登陆注册
4606300000097

第97章

Deeply enamoured of Lucrezia and happy in my love, to give her up appeared to me a shameful action. In order to insure the happiness of my future life, I was beginning to be the executioner of my present felicity, and the tormentor of my heart. I revolted against such a necessity which I judged fictitious, and which I could not admit unless I stood guilty of vileness before the tribunal of my own reason. I thought that Father Georgi, if he wished to forbid my visiting that family, ought not to have said that it was worthy of respect; my sorrow would not have been so intense. The day and the whole of the night were spent in painful thoughts.

In the morning the Abbe Gama brought me a great book filled with ministerial letters from which I was to compile for my amusement.

After a short time devoted to that occupation, I went out to take my first French lesson, after which I walked towards the Strada-

Condotta. I intended to take a long walk, when I heard myself called by my name. I saw the Abbe Gama in front of a coffee-house.

I whispered to him that Minerva had forbidden me the coffee-rooms of Rome. "Minerva," he answered, "desires you to form some idea of such places. Sit down by me."

I heard a young abbe telling aloud, but without bitterness, a story, which attacked in a most direct manner the justice of His Holiness.

Everybody was laughing and echoing the story. Another, being asked why he had left the services of Cardinal B., answered that it was because his eminence did not think himself called upon to pay him apart for certain private services, and everybody laughed outright.

Another came to the Abbe Gama, and told him that, if he felt any inclination to spend the afternoon at the Villa Medicis, he would find him there with two young Roman girls who were satisfied with a 'quartino', a gold coin worth one-fourth of a sequin. Another abbe read an incendiary sonnet against the government, and several took a copy of it. Another read a satire of his own composition, in which he tore to pieces the honour of a family. In the middle of all that confusion, I saw a priest with a very attractive countenance come in.

The size of his hips made me take him for a woman dressed in men's clothes, and I said so to Gama, who told me that he was the celebrated castrato, Bepino delta Mamana. The abbe called him to us, and told him with a laugh that I had taken him for a girl. The impudent fellow looked me full in the face, and said that, if I

liked, he would shew me whether I had been right or wrong.

At the dinner-table everyone spoke to me, and I fancied I had given proper answers to all, but, when the repast was over, the Abbe Gama invited me to take coffee in his own apartment. The moment we were alone, he told me that all the guests I had met were worthy and honest men, and he asked me whether I believed that I had succeeded in pleasing the company.

"I flatter myself I have," I answered.

"You are wrong," said the abbe, "you are flattering yourself. You have so conspicuously avoided the questions put to you that everybody in the room noticed your extreme reserve. In the future no one will ask you any questions."

"I should be sorry if it should turn out so, but was I to expose my own concerns?"

"No, but there is a medium in all things."

"Yes, the medium of Horace, but it is often a matter of great difficulty to hit it exactly."

"A man ought to know how to obtain affection and esteem at the same time."

"That is the very wish nearest to my heart."

"To-day you have tried for the esteem much more than for the affection of your fellow-creatures. It may be a noble aspiration, but you must prepare yourself to fight jealousy and her daughter, calumny; if those two monsters do not succeed in destroying you, the victory must be yours. Now, for instance, you thoroughly refuted Salicetti to-day. Well, he is a physician, and what is more a Corsican; he must feel badly towards you."

"Could I grant that the longings of women during their pregnancy have no influence whatever on the skin of the foetus, when I know the reverse to be the case? Are you not of my opinion?"

"I am for neither party; I have seen many children with some such marks, but I have no means of knowing with certainty whether those marks have their origin in some longing experienced by the mother while she was pregnant."

"But I can swear it is so."

"All the better for you if your conviction is based upon such evidence, and all the worse for Salicetti if he denies the possibility of the thing without certain authority. But let him remain in error; it is better thus than to prove him in the wrong and to make a bitter enemy of him."

In the evening I called upon Lucrezia. The family knew my success, and warmly congratulated me. Lucrezia told me that I looked sad, and I answered that I was assisting at the funeral of my liberty, for I

was no longer my own master. Her husband, always fond of a joke, told her that I was in love with her, and his mother-in-law advised him not to show so much intrepidity. I only remained an hour with those charming persons, and then took leave of them, but the very air around me was heated by the flame within my breast. When I reached my room I began to write, and spent the night in composing an ode which I sent the next day to the advocate. I was certain that he would shew it to his wife, who loved poetry, and who did not yet know that I was a poet. I abstained from seeing her again for three or four days. I was learning French, and making extracts from ministerial letters.

His eminence was in the habit of receiving every evening, and his rooms were thronged with the highest nobility of Rome; I had never attended these receptions. The Abbe Gama told me that I ought to do so as well as he did, without any pretension. I followed his advice and went; nobody spoke to me, but as I was unknown everyone looked at me and enquired who I was. The Abbe Gama asked me which was the lady who appeared to me the most amiable, and I shewed one to him; but I

同类推荐
  • 穷通宝鉴

    穷通宝鉴

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 北里志

    北里志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 心意门拳谱易筋经贯气

    心意门拳谱易筋经贯气

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 顾太清词选

    顾太清词选

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 称赞大乘功德经

    称赞大乘功德经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 落日零度

    落日零度

    在那些青葱岁月的日子里,总有一幕夕阳来相随。那个不一样的青春,14岁的学渣中二少女夏北,在家人和朋友面前总是那样的阳光快乐活的没心没肺,但,没有人知道她真实的一面……(她的时间或许所剩无几了……)
  • 三国种子王

    三国种子王

    新书都市复制大先生上线希望大家支持袁熙,只有一个神奇的种子口袋,有各种各样的农作物的种子,玉米,土豆,辣椒,西瓜等等这不是这个世界的产物,甚至可以种出增加武力,智力等等的属性果。不喜欢征战杀伐,也不参与世子的争夺,讨要了一块封地,自己种地当起了农民,被袁绍所嫌弃,被天下的谋臣武将嘲笑,不重要,靠着自己的发展,管你什么曹操刘备孙坚,甚至天子都得向本小爷借粮食,想抢,不好意思,小爷组建了全三国最牛的私人军队。
  • 尼尔斯骑鹅历险记(语文新课标课外必读第七辑)

    尼尔斯骑鹅历险记(语文新课标课外必读第七辑)

    国家教育部颁布了最新《语文课程标准》,统称新课标,对中、小学语文教学指定了阅读书目,对阅读的数量、内容、质量以及速度都提出了明确的要求,这对于提高学生的阅读能力,培养语文素养,陶冶情操,促进学生终身学习和终身可持续发展,对于提高广大人民的文学素养具有极大的意义。
  • 做人要学会低调 做事要懂得低头

    做人要学会低调 做事要懂得低头

    本书告诉您面对纷繁复杂的社会,应该保持做人的低调从而拥有好的心态以取得人生的成功。
  • 狂后驾到之邪帝有请

    狂后驾到之邪帝有请

    安柒,服装设计师,一朝穿越成为赫连柒,虽然爹不疼娘早亡的。可是,她有一个极度妹控的哥哥赫连城啊!看皇子争夺那个无上至尊的位置时,她挑眉不屑。他们怎么争夺都行,只要别影响我生意就行。不过,跟在自己身后的傻王,是为嘛啊!赫连柒打掉百里云宸要拥抱上来的手,无奈的说“我真的不是你王妃,把爪子收回去。”百里云宸可怜兮兮收回要抱抱的手。晚上,楚煜殇坐在赫连柒的床榻上。赫连柒在睡梦中被灼灼的眼神盯的发毛,装不下去了。一把掀开被子,“百里云宸,你搞什么鬼。大晚上吓死谁啊!”楚煜殇抓着她的肩膀,“记住本尊的名字,楚煜殇!”神马,明明就长得一模一样啊!不管了,继续睡觉。
  • Glinda of Oz

    Glinda of Oz

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 飞翔的痕迹

    飞翔的痕迹

    在米亚罗燃烧般的红叶中,她遇到了他。明明是陌生人,却有着异样熟悉的感觉。这使他们渐渐靠近……蓦然回首,却看见以往曾经飞过的痕迹……
  • 世界文学与戏剧历史纵横谈(世界历史纵横谈)

    世界文学与戏剧历史纵横谈(世界历史纵横谈)

    本套书用生动的文字, 再现了世界历史进程的恢弘画卷, 堪称一部贯通整个世界历史的简明百科全书, 串联起全部人类发展的瑰宝, 并以其光辉不朽的价值与流传恒久的魅力, 成就一部好读又好看的世界历史通俗读物, 具有很强的系统性、知识性和可读性, 不仅是广大读者学习世界历史知识的读物, 也是各级图书馆珍藏的版本。
  • 心理刘备

    心理刘备

    桃园结义、三让徐州,他与吕布恩怨难解、与曹操煮酒论英雄;三顾茅庐、联孙抗曹,卧龙、凤雏双璧合一、五虎上将皆为所用,却落个火烧连营、白帝托孤——刘备是汉末三国时代最坎坷也最坚韧的英雄,这位爱哭又永远打不死的传奇人物,他的心里到底在想什么?
  • 中外战争的导火索(世界军事之旅)

    中外战争的导火索(世界军事之旅)

    战争的根源是利益之纷争,战争的正式爆发都有一根导火索。本书主要介绍了莱克星顿的枪声、越南骚扰杀戮中国边民、萨拉热窝的枪声、卢沟桥畔的枪炮声、飞机撞向世贸中心、苏格兰女王被处决等战事。阅读完可以帮助读者更全面地,更深刻地认知这些具有重要意义的中外战争。