happiness.  The happiest of men is not the most
+voluptuous, but the one who knows how to choose the highest standards
+of voluptuousness, which can be found, I say again, not in the
+pleasures which excite our senses, but in those which give greater
+repose to the soul."
+
+"That is the voluptuousness which you consider unalloyed."
+
+"Yes, and such is the sight of a vast prairie all covered with grass.
+The green colour, so strongly recommended by our divine prophet,
+strikes my eyes, and at the same moment I feel that my soul is
+wrapped up in a calm so delightful that I fancy myself nearer the
+Creator.  I enjoy the same peace, the same repose, when I am seated
+on the banks of a river, when I look upon the water so quiet, yet
+always moving, which flows constantly, yet never disappears from my
+sight, never loses any of its clearness in spite of its constant
+motion.  It strikes me as the image of my own existence, and of the
+calm which I require for my life in order to reach, like the water I
+am gazing upon, the goal which I do not see, and which can only be
+found at the other end of the journey."
+
+Thus did the Turk reason, and we passed four hours in this sort of
+conversation.  He had buried two wives, and he had two sons and one
+daughter.  The eldest son, having received his patrimony, had
+established himself in the city of Salonica, where he was a wealthy
+merchant; the other was in the seraglio, in the service of the Grand
+Turk and his fortune was in the hands of a trustee.  His daughter,
+Zelmi, then fifteen years of age, was to inherit all his remaining
+property.  He had given her all the accomplishments which could
+minister to the happiness of the man whom heaven had destined for her
+husband.  We shall hear more of that daughter anon.  The mother of
+the three children was dead, and five years previous to the time of
+my visit, Yusuf had taken another wife, a native of Scio, young and
+very beautiful, but he told me himself that he was now too old, and
+could not hope to have any child by her.  Yet he was only sixty years
+of age.  Before I left, he made me promise to spend at least one day
+every week with him.
+
+At supper, I told the baili how pleasantly the day had passed.
+
+"We envy you," they said, "the prospect you have before you of
+spending agreeably three or four months in this country, while, in
+our quality of ministers, we must pine away with melancholy."
+
+A few days afterwards, M. de Bonneval took me with him to dine at
+Ismail's house, where I saw Asiatic luxury on a grand scale, but
+there were a great many guests, and the conversation was held almost
+entirely in the Turkish language--a circumstance which annoyed me and
+M. de Bonneval also.  Ismail saw it, and he invited me to breakfast
+whenever I felt disposed, assuring me that he would have much
+pleasure in receiving me.  I accepted the invitation, and I went ten
+or twelve days afterwards.  When we reach that period my readers must
+kindly accompany me to the breakfast.  For the present I must return
+to Yusuf who, during my second visit, displayed a character which
+inspired, me with the greatest esteem and the warmest affection.
+
+We had dined alone as before, and, conversation happening to turn
+upon the fine arts, I gave my opinion upon one of the precepts in the
+Koran, by which the Mahometans are deprived of the innocent enjoyment
+of paintings and statues.  He told me that Mahomet, a very sagacious
+legislator, had been right in removing all images from the sight of
+the followers of Islam.
+
+"Recollect, my son, that the nations to which the prophet brought the
+knowledge of the true God were all idolators.  Men are weak; if the
+disciples of the prophet had continued to see the same objects, they
+might have fallen back into their former errors."
+
+"No one ever worshipped an image as an image; the deity of which the
+image is a representation is what is worshipped."
+
+"I may grant that, but God cannot be matter, and it is right to
+remove from the thoughts of the vulgar the idea of a material
+divinity.  You are the only men, you Christians, who believe that you
+see God."
+
+"It is true, we are sure of it, but observe that faith alone gives us
+that certainty."
+
+"I know it; but you are idolators, for you see nothing but a material
+representation, and yet you have a complete certainty that you see
+God, unless you should tell me that faith disaffirms it."
+
+"God forbid I should tell you such a thing!  Faith, on the contrary,
+affirms our certainty."
+
+"We thank God that we have no need of such self-delusion, and there
+is not one philosopher in the world who could prove to me that you
+require it."
+
+"That would not be the province of philosophy, dear father, but of
+theology--a very superior science."
+
+"You are now speaking the language of our theologians, who differ
+from yours only in this; they use their science to make clearer the
+truths we ought to know, whilst your theologians try to render those
+truths more obscure."
+
+"Recollect, dear father, that they are mysteries."
+
+"The existence of God is a sufficiently important mystery to prevent
+men from daring to add anything to it.  God can only be simple; any
+kind of combination would destroy His essence; such is the God
+announced by our prophet, who must be the same for all men and in all
+times.  Agree with me that we can add nothing to the simplicity of
+God.  We say that God is one; that is the image of simplicity.  You
+say that He is one and three at the same time, and such a definition
+strikes us as contradictory, absurd, and impious."
+
+"It is a mystery."
+
+"Do you mean God or the definition?  I am speaking only of the
+definition, which ought not to be a mystery or absurd.  Common sense,
+my son, must consider as absurd an assertion which substantiallv
+nonsensical.  Prove to me that three is not a compound, that it
+cannot be a compound and I will become a Christian at once."
+
+"My religion tells me to believe without arguing, and I shudder, my
+dear Yusuf, when I think that, through some specious reasoning, I
+might be led to renounce the creed of my fathers.  I first must be
+convinced that they lived in error.  Tell me whether, respecting my
+father's memory, I ought to have such a good opinion of myself as to
+sit in judgement over him, with the intention of giving my sentence
+against him?"
+
+My lively remonstrance moved Yusuf deeply, but after a few instants
+of silence he said to me,--
+
+"With such feelings, my son, you are sure to find grace in the eyes
+of God, and you are, therefore, one of the elect.  If you are in
+error, God alone can convince you of it, for no just man on earth can
+refute the sentiment you have just given expression to."
+
+We spoke of many other things in a friendly manner, and in the
+evening we parted with the often repeated assurance of the warmest
+affection and of the most perfect devotion.
+
+But my mind was full of our conversation, and as I went on pondering
+over the matter, I thought that Yusuf might be right in his opinion
+as to the essence of God, for it seemed evident that the Creator of
+all beings ought to be perfectly simple; but I thought at the same
+time how impossible it would be for me, because the Christian
+religion had made a mistake, to accept the Turkish creed, which might
+perhaps have just a conception of God, but which caused me to smile
+when I recollected that the man who had given birth to it had been an
+arrant imposter.  I had not the slightest idea, however, that Yusuf
+wished to make a convert of me.
+
+The third time I dined with him religion was again the subject of
+conversation.
+
+"Do you believe, dear father, that the religion of Mahomet is the
+only one in which salvation can be secured?"
+
+"No, my dear son, I am not certain of it, and no man can have such a
+certainty; but I am sure that the Christian religion is not the true
+one, because it cannot be universal."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because there is neither bread nor wine to be found in three-fourths
+of the world.  Observe that the precepts of the Koran can be followed
+everywhere."
+
+I did not know how to answer, and I would not equivocate.
+
+"If God cannot be matter," I said, "then He must be a spirit?"
+
+"We know what He is not but we do not know what He is: man cannot
+affirm that God is a spirit, because he can only realize the idea in
+an abstract manner.  God immaterial; that is the extent of our
+knowledge and it can never be greater."
+
+I was reminded of Plato, who had said exactly the same an most
+certainly Yusuf  never read Plato.
+
+He added that the existence of God could be useful only to those who
+did not entertain a doubt of that existence, and that, as a natural
+consequence, Atheists must be the most miserable of men.  God has
+made in man His own image in order that, amongst all the animals
+created by Him, there should be one that can understand and confess
+the existence of the Creator.  Without man, God would have no witness
+of His own glory, and man must therefore understand that his first
+and highest duty is to glorify God by practising justice and trusting
+to His providence.
+
+"Observe, my son, that God never abandons the man who, in the midst
+of misfortunes, falls down in prayer before Him, and that He often
+allows the wretch who has no faith in prayer to die miserably."
+
+"Yet we meet with Atheists who are fortunate and happy."
+
+"True; but, in spite of their tranquillity, I pity them because they
+have no hope beyond this life, and are on a level with animals.
+Besides, if they are philosophers, they must linger in dark
+ignorance, and, if they never think, they have no consolation, no
+resource, when adversity reaches them.  God has made man in such a
+manner that he cannot be happy unless he entertains no doubt of the
+existence of his Divine Creator; in all stations of life man is
+naturally prone to believe in that existence, otherwise man would
+never have admitted one God, Creator of all beings and of all
+things."
+
+"I should like to know why Atheism has only existed in the systems of
+the learned, and never as a national creed."
+
+"Because the poor feel their wants much more than the rich, There are
+amongst us a great many impious men who deride the true believers
+because they have faith in the pilgrimage to Mecca.  Wretches that
+they are, they ought to respect the ancient customs which, exciting
+the devotion of fervent souls, feed religious principles, and impart
+courage under all misfortunes.  Without such consolation, people
+would give way to all the excess of despair."
+
+Much pleased with the attention I gave to all he said, Yusuf would
+thus yield to the inclination he felt to instruct me, and, on my
+side, feeling myself drawn towards him by the charm which amiable
+goodness exerts upon all hearts, I would often go and spend the day
+with him, even without any previous invitation, and Yusuf's
+friendship soon became one of my most precious treasures.
+
+One morning, I told my janissary to take me to the palace of Ismail
+Effendi, in order to fulfil my promise to breakfast with him.  He
+gave me the most friendly welcome, and after an excellent breakfast
+he invited me to take a walk in his garden.  We found there a pretty
+summer-house which we entered, and Ismail attempted some liberties
+which were not at all to my taste, and which I resented by rising in
+a very abrupt manner.  Seeing that I was angry, the Turk affected to
+approve my reserve, and said that he had only been joking.  I left
+him after a few minutes, with the intention of not visiting him
+again, but I was compelled to do so, as I will explain by-and-by.
+
+When I saw M. de Bonneval I told him what had happened and he said
+that, according to Turkish manners, Ismail had intended to give me a
+great proof of his friendship, but that I need not be afraid of the
+offence being repeated.  He added that politeness required that I
+should visit him again, and that Ismail was, in spite of his failing,
+a perfect gentleman, who had at his disposal the most beautiful
+female slaves in Turkey.
+
+Five or six weeks after the commencement of our intimacy, Yusuf asked
+me one day whether I was married.  I answered that I was not; the
+conversation turned upon several moral questions, and at last fell
+upon chastity, which, in his opinion, could be accounted a virtue
+only if considered from one point of view, namely, that of total
+abstinence, but he added that it could not be acceptable to God;
+because it transgressed against the very first precept He had given
+to man.
+
+"I would like to know, for instance," he said, "what name can be
+given to the chastity of your knights of Malta.  They take a vow of
+chastity, but it does not mean that they will renounce women
+altogether, they renounce marriage only.  Their chastity, and
+therefore chastity in general, is violated only by marriage; yet I
+observe that marriage is one of your sacraments.  Therefore, those
+knights of Malta promise not to give way to lustful incontinence in
+the only case in which God might forgive it, but they reserve the
+license of being lustful unlawfully as often as they please, and
+whenever an opportunity may offer itself; and that immoral, illicit
+license is granted to them to such an extent, that they are allowed
+to acknowledge legally a child which can be born to them only through
+a double crime!  The most revolting part of it all is that these
+children of crime, who are of course perfectly innocent themselves,
+are called natural children, as if children born in wedlock came into
+the world in an unnatural manner!  In one word, my dear son, the vow
+of chastity is so much opposed to Divine precepts and to human nature
+that it can be agreeable neither to God nor to society, nor to those
+who pledge themselves to keep it, and being in such opposition to
+every divine and human law, it must be a crime."
+
+He enquired for the second time whether I was married; I replied in
+the negative, and added that I had no idea of ever getting married.
+
+"What!" he exclaimed; "I must then believe that you are not a perfect
+man, or that you intend to work out your own damnation; unless you
+should tell me that you are a Christian only outwardly."
+
+"I am a man in the very strongest sense of the word, and I am a true
+Christian.  I must even confess that I adore women, and that I have
+not the slightest idea of depriving myself of the most delightful of
+all pleasures."
+
+"According to your religion, damnation awaits you."
+
+"I feel certain of the contrary, because, when we confess our sins,
+our priests are compelled to give us absolution."
+
+"I know it, but you must agree with me that it is absurd to suppose
+that God will forgive a crime which you would, perhaps, not commit,
+if you did not think that, after confession, a priest, a man like
+you, will give you absolution.  God forgives only the repenting
+sinner."
+
+"No doubt of it, and confession supposes repentance; without it,
+absolution has no effect."
+
+"Is onanism a crime amongst you?"
+
+"Yes, even greater than lustful and illegitimate copulation."
+
+"I was aware of it, and it has always caused me great surprise, for
+the legislator who enacts a law, the execution of which is
+impossible, is a fool.  A man in good health, if he cannot have a
+woman, must necessarily have recourse to onanism, whenever imperious
+nature demands it, and the man who, from fear of polluting his soul,
+would abstain from it, would only draw upon himself a mortal
+disease."
+
+"We believe exactly the reverse; we think that young people destroy
+their constitutions, and shorten their lives through self-abuse.  In
+several communities they are closely watched, and are as much as
+possible deprived of every opportunity of indulging in that crime."
+
+"Those who watch them are ignorant fools, and those who pay the
+watchers for such a service are even more stupid, because prohibition
+must excite the wish to break through such a tyrannical law, to set
+at nought an interdiction so contrary to nature."
+
+"Yet it seems to me that self-abuse in excess must be injurious to
+health, for it must weaken and enervate."
+
+"Certainly, because excess in everything is prejudicial and
+pernicious; but all such excess is the result of our severe
+prohibition.  If girls are not interfered with in the matter of self-
+abuse, I do not see why boys should be."
+
+"Because girls are very far from running the same risk; they do not
+lose a great deal in the action of self-abuse, and what they lose
+does not come from the same source whence flows the germinal liquid
+in men."
+
+"I do not know, but we have some physicians who say that chlorosis in
+girls is the result of that pleasure indulged in to excess."
+
+After many such conversations, in which he seemed to consider me as
+endowed with reason and talent, even when I was not of his opinion,
+Yusuf Ali surprised me greatly one day by the following proposition:
+
+"I have two sons and a daughter.  I no longer think of my sons,
+because they have received their share of my fortune.  As far as my
+daughter is concerned she will, after my death, inherit all my
+possessions, and I am, besides, in a position while I am alive to
+promote the fortune of the man who may marry her.  Five years ago I
+took a young wife, but she has not given me any progeny, and I know
+to a certainty that no offspring will bless our union.  My daughter,
+whose name is Zelmi, is now fifteen; she is handsome, her eyes are
+black and lovely like her mother's, her hair is of the colour of the
+raven's wing, her complexion is animated alabaster; she is tall, well
+made, and of a sweet disposition; I have given her an education which
+would make her worthy of our master, the Sultan.  She speaks Greek
+and Italian fluently, she sings delightfully, and accompanies herself
+on the harp; she can draw and embroider, and is always contented and
+cheerful.  No living man can boast of having seen her features, and
+she loves me so dearly that my will is hers.  My daughter is a
+treasure, and I offer her to you if you will consent to go for one
+year to Adrianople to reside with a relative of mine, who will teach
+you our religion, our language, and our manners.  You will return at
+the end of one year, and as soon as you have become a Mussulman my
+daughter shall be your wife.  You will find a house ready furnished,
+slaves of your own, and an income which will enable you to live in
+comfort.  I have no more to say at present.  I do not wish you to
+answer me either to-day, or to-morrow, or on any fixed day.  You will
+give me your decision whenever you feel yourself called upon by your
+genius to give it, and you need not give me any answer unless you
+accept my offer, for, should you refuse it, it is not necessary that
+the subject should be again mentioned.  I do not ask you to give full
+consideration to my proposal, for now that I have thrown the seed in
+your soul it must fructify.  Without hurry, without delay, without
+anxiety, you can but obey the decrees of God and follow the immutable
+decision of fate.  Such as I know you, I believe that you only
+require the possession of Zelmi to be competely happy, and that you
+will become one of the pillars of the Ottoman Empire."
+
+Saying those words, Yusuf pressed me affectionately in his arms, and
+left me by myself to avoid any answer I might be inclined to make.  I
+went away in such wonder at all I had just heard, that I found myself
+at the Venetian Embassy without knowing how I had reached it.  The
+baili thought me very pensive, and asked whether anything was the
+matter with me, but I did not feel disposed to gratify their
+curiosity.  I found that Yusuf had indeed spoken truly: his proposal
+was of such importance that it was my duty, not only not to mention
+it to anyone, but even to abstain from thinking it over, until my
+mind had recovered its calm sufficiently to give me the assurance
+that no external consideration would weigh in the balance and
+influence my decision.  I had to silence all my passions; prejudices,
+principles already formed, love, and even self-interest were to
+remain in a state of complete inaction.
+
+When I awoke the next morning I began to think the matter over, and I
+soon discovered that, if I wanted to come to a decision, I ought not
+to ponder over it, as the more I considered the less likely I should
+be to decide.  This was truly a case for the 'sequere Deum' of the
+Stoics.
+
+I did not visit Yusuf for four days, and when I called on him on the
+fifth day, we talked cheerfully without once mentioning his proposal,
+although it was very evident that we were both thinking of it.  We
+remained thus for a fortnight, without ever alluding to the matter
+which engrossed all our thoughts, but our silence was not caused by
+dissimulation, or by any feeling contrary to our mutual esteem and
+friendship; and one day Yusuf suggested that very likely I had
+communicated his proposal to some wise friend, in order to obtain
+good advice.  I immediately assured him it was not so, and that in a
+matter of so delicate a nature I thought I ought not to ask anybody's
+advice.
+
+"I have abandoned myself to God, dear Yusuf, and, full of confidence
+in Him, I feel certain that I shall decide for the best, whether I
+make up my mind to become your son, or believe that I ought to remain
+what I am now.  In the mean time, my mind ponders over it day and
+night, whenever I am quiet and feel myself composed and collected.
+When I come to a decision, I will impart it to you alone, and from
+that moment you shall have over me the authority of a father."
+
+At these words the worthy Yusuf, his eyes wet with tears, placed his
+left hand over my head, and the first two fingers of the right hand
+on my forehead, saying:
+
+"Continue to act in that way, my dear son, and be certain that you
+can never act wrongly."
+
+"But," I said to him, "one thing might happen, Zelmi might not accept
+me."
+
+"Have no anxiety about that.  My daughter loves you; she, as well as
+my wife and her nurse, sees you every time that we dine together, and
+she listens to you with pleasure."
+
+"Does she know that you are thinking of giving her to me as my wife?"
+
+"She knows that I ardently wish you to become a true believer, so as
+to enable me to link her destiny to yours."
+
+"I am glad that your habits do not permit you to let me see her,
+because she might dazzle me with her beauty, and then passion would
+soon have too much weight in the scale; I could no longer flatter
+myself that my decision had been taken in all the unbiased, purity of
+my soul."
+
+Yusuf was highly delighted at hearing me speak in that manner, and I
+spoke in perfect good faith.  The mere idea of seeing Zelmi caused me
+to shudder.  I felt that, if I had fallen in love with her, I would
+have become a Mussulman in order to possess her, and that I might
+soon have repented such a step, for the religion of Mahomet presented
+to my eyes and to my mind nothing but a disagreeable picture, as well
+for this life as for a future one.  As for wealth, I did not think it
+deserved the immense sacrifice demanded from me.  I could find equal
+wealth in Europe, without stamping my forehead with the shameful
+brand of apostasy.  I cared deeply for the esteem of the persons of
+distinction who knew me, and did not want to render myself unworthy
+of it.  Besides, I felt an immense desire to obtain fame amongst
+civilized and polite nations, either in the fine arts or in
+literature, or in any other honourable profession, and I could not
+reconcile myself to the idea of abandoning to my equals the triumph
+which I might win if I lived amongst them.  It seemed to me, and I am
+still of the same opinion, that the decision of wearing the turban
+befits only a Christian despairing of himself and at the end of his
+wits, and fortunately I was lost not in that predicament.  My
+greatest objection was to spend a year in Adrianople to learn a
+language for which I did not feel any liking, and which I should
+therefore have learned but imperfectly.  How could I, at my age,
+renounce the prerogative, so pleasant to my vanity, of being reputed
+a fine talker?  and I had secured that reputation wherever I was
+known.  Then I would often think that Zelmi, the eighth wonder of
+creation in the eyes of her father might not appear such in my eyes,
+and it would have been enough to make me miserable, for Yusuf was
+likely to live twenty years longer, and I felt that gratitude, as
+well as respect, would never have permitted me to give that excellent
+man any cause for unhappiness by ceasing to shew myself a devoted and
+faithful husband to his daughter.  Such were my thoughts, and, as
+Yusuf could not guess them, it was useless to make a confidant of
+him.
+
+A few days afterwards, I dined with the Pacha Osman and met my
+Effendi Ismail.  He was very friendly to me, and I reciprocated his
+attentions, though I paid no attention to the reproaches he addressed
+to me for not having come to breakfast with him for such a long time.
+I could not refuse to dine at his house with Bonneval, and he treated
+me to a very pleasing sight; Neapolitan slaves, men and women,
+performed a pantomime and some Calabrian dances.  M. de Bonneval
+happened to mention the dance called forlana, and Ismail expressing a
+great wish to know it, I told him that I could give him that pleasure
+if I had a Venetian woman to dance with and a fiddler who knew the
+time.  I took a violin, and played the forlana, but, even if the
+partner had been found, I could not play and dance at the same time.
+
+Ismail whispered a few words to one of his eunuchs, who went out of
+the room and returned soon with some message that he delivered to
+him.  The effendi told me that he had found the partner I wanted, and
+I answered that the musician could be had easily, if he would send a
+note to the Venetian Embassy, which was done at once.  The Bailo Dona
+sent one of his men who played the violin well enough for dancing
+purposes.  As soon as the musician was ready, a door was thrown open,
+and a fine looking woman came in, her face covered with a black
+velvet mask, such as we call moretta in Venice.  The appearance of
+that beautiful masked woman surprised and delighted every one of the
+guests, for it was impossible to imagine a more interesting object,
+not only on account of the beauty of that part of the face which the
+mask left exposed, but also for the elegance of her shape, the
+perfection of her figure, and the exquisite taste displayed in her
+costume.  The nymph took her place, I did the same, and we danced the
+forlana six times without stopping.
+
+I was in perspiration and out of breath, for the foylana is the most
+violent of our national dances; but my beautiful partner stood near
+me without betraying the slightest fatigue, and seemed to challenge
+me to a new performance.  At the round of the dance, which is the
+most difficult step, she seemed to have wings.  I was astounded, for
+I had never seen anyone, even in Venice, dance the forlana so
+splendidly.  After a few minutes rest, rather ashamed of my feeling
+tired, I went up to her, and said, 'Ancora sei, a poi basta, se non
+volete vedermi a morire.'  She would have answered me if she had been
+able, but she wore one of those cruel masks which forbid speech.  But
+a pressure of her hand which nobody could see made me guess all I
+wanted to know.  The moment we finished dancing the eunuch opened the
+door, and my lovely partner disappeared.
+
+Ismail could not thank me enough, but it was I who owed him my
+thanks, for it was the only real pleasure which I enjoyed in
+Constantinople.  I asked him whether the lady was from Venice, but he
+only answered by a significant smile.
+
+"The worthy Ismail," said M.  de Bonneval to me, as we were leaving
+the house late in the evening, "has been to-day the dupe of his
+vanity, and I have no doubt that he is sorry already for what he has
+done.  To bring out his beautiful slave to dance with you!  According
+to the prejudices of this country it is injurious to his dignity, for
+you are sure to have kindled an amorous flame in the poor girl's
+breast.  I would advise you to be careful and to keep on your guard,
+because she will try to get up some intrigue with you; but be
+prudent, for intrigues are always dangerous in Turkey."
+
+I promised to be prudent, but I did not keep my promise; for, three
+or four days afterwards, an old slave woman met me in the street, and
+offered to sell me for one piaster a tobacco-bag embroidered in gold;
+and as she put it in my hand she contrived to make me feel that there
+was a letter in the bag.
+
+I observed that she tried to avoid the eyes of the janissary who was
+walking behind me; I gave her one piaster, she left me, and I
+proceeded toward Yusuf's house.  He was not at home, and I went to
+his garden to read the letter with perfect freedom.  It was sealed
+and without any address, and the slave might have made a mistake; but
+my curiosity was excited to the highest pitch; I broke the seal, and
+found the following note written in good enough Italian:
+
+"Should you wish to see the person with whom you danced the forlana,
+take a walk towards evening in the garden beyond the fountain, and
+contrive to become acquainted with the old servant of the gardener by
+asking her for some lemonade.  You may perchance manage to see your
+partner in the forlana without running any risk, even if you should
+happen to meet Ismail; she is a native of Venice.  Be careful not to
+mention this invitation to any human being."
+
+"I am not such a fool, my lovely countrywoman," I exclaimed, as if
+she had been present, and put the letter in my pocket.  But at that
+very moment, a fine-looking elderly woman came out of a thicket,
+pronounced my name, and enquired what I wanted and how I had seen
+her.  I answered that I had been speaking to the wind, not supposing
+that anyone could hear me, and without any more preparation, she
+abruptly told me that she was very glad of the opportunity of
+speaking with me, that she was from Rome, that she had brought up
+Zelmi, and had taught her to sing and to play the harp.  She then
+praised highly the beauty and the excellent qualities of her pupil,
+saying that, if I saw her, I would certainly fall in love with her,
+and expressing how much she regretted that the law should not allow
+it.
+
+"She sees us at this very moment," she added, "from behind that green
+window-blind, and we love you ever since Yusuf has informed us that
+you may, perhaps, become Zelmi's husband."
+
+"May I mention our conversation to Yusuf ?" I enquired.
+
+"No."
+
+Her answering in the negative made me understand that, if I had
+pressed her a little, she would have allowed me to see her lovely
+pupil, and perhaps it was with that intention that she had contrived
+to speak to me, but I felt great reluctance to do anything to
+displease my worthy host.  I had another reason of even greater
+importance: I was afraid of entering an intricate maze in which the
+sight of a turban hovering over me made me shudder.
+
+Yusuf came home, and far from being angry when he saw me with the
+woman, he remarked that I must have found much pleasure in conversing
+with a native of Rome, and he congratulated me upon the delight I
+must have felt in dancing with one of the beauties from the harem of
+the voluptuous Ismail.
+
+"Then it must be a pleasure seldom enjoyed, if it is so much talked
+of?"
+
+"Very seldom indeed, for there is amongst us an invincible prejudice
+against exposing our lovely women to the eyes of other men; but
+everyone may do as he pleases in his own house: Ismail is a very
+worthy and a very intelligent man."
+
+"Is the lady with whom I danced known?"
+
+"I believe not.  She wore a mask, and everybody knows that Ismail
+possesses half a dozen slaves of surpassing beauty."
+
+I spent a pleasant day with Yusuf, and when I left him, I ordered my
+janissary to take me to Ismail's.  As I was known by his servants,
+they allowed me to go in, and I proceeded to the spot described in
+the letter.  The eunuch came to me, informed me that his master was
+out, but that he would be delighted to hear of my having taken a walk
+in the garden.  I told him that I would like a glass of lemonade, and
+he took me to the summerhouse, where I recognized the old woman who
+had sold me the tobacco-pouch.  The eunuch told her to give me a
+glass of some liquid which I found delicious, and would not allow me
+to give her any money.  We then walked together towards the fountain,
+but he told me abruptly that we were to go back, as he saw three
+ladies to whom he pointed, adding that, for the sake of decency, it
+was necessary to avoid them.  I thanked him for his attentions, left
+my compliments for Ismail, and went away not dissatisfied with my
+first attempt, and with the hope of being more fortunate another
+time.
+
+The next morning I received a letter from Ismail inviting me to go
+fishing with him on the following day, and stating that he intended
+to enjoy the sport by moonlight.  I immediately gave way to my
+suppositions, and I went so far as to fancy that Ismail might be
+capable of arranging an interview between me and the lovely Venetian.
+I did not mind his being present.  I begged permission of Chevalier
+Venier to stop out of the palace for one night, but he granted it
+with the greatest difficulty, because he was afraid of some love
+affair and of the results it might have.  I took care to calm his
+anxiety as much as I could, but without acquainting him with all the
+circumstances of the case, for I thought I was wise in being
+discreet.
+
+I was exact to the appointed time, and Ismail received me with the
+utmost cordiality, but I was surprised when I found myself alone with
+him in the boat.  We had two rowers and a man to steer; we took some
+fish, fried in oil, and ate it in the summer-house.  The moon shone
+brightly, and the night was delightful.  Alone with Ismail, and
+knowing his unnatural tastes, I did not feel very comfortable for, in
+spite of what M. de Bonneval had told me, I was afraid lest the Turk
+should take a fancy to give me too great a proof of his friendship,
+and I did not relish our tete-a-tete.  But my fears were groundless.
+
+"Let us leave this place quietly," said Ismail, "I have just heard a
+slight noise which heralds something that will amuse us."
+
+He dismissed his attendants, and took my hand, saying,
+
+"Let us go to a small room, the key of which I luckily have with me,
+but let us be careful not to make any noise.  That room has a window
+overlooking the fountain where I think that two or three of my
+beauties have just gone to bathe.  We will see them and enjoy a very
+pleasing sight, for they do not imagine that anyone is looking at
+them.  They know that the place is forbidden to everybody except me."
+
+We entered the room, we went to the window, and, the moon shining
+right over the basin of the fountain, we saw three nymphs who, now
+swimming, now standing or sitting on the marble steps, offered
+themselves to our eyes in every possible position, and in all the
+attitudes of graceful voluptuousness.  Dear reader, I must not paint
+in too vivid colours the details of that beautiful picture, but if
+nature has endowed you with an ardent imagination and with equally
+ardent senses, you will easily imagine the fearful havoc which that
+unique, wonderful, and enchanting sight must have made upon my poor
+body.
+
+A few days after that delightful fishing and bathing party by
+moonlight, I called upon Yusuf early in the morning; as it was
+raining, I could not go to the garden, and I went into the dining-
+room, in which I had never seen anyone.  The moment I entered the
+room, a charming female form rose, covering her features with a thick
+veil which fell to the feet.  A slave was sitting near the window,
+doing some tambour-work, but she did not move.  I apologized, and
+turned to leave the room, but the lady stopped me, observing, with a
+sweet voice, that Yusuf had commanded her to entertain me before
+going out.  She invited me to be seated, pointing to a rich cushion
+placed upon two larger ones, and I obeyed, while, crossing her legs,
+she sat down upon another cushion opposite to me.  I thought I was
+looking upon Zelmi, and fancied that Yusuf had made up his mind to
+shew me that he was not less courageous than Ismail.  Yet I was
+surprised, for, by such a proceeding, he strongly contradicted his
+maxims, and ran the risk of impairing the unbiased purity of my
+consent by throwing love in the balance.  But I had no fear of that,
+because, to become enamoured, I should have required to see her face.
+
+"I suppose," said the veiled beauty, "that you do not know who I am?"
+
+"I could not guess, if I tried."
+
+"I have been for the last five years the wife of your friend, and I
+am a native of Scio.  I was thirteen years of age when I became his
+wife."
+
+I was greatly astonished to find that my Mussulman philosopher had
+gone so far as to allow me to converse with his wife, but I felt more
+at ease after I had received that information, and fancied that I
+might carry the adventure further, but it would be necessary to see
+the lady's face, for a finely-dressed body, the head of which is not
+seen, excites but feeble desires.  The fire lighted by amorous
+desires is like a fire of straw; the moment it burns up it is near
+its end.  I had before me a magnificent appearance, but I could not
+see the soul of the image, for a thick gauze concealed it from my
+hungry gaze.  I could see arms as white as alabaster, and hands like
+those of Alcina, 'dove ne nodo appasisce ne vena accede', and my
+active imagination fancied that all the rest was in harmony with
+those beautiful specimens, for the graceful folds of the muslin,
+leaving the outline all its perfection, hid from me only the living
+satin of the surface; there was no doubt that everything was lovely,
+but I wanted to see, in the expression of her eyes, that all that my
+imagination created had life and was endowed with feeling.  The
+Oriental costume is a beautiful varnish placed upon a porcelain vase
+to protect from the touch the colours of the flowers and of the
+design, without lessening the pleasure of the eyes.  Yusuf's wife was
+not dressed like a sultana; she wore the costume of Scio, with a
+short skirt which concealed neither the perfection of the leg nor the
+round form of the thigh, nor the voluptuous plump fall of the hips,
+nor the slender, well-made waist encompassed in a splendid band
+embroidered in silver and covered with arabesques.  Above all those
+beauties, I could see the shape of two globes which Apelles would
+have taken for the model of those of his lovely Venus, and the rapid,
+inequal movement of which proved to me that those ravishing hillocks
+were animated.  The small valley left between them, and which my eyes
+greedily feasted upon, seemed to me a lake of nectar, in which my
+burning lips longed to quench their thirst with more ardour than they
+would have drunk from the cup of the gods.
+
+Enraptured, unable to control myself, I thrust my arm forward by a
+movement almost independent of my will, and my hand, too audacious,
+was on the point of lifting the hateful veil, but she prevented me by
+raising herself quickly on tiptoe, upbraiding me at the same time for
+my perfidious boldness, with a voice as commanding as her attitude.
+
+"Dost thou deserve," she said, "Yusuf's friendship, when thou abusest
+the sacred laws of hospitality by insulting his wife?"
+
+"Madam, you must kindly forgive me, for I never had any intention to
+insult you.  In my country the lowest of men may fix his eyes upon
+the face of a queen."
+
+"Yes, but he cannot tear off her veil, if she chooses to wear it.
+Yusuf shall avenge me."
+
+The threat, and the tone in which it was pronounced, frightened me.
+I threw myself at her feet, and succeeded in calming her anger.
+
+"Take a seat," she said.
+
+And she sat down herself, crossing her legs with so much freedom that
+I caught a glimpse of charms which would have caused me to lose all
+control over myself if the delightful sight had remained one moment
+longer exposed to my eyes.  I then saw that I had gone the wrong way
+to work, and I felt vexed with myself; but it was too late.
+
+"Art thou excited?" she said.
+
+"How could I be otherwise," I answered, "when thou art scorching me
+with an ardent fire?"
+
+I had become more prudent, and I seized her hand without thinking any
+more of her face.
+
+"Here is my husband," she said, and Yusuf came into the room.  We
+rose, Yusuf embraced me, I complimented him, the slave left the room.
+Yusuf thanked his wife for having entertained me, and offered her his
+arm to take her to her own apartment.  She took it, but when she
+reached the door, she raised her veil, and kissing her husband she
+allowed me to see her lovely face as if it had been done unwittingly.
+I followed her with my eyes as long as I could, and Yusuf, coming
+back to me, said with a laugh that his wife had offered to dine with
+us.
+
+"I thought," I said to him, "that I had Zelmi before me."
+
+"That would have been too much against our established rules.  What I
+have done is not much, but I do not know an honest man who would be
+bold enough to bring his daughter into the presence of a stranger."
+
+"I think your wife must be handsome; is she more beautiful than
+Zelmi?"
+
+"My daughter's beauty is cheerful, sweet, and gentle; that of Sophia
+is proud and haughty.  She will be happy after my death.  The man who
+will marry her will find her a virgin."
+
+I gave an account of my adventure to M. de Bonneval, somewhat
+exaggerating the danger I had run in trying to raise the veil of the
+handsome daughter of Scio.
+
+"She was laughing at you," said the count, "and you ran no danger.
+She felt very sorry, believe me, to have to deal with a novice like
+you.  You have been playing the comedy in the French fashion, when
+you ought to have gone straight to the point.  What on earth did you
+want to see her nose for?  She knew very well that she would have
+gained nothing by allowing you to see her.  You ought to have secured
+the essential point.  If I were young I would perhaps manage to give
+her a revenge, and to punish my friend Yusuf.  You have given that
+lovely woman a poor opinion of Italian valour.  The most reserved of
+Turkish women has no modesty except on her face, and, with her veil
+over it, she knows to a certainty that she will not blush at
+anything.  I am certain that your beauty keeps her face covered
+whenever our friend Yusuf wishes to joke with her."
+
+"She is yet a virgin."
+
+"Rather a difficult thing to admit, my good friend; but I know the
+daughters of Scio; they have a talent for counterfeiting virginity."
+
+Yusuf never paid me a similar compliment again, and he was quite
+right.
+
+A few days after, I happened to be in the shop of an Armenian
+merchant, looking at some beautiful goods, when Yusuf entered the
+shop and praised my taste; but, although I had admired a great many
+things, I did not buy, because I thought they were too dear.  I said
+so to Yusuf, but he remarked that they were, on the contrary, very
+cheap, and he purchased them all.  We parted company at the door, and
+the next morning I received all the beautiful things he had bought;
+it was a delicate attention of my friend, and to prevent my refusal
+of such a splendid present, he had enclosed a note stating that, on
+my arrival in Corfu, he would let me know to whom the goods were to
+be delivered.  He had thus sent me gold and silver filigrees from
+Damascus, portfolios, scarfs, belts, handkerchiefs and pipes, the
+whole worth four or five hundred piasters.  When I called to thank
+him, I compelled him to confess that it was a present offered by his
+friendship.
+
+The day before my departure from Constantinople, the excellent man
+burst into tears as I bade him adieu, and my grief was as great as
+his own.  He told me that, by not accepting the offer of his
+daughter's hand, I had so strongly captivated his esteem that his
+feelings for me could not have been warmer if I had become his son.
+When I went on board ship with the Bailo Jean Dona, I found another
+case given to me by him, containing two quintals of the best Mocha
+coffee, one hundred pounds of tobacco leaves, two large flagons
+filled, one with Zabandi tobacco, the other with camussa, and a
+magnificent pipe tube of jessamine wood, covered with gold filigrane,
+which I sold in Corfu for one hundred sequins.  I had not it in my
+power to give my generous Turk any mark of my gratitude until I
+reached Corfu, but there I did not fail to do so.  I sold all his
+beautiful presents, which made me the possessor of a small fortune.
+
+Ismail gave me a letter for the Chevalier de Lezze, but I could not
+forward it to him because I unfortunately lost it; he presented me
+with a barrel of hydromel, which I turned likewise into money.
+M. de Bonneval gave me a letter for Cardinal Acquaviva, which I sent
+to Rome with an account of my journey, but his eminence did not think
+fit to acknowledge the receipt of either.  Bonneval made me a present
+of twelve bottles of malmsey from Ragusa, and of twelve bottles of
+genuine scopolo--a great rarity, with which I made a present in Corfu
+which proved very useful to me, as the reader will discover.
+
+The only foreign minister I saw much in Constantinople was the lord
+marshal of Scotland, the celebrated Keith, who represented the King
+of Prussia, and who, six years later was of great service to me in
+Paris.
+
+We sailed from Constantinople in the beginning of September in the
+same man-of-war which had brought us, and we reached Corfu in
+fourteen days.  The Bailo Dona did not land.  He had with him eight
+splendid Turkish horses; I saw two of them still alive in Gorizia in
+the year 1773.
+
+As soon as I had landed with my luggage, and had engaged a rather
+mean lodging, I presented myself to M. Andre Dolfin, the
+proveditore-generale, who promised me again that I should soon be
+promoted to a lieutenancy.  After my visit to him, I called upon M.
+Camporese, my captain, and was well received by him.  My third visit
+was to the commander of galleases, M. D----R-----, to whom M. Antonio
+Dolfin, with whom I had travelled from Venice to Corfu, had kindly
+recommended me.  After a short conversation, he asked me if I would
+remain with him with the title of adjutant.  I did not hesitate one
+instant, but accepted, saying how deeply honoured I felt by his
+offer, and assuring him that he would always find me ready to carry
+out his orders.  He immediately had me taken to my room, and, the
+next day, I found myself established in his house.  I obtained from
+my captain a French soldier to serve me, and I was well pleased when
+I found that the man was a hairdresser by trade, and a great talker
+by nature, for he could take care of my beautiful head of hair, and I
+wanted to practise French conversation.  He was a good-for-nothing
+fellow, a drunkard and a debauchee, a peasant from Picardy, and he
+could hardly read or write, but I did not mind all that; all I wanted
+from him was to serve me, and to talk to me, and his French was
+pretty good.  He was an amusing rogue, knowing by heart a quantity of
+erotic songs and of smutty stories which he could tell in the most
+laughable manner.
+
+When I had sold my stock of goods from Constantinople (except the
+wines), I found myself the owner of nearly five hundred sequins.
+I redeemed all the articles which I had pledged in the hands of Jews,
+and turned into money everything of which I had no need. I was
+determined not to play any longer as a dupe, but to secure in
+gambling all the advantages which a prudent young man could obtain
+without sullying his honour.
+
+I must now make my readers acquainted with the sort of life we were
+at that time leading in Corfu.  As to the city itself, I will not
+describe it, because there are already many descriptions better than
+the one I could offer in these pages.
+
+We had then in Corfu the 'proveditore-generale' who had sovereign
+authority, and lived in a style of great magnificence.  That post was
+then filled by M. Andre Dolfin, a man sixty years of age, strict,
+headstrong, and ignorant.  He no longer cared for women, but liked to
+be courted by them.  He received every evening, and the supper-table
+was always laid for twenty-four persons.
+
+We had three field-officers of the marines who did duty on the
+galleys, and three field-officers for the troops of the line on board
+the men-of-war. Each galeass had a captain called 'sopracomito', and
+we had ten of those captains; we had likewise ten commanders, one for
+each man-of-war, including three 'capi di mare', or admirals.  They
+all belonged to the nobility of Venice.  Ten young Venetian noblemen,
+from twenty to twenty-two years of age, were at Corfu as midshipmen
+in the navy.  We had, besides, about a dozen civil clerks in the
+police of the island, or in the administration of justice, entitled
+'grandi offciali di terra'.  Those who were blessed with handsome
+wives had the pleasure of seeing their houses very much frequented by
+admirers who aspired to win the favours of the ladies, but there was
+not much heroic love-making, perhaps for the reason that there were
+then in Corfu many Aspasias whose favours could be had for money.
+Gambling was allowed everywhere, and that all absorbing passion was
+very prejudicial to the emotions of the heart.
+
+The lady who was then most eminent for beauty and gallantry was
+Madame F----.  Her husband, captain of a galley, had come to Corfu
+with her the year before, and madam had greatly astonished all the
+naval officers.  Thinking that she had the privilege of the choice,
+she had given the preference to M. D---- R-----, and had dismissed
+all the suitors who presented themselves.  M. F---- had married her
+on the very day she had left the convent; she was only seventeen
+years of age then, and he had brought her on board his galley
+immediately after the marriage ceremony.
+
+I saw her for the first time at the dinner-table on the very day of
+my installation at M. D---- R-----'s, and she made a great impression
+upon me.  I thought I was gazing at a supernatural being, so
+infinitely above all the women I had ever seen, that it seemed
+impossible to fall in love with her She appeared to me of a nature
+different and so greatly superior to mine that I did not see the
+possibility of rising up to her.  I even went so far as to persuade
+myself that nothing but a Platonic friendship could exist between her
+and M. D----R-----, and that M. F---- was quite right now not to shew
+any jealousy.  Yet, that M. F---- was a perfect fool, and certainly
+not worthy of such a woman. The impression made upon me by Madame
+F----was too ridiculous to last long, and the nature of it soon
+changed, but in a novel manner, at least as far as I was concerned.
+
+My position as adjutant procured me the honour of dining at M. D----
+R-----'s table, but nothing more. The other adjutant, like me, an
+ensign in the army, but the greatest fool I had ever seen, shared
+that honour with me.  We were not, however, considered as guests, for
+nobody ever spoke to us, and, what is more, no one ever honoured us
+with a look.  It used to put me in a rage.  I knew very well that
+people acted in that manner through no real contempt for us, but it
+went very hard with me.  I could very well understand that my
+colleague, Sanzonio, should not complain of such treatment, because
+he was a blockhead, but I did not feel disposed to allow myself to be
+put on a par with him.  At the end of eight or ten days, Madame
+F----, not having con descended to cast one glance upon my person,
+began to appear disagreeable to me.  I felt piqued, vexed, provoked,
+and the more so because I could not suppose that the lady acted in
+that manner wilfully and purposely; I would have been highly pleased
+if there had been premeditation on her part.  I felt satisfied that
+I was a nobody in her estimation, and as I was conscious of being
+somebody, I wanted her to know it.  At last a circumstance offered
+itself in which, thinking that she could address me, she was
+compelled to look at me.
+
+M. D---- R----- having observed that a very, very fine turkey had
+been placed before me, told me to carve it, and I immediately went to
+work.  I was not a skilful carver, and Madame F----, laughing at my
+want of dexterity, told me that, if I had not been certain of
+performing my task with credit to myself, I ought not to have
+undertaken it.  Full of confusion, and unable to answer her as my
+anger prompted, I sat down, with my heart overflowing with spite and
+hatred against her.  To crown my rage, having one day to address me,
+she asked me what was my name.  She had seen me every day for a
+fortnight, ever since I had been the adjutant of M. D---- R-----;
+therefore she ought to have known my name.  Besides, I had been very
+lucky at the gaming-table, and I had become rather famous in Corfu.
+My anger against Madame F was at its height.
+
+I had placed my money in the hands of a certain Maroli, a major in
+the army and a gamester by profession, who held the faro bank at the
+coffee-house.  We were partners; I helped him when he dealt, and he
+rendered me the same office when I held the cards, which was often
+the case, because he was not generally liked.  He used to hold the
+cards in a way which frightened the punters; my manners were very
+different, and I was very lucky.  Besides I was easy and smiling when
+my bank was losing, and I won without shewing any avidity, and that
+is a manner which always pleases the punters.
+
+This Maroli was the man who had won all my money during my first stay
+in Corfu, and finding, when I returned, that I was resolved not to be
+duped any more, he judged me worthy of sharing the wise maxims
+without which gambling must necessarily ruin all those who meddle
+with it.  But as Maroli had won my confidence only to a very slight
+extent, I was very careful.  We made up our accounts every night, as
+soon as playing was over; the cashier kept the capital of the bank,
+the winnings were divided, and each took his share away.
+Lucky at play, enjoying good health and the friendship of my
+comrades, who, whenever the opportunity offered, always found me
+generous and ready to serve them, I would have been well pleased with
+my position if I had been a little more considered at the table of
+M. D---- R-----, and treated with less haughtiness by his lady who,
+without any reason, seemed disposed to humiliate me.  My self-love
+was deeply hurt, I hated her, and, with such a disposition of mind,
+the more I admired the perfection of her charms, the more I found her
+deficient in wit and intelligence.  She might have made the conquest
+of my heart without bestowing hers upon me, for all I wanted was not
+to be compelled to hate her, and I could not understand what pleasure
+it could be for her to be detested, while with only a little kindness
+she could have been adored.  I could not ascribe her manner to a
+spirit of coquetry, for I had never given her the slightest proof of
+the opinion I entertained of her beauty, and I could not therefore
+attribute her behaviour to a passion which might have rendered me
+disagreeable in her eyes; M. D---- R----- seemed to interest her only
+in a very slight manner, and as to her husband, she cared nothing for
+him.  In short, that charming woman made me very unhappy, and I was
+angry with myself because I felt that, if it had not been for the
+manner in which she treated me, I would not have thought of her, and
+my vexation was increased by the feeling of hatred entertained by my
+heart against her, a feeling which until then I had never known to
+exist in me, and the discovery of which overwhelmed me with
+confusion.
+
+One day a gentleman handed me, as we were leaving the dinner-table, a
+roll of gold that he had lost upon trust; Madame F---- saw it, and
+she said to me very abruptly,--
+
+"What do you do with your money?"
+
+"I keep it, madam, as a provision against possible losses."
+
+"But as you do not indulge in any expense it would be better for you
+not to play; it is time wasted."
+
+"Time given to pleasure is never time lost, madam; the only time
+which a young man wastes is that which is consumed in weariness,
+because when he is a prey to ennui he is likely to fall a prey to
+love, and to be despised by the object of his affection."
+
+"Very likely; but you amuse yourself with hoarding up your money, and
+shew yourself to be a miser, and a miser is not less contemptible
+than a man in love.  Why do you not buy yourself a pair of gloves?"
+
+You may be sure that at these words the laughter was all on her side,
+and my vexation was all the greater because I could not deny that she
+was quite right.  It was the adjutant's business to give the ladies
+an arm to their carriages, and it was not proper to fulfil that duty
+without gloves.  I felt mortified, and the reproach of avarice hurt
+me deeply.  I would a thousand times rather that she had laid my
+error to a want of education; and yet, so full of contradictions is
+the human heart, instead of making amends by adopting an appearance
+of elegance which the state of my finances enabled me to keep up, I
+did not purchase any gloves, and I resolved to avoid her and to
+abandon her to the insipid and dull gallantry of Sanzonio, who
+sported gloves, but whose teeth were rotten, whose breath was putrid,
+who wore a wig, and whose face seemed to be covered with shrivelled
+yellow parchment.
+
+I spent my days in a continual state of rage and spite, and the most
+absurd part of it all was that I felt unhappy because I could not
+control my hatred for that woman whom, in good conscience, I could
+not find guilty of anything.  She had for me neither love nor
+dislike, which was quite natural; but being young and disposed to
+enjoy myself I had become, without any wilful malice on her part, an
+eye-sore to her and the butt of her bantering jokes, which my
+sensitiveness exaggerated greatly.  For all that I had an ardent wish
+to punish her and to make her repent.  I thought of nothing else.  At
+one time I would think of devoting all my intelligence and all my
+money to kindling an amorous passion in her heart, and then to
+revenge myself by treating her with contempt.  But I soon realized
+the impracticability of such a plan, for even supposing that I should
+succeed in finding my way to her heart, was I the man to resist my
+own success with such a woman?  I certainly could not flatter myself
+that I was so strong-minded.  But I was the pet child of fortune, and
+my position was suddenly altered.
+
+M. D---- R---- having sent me with dispatches to M. de Condulmer,
+captain of a 'galeazza', I had to wait until midnight to deliver
+them, and when I returned I found that M. D---- R---- had retired to
+his apartment for the night.  As soon as he was visible in the
+morning I went to him to render an account of my mission.  I had been
+with him only a few minutes when his valet brought a letter saying
+that Madame F----'s adjutant was waiting for an answer.  M. D----
+R----- read the note, tore it to pieces, and in his excitement
+stamped with his foot upon the fragments.  He walked up and down the
+room for a little time, then wrote an answer and rang for the
+adjutant, to whom he delivered it.  He then recovered his usual
+composure, concluded the perusal of the dispatch sent by M. de
+Condulmer, and told me to write a letter.  He was looking it over
+when the valet came in, telling me that Madame F---- desired to see
+me.  M. D---- R---- told me that he did not require my services any
+more for the present, and that I might go.  I left the room, but I
+had not gone ten yards when he called me back to remind me that my
+duty was to know nothing; I begged to assure him that I was well
+aware of that.  I ran to Madame F-----'s house, very eager to know
+what she wanted with me.  I was introduced immediately, and I was
+greatly surprised to find her sitting up in bed, her countenance
+flushed and excited, and her eyes red from the tears she had
+evidently just been shedding.  My heart was beating quickly, yet I
+did not know why.
+
+"Pray be seated," she said, "I wish to speak with you."
+
+"Madam," I answered, "I am not worthy of so great a favour, and I
+have not yet done anything to deserve it; allow me to remain
+standing."
+
+She very likely recollected that she had never been so polite before,
+and dared not press me any further.  She collected her thoughts for
+an instant or two, and said to me:
+
+"Last evening my husband lost two hundred sequins upon trust at your
+faro bank; he believed that amount to be in my hands, and I must
+therefore give it to him immediately, as he is bound in honour to pay
+his losses to-day.  Unfortunately I have disposed of the money, and I
+am in great trouble.  I thought you might tell Maroli that I have
+paid you the amount lost by my husband.  Here is a ring of some
+value; keep it until the 1st of January, when I will return the two
+hundred sequins for which I am ready to give you my note of hand."
+
+"I accept the note of hand, madam, but I cannot consent to deprive
+you of your ring.  I must also tell you that M. F---- must go himself
+to the bank, or send some one there, to redeem his debt.  Within ten
+minutes you shall have the amount you require."
+
+I left her without waiting for an answer, and I returned within a few
+minutes with the two hundred ducats, which I handed to her, and
+putting in my pocket her note of hand which she had just written, I
+bowed to take my leave, but she addressed to me these precious words:
+
+"I believe, sir, that if I had known that you were so well disposed
+to oblige me, I could not have made up my mind to beg that service
+from you."
+
+"Well, madam, for the future be quite certain that there is not a man
+in the world capable of refusing you such an insignificant service
+whenever you will condescend to ask for it in person."
+
+"What you say is very complimentary, but I trust never to find myself
+again under the necessity of making such a cruel experiment."
+
+I left Madame F-----, thinking of the shrewdness of her answer.  She
+had not told me that I was mistaken, as I had expected she would, for
+that would have caused her some humiliation: she knew that I was with
+M. D---- R----- when the adjutant had brought her letter, and she
+could not doubt that I was aware of the refusal she had met with.
+The fact of her not mentioning it proved to me that she was jealous
+of her own dignity; it afforded me great gratification, and I thought
+her worthy of adoration.  I saw clearly that she could have no love
+for M. D---- R-----, and that she was not loved by him, and the
+discovery made me leap for joy.  From that moment I felt I was in
+love with her, and I conceived the hope that she might return my
+ardent affection.
+
+The first thing I did, when I returned to my room, was to cross out
+with ink every word of her note of hand, except her name, in such a
+manner that it was impossible to guess at the contents, and putting
+it in an envelope carefully sealed, I deposited it in the hands of a
+public notary who stated, in the receipt he gave me of the envelope,
+that he would deliver it only to Madame F-----, whenever she should
+request its delivery.
+
+The same evening M. F----- came to the bank, paid me, played with
+cash in hand, and won some fifty ducats.  What caused me the greatest
+surprise was that M. D---- R----- continued to be very gracious to
+Madame F----, and that she remained exactly the same towards him as
+she used to be before.  He did not even enquire what she wanted when
+she had sent for me.  But if she did not seem to change her manner
+towards my master, it was a very different case with me, for whenever
+she was opposite to me at dinner, she often addressed herself to me,
+and she thus gave me many opportunities of shewing my education and
+my wit in amusing stories or in remarks, in which I took care to
+blend instruction with witty jests.  At that time F---- had the great
+talent of making others laugh while I kept a serious countenance
+myself.  I had learnt that accomplishment from M. de Malipiero, my
+first master in the art of good breeding, who used to say to me,--
+
+"If you wish your audience to cry, you must shed tears yourself, but
+if you wish to make them laugh you must contrive to look as serious
+as a judge."
+
+In everything I did, in every word I uttered, in the presence of
+Madame F----, the only aim I had was to please her, but I did not
+wish her to suppose so, and I never looked at her unless she spoke to
+me.  I wanted to force her curiosity, to compel her to suspect nay,
+to guess my secret, but without giving her any advantage over me: it
+was necessary for me to proceed by slow degrees.  In the mean time,
+and until I should have a greater happiness, I was glad to see that
+my money, that magic talisman, and my good conduct, obtained me a
+consideration much greater than I could have hoped to obtain either
+through my position, or from my age, or in consequence of any talent
+I might have shewn in the profession I had adopted.
+
+Towards the middle of November, the soldier who acted as my servant
+was attacked with inflammation of the chest; I gave notice of it to
+the captain of his company, and he was carried to the hospital.  On
+the fourth day I was told that he would not recover, and that he had
+received the last sacraments; in the evening I happened to be at his
+captain's when the priest who had attended him came to announce his
+death, and to deliver a small parcel which the dying man had
+entrusted to him to be given up to his captain only after his death.
+The parcel contained a brass seal engraved with ducal arms, a
+certificate of baptism, and a sheet of paper covered with writing in
+French.  Captain Camporese, who only spoke Italian, begged me to
+translate the paper, the contents of which were as follows:
+
+"My will is that this paper, which I have written and signed with my
+own hand, shall be delivered to my captain only after I have breathed
+my last: until then, my confessor shall not make any use of it, for I
+entrust it to his hands only under the seal of confession.  I entreat
+my captain to have me buried in a vault from which my body can be
+exhumed in case the duke, my father, should request its exhumation.
+I entreat him likewise to forward my certificate of baptism, the seal
+with the armorial bearings of my family, and a legal certificate of
+my birth to the French ambassador in Venice, who will send the whole
+to the duke, my father, my rights of primogeniture belonging, after
+my demise, to the prince, my brother.  In faith of which I have
+signed and sealed these presents: Francois VI.  Charles Philippe
+Louis Foucaud, Prince de la Rochefoucault."
+
+The certificate of baptism, delivered at St. Sulpice gave the same
+names, and the title of the father was Francois V.  The name of the
+mother was Gabrielle du Plessis.
+
+As I was concluding my translation I could not help bursting into
+loud laughter; but the foolish captain, who thought my mirth out of
+place, hurried out to render an account of the affair to the
+proveditore-generale, and I went to the coffee-house, not doubting
+for one moment that his excellency would laugh at the captain, and
+that the post-mortem buffoonery would greatly amuse the whole of
+Corfu.
+
+I had known in Rome, at Cardinal Acquaviva's, the Abbe de Liancourt,
+great-grandson of Charles, whose sister, Gabrielle du Plessis, had
+been the wife of Francois V., but that dated from the beginning of
+the last century.  I had made a copy from the records of the cardinal
+of the account of certain circumstances which the Abbe de Liancourt
+wanted to communicate to the court of Spain, and in which there were
+a great many particulars respecting the house of Du Plessis.  I
+thought at the same time that the singular imposture of La Valeur
+(such was the name by which my soldier generally went) was absurd and
+without a motive, since it was to be known only after his death, and
+could not therefore prove of any advantage to him.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, as I was opening a fresh pack of cards, the
+Adjutant Sanzonio came in, and told the important news in the most
+serious manner.  He had just come from the office of the proveditore,
+where Captain Camporese had run in the utmost hurry to deposit
+in the hands of his excellency the seal and the papers of the
+deceased prince.  His excellency had immediately issued his orders
+for the burial of the prince in a vault with all the honours due to
+his exalted rank.  Another half hour passed, and M.  Minolto,
+adjutant of the proveditore-generale, came to inform me that his
+excellency wanted to see me.  I passed the cards to Major Maroli, and
+went to his excellency's house.  I found him at supper with several
+ladies, three or four naval commanders, Madame F----, and M. D----
+R-----.
+
+"So, your servant was a prince!" said the old general to me.
+
+"Your excellency, I never would have suspected it, and even now that
+he is dead I do not believe it."
+
+"Why?  He is dead, but he was not insane.  You have seen his armorial
+bearings, his certificate of baptism, as well as what he wrote with
+his own hand.  When a man is so near death, he does not fancy
+practical jokes."
+
+"If your excellency is satisfied of the truth of the story, my duty
+is to remain silent."
+
+"The story cannot be anything but true, and your doubts surprise me."
+
+"I doubt, monsignor, because I happen to have positive information
+respecting the families of La Rochefoucault and Du Plessis.  Besides,
+I have seen too much of the man.  He was not a madman, but he
+certainly was an extravagant jester.  I have never seen him write,
+and he has told me himself a score of times that he had never
+learned."
+
+"The paper he has written proves the contrary.  His arms have the
+ducal bearings; but perhaps you are not aware that M. de la
+Rochefoucault is a duke and peer of the French realm?"
+
+"I beg your eminence's pardon; I know all about it; I know even more,
+for I know that Francois VI.  married a daughter of the house of
+Vivonne."
+
+"You know nothing."
+
+When I heard this remark, as foolish as it was rude, I resolved on
+remaining silent, and it was with some pleasure that I observed the
+joy felt by all the male guests at what they thought an insult and a
+blow to my vanity.  An officer remarked that the deceased was a fine
+man, a witty man, and had shewn wonderful cleverness in keeping up
+his assumed character so well that no one ever had the faintest
+suspicion of what he really was.  A lady said that, if she had known
+him, she would have been certain to find him out.  Another flatterer,
+belonging to that mean, contemptible race always to be found near the
+great and wealthy of the earth, assured us that the late prince had
+always shewn himself cheerful, amiable, obliging, devoid of
+haughtiness towards his comrades, and that he used to sing
+beautifully.  "He was only twenty-five years of age," said Madame
+Sagredo, looking me full in the face, "and if he was endowed with all
+those qualities, you must have discovered them."
+
+"I can only give you, madam, a true likeness of the man, such as I
+have seen him.  Always gay, often even to folly, for he could throw a
+somersault beautifully; singing songs of a very erotic kind, full of
+stories and of popular tales of magic, miracles, and ghosts, and a
+thousand marvellous feats which common-sense refused to believe, and
+which, for that very reason, provoked the mirth of his hearers.  His
+faults were that he was drunken, dirty, quarrelsome, dissolute, and
+somewhat of a cheat.  I put up with all his deficiences, because he
+dressed my hair to my taste, and his constant chattering offered me
+the opportunity of practising the colloquial French which cannot be
+acquired from books.  He has always assured me that he was born in
+Picardy, the son of a common peasant, and that he had deserted from
+the French army.  He may have deceived me when he said that he could
+not write."
+
+Just then Camporese rushed into the room, and announced that La
+Veleur was yet breathing.  The general, looking at me significantly,
+said that he would be delighted if the man could be saved.
+
+"And I likewise, monsignor, but his confessor will certainly kill him
+to-night."
+
+"Why should the father confessor kill him?"
+
+"To escape the galleys to which your excellency would not fail to
+send him for having violated the secrecy of the confessional."
+
+Everybody burst out laughing, but the foolish old general knitted his
+brows.  The guests retired soon afterwards, and Madame F-----, whom
+I had preceded to the carriage, M. D---- R----- having offered her
+his arm, invited me to get in with her, saying that it was raining.
+It was the first time that she had bestowed such an honour upon me.
+
+"I am of your opinion about that prince," she said, "but you have
+incurred the displeasure of the proveditore."
+
+"I am very sorry, madam, but it could not have been avoided, for I
+cannot help speaking the truth openly."
+
+"You might have spared him," remarked M. D---- R-----, "the cutting
+jest of the confessor killing the false prince."
+
+"You are right, sir, but I thought it would make him laugh as well as
+it made madam and your excellency.  In conversation people generally
+do not object to a witty jest causing merriment and laughter."
+
+"True; only those who have not wit enough to laugh do not like the
+jest."
+
+"I bet a hundred sequins that the madman will recover, and that,
+having the general on his side, he will reap all the advantages of
+his imposture.  I long to see him treated as a prince, and making
+love to Madame Sagredo"
+
+Hearing the last words, Madame F-----, who did not like Madame
+Sagredo, laughed heartily, and, as we were getting out of the
+carriage, M. D---- R----- invited me to accompany them upstairs.  He
+was in the habit of spending half an hour alone with her at her own
+house when they had taken supper together with the general, for her
+husband never shewed himself.  It was the first time that the happy
+couple admitted a third person to their tete-a-tete.  I felt very
+proud of the compliment thus paid to me, and I thought it might have
+important results for me.  My satisfaction, which I concealed as well
+as I could, did not prevent me from being very gay and from giving a
+comic turn to every subject brought forward by the lady or by her
+lord.
+
+We kept up our pleasant trio for four hours; and returned to the
+mansion of M. D---- R----- only at two o'clock in the morning.  It
+was during that night that Madame F---- and M. D---- R----- really
+made my acquaintance.  Madame F---- told him that she had never
+laughed so much, and that she had never imagined that a conversation,
+in appearance so simple, could afford so much pleasure and merriment.
+On my side, I discovered in her so much wit and cheerfulness, that I
+became deeply enamoured, and went to bed fully satisfied that, in the
+future, I could not keep up the show of indifference which I had so
+far assumed towards her.
+
+When I woke up the next morning, I heard from the new soldier who
+served me that La Valeur was better, and had been pronounced out of
+danger by the physician. At dinner the conversation fell upon him,
+but I did not open my lips.  Two days afterwards, the general gave
+orders to have him removed to a comfortable apartment, sent him a
+servant, clothed him, and the over-credulous proveditore having paid
+him a visit, all the naval commanders and officers thought it their
+duty to imitate him, and to follow his example: the general curiosity
+was excited, there was a rush to see the new prince.  M. D---- R-----
+followed his leaders, and Madame Sagredo, having set the ladies in
+motion, they all called upon him, with the exception of Madame F----,
+who told me laughingly that she would not pay him a visit unless I
+would consent to introduce her.  I begged to be excused.  The knave
+was called your highness, and the wonderful prince styled Madame
+Sagredo his princess.  M. D---- R----- tried to persuade me to call
+upon the rogue, but I told him that I had said too much, and that I
+was neither courageous nor mean enough to retract my words.  The
+whole imposture would soon have been discovered if anyone had
+possessed a peerage, but it just happened that there was not a copy
+in Corfu, and the French consul, a fat blockhead, like many other
+consuls, knew nothing of family trees.  The madcap La Valeur began to
+walk out a week after his metamorphosis into a prince.  He dined and
+had supper every day with the general, and every evening he was
+present at the reception, during which, owing to his intemperance, he
+always went fast asleep.  Yet, there were two reasons which kept up
+the belief of his being a prince: the first was that he did not seem
+afraid of the news expected from Venice, where the proveditore had
+written immediately after the discovery; the second was that he
+solicited from the bishop the punishment of the priest who had
+betrayed his secret by violating the seal of confession.  The poor
+priest had already been sent to prison, and the proveditore had not
+the courage to defend him.  The new prince had been invited to dinner
+by all the naval officers, but M. D---- R----- had not made up his
+mind to imitate them so far, because Madame F---- had clearly warned
+him that she would dine at her own house on the day he was invited.
+I had likewise respectfully intimated that, on the same occasion, I
+would take the liberty of dining somewhere else.
+
+I met the prince one day as I was coming out of the old fortress
+leading to the esplanade.  He stopped, and reproached me for not
+having called upon him.  I laughed, and advised him to think of his
+safety before the arrival of the news which would expose all the
+imposture, in which case the proveditore was certain to treat him
+very severely.  I offered to help him in his flight from Corfu, and
+to get a Neapolitan captain, whose ship was ready to sail, to conceal
+him on board; but the fool, instead of accepting my offer, loaded me
+with insults.
+
+He was courting Madame Sagredo, who treated him very well, feeling
+proud that a French prince should have given her the preference over
+all the other ladies.  One day that she was dining in great ceremony
+at M. D---- R-----'s house, she asked me why I had advised the prince
+to run away.
+
+"I have it from his own lips," she added, "and he cannot make out
+your obstinacy in believing him an impostor."
+
+"I have given him that advice, madam, because my heart is good, and
+my judgment sane."
+
+"Then we are all of us as many fools, the proveditore included?"
+
+"That deduction would not be right, madam.  An opinion contrary to
+that of another does not necessarily make a fool of the person who
+entertains it.  It might possibly turn out, in ten or twelve days,
+that I have been entirely mistaken myself, but I should not consider
+myself a fool in consequence.  In the mean time, a lady of your
+intelligence must have discovered whether that man is a peasant or a
+prince by his education and manners.  For instance, does he dance
+well?"
+
+"He does not know one step, but he is the first to laugh about it; he
+says he never would learn dancing."
+
+"Does he behave well at table?"
+
+"Well, he doesn't stand on ceremony.  He does not want his plate to
+be changed, he helps himself with his spoon out of the dishes; he
+does not know how to check an eructation or a yawn, and if he feels
+tired he leaves the table.  It is evident that he has been very badly
+brought up."
+
+"And yet he is very pleasant, I suppose.  Is he clean and neat?"
+
+"No, but then he is not yet well provided with linen."
+
+"I am told that he is very sober."
+
+"You are joking.  He leaves the table intoxicated twice a day, but he
+ought to be pitied, for he cannot drink wine and keep his head clear.
+Then he swears like a trooper, and we all laugh, but he never takes
+offence."
+
+"Is he witty?"
+
+"He has a wonderful memory, for he tells us new stories every day."
+
+"Does he speak of his family?"
+
+"Very often of his mother, whom he loved tenderly.  She was a Du
+Plessis."
+
+"If his mother is still alive she must be a hundred and fifty years
+old."
+
+"What nonsense!"
+
+"Not at all; she was married in the days of Marie de Medicis."
+
+"But the certificate of baptism names the prince's mother, and his
+seal--"
+
+"Does he know what armorial bearings he has on that seal?"
+
+"Do you doubt it?"
+
+"Very strongly, or rather I am certain that he knows nothing about
+it."
+
+We left the table, and the prince was announced.  He came in, and
+Madame Sagredo lost no time in saying to him, "Prince, here is M.
+Casanova; he pretends that you do not know your own armorial
+bearings." Hearing these words, he came up to me, sneering, called me
+a coward, and gave me a smack on the face which almost stunned me.  I
+left the room very slowly, not forgetting my hat and my cane, and
+went downstairs, while M. D---- R----- was loudly ordering the
+servants to throw the madman out of the window.
+
+I left the palace and went to the esplanade in order to wait for him.
+The moment I saw him, I ran to meet him, and I beat him so violently
+with my cane that one blow alone ought to have killed him.  He drew
+back, and found himself brought to a stand between two walls, where,
+to avoid being beaten to death, his only resource was to draw his
+sword, but the cowardly scoundrel did not even think of his weapon,
+and I left him, on the ground, covered with blood.  The crowd formed
+a line for me to pass, and I went to the coffee-house, where I drank
+a glass of lemonade, without sugar to precipitate the bitter saliva
+which rage had brought up from my stomach.  In a few minutes, I found
+myself surrounded by all the young officers of the garrison, who
+joined in the general opinion that I ought to have killed him, and
+they at last annoyed me, for it was not my fault if I had not done
+so, and I would certainly have taken his life if he had drawn his
+sword.
+
+I had been in the coffee-house for half an hour when the general's
+adjutant came to tell me that his excellency ordered me to put myself
+under arrest on board the bastarda, a galley on which the prisoners
+had their legs in irons like galley slaves.  The dose was rather too
+strong to be swallowed, and I did not feel disposed to submit to it.
+"Very good, adjutant," I replied, "it shall be done." He went away,
+and I left the coffee-house a moment after him, but when I reached
+the end of the street, instead of going towards the esplanade, I
+proceeded quickly towards the sea.  I walked along the beach for a
+quarter of an hour, and finding a boat empty, but with a pair of
+oars, I got in her, and unfastening her, I rowed as hard as I could
+towards a large caicco, sailing against the wind with six oars.  As
+soon as I had come up to her, I went on board and asked the
+carabouchiri to sail before the wind and to take me to a large wherry
+which could be seen at some distance, going towards Vido Rock.  I
+abandoned the row-boat, and, after paying the master of the caicco
+generously, I got into the wherry, made a bargain with the skipper
+who unfurled three sails, and in less than two hours we were fifteen
+miles away from Corfu.  The wind having died away, I made the men row
+against the current, but towards midnight they told me that they
+could not row any longer, they were worn out with fatigue.  They
+advised me to sleep until day-break, but I refused to do so, and for
+a trifle I got them to put me on shore, without asking where I was,
+in order not to raise their suspicions.  It was enough for me to know
+that I was at a distance of twenty miles from Corfu, and in a place
+where nobody could imagine me to be.  The moon was shining, and I saw
+a church with a house adjoining, a long barn opened on both sides, a
+plain of about one hundred yards confined by hills, and nothing more.
+I found some straw in the barn, and laying myself down, I slept until
+day-break in spite of the cold.  It was the 1st of December, and
+although the climate is very mild in Corfu I felt benumbed when I
+awoke, as I had no cloak over my thin uniform.
+
+The bells begin to toll, and I proceed towards the church.  The long-
+bearded papa, surprised at my sudden apparition, enquires whether I
+am Romeo (a Greek); I tell him that I am Fragico (Italian), but he
+turns his back upon me and goes into his house, the door of which he
+shuts without condescending to listen to me.
+
+I then turned towards the sea, and saw a boat leaving a tartan lying
+at anchor within one hundred yards of the island; the boat had four
+oars and landed her passengers.  I come up to them and meet a good-
+looking Greek, a woman and a young boy ten or twelve years old.
+Addressing myself to the Greek, I ask him whether he has had a
+pleasant passage, and where he comes from.  He answers in Italian
+that he has sailed from Cephalonia with his wife and his son, and
+that he is bound for Venice; he had landed to hear mass at the Church
+of Our Lady of Casopo, in order to ascertain whether his father-in-
+law was still alive, and whether he would pay the amount he had
+promised him for the dowry of his wife.
+
+"But how can you find it out?"
+
+"The Papa Deldimopulo will tell me; he will communicate faithfully
+the oracle of the Holy Virgin." I say nothing and follow him into the
+church; he speaks to the priest, and gives him some money.  The papa
+says the mass, enters the sanctum sanctorum, comes out again in a
+quarter of an hour, ascends the steps of the altar, turns towards his
+audience, and, after meditating for a minute and stroking his long
+beard, he delivers his oracle in a dozen words.  The Greek of
+Cephalonia, who certainly could not boast of being as wise as
+Ulysses, appears very well pleased, and gives more money to the
+impostor.  We leave the church, and I ask him whether he feels
+satisfied) with the oracle.
+
+"Oh!  quite satisfied.  I know now that my father-in-law is alive,
+and that he will pay me the dowry, if I consent to leave my child
+with him.  I am aware that it is his fancy and I will give him the
+boy."
+
+"Does the papa know you?"
+
+"No; he is not even acquainted with my name."
+
+"Have you any fine goods on board your tartan?"
+
+"Yes; come and breakfast with me; you can see all I have."
+
+"Very willingly."
+
+Delighted at hearing that oracles were not yet defunct, and satisfied
+that they will endure as long as there are in this world simple-
+minded men and deceitful, cunning priests, I follow the good man, who
+took me to his tartan and treated me to an excellent breakfast.  His
+cargo consisted of cotton, linen, currants, oil, and excellent wines.
+He had also a stock of night-caps, stockings, cloaks in the Eastern
+fashion, umbrellas, and sea biscuits, of which I was very fond; in
+those days I had thirty teeth, and it would have been difficult to
+find a finer set.  Alas!  I have but two left now, the other twenty-
+eight are gone with other tools quite as precious; but 'dum vita
+super est, bene est.'  I bought a small stock of everything he had
+except cotton, for which I had no use, and without discussing his
+price I paid him the thirty-five or forty sequins he demanded, and
+seeing my generosity he made me a present of six beautiful botargoes.
+
+I happened during our conversation to praise the wine of Xante, which
+he called generoydes, and he told me that if I would accompany him to
+Venice he would give me a bottle of that wine every day including the
+quarantine.  Always superstitious, I was on the point of accepting,
+and that for the most foolish reason-namely, that there would be no
+premeditation in that strange resolution, and it might be the impulse
+of fate.  Such was my nature in those days; alas; it is very
+different now.  They say that it is because wisdom comes with old
+age, but I cannot reconcile myself to cherish the effect of a most
+unpleasant cause.
+
+Just as I was going to accept his offer he proposes to sell me a very
+fine gun for ten sequins, saying that in Corfu anyone would be glad
+of it for twelve.  The word Corfu upsets all my ideas on the spot!  I
+fancy I hear the voice of my genius telling me to go back to that
+city.  I purchase the gun for the ten sequins, and my honest
+Cephalonian, admiring my fair dealing, gives me, over and above our
+bargain, a beautiful Turkish pouch well filled with powder and shot.
+Carrying my gun, with a good warm cloak over my uniform and with a
+large bag containing all my purchases, I take leave of the worthy
+Greek, and am landed on the shore, determined on obtaining a lodging
+from the cheating papa, by fair means or foul.  The good wine of my
+friend the Cephalonian had excited me just enough to make me carry my
+determination into immediate execution.  I had in my pockets four or
+five hundred copper gazzette, which were very heavy, but which I had
+procured from the Greek, foreseeing that I might want them during my
+stay on the island.
+
+I store my bag away in the barn and I proceed, gun in hand, towards
+the house of the priest; the church was closed.
+
+I must give my readers some idea of the state I was in at that
+moment.  I was quietly hopeless.  The three or four hundred sequins I
+had with me did not prevent me from thinking that I was not in very
+great security on the island; I could not remain long, I would soon
+be found out, and, being guilty of desertion, I should be treated
+accordingly.  I did not know what to do, and that is always an
+unpleasant predicament.  It would be absurd for me to return to Corfu
+of my own accord; my flight would then be useless, and I should be
+thought a fool, for my return would be a proof of cowardice or
+stupidity; yet I did not feel the courage to desert altogether.  The
+chief cause of my decision was not that I had a thousand sequins in
+the hands of the faro banker, or my well-stocked wardrobe, or the
+fear of not getting a living somewhere else, but the unpleasant
+recollection that I should leave behind me a woman whom I loved to
+adoration, and from whom I had not yet obtained any favour, not even
+that of kissing her hand.  In such distress of mind I could not do
+anything else but abandon myself to chance, whatever the result might
+be, and the most essential thing for the present was to secure a
+lodging and my daily food.
+
+I knock at the door of the priest's dwelling.  He looks out of a
+window and shuts it without listening to me, I knock again, I swear,
+I call out loudly, all in vain, Giving way to my rage, I take aim at
+a poor sheep grazing with several others at a short distance, and
+kill it.  The herdsman begins to scream, the papa shows himself at
+the window, calling out, "Thieves!  Murder!" and orders the alarm-
+bell to be rung.  Three bells are immediately set in motion, I
+foresee a general gathering: what is going to happen?  I do not know,
+but happen what will, I load my gun and await coming events.
+
+In less than eight or ten minutes, I see a crowd of peasants coming
+down the hills, armed with guns, pitchforks, or cudgels: I withdraw
+inside of the barn, but without the slightest fear, for I cannot
+suppose that, seeing me alone, these men will murder me without
+listening to me.
+
+The first ten or twelve peasants come forward, gun in hand and ready
+to fire: I stop them by throwing down my gazzette, which they lose no
+time in picking up from the ground, and I keep on throwing money down
+as the men come forward, until I had no more left.  The clowns were
+looking at each other in great astonishment, not knowing what to make
+out of a well-dressed young man, looking very peaceful, and throwing
+his money to them with such generosity.  I could not speak to them
+until the deafening noise of the bells should cease.  I quietly sit
+down on my large bag, and keep still, but as soon as I can be heard I
+begin to address the men.  The priest, however, assisted by his
+beadle and by the herdsman, interrupts me, and all the more easily
+that I was speaking Italian.  My three enemies, who talked all at
+once, were trying to excite the crowd against me.
+
+One of the peasants, an elderly and reasonable-looking man, comes up
+to me and asks me in Italian why I have killed the sheep.
+
+"To eat it, my good fellow, but not before I have paid for it."
+
+"But his holiness, the papa, might choose to charge one sequin for
+it."
+
+"Here is one sequin."
+
+The priest takes the money and goes away: war is over.  The peasant
+tells me that he has served in the campaign of 1716, and that he was
+at the defence of Corfu.  I compliment him, and ask him to find me a
+lodging and a man able to prepare my meals.  He answers that he will
+procure me a whole house, that he will be my cook himself, but I must
+go up the hill.  No matter!  He calls two stout fellows, one takes my
+bag, the other shoulders my sheep, and forward!  As we are walking
+along, I tell him,--
+
+"My good man, I would like to have in my service twenty-four fellows
+like these under military discipline.  I would give each man twenty
+gazzette a day, and you would have forty as my lieutenant."
+
+"I will," says the old soldier, "raise for you this very day a body-
+guard of which you will be proud."
+
+We reach a very convenient house, containing on the ground floor
+three rooms and a stable, which I immediately turned into a guard-
+room.
+
+My lieutenant went to get what I wanted, and particularly a
+needlewoman to make me some shirts.  In the course of the day I had
+furniture, bedding, kitchen utensils, a good dinner, twenty-four
+well-equipped soldiers, a super-annuated sempstress and several young
+girls to make my shirts.  After supper, I found my position highly
+pleasant, being surrounded with some thirty persons who looked upon
+me as their sovereign, although they could not make out what had
+brought me to their island.  The only thing which struck me as
+disagreeable was that the young girls could not speak Italian, and I
+did not know Greek enough to enable me to make love to them.
+
+The next morning my lieutenant had the guard relieved, and I could
+not help bursting into a merry laugh.  They were like a flock of
+sheep: all fine men, well-made and strong; but without uniform and
+without discipline the finest band is but a herd.  However, they
+quickly learned how to present arms and to obey the orders of their
+officer.  I caused three sentinels to be placed, one before the
+guardroom, one at my door, and the third where he could have a good
+view of the sea.  This sentinel was to give me warning of the
+approach of any armed boat or vessel.  For the first two or three
+days I considered all this as mere amusement, but, thinking that I
+might really want the men to repel force by force, I had some idea of
+making my army take an oath of allegiance.  I did not do so, however,
+although my lieutenant assured me that I had only to express my
+wishes, for my generosity had captivated the love of all the
+islanders.
+
+My sempstress, who had procured some young needlewomen to sew my
+shirts, had expected that I would fall in love with one and not with
+all, but my amorous zeal overstepped her hopes, and all the pretty
+ones had their turn; they were all well satisfied with me, and the
+sempstress was rewarded for her good offices.  I was leading a
+delightful life, for my table was supplied with excellent dishes,
+juicy mutton, and snipe so delicious that I have never tasted their
+like except in St. Petersburg.  I drank scopolo wine or the best
+muscatel of the Archipelago.  My lieutenant was my only table
+companion.  I never took a walk without him and two of my body-guard,
+in order to defend myself against the attacks of a few young men who
+had a spite against me because they fancied, not without some reason,
+that my needlewomen, their mistresses, had left them on my account.
+I often thought while I was rambling about the island, that without
+money I should have been unhappy, and that I was indebted to my gold
+for all the happiness I was enjoying; but it was right to suppose at
+the same time that, if I had not felt my purse pretty heavy, I would
+not have been likely to leave Corfu.
+
+I had thus been playing the petty king with success for a week or ten
+days, when, towards ten o'clock at night I heard the sentinel's
+challenge.  My lieutenant went out, and returned announcing that an
+honest-looking man, who spoke Italian, wished to see me on important
+business.  I had him brought in, and, in the presence of my
+lieutenant, he told me in Italian:
+
+"Next Sunday, the Papa Deldimopulo will fulminate against you the
+'cataramonachia'.  If you do not prevent him, a slow fever will send
+you into the next world in six weeks."
+
+"I have never heard of such a drug."
+
+"It is not a drug.  It is a curse pronounced by a priest with the
+Host in his hands, and it is sure to be fulfilled."
+
+"What reason can that priest have to murder me?"
+
+"You disturb the peace and discipline of his parish.  You have
+seduced several young girls, and now their lovers refuse to marry
+them."
+
+I made him drink, and thanking him heartily, wished him good night.
+His warning struck me as deserving my attention, for, if I had no
+fear of the 'cataramonachia', in which I had not the slightest faith,
+I feared certain poisons which might be by far more efficient.  I
+passed a very quiet night, but at day-break I got up, and without
+saying anything to my lieutenant, I went straight to the church where
+I found the priest, and addressed him in the following words, uttered
+in a tone likely to enforce conviction:
+
+"On the first symptom of fever, I will shoot you like a dog.  Throw
+over me a curse which will kill me instantly, or make your will.
+Farewell!"
+
+Having thus warned him, I returned to my royal palace.  Early on the
+following Monday, the papa called on me.  I had a slight headache; he
+enquired after my health, and when I told him that my head felt
+rather heavy, he made me laugh by the air of anxiety with which he
+assured me that it could be caused by nothing else than the heavy
+atmosphere of the island of Casopo.
+
+Three days after his visit, the advanced sentinel gave the war-cry.
+The lieutenant went out to reconnoitre, and after a short absence he
+gave me notice that the long boat of an armed vessel had just landed
+an officer.  Danger was at hand.
+
+I go out myself, I call my men to arms, and, advancing a few steps, I
+see an officer, accompanied by a guide, who was walking towards my
+dwelling.  As he was alone, I had nothing to fear.  I return to my
+room, giving orders to my lieutenant to receive him with all military
+honours and to introduce him.  Then, girding my sword, I wait for my
+visitor.
+
+In a few minutes, Adjutant Minolto, the same who had brought me the
+order to put myself under arrest, makes his appearance.
+
+"You are alone," I say to him, "and therefore you come as a friend.
+Let us embrace."
+
+"I must come as a friend, for, as an enemy, I should not have enough
+men.  But what I see seems a dream."
+
+"Take a seat, and dine with me.  I will treat you splendidly."
+
+"Most willingly, and after dinner we will leave the island together."
+
+"You may go alone, if you like; but I will not leave this place until
+I have the certainty, not only that I shall not be sent to the
+'bastarda', but also that I shall have every satisfaction from the
+knave whom the general ought to send to the galleys."
+
+"Be reasonable, and come with me of your own accord.  My orders are
+to take you by force, but as I have not enough men to do so, I shall
+make my report, and the general will, of course, send a force
+sufficient to arrest you."
+
+"Never; I will not be taken alive."
+
+"You must be mad; believe me, you are in the wrong.  You have
+disobeyed the order I brought you to go to the 'bastarda; in that you
+have acted wrongly, and in that alone, for in every other respect you
+were perfectly right, the general himself says so."
+
+"Then I ought to have put myself under arrest?"
+
+"Certainly; obedience is necessary in our profession."
+
+"Would you have obeyed, if you had been in my place ?"
+
+"I cannot and will not tell you what I would have done, but I know
+that if I had disobeyed orders I should have been guilty of a crime:"
+
+"But if I surrendered now I should be treated like a criminal, and
+much more severely than if I had obeyed that unjust order."
+
+"I think not.  Come with me, and you will know everything."
+
+"What!  Go without knowing what fate may be in store for me?  Do not
+expect it.  Let us have dinner.  If I am guilty of such a dreadful
+crime that violence must be used against me, I will surrender only to
+irresistible force.  I cannot be worse off, but there may be blood
+spilled."
+
+"You are mistaken, such conduct would only make you more guilty.  But
+I say like you, let us have dinner.  A good meal will very likely
+render you more disposed to listen to reason."
+
+Our dinner was nearly over, when we heard some noise outside.  The
+lieutenant came in, and informed me that the peasants were gathering
+in the neighbourhood of my house to defend me, because a rumour had
+spread through the island that the felucca had been sent with orders
+to arrest me and take me to Corfu.  I told him to undeceive the good
+fellows, and to send them away, but to give them first a barrel of
+wine.
+
+The peasants went away satisfied, but, to shew their devotion to me,
+they all fired their guns.
+
+"It is all very amusing," said the adjutant, "but it will turn out
+very serious if you let me go away alone, for my duty compels me to
+give an exact account of all I have witnessed."
+
+"I will follow you, if you will give me your word of honour to land
+me free in Corfu."
+
+"I have orders to deliver your person to M. Foscari, on board the
+bastarda."
+
+"Well, you shall not execute your orders this time."
+
+"If you do not obey the commands of the general, his honour will
+compel him to use violence against you, and of course he can do it.
+But tell me, what would you do if the general should leave you in
+this island for the sake of the joke?  There is no fear of that,
+however, and, after the report which I must give, the general will
+certainly make up his mind to stop the affair without shedding
+blood."
+
+"Without a fight it will be difficult to arrest me, for with five
+hundred peasants in such a place as this I would not be afraid of
+three thousand men."
+
+"One man will prove enough; you will be treated as a leader of
+rebels.  All these peasants may be devoted to you, but they cannot
+protect you against one man who will shoot you for the sake of
+earning a few pieces of gold.  I can tell you more than that: amongst
+all those men who surround you there is not one who would not murder
+you for twenty sequins.  Believe me, go with me.  Come to enjoy the
+triumph which is awaiting you in Corfu.  You will be courted and
+applauded.  You will narrate yourself all your mad frolics, people
+will laugh, and at the same time will admire you for having listened
+to reason the moment I came here.  Everybody feels esteem for you,
+and M. D---- R----- thinks a great deal of you.  He praises very
+highly the command you have shewn over your passion in refraining
+from thrusting your sword through that insolent fool, in order not to
+forget the respect you owed to his house.  The general himself must
+esteem you, for he cannot forget what you told him of that knave."
+
+"What has become of him?"
+
+"Four days ago Major Sardina's frigate arrived with dispatches, in
+which the general must have found all the proof of the imposture, for
+he has caused the false duke or prince to disappear very suddenly.
+Nobody knows where he has been sent to, and nobody ventures to
+mention the fellow before the general, for he made the most egregious
+blunder respecting him."
+
+"But was the man received in society after the thrashing I gave him?"
+
+"God forbid!  Do you not recollect that he wore a sword?  From that
+moment no one would receive him.  His arm was broken and his jaw
+shattered to pieces.
+
+But in spite of the state he was in, in spite of what he must have
+suffered, his excellency had him removed a week after you had treated
+him so severely.  But your flight is what everyone has been wondering
+over.  It was thought for three days that M. D---- R----- had
+concealed you in his house, and he was openly blamed for doing so.
+He had to declare loudly at the general's table that he was in the
+most complete ignorance of your whereabouts.  His excellency even
+expressed his anxiety about your escape, and it was only yesterday
+that your place of refuge was made known by a letter addressed by the
+priest of this island to the Proto-Papa Bulgari, in which he
+complained that an Italian officer had invaded the island of Casopo a
+week before, and had committed unheard-of violence.  He accused you
+of seducing all the girls, and of threatening to shoot him if he
+dared to pronounce 'cataramonachia' against you.  This letter, which
+was read publicly at the evening reception, made the general laugh,
+but he ordered me to arrest you all the same."
+
+"Madame Sagredo is the cause of it all."
+
+"True, but she is well punished for it.  You ought to call upon her
+with me to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow?  Are you then certain that I shall not be placed under
+arrest?"
+
+"Yes, for I know that the general is a man of honour."
+
+"I am of the same opinion.  Well, let us go on board your felucca.
+We will embark together after midnight."
+
+"Why not now?"
+
+"Because I will not run the risk of spending the night on board M.
+Foscari's bastarda.  I want to reach Corfu by daylight, so as to make
+your victory more brilliant."
+
+"But what shall we do for the next eight hours?"
+
+"We will pay a visit to some beauties of a species unknown in Corfu,
+and have a good supper."
+
+I ordered my lieutenant to send plenty to eat and to drink to the men
+on board the felucca, to prepare a splendid supper, and to spare
+nothing, as I should leave the island at midnight.  I made him a
+present of all my provisions, except such as I wanted to take with
+me; these I sent on board.  My janissaries, to whom I gave a week's
+pay, insisted upon escorting me, fully equipped, as far as the boat,
+which made the adjutant laugh all the way.
+
+We reached Corfu by eight o'clock in the morning, and we went
+alongside the 'bastarda.  The adjutant consigned me to M.  Foscari,
+assuring me that he would immediately give notice of my arrival to
+M. D---- R-----, send my luggage to his house, and report the success
+of his expedition to the general.
+
+M. Foscari, the commander of the bastarda, treated me very badly.  If
+he had been blessed with any delicacy of feeling, he would not have
+been in such a hurry to have me put in irons.  He might have talked
+to me, and have thus delayed for a quarter of an hour that operation
+which greatly vexed me.  But, without uttering a single word, he sent
+me to the 'capo di scalo' who made me sit down, and told me to put my
+foot forward to receive the irons, which, however, do not dishonour
+anyone in that country, not even the galley slaves, for they are
+better treated than soldiers.
+
+My right leg was already in irons, and the left one was in the hands
+of the man for the completion of that unpleasant ceremony, when the
+adjutant of his excellency came to tell the executioner to set me at
+liberty and to return me my sword.  I wanted to present my
+compliments to the noble M. Foscari, but the adjutant, rather
+ashamed, assured me that his excellency did not expect me to do so.
+The first thing I did was to pay my respects to the general, without
+saying one word to him, but he told me with a serious countenance to
+be more prudent for the future, and to learn that a soldier's first
+duty was to obey, and above all to be modest and discreet.  I
+understood perfectly the meaning of the two last words, and acted
+accordingly.
+
+When I made my appearance at M. D---- R-----'s, I could see pleasure
+on everybody's face.  Those moments have always been so dear to me
+that I have never forgotten them, they have afforded me consolation
+in the time of adversity.  If you would relish pleasure you must
+endure pain, and delights are in proportion to the privations we have
+suffered.  M. D---- R----- was so glad to see me that he came up to
+me and warmly embraced me.  He presented me with a beautiful ring
+which he took from his own finger, and told me that I had acted quite
+rightly in not letting anyone, and particularly himself, know where I
+had taken refuge.
+
+"You can't think," he added, frankly, "how interested Madame F----
+was in your fate.  She would be really delighted if you called on her
+immediately."
+
+How delightful to receive such advice from his own lips!  But the
+word "immediately" annoyed me, because, having passed the night on
+board the felucca, I was afraid that the disorder of my toilet might
+injure me in her eyes.  Yet I could neither refuse M. D---- R-----,
+nor tell him the reason of my refusal, and I bethought myself that I
+could make a merit of it in the eyes of Madame F----
+I therefore went at once to her house; the goddess was not yet
+visible, but her attendant told me to come in, assuring me that her
+mistress's bell would soon be heard, and that she would be very sorry
+if I did not wait to see her.  I spent half an hour with that young
+and indiscreet person, who was a very charming girl, and learned from
+her many things which caused me great pleasure, and particularly all
+that had been said respecting my escape.  I found that throughout the
+affair my conduct had met with general approbation.
+
+As soon as Madame F---- had seen her maid, she desired me to be shewn
+in.  The curtains were drawn aside, and I thought I saw Aurora
+surrounded with the roses and the pearls of morning.  I told her
+that, if it had not been for the order I received from M. D---- R----
+I would not have presumed to present myself before her in my
+travelling costume; and in the most friendly tone she answered that
+M. D---- R-----, knowing all the interest she felt in me, had been
+quite right to tell me to come, and she assured me that M. D----
+R----- had the greatest esteem for me.
+
+"I do not know, madam, how I have deserved such great happiness, for
+all I dared aim at was toleration."
+
+"We all admired the control you kept over your feelings when you
+refrained from killing that insolent madman on the spot; he would
+have been thrown out of the window if he had not beat a hurried
+retreat."
+
+"I should certainly have killed him, madam, if you had not been
+present."
+
+"A very pretty compliment, but I can hardly believe that you thought
+of me in such a moment."
+
+I did not answer, but cast my eyes down, and gave a deep sigh.  She
+observed my new ring, and in order to change the subject of
+conversation she praised M. D---- R----- very highly, as soon as I
+had told her how he had offered it to me.  She desired me to give her
+an account of my life on the island, and I did so, but allowed my
+pretty needlewomen to remain under a veil, for I had already learnt
+that in this world the truth must often remain untold.
+
+All my adventures amused her much, and she greatly admired my
+conduct.
+
+"Would you have the courage," she said, "to repeat all you have just
+told me, and exactly in the same terms, before the proveditore-
+generale?"
+
+"Most certainly, madam, provided he asked me himself."
+
+"Well, then, prepare to redeem your promise.  I want our excellent
+general to love you and to become your warmest protector, so as to
+shield you against every injustice and to promote your advancement.
+Leave it all to me."
+
+Her reception fairly overwhelmed me with happiness, and on leaving
+her house I went to Major Maroli to find out the state of my
+finances.  I was glad to hear that after my escape he had no longer
+considered me a partner in the faro bank.  I took four hundred
+sequins from the cashier, reserving the right to become again a
+partner, should circumstances prove at any time favourable.
+
+In the evening I made a careful toilet, and called for the Adjutant
+Minolto in order to pay with him a visit to Madame Sagredo, the
+general's favourite.  With the exception of Madame F---- she was the
+greatest beauty of Corfu.  My visit surprised her, because, as she
+had been the cause of all that had happened, she was very far from
+expecting it.  She imagined that I had a spite against her.  I
+undeceived her, speaking to her very candidly, and she treated me
+most kindly, inviting me to come now and then to spend the evening at
+her house.
+
+But I neither accepted nor refused her amiable invitation, knowing
+that Madame F---- disliked her; and how could I be a frequent guest
+at her house with such a knowledge!  Besides, Madame Sagredo was very
+fond of gambling, and, to please her, it was necessary either to lose
+or make her win, but to accept such conditions one must be in love
+with the lady or wish to make her conquest, and I had not the
+slightest idea of either.  The Adjutant Minolto never played, but he
+had captivated the lady's good graces by his services in the
+character of Mercury.
+
+When I returned to the palace I found Madame F---- alone, M. D----
+R----- being engaged with his correspondence.  She asked me to sit
+near her, and to tell her all my adventures in Constantinople.  I did
+so, and I had no occasion to repent it.  My meeting with Yusuf's wife
+pleased her extremely, but the bathing scene by moonlight made her
+blush with excitement.  I veiled as much as I could the too brilliant
+colours of my picture, but, if she did not find me clear, she would
+oblige me to be more explicit, and if I made myself better understood
+by giving to my recital a touch of voluptuousness which I borrowed
+from her looks more than from my recollection, she would scold me and
+tell me that I might have disguised a little more.  I felt that the
+way she was talking would give her a liking for me, and I was
+satisfied that the man who can give birth to amorous desires is
+easily called upon to gratify them it was the reward I was ardently
+longing for, and I dared to hope it would be mine, although I could
+see it only looming in the distance.
+
+It happened that, on that day, M. D---- R----- had invited a large
+company to supper.  I had, as a matter of course, to engross all
+conversation, and to give the fullest particulars of all that had
+taken place from the moment I received the order to place myself
+under arrest up to the time of my release from the 'bastarda'.
+M. Foscari was seated next to me, and the last part of my narrative
+was not, I suppose, particularly agreeable to him.
+
+The account I gave of my adventures pleased everybody, and it was
+decided that the proveditore-generale must have the pleasure of
+hearing my tale from my own lips.  I mentioned that hay was very
+plentiful in Casopo, and as that article was very scarce in Corfu,
+M. D---- R----- told me that I ought to seize the opportunity of
+making myself agreeable to the general by informing him of that
+circumstance without delay.  I followed his advice the very next day,
+and was very well received, for his excellency immediately ordered a
+squad of men to go to the island and bring large quantities of hay to
+Corfu.
+
+A few days later the Adjutant Minolto came to me in the coffee-house,
+and told me that the general wished to see me: this time I promptly
+obeyed his commands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Progress of My Amour--My Journey to Otranto--I Enter the Service of
+Madame F.--A Fortunate Excoriation
+
+
+The room I entered was full of people.  His excellency, seeing me,
+smiled and drew upon me the attention of all his guests by saying
+aloud, "Here comes the young man who is a good judge of princes."
+
+"My lord, I have become a judge of nobility by frequenting the
+society of men like you."
+
+"The ladies are curious to know all you have done from the time of
+your escape from Corfu up to your return."
+
+"Then you sentence me, monsignor, to make a public confession?"
+
+"Exactly; but, as it is to be a confession, be careful not to omit
+the most insignificant circumstance, and suppose that I am not in the
+room."
+
+"On the contrary, I wish to receive absolution only from your
+excellency.  But my history will be a long one."
+
+"If such is the case, your confessor gives you permission to be
+seated."
+
+I gave all the particulars of my adventures, with the exception of my
+dalliance with the nymphs of the island.
+
+"Your story is a very instructive one," observed the general.
+
+"Yes, my lord, for the adventures shew that a young man is never so
+near his utter ruin than when, excited by some great passion, he
+finds himself able to minister to it, thanks to the gold in his
+purse."
+
+I was preparing to take my leave, when the majordomo came to inform
+me that his excellency desired me to remain to supper.  I had
+therefore the honour of a seat at his table, but not the pleasure of
+eating, for I was obliged to answer the questions addressed to me
+from all quarters, and I could not contrive to swallow a single
+mouthful.  I was seated next to the Proto-Papa Bulgari, and I
+entreated his pardon for having ridiculed Deldimopulo's oracle.  "It
+is nothing else but regular cheating," he said, "but it is very
+difficult to put a stop to it; it is an old custom."
+
+A short time afterwards, Madame F---- whispered a few words to the
+general, who turned to me and said that he would be glad to hear me
+relate what had occurred to me in Constantinople with the wife of the
+Turk Yusuf, and at another friend's house, where I had seen bathing
+by moonlight.  I was rather surprised at such an invitation, and told
+him that such frolics were not worth listening to, and the general
+not pressing me no more was said about it.  But I was astonished at
+Madame F----'s indiscretion; she had no business to make my
+confidences public.  I wanted her to be jealous of her own dignity,
+which I loved even more than her person.
+
+Two or three days later, she said to me,
+
+"Why did you refuse to tell your adventures in Constantinople before
+the general?"
+
+"Because I do not wish everybody to know that you allow me to tell
+you such things.  What I may dare, madam, to say to you when we are
+alone, I would certainly not say to you in public."
+
+"And why not?  It seems to me, on the contrary, that if you are
+silent in public out of respect for me, you ought to be all the more
+silent when we are alone."
+
+"I wanted to amuse you, and have exposed myself to the danger of
+displeasing you, but I can assure you, madam, that I will not run
+such a risk again."
+
+"I have no wish to pry into your intentions, but it strikes me that
+if your wish was to please me, you ought not to have run the risk of
+obtaining the opposite result.  We take supper with the general this
+evening, and M. D---- R----- has been asked to bring you.  I feel
+certain that the general will ask you again for your adventures in
+Constantinople, and this time you cannot refuse him."
+
+M. D---- R----- came in and we went to the general's.  I thought as
+we were driving along that, although Madame F---- seemed to have
+intended to humiliate me, I ought to accept it all as a favour of
+fortune, because, by compelling me to explain my refusal to the
+general; Madame F---- had, at the same time, compelled me to a
+declaration of my feelings, which was not without importance.
+
+The 'proveditore-generale' gave me a friendly welcome, and kindly
+handed me a letter which had come with the official dispatches from
+Constantinople.  I bowed my thanks, and put the letter in my pocket:
+but he told me that he was himself a great lover of news, and that I
+could read my letter.  I opened it; it was from Yusuf, who announced
+the death of Count de Bonneval.  Hearing the name of the worthy
+Yusuf, the general asked me to tell him my adventure with his wife.
+I could not now refuse, and I began a story which amused and
+interested the general and his friends for an hour or so, but which
+was from beginning to end the work of my imagination.
+
+Thus I continued to respect the privacy of Yusuf, to avoid
+implicating the good fame of Madame F----, and to shew myself in a
+light which was tolerably advantageous to me.  My story, which was
+full of sentiment, did me a great deal of honour, and I felt very
+happy when I saw from the expression of Madame F----'s face that she
+was pleased with me, although somewhat surprised.
+
+When we found ourselves again in her house she told me, in the
+presence of M. D---- R-----, that the story I had related to the
+general was certainly very pretty, although purely imaginary, that
+she was not angry with me, because I had amused her, but that she
+could not help remarking my obstinacy in refusing compliance with her
+wishes.  Then, turning to M. D---- R-----, she said,
+
+"M. Casanova pretends that if he had given an account of his meeting
+with Yusuf's wife without changing anything everybody would think
+that I allowed him to entertain me with indecent stories.  I want you
+to give your opinion about it.  Will you," she added, speaking to me,
+"be so good as to relate immediately the adventure in the same words
+which you have used when you told me of it?"
+
+"Yes, madam, if you wish me to do so."
+
+Stung to the quick by an indiscretion which, as I did not yet know
+women thoroughly, seemed to me without example, I cast all fears of
+displeasing to the winds, related the adventure with all the warmth
+of an impassioned poet, and without disguising or attenuating in the
+least the desires which the charms of the Greek beauty had inspired
+me with.
+
+"Do you think," said M. D---- R----- to Madame F-----, "that he ought
+to have related that adventure before all our friends as he has just
+related it to us?"
+
+"If it be wrong for him to tell it in public, it is also wrong to
+tell it to me in private."
+
+"You are the only judge of that: yes, if he has displeased you; no,
+if he has amused you.  As for my own opinion, here it is: He has just
+now amused me very much, but he would have greatly displeased me if
+he had related the same adventure in public."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Madame F----, "I must request you never to tell me
+in private anything that you cannot repeat in public."
+
+"I promise, madam, to act always according to your wishes."
+
+"It being understood," added M. D---- R-----, smiling, "that madam
+reserves all rights of repealing that order whenever she may think
+fit."
+
+I was vexed, but I contrived not to show it.  A few minutes more, and
+we took leave of Madame F----
+
+I was beginning to understand that charming woman, and to dread the
+ordeal to which she would subject me.  But love was stronger than
+fear, and, fortified with hope, I had the courage to endure the
+thorns, so as to gather the rose at the end of my sufferings.  I was
+particularly pleased to find that M. D---- R----- was not jealous of
+me, even when she seemed to dare him to it.  This was a point of the
+greatest importance.
+
+A few days afterwards, as I was entertaining her on various subjects,
+she remarked how unfortunate it had been for me to enter the
+lazzaretto at Ancona without any money.
+
+"In spite of my distress," I said, "I fell in love with a young and
+beautiful Greek slave, who very nearly contrived to make me break
+through all the sanitary laws."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"You are alone, madam, and I have not forgotten your orders."
+
+"Is it a very improper story?"
+
+"No: yet I would not relate it to you in public."
+
+"Well," she said, laughing, "I repeal my order, as M. D---- R-----
+said I would.  Tell me all about it."
+
+I told my story, and, seeing that she was pensive, I exaggerated the
+misery I had felt at not being able to complete my conquest.
+
+"What do you mean by your misery?  I think that the poor girl was
+more to be pitied than you.  You have never seen her since?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, madam; I met her again, but I dare not tell you
+when or how."
+
+"Now you must go on; it is all nonsense for you to stop.  Tell me
+all; I expect you have been guilty of some black deed."
+
+"Very far from it, madam, for it was a very sweet, although
+incomplete, enjoyment."
+
+"Go on!  But do not call things exactly by their names.  It is not
+necessary to go into details."
+
+Emboldened by the renewal of her order, I told her, without looking
+her in the face, of my meeting with the Greek slave in the presence
+of Bellino, and of the act which was cut short by the appearance of
+her master.  When I had finished my story, Madame F---- remained
+silent, and I turned the conversation into a different channel, for
+though I felt myself on an excellent footing with her, I knew
+likewise that I had to proceed with great prudence.  She was too
+young to have lowered herself before, and she would certainly look
+upon a connection with me as a lowering of her dignity.
+
+Fortune which had always smiled upon me in the most hopeless cases,
+did not intend to ill-treat me on this occasion, and procured me, on
+that very same day, a favour of a very peculiar nature.  My charming
+ladylove having pricked her finger rather severely, screamed loudly,
+and stretched her hand towards me, entreating me to suck the blood
+flowing from the wound.  You may judge, dear reader, whether I was
+long in seizing that beautiful hand, and if you are, or if you have
+ever been in love, you will easily guess the manner in which I
+performed my delightful work.  What is a kiss?  Is it not an ardent
+desire to inhale a portion of the being we love?  Was not the blood I
+was sucking from that charming wound a portion of the woman I
+worshipped?  When I had completed my work, she thanked me
+affectionately, and told me to spit out the blood I had sucked.
+
+"It is here," I said, placing my hand on my heart, "and God alone
+knows what happiness it has given me."
+
+"You have drunk my blood with happiness!  Are you then a cannibal?"
+
+"I believe not, madam; but it would have been sacrilege in my eyes if
+I had suffered one single drop of your blood to be lost."
+
+One evening, there was an unusually large attendance at M. D----
+R-----'s assembly, and we were talking of the carnival which was near
+at hand.  Everybody was regretting the lack of actors, and the
+impossibility of enjoying the pleasures of the theatre.  I
+immediately offered to procure a good company at my expense, if the
+boxes were at once subscribed for, and the monopoly of the faro bank
+granted to me.  No time was to be lost, for the carnival was
+approaching, and I had to go to Otranto to engage a troop.  My
+proposal was accepted with great joy, and the proveditore-generale
+placed a felucca at my disposal.  The boxes were all taken in three
+days, and a Jew took the pit, two nights a week excepted, which I
+reserved for my own profit.
+
+The carnival being very long that year, I had every chance of
+success.  It is said generally that the profession of theatrical
+manager is difficult, but, if that is the case, I have not found it
+so by experience, and am bound to affirm the contrary.
+
+I left Corfu in the evening, and having a good breeze in my favour, I
+reached Otranto by day-break the following morning, without the
+oarsmen having had to row a stroke.  The distance from Corfu to
+Otranto is only about fifteen leagues.
+
+I had no idea of landing, owing to the quarantine which is always
+enforced for any ship or boat coming to Italy from the east.  I only
+went to the parlour of the lazaretto, where, placed behind a grating,
+you can speak to any person who calls, and who must stand behind
+another grating placed opposite, at a distance of six feet.
+
+As soon as I announced that I had come for the purpose of engaging a
+troupe of actors to perform in Corfu, the managers of the two
+companies then in Otranto came to the parlour to speak to me.  I told
+them at once that I wished to see all the performers, one company at
+a time.
+
+The two rival managers gave me then a very comic scene, each manager
+wanting the other to bring his troupe first.  The harbour-master told
+me that the only way to settle the matter was to say myself which of
+the two companies I would see first: one was from Naples, the other
+from Sicily.  Not knowing either I gave the preference to the first.
+Don Fastidio, the manager, was very vexed, while Battipaglia, the
+director of the second, was delighted because he hoped that, after
+seeing the Neapolitan troupe, I would engage his own.
+
+An hour afterwards, Fastidio returned with all his performers, and my
+surprise may be imagined when amongst them I recognized Petronio and
+his sister Marina, who, the moment she saw me, screamed for joy,
+jumped over the grating, and threw herself in my arms.  A terrible
+hubbub followed, and high words passed between Fastidio and the
+harbour-master.  Marina being in the service of Fastidio, the captain
+compelled him to confine her to the lazaretto, where she would have
+to perform quarantine at his expense.  The poor girl cried bitterly,
+but I could not remedy her imprudence.
+
+I put a stop to the quarrel by telling Fastidio to shew me all his
+people, one after the other.  Petronio belonged to his company, and
+performed the lovers.  He told me that he had a letter for me from
+Therese.  I was also glad to see a Venetian of my acquaintance who
+played the pantaloon in the pantomime, three tolerably pretty
+actresses, a pulcinella, and a scaramouch.  Altogether, the troupe
+was a decent one.
+
+I told Fastidio to name the lowest salary he wanted for all his
+company, assuring him that I would give the preference to his rival,
+if he should ask me too much.
+
+"Sir," he answered, "we are twenty, and shall require six rooms with
+ten beds, one sitting-room for all of us, and thirty Neapolitan
+ducats a day, all travelling expenses paid.  Here is my stock of
+plays, and we will perform those that you may choose."
+
+Thinking of poor Marina who would have to remain in the lazaretto
+before she could reappear on the stage at Otranto, I told Fastidio to
+get the contract ready, as I wanted to go away immediately.
+
+I had scarcely pronounced these words than war broke out again
+between the manager-elect and his unfortunate competitor.
+Battipaglia, in his rage, called Marina a harlot, and said that she
+had arranged beforehand with Fastidio to violate the rules of the
+lazaretto in order to compel me to choose their troupe.  Petronio,
+taking his sister's part, joined Fastidio, and the unlucky
+Battipaglia was dragged outside and treated to a generous dose of
+blows and fisticuffs, which was not exactly the thing to console him
+for a lost engagement.
+
+Soon afterwards, Petronio brought me Therese's letter.  She was
+ruining the duke, getting rich accordingly, and waiting for me in
+Naples.
+
+Everything being ready towards evening, I left Otranto with twenty
+actors, and six large trunks containing their complete wardrobes.  A
+light breeze which was blowing from the south might have carried us
+to Corfu in ten hours, but when we had sailed about one hour my
+cayabouchiri informed me that he could see by the moonlight a ship
+which might prove to be a corsair, and get hold of us.  I was
+unwilling to risk anything, so I ordered them to lower the sails and
+return to Otranto.  At day-break we sailed again with a good westerly
+wind, which would also have taken us to Corfu; but after we had gone
+two or three hours, the captain pointed out to me a brigantine,
+evidently a pirate, for she was shaping her course so as to get to
+windward of us.  I told him to change the course, and to go by
+starboard, to see if the brigantine would follow us, but she
+immediately imitated our manoeuvre.  I could not go back to Otranto,
+and I had no wish to go to Africa, so I ordered the men to shape our
+course, so as to land on the coast of Calabria, by hard rowing and at
+the nearest point.  The sailors, who were frightened to death,
+communicated their fears to my comedians, and soon I heard nothing
+but weeping and sobbing.  Every one of them was calling earnestly
+upon some saint, but not one single prayer to God did I hear.  The
+bewailings of scaramouch, the dull and spiritless despair of
+Fastidio, offered a picture which would have made me laugh heartily
+if the danger had been imaginary and not real.  Marina alone was
+cheerful and happy, because she did not realize the danger we were
+running, and she laughed at the terror of the crew and of her
+companions.
+
+A strong breeze sprang up towards evening, so I ordered them to clap
+on all sail and scud before the wind, even if it should get stronger.
+In order to escape the pirate, I had made up my mind to cross the
+gulf.  We took the wind through the night, and in the morning we were
+eighty miles from Corfu, which I determined to reach by rowing.  We
+were in the middle of the gulf, and the sailors were worn out with
+fatigue, but I had no longer any fear.  A gale began to blow from the
+north, and in less than an hour it was blowing so hard that we were
+compelled to sail close to the wind in a fearful manner.  The felucca
+looked every moment as if it must capsize.  Every one looked
+terrified but kept complete silence, for I had enjoined it on penalty
+of death.  In spite of our dangerous position, I could not help
+laughing when I heard the sobs of the cowardly scaramouch.  The
+helmsman was a man of great nerve, and the gale being steady I felt
+we would reach Corfu without mishap.  At day-break we sighted the
+town, and at nine in the morning we landed at Mandrachia.  Everybody
+was surprised to see us arrive that way.
+
+As soon as my company was landed, the young officers naturally came
+to inspect the actresses, but they did not find them very desirable,
+with the exception of Marina, who received uncomplainingly the news
+that I could not renew my acquaintance with her.  I felt certain that
+she would not lack admirers.  But my actresses, who had appeared ugly
+at the landing, produced a very different effect on the stage, and
+particularly the pantaloon's wife.  M. Duodo, commander of a man-of-
+war, called upon her, and, finding master pantaloon intolerant on the
+subject of his better-half, gave him a few blows with his cane.
+Fastidio informed me the next day that the pantaloon and his wife
+refused to perform any more, but I made them alter their mind by
+giving them a benefit night.
+
+The pantaloon's wife was much applauded, but she felt insulted
+because, in the midst of the applause, the pit called out, "Bravo,
+Duodo!"  She presented herself to the general in his own box, in
+which I was generally, and complained of the manner in which she was
+treated.  The general promised her, in my name, another benefit night
+for the close of the carnival, and I was of course compelled to
+ratify his promise.  The fact is, that, to satisfy the greedy actors,
+I abandoned to my comedians, one by one, the seventeen nights I had
+reserved for myself.  The benefit I gave to Marina was at the special
+request of Madame F----, who had taken her into great favour since
+she had had the honour of breakfasting alone with M. D---- R---- in a
+villa outside of the city.
+
+My generosity cost me four hundred sequins, but the faro bank brought
+me a thousand and more, although I never held the cards, my
+management of the theatre taking up all my time.  My manner with the
+actresses gained me great kindness; it was clearly seen that I
+carried on no intrigue with any of them, although I had every
+facility for doing so.  Madame F---- complimented me, saying that she
+had not entertained such a good opinion of my discretion.  I was too
+busy through the carnival to think of love, even of the passion which
+filled my heart.  It was only at the beginning of Lent, and after the
+departure of the comedians, that I could give rein to my feelings.
+
+One morning Madame F---- sent, a messenger who, summoned me to her
+presence.  It was eleven o'clock; I immediately went to her, and
+enquired what I could do for her service.
+
+"I wanted to see you," she said, "to return the two hundred sequins
+which you lent me so nobly.  Here they are; be good enough to give me
+back my note of hand."
+
+"Your note of hand, madam, is no longer in my possession.  I have
+deposited it in a sealed envelope with the notary  who, according to
+this receipt of his, can return it only to you."
+
+"Why did you not keep it yourself?"
+
+"Because I was afraid of losing it, or of having it stolen.  And in
+the event of my death I did not want such a document to fall into any
+other hands but yours."
+
+"A great proof of your extreme delicacy, certainly, but I think you
+ought to have reserved the right of taking it out of the notary's
+custody yourself."
+
+"I did not forsee the possibility of calling for it myself."
+
+"Yet it was a very likely thing.  Then I can send word to the notary
+to transmit it to me?"
+
+"Certainly, madam; you alone can claim it."
+
+She sent to the notary, who brought the himself.
+
+She tore the envelope open, and found only a piece of paper besmeared
+with ink, quite illegible, except her own name, which had not been
+touched.
+
+"You have acted," she said, "most nobly; but you must agree with me
+that I cannot be certain that this piece of paper is really my note
+of hand, although I see my name on it."
+
+"True, madam; and if you are not certain of it, I confess myself in
+the wrong."
+
+"I must be certain of it, and I am so; but you must grant that I
+could not swear to it."
+
+"Granted, madam."
+
+During the following days it struck me that her manner towards me was
+singularly altered.  She never received me in her dishabille, and I
+had to wait with great patience until her maid had entirely dressed
+her before being admitted into her presence.
+
+If I related any story, any adventure, she pretened not to
+understand, and affected not to see the point of an anecdote or a
+jest; very often she would purposely not look at me, and then I was
+sure to relate badly.  If M. D---- R----- laughed at something I had
+just said, she would ask what he was laughing for, and when he had
+told her, she would say it was insipid or dull.  If one of her
+bracelets became unfastened, I offered to fasten it again, but either
+she would not give me so much trouble, or I did not understand the
+fastening, and the maid was called to do it.  I could not help
+shewing my vexation, but she did not seem to take the slightest
+notice of it.  If M. D---- R----- excited me to say something amusing
+or witty, and I did not speak immediately, she would say that my
+budget was empty, laughing, and adding that the wit of poor
+M.  Casanova was worn out.  Full of rage, I would plead guilty by my
+silence to her taunting accusation, but I was thoroughly miserable,
+for I did not see any cause for that extraordinary change in her
+feelings, being conscious that I had not given her any motive for it.
+I wanted to shew her openly my indifference and contempt, but
+whenever an opportunity offered, my courage would forsake me, and I
+would let it escape.
+
+One evening M. D---- R----- asking me whether I had often been in
+love, I answered,
+
+"Three times, my lord."
+
+"And always happily, of course."
+
+"Always unhappily.  The first time, perhaps, because, being an
+ecclesiastic, I durst not speak openly of my love.  The second,
+because a cruel, unexpected event compelled me to leave the woman I
+loved at the very moment in which my happiness would have been
+complete.  The third time, because the feeling of pity, with which I
+inspired the beloved object, induced her to cure me of my passion,
+instead of crowning my felicity."
+
+"But what specific remedies did she use to effect your cure?"
+
+"She has ceased to be kind."
+
+"I understand she has treated you cruelly, and you call that pity, do
+you?  You are mistaken."
+
+"Certainly," said Madame F----, "a woman may pity the man she loves,
+but she would not think of ill-treating him to cure him of his
+passion.  That woman has never felt any love for you."
+
+"I cannot, I will not believe it, madam."
+
+"But are you cured?"
+
+"Oh!  thoroughly; for when I happen to think of her, I feel nothing
+but indifference and coldness.  But my recovery was long."
+
+"Your convalescence lasted, I suppose, until you fell in love with
+another."
+
+"With another, madam?  I thought I had just told you that the third
+time I loved was the last."
+
+A few days after that conversation, M. D---- R----- told me that
+Madame F---- was not well, that he could not keep her company, and
+that I ought to go to her, as he was sure she would be glad to see
+me.  I obeyed, and told Madame F---- what M. D---- R----- had said.
+She was lying on a sofa.  Without looking at me, she told me she was
+feverish, and would not ask me to remain with her, because I would
+feel weary.
+
+"I could not experience any weariness in your society, madam; at all
+events, I can leave you only by your express command, and, in that
+case, I must spend the next four hours in your ante-room, for M. D---
+R----- has told me to wait for him here."
+
+"If so, you may take a seat."
+
+Her cold and distant manner repelled me, but I loved her, and I had
+never seen her so beautiful, a slight fever animating her complexion
+which was then truly dazzling in its beauty.  I kept where I was,
+dumb and as motionless as a statue, for a quarter of an hour.  Then
+she rang for her maid, and asked me to leave her alone for a moment.
+I was called back soon after, and she said to me,
+
+"What has become of your cheerfulness?"
+
+"If it has disappeared, madam, it can only be by your will.  Call it
+back, and you will see it return in full force."
+
+"What must I do to obtain that result?"
+
+"Only be towards me as you were when I returned from Casopo.  I have
+been disagreeable to you for the last four months, and as I do not
+know why, I feel deeply grieved."
+
+"I am always the same: in what do you find me changed?"
+
+"Good heavens!  In everything, except in beauty.  But I have taken my
+decision."
+
+"And what is it?"
+
+"To suffer in silence, without allowing any circumstance to alter the
+feelings with which you have inspired me; to wish ardently to
+convince you of my perfect obedience to your commands; to be ever
+ready to give you fresh proofs of my devotion."
+
+"I thank you, but I cannot imagine what you can have to suffer in
+silence on my account.  I take an interest in you, and I always
+listen with pleasure to your adventures.  As a proof of it, I am
+extremely curious to hear the history of your three loves."
+
+I invented on the spot three purely imaginary stories, making a great
+display of tender sentiments and of ardent love, but without alluding
+to amorous enjoyment, particularly when she seemed to expect me to do
+so.  Sometimes delicacy, sometimes respect or duty, interfered to
+prevent the crowning pleasure, and I took care to observe, at such
+moments of disappointment, that a true lover does not require that
+all important item to feel perfectly happy.  I could easily see that
+her imagination was travelling farther than my narrative, and that my
+reserve was agreeable to her.  I believed I knew her nature well
+enough to be certain that I was taking the best road to induce her to
+follow me where I wished to lead her.  She expressed a sentiment
+which moved me deeply, but I was careful not to shew it.  We were
+talking of my third love, of the woman who, out of pity, had
+undertaken to cure me, and she remarked,
+
+"If she truly loved you, she may have wished not to cure you, but to
+cure herself."
+
+On the day following this partial reconciliation, M. F----, her
+husband, begged my commanding officer, D---- R-----, to let me go
+with him to Butintro for an excursion of three days, his own adjutant
+being seriously ill.
+
+Butintro is seven miles from Corfu, almost opposite to that city; it
+is the nearest point to the island from the mainland. It is not a
+fortress, but only a small village of Epirus, or Albania, as it is
+now called, and belonging to the Venetians.  Acting on the political
+axiom that "neglected right is lost right," the Republic sends every
+year four galleys to Butintro with a gang of galley slaves to fell
+trees, cut them, and load them on the galleys, while the military
+keep a sharp look-out to prevent them from escaping to Turkey and
+becoming Mussulmans.  One of the four galleys was commanded by M.
+F---- who, wanting an adjutant for the occasion, chose me.
+
+I went with him, and on the fourth day we came back to Corfu with a
+large provision of wood. I found M. D---- R---- alone on the terrace
+of his palace.  It was Good Friday. He seemed thoughtful, and, after
+a silence of a few minutes, he spoke the following words, which I can
+never forget:
+
+"M. F-----, whose adjutant died yesterday, has just been entreating
+me to give you to him until he can find another officer.  I have told
+him that I had no right to dispose of your person, and that he, ought
+to apply to you, assuring him that, if you asked me leave to go with
+him, I would not raise any objection, although I require two
+adjutants.  Has he not mentioned the matter to you?"
+
+"No, monsignor, he has only tendered me his thanks for having
+accompanied him to Butintro, nothing else."
+
+"He is sure to speak to you about it. What do you intend to say?"
+
+"Simply that I will never leave the service of your excellency
+without your express command to do so."
+
+"I never will give you such an order."
+
+As M. D---- R---- was saying the last word, M. and Madame F---- came
+in.  Knowing that the conversation would most likely turn upon the
+subject which had just been broached, I hurried out of the room.  In
+less than a quarter of an hour I was sent for, and M. F---- said to
+me, confidentially,
+
+"Well, M. Casanova, would you not be willing to live with me as my
+adjutant?"
+
+"Does his excellency dismiss me from his service?"
+
+"Not at all," observed M. D---- R----, "but I leave you the choice."
+
+"My lord, I could not be guilty of ingratitude."
+
+And I remained there standing, uneasy, keeping my eyes on the ground,
+not even striving to conceal my mortification, which was, after all,
+very natural in such a position.  I dreaded looking at Madame F----,
+for I knew that she could easily guess all my feelings.  An instant
+after, her foolish husband coldly remarked that I should certainly
+have a more fatiguing service with him than with M. D---- R----, and
+that, of course, it was more honourable to serve the general governor
+of the galeazze than a simple sopra-committo.  I was on the point of
+answering, when Madame F---- said, in a graceful and easy manner,
+"M. Casanova is right," and she changed the subject.  I left the
+room, revolving in my mind all that had just taken place.
+
+My conclusion was that M. F---- had asked M. D---- R---- to let me go
+with him at the suggestion of his wife, or, at least with her
+consent, and it was highly flattering to my love and to my vanity.
+But I was bound in honour not to accept the post, unless I had a
+perfect assurance that it would not be disagreeable to my present
+patron.  "I will accept," I said to myself, "if M. D---- R----- tells
+me positively that I shall please him by doing so.  It is for M. F to
+make him say it."
+
+On the same night I had the honour of offering my arm to Madame F---
+during the procession which takes place in commemoration of the death
+of our Lord and Saviour, which was then attended on foot by all the
+nobility.  I expected she would mention the matter, but she did not.
+My love was in despair, and through the night I could not close my
+eyes.  I feared she had been offended by my refusal, and was
+overwhelmed with grief.  I passed the whole of the next day without
+breaking my fast, and did not utter a single word during the evening
+reception.  I felt very unwell, and I had an attack of fever which
+kept me in bed on Easter Sunday.  I was very weak on the Monday, and
+intended to remain in my room, when a messenger from Madame F----
+came to inform me that she wished to see me.  I told the messenger
+not to say that he had found me in bed, and dressing myself rapidly I
+hurried to her house.  I entered her room, pale, looking very ill:
+yet she did not enquire after my health, and kept silent a minute or
+two, as if she had been trying to recollect what she had to say to
+me.
+
+"Ah! yes, you are aware that our adjutant is dead, and that we want
+to replace him.  My husband, who has a great esteem for you, and
+feels that M. D---- R----- leaves you perfectly free to make your
+choice, has taken the singular fancy that you will come, if I ask you
+myself to do us that pleasure.  Is he mistaken?  If you would come to
+us, you would have that room."
+
+She was pointing to a room adjoining the chamber in which she slept,
+and so situated that, to see her in every part of her room, I should
+not even require to place myself at the window.
+
+
+"M. D---- R----- ," she continued, "will not love you less, and as he
+will see you here every, day, he will not be likely to forget his
+interest in your welfare.  Now, tell me, will you come or not?"
+
+"I wish I could, madam, but indeed I cannot."
+
+"You cannot?  That is singular.  Take a seat, and tell me what there
+is to prevent you, when, in accepting my offer, you are sure to
+please M. D---- R----- as well as us."
+
+"If I were certain of it, I would accept immediately; but all I have
+heard from his lips was that he left me free to make a choice."
+
+"Then you are afraid to grieve him, if you come to us ?"
+
+"It might be, and for nothing on earth...."
+
+"I am certain of the contrary."
+
+"Will you be so good as to obtain that he says so to me himself?"
+
+"And then you will come?"
+
+"Oh, madam!  that very minute!"
+
+But the warmth of my exclamation might mean a great deal, and I
+turned my head round so as not to embarrass her.  She asked me to
+give her her mantle to go to church, and we went out.  As we were
+going down the stairs, she placed her ungloved hand upon mine.  It
+was the first time that she had granted me such a favour, and it
+seemed to me a good omen.  She took off her hand, asking me whether I
+was feverish.  "Your hand," she said, "is burning."
+
+When we left the church, M. D---- R-----'s carriage happened to pass,
+and I assisted her to get in, and as soon as she had gone, hurried to
+my room in order to breathe freely and to enjoy all the felicity
+which filled my soul; for I no longer doubted her love for me, and I
+knew that, in this case, M. D---- R----- was not likely to refuse her
+anything.
+
+What is love?  I have read plenty of ancient verbiage on that
+subject, I have read likewise most of what has been said by modern
+writers, but neither all that has been said, nor what I have thought
+about it, when I was young and now that I am no longer so, nothing,
+in fact, can make me agree that love is a trifling vanity.  It is a
+sort of madness, I grant that, but a madness over which philosophy is
+entirely powerless; it is a disease to which man is exposed at all
+times, no matter at what age, and which cannot be cured, if he is
+attacked by it in his old age.  Love being sentiment which cannot be
+explained!  God of all nature!--bitter and sweet feeling!  Love!--
+charming monster which cannot be fathomed!  God who, in the midst of
+all the thorns with which thou plaguest us, strewest so many roses on
+our path that, without thee, existence and death would be united and
+blended together!
+
+Two days afterwards, M. D---- R-----, told me to go and take orders
+from M. F---- on board his galley, which was ready for a five or six
+days' voyage.  I quickly packed a few things, and called for my new
+patron who received me with great joy.  We took our departure without
+seeing madam, who was not yet visible.  We returned on the sixth day,
+and I went to establish myself in my new home, for, as I was
+preparing to go to M. D---- R-----, to take his orders, after our
+landing, he came himself, and after asking M. F---- and me whether we
+were pleased with each other, he said to me,
+
+"Casanova, as you suit each other so well, you may be certain that
+you will greatly please me by remaining in the service of M. F."
+
+I obeyed respectfully, and in less than one hour I had taken
+possession of my new quarters.  Madame F---- told me how delighted
+she was to see that great affair ended according to her wishes, and I
+answered with a deep reverence.
+
+I found myself like the salamander, in the very heart of the fire for
+which I had been longing so ardently.
+
+Almost constantly in the presence of Madame F----, dining often alone
+with her, accompanying her in her walks, even when M. D---- R-----
+was not with us, seeing her from my room, or conversing with her in
+her chamber, always reserved and attentive without pretension, the
+first night passed by without any change being brought about by that
+constant intercourse.  Yet I was full of hope, and to keep up my
+courage I imagined that love was not yet powerful enough to conquer
+her pride.  I expected everything from some lucky chance, which I
+promised myself to improve as soon as it should present itself, for I
+was persuaded that a lover is lost if he does not catch fortune by
+the forelock.
+
+But there was one circumstance which annoyed me.  In public, she
+seized every opportunity of treating me with distinction, while, when
+we were alone, it was exactly the reverse.  In the eyes of the world
+I had all the appearance of a happy lover, but I would rather have
+had less of the appearance of happiness and more of the reality.  My
+love for her was disinterested; vanity had no share in my feelings.
+
+One day, being alone with me, she said,
+
+"You have enemies, but I silenced them last night."
+
+"They are envious, madam, and they would pity me if they could read
+the secret pages of my heart.  You could easily deliver me from those
+enemies."
+
+"How can you be an object of pity for them, and how could I deliver
+you from them?"
+
+"They believe me happy, and I am miserable; you would deliver me from
+them by ill-treating me in their presence."
+
+"Then you would feel my bad treatment less than the envy of the
+wicked?"
+
+"Yes, madam, provided your bad treatment in public were compensated
+by your kindness when we are alone, for there is no vanity in the
+happiness I feel in belonging to you.  Let others pity me, I will be
+happy on condition that others are mistaken."
+
+"That's a part that I can never play."
+
+I would often be indiscreet enough to remain behind the curtain of
+the window in my room, looking at her when she thought herself
+perfectly certain that nobody saw her; but the liberty I was thus
+guilty of never proved of great advantage to me.  Whether it was
+because she doubted my discretion or from habitual reserve, she was
+so particular that, even when I saw her in bed, my longing eyes never
+could obtain a sight of anything but her head.
+
+One day, being present in her room while her maid was cutting off the
+points of her long and beautiful hair, I amused myself in picking up
+all those pretty bits, and put them all, one after the other, on her
+toilettable, with the exception of one small lock which I slipped
+into my pocket, thinking that she had not taken any notice of my
+keeping it; but the moment we were alone she told me quietly, but
+rather too seriously, to take out of my pocket the hair I had picked
+up from the floor.  Thinking she was going too far, and such rigour
+appearing to me as cruel as it was unjust and absurd, I obeyed, but
+threw the hair on the toilet-table with an air of supreme contempt.
+
+"Sir, you forget yourself."
+
+"No, madam, I do not, for you might have feigned not to have observed
+such an innocent theft."
+
+"Feigning is tiresome."
+
+"Was such petty larceny a very great crime?"
+
+"No crime, but it was an indication of feelings which you have no
+right to entertain for me."
+
+"Feelings which you are at liberty not to return, madam, but which
+hatred or pride can alone forbid my heart to experience.  If you had
+a heart you would not be the victim of either of those two fearful
+passions, but you have only head, and it must be a very wicked head,
+judging by the care it takes to heap humiliation upon me.  You have
+surprised my secret, madam, you may use it as you think proper, but
+in the meantime I have learned to know you thoroughly.  That
+knowledge will prove more useful than your discovery, for perhaps it
+will help me to become wiser."
+
+After this violent tirade I left her, and as she did not call me back
+retired to my room.  In the hope that sleep would bring calm, I
+undressed and went to bed.  In such moments a lover hates the object
+of his love, and his heart distils only contempt and hatred.  I could
+not go to sleep, and when I was sent for at supper-time I answered
+that I was ill.  The night passed off without my eyes being visited
+by sleep, and feeling weak and low I thought I would wait to see what
+ailed me, and refused to have my dinner, sending word that I was
+still very unwell.  Towards evening I felt my heart leap for joy when
+I heard my beautiful lady-love enter my room.  Anxiety, want of food
+and sleep, gave me truly the appearance of being ill, and I was
+delighted that it should be so.  I sent her away very soon, by
+telling her with perfect indifference that it was nothing but a bad
+headache, to which I was subject, and that repose and diet would
+effect a speedy cure.
+
+But at eleven o'clock she came back with her friend, M. D---- R-----,
+and coming to my bed she said, affectionately,
+
+"What ails you, my poor Casanova?"
+
+"A very bad headache, madam, which will be cured to-morrow."
+
+"Why should you wait until to-morrow?  You must get better at once.
+I have ordered a basin of broth and two new-laid eggs for you."
+
+"Nothing, madam; complete abstinence can alone cure me."
+
+"He is right," said M. D---- R-----, "I know those attacks."
+
+I shook my head slightly.  M. D---- R----- having just then turned
+round to examine an engraving, she took my hand, saying that she
+would like me to drink some broth, and I felt that she was giving me
+a small parcel.  She went to look at the engraving with M. D----
+R-----.
+
+I opened the parcel, but feeling that it contained hair, I hurriedly
+concealed it under the bed-clothes: at the same moment the blood
+rushed to my head with such violence that it actually frightened me.
+I begged for some water, she came to me, with M. D---- R-----, and
+then were both frightened to see me so red, when they had seen me
+pale and weak only one minute before.
+
+Madame F---- gave me a glass of water in which she put some Eau des
+carmes which instantly acted as a violent emetic.  Two or three
+minutes after I felt better, and asked for something to eat.  Madame
+F---- smiled.  The servant came in with the broth and the eggs, and
+while I was eating I told the history of Pandolfin.  M. D---- R-----
+thought it was all a miracle, and I could read, on the countenance of
+the charming woman, love, affection, and repentance.  If M. D----
+R----- had not been present, it would have been the moment of my
+happiness, but I felt certain that I should not have long to wait.
+M. D---- R----- told Madame F---- that, if he had not seen me so
+sick, he would have believed my illness to be all sham, for he did
+not think it possible for anyone to rally so rapidly.
+
+"It is all owing to my Eau des carmes," said Madame F-----, looking
+at me, "and I will leave you my bottle."
+
+"No, madam, be kind enough to take it with you, for the water would
+have no virtue without your presence."
+
+"I am sure of that," said M. D---- R-----, "so I will leave you here
+with your patient."
+
+"No, no, he must go to sleep now."
+
+I slept all night, but in my happy dreams I was with her, and the
+reality itself would hardly have procured me greater enjoyment than I
+had during my happy slumbers.  I saw I had taken a very long stride
+forward, for twenty-four hours of abstinence gave me the right to
+speak to her openly of my love, and the gift of her hair was an
+irrefutable confession of her own feelings.
+
+On the following day, after presenting myself before M. F----, I went
+to have a little chat with the maid, to wait until her mistress was
+visible, which was not long, and I had the pleasure of hearing her
+laugh when the maid told her I was there.  As soon as I went in,
+without giving me time to say a single word, she told me how
+delighted she was to see me looking so well, and advised me to call
+upon M. D---- R-----.
+
+It is not only in the eyes of a lover, but also in those of every man
+of taste, that a woman is a thousand times more lovely at the moment
+she comes out of the arms of Morpheus than when she has completed her
+toilet.  Around Madame F---- more brilliant beams were blazing than
+around the sun when he leaves the embrace of Aurora.  Yet the most
+beautiful woman thinks as much of her toilet as the one who cannot do
+without it--,very likely because more human creatures possess the
+more they want.
+
+In the order given to me by Madame F---- to call on M. D---- R-----,
+I saw another reason to be certain of approaching happiness, for I
+thought that, by dismissing me so quickly, she had only tried to
+postpone the consummation which I might have pressed upon her, and
+which she could not have refused.
+
+Rich in the possession of her hair, I held a consultation with my
+love to decide what I ought to do with it, for Madame F----, very
+likely in her wish to atone for the miserly sentiment which had
+refused me a small bit, had given me a splendid lock, full a yard and
+a half long.  Having thought it over, I called upon a Jewish
+confectioner whose daughter was a skilful embroiderer, and I made her
+embroider before me, on a bracelet of green satin, the four initial
+letters of our names, and make a very thin chain with the remainder.
+I had a piece of black ribbon added to one end of the chain, in the
+shape of a sliding noose, with which I could easily strangle myself
+if ever love should reduce me to despair, and I passed it round my
+neck.  As I did not want to lose even the smallest particle of so
+precious a treasure, I cut with a pair of scissors all the small bits
+which were left, and devoutly gathered them together.  Then I reduced
+them into a fine powder, and ordered the Jewish confectioner to mix
+the powder in my presence with a paste made of amber, sugar, vanilla,
+angelica, alkermes and storax, and I waited until the comfits
+prepared with that mixture were ready.  I had some more made with the
+same composition, but without any hair; I put the first in a
+beautiful sweetmeat box of fine crystal, and the second in a
+tortoise-shell box.
+
+>From the day when, by giving me her hair, Madame F---- had betrayed
+the secret feelings of her heart, I no longer lost my time in
+relating stories or adventures.; I only spoke to her of my cove, of
+my ardent desires; I told her that she must either banish me from her
+presence, or crown my happiness, but the cruel, charming woman would
+not accept that alternative.  She answered that happiness could not
+be obtained by offending every moral law, and by swerving from our
+duties.  If I threw myself at her feet to obtain by anticipation her
+forgiveness for the loving violence I intended to use against her,
+she would repulse me more powerfully than if she had had the strength
+of a female Hercules, for she would say, in a voice full of sweetness
+and affection,
+
+"My friend, I do not entreat you to respect my weakness, but be
+generous enough to spare me for the sake of all the love I feel for
+you."
+
+"What! you love me, and you refuse to make me happy! It is
+impossible! it is unnatural.  You compel me to believe that you do
+not love me.  Only allow me to press my lips one moment upon your
+lips, and I ask no more."
+
+"No, dearest, no; it would only excite the ardour of your desires,
+shake my resolution, and we should then find ourselves more miserable
+than we are now."
+
+Thus did she every day plunge me in despair, and yet she complained
+that my wit was no longer brilliant in society, that I had lost that
+elasticity of spirits which had pleased her so much after my arrival
+from Constantinople.  M. D---- R-----, who often jestingly waged war
+against me, used to say that I was getting thinner and thinner every
+day.  Madame F---- told me one day that my sickly looks were very
+disagreeable to her, because wicked tongues would not fail to say
+that she treated me with cruelty.  Strange, almost unnatural thought!
+On it I composed an idyll which I cannot read, even now, without
+feeling tears in my eyes.
+
+"What!" I answered, "you acknowledge your cruelty towards me?  You
+are afraid of the world guessing all your heartless rigour, and yet
+you continue to enjoy it!  You condemn me unmercifully to the
+torments of Tantalus!  You would be delighted to see me gay,
+cheerful, happy, even at the expense of a judgment by which the world
+would find you guilty of a supposed but false kindness towards me,
+and yet you refuse me even the slightest favours!"
+
+"I do not mind people believing anything, provided it is not true."
+
+"What a contrast!  Would it be possible for me not to love you, for
+you to feel nothing for me?  Such contradictions strike me as
+unnatural.  But you are growing thinner yourself, and I am dying.  It
+must be so; we shall both die before long, you of consumption, I of
+exhausting decline; for I am now reduced to enjoying your shadow
+during the day, during the night, always, everywhere, except when I
+am in your presence."
+
+At that passionate declaration, delivered with all the ardour of an
+excited lover, she was surprised, deeply moved, and I thought that
+the happy hour had struck. I folded her in my arms, and was already
+tasting the first fruits of enjoyment....  The sentinel knocked
+twice!...  Oh!  fatal mischance!  I recovered my composure and stood
+in front of her....  M. D---- R----- made his appearance, and this
+time he found me in so cheerful a mood that he remained with us until
+one o'clock in the morning.
+
+My comfits were beginning to be the talk of our society.  M. D----
+R-----, Madame F----, and I were the only ones who had a box full of
+them.  I was stingy with them, and no one durst beg any from me,
+because I had said that they were very expensive, and that in all
+Corfu there was no confectioner who could make or physician who could
+analyse them.  I never gave one out of my crystal box, and Madame F.
+remarked it.  I certainly did not believe them to be amorous philtre,
+and I was very far from supposing that the addition of the hair made
+them taste more delicious; but a superstition, the offspring of my
+love, caused me to cherish them, and it made me happy to think that a
+small portion of the woman I worshipped was thus becoming a part of
+my being.
+
+Influenced perhaps by some secret sympathy, Madame F. was exceedingly
+fond of the comfits.  She asserted before all her friends that they
+were the universal panacea, and knowing herself perfect mistress of
+the inventor, she did not enquire after the secret of the
+composition.  But having observed that I gave away only the comfits
+which I kept in my tortoise-shell box, and that I never eat any but
+those from the crystal box, she one day asked me what reason I had
+for that.  Without taking time to think, I told her that in those I
+kept for myself there was a certain ingredient which made the
+partaker love her.
+
+"I do not believe it," she answered; "but are they different from
+those I eat myself?"
+
+"They are exactly the same, with the exception of the ingredient I
+have just mentioned, which has been put only in mine."
+
+"Tell me what the ingredient is."
+
+"It is a secret which I cannot reveal to you."
+
+"Then I will never eat any of your comfits."
+
+Saying which, she rose, emptied her box, and filled it again with
+chocolate drops; and for the next few days she was angry with me, and
+avoided my company.  I felt grieved, I became low-spirited, but I
+could not make up my mind to tell her that I was eating her hair!
+
+She enquired why I looked so sad.
+
+"Because you refuse to take my comfits."
+
+"You are master of your secret, and I am mistress of my diet."
+
+"That is my reward for having taken you into my confidence."
+
+And I opened my box, emptied its contents in my hand, and swallowed
+the whole of them, saying, "Two more doses like this, and I shall die
+mad with love for you.  Then you will be revenged for my reserve.
+Farewell, madam."
+
+She called me back, made me take a seat near her, and told me not to
+commit follies which would make her unhappy; that I knew how much she
+loved me, and that it was not owing to the effect of any drug.  "To
+prove to you," she added, "that you do not require anything of the
+sort to be loved, here is a token of my affection." And she offered
+me her lovely lips, and upon them mine remained pressed until I was
+compelled to draw a breath.  I threw myself at her feet, with tears
+of love and gratitude blinding my eyes, and told her that I would
+confess my crime, if she would promise to forgive me.
+
+"Your crime!  You frighten me.  Yes, I forgive you, but speak
+quickly, and tell me all."
+
+"Yes, everything.  My comfits contain your hair reduced to a powder.
+Here on my arm, see this bracelet on which our names are written with
+your hair, and round my neck this chain of the same material, which
+will help me to destroy my own life when your love fails me.  Such is
+my crime, but I would not have been guilty of it, if I had not loved
+you."
+
+She smiled, and, bidding me rise from my kneeling position, she told
+me that I was indeed the most criminal of men, and she wiped away my
+tears, assuring me that I should never have any reason to strangle
+myself with the chain.
+
+After that conversation, in which I had enjoyed the sweet nectar of
+my divinity's first kiss, I had the courage to behave in a very
+different manner.  She could see the ardour which consumed me;
+perhaps the same fire burned in her veins, but I abstained from any
+attack.
+
+"What gives you," she said one day, "the strength to control
+yourself?"
+
+"After the kiss which you granted to me of your own accord, I felt
+that I ought not to wish any favour unless your heart gave it as
+freely.  You cannot imagine the happiness that kiss has given me."
+
+"I not imagine it, you ungrateful man!  Which of us has given that
+happiness?"
+
+"Neither you nor I, angel of my soul!  That kiss so tender, so sweet,
+was the child of love!"
+
+"Yes, dearest, of love, the treasures of which are inexhaustible."
+
+The words were scarcely spoken, when our lips were engaged in happy
+concert.  She held me so tight against her bosom that I could not use
+my hands to secure other pleasures, but I felt myself perfectly
+happy.  After that delightful skirmish, I asked her whether we were
+never to go any further.
+
+"Never, dearest friend, never.  Love is a child which must be amused
+with trifles; too substantial food would kill it."
+
+"I know love better than you; it requires that substantial food, and
+unless it can obtain it, love dies of exhaustion.  Do not refuse me
+the consolation of hope."
+
+"Hope as much as you please, if it makes you happy."
+
+"What should I do, if I had no hope?  I hope, because I know you have
+a heart."
+
+"Ah!  yes.  Do you recollect the day, when, in your anger, you told
+me that I had only a head, but no heart, thinking you were insulting
+me grossly!"
+
+"Oh! yes, I recollect it."
+
+"How heartily I laughed, when I had time to think!  Yes, dearest, I
+have a heart, or I should not feel as happy as I feel now.  Let us
+keep our happiness, and be satisfied with it, as it is, without
+wishing for anything more."
+
+Obedient to her wishes, but every day more deeply enamoured, I was in
+hope that nature at last would prove stronger than prejudice, and
+would cause a fortunate crisis.  But, besides nature, fortune was my
+friend, and I owed my happiness to an accident.
+
+Madame F. was walking one day in the garden, leaning on M. D----
+R-----'s arm, and was caught by a large rose-bush, and the prickly
+thorns left a deep cut on her leg.  M. D---- R----- bandaged the
+wound with his handkerchief, so as to stop the blood which was
+flowing abundantly, and she had to be carried home in a palanquin.
+
+In Corfu, wounds on the legs are dangerous when they are not well
+attended to, and very often the wounded are compelled to leave the
+city to be cured.
+
+Madame F----- was confined to her bed, and my lucky position in the
+house condemned me to remain constantly at her orders.  I saw her
+every minute; but, during the first three days, visitors succeeded
+each other without intermission, and I never was alone with her.  In
+the evening, after everybody had gone, and her husband had retired to
+his own apartment, M. D---- R----- remained another hour, and for the
+sake of propriety I had to take my leave at the same time that he
+did.  I had much more liberty before the accident, and I told her so
+half seriously, half jestingly.  The next day, to make up for my
+disappointment, she contrived a moment of happiness for me.
+
+An elderly surgeon came every morning to dress her wound, during
+which operation her maid only was present, but I used to go, in my
+morning dishabille, to the girl's room, and to wait there, so as to
+be the first to hear how my dear one was.
+
+That morning, the girl came to tell me to go in as the surgeon was
+dressing the wound.
+
+"See, whether my leg is less inflamed."
+
+"To give an opinion, madam, I ought to have seen it yesterday."
+
+"True.  I feel great pain, and I am afraid of erysipelas."
+
+"Do not be afraid, madam," said the surgeon, "keep your bed, and I
+answer for your complete recovery."
+
+The surgeon being busy preparing a poultice at the other end of the
+room, and the maid out, I enquired whether she felt any hardness in
+the calf of the leg, and whether the inflammation went up the limb;
+and naturally, my eyes and my hands kept pace with my questions....
+I saw no inflammation, I felt no hardness, but....  and the lovely
+patient hurriedly let the curtain fall, smiling, and allowing me to
+take a sweet kiss, the perfume of which I had not enjoyed for many
+days.  It was a sweet moment; a delicious ecstacy.  From her mouth my
+lips descended to her wound, and satisfied in that moment that my
+kisses were the best of medicines, I would have kept my lips there,
+if the noise made by the maid coming back had not compelled me to
+give up my delightful occupation.
+
+When we were left alone, burning with intense desires, I entreated
+her to grant happiness at least to my eyes.
+
+"I feel humiliated," I said to her, "by the thought that the felicity
+I have just enjoyed was only a theft."
+
+"But supposing you were mistaken?"
+
+The next day I was again present at the dressing of the wound, and as
+soon as the surgeon had left, she asked me to arrange her pillows,
+which I did at once.  As if to make that pleasant office easier, she
+raised the bedclothes to support herself, and she thus gave me a
+sight of beauties which intoxicated my eyes, and I protracted the
+easy operation without her complaining of my being too slow.
+
+When I had done I was in a fearful state, and I threw myself in an
+arm-chair opposite her bed, half dead, in a sort of trance.  I was
+looking at that lovely being who, almost artless, was continually
+granting me greater and still greater favours, and yet never allowed
+me to reach the goal for which I was so ardently longing.
+
+"What are you thinking of?" she said.
+
+"Of the supreme felicity I have just been enjoying."
+
+"You are a cruel man."
+
+"No, I am not cruel, for, if you love me, you must not blush for your
+indulgence.  You must know, too, that, loving you passionately, I
+must not suppose that it is to be a surprise that I am indebted for
+my happiness in the enjoyment of the most ravishing sights, for if I
+owed it only to mere chance I should be compelled to believe that any
+other man in my position might have had the same happiness, and such
+an idea would be misery to me.  Let me be indebted to you for having
+proved to me this morning how much enjoyment I can derive from one of
+my senses.  Can you be angry with my eyes?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"They belong to you; tear them out."
+
+The next day, the moment the doctor had gone, she sent her maid out
+to make some purchases.
+
+"Ah!" she said a few minutes after, "my maid has forgotten to change
+my chemise."
+
+"Allow me to take her place."
+
+"Very well, but recollect that I give permission only to your eyes to
+take a share in the proceedings."
+
+"Agreed!"
+
+She unlaced herself, took off her stays and her chemise, and told me
+to be quick and put on the clean one, but I was not speedy enough,
+being too much engaged by all I could see.
+
+"Give me my chemise," she exclaimed; "it is there on that small
+table."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There, near the bed.  Well, I will take it myself."
+
+She leaned over towards the table, and exposed almost everything I
+was longing for, and, turning slowly round, she handed me the chemise
+which I could hardly hold, trembling all over with fearful
+excitement.  She took pity on me, my hands shared the happiness of my
+eyes; I fell in her arms, our lips fastened together, and, in a
+voluptuous, ardent pressure, we enjoyed an amorous exhaustion not
+sufficient to allay our desires, but delightful enough to deceive
+them for the moment.
+
+With greater control over herself than women have generally under
+similar circumstances, she took care to let me reach only the porch
+of the temple, without granting me yet a free entrance to the
+sanctuary.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
+VENETION YEARS, Vol. 1c, MILITARY CAREER
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Military Career, by Jacques Casanova
+#3 in our series by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+Title: Military Career, Casanova, v3
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: December, 2001 [Etext #2953]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[Most recently updated: December 10, 2001]
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+Edition: 11
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+Language: English
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Military Career, by J. Casanova
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+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+VENETIAN YEARS, Volume 1c--MILITARY CAREER
+
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR
+MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED
+BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+MILITARY CAREER
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+I Renounce the Clerical Profession, and Enter the Military Service--
+Therese Leaves for Naples, and I Go to Venice--I Am Appointed Ensign
+in the Army of My Native Country--I Embark for Corfu, and Land at
+Orsera to Take a Walk
+
+
+I had been careful, on my arrival in Bologna, to take up my quarters
+at a small inn, so as not to attract any notice, and as soon as I had
+dispatched my letters to Therese and the French officer, I thought of
+purchasing some linen, as it was at least doubtful whether I should
+ever get my trunk.  I deemed it expedient to order some clothes
+likewise.  I was thus ruminating, when it suddenly struck me that I
+was not likely now to succeed in the Church, but feeling great
+uncertainty as to the profession I ought to adopt, I took a fancy to
+transform myself into an officer, as it was evident that I had not to
+account to anyone for my actions.  It was a very natural fancy at my
+age, for I had just passed through two armies in which I had seen no
+respect paid to any garb but to the military uniform, and I did not
+see why I should not cause myself to be respected likewise.  Besides,
+I was thinking of returning to Venice, and felt great delight at the
+idea of shewing myself there in the garb of honour, for I had been
+rather ill-treated in that of religion.
+
+I enquired for a good tailor: death was brought to me, for the tailor
+sent to me was named Morte.  I explained to him how I wanted my
+uniform made, I chose the cloth, he took my measure, and the next day
+I was transformed into a follower of Mars.  I procured a long sword,
+and with my fine cane in hand, with a well-brushed hat ornamented
+with a black cockade, and wearing a long false pigtail, I sallied
+forth and walked all over the city.
+
+I bethought myself that the importance of my new calling required a
+better and more showy lodging than the one I had secured on my
+arrival, and I moved to the best inn.  I like even now to recollect
+the pleasing impression I felt when I was able to admire myself full
+length in a large mirror.  I was highly pleased with my own person!
+I thought myself made by nature to wear and to honour the military
+costume, which I had adopted through the most fortunate impulse.
+Certain that nobody knew me, I enjoyed by anticipation all the
+conjectures which people would indulge in respecting me, when I made
+my first appearance in the most fashionable cafe of the town.
+
+My uniform was white, the vest blue, a gold and silver shoulder-knot,
+and a sword-knot of the same material.  Very well pleased with my
+grand appearance, I went to the coffee-room, and, taking some
+chocolate, began to read the newspapers, quite at my ease, and
+delighted to see that everybody was puzzled.  A bold individual, in
+the hope of getting me into conversation, came to me and addressed
+me; I answered him with a monosyllable, and I observed that everyone
+was at a loss what to make of me.  When I had sufficiently enjoyed
+public admiration in the coffee-room, I promenaded in the busiest
+thoroughfares of the city, and returned to the inn, where I had
+dinner by myself.
+
+I had just concluded my repast when my landlord presented himself
+with the travellers' book, in which he wanted to register my name.
+
+"Casanova."
+
+"Your profession, if you please, sir?"
+
+"Officer."
+
+"In which service?"
+
+"None."
+
+"Your native place?"
+
+"Venice."
+
+"Where do you come from?"
+
+"That is no business of yours."
+
+This answer, which I thought was in keeping with my external
+appearance, had the desired effect: the landlord bowed himself out,
+and I felt highly pleased with myself, for I knew that I should enjoy
+perfect freedom in Bologna, and I was certain that mine host had
+visited me at the instance of some curious person eager to know who I
+was.
+
+The next day I called on M. Orsi, the banker, to cash my bill of
+exchange, and took another for six hundred sequins on Venice, and one
+hundred sequins in gold after which I again exhibited myself in the
+public places.  Two days afterwards, whilst I was taking my coffee
+after dinner, the banker Orsi was announced.  I desired him to be
+shewn in, and he made his appearance accompanied my Monsignor
+Cornaro, whom I feigned not to know.  M. Orsi remarked that he had
+called to offer me his services for my letters of exchange, and
+introduced the prelate.  I rose and expressed my gratification at
+making his acquaintance.  "But we have met before," he replied, "at
+Venice and Rome."  Assuming an air of blank surprise, I told him he
+must certainly be mistaken.  The prelate, thinking he could guess the
+reason of my reserve, did not insist, and apologized.  I offered him
+a cup of coffee, which he accepted, and, on leaving me, he begged the
+honour of my company to breakfast the next day.
+
+I made up my mind to persist in my denials, and called upon the
+prelate, who gave me a polite welcome.  He was then apostolic
+prothonotary in Bologna.  Breakfast was served, and as we were
+sipping our chocolate, he told me that I had most likely some good
+reasons to warrant my reserve, but that I was wrong not to trust him,
+the more so that the affair in question did me great honour.  "I do
+not know," said I, "what affair you are alluding to."  He then handed
+me a newspaper, telling me to read a paragraph which he pointed out.
+My astonishment may be imagined when I read the following
+correspondence from Pesaro: "M. de Casanova, an officer in the
+service of the queen, has deserted after having killed his captain in
+a duel; the circumstances of the duel are not known; all that has
+been ascertained is that M. de Casanova has taken the road to Rimini,
+riding the horse belonging to the captain, who was killed on the
+spot."
+
+In spite of my surprise, and of the difficulty I had in keeping my
+gravity at the reading of the paragraph, in which so much untruth was
+blended with so little that was real, I managed to keep a serious
+countenance, and I told the prelate that the Casanova spoken of in
+the newspaper must be another man.
+
+"That may be, but you are certainly the Casanova I knew a month ago
+at Cardinal Acquaviva's, and two years ago at the house of my sister,
+Madame Lovedan, in Venice.  Besides the Ancona banker speaks of you
+as an ecclesiastic in his letter of advice to M. Orsi:"
+
+"Very well, monsignor; your excellency compels me to agree to my
+being the same Casanova, but I entreat you not to ask me any more
+questions as I am bound in honour to observe the strictest reserve."
+
+"That is enough for me, and I am satisfied.  Let us talk of something
+else."
+
+I was amused at the false reports which were being circulated about
+me, and, I became from that moment a thorough sceptic on the subject
+of historical truth.  I enjoyed, however, very great pleasure in
+thinking that my reserve had fed the belief of my being the Casanova
+mentioned in the newspaper.  I felt certain that the prelate would
+write the whole affair to Venice, where it would do me great honour,
+at least until the truth should be known, and in that case my reserve
+would be justified, besides, I should then most likely be far away.
+I made up my mind to go to Venice as soon as I heard from Therese, as
+I thought that I could wait for her there more comfortably than in
+Bologna, and in my native place there was nothing to hinder me from
+marrying her openly.  In the mean time the fable from Pesaro amused
+me a good deal, and I expected every day to see it denied in some
+newspaper.  The real officer Casanova must have laughed at the
+accusation brought against him of having run away with the horse, as
+much as I laughed at the caprice which had metamorphosed me into an
+officer in Bologna, just as if I had done it for the very purpose of
+giving to the affair every appearance of truth.
+
+On the fourth day of my stay in Bologna, I received by express a long
+letter from Therese.  She informed me that, on the day after my
+escape from Rimini, Baron Vais had presented to her the Duke de
+Castropignano, who, having heard her sing, had offered her one
+thousand ounces a year, and all travelling expenses paid, if she
+would accept an engagement as prima-donna at the San Carlo Theatre,
+at Naples, where she would have to go immediately after her Rimini
+engagement.  She had requested and obtained a week to come to a
+decision.  She enclosed two documents, the first was the written
+memorandum of the duke's proposals, which she sent in order that I
+should peruse it, as she did not wish to sign it without my consent;
+the second was a formal engagement, written by herself, to remain all
+her life devoted to me and at my service.  She added in her letter
+that, if I wished to accompany her to Naples, she would meet me
+anywhere I might appoint, but that, if I had any objection to return
+to that city, she would immediately refuse the brilliant offer, for
+her only happiness was to please me in all things.
+
+For the first time in my life I found myself in need of thoughtful
+consideration before I could make up my mind.  Therese's letter had
+entirely upset all my ideas, and, feeling that I could not answer it
+a once, I told the messenger to call the next day.
+
+Two motives of equal weight kept the balance wavering; self-love and
+love for Therese.  I felt that I ought not to require Therese to give
+up such prospects of fortune; but I could not take upon myself either
+to let her go to Naples without me, or to accompany her there.  On
+one side, I shuddered at the idea that my love might ruin Therese's
+prospects; on the other side, the idea of the blow inflicted on my
+self-love, on my pride, if I went to Naples with her, sickened me.
+
+How could I make up my mind to reappear in that city, in the guise of
+a cowardly fellow living at the expense of his mistress or his wife?
+What would my cousin Antonio, Don Polo and his dear son, Don Lelio
+Caraffa, and all the patricians who knew me, have said?  The thought
+of Lucrezia and of her husband sent a cold shiver through me.  I
+considered that, in spite of my love for Therese, I should become
+very miserable if everyone despised me.  Linked to her destiny as a
+lover or as a husband, I would be a degraded, humbled, and mean
+sycophant.  Then came the thought, Is this to be the end of all my
+hopes?  The die was cast, my head had conquered my heart.  I fancied
+that I had hit upon an excellent expedient, which at all events made
+me gain time, and I resolved to act upon it.  I wrote to Therese,
+advising her to accept the engagement for Naples, where she might
+expect me to join her in the month of July, or after my return from
+Constantinople.  I cautioned her to engage an honest-looking waiting-
+woman, so as to appear respectably in the world, and, to lead such a
+life as would permit me to make her my wife, on my return, without
+being ashamed of myself.  I foresaw that her success would be insured
+by her beauty even more than by her talent, and, with my nature, I
+knew that I could never assume the character of an easy-going lover
+or of a compliant husband.
+
+Had I received Therese's letter one week sooner, it is certain that
+she would not have gone to Naples, for my love would then have proved
+stronger than my reason; but in matters of love, as well as in all
+others, Time is a great teacher.
+
+I told Therese to direct her answer to Bologna, and, three days
+after, I received from her a letter loving, and at the same time sad,
+in which she informed me that she had signed the engagement.  She had
+secured the services of a woman whom she could present as her mother;
+she would reach Naples towards the middle of May, and she would wait
+for me there till she heard from me that I no longer wanted her.
+
+Four days after the receipt of that letter, the last but one that
+Therese wrote me, I left Bologna for Venice.  Before my departure I
+had received an answer form the French officer, advising me that my
+passport had reached Pesaro, and that he was ready to forward it to
+me with my trunk, if I would pay M. Marcello Birna, the proveditore
+of the Spanish army, whose address he enclosed, the sum of fifty
+doubloons for the horse which I had run away with, or which had run
+away with me.  I repaired at once to the house of the proveditore,
+well pleased to settle that affair, and I received my trunk and my
+passport a few hours before leaving Bologna.  But as my paying for
+the horse was known all over the town, Monsignor Cornaro was
+confirmed in his belief that I had killed my captain in a duel.
+
+To go to Venice, it was necessary to submit to a quarantine, which
+had been adhered to only because the two governments had fallen out.
+The Venetians wanted the Pope to be the first in giving free passage
+through his frontiers, and the Pope insisted that the Venetians
+should take the initiative.  The result of this trifling pique
+between the two governments was great hindrance to commerce, but very
+often that which bears only upon the private interest of the people
+is lightly treated by the rulers.  I did not wish to be quarantined,
+and determined on evading it.  It was rather a delicate undertaking,
+for in Venice the sanitary laws are very strict, but in those days I
+delighted in doing, if not everything that was forbidden, at least
+everything which offered real difficulties.
+
+I knew that between the state of Mantua and that of Venice the
+passage was free, and I knew likewise that there was no restriction
+in the communication between Mantua and Modena; if I could therefore
+penetrate into the state of Mantua by stating that I was coming from
+Modena, my success would be certain, because I could then cross the
+Po and go straight to Venice.  I got a carrier to drive me to Revero,
+a city situated on the river Po, and belonging to the state of
+Mantua.
+
+The driver told me that, if he took the crossroads, he could go to
+Revero, and say that we came from Mantua, and that the only
+difficulty would be in the absence of the sanitary certificate which
+is delivered in Mantua, and which was certain to be asked for in
+Revero.  I suggested that the best way to manage would be for him to
+say that he had lost it, and a little money removed every objection
+on his part.
+
+When we reached the gates of Revero, I represented myself as a
+Spanish officer going to Venice to meet the Duke of Modena (whom I
+knew to be there) on business of the greatest importance.  The
+sanitary certificate was not even demanded, military honours were
+duly paid to me, and I was most civilly treated.  A certificate was
+immediately delivered to me, setting forth that I was travelling from
+Revero, and with it I crossed the Po, without any difficulty, at
+Ostiglia, from which place I proceeded to Legnago.  There I left my
+carrier as much pleased with my generosity as with the good luck
+which had attended our journey, and, taking post-horses, I reached
+Venice in the evening.  I remarked that it was the and of April,
+1744, the anniversary of my birth, which, ten times during my life,
+has been marked by some important event.
+
+The very next morning I went to the exchange in order to procure a
+passage to Constantinople, but I could not find any passenger ship
+sailing before two or three months, and I engaged a berth in a
+Venetian ship called, Our Lady of the Rosary, Commander Zane, which
+was to sail for Corfu in the course of the month.
+
+Having thus prepared myself to obey my destiny, which, according to
+my superstitious feelings, called me imperiously to Constantinople, I
+went to St: Mark's Square in order to see and to be seen, enjoying by
+anticipation the surprise of my acquaintances at not finding me any
+longer an abbe.  I must not forget to state that at Revero I had
+decorated my hat with a red cockade.
+
+I thought that my first visit was, by right, due to the Abbe Grimani.
+The moment he saw me he raised a perfect shriek of astonishment, for
+he thought I was still with Cardinal Acquaviva, on the road to a
+political career, and he saw standing before him a son of Mars.  He
+had just left the dinner-table as I entered, and he had company.  I
+observed amongst the guests an officer wearing the Spanish uniform,
+but I was not put out of countenance.  I told the Abbe Grimani that I
+was only passing through Venice, and that I had felt it a duty and a
+pleasure to pay my respects to him.
+
+"I did not expect to see you in such a costume."
+
+"I have resolved to throw off the garb which could not procure me a
+fortune likely to satisfy my ambition."
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"To Constantinople; and I hope to find a quick passage to Corfu, as I
+have dispatches from Cardinal Acquaviva."
+
+"Where do you come from now?"
+
+"From the Spanish army, which I left ten days ago."
+
+These words were hardly spoken, when I heard the voice of a young
+nobleman exclaiming;
+
+"That is not true."
+
+"The profession to which I belong," I said to him with great
+animation, "does not permit me to let anyone give me the lie."
+
+And upon that, bowing all round, I went away, without taking any
+notice of those who were calling me back.
+
+I wore an uniform; it seemed to me that I was right in showing that
+sensitive and haughty pride which forms one of the characteristics of
+military men.  I was no longer a priest: I could not bear being given
+the lie, especially when it had been given to me in so public a
+manner.
+
+I called upon Madame Manzoni, whom I was longing to see.  She was
+very happy to see me, and did not fail to remind me of her
+prediction.  I told her my history, which amused her much; but she
+said that if I went to Constantinople I should most likely never see
+her again.
+
+After my visit to Madame Manzoni I went to the house of Madame Orio,
+where I found worthy M. Rosa, Nanette, and Marton.  They were all
+greatly surprised, indeed petrified at seeing me.  The two lovely
+sisters looked more beautiful than ever, but I did not think it
+necessary to tell them the history of my nine months absence, for it
+would not have edified the aunt or pleased the nieces.  I satisfied
+myself with telling them as much as I thought fit, and amused them
+for three hours.  Seeing that the good old lady was carried away by
+her enthusiasm, I told her that I should be very happy to pass under
+her roof the four or five weeks of my stay in Venice, if she could
+give me a room and supper, but on condition that I should not prove a
+burden to her or to her charming nieces.
+
+"I should be only too happy," she answered, "to have you so long, but
+I have no room to offer you."
+
+"Yes, you have one, my dear," exclaimed M. Rosa, "and I undertake to
+put it to rights within two hours."
+
+It was the room adjoining the chamber of the two sisters.  Nanette
+said immediately that she would come downstairs with her sister, but
+Madame Orio answered that it was unnecessary, as they could lock
+themselves in their room.
+
+"There would be no need for them to do that, madam," I said, with a
+serious and modest air; "and if I am likely to occasion the slightest
+disturbance, I can remain at the inn."
+
+"There will be no disturbance whatever; but forgive my nieces, they
+are young prudes, and have a very high opinion of themselves:"
+
+Everything being satisfactorily arranged, I forced upon Madame Orio a
+payment of fifteen sequins in advance, assuring her that I was rich,
+and that I had made a very good bargain, as I should spend a great
+deal more if I kept my room at the inn.  I added that I would send my
+luggage, and take up my quarters in her house on the following day.
+During the whole of the conversation, I could see the eyes of my two
+dear little wives sparkling with pleasure, and they reconquered all
+their influence over my heart in spite of my love for Therese, whose
+image was, all the same, brilliant in my soul: this was a passing
+infidelity, but not inconstancy.
+
+On the following day I called at the war office, but, to avoid every
+chance of unpleasantness, I took care to remove my cockade.  I found
+in the office Major Pelodoro, who could not control his joy when he
+saw me in a military uniform, and hugged me with delight.  As soon as
+I had explained to him that I wanted to go to Constantinople, and
+that, although in uniform, I was free, he advised me earnestly to
+seek the favour of going to Turkey with the bailo, who intended to
+leave within two months, and even to try to obtain service in the
+Venetian army.
+
+His advice suited me exactly, and the secretary of war, who had known
+me the year before, happening to see me, summoned me to him.  He told
+me that he had received letters from Bologna which had informed him
+of a certain adventure entirely to my honour, adding that he knew
+that I would not acknowledge it.  He then asked me if I had received
+my discharge before leaving the Spanish army.
+
+"I could not receive my discharge, as I was never in the service."
+
+"And how did you manage to come to Venice without performing
+quarantine?"
+
+"Persons coming from Mantua are not subject to it."
+
+"True; but I advise you to enter the Venetian service like Major
+Pelodoro."
+
+As I was leaving the ducal palace, I met the Abbe Grimani who told me
+that the abrupt manner in which I had left his house had displeased
+everybody.
+
+"Even the Spanish officer?"
+
+"No, for he remarked that, if you had truly been with the army, you
+could not act differently, and he has himself assured me that you
+were there, and to prove what he asserted he made me read an article
+in the newspaper, in which it is stated that you killed your captain
+in a duel.  Of course it is only a fable?"
+
+"How do you know that it is not a fact?"
+
+"Is it true, then?"
+
+"I do not say so, but it may be true, quite as true as my having been
+with the Spanish army ten days ago."
+
+"But that is impossible, unless you have broken through the
+quarantine."
+
+"I have broken nothing.  I have openly crossed the Po at Revero, and
+here I am.  I am sorry not to be able to present myself at your
+excellency's palace, but I cannot do so until I have received the
+most complete satisfaction from the person who has given me the lie.
+I could put up with an insult when I wore the livery of humility, but
+I cannot bear one now that I wear the garb of honour."
+
+"You are wrong to take it in such a high tone.  The person who
+attacked your veracity is M. Valmarana, the proveditore of the
+sanitary department, and he contends that, as nobody can pass through
+the cordon, it would be impossible for you to be here.  Satisfaction,
+indeed!  Have you forgotten who you are?"
+
+"No, I know who I am; and I know likewise that, if I was taken for a
+coward before leaving Venice, now that I have returned no one shall
+insult me without repenting it."
+
+"Come and dine with me."
+
+"No, because the Spanish officer would know it."
+
+"He would even see you, for he dines with me every day."
+
+"Very well, then I will go, and I will let him be the judge of my
+quarrel with M. Valmarana."
+
+I dined that day with Major Pelodoro and several other officers, who
+agreed in advising me to enter the service of the Republic, and I
+resolved to do so.  "I am acquainted," said the major, "with a young
+lieutenant whose health is not sufficiently strong to allow him to go
+to the East, and who would be glad to sell his commission, for which
+he wants one hundred sequins.  But it would be necessary to obtain
+the consent of the secretary of war."  "Mention the matter to him," I
+replied, "the one hundred sequins are ready."  The major undertook
+the commission.
+
+In the evening I went to Madame Orio, and I found myself very
+comfortably lodged.  After supper, the aunt told her nieces to shew
+me, to my room, and, as may well be supposed, we spent a most
+delightful night.  After that they took the agreeable duty by turns,
+and in order to avoid any surprise in case the aunt should take it
+into her head to pay them a visit, we skilfully displaced a part of
+the partition, which allowed them to come in and out of my room
+without opening the door.  But the good lady believed us three living
+specimens of virtue, and never thought of putting us to the test.
+
+Two or three days afterwards, M.  Grimani contrived an interview
+between me and M. Valmarana, who told me that, if he had been aware
+that the sanitary line could be eluded, he would never have impugned
+my veracity, and thanked me for the information I had given him.  The
+affair was thus agreeably arranged, and until my departure I honoured
+M. Grimani's excellent dinner with my presence every day.
+
+Towards the end of the month I entered the service of the Republic in
+the capacity of ensign in the Bala regiment, then at Corfu; the young
+man who had left the regiment through the magical virtue of my one
+hundred sequins was lieutenant, but the secretary of war objected to
+my having that rank for reasons to which I had to submit, if I wished
+to enter the army; but he promised me that, at the end of the year, I
+would be promoted to the grade of lieutenant, and he granted me a
+furlough to go to Constantinople.  I accepted, for I was determined
+to serve in the army.
+
+M. Pierre Vendramin, an illustrious senator, obtained me the favour
+of a passage to Constantinople with the Chevalier Venier, who was
+proceeding to that city in the quality of bailo, but as he would
+arrive in Corfu a month after me, the chevalier very kindly promised
+to take me as he called at Corfu.
+
+A few days before my departure, I received a letter from Therese, who
+informed me that the Duke de Castropignano escorted her everywhere.
+"The duke is old," she wrote, "but even if he were young, you would
+have no cause for uneasiness on my account.  Should you ever want any
+money, draw upon me from any place where you may happen to be, and be
+quite certain that your letters of exchange will be paid, even if I
+had to sell everything I possess to honour your signature."
+
+There was to be another passenger on board the ship of the line on
+which I had engaged my passage, namely, a noble Venetian, who was
+going to Zante in the quality of counsellor, with a numerous and
+brilliant retinue.  The captain of the ship told me that, if I was
+obliged to take my meals alone, I was not likely to fare very well,
+and he advised me to obtain an introduction to the nobleman, who
+would not fail to invite me to share his table.  His name was Antonio
+Dolfin, and he had been nicknamed Bucentoro, in consequence of his
+air of grandeur and the elegance of his toilet.  Fortunately I did
+not require to beg an introduction, for M. Grimani offered, of his
+own accord, to present me to the magnificent councillor, who received
+me in the kindest manner, and invited me at once to take my meals at
+his table.  He expressed a desire that I should make the acquaintance
+of his wife, who was to accompany him in the journey.  I called upon
+her the next day, and I found a lady perfect in manners, but already
+of a certain age and completely deaf.  I had therefore but little
+pleasure to expect from her conversation.  She had a very charming
+young daughter whom she left in a convent.  She became celebrated
+afterwards, and she is still alive, I believe, the widow of
+Procurator Iron, whose family is extinct.
+
+I have seldom seen a finer-looking man, or a man of more imposing
+appearance than M. Dolfin.  He was eminently distinguished for his
+wit and politeness.  He was eloquent, always cheerful when he lost at
+cards, the favourite of ladies, whom he endeavoured to please in
+everything, always courageous, and of an equal temper, whether in
+good or in adverse fortune.
+
+He had ventured on travelling without permission, and had entered a
+foreign service, which had brought him into disgrace with the
+government, for a noble son of Venice cannot be guilty of a greater
+crime.  For this offence he had been imprisoned in the Leads--a
+favour which destiny kept also in reserve for me.
+
+Highly gifted, generous, but not wealthy, M. Dolfin had been
+compelled to solicit from the Grand Council a lucrative governorship,
+and had been appointed to Zante; but he started with such a splendid
+suite that he was not likely to save much out of his salary.  Such a
+man as I have just portrayed could not make a fortune in Venice,
+because an aristocratic government can not obtain a state of lasting,
+steady peace at home unless equality is maintained amongst the
+nobility, and equality, either moral or physical, cannot be
+appreciated in any other way than by appearances.  The result is that
+the man who does not want to lay himself open to persecution, and who
+happens to be superior or inferior to the others, must endeavour to
+conceal it by all possible means.  If he is ambitious, he must feign
+great contempt for dignities; if he seeks employment, he must not
+appear to want any; if his features are handsome, he must be careless
+of his physical appearance; he must dress badly, wear nothing in good
+taste, ridicule every foreign importation, make his bow without
+grace, be careless in his manner; care nothing for the fine arts,
+conceal his good breeding, have no foreign cook, wear an uncombed
+wig, and look rather dirty.  M. Dolfin was not endowed with any of
+those eminent qualities, and therefore he had no hope of a great
+fortune in his native country.
+
+The day before my departure from Venice I did not go out; I devoted
+the whole of the day to friendship.  Madame Orio and her lovely
+nieces shed many tears, and I joined them in that delightful
+employment.  During the last night that I spent with both of them,
+the sisters repeated over and over, in the midst of the raptures of
+love, that they never would see me again.  They guessed rightly; but
+if they had happened to see me again they would have guessed wrongly.
+Observe how wonderful prophets are!
+
+I went on board, on the 5th of May, with a good supply of clothing,
+jewels, and ready cash.  Our ship carried twenty-four guns and two
+hundred Sclavonian soldiers.  We sailed from Malamacca to the shores
+of Istria during the night, and we came to anchor in the harbour of
+Orsera to take ballast.  I landed with several others to take a
+stroll through the wretched place where I had spent three days nine
+months before, a recollection which caused me a pleasant sensation
+when I compared my present position to what it was at that time.
+What a difference in everything--health, social condition, and money!
+I felt quite certain that in the splendid uniform I was now wearing
+nobody would recognize the miserable-looking abbe who, but for Friar
+Stephano, would have become--God knows what!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+An Amusing Meeting in Orsera--Journey to Corfu--My Stay in
+Constantinople--Bonneval--My Return to Corfu--Madame F.--The False
+Prince--I Run Away from Corfu--My Frolics at Casopo--I Surrender My
+self a Prisoner--My Speedy Release and Triumph--My Success with
+Madame F.
+
+
+I affirm that a stupid servant is more dangerous than a bad one, and
+a much greater plague, for one can be on one's guard against a wicked
+person, but never against a fool.  You can punish wickedness but not
+stupidity, unless you send away the fool, male or female, who is
+guilty of it, and if you do so you generally find out that the change
+has only thrown you out of the frying-pan into the fire.
+
+This chapter and the two following ones were written; they gave at
+full length all the particulars which I must now abridge, for my
+silly servant has taken the three chapters for her own purposes.  She
+pleaded as an excuse that the sheets of paper were old, written upon,
+covered with scribbling and erasures, and that she had taken them in
+preference to nice, clean paper, thinking that I would care much more
+for the last than for the first.  I flew into a violent passion, but
+I was wrong, for the poor girl had acted with a good intent; her
+judgment alone had misled her.  It is well known that the first
+result of anger is to deprive the angry man of the faculty of reason,
+for anger and reason do not belong to the same family.  Luckily,
+passion does not keep me long under its sway: 'Irasci, celerem tamen
+et placabilem esse'.  After I had wasted my time in hurling at her
+bitter reproaches, the force of which did not strike her, and in
+proving to her that she was a stupid fool, she refuted all my
+arguments by the most complete silence.  There was nothing to do but
+to resign myself, and, although not yet in the best of tempers, I
+went to work.  What I am going to write will probably not be so good
+as what I had composed when I felt in the proper humour, but  my
+readers must be satisfied with it they will, like the engineer, gain
+in time what they lose in strength.
+
+I landed at Orsera while our ship was taking ballast, as a ship
+cannot sail well when she is too light, and I was walking about when
+I remarked a man who was looking at me very attentively.  As I had no
+dread of any creditor, I thought that he was interested by my fine
+appearance; I could not find fault with such a feeling, and kept
+walking on, but as I passed him, he addressed me:
+
+"Might I presume to enquire whether this is your first visit to
+Orsera, captain?"
+
+"No, sir, it is my second visit to this city."
+
+"Were you not here last year?"
+
+"I was."
+
+"But you were not in uniform then?"
+
+"True again; but your questions begin to sound rather indiscreet."
+
+"Be good enough to forgive me, sir, for my curiosity is the offspring
+of gratitude.  I am indebted to you for the greatest benefits, and I
+trust that Providence has brought you here again only to give me the
+opportunity of making greater still my debt of gratitude to you."
+
+"What on earth have I done, and what can I do for you?  I am at a
+loss to guess your meaning."
+
+"Will you be so kind as to come and breakfast with me?  My house is
+near at hand; my refosco is delicious, please to taste it, and I will
+convince you in a few words that you are truly my benefactor, and
+that I have a right to expect that you have returned Orsera to load
+me with fresh benefits."
+
+I could not suspect the man of insanity; but, as I could not make him
+out, I fancied that he wanted to make me purchase some of his
+refosco, and I accepted his invitation.  We went up to his room, and
+he left me for a few moments to order breakfast.  I observed several
+surgical instruments, which made me suppose that he was a surgeon,
+and I asked him when he returned.
+
+"Yes, captain; I have been practising surgery in this place for
+twenty years, and in a very poor way, for I had nothing to do, except
+a few cases of bleeding, of cupping, and occasionally some slight
+excoriation to dress or a sprained ankle to put to rights.  I did not
+earn even the poorest living.  But since last year a great change has
+taken place; I have made a good deal of money, I have laid it out
+advantageously, and it is to you, captain, to you (may God bless
+you!) that I am indebted for my present comforts."
+
+"But how so?"
+
+"In this way, captain.  You had a connection with Don Jerome's
+housekeeper, and you left her, when you went away, a certain souvenir
+which she communicated to a friend of hers, who, in perfect good
+faith, made a present of it to his wife.  This lady did not wish, I
+suppose, to be selfish, and she gave the souvenir to a libertine who,
+in his turn, was so generous with it that, in less than a month, I
+had about fifty clients.  The following months were not less
+fruitful, and I gave the benefit of my attendance to everybody, of
+course, for a consideration.  There are a few patients still under my
+care, but in a short time there will be no more, as the souvenir left
+by you has now lost all its virtue.  You can easily realize now the
+joy I felt when I saw you; you are a bird of good omen.  May I hope
+that your visit will last long enough to enable you to renew the
+source of my fortune?"
+
+I laughed heartily, but he was grieved to hear that I was in
+excellent health.  He remarked, however, that I was not likely to be
+so well off on my return, because, in the country to which I was
+going, there was abundance of damaged goods, but that no one knew
+better than he did how to root out the venom left by the use of such
+bad merchandise.  He begged that I would depend upon him, and not
+trust myself in the hands of quacks, who would be sure to palm their
+remedies upon me.  I promised him everything, and, taking leave of
+him with many thanks, I returned to the ship.  I related the whole
+affair to M. Dolfin, who was highly amused.  We sailed on the
+following day, but on the fourth day, on the other side of Curzola,
+we were visited by a storm which very nearly cost me my life.  This
+is how it happened:
+
+The chaplain of the ship was a Sclavonian priest, very ignorant,
+insolent and coarse-mannered, and, as I turned him into ridicule
+whenever the opportunity offered, he had naturally become my sworn
+enemy.  'Tant de fiel entre-t-il dans l'ame d'un devot!'  When the
+storm was at its height, he posted himself on the quarter-deck, and,
+with book in hand, proceeded to exorcise all the spirits of hell whom
+he thought he could see in the clouds, and to whom he pointed for the
+benefit of the sailors who, believing themselves lost, were crying,
+howling, and giving way to despair, instead of attending to the
+working of the ship, then in great danger on account of the rocks and
+of the breakers which surrounded us.
+
+Seeing the peril of our position, and the evil effect of his stupid,
+incantations upon the minds of the sailors whom the ignorant priest
+was throwing into the apathy of despair, instead of keeping up their
+courage, I thought it prudent to interfere.  I went up the rigging,
+calling upon the sailors to do their duty cheerfully, telling them
+that there were no devils, and that the priest who pretended to see
+them was a fool.  But it was in vain that I spoke in the most
+forcible manner, in vain that I went to work myself, and shewed that
+safety was only to be insured by active means, I could not prevent
+the priest declaring that I was an Atheist, and he managed to rouse
+against me the anger of the greatest part of the crew.  The wind
+continued to lash the sea into fury for the two following days, and
+the knave contrived to persuade the sailors who listened to him that
+the hurricane would not abate as long as I was on board.  Imbued with
+that conviction, one of the men, thinking he had found a good
+opportunity of fulfilling the wishes of the priest, came up to me as
+I was standing at the extreme end of the forecastle, and pushed me so
+roughly that I was thrown over.  I should have been irretrievably
+lost, but the sharp point of an anchor, hanging along the side of the
+ship, catching in my clothes, prevented me from falling in the sea,
+and proved truly my sheet-anchor.  Some men came to my assistance,
+and I was saved.  A corporal then pointed out to me the sailor who
+had tried to murder me, and taking a stout stick I treated the
+scoundrel to a sound thrashing; but the sailors, headed by the
+furious priest, rushed towards us when they heard his screams, and I
+should have been killed if the soldiers had not taken my part.  The
+commander and M. Dolfin then came on deck, but they were compelled to
+listen to the chaplain, and to promise, in order to pacify the vile
+rabble, that they would land me at the first opportunity.  But even
+this was not enough; the priest demanded that I should give up to him
+a certain parchment that I had purchased from a Greek at Malamocco
+just before sailing.  I had no recollection of it, but it was true.
+I laughed, and gave it to M.  Dolfin; he handed it to the fanatic
+chaplain, who, exulting in his victory, called for a large pan of
+live coals from the cook's galley, and made an auto-da-fe of the
+document.  The unlucky parchment, before it was entirely consumed,
+kept writhing on the fire for half an hour, and the priest did not
+fail to represent those contortions as a miracle, and all the sailors
+were sure that it was an infernal manuscript given to me by the
+devil.  The virtue claimed for that piece of parchment by the man who
+had sold it to me was that it insured its lucky possessor the love of
+all women, but I trust my readers will do me the justice to believe
+that I had no faith whatever in amorous philtres, talismans, or
+amulets of any kind: I had purchased it only for a joke.
+
+You can find throughout Italy, in Greece, and generally in every
+country the inhabitants of which are yet wrapped up in primitive
+ignorance, a tribe of Greeks, of Jews, of astronomers, and of
+exorcists, who sell their dupes rags and toys to which they
+boastingly attach wonderful virtues and properties; amulets which
+render invulnerable, scraps of cloth which defend from witchcraft,
+small bags filled with drugs to keep away goblins, and a thousand
+gewgaws of the same description.  These wonderful goods have no
+marketable value whatever in France, in England, in Germany, and
+throughout the north of Europe generally, but, in revenge, the
+inhabitants of those countries indulge in knavish practices of a much
+worse kind.
+
+The storm abated just as the innocent parchment was writhing on the
+fire, and the sailors, believing that the spirits of hell had been
+exorcised, thought no more of getting rid of my person, and after a
+prosperous voyage of a week we cast anchor at Corfu.  As soon as I
+had found a comfortable lodging I took my letters to his eminence the
+proveditore-generale, and to all the naval commanders to whom I was
+recommended; and after paying my respects to my colonel, and making
+the acquaintance of the officers of my regiment, I prepared to enjoy
+myself until the arrival of the Chevalier Venier, who had promised to
+take me to Constantinople.  He arrived towards the middle of June,
+but in the mean time I had been playing basset, and had lost all my
+money, and sold or pledged all my jewellery.
+
+Such must be the fate awaiting every man who has a taste for
+gambling, unless he should know how to fix fickle fortune by playing
+with a real advantage derived from calculation or from adroitness,
+which defies chance.  I think that a cool and prudent player can
+manage both without exposing himself to censure, or deserving to be
+called a cheat.
+
+During the month that I spent in Corfu, waiting for the arrival of M.
+Venier, I did not devote any time to the study, either moral or
+physical, of the country, for, excepting the days on which I was on
+duty, I passed my life at the coffee-house, intent upon the game, and
+sinking, as a matter of course, under the adverse fortune which I
+braved with obstinacy.  I never won, and I had not the moral strength
+to stop till all my means were gone.  The only comfort I had, and a
+sorry one truly, was to hear the banker himself call me--perhaps
+sarcastically--a fine player, every time I lost a large stake.  My
+misery was at its height, when new life was infused in me by the
+booming of the guns fired in honour of the arrival of the bailo.  He
+was on board the Europa, a frigate of seventy-two guns, and he had
+taken only eight days to sail from Venice to Corfu.  The moment he
+cast anchor, the bailo hoisted his flag of captain-general of the
+Venetian navy, and the proveditore hauled down his own colours. The
+Republic of Venice has not on the sea any authority greater than that
+of Bailo to the Porte.  The Chevalier Venier had with him a
+distinguished and brilliant suite; Count Annibal Gambera, Count
+Charles Zenobio, both Venetian noblemen of the first class, and the
+Marquis d'Anchotti of Bressan, accompanied him to Constantinople for
+their own amusement.  The bailo remained a week in Corfu, and all the
+naval authorities entertained him and his suite in turn, so that
+there was a constant succession of balls and suppers.  When I
+presented myself to his excellency, he informed me that he had
+already spoken to the proveditore, who had granted me a furlough of
+six months to enable me to accompany him to Constantinople as his
+adjutant; and as soon as the official document for my furlough had
+been delivered to me, I sent my small stock of worldly goods on board
+the Europa, and we weighed anchor early the next day.
+
+We sailed with a favourable wind which remained steady and brought us
+in six days to Cerigo, where we stopped to take in some water.
+Feeling some curiosity to visit the ancient Cythera, I went on shore
+with the sailors on duty, but it would have been better for me if I
+had remained on board, for in Cerigo I made a bad acquaintance.  I
+was accompanied by the captain of marines.
+
+The moment we set foot on shore, two men, very poorly dressed and of
+unprepossessing appearance, came to us and begged for assistance.  I
+asked them who they were, and one, quicker than the other, answered;
+
+"We are sentenced to live, and perhaps to die, in this island by the
+despotism of the Council of Ten.  There are forty others as
+unfortunate as ourselves, and we are all born subjects of the
+Republic.
+
+"The crime of which we have been accused, which is not considered a
+crime anywhere, is that we were in the habit of living with our
+mistresses, without being jealous of our friends, when, finding our
+ladies handsome, they obtained their favours with our ready consent.
+As we were not rich, we felt no remorse in availing ourselves of the
+generosity of our friends in such cases, but it was said that we were
+carrying on an illicit trade, and we have been sent to this place,
+where we receive every day ten sous in 'moneta lunga'.  We are called
+'mangia-mayroni', and are worse off than galley slaves, for we are
+dying of ennui, and we are often starving without knowing how to stay
+our hunger.  My name is Don Antonio Pocchini, I am of a noble Paduan
+family, and my mother belongs to the illustrious family of Campo San-
+Piero."
+
+We gave them some money, and went about the island, returning to the
+ship after we had visited the fortress.  I shall have to speak of
+that Pocchini in a few years.
+
+The wind continued in our favour, and we reached the Dardanelles in
+eight or ten days; the Turkish barges met us there to carry us to
+Constantinople.  The sight offered by that city at the distance of a
+league is truly wonderful; and I believe that a more magnificent
+panorama cannot be found in any part of the world.  It was that
+splendid view which was the cause of the fall of the Roman, and of
+the rise of the Greek empire.  Constantine the Great, arriving at
+Byzantium by sea, was so much struck with the wonderful beauty of its
+position, that he exclaimed, "Here is the proper seat of the empire
+of the whole world!" and in order to secure the fulfilment of his
+prediction, he left Rome for Byzantium.  If he had known the prophecy
+of Horace, or rather if he had believed in it, he would not have been
+guilty of such folly.  The poet had said that the, downfall of the
+Roman empire would begin only when one of the successors of Augustus
+bethought him removing the capital of the empire to where it had
+originated.  The Troad is not far distant from Thrace.
+
+We arrived at the Venetian Embassy in Pera towards the middle of
+July, and, for a wonder, there was no talk of the plague in
+Constantinople just then.  We were all provided with very comfortable
+lodgings, but the intensity of the heat induced the baili to seek for
+a little coolness in a country mansion which had been hired by the
+Bailo Dona.  It was situated at Bouyoudere.  The very first order
+laid upon me was never to go out unknown to the bailo, and without
+being escorted by a janissary, and this order I obeyed to the letter.
+In those days the Russians had not tamed the insolence of the Turkish
+people.  I am told that foreigners can now go about as much as they
+please in perfect security.
+
+The day after our arrival, I took a janissary to accompany me to
+Osman Pacha, of Caramania, the name assumed by Count de Bonneval ever
+since he had adopted the turban.  I sent in my letter, and was
+immediately shewn into an apartment on the ground floor, furnished in
+the French fashion, where I saw a stout elderly gentleman, dressed
+like a Frenchman, who, as I entered the room, rose, came to meet me
+with a smiling countenance, and asked me how he could serve the
+'protege' of a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, which he could
+no longer call his mother.  I gave him all the particulars of the
+circumstances which, in a moment of despair, had induced me to ask
+the cardinal for letters of introduction for Constantinople, and I
+added that, the letters once in my possession, my superstitious
+feelings had made me believe that I was bound to deliver them in
+person.
+
+"Then, without this letter," he said, "you never would have come to
+Constantinople, and you have no need of me?"
+
+"True, but I consider myself fortunate in having thus made the
+acquaintance of a man who has attracted the attention of the whole of
+Europe, and who still commands that attention."
+
+His excellency made some remark respecting the happiness of young men
+who, like me, without care, without any fixed purpose, abandon
+themselves to fortune with that confidence which knows no fear, and
+telling me that the cardinal's letter made it desirable that he
+should do something for me, he promised to introduce me to three or
+four of his Turkish friends who deserved to be known.  He invited me
+to dine with him every Thursday, and undertook to send me a janissary
+who would protect me from the insults of the rabble and shew me
+everything worth seeing.
+
+The cardinal's letter representing me as a literary man, the pacha
+observed that I ought to see his library.  I followed him through the
+garden, and we entered a room furnished with grated cupboards;
+curtains could be seen behind the wirework; the books were most
+likely behind the curtains.
+
+Taking a key out of his pocket, he opened one of the cupboards, and,
+instead of folios, I saw long rows of bottles of the finest wines.
+We both laughed heartily.
+
+"Here are," said the pacha.  "my library and my harem.  I am old,
+women would only shorten my life but good wine will prolong it, or
+at least, make it more agreeable.
+
+"I imagine your excellency has obtained a dispensation from the
+mufti?"
+
+"You are mistaken, for the Pope of the Turks is very far from
+enjoying as great a power as the Christian Pope.  He cannot in any
+case permit what is forbidden by the Koran; but everyone is at
+liberty to work out his own damnation if he likes.  The Turkish
+devotees pity the libertines, but they do not persecute them; there
+is no inquisition in Turkey.  Those who do not know the precepts of
+religion, say the Turks, will suffer enough in the life to come;
+there is no need to make them suffer in this life.  The only
+dispensation I have asked and obtained, has been respecting
+circumcision, although it can hardly be called so, because, at my
+age, it might have proved dangerous.  That ceremony is generally
+performed, but it is not compulsory."
+
+During the two hours that we spent together, the pacha enquired after
+several of his friends in Venice, and particularly after Marc Antonio
+Dieto.  I told him that his friends were still faithful to their
+affection for him, and did not find fault with his apostasy.  He
+answered that he was a Mahometan as he had been a Christian, and that
+he was not better acquainted with the Koran than he had been with the
+Gospel.  "I am certain," he added, "that I shall die-calmer and much
+happier than Prince Eugene.  I have had to say that God is God, and
+that Mahomet is the prophet.  I have said it, and the Turks care very
+little whether I believe it or not.  I wear the turban as the soldier
+wears the uniform.  I was nothing but a military man; I could not
+have turned my hand to any other profession, and I made up my mind to
+become lieutenant-general of the Grand Turk only when I found myself
+entirely at a loss how to earn my living.  When I left Venice, the
+pitcher had gone too often to the well, it was broken at last, and if
+the Jews had offered me the command of an army of fifty thousand men,
+I would have gone and besieged Jerusalem."
+
+Bonneval was handsome, but too stout.  He had received a sabre-cut in
+the lower part of the abdomen, which compelled him to wear constantly
+a bandage supported by a silver plate.  He had been exiled to Asia,
+but only for a short time, for, as he told me, the cabals are not so
+tenacious in Turkey as they are in Europe, and particularly at the
+court of Vienna.  As I was taking leave of him, he was kind enough to
+say that, since his arrival in Turkey, he had never passed two hours
+as pleasantly as those he had just spent with me, and that he would
+compliment the bailo about me.
+
+The Bailo Dona, who had known him intimately in Venice, desired me to
+be the bearer of all his friendly compliments for him, and M. Venier
+expressed his deep regret at not being able to make his acquaintance.
+
+The second day after my first visit to him being a Thursday, the
+pacha did not forget to send a janissary according to his promise.
+It was about eleven in the morning when the janissary called for me,
+I followed him, and this time I found Bonneval dressed in the Turkish
+style.  His guests soon arrived, and we sat down to dinner, eight of
+us, all well disposed to be cheerful and happy.  The dinner was
+entirely French, in cooking and service; his steward and his cook
+were both worthy French renegades.
+
+He had taken care to introduce me to all his guests and at the same
+time to let me know who they were, but he did not give me an
+opportunity of speaking before dinner was nearly over.  The
+conversation was entirely kept up in Italian, and I remarked that the
+Turks did not utter a single word in their own language, even to say
+the most ordinary thing.  Each guest had near him a bottle which
+might have contained either white wine or hydromel; all I know is
+that I drank, as well as M. de Bonneval, next to whom I was seated,
+some excellent white Burgundy.
+
+The guests got me on the subject of Venice, and particularly of Rome,
+and the conversation very naturally fell upon religion, but not upon
+dogmatic questions; the discipline of religion and liturgical
+questions were alone discussed.
+
+One of the guests, who was addressed as effendi, because he had been
+secretary for foreign affairs, said that the ambassador from Venice
+to Rome was a friend of his, and he spoke of him in the highest
+manner.  I told him that I shared his admiration for that ambassador,
+who had given me a letter of introduction for a Turkish nobleman,
+whom he had represented as an intimate friend.  He enquired for the
+name of the person to whom the letter was addressed, but I could not
+recollect it, and took the letter out of my pocket-book.  The effendi
+was delighted when he found that the letter was for himself.  He
+begged leave to read it at once, and after he had perused it, he
+kissed the signature and came to embrace me.  This scene pleased M.
+de Bonneval and all his friends.  The effendi, whose name was Ismail,
+entreated the pacha to come to dine with him, and to bring me;
+Bonneval accepted, and fixed a day.
+
+Notwithstanding all the politeness of the effendi, I was particularly
+interested during our charming dinner in a fine elderly man of about
+sixty, whose countenance breathed at the same time the greatest
+sagacity and the most perfect kindness.  Two years afterwards I found
+again the same features on the handsome face of M. de Bragadin, a
+Venetian senator of whom I shall have to speak at length when we come
+to that period of my life.  That elderly gentleman had listened to me
+with the greatest attention, but without uttering one word.  In
+society, a man whose face and general appearance excite your
+interest, stimulates strongly your curiosity if he remains silent.
+When we left the dining-room I enquired from de Bonneval who he was;
+he answered that he was wealthy, a philosopher, a man of acknowledged
+merit, of great purity of morals, and strongly attached to his
+religion.  He advised me to cultivate his acquaintance if he made any
+advances to me.
+
+I was pleased with his advice, and when, after a walk under the shady
+trees of the garden, we returned to a drawing-room furnished in the
+Turkish fashion, I purposely took a seat near Yusuf Ali.  Such was
+the name of the Turk for whom I felt so much sympathy. He offered me
+his pipe in a very graceful manner; I refused it politely, and took
+one brought to me by one of M. de Bonneval's servants.  Whenever I
+have been amongst smokers I have smoked or left the room; otherwise I
+would have fancied that I was swallowing the smoke of the others, and
+that idea which is true and unpleasant, disgusted me.  I have never
+been able to understand how in Germany the ladies, otherwise so
+polite and delicate, could inhale the suffocating fumes of a crowd of
+smokers.
+
+Yusuf, pleased to have me near him, at once led the conversation to
+subjects similar to those which had been discussed at table, and
+particularly to the reasons which had induced me to give up the
+peaceful profession of the Church and to choose a military life; and
+in order to gratify his curiosity without losing his good opinion, I
+gave him, but with proper caution, some of the particulars of my
+life, for I wanted him to be satisfied that, if I had at first
+entered the career of the holy priesthood, it had not been through
+any vocation of mine.  He seemed pleased with my recital, spoke of
+natural vocations as a Stoic philosopher, and I saw that he was a
+fatalist; but as I was careful not to attack his system openly, he
+did not dislike my objections, most likely because he thought himself
+strong enough to overthrow them.
+
+I must have inspired the honest Mussulman with very great esteem, for
+he thought me worthy of becoming his disciple; it was not likely that
+he could entertain the idea of becoming himself the disciple of a
+young man of nineteen, lost, as he thought, in a false religion.
+
+After spending an hour in examining me, in listening to my
+principles, he said that he believed me fit to know the real truth,
+because he saw that I was seeking for it, and that I was not certain
+of having obtained it so far.  He invited me to come and spend a
+whole day with him, naming the days when I would be certain to find
+him at home, but he advised me to consult the Pacha Osman before
+accepting his invitation.  I told him that the pacha had already
+mentioned him to me and had spoken very highly of his character; he
+seemed much pleased.  I fixed a day for my visit, and left him.
+
+I informed M. de Bonneval of all that had occurred; he was delighted,
+and promised that his janissary would be every day at the Venetian
+palace, ready to execute my orders.
+
+I received the congratulations of the baili upon the excellent
+acquaintances I had already made, and M. Venier advised me not to
+neglect such friends in a country where weariness of life was more
+deadly to foreigners than the plague.
+
+On the day appointed, I went early to Yusuf's palace, but he was out.
+His gardener, who had received his instructions, shewed me every
+attention, and entertained me very agreeably for two hours in doing
+the honours of his master's splendid garden, where I found the most
+beautiful flowers.  This gardener was a Neapolitan, and had belonged
+to Yusuf for thirty years.  His manners made me suspect that he was
+well born and well educated, but he told me frankly that he had never
+been taught even to read, that he was a sailor when he, was taken in
+slavery, and that he was so happy in the service of Yusuf that
+liberty would be a punishment to him.  Of course I did not venture to
+address him any questions about his master, for his reserve might
+have put my curiosity to the blush.
+
+Yusuf had gone out on horseback; he returned, and, after the usual
+compliments, we dined alone in a summerhouse, from which we had a
+fine view of the sea, and in which the heat was cooled by a
+delightful breeze, which blows regularly at the same hour every day
+from the north-west; and is called the mistral.  We had a good
+dinner; there was no prepared dish except the cauroman, a peculiar
+delicacy of the Turks.  I drank water and hydromel, and I told Yusuf
+that I preferred the last to wine, of which I never took much at that
+time.  "Your hydromel," I said, "is very good, and the Mussulmans who
+offend against the law by drinking wine do not deserve any
+indulgence; I believe they drink wine only because it is forbidden."
+"Many of the true believers," he answered.  "think that they can take
+it as a medicine.  The Grand Turk's physician has brought it into
+vogue as a medicine, and it has been the cause of his fortune, for he
+has captivated the favour of his master who is in reality constantly
+ill, because he is always in a state of intoxication."  I told Yusuf
+that in my country drunkards were scarce, and that drunkenness was a
+vice to be found only among the lowest people; he was much
+astonished.  "I cannot understand," he said, "why wine is allowed by
+all religions, when its use deprives man of his reason."--"All
+religions," I answered, "forbid excess in drinking wine, and the
+crime is only in the abuse."  I proved him the truth of what I had
+said by telling him that opium produced the same results as wine, but
+more powerfully, and consequently Mahomet ought to have forbidden the
+use of it.  He observed that he had never taken either wine or opium
+in the course of his life.
+
+After dinner, pipes were brought in and we filled them ourselves.  I
+was smoking with pleasure, but, at the same time, was expectorating.
+Yusuf, who smoked like a Turk, that is to say, without spitting,
+said,--
+
+"The tobacco you are now smoking is of a very fine quality, and you
+ought to swallow its balsam which is mixed with the saliva."
+
+"I suppose you are right; smoking cannot be truly enjoyed without the
+best tobacco."
+
+"That is true to a certain extent, but the enjoyment found in smoking
+good tobacco is not the principal pleasure, because it only pleases
+our senses; true enjoyment is that which works upon the soul, and is
+completely independent of the senses."
+
+"I cannot realize pleasures enjoyed by the soul without the
+instrumentality of the senses."
+
+"Listen to me. When you fill your pipe do you feel any pleasure?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Whence does that pleasure arise, if it is not from your soul?  Let
+us go further.  Do you not feel pleased when you give up your pipe
+after having smoked all the tobacco in it--when you see that nothing
+is left but some ashes?"
+
+"It is true."
+
+"Well, there are two pleasures in which your senses have certainly
+nothing to do, but I want you to guess the third, and the most
+essential."
+
+"The most essential?  It is the perfume."
+
+"No; that is a pleasure of the organ of smelling--a sensual
+pleasure."
+
+"Then I do not know."
+
+"Listen.  The principal pleasure derived from tobacco smoking is the
+sight of a smoke itself. You must never see it go out of the bowl of
+your pipe,--but only from the corner o your mouth, at regular
+intervals which must not be too frequent. It is so truly the greatest
+pleasure connected with the pipe, that you cannot find anywhere a
+blind man who smokes.  Try yourself the experiment of smoking a pipe
+in your room, at night and without a light; you will soon lay the
+pipe down."
+
+"It is all perfectly true; yet you must forgive me if I give the
+preference to several pleasures, in which my senses are interested,
+over those which afford enjoyment only to my soul."
+
+"Forty years ago I was of the same opinion, and in forty years, if
+you succeed in acquiring wisdom, you will think like me.  Pleasures
+which give activity to our senses, my dear son, disturb the repose of
+our soul--a proof that they do not deserve the name of real
+enjoyments."
+
+"But if I feel them to be real enjoyments, it is enough to prove that
+they are truly so."
+
+"Granted; but if you would take the trouble of analyzing them after
+you have tasted them, you would not find them unalloyed."
+
+"It may be so, but why should I take a trouble which would only
+lessen my enjoyment."
+
+"A time will come when you will feel pleasure in that very trouble."
+
+"It strikes me, dear father, that you prefer mature age to youth."
+
+"You may boldly say old age."
+
+"You surprise me.  Must I believe that your early life has been
+unhappy?"
+
+"Far from it.  It was always fortunate in good health, and the master
+of my own passions; but all I saw in my equals was for me a good
+school in which I have acquired the knowledge of man, and learned the
+real road to happiness.  The happiest of men is not the most
+voluptuous, but the one who knows how to choose the highest standards
+of voluptuousness, which can be found, I say again, not in the
+pleasures which excite our senses, but in those which give greater
+repose to the soul."
+
+"That is the voluptuousness which you consider unalloyed."
+
+"Yes, and such is the sight of a vast prairie all covered with grass.
+The green colour, so strongly recommended by our divine prophet,
+strikes my eyes, and at the same moment I feel that my soul is
+wrapped up in a calm so delightful that I fancy myself nearer the
+Creator.  I enjoy the same peace, the same repose, when I am seated
+on the banks of a river, when I look upon the water so quiet, yet
+always moving, which flows constantly, yet never disappears from my
+sight, never loses any of its clearness in spite of its constant
+motion.  It strikes me as the image of my own existence, and of the
+calm which I require for my life in order to reach, like the water I
+am gazing upon, the goal which I do not see, and which can only be
+found at the other end of the journey."
+
+Thus did the Turk reason, and we passed four hours in this sort of
+conversation.  He had buried two wives, and he had two sons and one
+daughter.  The eldest son, having received his patrimony, had
+established himself in the city of Salonica, where he was a wealthy
+merchant; the other was in the seraglio, in the service of the Grand
+Turk and his fortune was in the hands of a trustee.  His daughter,
+Zelmi, then fifteen years of age, was to inherit all his remaining
+property.  He had given her all the accomplishments which could
+minister to the happiness of the man whom heaven had destined for her
+husband.  We shall hear more of that daughter anon.  The mother of
+the three children was dead, and five years previous to the time of
+my visit, Yusuf had taken another wife, a native of Scio, young and
+very beautiful, but he told me himself that he was now too old, and
+could not hope to have any child by her.  Yet he was only sixty years
+of age.  Before I left, he made me promise to spend at least one day
+every week with him.
+
+At supper, I told the baili how pleasantly the day had passed.
+
+"We envy you," they said, "the prospect you have before you of
+spending agreeably three or four months in this country, while, in
+our quality of ministers, we must pine away with melancholy."
+
+A few days afterwards, M. de Bonneval took me with him to dine at
+Ismail's house, where I saw Asiatic luxury on a grand scale, but
+there were a great many guests, and the conversation was held almost
+entirely in the Turkish language--a circumstance which annoyed me and
+M. de Bonneval also.  Ismail saw it, and he invited me to breakfast
+whenever I felt disposed, assuring me that he would have much
+pleasure in receiving me.  I accepted the invitation, and I went ten
+or twelve days afterwards.  When we reach that period my readers must
+kindly accompany me to the breakfast.  For the present I must return
+to Yusuf who, during my second visit, displayed a character which
+inspired, me with the greatest esteem and the warmest affection.
+
+We had dined alone as before, and, conversation happening to turn
+upon the fine arts, I gave my opinion upon one of the precepts in the
+Koran, by which the Mahometans are deprived of the innocent enjoyment
+of paintings and statues.  He told me that Mahomet, a very sagacious
+legislator, had been right in removing all images from the sight of
+the followers of Islam.
+
+"Recollect, my son, that the nations to which the prophet brought the
+knowledge of the true God were all idolators.  Men are weak; if the
+disciples of the prophet had continued to see the same objects, they
+might have fallen back into their former errors."
+
+"No one ever worshipped an image as an image; the deity of which the
+image is a representation is what is worshipped."
+
+"I may grant that, but God cannot be matter, and it is right to
+remove from the thoughts of the vulgar the idea of a material
+divinity.  You are the only men, you Christians, who believe that you
+see God."
+
+"It is true, we are sure of it, but observe that faith alone gives us
+that certainty."
+
+"I know it; but you are idolators, for you see nothing but a material
+representation, and yet you have a complete certainty that you see
+God, unless you should tell me that faith disaffirms it."
+
+"God forbid I should tell you such a thing!  Faith, on the contrary,
+affirms our certainty."
+
+"We thank God that we have no need of such self-delusion, and there
+is not one philosopher in the world who could prove to me that you
+require it."
+
+"That would not be the province of philosophy, dear father, but of
+theology--a very superior science."
+
+"You are now speaking the language of our theologians, who differ
+from yours only in this; they use their science to make clearer the
+truths we ought to know, whilst your theologians try to render those
+truths more obscure."
+
+"Recollect, dear father, that they are mysteries."
+
+"The existence of God is a sufficiently important mystery to prevent
+men from daring to add anything to it.  God can only be simple; any
+kind of combination would destroy His essence; such is the God
+announced by our prophet, who must be the same for all men and in all
+times.  Agree with me that we can add nothing to the simplicity of
+God.  We say that God is one; that is the image of simplicity.  You
+say that He is one and three at the same time, and such a definition
+strikes us as contradictory, absurd, and impious."
+
+"It is a mystery."
+
+"Do you mean God or the definition?  I am speaking only of the
+definition, which ought not to be a mystery or absurd.  Common sense,
+my son, must consider as absurd an assertion which substantiallv
+nonsensical.  Prove to me that three is not a compound, that it
+cannot be a compound and I will become a Christian at once."
+
+"My religion tells me to believe without arguing, and I shudder, my
+dear Yusuf, when I think that, through some specious reasoning, I
+might be led to renounce the creed of my fathers.  I first must be
+convinced that they lived in error.  Tell me whether, respecting my
+father's memory, I ought to have such a good opinion of myself as to
+sit in judgement over him, with the intention of giving my sentence
+against him?"
+
+My lively remonstrance moved Yusuf deeply, but after a few instants
+of silence he said to me,--
+
+"With such feelings, my son, you are sure to find grace in the eyes
+of God, and you are, therefore, one of the elect.  If you are in
+error, God alone can convince you of it, for no just man on earth can
+refute the sentiment you have just given expression to."
+
+We spoke of many other things in a friendly manner, and in the
+evening we parted with the often repeated assurance of the warmest
+affection and of the most perfect devotion.
+
+But my mind was full of our conversation, and as I went on pondering
+over the matter, I thought that Yusuf might be right in his opinion
+as to the essence of God, for it seemed evident that the Creator of
+all beings ought to be perfectly simple; but I thought at the same
+time how impossible it would be for me, because the Christian
+religion had made a mistake, to accept the Turkish creed, which might
+perhaps have just a conception of God, but which caused me to smile
+when I recollected that the man who had given birth to it had been an
+arrant imposter.  I had not the slightest idea, however, that Yusuf
+wished to make a convert of me.
+
+The third time I dined with him religion was again the subject of
+conversation.
+
+"Do you believe, dear father, that the religion of Mahomet is the
+only one in which salvation can be secured?"
+
+"No, my dear son, I am not certain of it, and no man can have such a
+certainty; but I am sure that the Christian religion is not the true
+one, because it cannot be universal."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because there is neither bread nor wine to be found in three-fourths
+of the world.  Observe that the precepts of the Koran can be followed
+everywhere."
+
+I did not know how to answer, and I would not equivocate.
+
+"If God cannot be matter," I said, "then He must be a spirit?"
+
+"We know what He is not but we do not know what He is: man cannot
+affirm that God is a spirit, because he can only realize the idea in
+an abstract manner.  God immaterial; that is the extent of our
+knowledge and it can never be greater."
+
+I was reminded of Plato, who had said exactly the same an most
+certainly Yusuf  never read Plato.
+
+He added that the existence of God could be useful only to those who
+did not entertain a doubt of that existence, and that, as a natural
+consequence, Atheists must be the most miserable of men.  God has
+made in man His own image in order that, amongst all the animals
+created by Him, there should be one that can understand and confess
+the existence of the Creator.  Without man, God would have no witness
+of His own glory, and man must therefore understand that his first
+and highest duty is to glorify God by practising justice and trusting
+to His providence.
+
+"Observe, my son, that God never abandons the man who, in the midst
+of misfortunes, falls down in prayer before Him, and that He often
+allows the wretch who has no faith in prayer to die miserably."
+
+"Yet we meet with Atheists who are fortunate and happy."
+
+"True; but, in spite of their tranquillity, I pity them because they
+have no hope beyond this life, and are on a level with animals.
+Besides, if they are philosophers, they must linger in dark
+ignorance, and, if they never think, they have no consolation, no
+resource, when adversity reaches them.  God has made man in such a
+manner that he cannot be happy unless he entertains no doubt of the
+existence of his Divine Creator; in all stations of life man is
+naturally prone to believe in that existence, otherwise man would
+never have admitted one God, Creator of all beings and of all
+things."
+
+"I should like to know why Atheism has only existed in the systems of
+the learned, and never as a national creed."
+
+"Because the poor feel their wants much more than the rich, There are
+amongst us a great many impious men who deride the true believers
+because they have faith in the pilgrimage to Mecca.  Wretches that
+they are, they ought to respect the ancient customs which, exciting
+the devotion of fervent souls, feed religious principles, and impart
+courage under all misfortunes.  Without such consolation, people
+would give way to all the excess of despair."
+
+Much pleased with the attention I gave to all he said, Yusuf would
+thus yield to the inclination he felt to instruct me, and, on my
+side, feeling myself drawn towards him by the charm which amiable
+goodness exerts upon all hearts, I would often go and spend the day
+with him, even without any previous invitation, and Yusuf's
+friendship soon became one of my most precious treasures.
+
+One morning, I told my janissary to take me to the palace of Ismail
+Effendi, in order to fulfil my promise to breakfast with him.  He
+gave me the most friendly welcome, and after an excellent breakfast
+he invited me to take a walk in his garden.  We found there a pretty
+summer-house which we entered, and Ismail attempted some liberties
+which were not at all to my taste, and which I resented by rising in
+a very abrupt manner.  Seeing that I was angry, the Turk affected to
+approve my reserve, and said that he had only been joking.  I left
+him after a few minutes, with the intention of not visiting him
+again, but I was compelled to do so, as I will explain by-and-by.
+
+When I saw M. de Bonneval I told him what had happened and he said
+that, according to Turkish manners, Ismail had intended to give me a
+great proof of his friendship, but that I need not be afraid of the
+offence being repeated.  He added that politeness required that I
+should visit him again, and that Ismail was, in spite of his failing,
+a perfect gentleman, who had at his disposal the most beautiful
+female slaves in Turkey.
+
+Five or six weeks after the commencement of our intimacy, Yusuf asked
+me one day whether I was married.  I answered that I was not; the
+conversation turned upon several moral questions, and at last fell
+upon chastity, which, in his opinion, could be accounted a virtue
+only if considered from one point of view, namely, that of total
+abstinence, but he added that it could not be acceptable to God;
+because it transgressed against the very first precept He had given
+to man.
+
+"I would like to know, for instance," he said, "what name can be
+given to the chastity of your knights of Malta.  They take a vow of
+chastity, but it does not mean that they will renounce women
+altogether, they renounce marriage only.  Their chastity, and
+therefore chastity in general, is violated only by marriage; yet I
+observe that marriage is one of your sacraments.  Therefore, those
+knights of Malta promise not to give way to lustful incontinence in
+the only case in which God might forgive it, but they reserve the
+license of being lustful unlawfully as often as they please, and
+whenever an opportunity may offer itself; and that immoral, illicit
+license is granted to them to such an extent, that they are allowed
+to acknowledge legally a child which can be born to them only through
+a double crime!  The most revolting part of it all is that these
+children of crime, who are of course perfectly innocent themselves,
+are called natural children, as if children born in wedlock came into
+the world in an unnatural manner!  In one word, my dear son, the vow
+of chastity is so much opposed to Divine precepts and to human nature
+that it can be agreeable neither to God nor to society, nor to those
+who pledge themselves to keep it, and being in such opposition to
+every divine and human law, it must be a crime."
+
+He enquired for the second time whether I was married; I replied in
+the negative, and added that I had no idea of ever getting married.
+
+"What!" he exclaimed; "I must then believe that you are not a perfect
+man, or that you intend to work out your own damnation; unless you
+should tell me that you are a Christian only outwardly."
+
+"I am a man in the very strongest sense of the word, and I am a true
+Christian.  I must even confess that I adore women, and that I have
+not the slightest idea of depriving myself of the most delightful of
+all pleasures."
+
+"According to your religion, damnation awaits you."
+
+"I feel certain of the contrary, because, when we confess our sins,
+our priests are compelled to give us absolution."
+
+"I know it, but you must agree with me that it is absurd to suppose
+that God will forgive a crime which you would, perhaps, not commit,
+if you did not think that, after confession, a priest, a man like
+you, will give you absolution.  God forgives only the repenting
+sinner."
+
+"No doubt of it, and confession supposes repentance; without it,
+absolution has no effect."
+
+"Is onanism a crime amongst you?"
+
+"Yes, even greater than lustful and illegitimate copulation."
+
+"I was aware of it, and it has always caused me great surprise, for
+the legislator who enacts a law, the execution of which is
+impossible, is a fool.  A man in good health, if he cannot have a
+woman, must necessarily have recourse to onanism, whenever imperious
+nature demands it, and the man who, from fear of polluting his soul,
+would abstain from it, would only draw upon himself a mortal
+disease."
+
+"We believe exactly the reverse; we think that young people destroy
+their constitutions, and shorten their lives through self-abuse.  In
+several communities they are closely watched, and are as much as
+possible deprived of every opportunity of indulging in that crime."
+
+"Those who watch them are ignorant fools, and those who pay the
+watchers for such a service are even more stupid, because prohibition
+must excite the wish to break through such a tyrannical law, to set
+at nought an interdiction so contrary to nature."
+
+"Yet it seems to me that self-abuse in excess must be injurious to
+health, for it must weaken and enervate."
+
+"Certainly, because excess in everything is prejudicial and
+pernicious; but all such excess is the result of our severe
+prohibition.  If girls are not interfered with in the matter of self-
+abuse, I do not see why boys should be."
+
+"Because girls are very far from running the same risk; they do not
+lose a great deal in the action of self-abuse, and what they lose
+does not come from the same source whence flows the germinal liquid
+in men."
+
+"I do not know, but we have some physicians who say that chlorosis in
+girls is the result of that pleasure indulged in to excess."
+
+After many such conversations, in which he seemed to consider me as
+endowed with reason and talent, even when I was not of his opinion,
+Yusuf Ali surprised me greatly one day by the following proposition:
+
+"I have two sons and a daughter.  I no longer think of my sons,
+because they have received their share of my fortune.  As far as my
+daughter is concerned she will, after my death, inherit all my
+possessions, and I am, besides, in a position while I am alive to
+promote the fortune of the man who may marry her.  Five years ago I
+took a young wife, but she has not given me any progeny, and I know
+to a certainty that no offspring will bless our union.  My daughter,
+whose name is Zelmi, is now fifteen; she is handsome, her eyes are
+black and lovely like her mother's, her hair is of the colour of the
+raven's wing, her complexion is animated alabaster; she is tall, well
+made, and of a sweet disposition; I have given her an education which
+would make her worthy of our master, the Sultan.  She speaks Greek
+and Italian fluently, she sings delightfully, and accompanies herself
+on the harp; she can draw and embroider, and is always contented and
+cheerful.  No living man can boast of having seen her features, and
+she loves me so dearly that my will is hers.  My daughter is a
+treasure, and I offer her to you if you will consent to go for one
+year to Adrianople to reside with a relative of mine, who will teach
+you our religion, our language, and our manners.  You will return at
+the end of one year, and as soon as you have become a Mussulman my
+daughter shall be your wife.  You will find a house ready furnished,
+slaves of your own, and an income which will enable you to live in
+comfort.  I have no more to say at present.  I do not wish you to
+answer me either to-day, or to-morrow, or on any fixed day.  You will
+give me your decision whenever you feel yourself called upon by your
+genius to give it, and you need not give me any answer unless you
+accept my offer, for, should you refuse it, it is not necessary that
+the subject should be again mentioned.  I do not ask you to give full
+consideration to my proposal, for now that I have thrown the seed in
+your soul it must fructify.  Without hurry, without delay, without
+anxiety, you can but obey the decrees of God and follow the immutable
+decision of fate.  Such as I know you, I believe that you only
+require the possession of Zelmi to be competely happy, and that you
+will become one of the pillars of the Ottoman Empire."
+
+Saying those words, Yusuf pressed me affectionately in his arms, and
+left me by myself to avoid any answer I might be inclined to make.  I
+went away in such wonder at all I had just heard, that I found myself
+at the Venetian Embassy without knowing how I had reached it.  The
+baili thought me very pensive, and asked whether anything was the
+matter with me, but I did not feel disposed to gratify their
+curiosity.  I found that Yusuf had indeed spoken truly: his proposal
+was of such importance that it was my duty, not only not to mention
+it to anyone, but even to abstain from thinking it over, until my
+mind had recovered its calm sufficiently to give me the assurance
+that no external consideration would weigh in the balance and
+influence my decision.  I had to silence all my passions; prejudices,
+principles already formed, love, and even self-interest were to
+remain in a state of complete inaction.
+
+When I awoke the next morning I began to think the matter over, and I
+soon discovered that, if I wanted to come to a decision, I ought not
+to ponder over it, as the more I considered the less likely I should
+be to decide.  This was truly a case for the 'sequere Deum' of the
+Stoics.
+
+I did not visit Yusuf for four days, and when I called on him on the
+fifth day, we talked cheerfully without once mentioning his proposal,
+although it was very evident that we were both thinking of it.  We
+remained thus for a fortnight, without ever alluding to the matter
+which engrossed all our thoughts, but our silence was not caused by
+dissimulation, or by any feeling contrary to our mutual esteem and
+friendship; and one day Yusuf suggested that very likely I had
+communicated his proposal to some wise friend, in order to obtain
+good advice.  I immediately assured him it was not so, and that in a
+matter of so delicate a nature I thought I ought not to ask anybody's
+advice.
+
+"I have abandoned myself to God, dear Yusuf, and, full of confidence
+in Him, I feel certain that I shall decide for the best, whether I
+make up my mind to become your son, or believe that I ought to remain
+what I am now.  In the mean time, my mind ponders over it day and
+night, whenever I am quiet and feel myself composed and collected.
+When I come to a decision, I will impart it to you alone, and from
+that moment you shall have over me the authority of a father."
+
+At these words the worthy Yusuf, his eyes wet with tears, placed his
+left hand over my head, and the first two fingers of the right hand
+on my forehead, saying:
+
+"Continue to act in that way, my dear son, and be certain that you
+can never act wrongly."
+
+"But," I said to him, "one thing might happen, Zelmi might not accept
+me."
+
+"Have no anxiety about that.  My daughter loves you; she, as well as
+my wife and her nurse, sees you every time that we dine together, and
+she listens to you with pleasure."
+
+"Does she know that you are thinking of giving her to me as my wife?"
+
+"She knows that I ardently wish you to become a true believer, so as
+to enable me to link her destiny to yours."
+
+"I am glad that your habits do not permit you to let me see her,
+because she might dazzle me with her beauty, and then passion would
+soon have too much weight in the scale; I could no longer flatter
+myself that my decision had been taken in all the unbiased, purity of
+my soul."
+
+Yusuf was highly delighted at hearing me speak in that manner, and I
+spoke in perfect good faith.  The mere idea of seeing Zelmi caused me
+to shudder.  I felt that, if I had fallen in love with her, I would
+have become a Mussulman in order to possess her, and that I might
+soon have repented such a step, for the religion of Mahomet presented
+to my eyes and to my mind nothing but a disagreeable picture, as well
+for this life as for a future one.  As for wealth, I did not think it
+deserved the immense sacrifice demanded from me.  I could find equal
+wealth in Europe, without stamping my forehead with the shameful
+brand of apostasy.  I cared deeply for the esteem of the persons of
+distinction who knew me, and did not want to render myself unworthy
+of it.  Besides, I felt an immense desire to obtain fame amongst
+civilized and polite nations, either in the fine arts or in
+literature, or in any other honourable profession, and I could not
+reconcile myself to the idea of abandoning to my equals the triumph
+which I might win if I lived amongst them.  It seemed to me, and I am
+still of the same opinion, that the decision of wearing the turban
+befits only a Christian despairing of himself and at the end of his
+wits, and fortunately I was lost not in that predicament.  My
+greatest objection was to spend a year in Adrianople to learn a
+language for which I did not feel any liking, and which I should
+therefore have learned but imperfectly.  How could I, at my age,
+renounce the prerogative, so pleasant to my vanity, of being reputed
+a fine talker?  and I had secured that reputation wherever I was
+known.  Then I would often think that Zelmi, the eighth wonder of
+creation in the eyes of her father might not appear such in my eyes,
+and it would have been enough to make me miserable, for Yusuf was
+likely to live twenty years longer, and I felt that gratitude, as
+well as respect, would never have permitted me to give that excellent
+man any cause for unhappiness by ceasing to shew myself a devoted and
+faithful husband to his daughter.  Such were my thoughts, and, as
+Yusuf could not guess them, it was useless to make a confidant of
+him.
+
+A few days afterwards, I dined with the Pacha Osman and met my
+Effendi Ismail.  He was very friendly to me, and I reciprocated his
+attentions, though I paid no attention to the reproaches he addressed
+to me for not having come to breakfast with him for such a long time.
+I could not refuse to dine at his house with Bonneval, and he treated
+me to a very pleasing sight; Neapolitan slaves, men and women,
+performed a pantomime and some Calabrian dances.  M. de Bonneval
+happened to mention the dance called forlana, and Ismail expressing a
+great wish to know it, I told him that I could give him that pleasure
+if I had a Venetian woman to dance with and a fiddler who knew the
+time.  I took a violin, and played the forlana, but, even if the
+partner had been found, I could not play and dance at the same time.
+
+Ismail whispered a few words to one of his eunuchs, who went out of
+the room and returned soon with some message that he delivered to
+him.  The effendi told me that he had found the partner I wanted, and
+I answered that the musician could be had easily, if he would send a
+note to the Venetian Embassy, which was done at once.  The Bailo Dona
+sent one of his men who played the violin well enough for dancing
+purposes.  As soon as the musician was ready, a door was thrown open,
+and a fine looking woman came in, her face covered with a black
+velvet mask, such as we call moretta in Venice.  The appearance of
+that beautiful masked woman surprised and delighted every one of the
+guests, for it was impossible to imagine a more interesting object,
+not only on account of the beauty of that part of the face which the
+mask left exposed, but also for the elegance of her shape, the
+perfection of her figure, and the exquisite taste displayed in her
+costume.  The nymph took her place, I did the same, and we danced the
+forlana six times without stopping.
+
+I was in perspiration and out of breath, for the foylana is the most
+violent of our national dances; but my beautiful partner stood near
+me without betraying the slightest fatigue, and seemed to challenge
+me to a new performance.  At the round of the dance, which is the
+most difficult step, she seemed to have wings.  I was astounded, for
+I had never seen anyone, even in Venice, dance the forlana so
+splendidly.  After a few minutes rest, rather ashamed of my feeling
+tired, I went up to her, and said, 'Ancora sei, a poi basta, se non
+volete vedermi a morire.'  She would have answered me if she had been
+able, but she wore one of those cruel masks which forbid speech.  But
+a pressure of her hand which nobody could see made me guess all I
+wanted to know.  The moment we finished dancing the eunuch opened the
+door, and my lovely partner disappeared.
+
+Ismail could not thank me enough, but it was I who owed him my
+thanks, for it was the only real pleasure which I enjoyed in
+Constantinople.  I asked him whether the lady was from Venice, but he
+only answered by a significant smile.
+
+"The worthy Ismail," said M.  de Bonneval to me, as we were leaving
+the house late in the evening, "has been to-day the dupe of his
+vanity, and I have no doubt that he is sorry already for what he has
+done.  To bring out his beautiful slave to dance with you!  According
+to the prejudices of this country it is injurious to his dignity, for
+you are sure to have kindled an amorous flame in the poor girl's
+breast.  I would advise you to be careful and to keep on your guard,
+because she will try to get up some intrigue with you; but be
+prudent, for intrigues are always dangerous in Turkey."
+
+I promised to be prudent, but I did not keep my promise; for, three
+or four days afterwards, an old slave woman met me in the street, and
+offered to sell me for one piaster a tobacco-bag embroidered in gold;
+and as she put it in my hand she contrived to make me feel that there
+was a letter in the bag.
+
+I observed that she tried to avoid the eyes of the janissary who was
+walking behind me; I gave her one piaster, she left me, and I
+proceeded toward Yusuf's house.  He was not at home, and I went to
+his garden to read the letter with perfect freedom.  It was sealed
+and without any address, and the slave might have made a mistake; but
+my curiosity was excited to the highest pitch; I broke the seal, and
+found the following note written in good enough Italian:
+
+"Should you wish to see the person with whom you danced the forlana,
+take a walk towards evening in the garden beyond the fountain, and
+contrive to become acquainted with the old servant of the gardener by
+asking her for some lemonade.  You may perchance manage to see your
+partner in the forlana without running any risk, even if you should
+happen to meet Ismail; she is a native of Venice.  Be careful not to
+mention this invitation to any human being."
+
+"I am not such a fool, my lovely countrywoman," I exclaimed, as if
+she had been present, and put the letter in my pocket.  But at that
+very moment, a fine-looking elderly woman came out of a thicket,
+pronounced my name, and enquired what I wanted and how I had seen
+her.  I answered that I had been speaking to the wind, not supposing
+that anyone could hear me, and without any more preparation, she
+abruptly told me that she was very glad of the opportunity of
+speaking with me, that she was from Rome, that she had brought up
+Zelmi, and had taught her to sing and to play the harp.  She then
+praised highly the beauty and the excellent qualities of her pupil,
+saying that, if I saw her, I would certainly fall in love with her,
+and expressing how much she regretted that the law should not allow
+it.
+
+"She sees us at this very moment," she added, "from behind that green
+window-blind, and we love you ever since Yusuf has informed us that
+you may, perhaps, become Zelmi's husband."
+
+"May I mention our conversation to Yusuf ?" I enquired.
+
+"No."
+
+Her answering in the negative made me understand that, if I had
+pressed her a little, she would have allowed me to see her lovely
+pupil, and perhaps it was with that intention that she had contrived
+to speak to me, but I felt great reluctance to do anything to
+displease my worthy host.  I had another reason of even greater
+importance: I was afraid of entering an intricate maze in which the
+sight of a turban hovering over me made me shudder.
+
+Yusuf came home, and far from being angry when he saw me with the
+woman, he remarked that I must have found much pleasure in conversing
+with a native of Rome, and he congratulated me upon the delight I
+must have felt in dancing with one of the beauties from the harem of
+the voluptuous Ismail.
+
+"Then it must be a pleasure seldom enjoyed, if it is so much talked
+of?"
+
+"Very seldom indeed, for there is amongst us an invincible prejudice
+against exposing our lovely women to the eyes of other men; but
+everyone may do as he pleases in his own house: Ismail is a very
+worthy and a very intelligent man."
+
+"Is the lady with whom I danced known?"
+
+"I believe not.  She wore a mask, and everybody knows that Ismail
+possesses half a dozen slaves of surpassing beauty."
+
+I spent a pleasant day with Yusuf, and when I left him, I ordered my
+janissary to take me to Ismail's.  As I was known by his servants,
+they allowed me to go in, and I proceeded to the spot described in
+the letter.  The eunuch came to me, informed me that his master was
+out, but that he would be delighted to hear of my having taken a walk
+in the garden.  I told him that I would like a glass of lemonade, and
+he took me to the summerhouse, where I recognized the old woman who
+had sold me the tobacco-pouch.  The eunuch told her to give me a
+glass of some liquid which I found delicious, and would not allow me
+to give her any money.  We then walked together towards the fountain,
+but he told me abruptly that we were to go back, as he saw three
+ladies to whom he pointed, adding that, for the sake of decency, it
+was necessary to avoid them.  I thanked him for his attentions, left
+my compliments for Ismail, and went away not dissatisfied with my
+first attempt, and with the hope of being more fortunate another
+time.
+
+The next morning I received a letter from Ismail inviting me to go
+fishing with him on the following day, and stating that he intended
+to enjoy the sport by moonlight.  I immediately gave way to my
+suppositions, and I went so far as to fancy that Ismail might be
+capable of arranging an interview between me and the lovely Venetian.
+I did not mind his being present.  I begged permission of Chevalier
+Venier to stop out of the palace for one night, but he granted it
+with the greatest difficulty, because he was afraid of some love
+affair and of the results it might have.  I took care to calm his
+anxiety as much as I could, but without acquainting him with all the
+circumstances of the case, for I thought I was wise in being
+discreet.
+
+I was exact to the appointed time, and Ismail received me with the
+utmost cordiality, but I was surprised when I found myself alone with
+him in the boat.  We had two rowers and a man to steer; we took some
+fish, fried in oil, and ate it in the summer-house.  The moon shone
+brightly, and the night was delightful.  Alone with Ismail, and
+knowing his unnatural tastes, I did not feel very comfortable for, in
+spite of what M. de Bonneval had told me, I was afraid lest the Turk
+should take a fancy to give me too great a proof of his friendship,
+and I did not relish our tete-a-tete.  But my fears were groundless.
+
+"Let us leave this place quietly," said Ismail, "I have just heard a
+slight noise which heralds something that will amuse us."
+
+He dismissed his attendants, and took my hand, saying,
+
+"Let us go to a small room, the key of which I luckily have with me,
+but let us be careful not to make any noise.  That room has a window
+overlooking the fountain where I think that two or three of my
+beauties have just gone to bathe.  We will see them and enjoy a very
+pleasing sight, for they do not imagine that anyone is looking at
+them.  They know that the place is forbidden to everybody except me."
+
+We entered the room, we went to the window, and, the moon shining
+right over the basin of the fountain, we saw three nymphs who, now
+swimming, now standing or sitting on the marble steps, offered
+themselves to our eyes in every possible position, and in all the
+attitudes of graceful voluptuousness.  Dear reader, I must not paint
+in too vivid colours the details of that beautiful picture, but if
+nature has endowed you with an ardent imagination and with equally
+ardent senses, you will easily imagine the fearful havoc which that
+unique, wonderful, and enchanting sight must have made upon my poor
+body.
+
+A few days after that delightful fishing and bathing party by
+moonlight, I called upon Yusuf early in the morning; as it was
+raining, I could not go to the garden, and I went into the dining-
+room, in which I had never seen anyone.  The moment I entered the
+room, a charming female form rose, covering her features with a thick
+veil which fell to the feet.  A slave was sitting near the window,
+doing some tambour-work, but she did not move.  I apologized, and
+turned to leave the room, but the lady stopped me, observing, with a
+sweet voice, that Yusuf had commanded her to entertain me before
+going out.  She invited me to be seated, pointing to a rich cushion
+placed upon two larger ones, and I obeyed, while, crossing her legs,
+she sat down upon another cushion opposite to me.  I thought I was
+looking upon Zelmi, and fancied that Yusuf had made up his mind to
+shew me that he was not less courageous than Ismail.  Yet I was
+surprised, for, by such a proceeding, he strongly contradicted his
+maxims, and ran the risk of impairing the unbiased purity of my
+consent by throwing love in the balance.  But I had no fear of that,
+because, to become enamoured, I should have required to see her face.
+
+"I suppose," said the veiled beauty, "that you do not know who I am?"
+
+"I could not guess, if I tried."
+
+"I have been for the last five years the wife of your friend, and I
+am a native of Scio.  I was thirteen years of age when I became his
+wife."
+
+I was greatly astonished to find that my Mussulman philosopher had
+gone so far as to allow me to converse with his wife, but I felt more
+at ease after I had received that information, and fancied that I
+might carry the adventure further, but it would be necessary to see
+the lady's face, for a finely-dressed body, the head of which is not
+seen, excites but feeble desires.  The fire lighted by amorous
+desires is like a fire of straw; the moment it burns up it is near
+its end.  I had before me a magnificent appearance, but I could not
+see the soul of the image, for a thick gauze concealed it from my
+hungry gaze.  I could see arms as white as alabaster, and hands like
+those of Alcina, 'dove ne nodo appasisce ne vena accede', and my
+active imagination fancied that all the rest was in harmony with
+those beautiful specimens, for the graceful folds of the muslin,
+leaving the outline all its perfection, hid from me only the living
+satin of the surface; there was no doubt that everything was lovely,
+but I wanted to see, in the expression of her eyes, that all that my
+imagination created had life and was endowed with feeling.  The
+Oriental costume is a beautiful varnish placed upon a porcelain vase
+to protect from the touch the colours of the flowers and of the
+design, without lessening the pleasure of the eyes.  Yusuf's wife was
+not dressed like a sultana; she wore the costume of Scio, with a
+short skirt which concealed neither the perfection of the leg nor the
+round form of the thigh, nor the voluptuous plump fall of the hips,
+nor the slender, well-made waist encompassed in a splendid band
+embroidered in silver and covered with arabesques.  Above all those
+beauties, I could see the shape of two globes which Apelles would
+have taken for the model of those of his lovely Venus, and the rapid,
+inequal movement of which proved to me that those ravishing hillocks
+were animated.  The small valley left between them, and which my eyes
+greedily feasted upon, seemed to me a lake of nectar, in which my
+burning lips longed to quench their thirst with more ardour than they
+would have drunk from the cup of the gods.
+
+Enraptured, unable to control myself, I thrust my arm forward by a
+movement almost independent of my will, and my hand, too audacious,
+was on the point of lifting the hateful veil, but she prevented me by
+raising herself quickly on tiptoe, upbraiding me at the same time for
+my perfidious boldness, with a voice as commanding as her attitude.
+
+"Dost thou deserve," she said, "Yusuf's friendship, when thou abusest
+the sacred laws of hospitality by insulting his wife?"
+
+"Madam, you must kindly forgive me, for I never had any intention to
+insult you.  In my country the lowest of men may fix his eyes upon
+the face of a queen."
+
+"Yes, but he cannot tear off her veil, if she chooses to wear it.
+Yusuf shall avenge me."
+
+The threat, and the tone in which it was pronounced, frightened me.
+I threw myself at her feet, and succeeded in calming her anger.
+
+"Take a seat," she said.
+
+And she sat down herself, crossing her legs with so much freedom that
+I caught a glimpse of charms which would have caused me to lose all
+control over myself if the delightful sight had remained one moment
+longer exposed to my eyes.  I then saw that I had gone the wrong way
+to work, and I felt vexed with myself; but it was too late.
+
+"Art thou excited?" she said.
+
+"How could I be otherwise," I answered, "when thou art scorching me
+with an ardent fire?"
+
+I had become more prudent, and I seized her hand without thinking any
+more of her face.
+
+"Here is my husband," she said, and Yusuf came into the room.  We
+rose, Yusuf embraced me, I complimented him, the slave left the room.
+Yusuf thanked his wife for having entertained me, and offered her his
+arm to take her to her own apartment.  She took it, but when she
+reached the door, she raised her veil, and kissing her husband she
+allowed me to see her lovely face as if it had been done unwittingly.
+I followed her with my eyes as long as I could, and Yusuf, coming
+back to me, said with a laugh that his wife had offered to dine with
+us.
+
+"I thought," I said to him, "that I had Zelmi before me."
+
+"That would have been too much against our established rules.  What I
+have done is not much, but I do not know an honest man who would be
+bold enough to bring his daughter into the presence of a stranger."
+
+"I think your wife must be handsome; is she more beautiful than
+Zelmi?"
+
+"My daughter's beauty is cheerful, sweet, and gentle; that of Sophia
+is proud and haughty.  She will be happy after my death.  The man who
+will marry her will find her a virgin."
+
+I gave an account of my adventure to M. de Bonneval, somewhat
+exaggerating the danger I had run in trying to raise the veil of the
+handsome daughter of Scio.
+
+"She was laughing at you," said the count, "and you ran no danger.
+She felt very sorry, believe me, to have to deal with a novice like
+you.  You have been playing the comedy in the French fashion, when
+you ought to have gone straight to the point.  What on earth did you
+want to see her nose for?  She knew very well that she would have
+gained nothing by allowing you to see her.  You ought to have secured
+the essential point.  If I were young I would perhaps manage to give
+her a revenge, and to punish my friend Yusuf.  You have given that
+lovely woman a poor opinion of Italian valour.  The most reserved of
+Turkish women has no modesty except on her face, and, with her veil
+over it, she knows to a certainty that she will not blush at
+anything.  I am certain that your beauty keeps her face covered
+whenever our friend Yusuf wishes to joke with her."
+
+"She is yet a virgin."
+
+"Rather a difficult thing to admit, my good friend; but I know the
+daughters of Scio; they have a talent for counterfeiting virginity."
+
+Yusuf never paid me a similar compliment again, and he was quite
+right.
+
+A few days after, I happened to be in the shop of an Armenian
+merchant, looking at some beautiful goods, when Yusuf entered the
+shop and praised my taste; but, although I had admired a great many
+things, I did not buy, because I thought they were too dear.  I said
+so to Yusuf, but he remarked that they were, on the contrary, very
+cheap, and he purchased them all.  We parted company at the door, and
+the next morning I received all the beautiful things he had bought;
+it was a delicate attention of my friend, and to prevent my refusal
+of such a splendid present, he had enclosed a note stating that, on
+my arrival in Corfu, he would let me know to whom the goods were to
+be delivered.  He had thus sent me gold and silver filigrees from
+Damascus, portfolios, scarfs, belts, handkerchiefs and pipes, the
+whole worth four or five hundred piasters.  When I called to thank
+him, I compelled him to confess that it was a present offered by his
+friendship.
+
+The day before my departure from Constantinople, the excellent man
+burst into tears as I bade him adieu, and my grief was as great as
+his own.  He told me that, by not accepting the offer of his
+daughter's hand, I had so strongly captivated his esteem that his
+feelings for me could not have been warmer if I had become his son.
+When I went on board ship with the Bailo Jean Dona, I found another
+case given to me by him, containing two quintals of the best Mocha
+coffee, one hundred pounds of tobacco leaves, two large flagons
+filled, one with Zabandi tobacco, the other with camussa, and a
+magnificent pipe tube of jessamine wood, covered with gold filigrane,
+which I sold in Corfu for one hundred sequins.  I had not it in my
+power to give my generous Turk any mark of my gratitude until I
+reached Corfu, but there I did not fail to do so.  I sold all his
+beautiful presents, which made me the possessor of a small fortune.
+
+Ismail gave me a letter for the Chevalier de Lezze, but I could not
+forward it to him because I unfortunately lost it; he presented me
+with a barrel of hydromel, which I turned likewise into money.
+M. de Bonneval gave me a letter for Cardinal Acquaviva, which I sent
+to Rome with an account of my journey, but his eminence did not think
+fit to acknowledge the receipt of either.  Bonneval made me a present
+of twelve bottles of malmsey from Ragusa, and of twelve bottles of
+genuine scopolo--a great rarity, with which I made a present in Corfu
+which proved very useful to me, as the reader will discover.
+
+The only foreign minister I saw much in Constantinople was the lord
+marshal of Scotland, the celebrated Keith, who represented the King
+of Prussia, and who, six years later was of great service to me in
+Paris.
+
+We sailed from Constantinople in the beginning of September in the
+same man-of-war which had brought us, and we reached Corfu in
+fourteen days.  The Bailo Dona did not land.  He had with him eight
+splendid Turkish horses; I saw two of them still alive in Gorizia in
+the year 1773.
+
+As soon as I had landed with my luggage, and had engaged a rather
+mean lodging, I presented myself to M. Andre Dolfin, the
+proveditore-generale, who promised me again that I should soon be
+promoted to a lieutenancy.  After my visit to him, I called upon M.
+Camporese, my captain, and was well received by him.  My third visit
+was to the commander of galleases, M. D----R-----, to whom M. Antonio
+Dolfin, with whom I had travelled from Venice to Corfu, had kindly
+recommended me.  After a short conversation, he asked me if I would
+remain with him with the title of adjutant.  I did not hesitate one
+instant, but accepted, saying how deeply honoured I felt by his
+offer, and assuring him that he would always find me ready to carry
+out his orders.  He immediately had me taken to my room, and, the
+next day, I found myself established in his house.  I obtained from
+my captain a French soldier to serve me, and I was well pleased when
+I found that the man was a hairdresser by trade, and a great talker
+by nature, for he could take care of my beautiful head of hair, and I
+wanted to practise French conversation.  He was a good-for-nothing
+fellow, a drunkard and a debauchee, a peasant from Picardy, and he
+could hardly read or write, but I did not mind all that; all I wanted
+from him was to serve me, and to talk to me, and his French was
+pretty good.  He was an amusing rogue, knowing by heart a quantity of
+erotic songs and of smutty stories which he could tell in the most
+laughable manner.
+
+When I had sold my stock of goods from Constantinople (except the
+wines), I found myself the owner of nearly five hundred sequins.
+I redeemed all the articles which I had pledged in the hands of Jews,
+and turned into money everything of which I had no need. I was
+determined not to play any longer as a dupe, but to secure in
+gambling all the advantages which a prudent young man could obtain
+without sullying his honour.
+
+I must now make my readers acquainted with the sort of life we were
+at that time leading in Corfu.  As to the city itself, I will not
+describe it, because there are already many descriptions better than
+the one I could offer in these pages.
+
+We had then in Corfu the 'proveditore-generale' who had sovereign
+authority, and lived in a style of great magnificence.  That post was
+then filled by M. Andre Dolfin, a man sixty years of age, strict,
+headstrong, and ignorant.  He no longer cared for women, but liked to
+be courted by them.  He received every evening, and the supper-table
+was always laid for twenty-four persons.
+
+We had three field-officers of the marines who did duty on the
+galleys, and three field-officers for the troops of the line on board
+the men-of-war. Each galeass had a captain called 'sopracomito', and
+we had ten of those captains; we had likewise ten commanders, one for
+each man-of-war, including three 'capi di mare', or admirals.  They
+all belonged to the nobility of Venice.  Ten young Venetian noblemen,
+from twenty to twenty-two years of age, were at Corfu as midshipmen
+in the navy.  We had, besides, about a dozen civil clerks in the
+police of the island, or in the administration of justice, entitled
+'grandi offciali di terra'.  Those who were blessed with handsome
+wives had the pleasure of seeing their houses very much frequented by
+admirers who aspired to win the favours of the ladies, but there was
+not much heroic love-making, perhaps for the reason that there were
+then in Corfu many Aspasias whose favours could be had for money.
+Gambling was allowed everywhere, and that all absorbing passion was
+very prejudicial to the emotions of the heart.
+
+The lady who was then most eminent for beauty and gallantry was
+Madame F----.  Her husband, captain of a galley, had come to Corfu
+with her the year before, and madam had greatly astonished all the
+naval officers.  Thinking that she had the privilege of the choice,
+she had given the preference to M. D---- R-----, and had dismissed
+all the suitors who presented themselves.  M. F---- had married her
+on the very day she had left the convent; she was only seventeen
+years of age then, and he had brought her on board his galley
+immediately after the marriage ceremony.
+
+I saw her for the first time at the dinner-table on the very day of
+my installation at M. D---- R-----'s, and she made a great impression
+upon me.  I thought I was gazing at a supernatural being, so
+infinitely above all the women I had ever seen, that it seemed
+impossible to fall in love with her She appeared to me of a nature
+different and so greatly superior to mine that I did not see the
+possibility of rising up to her.  I even went so far as to persuade
+myself that nothing but a Platonic friendship could exist between her
+and M. D----R-----, and that M. F---- was quite right now not to shew
+any jealousy.  Yet, that M. F---- was a perfect fool, and certainly
+not worthy of such a woman. The impression made upon me by Madame
+F----was too ridiculous to last long, and the nature of it soon
+changed, but in a novel manner, at least as far as I was concerned.
+
+My position as adjutant procured me the honour of dining at M. D----
+R-----'s table, but nothing more. The other adjutant, like me, an
+ensign in the army, but the greatest fool I had ever seen, shared
+that honour with me.  We were not, however, considered as guests, for
+nobody ever spoke to us, and, what is more, no one ever honoured us
+with a look.  It used to put me in a rage.  I knew very well that
+people acted in that manner through no real contempt for us, but it
+went very hard with me.  I could very well understand that my
+colleague, Sanzonio, should not complain of such treatment, because
+he was a blockhead, but I did not feel disposed to allow myself to be
+put on a par with him.  At the end of eight or ten days, Madame
+F----, not having con descended to cast one glance upon my person,
+began to appear disagreeable to me.  I felt piqued, vexed, provoked,
+and the more so because I could not suppose that the lady acted in
+that manner wilfully and purposely; I would have been highly pleased
+if there had been premeditation on her part.  I felt satisfied that
+I was a nobody in her estimation, and as I was conscious of being
+somebody, I wanted her to know it.  At last a circumstance offered
+itself in which, thinking that she could address me, she was
+compelled to look at me.
+
+M. D---- R----- having observed that a very, very fine turkey had
+been placed before me, told me to carve it, and I immediately went to
+work.  I was not a skilful carver, and Madame F----, laughing at my
+want of dexterity, told me that, if I had not been certain of
+performing my task with credit to myself, I ought not to have
+undertaken it.  Full of confusion, and unable to answer her as my
+anger prompted, I sat down, with my heart overflowing with spite and
+hatred against her.  To crown my rage, having one day to address me,
+she asked me what was my name.  She had seen me every day for a
+fortnight, ever since I had been the adjutant of M. D---- R-----;
+therefore she ought to have known my name.  Besides, I had been very
+lucky at the gaming-table, and I had become rather famous in Corfu.
+My anger against Madame F was at its height.
+
+I had placed my money in the hands of a certain Maroli, a major in
+the army and a gamester by profession, who held the faro bank at the
+coffee-house.  We were partners; I helped him when he dealt, and he
+rendered me the same office when I held the cards, which was often
+the case, because he was not generally liked.  He used to hold the
+cards in a way which frightened the punters; my manners were very
+different, and I was very lucky.  Besides I was easy and smiling when
+my bank was losing, and I won without shewing any avidity, and that
+is a manner which always pleases the punters.
+
+This Maroli was the man who had won all my money during my first stay
+in Corfu, and finding, when I returned, that I was resolved not to be
+duped any more, he judged me worthy of sharing the wise maxims
+without which gambling must necessarily ruin all those who meddle
+with it.  But as Maroli had won my confidence only to a very slight
+extent, I was very careful.  We made up our accounts every night, as
+soon as playing was over; the cashier kept the capital of the bank,
+the winnings were divided, and each took his share away.
+Lucky at play, enjoying good health and the friendship of my
+comrades, who, whenever the opportunity offered, always found me
+generous and ready to serve them, I would have been well pleased with
+my position if I had been a little more considered at the table of
+M. D---- R-----, and treated with less haughtiness by his lady who,
+without any reason, seemed disposed to humiliate me.  My self-love
+was deeply hurt, I hated her, and, with such a disposition of mind,
+the more I admired the perfection of her charms, the more I found her
+deficient in wit and intelligence.  She might have made the conquest
+of my heart without bestowing hers upon me, for all I wanted was not
+to be compelled to hate her, and I could not understand what pleasure
+it could be for her to be detested, while with only a little kindness
+she could have been adored.  I could not ascribe her manner to a
+spirit of coquetry, for I had never given her the slightest proof of
+the opinion I entertained of her beauty, and I could not therefore
+attribute her behaviour to a passion which might have rendered me
+disagreeable in her eyes; M. D---- R----- seemed to interest her only
+in a very slight manner, and as to her husband, she cared nothing for
+him.  In short, that charming woman made me very unhappy, and I was
+angry with myself because I felt that, if it had not been for the
+manner in which she treated me, I would not have thought of her, and
+my vexation was increased by the feeling of hatred entertained by my
+heart against her, a feeling which until then I had never known to
+exist in me, and the discovery of which overwhelmed me with
+confusion.
+
+One day a gentleman handed me, as we were leaving the dinner-table, a
+roll of gold that he had lost upon trust; Madame F---- saw it, and
+she said to me very abruptly,--
+
+"What do you do with your money?"
+
+"I keep it, madam, as a provision against possible losses."
+
+"But as you do not indulge in any expense it would be better for you
+not to play; it is time wasted."
+
+"Time given to pleasure is never time lost, madam; the only time
+which a young man wastes is that which is consumed in weariness,
+because when he is a prey to ennui he is likely to fall a prey to
+love, and to be despised by the object of his affection."
+
+"Very likely; but you amuse yourself with hoarding up your money, and
+shew yourself to be a miser, and a miser is not less contemptible
+than a man in love.  Why do you not buy yourself a pair of gloves?"
+
+You may be sure that at these words the laughter was all on her side,
+and my vexation was all the greater because I could not deny that she
+was quite right.  It was the adjutant's business to give the ladies
+an arm to their carriages, and it was not proper to fulfil that duty
+without gloves.  I felt mortified, and the reproach of avarice hurt
+me deeply.  I would a thousand times rather that she had laid my
+error to a want of education; and yet, so full of contradictions is
+the human heart, instead of making amends by adopting an appearance
+of elegance which the state of my finances enabled me to keep up, I
+did not purchase any gloves, and I resolved to avoid her and to
+abandon her to the insipid and dull gallantry of Sanzonio, who
+sported gloves, but whose teeth were rotten, whose breath was putrid,
+who wore a wig, and whose face seemed to be covered with shrivelled
+yellow parchment.
+
+I spent my days in a continual state of rage and spite, and the most
+absurd part of it all was that I felt unhappy because I could not
+control my hatred for that woman whom, in good conscience, I could
+not find guilty of anything.  She had for me neither love nor
+dislike, which was quite natural; but being young and disposed to
+enjoy myself I had become, without any wilful malice on her part, an
+eye-sore to her and the butt of her bantering jokes, which my
+sensitiveness exaggerated greatly.  For all that I had an ardent wish
+to punish her and to make her repent.  I thought of nothing else.  At
+one time I would think of devoting all my intelligence and all my
+money to kindling an amorous passion in her heart, and then to
+revenge myself by treating her with contempt.  But I soon realized
+the impracticability of such a plan, for even supposing that I should
+succeed in finding my way to her heart, was I the man to resist my
+own success with such a woman?  I certainly could not flatter myself
+that I was so strong-minded.  But I was the pet child of fortune, and
+my position was suddenly altered.
+
+M. D---- R---- having sent me with dispatches to M. de Condulmer,
+captain of a 'galeazza', I had to wait until midnight to deliver
+them, and when I returned I found that M. D---- R---- had retired to
+his apartment for the night.  As soon as he was visible in the
+morning I went to him to render an account of my mission.  I had been
+with him only a few minutes when his valet brought a letter saying
+that Madame F----'s adjutant was waiting for an answer.  M. D----
+R----- read the note, tore it to pieces, and in his excitement
+stamped with his foot upon the fragments.  He walked up and down the
+room for a little time, then wrote an answer and rang for the
+adjutant, to whom he delivered it.  He then recovered his usual
+composure, concluded the perusal of the dispatch sent by M. de
+Condulmer, and told me to write a letter.  He was looking it over
+when the valet came in, telling me that Madame F---- desired to see
+me.  M. D---- R---- told me that he did not require my services any
+more for the present, and that I might go.  I left the room, but I
+had not gone ten yards when he called me back to remind me that my
+duty was to know nothing; I begged to assure him that I was well
+aware of that.  I ran to Madame F-----'s house, very eager to know
+what she wanted with me.  I was introduced immediately, and I was
+greatly surprised to find her sitting up in bed, her countenance
+flushed and excited, and her eyes red from the tears she had
+evidently just been shedding.  My heart was beating quickly, yet I
+did not know why.
+
+"Pray be seated," she said, "I wish to speak with you."
+
+"Madam," I answered, "I am not worthy of so great a favour, and I
+have not yet done anything to deserve it; allow me to remain
+standing."
+
+She very likely recollected that she had never been so polite before,
+and dared not press me any further.  She collected her thoughts for
+an instant or two, and said to me:
+
+"Last evening my husband lost two hundred sequins upon trust at your
+faro bank; he believed that amount to be in my hands, and I must
+therefore give it to him immediately, as he is bound in honour to pay
+his losses to-day.  Unfortunately I have disposed of the money, and I
+am in great trouble.  I thought you might tell Maroli that I have
+paid you the amount lost by my husband.  Here is a ring of some
+value; keep it until the 1st of January, when I will return the two
+hundred sequins for which I am ready to give you my note of hand."
+
+"I accept the note of hand, madam, but I cannot consent to deprive
+you of your ring.  I must also tell you that M. F---- must go himself
+to the bank, or send some one there, to redeem his debt.  Within ten
+minutes you shall have the amount you require."
+
+I left her without waiting for an answer, and I returned within a few
+minutes with the two hundred ducats, which I handed to her, and
+putting in my pocket her note of hand which she had just written, I
+bowed to take my leave, but she addressed to me these precious words:
+
+"I believe, sir, that if I had known that you were so well disposed
+to oblige me, I could not have made up my mind to beg that service
+from you."
+
+"Well, madam, for the future be quite certain that there is not a man
+in the world capable of refusing you such an insignificant service
+whenever you will condescend to ask for it in person."
+
+"What you say is very complimentary, but I trust never to find myself
+again under the necessity of making such a cruel experiment."
+
+I left Madame F-----, thinking of the shrewdness of her answer.  She
+had not told me that I was mistaken, as I had expected she would, for
+that would have caused her some humiliation: she knew that I was with
+M. D---- R----- when the adjutant had brought her letter, and she
+could not doubt that I was aware of the refusal she had met with.
+The fact of her not mentioning it proved to me that she was jealous
+of her own dignity; it afforded me great gratification, and I thought
+her worthy of adoration.  I saw clearly that she could have no love
+for M. D---- R-----, and that she was not loved by him, and the
+discovery made me leap for joy.  From that moment I felt I was in
+love with her, and I conceived the hope that she might return my
+ardent affection.
+
+The first thing I did, when I returned to my room, was to cross out
+with ink every word of her note of hand, except her name, in such a
+manner that it was impossible to guess at the contents, and putting
+it in an envelope carefully sealed, I deposited it in the hands of a
+public notary who stated, in the receipt he gave me of the envelope,
+that he would deliver it only to Madame F-----, whenever she should
+request its delivery.
+
+The same evening M. F----- came to the bank, paid me, played with
+cash in hand, and won some fifty ducats.  What caused me the greatest
+surprise was that M. D---- R----- continued to be very gracious to
+Madame F----, and that she remained exactly the same towards him as
+she used to be before.  He did not even enquire what she wanted when
+she had sent for me.  But if she did not seem to change her manner
+towards my master, it was a very different case with me, for whenever
+she was opposite to me at dinner, she often addressed herself to me,
+and she thus gave me many opportunities of shewing my education and
+my wit in amusing stories or in remarks, in which I took care to
+blend instruction with witty jests.  At that time F---- had the great
+talent of making others laugh while I kept a serious countenance
+myself.  I had learnt that accomplishment from M. de Malipiero, my
+first master in the art of good breeding, who used to say to me,--
+
+"If you wish your audience to cry, you must shed tears yourself, but
+if you wish to make them laugh you must contrive to look as serious
+as a judge."
+
+In everything I did, in every word I uttered, in the presence of
+Madame F----, the only aim I had was to please her, but I did not
+wish her to suppose so, and I never looked at her unless she spoke to
+me.  I wanted to force her curiosity, to compel her to suspect nay,
+to guess my secret, but without giving her any advantage over me: it
+was necessary for me to proceed by slow degrees.  In the mean time,
+and until I should have a greater happiness, I was glad to see that
+my money, that magic talisman, and my good conduct, obtained me a
+consideration much greater than I could have hoped to obtain either
+through my position, or from my age, or in consequence of any talent
+I might have shewn in the profession I had adopted.
+
+Towards the middle of November, the soldier who acted as my servant
+was attacked with inflammation of the chest; I gave notice of it to
+the captain of his company, and he was carried to the hospital.  On
+the fourth day I was told that he would not recover, and that he had
+received the last sacraments; in the evening I happened to be at his
+captain's when the priest who had attended him came to announce his
+death, and to deliver a small parcel which the dying man had
+entrusted to him to be given up to his captain only after his death.
+The parcel contained a brass seal engraved with ducal arms, a
+certificate of baptism, and a sheet of paper covered with writing in
+French.  Captain Camporese, who only spoke Italian, begged me to
+translate the paper, the contents of which were as follows:
+
+"My will is that this paper, which I have written and signed with my
+own hand, shall be delivered to my captain only after I have breathed
+my last: until then, my confessor shall not make any use of it, for I
+entrust it to his hands only under the seal of confession.  I entreat
+my captain to have me buried in a vault from which my body can be
+exhumed in case the duke, my father, should request its exhumation.
+I entreat him likewise to forward my certificate of baptism, the seal
+with the armorial bearings of my family, and a legal certificate of
+my birth to the French ambassador in Venice, who will send the whole
+to the duke, my father, my rights of primogeniture belonging, after
+my demise, to the prince, my brother.  In faith of which I have
+signed and sealed these presents: Francois VI.  Charles Philippe
+Louis Foucaud, Prince de la Rochefoucault."
+
+The certificate of baptism, delivered at St. Sulpice gave the same
+names, and the title of the father was Francois V.  The name of the
+mother was Gabrielle du Plessis.
+
+As I was concluding my translation I could not help bursting into
+loud laughter; but the foolish captain, who thought my mirth out of
+place, hurried out to render an account of the affair to the
+proveditore-generale, and I went to the coffee-house, not doubting
+for one moment that his excellency would laugh at the captain, and
+that the post-mortem buffoonery would greatly amuse the whole of
+Corfu.
+
+I had known in Rome, at Cardinal Acquaviva's, the Abbe de Liancourt,
+great-grandson of Charles, whose sister, Gabrielle du Plessis, had
+been the wife of Francois V., but that dated from the beginning of
+the last century.  I had made a copy from the records of the cardinal
+of the account of certain circumstances which the Abbe de Liancourt
+wanted to communicate to the court of Spain, and in which there were
+a great many particulars respecting the house of Du Plessis.  I
+thought at the same time that the singular imposture of La Valeur
+(such was the name by which my soldier generally went) was absurd and
+without a motive, since it was to be known only after his death, and
+could not therefore prove of any advantage to him.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, as I was opening a fresh pack of cards, the
+Adjutant Sanzonio came in, and told the important news in the most
+serious manner.  He had just come from the office of the proveditore,
+where Captain Camporese had run in the utmost hurry to deposit
+in the hands of his excellency the seal and the papers of the
+deceased prince.  His excellency had immediately issued his orders
+for the burial of the prince in a vault with all the honours due to
+his exalted rank.  Another half hour passed, and M.  Minolto,
+adjutant of the proveditore-generale, came to inform me that his
+excellency wanted to see me.  I passed the cards to Major Maroli, and
+went to his excellency's house.  I found him at supper with several
+ladies, three or four naval commanders, Madame F----, and M. D----
+R-----.
+
+"So, your servant was a prince!" said the old general to me.
+
+"Your excellency, I never would have suspected it, and even now that
+he is dead I do not believe it."
+
+"Why?  He is dead, but he was not insane.  You have seen his armorial
+bearings, his certificate of baptism, as well as what he wrote with
+his own hand.  When a man is so near death, he does not fancy
+practical jokes."
+
+"If your excellency is satisfied of the truth of the story, my duty
+is to remain silent."
+
+"The story cannot be anything but true, and your doubts surprise me."
+
+"I doubt, monsignor, because I happen to have positive information
+respecting the families of La Rochefoucault and Du Plessis.  Besides,
+I have seen too much of the man.  He was not a madman, but he
+certainly was an extravagant jester.  I have never seen him write,
+and he has told me himself a score of times that he had never
+learned."
+
+"The paper he has written proves the contrary.  His arms have the
+ducal bearings; but perhaps you are not aware that M. de la
+Rochefoucault is a duke and peer of the French realm?"
+
+"I beg your eminence's pardon; I know all about it; I know even more,
+for I know that Francois VI.  married a daughter of the house of
+Vivonne."
+
+"You know nothing."
+
+When I heard this remark, as foolish as it was rude, I resolved on
+remaining silent, and it was with some pleasure that I observed the
+joy felt by all the male guests at what they thought an insult and a
+blow to my vanity.  An officer remarked that the deceased was a fine
+man, a witty man, and had shewn wonderful cleverness in keeping up
+his assumed character so well that no one ever had the faintest
+suspicion of what he really was.  A lady said that, if she had known
+him, she would have been certain to find him out.  Another flatterer,
+belonging to that mean, contemptible race always to be found near the
+great and wealthy of the earth, assured us that the late prince had
+always shewn himself cheerful, amiable, obliging, devoid of
+haughtiness towards his comrades, and that he used to sing
+beautifully.  "He was only twenty-five years of age," said Madame
+Sagredo, looking me full in the face, "and if he was endowed with all
+those qualities, you must have discovered them."
+
+"I can only give you, madam, a true likeness of the man, such as I
+have seen him.  Always gay, often even to folly, for he could throw a
+somersault beautifully; singing songs of a very erotic kind, full of
+stories and of popular tales of magic, miracles, and ghosts, and a
+thousand marvellous feats which common-sense refused to believe, and
+which, for that very reason, provoked the mirth of his hearers.  His
+faults were that he was drunken, dirty, quarrelsome, dissolute, and
+somewhat of a cheat.  I put up with all his deficiences, because he
+dressed my hair to my taste, and his constant chattering offered me
+the opportunity of practising the colloquial French which cannot be
+acquired from books.  He has always assured me that he was born in
+Picardy, the son of a common peasant, and that he had deserted from
+the French army.  He may have deceived me when he said that he could
+not write."
+
+Just then Camporese rushed into the room, and announced that La
+Veleur was yet breathing.  The general, looking at me significantly,
+said that he would be delighted if the man could be saved.
+
+"And I likewise, monsignor, but his confessor will certainly kill him
+to-night."
+
+"Why should the father confessor kill him?"
+
+"To escape the galleys to which your excellency would not fail to
+send him for having violated the secrecy of the confessional."
+
+Everybody burst out laughing, but the foolish old general knitted his
+brows.  The guests retired soon afterwards, and Madame F-----, whom
+I had preceded to the carriage, M. D---- R----- having offered her
+his arm, invited me to get in with her, saying that it was raining.
+It was the first time that she had bestowed such an honour upon me.
+
+"I am of your opinion about that prince," she said, "but you have
+incurred the displeasure of the proveditore."
+
+"I am very sorry, madam, but it could not have been avoided, for I
+cannot help speaking the truth openly."
+
+"You might have spared him," remarked M. D---- R-----, "the cutting
+jest of the confessor killing the false prince."
+
+"You are right, sir, but I thought it would make him laugh as well as
+it made madam and your excellency.  In conversation people generally
+do not object to a witty jest causing merriment and laughter."
+
+"True; only those who have not wit enough to laugh do not like the
+jest."
+
+"I bet a hundred sequins that the madman will recover, and that,
+having the general on his side, he will reap all the advantages of
+his imposture.  I long to see him treated as a prince, and making
+love to Madame Sagredo"
+
+Hearing the last words, Madame F-----, who did not like Madame
+Sagredo, laughed heartily, and, as we were getting out of the
+carriage, M. D---- R----- invited me to accompany them upstairs.  He
+was in the habit of spending half an hour alone with her at her own
+house when they had taken supper together with the general, for her
+husband never shewed himself.  It was the first time that the happy
+couple admitted a third person to their tete-a-tete.  I felt very
+proud of the compliment thus paid to me, and I thought it might have
+important results for me.  My satisfaction, which I concealed as well
+as I could, did not prevent me from being very gay and from giving a
+comic turn to every subject brought forward by the lady or by her
+lord.
+
+We kept up our pleasant trio for four hours; and returned to the
+mansion of M. D---- R----- only at two o'clock in the morning.  It
+was during that night that Madame F---- and M. D---- R----- really
+made my acquaintance.  Madame F---- told him that she had never
+laughed so much, and that she had never imagined that a conversation,
+in appearance so simple, could afford so much pleasure and merriment.
+On my side, I discovered in her so much wit and cheerfulness, that I
+became deeply enamoured, and went to bed fully satisfied that, in the
+future, I could not keep up the show of indifference which I had so
+far assumed towards her.
+
+When I woke up the next morning, I heard from the new soldier who
+served me that La Valeur was better, and had been pronounced out of
+danger by the physician. At dinner the conversation fell upon him,
+but I did not open my lips.  Two days afterwards, the general gave
+orders to have him removed to a comfortable apartment, sent him a
+servant, clothed him, and the over-credulous proveditore having paid
+him a visit, all the naval commanders and officers thought it their
+duty to imitate him, and to follow his example: the general curiosity
+was excited, there was a rush to see the new prince.  M. D---- R-----
+followed his leaders, and Madame Sagredo, having set the ladies in
+motion, they all called upon him, with the exception of Madame F----,
+who told me laughingly that she would not pay him a visit unless I
+would consent to introduce her.  I begged to be excused.  The knave
+was called your highness, and the wonderful prince styled Madame
+Sagredo his princess.  M. D---- R----- tried to persuade me to call
+upon the rogue, but I told him that I had said too much, and that I
+was neither courageous nor mean enough to retract my words.  The
+whole imposture would soon have been discovered if anyone had
+possessed a peerage, but it just happened that there was not a copy
+in Corfu, and the French consul, a fat blockhead, like many other
+consuls, knew nothing of family trees.  The madcap La Valeur began to
+walk out a week after his metamorphosis into a prince.  He dined and
+had supper every day with the general, and every evening he was
+present at the reception, during which, owing to his intemperance, he
+always went fast asleep.  Yet, there were two reasons which kept up
+the belief of his being a prince: the first was that he did not seem
+afraid of the news expected from Venice, where the proveditore had
+written immediately after the discovery; the second was that he
+solicited from the bishop the punishment of the priest who had
+betrayed his secret by violating the seal of confession.  The poor
+priest had already been sent to prison, and the proveditore had not
+the courage to defend him.  The new prince had been invited to dinner
+by all the naval officers, but M. D---- R----- had not made up his
+mind to imitate them so far, because Madame F---- had clearly warned
+him that she would dine at her own house on the day he was invited.
+I had likewise respectfully intimated that, on the same occasion, I
+would take the liberty of dining somewhere else.
+
+I met the prince one day as I was coming out of the old fortress
+leading to the esplanade.  He stopped, and reproached me for not
+having called upon him.  I laughed, and advised him to think of his
+safety before the arrival of the news which would expose all the
+imposture, in which case the proveditore was certain to treat him
+very severely.  I offered to help him in his flight from Corfu, and
+to get a Neapolitan captain, whose ship was ready to sail, to conceal
+him on board; but the fool, instead of accepting my offer, loaded me
+with insults.
+
+He was courting Madame Sagredo, who treated him very well, feeling
+proud that a French prince should have given her the preference over
+all the other ladies.  One day that she was dining in great ceremony
+at M. D---- R-----'s house, she asked me why I had advised the prince
+to run away.
+
+"I have it from his own lips," she added, "and he cannot make out
+your obstinacy in believing him an impostor."
+
+"I have given him that advice, madam, because my heart is good, and
+my judgment sane."
+
+"Then we are all of us as many fools, the proveditore included?"
+
+"That deduction would not be right, madam.  An opinion contrary to
+that of another does not necessarily make a fool of the person who
+entertains it.  It might possibly turn out, in ten or twelve days,
+that I have been entirely mistaken myself, but I should not consider
+myself a fool in consequence.  In the mean time, a lady of your
+intelligence must have discovered whether that man is a peasant or a
+prince by his education and manners.  For instance, does he dance
+well?"
+
+"He does not know one step, but he is the first to laugh about it; he
+says he never would learn dancing."
+
+"Does he behave well at table?"
+
+"Well, he doesn't stand on ceremony.  He does not want his plate to
+be changed, he helps himself with his spoon out of the dishes; he
+does not know how to check an eructation or a yawn, and if he feels
+tired he leaves the table.  It is evident that he has been very badly
+brought up."
+
+"And yet he is very pleasant, I suppose.  Is he clean and neat?"
+
+"No, but then he is not yet well provided with linen."
+
+"I am told that he is very sober."
+
+"You are joking.  He leaves the table intoxicated twice a day, but he
+ought to be pitied, for he cannot drink wine and keep his head clear.
+Then he swears like a trooper, and we all laugh, but he never takes
+offence."
+
+"Is he witty?"
+
+"He has a wonderful memory, for he tells us new stories every day."
+
+"Does he speak of his family?"
+
+"Very often of his mother, whom he loved tenderly.  She was a Du
+Plessis."
+
+"If his mother is still alive she must be a hundred and fifty years
+old."
+
+"What nonsense!"
+
+"Not at all; she was married in the days of Marie de Medicis."
+
+"But the certificate of baptism names the prince's mother, and his
+seal--"
+
+"Does he know what armorial bearings he has on that seal?"
+
+"Do you doubt it?"
+
+"Very strongly, or rather I am certain that he knows nothing about
+it."
+
+We left the table, and the prince was announced.  He came in, and
+Madame Sagredo lost no time in saying to him, "Prince, here is M.
+Casanova; he pretends that you do not know your own armorial
+bearings." Hearing these words, he came up to me, sneering, called me
+a coward, and gave me a smack on the face which almost stunned me.  I
+left the room very slowly, not forgetting my hat and my cane, and
+went downstairs, while M. D---- R----- was loudly ordering the
+servants to throw the madman out of the window.
+
+I left the palace and went to the esplanade in order to wait for him.
+The moment I saw him, I ran to meet him, and I beat him so violently
+with my cane that one blow alone ought to have killed him.  He drew
+back, and found himself brought to a stand between two walls, where,
+to avoid being beaten to death, his only resource was to draw his
+sword, but the cowardly scoundrel did not even think of his weapon,
+and I left him, on the ground, covered with blood.  The crowd formed
+a line for me to pass, and I went to the coffee-house, where I drank
+a glass of lemonade, without sugar to precipitate the bitter saliva
+which rage had brought up from my stomach.  In a few minutes, I found
+myself surrounded by all the young officers of the garrison, who
+joined in the general opinion that I ought to have killed him, and
+they at last annoyed me, for it was not my fault if I had not done
+so, and I would certainly have taken his life if he had drawn his
+sword.
+
+I had been in the coffee-house for half an hour when the general's
+adjutant came to tell me that his excellency ordered me to put myself
+under arrest on board the bastarda, a galley on which the prisoners
+had their legs in irons like galley slaves.  The dose was rather too
+strong to be swallowed, and I did not feel disposed to submit to it.
+"Very good, adjutant," I replied, "it shall be done." He went away,
+and I left the coffee-house a moment after him, but when I reached
+the end of the street, instead of going towards the esplanade, I
+proceeded quickly towards the sea.  I walked along the beach for a
+quarter of an hour, and finding a boat empty, but with a pair of
+oars, I got in her, and unfastening her, I rowed as hard as I could
+towards a large caicco, sailing against the wind with six oars.  As
+soon as I had come up to her, I went on board and asked the
+carabouchiri to sail before the wind and to take me to a large wherry
+which could be seen at some distance, going towards Vido Rock.  I
+abandoned the row-boat, and, after paying the master of the caicco
+generously, I got into the wherry, made a bargain with the skipper
+who unfurled three sails, and in less than two hours we were fifteen
+miles away from Corfu.  The wind having died away, I made the men row
+against the current, but towards midnight they told me that they
+could not row any longer, they were worn out with fatigue.  They
+advised me to sleep until day-break, but I refused to do so, and for
+a trifle I got them to put me on shore, without asking where I was,
+in order not to raise their suspicions.  It was enough for me to know
+that I was at a distance of twenty miles from Corfu, and in a place
+where nobody could imagine me to be.  The moon was shining, and I saw
+a church with a house adjoining, a long barn opened on both sides, a
+plain of about one hundred yards confined by hills, and nothing more.
+I found some straw in the barn, and laying myself down, I slept until
+day-break in spite of the cold.  It was the 1st of December, and
+although the climate is very mild in Corfu I felt benumbed when I
+awoke, as I had no cloak over my thin uniform.
+
+The bells begin to toll, and I proceed towards the church.  The long-
+bearded papa, surprised at my sudden apparition, enquires whether I
+am Romeo (a Greek); I tell him that I am Fragico (Italian), but he
+turns his back upon me and goes into his house, the door of which he
+shuts without condescending to listen to me.
+
+I then turned towards the sea, and saw a boat leaving a tartan lying
+at anchor within one hundred yards of the island; the boat had four
+oars and landed her passengers.  I come up to them and meet a good-
+looking Greek, a woman and a young boy ten or twelve years old.
+Addressing myself to the Greek, I ask him whether he has had a
+pleasant passage, and where he comes from.  He answers in Italian
+that he has sailed from Cephalonia with his wife and his son, and
+that he is bound for Venice; he had landed to hear mass at the Church
+of Our Lady of Casopo, in order to ascertain whether his father-in-
+law was still alive, and whether he would pay the amount he had
+promised him for the dowry of his wife.
+
+"But how can you find it out?"
+
+"The Papa Deldimopulo will tell me; he will communicate faithfully
+the oracle of the Holy Virgin."  I say nothing and follow him into the
+church; he speaks to the priest, and gives him some money.  The papa
+says the mass, enters the sanctum sanctorum, comes out again in a
+quarter of an hour, ascends the steps of the altar, turns towards his
+audience, and, after meditating for a minute and stroking his long
+beard, he delivers his oracle in a dozen words.  The Greek of
+Cephalonia, who certainly could not boast of being as wise as
+Ulysses, appears very well pleased, and gives more money to the
+impostor.  We leave the church, and I ask him whether he feels
+satisfied with the oracle.
+
+"Oh!  quite satisfied.  I know now that my father-in-law is alive,
+and that he will pay me the dowry, if I consent to leave my child
+with him.  I am aware that it is his fancy and I will give him the
+boy."
+
+"Does the papa know you?"
+
+"No; he is not even acquainted with my name."
+
+"Have you any fine goods on board your tartan?"
+
+"Yes; come and breakfast with me; you can see all I have."
+
+"Very willingly."
+
+Delighted at hearing that oracles were not yet defunct, and satisfied
+that they will endure as long as there are in this world simple-
+minded men and deceitful, cunning priests, I follow the good man, who
+took me to his tartan and treated me to an excellent breakfast.  His
+cargo consisted of cotton, linen, currants, oil, and excellent wines.
+He had also a stock of night-caps, stockings, cloaks in the Eastern
+fashion, umbrellas, and sea biscuits, of which I was very fond; in
+those days I had thirty teeth, and it would have been difficult to
+find a finer set.  Alas!  I have but two left now, the other twenty-
+eight are gone with other tools quite as precious; but 'dum vita
+super est, bene est.'  I bought a small stock of everything he had
+except cotton, for which I had no use, and without discussing his
+price I paid him the thirty-five or forty sequins he demanded, and
+seeing my generosity he made me a present of six beautiful botargoes.
+
+I happened during our conversation to praise the wine of Xante, which
+he called generoydes, and he told me that if I would accompany him to
+Venice he would give me a bottle of that wine every day including the
+quarantine.  Always superstitious, I was on the point of accepting,
+and that for the most foolish reason-namely, that there would be no
+premeditation in that strange resolution, and it might be the impulse
+of fate.  Such was my nature in those days; alas; it is very
+different now.  They say that it is because wisdom comes with old
+age, but I cannot reconcile myself to cherish the effect of a most
+unpleasant cause.
+
+Just as I was going to accept his offer he proposes to sell me a very
+fine gun for ten sequins, saying that in Corfu anyone would be glad
+of it for twelve.  The word Corfu upsets all my ideas on the spot!  I
+fancy I hear the voice of my genius telling me to go back to that
+city.  I purchase the gun for the ten sequins, and my honest
+Cephalonian, admiring my fair dealing, gives me, over and above our
+bargain, a beautiful Turkish pouch well filled with powder and shot.
+Carrying my gun, with a good warm cloak over my uniform and with a
+large bag containing all my purchases, I take leave of the worthy
+Greek, and am landed on the shore, determined on obtaining a lodging
+from the cheating papa, by fair means or foul.  The good wine of my
+friend the Cephalonian had excited me just enough to make me carry my
+determination into immediate execution.  I had in my pockets four or
+five hundred copper gazzette, which were very heavy, but which I had
+procured from the Greek, foreseeing that I might want them during my
+stay on the island.
+
+I store my bag away in the barn and I proceed, gun in hand, towards
+the house of the priest; the church was closed.
+
+I must give my readers some idea of the state I was in at that
+moment.  I was quietly hopeless.  The three or four hundred sequins I
+had with me did not prevent me from thinking that I was not in very
+great security on the island; I could not remain long, I would soon
+be found out, and, being guilty of desertion, I should be treated
+accordingly.  I did not know what to do, and that is always an
+unpleasant predicament.  It would be absurd for me to return to Corfu
+of my own accord; my flight would then be useless, and I should be
+thought a fool, for my return would be a proof of cowardice or
+stupidity; yet I did not feel the courage to desert altogether.  The
+chief cause of my decision was not that I had a thousand sequins in
+the hands of the faro banker, or my well-stocked wardrobe, or the
+fear of not getting a living somewhere else, but the unpleasant
+recollection that I should leave behind me a woman whom I loved to
+adoration, and from whom I had not yet obtained any favour, not even
+that of kissing her hand.  In such distress of mind I could not do
+anything else but abandon myself to chance, whatever the result might
+be, and the most essential thing for the present was to secure a
+lodging and my daily food.
+
+I knock at the door of the priest's dwelling.  He looks out of a
+window and shuts it without listening to me, I knock again, I swear,
+I call out loudly, all in vain, Giving way to my rage, I take aim at
+a poor sheep grazing with several others at a short distance, and
+kill it.  The herdsman begins to scream, the papa shows himself at
+the window, calling out, "Thieves!  Murder!" and orders the alarm-
+bell to be rung.  Three bells are immediately set in motion, I
+foresee a general gathering: what is going to happen?  I do not know,
+but happen what will, I load my gun and await coming events.
+
+In less than eight or ten minutes, I see a crowd of peasants coming
+down the hills, armed with guns, pitchforks, or cudgels: I withdraw
+inside of the barn, but without the slightest fear, for I cannot
+suppose that, seeing me alone, these men will murder me without
+listening to me.
+
+The first ten or twelve peasants come forward, gun in hand and ready
+to fire: I stop them by throwing down my gazzette, which they lose no
+time in picking up from the ground, and I keep on throwing money down
+as the men come forward, until I had no more left.  The clowns were
+looking at each other in great astonishment, not knowing what to make
+out of a well-dressed young man, looking very peaceful, and throwing
+his money to them with such generosity.  I could not speak to them
+until the deafening noise of the bells should cease.  I quietly sit
+down on my large bag, and keep still, but as soon as I can be heard I
+begin to address the men.  The priest, however, assisted by his
+beadle and by the herdsman, interrupts me, and all the more easily
+that I was speaking Italian.  My three enemies, who talked all at
+once, were trying to excite the crowd against me.
+
+One of the peasants, an elderly and reasonable-looking man, comes up
+to me and asks me in Italian why I have killed the sheep.
+
+"To eat it, my good fellow, but not before I have paid for it."
+
+"But his holiness, the papa, might choose to charge one sequin for
+it."
+
+"Here is one sequin."
+
+The priest takes the money and goes away: war is over.  The peasant
+tells me that he has served in the campaign of 1716, and that he was
+at the defence of Corfu.  I compliment him, and ask him to find me a
+lodging and a man able to prepare my meals.  He answers that he will
+procure me a whole house, that he will be my cook himself, but I must
+go up the hill.  No matter!  He calls two stout fellows, one takes my
+bag, the other shoulders my sheep, and forward!  As we are walking
+along, I tell him,--
+
+"My good man, I would like to have in my service twenty-four fellows
+like these under military discipline.  I would give each man twenty
+gazzette a day, and you would have forty as my lieutenant."
+
+"I will," says the old soldier, "raise for you this very day a body-
+guard of which you will be proud."
+
+We reach a very convenient house, containing on the ground floor
+three rooms and a stable, which I immediately turned into a guard-
+room.
+
+My lieutenant went to get what I wanted, and particularly a
+needlewoman to make me some shirts.  In the course of the day I had
+furniture, bedding, kitchen utensils, a good dinner, twenty-four
+well-equipped soldiers, a super-annuated sempstress and several young
+girls to make my shirts.  After supper, I found my position highly
+pleasant, being surrounded with some thirty persons who looked upon
+me as their sovereign, although they could not make out what had
+brought me to their island.  The only thing which struck me as
+disagreeable was that the young girls could not speak Italian, and I
+did not know Greek enough to enable me to make love to them.
+
+The next morning my lieutenant had the guard relieved, and I could
+not help bursting into a merry laugh.  They were like a flock of
+sheep: all fine men, well-made and strong; but without uniform and
+without discipline the finest band is but a herd.  However, they
+quickly learned how to present arms and to obey the orders of their
+officer.  I caused three sentinels to be placed, one before the
+guardroom, one at my door, and the third where he could have a good
+view of the sea.  This sentinel was to give me warning of the
+approach of any armed boat or vessel.  For the first two or three
+days I considered all this as mere amusement, but, thinking that I
+might really want the men to repel force by force, I had some idea of
+making my army take an oath of allegiance.  I did not do so, however,
+although my lieutenant assured me that I had only to express my
+wishes, for my generosity had captivated the love of all the
+islanders.
+
+My sempstress, who had procured some young needlewomen to sew my
+shirts, had expected that I would fall in love with one and not with
+all, but my amorous zeal overstepped her hopes, and all the pretty
+ones had their turn; they were all well satisfied with me, and the
+sempstress was rewarded for her good offices.  I was leading a
+delightful life, for my table was supplied with excellent dishes,
+juicy mutton, and snipe so delicious that I have never tasted their
+like except in St. Petersburg.  I drank scopolo wine or the best
+muscatel of the Archipelago.  My lieutenant was my only table
+companion.  I never took a walk without him and two of my body-guard,
+in order to defend myself against the attacks of a few young men who
+had a spite against me because they fancied, not without some reason,
+that my needlewomen, their mistresses, had left them on my account.
+I often thought while I was rambling about the island, that without
+money I should have been unhappy, and that I was indebted to my gold
+for all the happiness I was enjoying; but it was right to suppose at
+the same time that, if I had not felt my purse pretty heavy, I would
+not have been likely to leave Corfu.
+
+I had thus been playing the petty king with success for a week or ten
+days, when, towards ten o'clock at night I heard the sentinel's
+challenge.  My lieutenant went out, and returned announcing that an
+honest-looking man, who spoke Italian, wished to see me on important
+business.  I had him brought in, and, in the presence of my
+lieutenant, he told me in Italian:
+
+"Next Sunday, the Papa Deldimopulo will fulminate against you the
+'cataramonachia'.  If you do not prevent him, a slow fever will send
+you into the next world in six weeks."
+
+"I have never heard of such a drug."
+
+"It is not a drug.  It is a curse pronounced by a priest with the
+Host in his hands, and it is sure to be fulfilled."
+
+"What reason can that priest have to murder me?"
+
+"You disturb the peace and discipline of his parish.  You have
+seduced several young girls, and now their lovers refuse to marry
+them."
+
+I made him drink, and thanking him heartily, wished him good night.
+His warning struck me as deserving my attention, for, if I had no
+fear of the 'cataramonachia', in which I had not the slightest faith,
+I feared certain poisons which might be by far more efficient.  I
+passed a very quiet night, but at day-break I got up, and without
+saying anything to my lieutenant, I went straight to the church where
+I found the priest, and addressed him in the following words, uttered
+in a tone likely to enforce conviction:
+
+"On the first symptom of fever, I will shoot you like a dog.  Throw
+over me a curse which will kill me instantly, or make your will.
+Farewell!"
+
+Having thus warned him, I returned to my royal palace.  Early on the
+following Monday, the papa called on me.  I had a slight headache; he
+enquired after my health, and when I told him that my head felt
+rather heavy, he made me laugh by the air of anxiety with which he
+assured me that it could be caused by nothing else than the heavy
+atmosphere of the island of Casopo.
+
+Three days after his visit, the advanced sentinel gave the war-cry.
+The lieutenant went out to reconnoitre, and after a short absence he
+gave me notice that the long boat of an armed vessel had just landed
+an officer.  Danger was at hand.
+
+I go out myself, I call my men to arms, and, advancing a few steps, I
+see an officer, accompanied by a guide, who was walking towards my
+dwelling.  As he was alone, I had nothing to fear.  I return to my
+room, giving orders to my lieutenant to receive him with all military
+honours and to introduce him.  Then, girding my sword, I wait for my
+visitor.
+
+In a few minutes, Adjutant Minolto, the same who had brought me the
+order to put myself under arrest, makes his appearance.
+
+"You are alone," I say to him, "and therefore you come as a friend.
+Let us embrace."
+
+"I must come as a friend, for, as an enemy, I should not have enough
+men.  But what I see seems a dream."
+
+"Take a seat, and dine with me.  I will treat you splendidly."
+
+"Most willingly, and after dinner we will leave the island together."
+
+"You may go alone, if you like; but I will not leave this place until
+I have the certainty, not only that I shall not be sent to the
+'bastarda', but also that I shall have every satisfaction from the
+knave whom the general ought to send to the galleys."
+
+"Be reasonable, and come with me of your own accord.  My orders are
+to take you by force, but as I have not enough men to do so, I shall
+make my report, and the general will, of course, send a force
+sufficient to arrest you."
+
+"Never; I will not be taken alive."
+
+"You must be mad; believe me, you are in the wrong.  You have
+disobeyed the order I brought you to go to the 'bastarda; in that you
+have acted wrongly, and in that alone, for in every other respect you
+were perfectly right, the general himself says so."
+
+"Then I ought to have put myself under arrest?"
+
+"Certainly; obedience is necessary in our profession."
+
+"Would you have obeyed, if you had been in my place ?"
+
+"I cannot and will not tell you what I would have done, but I know
+that if I had disobeyed orders I should have been guilty of a crime:"
+
+"But if I surrendered now I should be treated like a criminal, and
+much more severely than if I had obeyed that unjust order."
+
+"I think not.  Come with me, and you will know everything."
+
+"What!  Go without knowing what fate may be in store for me?  Do not
+expect it.  Let us have dinner.  If I am guilty of such a dreadful
+crime that violence must be used against me, I will surrender only to
+irresistible force.  I cannot be worse off, but there may be blood
+spilled."
+
+"You are mistaken, such conduct would only make you more guilty.  But
+I say like you, let us have dinner.  A good meal will very likely
+render you more disposed to listen to reason."
+
+Our dinner was nearly over, when we heard some noise outside.  The
+lieutenant came in, and informed me that the peasants were gathering
+in the neighbourhood of my house to defend me, because a rumour had
+spread through the island that the felucca had been sent with orders
+to arrest me and take me to Corfu.  I told him to undeceive the good
+fellows, and to send them away, but to give them first a barrel of
+wine.
+
+The peasants went away satisfied, but, to shew their devotion to me,
+they all fired their guns.
+
+"It is all very amusing," said the adjutant, "but it will turn out
+very serious if you let me go away alone, for my duty compels me to
+give an exact account of all I have witnessed."
+
+"I will follow you, if you will give me your word of honour to land
+me free in Corfu."
+
+"I have orders to deliver your person to M. Foscari, on board the
+bastarda."
+
+"Well, you shall not execute your orders this time."
+
+"If you do not obey the commands of the general, his honour will
+compel him to use violence against you, and of course he can do it.
+But tell me, what would you do if the general should leave you in
+this island for the sake of the joke?  There is no fear of that,
+however, and, after the report which I must give, the general will
+certainly make up his mind to stop the affair without shedding
+blood."
+
+"Without a fight it will be difficult to arrest me, for with five
+hundred peasants in such a place as this I would not be afraid of
+three thousand men."
+
+"One man will prove enough; you will be treated as a leader of
+rebels.  All these peasants may be devoted to you, but they cannot
+protect you against one man who will shoot you for the sake of
+earning a few pieces of gold.  I can tell you more than that: amongst
+all those men who surround you there is not one who would not murder
+you for twenty sequins.  Believe me, go with me.  Come to enjoy the
+triumph which is awaiting you in Corfu.  You will be courted and
+applauded.  You will narrate yourself all your mad frolics, people
+will laugh, and at the same time will admire you for having listened
+to reason the moment I came here.  Everybody feels esteem for you,
+and M. D---- R----- thinks a great deal of you.  He praises very
+highly the command you have shewn over your passion in refraining
+from thrusting your sword through that insolent fool, in order not to
+forget the respect you owed to his house.  The general himself must
+esteem you, for he cannot forget what you told him of that knave."
+
+"What has become of him?"
+
+"Four days ago Major Sardina's frigate arrived with dispatches, in
+which the general must have found all the proof of the imposture, for
+he has caused the false duke or prince to disappear very suddenly.
+Nobody knows where he has been sent to, and nobody ventures to
+mention the fellow before the general, for he made the most egregious
+blunder respecting him."
+
+"But was the man received in society after the thrashing I gave him?"
+
+"God forbid!  Do you not recollect that he wore a sword?  From that
+moment no one would receive him.  His arm was broken and his jaw
+shattered to pieces.
+
+But in spite of the state he was in, in spite of what he must have
+suffered, his excellency had him removed a week after you had treated
+him so severely.  But your flight is what everyone has been wondering
+over.  It was thought for three days that M. D---- R----- had
+concealed you in his house, and he was openly blamed for doing so.
+He had to declare loudly at the general's table that he was in the
+most complete ignorance of your whereabouts.  His excellency even
+expressed his anxiety about your escape, and it was only yesterday
+that your place of refuge was made known by a letter addressed by the
+priest of this island to the Proto-Papa Bulgari, in which he
+complained that an Italian officer had invaded the island of Casopo a
+week before, and had committed unheard-of violence.  He accused you
+of seducing all the girls, and of threatening to shoot him if he
+dared to pronounce 'cataramonachia' against you.  This letter, which
+was read publicly at the evening reception, made the general laugh,
+but he ordered me to arrest you all the same."
+
+"Madame Sagredo is the cause of it all."
+
+"True, but she is well punished for it.  You ought to call upon her
+with me to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow?  Are you then certain that I shall not be placed under
+arrest?"
+
+"Yes, for I know that the general is a man of honour."
+
+"I am of the same opinion.  Well, let us go on board your felucca.
+We will embark together after midnight."
+
+"Why not now?"
+
+"Because I will not run the risk of spending the night on board M.
+Foscari's bastarda.  I want to reach Corfu by daylight, so as to make
+your victory more brilliant."
+
+"But what shall we do for the next eight hours?"
+
+"We will pay a visit to some beauties of a species unknown in Corfu,
+and have a good supper."
+
+I ordered my lieutenant to send plenty to eat and to drink to the men
+on board the felucca, to prepare a splendid supper, and to spare
+nothing, as I should leave the island at midnight.  I made him a
+present of all my provisions, except such as I wanted to take with
+me; these I sent on board.  My janissaries, to whom I gave a week's
+pay, insisted upon escorting me, fully equipped, as far as the boat,
+which made the adjutant laugh all the way.
+
+We reached Corfu by eight o'clock in the morning, and we went
+alongside the 'bastarda.  The adjutant consigned me to M.  Foscari,
+assuring me that he would immediately give notice of my arrival to
+M. D---- R-----, send my luggage to his house, and report the success
+of his expedition to the general.
+
+M. Foscari, the commander of the bastarda, treated me very badly.  If
+he had been blessed with any delicacy of feeling, he would not have
+been in such a hurry to have me put in irons.  He might have talked
+to me, and have thus delayed for a quarter of an hour that operation
+which greatly vexed me.  But, without uttering a single word, he sent
+me to the 'capo di scalo' who made me sit down, and told me to put my
+foot forward to receive the irons, which, however, do not dishonour
+anyone in that country, not even the galley slaves, for they are
+better treated than soldiers.
+
+My right leg was already in irons, and the left one was in the hands
+of the man for the completion of that unpleasant ceremony, when the
+adjutant of his excellency came to tell the executioner to set me at
+liberty and to return me my sword.  I wanted to present my
+compliments to the noble M. Foscari, but the adjutant, rather
+ashamed, assured me that his excellency did not expect me to do so.
+The first thing I did was to pay my respects to the general, without
+saying one word to him, but he told me with a serious countenance to
+be more prudent for the future, and to learn that a soldier's first
+duty was to obey, and above all to be modest and discreet.  I
+understood perfectly the meaning of the two last words, and acted
+accordingly.
+
+When I made my appearance at M. D---- R-----'s, I could see pleasure
+on everybody's face.  Those moments have always been so dear to me
+that I have never forgotten them, they have afforded me consolation
+in the time of adversity.  If you would relish pleasure you must
+endure pain, and delights are in proportion to the privations we have
+suffered.  M. D---- R----- was so glad to see me that he came up to
+me and warmly embraced me.  He presented me with a beautiful ring
+which he took from his own finger, and told me that I had acted quite
+rightly in not letting anyone, and particularly himself, know where I
+had taken refuge.
+
+"You can't think," he added, frankly, "how interested Madame F----
+was in your fate.  She would be really delighted if you called on her
+immediately."
+
+How delightful to receive such advice from his own lips!  But the
+word "immediately" annoyed me, because, having passed the night on
+board the felucca, I was afraid that the disorder of my toilet might
+injure me in her eyes.  Yet I could neither refuse M. D---- R-----,
+nor tell him the reason of my refusal, and I bethought myself that I
+could make a merit of it in the eyes of Madame F----
+I therefore went at once to her house; the goddess was not yet
+visible, but her attendant told me to come in, assuring me that her
+mistress's bell would soon be heard, and that she would be very sorry
+if I did not wait to see her.  I spent half an hour with that young
+and indiscreet person, who was a very charming girl, and learned from
+her many things which caused me great pleasure, and particularly all
+that had been said respecting my escape.  I found that throughout the
+affair my conduct had met with general approbation.
+
+As soon as Madame F---- had seen her maid, she desired me to be shewn
+in.  The curtains were drawn aside, and I thought I saw Aurora
+surrounded with the roses and the pearls of morning.  I told her
+that, if it had not been for the order I received from M. D---- R----
+I would not have presumed to present myself before her in my
+travelling costume; and in the most friendly tone she answered that
+M. D---- R-----, knowing all the interest she felt in me, had been
+quite right to tell me to come, and she assured me that M. D----
+R----- had the greatest esteem for me.
+
+"I do not know, madam, how I have deserved such great happiness, for
+all I dared aim at was toleration."
+
+"We all admired the control you kept over your feelings when you
+refrained from killing that insolent madman on the spot; he would
+have been thrown out of the window if he had not beat a hurried
+retreat."
+
+"I should certainly have killed him, madam, if you had not been
+present."
+
+"A very pretty compliment, but I can hardly believe that you thought
+of me in such a moment."
+
+I did not answer, but cast my eyes down, and gave a deep sigh.  She
+observed my new ring, and in order to change the subject of
+conversation she praised M. D---- R----- very highly, as soon as I
+had told her how he had offered it to me.  She desired me to give her
+an account of my life on the island, and I did so, but allowed my
+pretty needlewomen to remain under a veil, for I had already learnt
+that in this world the truth must often remain untold.
+
+All my adventures amused her much, and she greatly admired my
+conduct.
+
+"Would you have the courage," she said, "to repeat all you have just
+told me, and exactly in the same terms, before the proveditore-
+generale?"
+
+"Most certainly, madam, provided he asked me himself."
+
+"Well, then, prepare to redeem your promise.  I want our excellent
+general to love you and to become your warmest protector, so as to
+shield you against every injustice and to promote your advancement.
+Leave it all to me."
+
+Her reception fairly overwhelmed me with happiness, and on leaving
+her house I went to Major Maroli to find out the state of my
+finances.  I was glad to hear that after my escape he had no longer
+considered me a partner in the faro bank.  I took four hundred
+sequins from the cashier, reserving the right to become again a
+partner, should circumstances prove at any time favourable.
+
+In the evening I made a careful toilet, and called for the Adjutant
+Minolto in order to pay with him a visit to Madame Sagredo, the
+general's favourite.  With the exception of Madame F---- she was the
+greatest beauty of Corfu.  My visit surprised her, because, as she
+had been the cause of all that had happened, she was very far from
+expecting it.  She imagined that I had a spite against her.  I
+undeceived her, speaking to her very candidly, and she treated me
+most kindly, inviting me to come now and then to spend the evening at
+her house.
+
+But I neither accepted nor refused her amiable invitation, knowing
+that Madame F---- disliked her; and how could I be a frequent guest
+at her house with such a knowledge!  Besides, Madame Sagredo was very
+fond of gambling, and, to please her, it was necessary either to lose
+or make her win, but to accept such conditions one must be in love
+with the lady or wish to make her conquest, and I had not the
+slightest idea of either.  The Adjutant Minolto never played, but he
+had captivated the lady's good graces by his services in the
+character of Mercury.
+
+When I returned to the palace I found Madame F---- alone, M. D----
+R----- being engaged with his correspondence.  She asked me to sit
+near her, and to tell her all my adventures in Constantinople.  I did
+so, and I had no occasion to repent it.  My meeting with Yusuf's wife
+pleased her extremely, but the bathing scene by moonlight made her
+blush with excitement.  I veiled as much as I could the too brilliant
+colours of my picture, but, if she did not find me clear, she would
+oblige me to be more explicit, and if I made myself better understood
+by giving to my recital a touch of voluptuousness which I borrowed
+from her looks more than from my recollection, she would scold me and
+tell me that I might have disguised a little more.  I felt that the
+way she was talking would give her a liking for me, and I was
+satisfied that the man who can give birth to amorous desires is
+easily called upon to gratify them it was the reward I was ardently
+longing for, and I dared to hope it would be mine, although I could
+see it only looming in the distance.
+
+It happened that, on that day, M. D---- R----- had invited a large
+company to supper.  I had, as a matter of course, to engross all
+conversation, and to give the fullest particulars of all that had
+taken place from the moment I received the order to place myself
+under arrest up to the time of my release from the 'bastarda'.
+M. Foscari was seated next to me, and the last part of my narrative
+was not, I suppose, particularly agreeable to him.
+
+The account I gave of my adventures pleased everybody, and it was
+decided that the proveditore-generale must have the pleasure of
+hearing my tale from my own lips.  I mentioned that hay was very
+plentiful in Casopo, and as that article was very scarce in Corfu,
+M. D---- R----- told me that I ought to seize the opportunity of
+making myself agreeable to the general by informing him of that
+circumstance without delay.  I followed his advice the very next day,
+and was very well received, for his excellency immediately ordered a
+squad of men to go to the island and bring large quantities of hay to
+Corfu.
+
+A few days later the Adjutant Minolto came to me in the coffee-house,
+and told me that the general wished to see me: this time I promptly
+obeyed his commands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Progress of My Amour--My Journey to Otranto--I Enter the Service of
+Madame F.--A Fortunate Excoriation
+
+
+The room I entered was full of people.  His excellency, seeing me,
+smiled and drew upon me the attention of all his guests by saying
+aloud, "Here comes the young man who is a good judge of princes."
+
+"My lord, I have become a judge of nobility by frequenting the
+society of men like you."
+
+"The ladies are curious to know all you have done from the time of
+your escape from Corfu up to your return."
+
+"Then you sentence me, monsignor, to make a public confession?"
+
+"Exactly; but, as it is to be a confession, be careful not to omit
+the most insignificant circumstance, and suppose that I am not in the
+room."
+
+"On the contrary, I wish to receive absolution only from your
+excellency.  But my history will be a long one."
+
+"If such is the case, your confessor gives you permission to be
+seated."
+
+I gave all the particulars of my adventures, with the exception of my
+dalliance with the nymphs of the island.
+
+"Your story is a very instructive one," observed the general.
+
+"Yes, my lord, for the adventures shew that a young man is never so
+near his utter ruin than when, excited by some great passion, he
+finds himself able to minister to it, thanks to the gold in his
+purse."
+
+I was preparing to take my leave, when the majordomo came to inform
+me that his excellency desired me to remain to supper.  I had
+therefore the honour of a seat at his table, but not the pleasure of
+eating, for I was obliged to answer the questions addressed to me
+from all quarters, and I could not contrive to swallow a single
+mouthful.  I was seated next to the Proto-Papa Bulgari, and I
+entreated his pardon for having ridiculed Deldimopulo's oracle.  "It
+is nothing else but regular cheating," he said, "but it is very
+difficult to put a stop to it; it is an old custom."
+
+A short time afterwards, Madame F---- whispered a few words to the
+general, who turned to me and said that he would be glad to hear me
+relate what had occurred to me in Constantinople with the wife of the
+Turk Yusuf, and at another friend's house, where I had seen bathing
+by moonlight.  I was rather surprised at such an invitation, and told
+him that such frolics were not worth listening to, and the general
+not pressing me no more was said about it.  But I was astonished at
+Madame F----'s indiscretion; she had no business to make my
+confidences public.  I wanted her to be jealous of her own dignity,
+which I loved even more than her person.
+
+Two or three days later, she said to me,
+
+"Why did you refuse to tell your adventures in Constantinople before
+the general?"
+
+"Because I do not wish everybody to know that you allow me to tell
+you such things.  What I may dare, madam, to say to you when we are
+alone, I would certainly not say to you in public."
+
+"And why not?  It seems to me, on the contrary, that if you are
+silent in public out of respect for me, you ought to be all the more
+silent when we are alone."
+
+"I wanted to amuse you, and have exposed myself to the danger of
+displeasing you, but I can assure you, madam, that I will not run
+such a risk again."
+
+"I have no wish to pry into your intentions, but it strikes me that
+if your wish was to please me, you ought not to have run the risk of
+obtaining the opposite result.  We take supper with the general this
+evening, and M. D---- R----- has been asked to bring you.  I feel
+certain that the general will ask you again for your adventures in
+Constantinople, and this time you cannot refuse him."
+
+M. D---- R----- came in and we went to the general's.  I thought as
+we were driving along that, although Madame F---- seemed to have
+intended to humiliate me, I ought to accept it all as a favour of
+fortune, because, by compelling me to explain my refusal to the
+general; Madame F---- had, at the same time, compelled me to a
+declaration of my feelings, which was not without importance.
+
+The 'proveditore-generale' gave me a friendly welcome, and kindly
+handed me a letter which had come with the official dispatches from
+Constantinople.  I bowed my thanks, and put the letter in my pocket:
+but he told me that he was himself a great lover of news, and that I
+could read my letter.  I opened it; it was from Yusuf, who announced
+the death of Count de Bonneval.  Hearing the name of the worthy
+Yusuf, the general asked me to tell him my adventure with his wife.
+I could not now refuse, and I began a story which amused and
+interested the general and his friends for an hour or so, but which
+was from beginning to end the work of my imagination.
+
+Thus I continued to respect the privacy of Yusuf, to avoid
+implicating the good fame of Madame F----, and to shew myself in a
+light which was tolerably advantageous to me.  My story, which was
+full of sentiment, did me a great deal of honour, and I felt very
+happy when I saw from the expression of Madame F----'s face that she
+was pleased with me, although somewhat surprised.
+
+When we found ourselves again in her house she told me, in the
+presence of M. D---- R-----, that the story I had related to the
+general was certainly very pretty, although purely imaginary, that
+she was not angry with me, because I had amused her, but that she
+could not help remarking my obstinacy in refusing compliance with her
+wishes.  Then, turning to M. D---- R-----, she said,
+
+"M. Casanova pretends that if he had given an account of his meeting
+with Yusuf's wife without changing anything everybody would think
+that I allowed him to entertain me with indecent stories.  I want you
+to give your opinion about it.  Will you," she added, speaking to me,
+"be so good as to relate immediately the adventure in the same words
+which you have used when you told me of it?"
+
+"Yes, madam, if you wish me to do so."
+
+Stung to the quick by an indiscretion which, as I did not yet know
+women thoroughly, seemed to me without example, I cast all fears of
+displeasing to the winds, related the adventure with all the warmth
+of an impassioned poet, and without disguising or attenuating in the
+least the desires which the charms of the Greek beauty had inspired
+me with.
+
+"Do you think," said M. D---- R----- to Madame F-----, "that he ought
+to have related that adventure before all our friends as he has just
+related it to us?"
+
+"If it be wrong for him to tell it in public, it is also wrong to
+tell it to me in private."
+
+"You are the only judge of that: yes, if he has displeased you; no,
+if he has amused you.  As for my own opinion, here it is: He has just
+now amused me very much, but he would have greatly displeased me if
+he had related the same adventure in public."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Madame F----, "I must request you never to tell me
+in private anything that you cannot repeat in public."
+
+"I promise, madam, to act always according to your wishes."
+
+"It being understood," added M. D---- R-----, smiling, "that madam
+reserves all rights of repealing that order whenever she may think
+fit."
+
+I was vexed, but I contrived not to show it.  A few minutes more, and
+we took leave of Madame F----
+
+I was beginning to understand that charming woman, and to dread the
+ordeal to which she would subject me.  But love was stronger than
+fear, and, fortified with hope, I had the courage to endure the
+thorns, so as to gather the rose at the end of my sufferings.  I was
+particularly pleased to find that M. D---- R----- was not jealous of
+me, even when she seemed to dare him to it.  This was a point of the
+greatest importance.
+
+A few days afterwards, as I was entertaining her on various subjects,
+she remarked how unfortunate it had been for me to enter the
+lazzaretto at Ancona without any money.
+
+"In spite of my distress," I said, "I fell in love with a young and
+beautiful Greek slave, who very nearly contrived to make me break
+through all the sanitary laws."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"You are alone, madam, and I have not forgotten your orders."
+
+"Is it a very improper story?"
+
+"No: yet I would not relate it to you in public."
+
+"Well," she said, laughing, "I repeal my order, as M. D---- R-----
+said I would.  Tell me all about it."
+
+I told my story, and, seeing that she was pensive, I exaggerated the
+misery I had felt at not being able to complete my conquest.
+
+"What do you mean by your misery?  I think that the poor girl was
+more to be pitied than you.  You have never seen her since?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, madam; I met her again, but I dare not tell you
+when or how."
+
+"Now you must go on; it is all nonsense for you to stop.  Tell me
+all; I expect you have been guilty of some black deed."
+
+"Very far from it, madam, for it was a very sweet, although
+incomplete, enjoyment."
+
+"Go on!  But do not call things exactly by their names.  It is not
+necessary to go into details."
+
+Emboldened by the renewal of her order, I told her, without looking
+her in the face, of my meeting with the Greek slave in the presence
+of Bellino, and of the act which was cut short by the appearance of
+her master.  When I had finished my story, Madame F---- remained
+silent, and I turned the conversation into a different channel, for
+though I felt myself on an excellent footing with her, I knew
+likewise that I had to proceed with great prudence.  She was too
+young to have lowered herself before, and she would certainly look
+upon a connection with me as a lowering of her dignity.
+
+Fortune which had always smiled upon me in the most hopeless cases,
+did not intend to ill-treat me on this occasion, and procured me, on
+that very same day, a favour of a very peculiar nature.  My charming
+ladylove having pricked her finger rather severely, screamed loudly,
+and stretched her hand towards me, entreating me to suck the blood
+flowing from the wound.  You may judge, dear reader, whether I was
+long in seizing that beautiful hand, and if you are, or if you have
+ever been in love, you will easily guess the manner in which I
+performed my delightful work.  What is a kiss?  Is it not an ardent
+desire to inhale a portion of the being we love?  Was not the blood I
+was sucking from that charming wound a portion of the woman I
+worshipped?  When I had completed my work, she thanked me
+affectionately, and told me to spit out the blood I had sucked.
+
+"It is here," I said, placing my hand on my heart, "and God alone
+knows what happiness it has given me."
+
+"You have drunk my blood with happiness!  Are you then a cannibal?"
+
+"I believe not, madam; but it would have been sacrilege in my eyes if
+I had suffered one single drop of your blood to be lost."
+
+One evening, there was an unusually large attendance at M. D----
+R-----'s assembly, and we were talking of the carnival which was near
+at hand.  Everybody was regretting the lack of actors, and the
+impossibility of enjoying the pleasures of the theatre.  I
+immediately offered to procure a good company at my expense, if the
+boxes were at once subscribed for, and the monopoly of the faro bank
+granted to me.  No time was to be lost, for the carnival was
+approaching, and I had to go to Otranto to engage a troop.  My
+proposal was accepted with great joy, and the proveditore-generale
+placed a felucca at my disposal.  The boxes were all taken in three
+days, and a Jew took the pit, two nights a week excepted, which I
+reserved for my own profit.
+
+The carnival being very long that year, I had every chance of
+success.  It is said generally that the profession of theatrical
+manager is difficult, but, if that is the case, I have not found it
+so by experience, and am bound to affirm the contrary.
+
+I left Corfu in the evening, and having a good breeze in my favour, I
+reached Otranto by day-break the following morning, without the
+oarsmen having had to row a stroke.  The distance from Corfu to
+Otranto is only about fifteen leagues.
+
+I had no idea of landing, owing to the quarantine which is always
+enforced for any ship or boat coming to Italy from the east.  I only
+went to the parlour of the lazaretto, where, placed behind a grating,
+you can speak to any person who calls, and who must stand behind
+another grating placed opposite, at a distance of six feet.
+
+As soon as I announced that I had come for the purpose of engaging a
+troupe of actors to perform in Corfu, the managers of the two
+companies then in Otranto came to the parlour to speak to me.  I told
+them at once that I wished to see all the performers, one company at
+a time.
+
+The two rival managers gave me then a very comic scene, each manager
+wanting the other to bring his troupe first.  The harbour-master told
+me that the only way to settle the matter was to say myself which of
+the two companies I would see first: one was from Naples, the other
+from Sicily.  Not knowing either I gave the preference to the first.
+Don Fastidio, the manager, was very vexed, while Battipaglia, the
+director of the second, was delighted because he hoped that, after
+seeing the Neapolitan troupe, I would engage his own.
+
+An hour afterwards, Fastidio returned with all his performers, and my
+surprise may be imagined when amongst them I recognized Petronio and
+his sister Marina, who, the moment she saw me, screamed for joy,
+jumped over the grating, and threw herself in my arms.  A terrible
+hubbub followed, and high words passed between Fastidio and the
+harbour-master.  Marina being in the service of Fastidio, the captain
+compelled him to confine her to the lazaretto, where she would have
+to perform quarantine at his expense.  The poor girl cried bitterly,
+but I could not remedy her imprudence.
+
+I put a stop to the quarrel by telling Fastidio to shew me all his
+people, one after the other.  Petronio belonged to his company, and
+performed the lovers.  He told me that he had a letter for me from
+Therese.  I was also glad to see a Venetian of my acquaintance who
+played the pantaloon in the pantomime, three tolerably pretty
+actresses, a pulcinella, and a scaramouch.  Altogether, the troupe
+was a decent one.
+
+I told Fastidio to name the lowest salary he wanted for all his
+company, assuring him that I would give the preference to his rival,
+if he should ask me too much.
+
+"Sir," he answered, "we are twenty, and shall require six rooms with
+ten beds, one sitting-room for all of us, and thirty Neapolitan
+ducats a day, all travelling expenses paid.  Here is my stock of
+plays, and we will perform those that you may choose."
+
+Thinking of poor Marina who would have to remain in the lazaretto
+before she could reappear on the stage at Otranto, I told Fastidio to
+get the contract ready, as I wanted to go away immediately.
+
+I had scarcely pronounced these words than war broke out again
+between the manager-elect and his unfortunate competitor.
+Battipaglia, in his rage, called Marina a harlot, and said that she
+had arranged beforehand with Fastidio to violate the rules of the
+lazaretto in order to compel me to choose their troupe.  Petronio,
+taking his sister's part, joined Fastidio, and the unlucky
+Battipaglia was dragged outside and treated to a generous dose of
+blows and fisticuffs, which was not exactly the thing to console him
+for a lost engagement.
+
+Soon afterwards, Petronio brought me Therese's letter.  She was
+ruining the duke, getting rich accordingly, and waiting for me in
+Naples.
+
+Everything being ready towards evening, I left Otranto with twenty
+actors, and six large trunks containing their complete wardrobes.  A
+light breeze which was blowing from the south might have carried us
+to Corfu in ten hours, but when we had sailed about one hour my
+cayabouchiri informed me that he could see by the moonlight a ship
+which might prove to be a corsair, and get hold of us.  I was
+unwilling to risk anything, so I ordered them to lower the sails and
+return to Otranto.  At day-break we sailed again with a good westerly
+wind, which would also have taken us to Corfu; but after we had gone
+two or three hours, the captain pointed out to me a brigantine,
+evidently a pirate, for she was shaping her course so as to get to
+windward of us.  I told him to change the course, and to go by
+starboard, to see if the brigantine would follow us, but she
+immediately imitated our manoeuvre.  I could not go back to Otranto,
+and I had no wish to go to Africa, so I ordered the men to shape our
+course, so as to land on the coast of Calabria, by hard rowing and at
+the nearest point.  The sailors, who were frightened to death,
+communicated their fears to my comedians, and soon I heard nothing
+but weeping and sobbing.  Every one of them was calling earnestly
+upon some saint, but not one single prayer to God did I hear.  The
+bewailings of scaramouch, the dull and spiritless despair of
+Fastidio, offered a picture which would have made me laugh heartily
+if the danger had been imaginary and not real.  Marina alone was
+cheerful and happy, because she did not realize the danger we were
+running, and she laughed at the terror of the crew and of her
+companions.
+
+A strong breeze sprang up towards evening, so I ordered them to clap
+on all sail and scud before the wind, even if it should get stronger.
+In order to escape the pirate, I had made up my mind to cross the
+gulf.  We took the wind through the night, and in the morning we were
+eighty miles from Corfu, which I determined to reach by rowing.  We
+were in the middle of the gulf, and the sailors were worn out with
+fatigue, but I had no longer any fear.  A gale began to blow from the
+north, and in less than an hour it was blowing so hard that we were
+compelled to sail close to the wind in a fearful manner.  The felucca
+looked every moment as if it must capsize.  Every one looked
+terrified but kept complete silence, for I had enjoined it on penalty
+of death.  In spite of our dangerous position, I could not help
+laughing when I heard the sobs of the cowardly scaramouch.  The
+helmsman was a man of great nerve, and the gale being steady I felt
+we would reach Corfu without mishap.  At day-break we sighted the
+town, and at nine in the morning we landed at Mandrachia.  Everybody
+was surprised to see us arrive that way.
+
+As soon as my company was landed, the young officers naturally came
+to inspect the actresses, but they did not find them very desirable,
+with the exception of Marina, who received uncomplainingly the news
+that I could not renew my acquaintance with her.  I felt certain that
+she would not lack admirers.  But my actresses, who had appeared ugly
+at the landing, produced a very different effect on the stage, and
+particularly the pantaloon's wife.  M. Duodo, commander of a man-of-
+war, called upon her, and, finding master pantaloon intolerant on the
+subject of his better-half, gave him a few blows with his cane.
+Fastidio informed me the next day that the pantaloon and his wife
+refused to perform any more, but I made them alter their mind by
+giving them a benefit night.
+
+The pantaloon's wife was much applauded, but she felt insulted
+because, in the midst of the applause, the pit called out, "Bravo,
+Duodo!"  She presented herself to the general in his own box, in
+which I was generally, and complained of the manner in which she was
+treated.  The general promised her, in my name, another benefit night
+for the close of the carnival, and I was of course compelled to
+ratify his promise.  The fact is, that, to satisfy the greedy actors,
+I abandoned to my comedians, one by one, the seventeen nights I had
+reserved for myself.  The benefit I gave to Marina was at the special
+request of Madame F----, who had taken her into great favour since
+she had had the honour of breakfasting alone with M. D---- R---- in a
+villa outside of the city.
+
+My generosity cost me four hundred sequins, but the faro bank brought
+me a thousand and more, although I never held the cards, my
+management of the theatre taking up all my time.  My manner with the
+actresses gained me great kindness; it was clearly seen that I
+carried on no intrigue with any of them, although I had every
+facility for doing so.  Madame F---- complimented me, saying that she
+had not entertained such a good opinion of my discretion.  I was too
+busy through the carnival to think of love, even of the passion which
+filled my heart.  It was only at the beginning of Lent, and after the
+departure of the comedians, that I could give rein to my feelings.
+
+One morning Madame F---- sent, a messenger who, summoned me to her
+presence.  It was eleven o'clock; I immediately went to her, and
+enquired what I could do for her service.
+
+"I wanted to see you," she said, "to return the two hundred sequins
+which you lent me so nobly.  Here they are; be good enough to give me
+back my note of hand."
+
+"Your note of hand, madam, is no longer in my possession.  I have
+deposited it in a sealed envelope with the notary  who, according to
+this receipt of his, can return it only to you."
+
+"Why did you not keep it yourself?"
+
+"Because I was afraid of losing it, or of having it stolen.  And in
+the event of my death I did not want such a document to fall into any
+other hands but yours."
+
+"A great proof of your extreme delicacy, certainly, but I think you
+ought to have reserved the right of taking it out of the notary's
+custody yourself."
+
+"I did not forsee the possibility of calling for it myself."
+
+"Yet it was a very likely thing.  Then I can send word to the notary
+to transmit it to me?"
+
+"Certainly, madam; you alone can claim it."
+
+She sent to the notary, who brought the himself.
+
+She tore the envelope open, and found only a piece of paper besmeared
+with ink, quite illegible, except her own name, which had not been
+touched.
+
+"You have acted," she said, "most nobly; but you must agree with me
+that I cannot be certain that this piece of paper is really my note
+of hand, although I see my name on it."
+
+"True, madam; and if you are not certain of it, I confess myself in
+the wrong."
+
+"I must be certain of it, and I am so; but you must grant that I
+could not swear to it."
+
+"Granted, madam."
+
+During the following days it struck me that her manner towards me was
+singularly altered.  She never received me in her dishabille, and I
+had to wait with great patience until her maid had entirely dressed
+her before being admitted into her presence.
+
+If I related any story, any adventure, she pretened not to
+understand, and affected not to see the point of an anecdote or a
+jest; very often she would purposely not look at me, and then I was
+sure to relate badly.  If M. D---- R----- laughed at something I had
+just said, she would ask what he was laughing for, and when he had
+told her, she would say it was insipid or dull.  If one of her
+bracelets became unfastened, I offered to fasten it again, but either
+she would not give me so much trouble, or I did not understand the
+fastening, and the maid was called to do it.  I could not help
+shewing my vexation, but she did not seem to take the slightest
+notice of it.  If M. D---- R----- excited me to say something amusing
+or witty, and I did not speak immediately, she would say that my
+budget was empty, laughing, and adding that the wit of poor
+M.  Casanova was worn out.  Full of rage, I would plead guilty by my
+silence to her taunting accusation, but I was thoroughly miserable,
+for I did not see any cause for that extraordinary change in her
+feelings, being conscious that I had not given her any motive for it.
+I wanted to shew her openly my indifference and contempt, but
+whenever an opportunity offered, my courage would forsake me, and I
+would let it escape.
+
+One evening M. D---- R----- asking me whether I had often been in
+love, I answered,
+
+"Three times, my lord."
+
+"And always happily, of course."
+
+"Always unhappily.  The first time, perhaps, because, being an
+ecclesiastic, I durst not speak openly of my love.  The second,
+because a cruel, unexpected event compelled me to leave the woman I
+loved at the very moment in which my happiness would have been
+complete.  The third time, because the feeling of pity, with which I
+inspired the beloved object, induced her to cure me of my passion,
+instead of crowning my felicity."
+
+"But what specific remedies did she use to effect your cure?"
+
+"She has ceased to be kind."
+
+"I understand she has treated you cruelly, and you call that pity, do
+you?  You are mistaken."
+
+"Certainly," said Madame F----, "a woman may pity the man she loves,
+but she would not think of ill-treating him to cure him of his
+passion.  That woman has never felt any love for you."
+
+"I cannot, I will not believe it, madam."
+
+"But are you cured?"
+
+"Oh!  thoroughly; for when I happen to think of her, I feel nothing
+but indifference and coldness.  But my recovery was long."
+
+"Your convalescence lasted, I suppose, until you fell in love with
+another."
+
+"With another, madam?  I thought I had just told you that the third
+time I loved was the last."
+
+A few days after that conversation, M. D---- R----- told me that
+Madame F---- was not well, that he could not keep her company, and
+that I ought to go to her, as he was sure she would be glad to see
+me.  I obeyed, and told Madame F---- what M. D---- R----- had said.
+She was lying on a sofa.  Without looking at me, she told me she was
+feverish, and would not ask me to remain with her, because I would
+feel weary.
+
+"I could not experience any weariness in your society, madam; at all
+events, I can leave you only by your express command, and, in that
+case, I must spend the next four hours in your ante-room, for M. D---
+R----- has told me to wait for him here."
+
+"If so, you may take a seat."
+
+Her cold and distant manner repelled me, but I loved her, and I had
+never seen her so beautiful, a slight fever animating her complexion
+which was then truly dazzling in its beauty.  I kept where I was,
+dumb and as motionless as a statue, for a quarter of an hour.  Then
+she rang for her maid, and asked me to leave her alone for a moment.
+I was called back soon after, and she said to me,
+
+"What has become of your cheerfulness?"
+
+"If it has disappeared, madam, it can only be by your will.  Call it
+back, and you will see it return in full force."
+
+"What must I do to obtain that result?"
+
+"Only be towards me as you were when I returned from Casopo.  I have
+been disagreeable to you for the last four months, and as I do not
+know why, I feel deeply grieved."
+
+"I am always the same: in what do you find me changed?"
+
+"Good heavens!  In everything, except in beauty.  But I have taken my
+decision."
+
+"And what is it?"
+
+"To suffer in silence, without allowing any circumstance to alter the
+feelings with which you have inspired me; to wish ardently to
+convince you of my perfect obedience to your commands; to be ever
+ready to give you fresh proofs of my devotion."
+
+"I thank you, but I cannot imagine what you can have to suffer in
+silence on my account.  I take an interest in you, and I always
+listen with pleasure to your adventures.  As a proof of it, I am
+extremely curious to hear the history of your three loves."
+
+I invented on the spot three purely imaginary stories, making a great
+display of tender sentiments and of ardent love, but without alluding
+to amorous enjoyment, particularly when she seemed to expect me to do
+so.  Sometimes delicacy, sometimes respect or duty, interfered to
+prevent the crowning pleasure, and I took care to observe, at such
+moments of disappointment, that a true lover does not require that
+all important item to feel perfectly happy.  I could easily see that
+her imagination was travelling farther than my narrative, and that my
+reserve was agreeable to her.  I believed I knew her nature well
+enough to be certain that I was taking the best road to induce her to
+follow me where I wished to lead her.  She expressed a sentiment
+which moved me deeply, but I was careful not to shew it.  We were
+talking of my third love, of the woman who, out of pity, had
+undertaken to cure me, and she remarked,
+
+"If she truly loved you, she may have wished not to cure you, but to
+cure herself."
+
+On the day following this partial reconciliation, M. F----, her
+husband, begged my commanding officer, D---- R-----, to let me go
+with him to Butintro for an excursion of three days, his own adjutant
+being seriously ill.
+
+Butintro is seven miles from Corfu, almost opposite to that city; it
+is the nearest point to the island from the mainland. It is not a
+fortress, but only a small village of Epirus, or Albania, as it is
+now called, and belonging to the Venetians.  Acting on the political
+axiom that "neglected right is lost right," the Republic sends every
+year four galleys to Butintro with a gang of galley slaves to fell
+trees, cut them, and load them on the galleys, while the military
+keep a sharp look-out to prevent them from escaping to Turkey and
+becoming Mussulmans.  One of the four galleys was commanded by M.
+F---- who, wanting an adjutant for the occasion, chose me.
+
+I went with him, and on the fourth day we came back to Corfu with a
+large provision of wood. I found M. D---- R---- alone on the terrace
+of his palace.  It was Good Friday. He seemed thoughtful, and, after
+a silence of a few minutes, he spoke the following words, which I can
+never forget:
+
+"M. F-----, whose adjutant died yesterday, has just been entreating
+me to give you to him until he can find another officer.  I have told
+him that I had no right to dispose of your person, and that he, ought
+to apply to you, assuring him that, if you asked me leave to go with
+him, I would not raise any objection, although I require two
+adjutants.  Has he not mentioned the matter to you?"
+
+"No, monsignor, he has only tendered me his thanks for having
+accompanied him to Butintro, nothing else."
+
+"He is sure to speak to you about it. What do you intend to say?"
+
+"Simply that I will never leave the service of your excellency
+without your express command to do so."
+
+"I never will give you such an order."
+
+As M. D---- R---- was saying the last word, M. and Madame F---- came
+in.  Knowing that the conversation would most likely turn upon the
+subject which had just been broached, I hurried out of the room.  In
+less than a quarter of an hour I was sent for, and M. F---- said to
+me, confidentially,
+
+"Well, M. Casanova, would you not be willing to live with me as my
+adjutant?"
+
+"Does his excellency dismiss me from his service?"
+
+"Not at all," observed M. D---- R----, "but I leave you the choice."
+
+"My lord, I could not be guilty of ingratitude."
+
+And I remained there standing, uneasy, keeping my eyes on the ground,
+not even striving to conceal my mortification, which was, after all,
+very natural in such a position.  I dreaded looking at Madame F----,
+for I knew that she could easily guess all my feelings.  An instant
+after, her foolish husband coldly remarked that I should certainly
+have a more fatiguing service with him than with M. D---- R----, and
+that, of course, it was more honourable to serve the general governor
+of the galeazze than a simple sopra-committo.  I was on the point of
+answering, when Madame F---- said, in a graceful and easy manner,
+"M. Casanova is right," and she changed the subject.  I left the
+room, revolving in my mind all that had just taken place.
+
+My conclusion was that M. F---- had asked M. D---- R---- to let me go
+with him at the suggestion of his wife, or, at least with her
+consent, and it was highly flattering to my love and to my vanity.
+But I was bound in honour not to accept the post, unless I had a
+perfect assurance that it would not be disagreeable to my present
+patron.  "I will accept," I said to myself, "if M. D---- R----- tells
+me positively that I shall please him by doing so.  It is for M. F to
+make him say it."
+
+On the same night I had the honour of offering my arm to Madame F---
+during the procession which takes place in commemoration of the death
+of our Lord and Saviour, which was then attended on foot by all the
+nobility.  I expected she would mention the matter, but she did not.
+My love was in despair, and through the night I could not close my
+eyes.  I feared she had been offended by my refusal, and was
+overwhelmed with grief.  I passed the whole of the next day without
+breaking my fast, and did not utter a single word during the evening
+reception.  I felt very unwell, and I had an attack of fever which
+kept me in bed on Easter Sunday.  I was very weak on the Monday, and
+intended to remain in my room, when a messenger from Madame F----
+came to inform me that she wished to see me.  I told the messenger
+not to say that he had found me in bed, and dressing myself rapidly I
+hurried to her house.  I entered her room, pale, looking very ill:
+yet she did not enquire after my health, and kept silent a minute or
+two, as if she had been trying to recollect what she had to say to
+me.
+
+"Ah! yes, you are aware that our adjutant is dead, and that we want
+to replace him.  My husband, who has a great esteem for you, and
+feels that M. D---- R----- leaves you perfectly free to make your
+choice, has taken the singular fancy that you will come, if I ask you
+myself to do us that pleasure.  Is he mistaken?  If you would come to
+us, you would have that room."
+
+She was pointing to a room adjoining the chamber in which she slept,
+and so situated that, to see her in every part of her room, I should
+not even require to place myself at the window.
+
+
+"M. D---- R----- ," she continued, "will not love you less, and as he
+will see you here every, day, he will not be likely to forget his
+interest in your welfare.  Now, tell me, will you come or not?"
+
+"I wish I could, madam, but indeed I cannot."
+
+"You cannot?  That is singular.  Take a seat, and tell me what there
+is to prevent you, when, in accepting my offer, you are sure to
+please M. D---- R----- as well as us."
+
+"If I were certain of it, I would accept immediately; but all I have
+heard from his lips was that he left me free to make a choice."
+
+"Then you are afraid to grieve him, if you come to us ?"
+
+"It might be, and for nothing on earth...."
+
+"I am certain of the contrary."
+
+"Will you be so good as to obtain that he says so to me himself?"
+
+"And then you will come?"
+
+"Oh, madam!  that very minute!"
+
+But the warmth of my exclamation might mean a great deal, and I
+turned my head round so as not to embarrass her.  She asked me to
+give her her mantle to go to church, and we went out.  As we were
+going down the stairs, she placed her ungloved hand upon mine.  It
+was the first time that she had granted me such a favour, and it
+seemed to me a good omen.  She took off her hand, asking me whether I
+was feverish.  "Your hand," she said, "is burning."
+
+When we left the church, M. D---- R-----'s carriage happened to pass,
+and I assisted her to get in, and as soon as she had gone, hurried to
+my room in order to breathe freely and to enjoy all the felicity
+which filled my soul; for I no longer doubted her love for me, and I
+knew that, in this case, M. D---- R----- was not likely to refuse her
+anything.
+
+What is love?  I have read plenty of ancient verbiage on that
+subject, I have read likewise most of what has been said by modern
+writers, but neither all that has been said, nor what I have thought
+about it, when I was young and now that I am no longer so, nothing,
+in fact, can make me agree that love is a trifling vanity.  It is a
+sort of madness, I grant that, but a madness over which philosophy is
+entirely powerless; it is a disease to which man is exposed at all
+times, no matter at what age, and which cannot be cured, if he is
+attacked by it in his old age.  Love being sentiment which cannot be
+explained!  God of all nature!--bitter and sweet feeling!  Love!--
+charming monster which cannot be fathomed!  God who, in the midst of
+all the thorns with which thou plaguest us, strewest so many roses on
+our path that, without thee, existence and death would be united and
+blended together!
+
+Two days afterwards, M. D---- R-----, told me to go and take orders
+from M. F---- on board his galley, which was ready for a five or six
+days' voyage.  I quickly packed a few things, and called for my new
+patron who received me with great joy.  We took our departure without
+seeing madam, who was not yet visible.  We returned on the sixth day,
+and I went to establish myself in my new home, for, as I was
+preparing to go to M. D---- R-----, to take his orders, after our
+landing, he came himself, and after asking M. F---- and me whether we
+were pleased with each other, he said to me,
+
+"Casanova, as you suit each other so well, you may be certain that
+you will greatly please me by remaining in the service of M. F."
+
+I obeyed respectfully, and in less than one hour I had taken
+possession of my new quarters.  Madame F---- told me how delighted
+she was to see that great affair ended according to her wishes, and I
+answered with a deep reverence.
+
+I found myself like the salamander, in the very heart of the fire for
+which I had been longing so ardently.
+
+Almost constantly in the presence of Madame F----, dining often alone
+with her, accompanying her in her walks, even when M. D---- R-----
+was not with us, seeing her from my room, or conversing with her in
+her chamber, always reserved and attentive without pretension, the
+first night passed by without any change being brought about by that
+constant intercourse.  Yet I was full of hope, and to keep up my
+courage I imagined that love was not yet powerful enough to conquer
+her pride.  I expected everything from some lucky chance, which I
+promised myself to improve as soon as it should present itself, for I
+was persuaded that a lover is lost if he does not catch fortune by
+the forelock.
+
+But there was one circumstance which annoyed me.  In public, she
+seized every opportunity of treating me with distinction, while, when
+we were alone, it was exactly the reverse.  In the eyes of the world
+I had all the appearance of a happy lover, but I would rather have
+had less of the appearance of happiness and more of the reality.  My
+love for her was disinterested; vanity had no share in my feelings.
+
+One day, being alone with me, she said,
+
+"You have enemies, but I silenced them last night."
+
+"They are envious, madam, and they would pity me if they could read
+the secret pages of my heart.  You could easily deliver me from those
+enemies."
+
+"How can you be an object of pity for them, and how could I deliver
+you from them?"
+
+"They believe me happy, and I am miserable; you would deliver me from
+them by ill-treating me in their presence."
+
+"Then you would feel my bad treatment less than the envy of the
+wicked?"
+
+"Yes, madam, provided your bad treatment in public were compensated
+by your kindness when we are alone, for there is no vanity in the
+happiness I feel in belonging to you.  Let others pity me, I will be
+happy on condition that others are mistaken."
+
+"That's a part that I can never play."
+
+I would often be indiscreet enough to remain behind the curtain of
+the window in my room, looking at her when she thought herself
+perfectly certain that nobody saw her; but the liberty I was thus
+guilty of never proved of great advantage to me.  Whether it was
+because she doubted my discretion or from habitual reserve, she was
+so particular that, even when I saw her in bed, my longing eyes never
+could obtain a sight of anything but her head.
+
+One day, being present in her room while her maid was cutting off the
+points of her long and beautiful hair, I amused myself in picking up
+all those pretty bits, and put them all, one after the other, on her
+toilettable, with the exception of one small lock which I slipped
+into my pocket, thinking that she had not taken any notice of my
+keeping it; but the moment we were alone she told me quietly, but
+rather too seriously, to take out of my pocket the hair I had picked
+up from the floor.  Thinking she was going too far, and such rigour
+appearing to me as cruel as it was unjust and absurd, I obeyed, but
+threw the hair on the toilet-table with an air of supreme contempt.
+
+"Sir, you forget yourself."
+
+"No, madam, I do not, for you might have feigned not to have observed
+such an innocent theft."
+
+"Feigning is tiresome."
+
+"Was such petty larceny a very great crime?"
+
+"No crime, but it was an indication of feelings which you have no
+right to entertain for me."
+
+"Feelings which you are at liberty not to return, madam, but which
+hatred or pride can alone forbid my heart to experience.  If you had
+a heart you would not be the victim of either of those two fearful
+passions, but you have only head, and it must be a very wicked head,
+judging by the care it takes to heap humiliation upon me.  You have
+surprised my secret, madam, you may use it as you think proper, but
+in the meantime I have learned to know you thoroughly.  That
+knowledge will prove more useful than your discovery, for perhaps it
+will help me to become wiser."
+
+After this violent tirade I left her, and as she did not call me back
+retired to my room.  In the hope that sleep would bring calm, I
+undressed and went to bed.  In such moments a lover hates the object
+of his love, and his heart distils only contempt and hatred.  I could
+not go to sleep, and when I was sent for at supper-time I answered
+that I was ill.  The night passed off without my eyes being visited
+by sleep, and feeling weak and low I thought I would wait to see what
+ailed me, and refused to have my dinner, sending word that I was
+still very unwell.  Towards evening I felt my heart leap for joy when
+I heard my beautiful lady-love enter my room.  Anxiety, want of food
+and sleep, gave me truly the appearance of being ill, and I was
+delighted that it should be so.  I sent her away very soon, by
+telling her with perfect indifference that it was nothing but a bad
+headache, to which I was subject, and that repose and diet would
+effect a speedy cure.
+
+But at eleven o'clock she came back with her friend, M. D---- R-----,
+and coming to my bed she said, affectionately,
+
+"What ails you, my poor Casanova?"
+
+"A very bad headache, madam, which will be cured to-morrow."
+
+"Why should you wait until to-morrow?  You must get better at once.
+I have ordered a basin of broth and two new-laid eggs for you."
+
+"Nothing, madam; complete abstinence can alone cure me."
+
+"He is right," said M. D---- R-----, "I know those attacks."
+
+I shook my head slightly.  M. D---- R----- having just then turned
+round to examine an engraving, she took my hand, saying that she
+would like me to drink some broth, and I felt that she was giving me
+a small parcel.  She went to look at the engraving with M. D----
+R-----.
+
+I opened the parcel, but feeling that it contained hair, I hurriedly
+concealed it under the bed-clothes: at the same moment the blood
+rushed to my head with such violence that it actually frightened me.
+I begged for some water, she came to me, with M. D---- R-----, and
+then were both frightened to see me so red, when they had seen me
+pale and weak only one minute before.
+
+Madame F---- gave me a glass of water in which she put some Eau des
+carmes which instantly acted as a violent emetic.  Two or three
+minutes after I felt better, and asked for something to eat.  Madame
+F---- smiled.  The servant came in with the broth and the eggs, and
+while I was eating I told the history of Pandolfin.  M. D---- R-----
+thought it was all a miracle, and I could read, on the countenance of
+the charming woman, love, affection, and repentance.  If M. D----
+R----- had not been present, it would have been the moment of my
+happiness, but I felt certain that I should not have long to wait.
+M. D---- R----- told Madame F---- that, if he had not seen me so
+sick, he would have believed my illness to be all sham, for he did
+not think it possible for anyone to rally so rapidly.
+
+"It is all owing to my Eau des carmes," said Madame F-----, looking
+at me, "and I will leave you my bottle."
+
+"No, madam, be kind enough to take it with you, for the water would
+have no virtue without your presence."
+
+"I am sure of that," said M. D---- R-----, "so I will leave you here
+with your patient."
+
+"No, no, he must go to sleep now."
+
+I slept all night, but in my happy dreams I was with her, and the
+reality itself would hardly have procured me greater enjoyment than I
+had during my happy slumbers.  I saw I had taken a very long stride
+forward, for twenty-four hours of abstinence gave me the right to
+speak to her openly of my love, and the gift of her hair was an
+irrefutable confession of her own feelings.
+
+On the following day, after presenting myself before M. F----, I went
+to have a little chat with the maid, to wait until her mistress was
+visible, which was not long, and I had the pleasure of hearing her
+laugh when the maid told her I was there.  As soon as I went in,
+without giving me time to say a single word, she told me how
+delighted she was to see me looking so well, and advised me to call
+upon M. D---- R-----.
+
+It is not only in the eyes of a lover, but also in those of every man
+of taste, that a woman is a thousand times more lovely at the moment
+she comes out of the arms of Morpheus than when she has completed her
+toilet.  Around Madame F---- more brilliant beams were blazing than
+around the sun when he leaves the embrace of Aurora.  Yet the most
+beautiful woman thinks as much of her toilet as the one who cannot do
+without it--very likely because more human creatures possess the
+more they want.
+
+In the order given to me by Madame F---- to call on M. D---- R-----,
+I saw another reason to be certain of approaching happiness, for I
+thought that, by dismissing me so quickly, she had only tried to
+postpone the consummation which I might have pressed upon her, and
+which she could not have refused.
+
+Rich in the possession of her hair, I held a consultation with my
+love to decide what I ought to do with it, for Madame F----, very
+likely in her wish to atone for the miserly sentiment which had
+refused me a small bit, had given me a splendid lock, full a yard and
+a half long.  Having thought it over, I called upon a Jewish
+confectioner whose daughter was a skilful embroiderer, and I made her
+embroider before me, on a bracelet of green satin, the four initial
+letters of our names, and make a very thin chain with the remainder.
+I had a piece of black ribbon added to one end of the chain, in the
+shape of a sliding noose, with which I could easily strangle myself
+if ever love should reduce me to despair, and I passed it round my
+neck.  As I did not want to lose even the smallest particle of so
+precious a treasure, I cut with a pair of scissors all the small bits
+which were left, and devoutly gathered them together.  Then I reduced
+them into a fine powder, and ordered the Jewish confectioner to mix
+the powder in my presence with a paste made of amber, sugar, vanilla,
+angelica, alkermes and storax, and I waited until the comfits
+prepared with that mixture were ready.  I had some more made with the
+same composition, but without any hair; I put the first in a
+beautiful sweetmeat box of fine crystal, and the second in a
+tortoise-shell box.
+
+From the day when, by giving me her hair, Madame F---- had betrayed
+the secret feelings of her heart, I no longer lost my time in
+relating stories or adventures; I only spoke to her of my cove, of
+my ardent desires; I told her that she must either banish me from her
+presence, or crown my happiness, but the cruel, charming woman would
+not accept that alternative.  She answered that happiness could not
+be obtained by offending every moral law, and by swerving from our
+duties.  If I threw myself at her feet to obtain by anticipation her
+forgiveness for the loving violence I intended to use against her,
+she would repulse me more powerfully than if she had had the strength
+of a female Hercules, for she would say, in a voice full of sweetness
+and affection,
+
+"My friend, I do not entreat you to respect my weakness, but be
+generous enough to spare me for the sake of all the love I feel for
+you."
+
+"What! you love me, and you refuse to make me happy! It is
+impossible! it is unnatural.  You compel me to believe that you do
+not love me.  Only allow me to press my lips one moment upon your
+lips, and I ask no more."
+
+"No, dearest, no; it would only excite the ardour of your desires,
+shake my resolution, and we should then find ourselves more miserable
+than we are now."
+
+Thus did she every day plunge me in despair, and yet she complained
+that my wit was no longer brilliant in society, that I had lost that
+elasticity of spirits which had pleased her so much after my arrival
+from Constantinople.  M. D---- R-----, who often jestingly waged war
+against me, used to say that I was getting thinner and thinner every
+day.  Madame F---- told me one day that my sickly looks were very
+disagreeable to her, because wicked tongues would not fail to say
+that she treated me with cruelty.  Strange, almost unnatural thought!
+On it I composed an idyll which I cannot read, even now, without
+feeling tears in my eyes.
+
+"What!" I answered, "you acknowledge your cruelty towards me?  You
+are afraid of the world guessing all your heartless rigour, and yet
+you continue to enjoy it!  You condemn me unmercifully to the
+torments of Tantalus!  You would be delighted to see me gay,
+cheerful, happy, even at the expense of a judgment by which the world
+would find you guilty of a supposed but false kindness towards me,
+and yet you refuse me even the slightest favours!"
+
+"I do not mind people believing anything, provided it is not true."
+
+"What a contrast!  Would it be possible for me not to love you, for
+you to feel nothing for me?  Such contradictions strike me as
+unnatural.  But you are growing thinner yourself, and I am dying.  It
+must be so; we shall both die before long, you of consumption, I of
+exhausting decline; for I am now reduced to enjoying your shadow
+during the day, during the night, always, everywhere, except when I
+am in your presence."
+
+At that passionate declaration, delivered with all the ardour of an
+excited lover, she was surprised, deeply moved, and I thought that
+the happy hour had struck. I folded her in my arms, and was already
+tasting the first fruits of enjoyment....  The sentinel knocked
+twice!...  Oh!  fatal mischance!  I recovered my composure and stood
+in front of her....  M. D---- R----- made his appearance, and this
+time he found me in so cheerful a mood that he remained with us until
+one o'clock in the morning.
+
+My comfits were beginning to be the talk of our society.  M. D----
+R-----, Madame F----, and I were the only ones who had a box full of
+them.  I was stingy with them, and no one durst beg any from me,
+because I had said that they were very expensive, and that in all
+Corfu there was no confectioner who could make or physician who could
+analyse them.  I never gave one out of my crystal box, and Madame F.
+remarked it.  I certainly did not believe them to be amorous philtre,
+and I was very far from supposing that the addition of the hair made
+them taste more delicious; but a superstition, the offspring of my
+love, caused me to cherish them, and it made me happy to think that a
+small portion of the woman I worshipped was thus becoming a part of
+my being.
+
+Influenced perhaps by some secret sympathy, Madame F. was exceedingly
+fond of the comfits.  She asserted before all her friends that they
+were the universal panacea, and knowing herself perfect mistress of
+the inventor, she did not enquire after the secret of the
+composition.  But having observed that I gave away only the comfits
+which I kept in my tortoise-shell box, and that I never eat any but
+those from the crystal box, she one day asked me what reason I had
+for that.  Without taking time to think, I told her that in those I
+kept for myself there was a certain ingredient which made the
+partaker love her.
+
+"I do not believe it," she answered; "but are they different from
+those I eat myself?"
+
+"They are exactly the same, with the exception of the ingredient I
+have just mentioned, which has been put only in mine."
+
+"Tell me what the ingredient is."
+
+"It is a secret which I cannot reveal to you."
+
+"Then I will never eat any of your comfits."
+
+Saying which, she rose, emptied her box, and filled it again with
+chocolate drops; and for the next few days she was angry with me, and
+avoided my company.  I felt grieved, I became low-spirited, but I
+could not make up my mind to tell her that I was eating her hair!
+
+She enquired why I looked so sad.
+
+"Because you refuse to take my comfits."
+
+"You are master of your secret, and I am mistress of my diet."
+
+"That is my reward for having taken you into my confidence."
+
+And I opened my box, emptied its contents in my hand, and swallowed
+the whole of them, saying, "Two more doses like this, and I shall die
+mad with love for you.  Then you will be revenged for my reserve.
+Farewell, madam."
+
+She called me back, made me take a seat near her, and told me not to
+commit follies which would make her unhappy; that I knew how much she
+loved me, and that it was not owing to the effect of any drug.  "To
+prove to you," she added, "that you do not require anything of the
+sort to be loved, here is a token of my affection." And she offered
+me her lovely lips, and upon them mine remained pressed until I was
+compelled to draw a breath.  I threw myself at her feet, with tears
+of love and gratitude blinding my eyes, and told her that I would
+confess my crime, if she would promise to forgive me.
+
+"Your crime!  You frighten me.  Yes, I forgive you, but speak
+quickly, and tell me all."
+
+"Yes, everything.  My comfits contain your hair reduced to a powder.
+Here on my arm, see this bracelet on which our names are written with
+your hair, and round my neck this chain of the same material, which
+will help me to destroy my own life when your love fails me.  Such is
+my crime, but I would not have been guilty of it, if I had not loved
+you."
+
+She smiled, and, bidding me rise from my kneeling position, she told
+me that I was indeed the most criminal of men, and she wiped away my
+tears, assuring me that I should never have any reason to strangle
+myself with the chain.
+
+After that conversation, in which I had enjoyed the sweet nectar of
+my divinity's first kiss, I had the courage to behave in a very
+different manner.  She could see the ardour which consumed me;
+perhaps the same fire burned in her veins, but I abstained from any
+attack.
+
+"What gives you," she said one day, "the strength to control
+yourself?"
+
+"After the kiss which you granted to me of your own accord, I felt
+that I ought not to wish any favour unless your heart gave it as
+freely.  You cannot imagine the happiness that kiss has given me."
+
+"I not imagine it, you ungrateful man!  Which of us has given that
+happiness?"
+
+"Neither you nor I, angel of my soul!  That kiss so tender, so sweet,
+was the child of love!"
+
+"Yes, dearest, of love, the treasures of which are inexhaustible."
+
+The words were scarcely spoken, when our lips were engaged in happy
+concert.  She held me so tight against her bosom that I could not use
+my hands to secure other pleasures, but I felt myself perfectly
+happy.  After that delightful skirmish, I asked her whether we were
+never to go any further.
+
+"Never, dearest friend, never.  Love is a child which must be amused
+with trifles; too substantial food would kill it."
+
+"I know love better than you; it requires that substantial food, and
+unless it can obtain it, love dies of exhaustion.  Do not refuse me
+the consolation of hope."
+
+"Hope as much as you please, if it makes you happy."
+
+"What should I do, if I had no hope?  I hope, because I know you have
+a heart."
+
+"Ah!  yes.  Do you recollect the day, when, in your anger, you told
+me that I had only a head, but no heart, thinking you were insulting
+me grossly!"
+
+"Oh! yes, I recollect it."
+
+"How heartily I laughed, when I had time to think!  Yes, dearest, I
+have a heart, or I should not feel as happy as I feel now.  Let us
+keep our happiness, and be satisfied with it, as it is, without
+wishing for anything more."
+
+Obedient to her wishes, but every day more deeply enamoured, I was in
+hope that nature at last would prove stronger than prejudice, and
+would cause a fortunate crisis.  But, besides nature, fortune was my
+friend, and I owed my happiness to an accident.
+
+Madame F. was walking one day in the garden, leaning on M. D----
+R-----'s arm, and was caught by a large rose-bush, and the prickly
+thorns left a deep cut on her leg.  M. D---- R----- bandaged the
+wound with his handkerchief, so as to stop the blood which was
+flowing abundantly, and she had to be carried home in a palanquin.
+
+In Corfu, wounds on the legs are dangerous when they are not well
+attended to, and very often the wounded are compelled to leave the
+city to be cured.
+
+Madame F----- was confined to her bed, and my lucky position in the
+house condemned me to remain constantly at her orders.  I saw her
+every minute; but, during the first three days, visitors succeeded
+each other without intermission, and I never was alone with her.  In
+the evening, after everybody had gone, and her husband had retired to
+his own apartment, M. D---- R----- remained another hour, and for the
+sake of propriety I had to take my leave at the same time that he
+did.  I had much more liberty before the accident, and I told her so
+half seriously, half jestingly.  The next day, to make up for my
+disappointment, she contrived a moment of happiness for me.
+
+An elderly surgeon came every morning to dress her wound, during
+which operation her maid only was present, but I used to go, in my
+morning dishabille, to the girl's room, and to wait there, so as to
+be the first to hear how my dear one was.
+
+That morning, the girl came to tell me to go in as the surgeon was
+dressing the wound.
+
+"See, whether my leg is less inflamed."
+
+"To give an opinion, madam, I ought to have seen it yesterday."
+
+"True.  I feel great pain, and I am afraid of erysipelas."
+
+"Do not be afraid, madam," said the surgeon, "keep your bed, and I
+answer for your complete recovery."
+
+The surgeon being busy preparing a poultice at the other end of the
+room, and the maid out, I enquired whether she felt any hardness in
+the calf of the leg, and whether the inflammation went up the limb;
+and naturally, my eyes and my hands kept pace with my questions....
+I saw no inflammation, I felt no hardness, but....  and the lovely
+patient hurriedly let the curtain fall, smiling, and allowing me to
+take a sweet kiss, the perfume of which I had not enjoyed for many
+days.  It was a sweet moment; a delicious ecstacy.  From her mouth my
+lips descended to her wound, and satisfied in that moment that my
+kisses were the best of medicines, I would have kept my lips there,
+if the noise made by the maid coming back had not compelled me to
+give up my delightful occupation.
+
+When we were left alone, burning with intense desires, I entreated
+her to grant happiness at least to my eyes.
+
+"I feel humiliated," I said to her, "by the thought that the felicity
+I have just enjoyed was only a theft."
+
+"But supposing you were mistaken?"
+
+The next day I was again present at the dressing of the wound, and as
+soon as the surgeon had left, she asked me to arrange her pillows,
+which I did at once.  As if to make that pleasant office easier, she
+raised the bedclothes to support herself, and she thus gave me a
+sight of beauties which intoxicated my eyes, and I protracted the
+easy operation without her complaining of my being too slow.
+
+When I had done I was in a fearful state, and I threw myself in an
+arm-chair opposite her bed, half dead, in a sort of trance.  I was
+looking at that lovely being who, almost artless, was continually
+granting me greater and still greater favours, and yet never allowed
+me to reach the goal for which I was so ardently longing.
+
+"What are you thinking of?" she said.
+
+"Of the supreme felicity I have just been enjoying."
+
+"You are a cruel man."
+
+"No, I am not cruel, for, if you love me, you must not blush for your
+indulgence.  You must know, too, that, loving you passionately, I
+must not suppose that it is to be a surprise that I am indebted for
+my happiness in the enjoyment of the most ravishing sights, for if I
+owed it only to mere chance I should be compelled to believe that any
+other man in my position might have had the same happiness, and such
+an idea would be misery to me.  Let me be indebted to you for having
+proved to me this morning how much enjoyment I can derive from one of
+my senses.  Can you be angry with my eyes?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"They belong to you; tear them out."
+
+The next day, the moment the doctor had gone, she sent her maid out
+to make some purchases.
+
+"Ah!" she said a few minutes after, "my maid has forgotten to change
+my chemise."
+
+"Allow me to take her place."
+
+"Very well, but recollect that I give permission only to your eyes to
+take a share in the proceedings."
+
+"Agreed!"
+
+She unlaced herself, took off her stays and her chemise, and told me
+to be quick and put on the clean one, but I was not speedy enough,
+being too much engaged by all I could see.
+
+"Give me my chemise," she exclaimed; "it is there on that small
+table."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There, near the bed.  Well, I will take it myself."
+
+She leaned over towards the table, and exposed almost everything I
+was longing for, and, turning slowly round, she handed me the chemise
+which I could hardly hold, trembling all over with fearful
+excitement.  She took pity on me, my hands shared the happiness of my
+eyes; I fell in her arms, our lips fastened together, and, in a
+voluptuous, ardent pressure, we enjoyed an amorous exhaustion not
+sufficient to allay our desires, but delightful enough to deceive
+them for the moment.
+
+With greater control over herself than women have generally under
+similar circumstances, she took care to let me reach only the porch
+of the temple, without granting me yet a free entrance to the
+sanctuary.
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
+VENETION YEARS, Vol. 1c, MILITARY CAREER
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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