 Chapter 14, Part B of the Memoirs of Jacques Casanova, Volume 1, by Jacques-Casanova. 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 the 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 invisible prejudices against exposing our lovely women to the eyes of other men, but everybody may do so as he pleases in his own house. Ismail is very worthy, and a very intelligent man. Is the lady with whom I danced known? I believe not. She wore a mask, and everyone 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 me having taken a walk in the garden. I told him that I would like a glass of lemonade, and he took me to the summer house, where I recognized the old woman who 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 talked together towards the fountain, but he told me abruptly that we were to go back, for 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, for he was afraid of some love affair and 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, the night was delightful. Alone with Ismail, and knowing his unnatural tastes, I did not feel very comfortable for, in spite of what Monsieur de Bonneval had told me, I was afraid lest the Turks should take a fancy to give me too great a proof of his friendship, and I did not relish our tet-a-tet. But my fears were groundless. Let us leave this place quietly, said Ismail. I have just heard a slight noise which eraled something that will amuse us. He dismissed his attendance and took my hand, saying, Let us go to a small room, the key of which I would luckily have with me, but let us be careful not to make any noise. The 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 everyone except me. We entered the room, we went to the window, and the moon was 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 with all the attitudes of graceful voluptuousness. Dear reader, I must not paint in too vivid color 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 Yusef 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, covered her features with a thick veil which fell to the feet. A slave was sitting near the window, doing some timbre 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 Yusef had commanded her to entertain me before going out. She invited me to be seated, pointed 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 fancy that Yusef had made upon his mind to show me that he was not less courageous than Ismael. 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 enamored, I should have required to see her face. I suppose, said the veil of 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 Skial. I was 13 years of age when I became his wife. I was greatly astonished to find that my muslim 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 I fancied that I might carry the adventure farther. 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 very feeble desires. The fire lighted by amorous desires is like the fire of straw. The moment it burns up, it is near its end. I had before me a magnificent appearance, but I cannot 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 alquina, dove ne nodo a piace se vene acheide. And my imagination fancied that all the rest was in harmony with these 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 my imagination created had life and was endowed with feeling. The oriental costume is a beautiful varnish placed upon a porcelain vase to protect it from the touch of the colors of the flowers and of the design, without lessening the pleasure of the eyes. Yusuf's wife was not dressed like the sultana. She wore the costume of skyle, with a short skirt which concealed neither the perfection of the legs, 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 these beauties I could see the shape of two globes, which appellas would have taken for the model of those of his lovely Venus, and the rapid, unequal movement, of which proved to me that those ravishing hillocks were animated. The small valley left between them, in which my eyes greedily feasted upon, seemed to me to be a lake of nectar in which my burning lips longed to quench with thirst, with more ardor than they would have drunk from the cup of the gods. Enraptured, unable to control myself, I thrust an 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. Does thou deserve, she said, Yusuf's friendship, when thou abuses the sacred laws of hospitality by insulting his wife? Madam, you must kindly forgive me, for I never had an 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 self-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 asked? 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, and 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 zoned me before me. That would have been too much against our established rules. What I have done is not much, but I did 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 a virgin. I gave an account of my adventure to Musur de Bonneval, somewhat exaggerating the danger I had to run, in trying to raise the veil of the handsome daughter of Skyle. 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've 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 valor. 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. Yet, she is a virgin. Rather a difficult thing to admit my good friend, but I know the daughters of Skyle. They have a talent for counterfeiting virginity. Yusuf never paid me a similar compliment again, and he was quite right. A few days later, 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. And 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. Reparted 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 Khorfu, 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, scarves, belts, handkerchiefs, and pipes, the whole worth four or 500 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 most 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 Bayelo Jean Dona, I found another case, given to me by him, containing two quintals of the best mocha coffee, 100 pounds of tobacco leaves, two large flagons filled, one with sabendi tobacco, the other with camoussa, and a magnificent pipe, tube of jazamine wood, covered with gold filigraine, which I sold in Khorfu for 100 sequins. I had it not in my power to give my generous Turk any mark of my gratitude until I reached Khorfu, 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 Cheveller de Lézé, but I could not forward it to him because I had unfortunately lost it. He presented me with a barrel of hydromel, which I turned likewise into money. Monsieur de Bonneval gave me a letter for Cardinal Aquaviva, 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 12 bottles of mamaze from Ragusa and 12 bottles of General Skopalo, a great rarity with which I made a present in Khorfu, which proved very useful to me as the reader will discover. The only foreign minister I saw much in Constantinople was the Lord Marshall of Scotland, the celebrated Keith, who represented the King of Prussia, 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 Khorfu in 14 days. The Bello Dana did not land. He had with him eight splendid Turkish horses. I saw two of them still alive in Gorizah in the year 1773. As soon as I had landed with my luggage and had engaged a rather mean lodging, I presented myself to Monsieur André Dauphin, the provedittore generale, who promised me again that I should be promoted to a latennancy. After my visit to him, I called upon Monsieur Camporese, my captain, and was well received by him. My third visit was to the commander of Galisis, Monsieur D. R., to whom Monsieur Antonio Dauphin, with whom I had traveled from Venice to Khorfu, had kindly recommended me. After a short conversation, he asked me if I would remain with him with the title of agentant. I did not hesitate one instant, but accepted, saying how deeply honored 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 practice French conversation. He was a good-for-nothing fellow, a drunkard and a boshi, a peasant from Picardy, and he could hardly read or write, but I did not mind that at all. All I wanted from him was to serve me, 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 500 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 honor. I must now make my readers acquainted with the sort of life we were at the 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 Provittorele Generale, who had sovereign authority and lived in a style of great magnificence. That post was then filled by Monsieur André Dolphin, a man 60 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 24 persons. We had three field officers of the Marines who did duty on the galleys. Three field officers for the troops of the line on board the men of war. Each galleys had a captain called Sopor Comito, and we had 10 of those captains. We had likewise 10 commanders, one for each man of war, including three Capidimare, or admirals. They all belonged to the nobility of Venice. 10 young Venetian noblemen from 20 to 22 years of age were at Corfu as midshipmen in the Navy. We had, besides about a dozen civil clerks and the police of the island, or in the administration of justice entitled Grandi Officiale di Tella. Those who were blessed with handsome wives had the pleasure of seeing their houses very much frequented by admirers who aspired to win the favors of the ladies. But there was not much heroic love-making, perhaps for the reason that there were then in Corfu many espacias, whose favors could be had for money. Gambling was allowed everywhere, and all that absorbing passion was very prejudicial to the motions 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 the madam had greatly astonished all the naval officers. Thinking that she had the privilege of choice, she gave the preference to Monsieur D. R., and had dismissed all the suitors who presented themselves. Monsieur F. had married her on the very day she had left the convent. She was only 17 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 Monsieur D. R.'s, and she made a very 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 Monsieur D. R. and that Monsieur F. was quite right not to show any jealousy. Yet that Monsieur 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 matter, at least as far as I was concerned. My position as adjutant procured me the honor of dining at Monsieur D. R.'s table, but nothing more. The other adjutant, like me and Ensign in the army, but the greatest fool I had ever seen, shared that honor with me. We were not, however, considered as guests, for nobody ever spoke to us, and what more nobody ever honored 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 10 days, Madame F., not having condescended to cast one glance on my person, began to appear disagreeable to me. I felt peaked, vexed, provoked, and the more so because I could not suppose that the lady acted in that manner willfully and purposefully. I would have been highly pleased if there had been some 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 to let her know it. At last a circumstance offered itself, in which, thinking that she could address me, she was compelled to look at me. Monsieur 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 skillful 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 agitant of Monsieur 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 game-ster 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 in smiling when my bank was losing, and I won without showing any avidity, and that is a manner which always pleases the punters. This Maroli was the man who had won all of my money during my first day in Corfu. In finding, when I returned, that I was resolved not to be duped anymore, 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, and as soon as playing was over, the cashier kept the capital of the bank, the winnings were divided, and each took his own 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 very well pleased with my position if I had been a little more considered at the table of Monsieur 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 mine, 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 in 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 behavior to a passion which might have rendered me disagreeable in her eyes. Monsieur 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 of when 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 said to me very abruptly, What do you do with your money? I keep it, Madame, 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, Madame, the only time which a young man wastes is that which he has consumed in weariness, because when he is a prey to ennui, he is likely to fall 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 show 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 right. It was the adjutant's business to give the ladies an arm to their carriages, and it was not proper to fulfill 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 San Zosio, who sported gloves, but whose teeth were rotten, whose breath was putrid, who wore a wig, and whose face seemed to be covered with shriveled 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 conscious, 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 willful malice on her part, and I soar to her in the butt of her bantering jokes, which my sensitiveness exaggerated greatly. For all that I had and I didn't wish to punish her and to make her repent, I thought of nothing else. At one time I would think of devoting 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 subtly altered. Monsieur D. R., having set me with dispatches, to Monsieur de Condumare, captain of Agalesa, I had to wait until midnight to deliver them, and when I returned I found that Monsieur 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 my 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. Monsieur 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 Monsieur de Condumare, 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. Monsieur 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 very well aware of that fact. 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 that she had evidently been shedding. My heart was beating quickly, yet I did not know why. Pray be seated, she said. I wish to speak with you. Madame, I answered, I am not worthy of so great a favor, and I have not 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 farro bank. He believed that amount to be in my hands, and I must therefore give it to him immediately, as he is bound in honor to pay his losses today. Unfortunately I have disposed of the money, and I am in very great trouble. I thought you might tell Moroli that I have paid you the amount lost by my husband. Here is a ring of some value, keep it until the first 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, Madame, but I cannot consent to deprive you of your ring. I must also tell you that Monsieur F. must go himself to the bank, or send someone 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 two hundred dockets, 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 you were so well disposed to oblige me, I could not have made up my mind to beg that service from you. Well, Madame, 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 condense to ask for it in person. What you say is very complementary, 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 expected she would, for that would have caused her some humiliation. She knew that I was with Monsieur D. R. when the Edgerton 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 Monsieur 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 conceived the hope that she might return my art in affection. The first thing I did when I returned to my room was to cross out with Inc. 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 would request its delivery. The same evening, Monsieur F came to the bank, paid me, and laid with the cash in hand, and won some fifty due cuts. What caused me the greatest surprise was that Monsieur 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 inquire what she wanted when she sent for me. But if she did not seem to change her manner towards my master, it was in a very different case with me. For whenever she was opposite to me at dinner, she often addressed herself to me, and thus gave me many opportunities of showing 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 learned that accomplishment from Monsieur D. Malipiero, my first master in the art of good breeding, who used to say to me that, 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 meantime, 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 that I could have hoped to obtain either through my position, or from my age, or inconsequent of any talent I might have shown in the profession I had adopted. Towards the middle of November, the soldier who acted as my servant was intact 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 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 Comperesse, 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 entrusted 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 armor-roll 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 right supremo-genitor belonging after my demise to the prince, my brother, in faith of which I have signed and sealed these presents. François IV, Charles Philippe, Louis Fourcade, Prince de la Rouge Forte-Cal. The certificate of baptism, delivered at St. Salpice, gave the same names, and the title of the father was François V. The name of his mother was Gabriel de Plucis. As I was concluding my translation, I could not help bursting in the loud laughter. But the foolish captain, who thought my worth out of place, hurried out to render an account of the affair to the provatory 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 of funerary would greatly amuse the whole of Corfu. I had known in Rome, at Cardinal Aquavivas, the Abbe de Leoncourt, great-grandson of Charles, whose sister, Gabriel de Plucis, had been the wife of François 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 Leoncourt wanted to communicate to the court of Spain, and in which there was a great many particulars respecting the house of de Plucis. I thought at the same time that the singular imposture of La Valor, such was the name by which my soldier generally went, was absurd and without a motive, since it was known only after his death, and could not therefore prove of any advantage to him. Half an hour afterwards, as I was opening up a fresh pack of cards, the adjunctant Sanzosio came in and told the important news of the most serious manner. He had just come from the office of the provatory, where Captain Compressi had run, in the utmost hurry, to deposit in the hands of his Excellency the seals and paper of the deceased prince. His Excellency had immediately issued the orders for the burial of the prince in a vault, with all honors due to his exalted rank. Another half hour passed in Monsieur Monoto, adjunctant of the provatory generale came in to inform me that his Excellency wanted to see me. I passed the cards to Major Morale and went to his Excellency's house. I found him at supper with several ladies, three or four naval commanders, Madame F and Monsieur D. R. So your servant was a prince, said the old general to me. Your Excellency, I would never 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 armor 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 with the truth, then it is my duty to remain silent. The story cannot be anything but true, and your doubt surprised me. I doubt, Monsignor, because I happen to have positive information respecting the families of La Ruche Focal and Du Plessis. Besides, I have seen too much of the man. He was not a madman, but he was certainly an extravagant jester. I have never seen him right, and he has told me himself a score of times that he has never learned. The paper he has written proves the contrary. His arms have the duke bearings, but perhaps you are not aware that Monsieur de La Ruche Focal is a duke and a peer of the French realm. I beg your immanence's pardon. I know all about it. I know even more, for I know that François IV 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 and 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 shown 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 shown himself cheerful, amiable, obliging, devoid of haughtiness towards his comrades, and that he used to sing beautifully. He was only 25 years of age, said Madame Sagrado, looking at me full in the face. And if he was endowed with all those qualities, you must have discovered them. I can only give you, Madame, a true likeness of the man such as I have known him, always gay, often even to a folly, for he could throw a somersault beautifully, singing songs of a very erotic kind, full of stories and popular tales of magic, miracles and ghosts, and a thousand marvelous feats, which common sense refuse to believe, in which, for that very reason, provoked the mirth of his hearers. His fault was that he was drunken, dirty, quarrelsome, dissolute, and something of a cheat. I put up with all his deficiencies because he dressed my hair to my taste, and his constant chattering offered me the opportunity of practicing the colloquial French, which cannot be acquired from books. He has always assured me that he was born in Picardie, 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, Comperesse rushed into the room and announced that Lavalor was yet breathing. The general, looking at me significantly, said that he would be delighted if the man could be saved. And I likewise, Montseur, but his confessor will certainly kill him tonight. 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 guest retired soon afterwards, and Madame F, whom I had preceded to the carriage, Monsieur 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 honor upon me. I am of your opinion about that prince, she said, but you have incurred the displeasure of the provitore. I am very sorry, Madame, but it cannot have been avoided, for I cannot help speaking the truth openly. You might have spared him, remarked Monsieur 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 made the madame and your Excellency. In conversation, people generally do not object to a witty jest causing merriment and laughter. True, only those who do not have wit enough to laugh do not like the jest. I bet a hundred sequins that the madame will recover and that, having the general on his side, he will leap all the advantages of his imposture. I long to see him treated as a prince and making love to Madame Sagrado. Hearing the last words, Madame F, who did not like Madame Sagrado, laughed heartily, and as we were getting out of the carriage, Monsieur D.R. invited me to accompany them upstairs. He was in the habit of spending half an hour alone with her at her house, when they had taken supper together with the general, for her husband never showed himself. It was the first time that the happy couple admitted a third person to their tetatet. 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 forth by the lady or by her lord. We kept our pleasant trio for four hours and returned to the mansion of Monsieur D.R. only at two o'clock in the morning. It was during that night that Madame F and Monsieur 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 and appearance so simple can afford so much pleasure and merriment. On my side I discovered in her so much wit and cheerfulness that I became deeply enamored 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 Lavalor 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, send him a servant, clothed him, and the overly credulous providatory, 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. Monsieur D.R. followed his leaders and Madame Sagrado, 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 nave was called Your Highness, and the wonderful prince styled Madame Sagrado, his princess. Monsieur 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 Lavalor began to walk out a week after his metamorphosis into a prince. He died 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 providatory 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 providatory did not have the courage to defend him. The new prince had been invited to dinner by all the naval officers, but Monsieur 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 Esplanda. He stopped and reproached me for not having called upon him. I laughed and advised him to think of a safety before the arrival of the news which would expose all the impostor, in which case the providatory 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 Segredo, who treated him very well, feeling proud that a French prince would have given her preference over all the other ladies. One day that she was dining in great ceremony at Monsieur 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 obscenity in believing him an impostor. I had given him that advice, Madame, because my heart is good and my judgment sane. Then are we all of us as many fools, the providatory included? That deduction would not be right, Madame. 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 10 or 12 days that I have been entirely mistaken myself, but I should not consider myself a fool in consequence. In the meantime, 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 said he would never learn dancing. Does he behave well at table? Well, he does not 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 irritation or a yawn. And if he feels tired, he leaves the table. It is evident that he was very badly brought up. And yet he is very pleasant, I suppose. Is he clean and neat? No, but then he is not very 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 pity for he cannot drink wine and keep his head clear. Then he swears like a trooper and we all laugh when he never takes offense. 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 dupless cease. If his mother is still alive, she must be 150 years old. What nonsense! Not at all. She was married in the days of Marie de Medici. But the certificate of baptism names the prince's mother and his seal. Do you know the amoral 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 Segredo lost no time in saying to him, Prince, here is Monsieur Casanova. He pretends that you do not know your own amoral bearings. Having heard 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 Monsieur 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 being 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 in 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 bestarda, a galley on which the prisoners had their legs and 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 unfastened her and I rode as hard as I could towards a large caico, sailing towards the wind with six oars. As soon as I had come up to her, I went on board and asked the carabarcheri to sail before the wind and to take me to a large wary which could be seen at some distance going towards Vito Rock. I abandoned the rowboat and after paying the master of the caico generously I got into the weary, made a bargain with the skipper who won furrow three sails and in less than two hours we were 15 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 daybreak 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 20 miles from Corfu and then a place where nobody could imagine me to be. End of Chapter 14, Part B. Chapter 14, Part C. Of the Memoirs of Jacques Casanova, Volume 1 by Jacques Amal Casanova. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova, Volume 1 The Venation Years by Jacques Amal Casanova. The moon was shining and I saw a church with a house adjoining. A long barn open on both sides. A plane of about 150 yards confined by hills and nothing more. I found some straw in the barn and laying down myself I slept until daybreak in spite of the cold. It was the first 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 began to toll and I proceeded towards the church. The long bearded papa, surprised at my sudden apparition, inquires whether I am Romeo, a Greek. I tell him that I am Fragico, Italian, but he turns his back upon me and goes into the 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 in anchor within 100 yards of the island. The boat had four oars and landed her passengers. I came up to them and met a good-looking Greek, a woman and a young boy, 10 or 12 years old. Addressing myself to the Greek, I asked him whether he has had a pleasant passage and where he comes from. He answers an Italian that he had 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 Cassopo in order to assurton 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 that out? The papa Del Dimopolo would tell me he will communicate faithfully with 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 and enters the sanctum Sanctorum, comes out again in a quarter of an hour, ascends the step of the altar and 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 cannot boast of being as wise as Ulysses, appears very well pleased and gives more money to the imposter. 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's not even acquainted with my name. Have you taken any fine goods on board your tartan? Yes, come and breakfast with me. You can see all that I have. Very willingly. Delighted and 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, currents, oil, and excellent wines. He also had a stock of nightcaps, stockings, cloaks in the Eastern fashion, umbrellas, and sea biscuits, of which I was very fond. In those days I had 30 teeth and it would have been very difficult to find a finer set. At last I have but two left now. The other 28 are gone with the other tools quite as precious. But Dom Vita super est, men 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 35 or 40 sequins he demanded. And seeing my generosity he made me a present of six beautiful botargos. I happened during our conversation to praise the wine of Zante which he called Generides and 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 that 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 10 sequins saying that in Corfu anybody would be glad of it for 12. 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 purchased the gun for 10 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 I'm 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 500 copper gazette which were very heavy but which I had procured from the Greek for seeing 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 quite hopeless. The three or 400 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 would 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 on my own accord. My flight would be then be useless. I should be thought a fool for my return to be a proof of cowardice or stupidity. Yet I did not feel the courage, the dessert altogether. The chief reason of my decision was not that I had a thousand sequins in the hands of the farro 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 for whom I had not yet obtained any favor, not even of kissing her hand. In such distress of mind I could not do anything else but abandon myself the chance. Whatever the reason 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 took aim at the poor sheep grazing with several others at a short distance and kill it. The herdsmen 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 what will happen? I load my gun and wait at coming events. In less than eight or 10 minutes I see a crowd of peasants coming down the hills armed with guns, pitchforks, or cudgels. I withdraw inside 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 10 or 12 peasants come forward, gun in hand and ready to fire. I drop them by throwing down my gazette, which they lose no time in picking up from the ground, and I keep on throwing money down as the men came 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, seemed 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 beetle and his herdsmen 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 an Italian why I have killed the sheep. To eat it, my good fellow, but not before I have paid for it, but as holiness the papa might choose to charge one sequin for it. Here is one sequin. The priest takes the money and goes away. The war is over. The peasant tells me that he had served on the campaign of 1716 and that he was at the defense 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 the 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 gazette a day, and I would have forty as my lieutenant. I will, says the old soldier, raise for you this very day a bodyguard 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 needle woman 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 superannuated seamstress, 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 bustling 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 all but a herd. However, they quickly learned how to present arms and to obey the orders of their officer. I ordered three sentinels to be placed, one before the guard room, one at my door, and a 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 captured the love of all the islanders. My seamstress, who had procured some young needle-women 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, and they were all well-satisfied with me. The seamstress 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've never tasted their like except in St. Petersburg. I drank scopoloe wine, or the best muscatel of the arch-capelligo. My lieutenant was my only table companion. I never took a walk without him, and two of my bodyguard, 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 needle-women, their mistress, 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 that I was enjoying. But it was right to suppose at the same time, if I had not left 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 10 days. When, towards 10 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 brought him in, and in the presence of my lieutenant, he told me in Italian. Next Sunday, the papa, Del Dimopolo, will fulminate against you, the Cata Romanachia. 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 a host in his hands and 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 thinking him heartily, wished him good night. His warning struck me as deserving my attention. For, if I had no fear of the Cata Romanachia, in which I had not the slightest faith, I feared certain poisons by which they might be far more efficient. I passed a very quiet night, but at daybreak 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 its own, 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 inquired 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 wreak an ointre, 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 returned to my room, giving orders to my lieutenant to receive him with all military honors and to introduce him. Then, girding my sword, I waited for my visitor. In a few minutes, adjuncted 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 should not be sent to the Bastarda, but also that I shall have every satisfaction from the nave 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, and in that you acted wrongly, and in that alone, for in every other respect, you were perfectly right, the general himself says so. Did 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 be guilty of a crime. But if I surrender 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 neighborhood of my house to defend me because a rumor had spread through the island that the faluka had been sent with orders to arrest me and to 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 show their devotion at me, they all fired their guns. It is all very amusing, said the adjunctant, 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 give me your word of honor to land me free in Corfu. I have orders to deliver you to the person of Monsieur Fuscari on board the Bastarda. Well, you should not execute your orders this time. If you do not obey the commands of the general, his honor 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 500 peasants in such a place as this, I would not be afraid of 3,000 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 20 sequins. Believe me, go with me. Come to enjoy the triumph which is awaiting for 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 Monsieur D. R. thinks a great deal of you. He praises very highly the command you have shown over your passion, and 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 nave. What has become of him? Four days ago, Major Sardinas Frigate arrived with dispatches, in which the general must have found all the proof of the imposture, for he caused the fake 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 has 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 treated him so severely. But your flight is what everyone has been wondering over. It was thought for three days that Monsieur 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, Bvlgari, 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 dares to pronounce Cattoromanachia against you. This letter, which was read publicly in the evening reception, made the general laugh, but he ordered me to arrest you all the same. Madame Segredo is the cause of all of it. True, but she is well punished for it. You ought to call upon her with me tomorrow. Tomorrow? Are you then certain I shall not be placed under arrest? Yes, for I know that the general is a man of honor. I am of the same opinion. Let us go on board you, Feluca. We will embark together after midnight. Well, why not now? Because I will not run the risk of spending the night on board Monsieur Frascaris 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 Feluca, 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 edgentant laugh all the way. We reached Corfu by eight in the morning, and we went alongside the Bastarda. The edgentant consigned me to Monsieur Frascaris, assuring me that he would immediately give notice to my arrival to Monsieur D.R., send my luggage to his house, and report the success of his expedition to the general. Monsieur Frascaris, Commander of the Bastarda, treated me very badly. If he had been blessed with any delicacy of feeling, he would not have been such a hurry to put me in irons. He might have talked to me and had 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 de Scalo, which made me sit down and told me to put my foot forward to receive the irons, which, however, did not dishonor 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 Monsieur Frascaris, 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 very 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 last two words and acted accordingly. When I made my appearance at Monsieur 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 times of adversity. If you would relish pleasure, you must endure pain and delights are in proportion to the privations which we have suffered. Monsieur 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 and not letting anyone, and particularly himself, know where I had taken refuge. But you can't think, he added frankly, how interested Madame F. was in your fate. She would be really delighted if you would call 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 Falooka, I was afraid that this order of my toilet might injure me in her eyes. Yet I can neither refuse Monsieur D.R., nor tell him the reasons of my refusal, and I bethought myself that I would make a merit of it in the eyes of Madame F. I therefore, when it wants to her house, the goddess was not yet visible, and 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 shown in. The curtains were drawn aside, and I thought I saw Aurora surrounded with roses and the pearls of mourning. I told her that if it had not been for the order I had received from Monsieur D.R., I would not have presumed to present myself before her in my traveling costume, and in the most friendly tone, she answered that Monsieur D.R., knowing all the interests she felt in me, had been quite right to tell me to come, and she assured me that Monsieur D.R. had the greatest esteem for me. I do not know, Madame, how I have deserved such great happiness, for all I have dared to aim was at toleration. We all admired the control you kept over your feelings when you were framed from killing that insolent madman on the spot. He would have been thrown out the window if he had not beat a hurried retreat. I should certainly have killed him, Madame, 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 Monsieur D.R. very highly, as soon as I had told her that 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 I allowed my pretty needle-woman 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 very 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 providatory generale? Well, certainly, Madame, provided that 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 Moroli 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 Ferro Bank. I took 400 sequins from the cashier, and, reserving the right to become again a partner, should circumstances prove at any time favorable. In the evening, I made a careful toilet, and called for the adjuntant Minoloto in order to pay with him a visit to Madame Sagredo, the general's favorite. 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 an 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 to make her win. But to accept such conditions, one must be in love with the lady, or to wish her conquest. I would had not the slightest idea of either. The adjuntant Minoloto never played, but he had captivated the lady's good graces by her services in the character of Mercury. When I returned to the palace, I found Madame F alone, Monsieur D. R. being engaged with his correspondence. She asked me to sit near her, and to tell her of my adventures in Constantinople. I did so, and I had no occasion to repentant. My meeting with Yusef's wife pleased her extremely. But the bathing scene by moonlight made her blush with excitement. I veiled as much as I could the two brilliant colors of my picture. But as 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 had borrowed from her looks, rather than from my own 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 on that day, Monsieur D. R. had invited a large company to supper. I had, as a matter of course, to engross our 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 bestarda. Monsieur 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 provatory generale must have the pleasure of hearing my tale from my own lips. I mentioned that he was very plentiful in Cassopo, and as that article was very scarce in Corfu, Monsieur D. R. told me that I also seized 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 to bring large quantities of hate to Corfu. A few days later the adjutant Minotso came to me in the coffee-house and told me that the general wished to see me. This time I promptly obeyed his commands. End of Chapter 14 Part C. Chapter 15 Part 1 of the Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Volume 1 This is a LibraVox recording. All LibraVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibraVox.org Recording by Lucy Burgoyne. The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Volume 1 The Venetian Years by Giacomo Casanova Volume 3 Military Career Chapter 15 Part 1 Progress of Maya Amor My journey to Operanto I enter the service of Madam F. A fortunate exploration. The room I entered was full of people. His excellency, seeing me, showed and drew upon me the attention of all his guests by saying aloud, he comes that young man who is 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 time of your escape from court for you up to your return. The new sentence may, my signal, to make a public confession. Exactly, but as it is to be a confession, be careful not to admit 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 show that a young man is never so near he is at a ruin, and 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 major domo 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 delgari, and I entreated his pardon for having ridiculed the Eldomo Polo'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 Madam 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 Yusof, 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 products were not worth listening to, and the general not pressing me no more was said about it, but I was astonished at Madam F's in discretion. She had no business to make my confidence as 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 Monsour, 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. Monsour, D.R., came in and we went to the generals. I thought as we were driving along that, although Madam 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, Madam F. had at the same time compelled me to a declaration of my feelings, which was not without importance. The provator general gave me a friendly welcome and kindly handed me a letter which had come with the official dispatchers from Constantinople. I bowed my thanks and put the letter in my pocket that 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 Bonvalle. 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 worth of my imagination. I continued to respect the privacy of Yusuf to avoid implicating the good fame of Madam F and to show myself in 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 Madam 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 Montieux d'Art, 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 Montieux d'Art, she said, Montieux 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 great beauty had inspired me with. Do you think, said Montieux d'Art, to Madam Et, that if 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 Madam Et, 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. At being understood, added Montieux d'Art, 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 Madam Et. I was beginning to understand the charming women 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 not to gather the rose at the end of my sufferings, I was particularly pleased to find that Montieux d'Art was not jealous of me, even when she seemed to dare him to it. This was the 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 Lasaretto at Encona 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 Montieux d'Art 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 pitted 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 great 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, Madam 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 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 lady-love, 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 beam 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. Is it 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 amongst your D.R.'s assembly, and we were talking of the cannibal 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 Faroe Bank granted to me, no time was to be lost for the cannibal was approaching, and I had to go to Otranto to engage a troop. My proposal was accepted with great joy, and the provitor general placed a faluca at my disposal. The boxes were all taken in three days, and a dew took the pit. Two nights a week accepted, which I reserved for my own profit. The cannibal 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 daybreak the following morning, without the oarsman having had to row a stroke. The distance from Corfu to Otranto is only about 15 legs. 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 parlor at the Lasaretto, 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 troop of actors to perform in Corfu, the managers of the two companies, then in Otranto, came to the parlor 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 troop 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 Festidio, the manager, was very vexed, while Batti Paglia, the director of the second, was delighted because he hoped that after seeing the Neapolitan troop, I would engage his own. An hour afterwards, Festidio returned with all his performers, and my surprise may be imagined when amongst them I recognised 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 Festidio and the harbour master. Marina, being in the service of Festidio, the captain compelled him to confine her to the Lasaretto, 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 Festidio to show 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 venation of my acquaintance, who played the pantaloon in the pantomime, three tolerably pretty actresses, a palcinella and a scaromuch. All together the troupe was a decent one. I told Festidio 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, where are twenty and shall require six rooms with ten beds, one sitting room for all of us, and thirty neapolitan do cats a day. All travelling expenses pay. 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 Lasaretto before she could reappear on the stage at Otranto, I told Festidio to get the contract ready as I wanted to go away immediately. I had scarcely pronounced these words the more broke out again between the manager-elect and his unfortunate competitor. That epaglia, in his rage, called Marina a harlot and said that she had arranged beforehand with Festidio to violate the rules at the Lasaretto in order to compel me to choose their troop. Petronio, taking his sister's part, joined Festidio, and the unlucky Betapaglia 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 Teresa'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 cow of balkyrie informed me that he could see by the moonlight a ship which might prove to be 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 daybreak, we sailed again with the 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 Winwood 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-growing 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 safe, but not one single prayer to God did I hear. The bewailings of Scaromuch, the dull and spiritless despair of her studio, 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 realise the danger we were running and she laughed at the terror of the crew and of her companions. End of Chapter 15 Part 1