Volume IV Part 11 (1/2)
With this flattering address she threw off the coverlet with a vigorous gesture, and displayed all her beauties, which I s from those which now filled nation All my passion had evaporated; in those voluptuous rounded li of a wild beast's soul I put back the coverlet with the greatest calmness, and addressed her in a tone of cold conteraded because you have told rading truths, of which you cannot be ignorant if you are a woman of any decency whatever Here are twenty-five louis, a wretched suive a virtuous woman in payment of her favours, but much more than you deserve I a to leave you in the undisturbed possession of your charms, which I despise as heartily as I should have adive you theof compassion which I cannot overco I now have for you
Nevertheless, let me tell you that whether a woman sells herself for twenty-five louis or twenty-five million louis she is as much a prostitute in the one case as in the other, if she does not give her love with herself, or at all events the semblance of love Farewell”
I went back to my room, and in course of time Stuard came to thank me
”Sir,” said I, ”let me alone; I wish to hear no more about your wife”
They went away the next day for Lyons, and e
In the afternoon Dolci took ardener's sister She was pretty, but not so pretty as he was He soon got her into a good hu objection she consented to be loved by him in my presence I saw that this Adonis had been richly dowered by nature, and I told him that with such a physical confor his father's purse to travel, and before long he took ht easily have turned ardener's sister
As I was going ho out of a boat; he was froat hi , and a passport stating he had left Madrid six weeks before He came from Parma, and was named Costa When I saw Parma my national prejudice spoke in his favour, and I asked hiary
”Only lack of money to return toat Madrid, and why did you leave?”
”I was there four years as valet to Dr Pistoria, physician to the King of Spain, but onI left hiave satisfaction”
”What can you do?”
”I write a good hand, I can assist a gentleet home Here are some verses I copied yesterday”
”You write well; but can you write correctly without a book?”
”I can write from dictation in French, Latin, and Spanish”
”Correctly?”
”Yes, sir, if the dictation is done properly, for it is the business of the one who dictates to see that everything is correct”
I saw that Master Gaetan Costa was an ignoramus, but in spite of that I took him to my room and told Le Duc to address hi to him in Italian and French I found he had not the reraphy
”But you can't write,” said I to him However, I saasthat I would take him to his own country at my expense He kissed my hand, and assured me that I should find a faithful servant in hiinality; he had probably assust whoood faith with everybody He thought that the art of a scribe solely consisted in possessing a good hand, and that the fairest writer would be the best scribe He said asa paper I had written, and as ible as his he tacitly told me I was his inferior, and that I should therefore treat hihed at this fad, and, not thinking hiible I took him into my service If it had not been for that odd notion of his I should probably havewas of no consequence, as those who kne to spell could easily guess the words, while those who did not knoere unable to pick out the h signified approval In the dictation I gave hi to his syste; but he was not in the least put out, only re the same it was of no consequence how the as spelt In point of fact this lad was a fool solely through his intelligence, norance and unbounded self-confidence I was pleased with his originality and kept hireater fool of the two, as the reader will see
I left Avignon next day, and went straight to Marseilles, not troubling to stop at Aix I halted at the ”Treize Cantons,” wishi+ng to stay for a week at least in this ancient colony of the Phocaeans, and to do as I liked there With this idea I took no letter of introduction; I had plenty of ive me a choice fish dinner in my own room, as I are that the fish in those parts is better than anywhere else
I went out the next uide, to takewhere I went, I reached a fine quay; I thought I was at Venice again, and I felt raven on the heart of every good man
I saw a number of stalls where Spanish and Levantine wines were kept, and a nu in the up against each other, crossing each other's paths, each occupied with his own business, and not caring whose way he got into Hucksters, well dressed and ill dressed, women, pretty and plain, women who stared boldly at everyone, modest maidens with downcast eyes, such was the picture I saw
TheAndalusian, the French dandy, the gross Negro, the crafty Greek, the dull Hollander; everything reminded me of Venice, and I enjoyed the scene