Military Career...................................................................................................................................................1

Jacques Casanova .....................................................................................................................................1

CHAPTER XIII.......................................................................................................................................1

CHAPTER XIV.......................................................................................................................................9

CHAPTER XV......................................................................................................................................48

I Renounce the Clerical Profession, and Enter the Military Service Therese Leaves for Naples, and I Go to

VeniceI Am Appointed Ensign in the Army of My Native CountryI Embark for Corfu, and Land at

I had been careful, on my arrival in Bologna, to take up my quarters at a small inn, so as not to attract any

notice, and as soon as I had dispatched my letters to Therese and the French officer, I thought of purchasing

some linen, as it was at least doubtful whether I should ever get my trunk. I deemed it expedient to order

some clothes likewise. I was thus ruminating, when it suddenly struck me that I was not likely now to

succeed in the Church, but feeling great uncertainty as to the profession I ought to adopt, I took a fancy to

transform myself into an officer, as it was evident that I had not to account to anyone for my actions. It was a

very natural fancy at my age, for I had just passed through two armies in which I had seen no respect paid to

any garb but to the military uniform, and I did not see why I should not cause myself to be respected likewise.

Besides, I was thinking of returning to Venice, and felt great delight at the idea of shewing myself there in the

I enquired for a good tailor: death was brought to me, for the tailor sent to me was named Morte. I explained

to him how I wanted my uniform made, I chose the cloth, he took my measure, and the next day I was

transformed into a follower of Mars. I procured a long sword, and with my fine cane in hand, with a

wellbrushed hat ornamented with a black cockade, and wearing a long false pigtail, I sallied forth and

I bethought myself that the importance of my new calling required a better and more showy lodging than the

one I had secured on my arrival, and I moved to the best inn. I like even now to recollect the pleasing

impression I felt when I was able to admire myself full length in a large mirror. I was highly pleased with my

own person! I thought myself made by nature to wear and to honour the military costume, which I had

adopted through the most fortunate impulse. Certain that nobody knew me, I enjoyed by anticipation all the

conjectures which people would indulge in respecting me, when I made my first appearance in the most

My uniform was white, the vest blue, a gold and silver shoulderknot, and a swordknot of the same

material. Very well pleased with my grand appearance, I went to the coffeeroom, and, taking some

chocolate, began to read the newspapers, quite at my ease, and delighted to see that everybody was puzzled.

A bold individual, in the hope of getting me into conversation, came to me and addressed me; I answered him

with a monosyllable, and I observed that everyone was at a loss what to make of me. When I had sufficiently

enjoyed public admiration in the coffeeroom, I promenaded in the busiest thoroughfares of the city, and

I had just concluded my repast when my landlord presented himself with the travellers' book, in which he

This answer, which I thought was in keeping with my external appearance, had the desired effect: the

landlord bowed himself out, and I felt highly pleased with myself, for I knew that I should enjoy perfect

freedom in Bologna, and I was certain that mine host had visited me at the instance of some curious person

The next day I called on M. Orsi, the banker, to cash my bill of exchange, and took another for six hundred

sequins on Venice, and one hundred sequins in gold after which I again exhibited myself in the public places.

Two days afterwards, whilst I was taking my coffee after dinner, the banker Orsi was announced. I desired

him to be shewn in, and he made his appearance accompanied my Monsignor Cornaro, whom I feigned not to

know. M. Orsi remarked that he had called to offer me his services for my letters of exchange, and introduced

the prelate. I rose and expressed my gratification at making his acquaintance. "But we have met before," he

replied, "at Venice and Rome." Assuming an air of blank surprise, I told him he must certainly be mistaken.

The prelate, thinking he could guess the reason of my reserve, did not insist, and apologized. I offered him a

cup of coffee, which he accepted, and, on leaving me, he begged the honour of my company to breakfast the

I made up my mind to persist in my denials, and called upon the prelate, who gave me a polite welcome. He

was then apostolic prothonotary in Bologna. Breakfast was served, and as we were sipping our chocolate, he

told me that I had most likely some good reasons to warrant my reserve, but that I was wrong not to trust him,

the more so that the affair in question did me great honour. "I do not know," said I, "what affair you are

alluding to." He then handed me a newspaper, telling me to read a paragraph which he pointed out. My

astonishment may be imagined when I read the following correspondence from Pesaro: "M. de Casanova, an

officer in the service of the queen, has deserted after having killed his captain in a duel; the circumstances of

the duel are not known; all that has been ascertained is that M. de Casanova has taken the road to Rimini,

In spite of my surprise, and of the difficulty I had in keeping my gravity at the reading of the paragraph, in

which so much untruth was blended with so little that was real, I managed to keep a serious countenance, and

I told the prelate that the Casanova spoken of in the newspaper must be another man.

"That may be, but you are certainly the Casanova I knew a month ago at Cardinal Acquaviva's, and two years

ago at the house of my sister, Madame Lovedan, in Venice. Besides the Ancona banker speaks of you as an

"Very well, monsignor; your excellency compels me to agree to my being the same Casanova, but I entreat

you not to ask me any more questions as I am bound in honour to observe the strictest reserve."

I was amused at the false reports which were being circulated about me, and, I became from that moment a

thorough sceptic on the subject of historical truth. I enjoyed, however, very great pleasure in thinking that my

reserve had fed the belief of my being the Casanova mentioned in the newspaper. I felt certain that the prelate

would write the whole affair to Venice, where it would do me great honour, at least until the truth should be

known, and in that case my reserve would be justified, besides, I should then most likely be far away. I made

up my mind to go to Venice as soon as I heard from Therese, as I thought that I could wait for her there more

comfortably than in Bologna, and in my native place there was nothing to hinder me from marrying her

openly. In the mean time the fable from Pesaro amused me a good deal, and I expected every day to see it

denied in some newspaper. The real officer Casanova must have laughed at the accusation brought against

him of having run away with the horse, as much as I laughed at the caprice which had metamorphosed me

into an officer in Bologna, just as if I had done it for the very purpose of giving to the affair every appearance

On the fourth day of my stay in Bologna, I received by express a long letter from Therese. She informed me

that, on the day after my escape from Rimini, Baron Vais had presented to her the Duke de Castropignano,

who, having heard her sing, had offered her one thousand ounces a year, and all travelling expenses paid, if

she would accept an engagement as primadonna at the San Carlo Theatre, at Naples, where she would have

to go immediately after her Rimini engagement. She had requested and obtained a week to come to a

decision. She enclosed two documents, the first was the written memorandum of the duke's proposals, which

she sent in order that I should peruse it, as she did not wish to sign it without my consent; the second was a

formal engagement, written by herself, to remain all her life devoted to me and at my service. She added in

her letter that, if I wished to accompany her to Naples, she would meet me anywhere I might appoint, but

that, if I had any objection to return to that city, she would immediately refuse the brilliant offer, for her only

For the first time in my life I found myself in need of thoughtful consideration before I could make up my

mind. Therese's letter had entirely upset all my ideas, and, feeling that I could not answer it a once, I told the

Two motives of equal weight kept the balance wavering; selflove and love for Therese. I felt that I ought not

to require Therese to give up such prospects of fortune; but I could not take upon myself either to let her go to

Naples without me, or to accompany her there. On one side, I shuddered at the idea that my love might ruin

Therese's prospects; on the other side, the idea of the blow inflicted on my selflove, on my pride, if I went to

How could I make up my mind to reappear in that city, in the guise of a cowardly fellow living at the expense

of his mistress or his wife? What would my cousin Antonio, Don Polo and his dear son, Don Lelio Caraffa,

and all the patricians who knew me, have said? The thought of Lucrezia and of her husband sent a cold shiver

through me. I considered that, in spite of my love for Therese, I should become very miserable if everyone

despised me. Linked to her destiny as a lover or as a husband, I would be a degraded, humbled, and mean

sycophant. Then came the thought, Is this to be the end of all my hopes? The die was cast, my head had

conquered my heart. I fancied that I had hit upon an excellent expedient, which at all events made me gain

time, and I resolved to act upon it. I wrote to Therese, advising her to accept the engagement for Naples,

where she might expect me to join her in the month of July, or after my return from Constantinople. I

cautioned her to engage an honestlooking waiting woman, so as to appear respectably in the world, and, to

lead such a life as would permit me to make her my wife, on my return, without being ashamed of myself. I

foresaw that her success would be insured by her beauty even more than by her talent, and, with my nature, I

knew that I could never assume the character of an easygoing lover or of a compliant husband.

Had I received Therese's letter one week sooner, it is certain that she would not have gone to Naples, for my

love would then have proved stronger than my reason; but in matters of love, as well as in all others, Time is

I told Therese to direct her answer to Bologna, and, three days after, I received from her a letter loving, and at

the same time sad, in which she informed me that she had signed the engagement. She had secured the

services of a woman whom she could present as her mother; she would reach Naples towards the middle of

May, and she would wait for me there till she heard from me that I no longer wanted her.

Four days after the receipt of that letter, the last but one that Therese wrote me, I left Bologna for Venice.

Before my departure I had received an answer form the French officer, advising me that my passport had

reached Pesaro, and that he was ready to forward it to me with my trunk, if I would pay M. Marcello Birna,

the proveditore of the Spanish army, whose address he enclosed, the sum of fifty doubloons for the horse

which I had run away with, or which had run away with me. I repaired at once to the house of the

proveditore, well pleased to settle that affair, and I received my trunk and my passport a few hours before

leaving Bologna. But as my paying for the horse was known all over the town, Monsignor Cornaro was

To go to Venice, it was necessary to submit to a quarantine, which had been adhered to only because the two

governments had fallen out. The Venetians wanted the Pope to be the first in giving free passage through his

frontiers, and the Pope insisted that the Venetians should take the initiative. The result of this trifling pique

between the two governments was great hindrance to commerce, but very often that which bears only upon

the private interest of the people is lightly treated by the rulers. I did not wish to be quarantined, and

determined on evading it. It was rather a delicate undertaking, for in Venice the sanitary laws are very strict,

but in those days I delighted in doing, if not everything that was forbidden, at least everything which offered

I knew that between the state of Mantua and that of Venice the passage was free, and I knew likewise that

there was no restriction in the communication between Mantua and Modena; if I could therefore penetrate

into the state of Mantua by stating that I was coming from Modena, my success would be certain, because I

could then cross the Po and go straight to Venice. I got a carrier to drive me to Revero, a city situated on the

The driver told me that, if he took the crossroads, he could go to Revero, and say that we came from Mantua,

and that the only difficulty would be in the absence of the sanitary certificate which is delivered in Mantua,

and which was certain to be asked for in Revero. I suggested that the best way to manage would be for him to

say that he had lost it, and a little money removed every objection on his part.

When we reached the gates of Revero, I represented myself as a Spanish officer going to Venice to meet the

Duke of Modena (whom I knew to be there) on business of the greatest importance. The sanitary certificate

was not even demanded, military honours were duly paid to me, and I was most civilly treated. A certificate

was immediately delivered to me, setting forth that I was travelling from Revero, and with it I crossed the Po,

without any difficulty, at Ostiglia, from which place I proceeded to Legnago. There I left my carrier as much

pleased with my generosity as with the good luck which had attended our journey, and, taking posthorses, I

reached Venice in the evening. I remarked that it was the and of April, 1744, the anniversary of my birth,

The very next morning I went to the exchange in order to procure a passage to Constantinople, but I could not

find any passenger ship sailing before two or three months, and I engaged a berth in a Venetian ship called,

Our Lady of the Rosary, Commander Zane, which was to sail for Corfu in the course of the month.

Having thus prepared myself to obey my destiny, which, according to my superstitious feelings, called me

imperiously to Constantinople, I went to St: Mark's Square in order to see and to be seen, enjoying by

anticipation the surprise of my acquaintances at not finding me any longer an abbe. I must not forget to state

I thought that my first visit was, by right, due to the Abbe Grimani. The moment he saw me he raised a

perfect shriek of astonishment, for he thought I was still with Cardinal Acquaviva, on the road to a political

career, and he saw standing before him a son of Mars. He had just left the dinnertable as I entered, and he

had company. I observed amongst the guests an officer wearing the Spanish uniform, but I was not put out of

countenance. I told the Abbe Grimani that I was only passing through Venice, and that I had felt it a duty and

"I have resolved to throw off the garb which could not procure me a fortune likely to satisfy my ambition."

"To Constantinople; and I hope to find a quick passage to Corfu, as I have dispatches from Cardinal

These words were hardly spoken, when I heard the voice of a young nobleman exclaiming;

"The profession to which I belong," I said to him with great animation, "does not permit me to let anyone

And upon that, bowing all round, I went away, without taking any notice of those who were calling me back.

I wore an uniform; it seemed to me that I was right in showing that sensitive and haughty pride which forms

one of the characteristics of military men. I was no longer a priest: I could not bear being given the lie,

I called upon Madame Manzoni, whom I was longing to see. She was very happy to see me, and did not fail

to remind me of her prediction. I told her my history, which amused her much; but she said that if I went to

After my visit to Madame Manzoni I went to the house of Madame Orio, where I found worthy M. Rosa,

Nanette, and Marton. They were all greatly surprised, indeed petrified at seeing me. The two lovely sisters

looked more beautiful than ever, but I did not think it necessary to tell them the history of my nine months

absence, for it would not have edified the aunt or pleased the nieces. I satisfied myself with telling them as

much as I thought fit, and amused them for three hours. Seeing that the good old lady was carried away by

her enthusiasm, I told her that I should be very happy to pass under her roof the four or five weeks of my stay

in Venice, if she could give me a room and supper, but on condition that I should not prove a burden to her or

"I should be only too happy," she answered, "to have you so long, but I have no room to offer you."

"Yes, you have one, my dear," exclaimed M. Rosa, "and I undertake to put it to rights within two hours."

It was the room adjoining the chamber of the two sisters. Nanette said immediately that she would come

downstairs with her sister, but Madame Orio answered that it was unnecessary, as they could lock themselves

"There would be no need for them to do that, madam," I said, with a serious and modest air; "and if I am

"There will be no disturbance whatever; but forgive my nieces, they are young prudes, and have a very high

Everything being satisfactorily arranged, I forced upon Madame Orio a payment of fifteen sequins in

advance, assuring her that I was rich, and that I had made a very good bargain, as I should spend a great deal

more if I kept my room at the inn. I added that I would send my luggage, and take up my quarters in her

house on the following day. During the whole of the conversation, I could see the eyes of my two dear little

wives sparkling with pleasure, and they reconquered all their influence over my heart in spite of my love for

Therese, whose image was, all the same, brilliant in my soul: this was a passing infidelity, but not

On the following day I called at the war office, but, to avoid every chance of unpleasantness, I took care to

remove my cockade. I found in the office Major Pelodoro, who could not control his joy when he saw me in a

military uniform, and hugged me with delight. As soon as I had explained to him that I wanted to go to

Constantinople, and that, although in uniform, I was free, he advised me earnestly to seek the favour of going

to Turkey with the bailo, who intended to leave within two months, and even to try to obtain service in the

His advice suited me exactly, and the secretary of war, who had known me the year before, happening to see

me, summoned me to him. He told me that he had received letters from Bologna which had informed him of

a certain adventure entirely to my honour, adding that he knew that I would not acknowledge it. He then

As I was leaving the ducal palace, I met the Abbe Grimani who told me that the abrupt manner in which I had

"No, for he remarked that, if you had truly been with the army, you could not act differently, and he has

himself assured me that you were there, and to prove what he asserted he made me read an article in the

newspaper, in which it is stated that you killed your captain in a duel. Of course it is only a fable?"

"I do not say so, but it may be true, quite as true as my having been with the Spanish army ten days ago."

"I have broken nothing. I have openly crossed the Po at Revero, and here I am. I am sorry not to be able to

present myself at your excellency's palace, but I cannot do so until I have received the most complete

satisfaction from the person who has given me the lie. I could put up with an insult when I wore the livery of

"You are wrong to take it in such a high tone. The person who attacked your veracity is M. Valmarana, the

proveditore of the sanitary department, and he contends that, as nobody can pass through the cordon, it would

be impossible for you to be here. Satisfaction, indeed! Have you forgotten who you are?"

"No, I know who I am; and I know likewise that, if I was taken for a coward before leaving Venice, now that

"Very well, then I will go, and I will let him be the judge of my quarrel with M. Valmarana."

I dined that day with Major Pelodoro and several other officers, who agreed in advising me to enter the

service of the Republic, and I resolved to do so. "I am acquainted," said the major, "with a young lieutenant

whose health is not sufficiently strong to allow him to go to the East, and who would be glad to sell his

commission, for which he wants one hundred sequins. But it would be necessary to obtain the consent of the

secretary of war." "Mention the matter to him," I replied, "the one hundred sequins are ready." The major

In the evening I went to Madame Orio, and I found myself very comfortably lodged. After supper, the aunt

told her nieces to shew me, to my room, and, as may well be supposed, we spent a most delightful night.

After that they took the agreeable duty by turns, and in order to avoid any surprise in case the aunt should

take it into her head to pay them a visit, we skilfully displaced a part of the partition, which allowed them to

come in and out of my room without opening the door. But the good lady believed us three living specimens

Two or three days afterwards, M. Grimani contrived an interview between me and M. Valmarana, who told

me that, if he had been aware that the sanitary line could be eluded, he would never have impugned my

veracity, and thanked me for the information I had given him. The affair was thus agreeably arranged, and

until my departure I honoured M. Grimani's excellent dinner with my presence every day.

Towards the end of the month I entered the service of the Republic in the capacity of ensign in the Bala

regiment, then at Corfu; the young man who had left the regiment through the magical virtue of my one

hundred sequins was lieutenant, but the secretary of war objected to my having that rank for reasons to which

I had to submit, if I wished to enter the army; but he promised me that, at the end of the year, I would be

promoted to the grade of lieutenant, and he granted me a furlough to go to Constantinople. I accepted, for I

M. Pierre Vendramin, an illustrious senator, obtained me the favour of a passage to Constantinople with the

Chevalier Venier, who was proceeding to that city in the quality of bailo, but as he would arrive in Corfu a

month after me, the chevalier very kindly promised to take me as he called at Corfu.

A few days before my departure, I received a letter from Therese, who informed me that the Duke de

Castropignano escorted her everywhere. "The duke is old," she wrote, "but even if he were young, you would

have no cause for uneasiness on my account. Should you ever want any money, draw upon me from any

place where you may happen to be, and be quite certain that your letters of exchange will be paid, even if I

There was to be another passenger on board the ship of the line on which I had engaged my passage, namely,

a noble Venetian, who was going to Zante in the quality of counsellor, with a numerous and brilliant retinue.

The captain of the ship told me that, if I was obliged to take my meals alone, I was not likely to fare very

well, and he advised me to obtain an introduction to the nobleman, who would not fail to invite me to share

his table. His name was Antonio Dolfin, and he had been nicknamed Bucentoro, in consequence of his air of

grandeur and the elegance of his toilet. Fortunately I did not require to beg an introduction, for M. Grimani

offered, of his own accord, to present me to the magnificent councillor, who received me in the kindest

manner, and invited me at once to take my meals at his table. He expressed a desire that I should make the

acquaintance of his wife, who was to accompany him in the journey. I called upon her the next day, and I

found a lady perfect in manners, but already of a certain age and completely deaf. I had therefore but little

pleasure to expect from her conversation. She had a very charming young daughter whom she left in a

convent. She became celebrated afterwards, and she is still alive, I believe, the widow of Procurator Iron,

I have seldom seen a finerlooking man, or a man of more imposing appearance than M. Dolfin. He was

eminently distinguished for his wit and politeness. He was eloquent, always cheerful when he lost at cards,

the favourite of ladies, whom he endeavoured to please in everything, always courageous, and of an equal

He had ventured on travelling without permission, and had entered a foreign service, which had brought him

into disgrace with the government, for a noble son of Venice cannot be guilty of a greater crime. For this

offence he had been imprisoned in the Leadsa favour which destiny kept also in reserve for me.

Highly gifted, generous, but not wealthy, M. Dolfin had been compelled to solicit from the Grand Council a

lucrative governorship, and had been appointed to Zante; but he started with such a splendid suite that he was

not likely to save much out of his salary. Such a man as I have just portrayed could not make a fortune in

Venice, because an aristocratic government can not obtain a state of lasting, steady peace at home unless

equality is maintained amongst the nobility, and equality, either moral or physical, cannot be appreciated in

any other way than by appearances. The result is that the man who does not want to lay himself open to

persecution, and who happens to be superior or inferior to the others, must endeavour to conceal it by all

possible means. If he is ambitious, he must feign great contempt for dignities; if he seeks employment, he

must not appear to want any; if his features are handsome, he must be careless of his physical appearance; he

must dress badly, wear nothing in good taste, ridicule every foreign importation, make his bow without grace,

be careless in his manner; care nothing for the fine arts, conceal his good breeding, have no foreign cook,

wear an uncombed wig, and look rather dirty. M. Dolfin was not endowed with any of those eminent

qualities, and therefore he had no hope of a great fortune in his native country.

The day before my departure from Venice I did not go out; I devoted the whole of the day to friendship.

Madame Orio and her lovely nieces shed many tears, and I joined them in that delightful employment. During

the last night that I spent with both of them, the sisters repeated over and over, in the midst of the raptures of

love, that they never would see me again. They guessed rightly; but if they had happened to see me again

I went on board, on the 5th of May, with a good supply of clothing, jewels, and ready cash. Our ship carried

twentyfour guns and two hundred Sclavonian soldiers. We sailed from Malamacca to the shores of Istria

during the night, and we came to anchor in the harbour of Orsera to take ballast. I landed with several others

to take a stroll through the wretched place where I had spent three days nine months before, a recollection

which caused me a pleasant sensation when I compared my present position to what it was at that time. What

a difference in everythinghealth, social condition, and money! I felt quite certain that in the splendid

uniform I was now wearing nobody would recognize the miserablelooking abbe who, but for Friar

An Amusing Meeting in OrseraJourney to CorfuMy Stay in ConstantinopleBonnevalMy Return to

CorfuMadame F.The False PrinceI Run Away from CorfuMy Frolics at CasopoI Surrender My

I affirm that a stupid servant is more dangerous than a bad one, and a much greater plague, for one can be on

one's guard against a wicked person, but never against a fool. You can punish wickedness but not stupidity,

unless you send away the fool, male or female, who is guilty of it, and if you do so you generally find out that

This chapter and the two following ones were written; they gave at full length all the particulars which I must

now abridge, for my silly servant has taken the three chapters for her own purposes. She pleaded as an excuse

that the sheets of paper were old, written upon, covered with scribbling and erasures, and that she had taken

them in preference to nice, clean paper, thinking that I would care much more for the last than for the first. I

flew into a violent passion, but I was wrong, for the poor girl had acted with a good intent; her judgment

alone had misled her. It is well known that the first result of anger is to deprive the angry man of the faculty

of reason, for anger and reason do not belong to the same family. Luckily, passion does not keep me long

under its sway: 'Irasci, celerem tamen et placabilem esse'. After I had wasted my time in hurling at her bitter

reproaches, the force of which did not strike her, and in proving to her that she was a stupid fool, she refuted

all my arguments by the most complete silence. There was nothing to do but to resign myself, and, although

not yet in the best of tempers, I went to work. What I am going to write will probably not be so good as what

I had composed when I felt in the proper humour, but my readers must be satisfied with it they will, like the

I landed at Orsera while our ship was taking ballast, as a ship cannot sail well when she is too light, and I was

walking about when I remarked a man who was looking at me very attentively. As I had no dread of any

creditor, I thought that he was interested by my fine appearance; I could not find fault with such a feeling,

"Might I presume to enquire whether this is your first visit to Orsera, captain?"

"Be good enough to forgive me, sir, for my curiosity is the offspring of gratitude. I am indebted to you for the

greatest benefits, and I trust that Providence has brought you here again only to give me the opportunity of

"What on earth have I done, and what can I do for you? I am at a loss to guess your meaning."

"Will you be so kind as to come and breakfast with me? My house is near at hand; my refosco is delicious,

please to taste it, and I will convince you in a few words that you are truly my benefactor, and that I have a

I could not suspect the man of insanity; but, as I could not make him out, I fancied that he wanted to make me

purchase some of his refosco, and I accepted his invitation. We went up to his room, and he left me for a few

moments to order breakfast. I observed several surgical instruments, which made me suppose that he was a

"Yes, captain; I have been practising surgery in this place for twenty years, and in a very poor way, for I had

nothing to do, except a few cases of bleeding, of cupping, and occasionally some slight excoriation to dress or

a sprained ankle to put to rights. I did not earn even the poorest living. But since last year a great change has

taken place; I have made a good deal of money, I have laid it out advantageously, and it is to you, captain, to

"In this way, captain. You had a connection with Don Jerome's housekeeper, and you left her, when you went

away, a certain souvenir which she communicated to a friend of hers, who, in perfect good faith, made a

present of it to his wife. This lady did not wish, I suppose, to be selfish, and she gave the souvenir to a

libertine who, in his turn, was so generous with it that, in less than a month, I had about fifty clients. The

following months were not less fruitful, and I gave the benefit of my attendance to everybody, of course, for a

consideration. There are a few patients still under my care, but in a short time there will be no more, as the

souvenir left by you has now lost all its virtue. You can easily realize now the joy I felt when I saw you; you

are a bird of good omen. May I hope that your visit will last long enough to enable you to renew the source of

I laughed heartily, but he was grieved to hear that I was in excellent health. He remarked, however, that I was

not likely to be so well off on my return, because, in the country to which I was going, there was abundance

of damaged goods, but that no one knew better than he did how to root out the venom left by the use of such

bad merchandise. He begged that I would depend upon him, and not trust myself in the hands of quacks, who

would be sure to palm their remedies upon me. I promised him everything, and, taking leave of him with

many thanks, I returned to the ship. I related the whole affair to M. Dolfin, who was highly amused. We

sailed on the following day, but on the fourth day, on the other side of Curzola, we were visited by a storm

The chaplain of the ship was a Sclavonian priest, very ignorant, insolent and coarsemannered, and, as I

turned him into ridicule whenever the opportunity offered, he had naturally become my sworn enemy. 'Tant

de fiel entretil dans l'ame d'un devot!' When the storm was at its height, he posted himself on the

quarterdeck, and, with book in hand, proceeded to exorcise all the spirits of hell whom he thought he could

see in the clouds, and to whom he pointed for the benefit of the sailors who, believing themselves lost, were

crying, howling, and giving way to despair, instead of attending to the working of the ship, then in great

Seeing the peril of our position, and the evil effect of his stupid, incantations upon the minds of the sailors

whom the ignorant priest was throwing into the apathy of despair, instead of keeping up their courage, I

thought it prudent to interfere. I went up the rigging, calling upon the sailors to do their duty cheerfully,

telling them that there were no devils, and that the priest who pretended to see them was a fool. But it was in

vain that I spoke in the most forcible manner, in vain that I went to work myself, and shewed that safety was

only to be insured by active means, I could not prevent the priest declaring that I was an Atheist, and he

managed to rouse against me the anger of the greatest part of the crew. The wind continued to lash the sea

into fury for the two following days, and the knave contrived to persuade the sailors who listened to him that

the hurricane would not abate as long as I was on board. Imbued with that conviction, one of the men,

thinking he had found a good opportunity of fulfilling the wishes of the priest, came up to me as I was

standing at the extreme end of the forecastle, and pushed me so roughly that I was thrown over. I should have

been irretrievably lost, but the sharp point of an anchor, hanging along the side of the ship, catching in my

clothes, prevented me from falling in the sea, and proved truly my sheetanchor. Some men came to my

assistance, and I was saved. A corporal then pointed out to me the sailor who had tried to murder me, and

taking a stout stick I treated the scoundrel to a sound thrashing; but the sailors, headed by the furious priest,

rushed towards us when they heard his screams, and I should have been killed if the soldiers had not taken

my part. The commander and M. Dolfin then came on deck, but they were compelled to listen to the chaplain,

and to promise, in order to pacify the vile rabble, that they would land me at the first opportunity. But even

this was not enough; the priest demanded that I should give up to him a certain parchment that I had

purchased from a Greek at Malamocco just before sailing. I had no recollection of it, but it was true. I

laughed, and gave it to M. Dolfin; he handed it to the fanatic chaplain, who, exulting in his victory, called for

a large pan of live coals from the cook's galley, and made an autodafe of the document. The unlucky

parchment, before it was entirely consumed, kept writhing on the fire for half an hour, and the priest did not

fail to represent those contortions as a miracle, and all the sailors were sure that it was an infernal manuscript

given to me by the devil. The virtue claimed for that piece of parchment by the man who had sold it to me

was that it insured its lucky possessor the love of all women, but I trust my readers will do me the justice to

believe that I had no faith whatever in amorous philtres, talismans, or amulets of any kind: I had purchased it

You can find throughout Italy, in Greece, and generally in every country the inhabitants of which are yet

wrapped up in primitive ignorance, a tribe of Greeks, of Jews, of astronomers, and of exorcists, who sell their

dupes rags and toys to which they boastingly attach wonderful virtues and properties; amulets which render

invulnerable, scraps of cloth which defend from witchcraft, small bags filled with drugs to keep away

goblins, and a thousand gewgaws of the same description. These wonderful goods have no marketable value

whatever in France, in England, in Germany, and throughout the north of Europe generally, but, in revenge,

the inhabitants of those countries indulge in knavish practices of a much worse kind.

The storm abated just as the innocent parchment was writhing on the fire, and the sailors, believing that the

spirits of hell had been exorcised, thought no more of getting rid of my person, and after a prosperous voyage

of a week we cast anchor at Corfu. As soon as I had found a comfortable lodging I took my letters to his

eminence the proveditoregenerale, and to all the naval commanders to whom I was recommended; and after

paying my respects to my colonel, and making the acquaintance of the officers of my regiment, I prepared to

enjoy myself until the arrival of the Chevalier Venier, who had promised to take me to Constantinople. He

arrived towards the middle of June, but in the mean time I had been playing basset, and had lost all my

Such must be the fate awaiting every man who has a taste for gambling, unless he should know how to fix

fickle fortune by playing with a real advantage derived from calculation or from adroitness, which defies

chance. I think that a cool and prudent player can manage both without exposing himself to censure, or

During the month that I spent in Corfu, waiting for the arrival of M. Venier, I did not devote any time to the

study, either moral or physical, of the country, for, excepting the days on which I was on duty, I passed my

life at the coffeehouse, intent upon the game, and sinking, as a matter of course, under the adverse fortune

which I braved with obstinacy. I never won, and I had not the moral strength to stop till all my means were

gone. The only comfort I had, and a sorry one truly, was to hear the banker himself call meperhaps

sarcasticallya fine player, every time I lost a large stake. My misery was at its height, when new life was

infused in me by the booming of the guns fired in honour of the arrival of the bailo. He was on board the

Europa, a frigate of seventytwo guns, and he had taken only eight days to sail from Venice to Corfu. The

moment he cast anchor, the bailo hoisted his flag of captaingeneral of the Venetian navy, and the

proveditore hauled down his own colours. The Republic of Venice has not on the sea any authority greater

than that of Bailo to the Porte. The Chevalier Venier had with him a distinguished and brilliant suite; Count

Annibal Gambera, Count Charles Zenobio, both Venetian noblemen of the first class, and the Marquis

d'Anchotti of Bressan, accompanied him to Constantinople for their own amusement. The bailo remained a

week in Corfu, and all the naval authorities entertained him and his suite in turn, so that there was a constant

succession of balls and suppers. When I presented myself to his excellency, he informed me that he had

already spoken to the proveditore, who had granted me a furlough of six months to enable me to accompany

him to Constantinople as his adjutant; and as soon as the official document for my furlough had been

delivered to me, I sent my small stock of worldly goods on board the Europa, and we weighed anchor early

We sailed with a favourable wind which remained steady and brought us in six days to Cerigo, where we

stopped to take in some water. Feeling some curiosity to visit the ancient Cythera, I went on shore with the

sailors on duty, but it would have been better for me if I had remained on board, for in Cerigo I made a bad

The moment we set foot on shore, two men, very poorly dressed and of unprepossessing appearance, came to

us and begged for assistance. I asked them who they were, and one, quicker than the other, answered;

"We are sentenced to live, and perhaps to die, in this island by the despotism of the Council of Ten. There are

forty others as unfortunate as ourselves, and we are all born subjects of the Republic.

"The crime of which we have been accused, which is not considered a crime anywhere, is that we were in the

habit of living with our mistresses, without being jealous of our friends, when, finding our ladies handsome,

they obtained their favours with our ready consent. As we were not rich, we felt no remorse in availing

ourselves of the generosity of our friends in such cases, but it was said that we were carrying on an illicit

trade, and we have been sent to this place, where we receive every day ten sous in 'moneta lunga'. We are

called 'mangiamayroni', and are worse off than galley slaves, for we are dying of ennui, and we are often

starving without knowing how to stay our hunger. My name is Don Antonio Pocchini, I am of a noble Paduan

We gave them some money, and went about the island, returning to the ship after we had visited the fortress.

The wind continued in our favour, and we reached the Dardanelles in eight or ten days; the Turkish barges

met us there to carry us to Constantinople. The sight offered by that city at the distance of a league is truly

wonderful; and I believe that a more magnificent panorama cannot be found in any part of the world. It was

that splendid view which was the cause of the fall of the Roman, and of the rise of the Greek empire.

Constantine the Great, arriving at Byzantium by sea, was so much struck with the wonderful beauty of its

position, that he exclaimed, "Here is the proper seat of the empire of the whole world!" and in order to secure

the fulfilment of his prediction, he left Rome for Byzantium. If he had known the prophecy of Horace, or

rather if he had believed in it, he would not have been guilty of such folly. The poet had said that the,

downfall of the Roman empire would begin only when one of the successors of Augustus bethought him

removing the capital of the empire to where it had originated. The Troad is not far distant from Thrace.

We arrived at the Venetian Embassy in Pera towards the middle of July, and, for a wonder, there was no talk

of the plague in Constantinople just then. We were all provided with very comfortable lodgings, but the

intensity of the heat induced the baili to seek for a little coolness in a country mansion which had been hired

by the Bailo Dona. It was situated at Bouyoudere. The very first order laid upon me was never to go out

unknown to the bailo, and without being escorted by a janissary, and this order I obeyed to the letter. In those

days the Russians had not tamed the insolence of the Turkish people. I am told that foreigners can now go

The day after our arrival, I took a janissary to accompany me to Osman Pacha, of Caramania, the name

assumed by Count de Bonneval ever since he had adopted the turban. I sent in my letter, and was

immediately shewn into an apartment on the ground floor, furnished in the French fashion, where I saw a

stout elderly gentleman, dressed like a Frenchman, who, as I entered the room, rose, came to meet me with a

smiling countenance, and asked me how he could serve the 'protege' of a cardinal of the Roman Catholic

Church, which he could no longer call his mother. I gave him all the particulars of the circumstances which,

in a moment of despair, had induced me to ask the cardinal for letters of introduction for Constantinople, and

I added that, the letters once in my possession, my superstitious feelings had made me believe that I was

"Then, without this letter," he said, "you never would have come to Constantinople, and you have no need of

"True, but I consider myself fortunate in having thus made the acquaintance of a man who has attracted the

His excellency made some remark respecting the happiness of young men who, like me, without care,

without any fixed purpose, abandon themselves to fortune with that confidence which knows no fear, and

telling me that the cardinal's letter made it desirable that he should do something for me, he promised to

introduce me to three or four of his Turkish friends who deserved to be known. He invited me to dine with

him every Thursday, and undertook to send me a janissary who would protect me from the insults of the

The cardinal's letter representing me as a literary man, the pacha observed that I ought to see his library. I

followed him through the garden, and we entered a room furnished with grated cupboards; curtains could be

Taking a key out of his pocket, he opened one of the cupboards, and, instead of folios, I saw long rows of

"Here are," said the pacha. "my library and my harem. I am old, women would only shorten my life but good

"You are mistaken, for the Pope of the Turks is very far from enjoying as great a power as the Christian Pope.

He cannot in any case permit what is forbidden by the Koran; but everyone is at liberty to work out his own

damnation if he likes. The Turkish devotees pity the libertines, but they do not persecute them; there is no

inquisition in Turkey. Those who do not know the precepts of religion, say the Turks, will suffer enough in

the life to come; there is no need to make them suffer in this life. The only dispensation I have asked and

obtained, has been respecting circumcision, although it can hardly be called so, because, at my age, it might

have proved dangerous. That ceremony is generally performed, but it is not compulsory."

During the two hours that we spent together, the pacha enquired after several of his friends in Venice, and

particularly after Marc Antonio Dieto. I told him that his friends were still faithful to their affection for him,

and did not find fault with his apostasy. He answered that he was a Mahometan as he had been a Christian,

and that he was not better acquainted with the Koran than he had been with the Gospel. "I am certain," he

added, "that I shall diecalmer and much happier than Prince Eugene. I have had to say that God is God, and

that Mahomet is the prophet. I have said it, and the Turks care very little whether I believe it or not. I wear

the turban as the soldier wears the uniform. I was nothing but a military man; I could not have turned my

hand to any other profession, and I made up my mind to become lieutenantgeneral of the Grand Turk only

when I found myself entirely at a loss how to earn my living. When I left Venice, the pitcher had gone too

often to the well, it was broken at last, and if the Jews had offered me the command of an army of fifty

Bonneval was handsome, but too stout. He had received a sabrecut in the lower part of the abdomen, which

compelled him to wear constantly a bandage supported by a silver plate. He had been exiled to Asia, but only

for a short time, for, as he told me, the cabals are not so tenacious in Turkey as they are in Europe, and

particularly at the court of Vienna. As I was taking leave of him, he was kind enough to say that, since his

arrival in Turkey, he had never passed two hours as pleasantly as those he had just spent with me, and that he

The Bailo Dona, who had known him intimately in Venice, desired me to be the bearer of all his friendly

compliments for him, and M. Venier expressed his deep regret at not being able to make his acquaintance.

The second day after my first visit to him being a Thursday, the pacha did not forget to send a janissary

according to his promise. It was about eleven in the morning when the janissary called for me, I followed

him, and this time I found Bonneval dressed in the Turkish style. His guests soon arrived, and we sat down to

dinner, eight of us, all well disposed to be cheerful and happy. The dinner was entirely French, in cooking

He had taken care to introduce me to all his guests and at the same time to let me know who they were, but he

did not give me an opportunity of speaking before dinner was nearly over. The conversation was entirely kept

up in Italian, and I remarked that the Turks did not utter a single word in their own language, even to say the

most ordinary thing. Each guest had near him a bottle which might have contained either white wine or

hydromel; all I know is that I drank, as well as M. de Bonneval, next to whom I was seated, some excellent

The guests got me on the subject of Venice, and particularly of Rome, and the conversation very naturally fell

upon religion, but not upon dogmatic questions; the discipline of religion and liturgical questions were alone

One of the guests, who was addressed as effendi, because he had been secretary for foreign affairs, said that

the ambassador from Venice to Rome was a friend of his, and he spoke of him in the highest manner. I told

him that I shared his admiration for that ambassador, who had given me a letter of introduction for a Turkish

nobleman, whom he had represented as an intimate friend. He enquired for the name of the person to whom

the letter was addressed, but I could not recollect it, and took the letter out of my pocketbook. The effendi

was delighted when he found that the letter was for himself. He begged leave to read it at once, and after he

had perused it, he kissed the signature and came to embrace me. This scene pleased M. de Bonneval and all

his friends. The effendi, whose name was Ismail, entreated the pacha to come to dine with him, and to bring

Notwithstanding all the politeness of the effendi, I was particularly interested during our charming dinner in a

fine elderly man of about sixty, whose countenance breathed at the same time the greatest sagacity and the

most perfect kindness. Two years afterwards I found again the same features on the handsome face of M. de

Bragadin, a Venetian senator of whom I shall have to speak at length when we come to that period of my life.

That elderly gentleman had listened to me with the greatest attention, but without uttering one word. In

society, a man whose face and general appearance excite your interest, stimulates strongly your curiosity if he

remains silent. When we left the diningroom I enquired from de Bonneval who he was; he answered that he

was wealthy, a philosopher, a man of acknowledged merit, of great purity of morals, and strongly attached to

his religion. He advised me to cultivate his acquaintance if he made any advances to me.

I was pleased with his advice, and when, after a walk under the shady trees of the garden, we returned to a

drawingroom furnished in the Turkish fashion, I purposely took a seat near Yusuf Ali. Such was the name

of the Turk for whom I felt so much sympathy. He offered me his pipe in a very graceful manner; I refused it

politely, and took one brought to me by one of M. de Bonneval's servants. Whenever I have been amongst

smokers I have smoked or left the room; otherwise I would have fancied that I was swallowing the smoke of

the others, and that idea which is true and unpleasant, disgusted me. I have never been able to understand

how in Germany the ladies, otherwise so polite and delicate, could inhale the suffocating fumes of a crowd of

Yusuf, pleased to have me near him, at once led the conversation to subjects similar to those which had been

discussed at table, and particularly to the reasons which had induced me to give up the peaceful profession of

the Church and to choose a military life; and in order to gratify his curiosity without losing his good opinion,

I gave him, but with proper caution, some of the particulars of my life, for I wanted him to be satisfied that, if

I had at first entered the career of the holy priesthood, it had not been through any vocation of mine. He

seemed pleased with my recital, spoke of natural vocations as a Stoic philosopher, and I saw that he was a

fatalist; but as I was careful not to attack his system openly, he did not dislike my objections, most likely

I must have inspired the honest Mussulman with very great esteem, for he thought me worthy of becoming

his disciple; it was not likely that he could entertain the idea of becoming himself the disciple of a young man

After spending an hour in examining me, in listening to my principles, he said that he believed me fit to know

the real truth, because he saw that I was seeking for it, and that I was not certain of having obtained it so far.

He invited me to come and spend a whole day with him, naming the days when I would be certain to find him

at home, but he advised me to consult the Pacha Osman before accepting his invitation. I told him that the

pacha had already mentioned him to me and had spoken very highly of his character; he seemed much

I informed M. de Bonneval of all that had occurred; he was delighted, and promised that his janissary would

I received the congratulations of the baili upon the excellent acquaintances I had already made, and M.

Venier advised me not to neglect such friends in a country where weariness of life was more deadly to

On the day appointed, I went early to Yusuf's palace, but he was out. His gardener, who had received his

instructions, shewed me every attention, and entertained me very agreeably for two hours in doing the

honours of his master's splendid garden, where I found the most beautiful flowers. This gardener was a

Neapolitan, and had belonged to Yusuf for thirty years. His manners made me suspect that he was well born

and well educated, but he told me frankly that he had never been taught even to read, that he was a sailor

when he, was taken in slavery, and that he was so happy in the service of Yusuf that liberty would be a

punishment to him. Of course I did not venture to address him any questions about his master, for his reserve

Yusuf had gone out on horseback; he returned, and, after the usual compliments, we dined alone in a

summerhouse, from which we had a fine view of the sea, and in which the heat was cooled by a delightful

breeze, which blows regularly at the same hour every day from the northwest; and is called the mistral. We

had a good dinner; there was no prepared dish except the cauroman, a peculiar delicacy of the Turks. I drank

water and hydromel, and I told Yusuf that I preferred the last to wine, of which I never took much at that

time. "Your hydromel," I said, "is very good, and the Mussulmans who offend against the law by drinking

wine do not deserve any indulgence; I believe they drink wine only because it is forbidden." "Many of the

true believers," he answered. "think that they can take it as a medicine. The Grand Turk's physician has

brought it into vogue as a medicine, and it has been the cause of his fortune, for he has captivated the favour

of his master who is in reality constantly ill, because he is always in a state of intoxication." I told Yusuf that

in my country drunkards were scarce, and that drunkenness was a vice to be found only among the lowest

people; ,he was much astonished. "I cannot understand," he said, "why wine is allowed by all religions, when

its use deprives man of his reason." "All religions," I answered, "forbid excess in drinking wine, and the

crime is only in the abuse." I proved him the truth of what I had said by telling him that opium produced the

same results as wine, but more powerfully, and consequently Mahomet ought to have forbidden the use of it.

He observed that he had never taken either wine or opium in the course of his life.

After dinner, pipes were brought in and we filled them ourselves. I was smoking with pleasure, but, at the

same time, was expectorating. Yusuf, who smoked like a Turk, that is to say, without spitting, said,

"The tobacco you are now smoking is of a very fine quality, and you ought to swallow its balsam which is

"I suppose you are right; smoking cannot be truly enjoyed without the best tobacco."

"That is true to a certain extent, but the enjoyment found in smoking good tobacco is not the principal

pleasure, because it only pleases our senses; true enjoyment is that which works upon the soul, and is

"I cannot realize pleasures enjoyed by the soul without the instrumentality of the senses."

"Whence does that pleasure arise, if it is not from your soul? Let us go further. Do you not feel pleased when

you give up your pipe after having smoked all the tobacco in itwhen you see that nothing is left but some

"Well, there are two pleasures in which your senses have certainly nothing to do, but I want you to guess the

"Listen. The principal pleasure derived from tobacco smoking is the sight of a smoke itself. You must never

see it go out of the bowl of your pipe,but only from the corner o your mouth, at regular intervals which

must not be too frequent. It is so truly the greatest pleasure connected with the pipe, that you cannot find

anywhere a blind man who smokes. Try yourself the experiment of smoking a pipe in your room, at night and

"It is all perfectly true; yet you must forgive me if I give the preference to several pleasures, in which my

"Forty years ago I was of the same opinion, and in forty years, if you succeed in acquiring wisdom, you will

think like me. Pleasures which give activity to our senses, my dear son, disturb the repose of our soula

"But if I feel them to be real enjoyments, it is enough to prove that they are truly so."

"Granted; but if you would take the trouble of analyzing them after you have tasted them, you would not find

"It may be so, but why should I take a trouble which would only lessen my enjoyment."

"Far from it. It was always fortunate in good health, and the master of my own passions; but all I saw in my

equals was for me a good school in which I have acquired the knowledge of man, and learned the real road to

happiness. The happiest of men is not the most voluptuous, but the one who knows how to choose the highest

standards of voluptuousness, which can be found, I say again, not in the pleasures which excite our senses,

"Yes, and such is the sight of a vast prairie all covered with grass. The green colour, so strongly

recommended by our divine prophet, strikes my eyes, and at the same moment I feel that my soul is wrapped

up in a calm so delightful that I fancy myself nearer the Creator. I enjoy the same peace, the same repose,

when I am seated on the banks of a river, when I look upon the water so quiet, yet always moving, which

flows constantly, yet never disappears from my sight, never loses any of its clearness in spite of its constant

motion. It strikes me as the image of my own existence, and of the calm which I require for my life in order

to reach, like the water I am gazing upon, the goal which I do not see, and which can only be found at the

Thus did the Turk reason, and we passed four hours in this sort of conversation. He had buried two wives,

and he had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, having received his patrimony, had established

himself in the city of Salonica, where he was a wealthy merchant; the other was in the seraglio, in the service

of the Grand Turk and his fortune was in the hands of a trustee. His daughter, Zelmi, then fifteen years of age,

was to inherit all his remaining property. He had given her all the accomplishments which could minister to

the happiness of the man whom heaven had destined for her husband. We shall hear more of that daughter

anon. The mother of the three children was dead, and five years previous to the time of my visit, Yusuf had

taken another wife, a native of Scio, young and very beautiful, but he told me himself that he was now too

old, and could not hope to have any child by her. Yet he was only sixty years of age. Before I left, he made

"We envy you," they said, "the prospect you have before you of spending agreeably three or four months in

this country, while, in our quality of ministers, we must pine away with melancholy."

A few days afterwards, M. de Bonneval took me with him to dine at Ismail's house, where I saw Asiatic

luxury on a grand scale, but there were a great many guests, and the conversation was held almost entirely in

the Turkish languagea circumstance which annoyed me and M. de Bonneval also. Ismail saw it, and he

invited me to breakfast whenever I felt disposed, assuring me that he would have much pleasure in receiving

me. I accepted the invitation, and I went ten or twelve days afterwards. When we reach that period my

readers must kindly accompany me to the breakfast. For the present I must return to Yusuf who, during my

second visit, displayed a character which inspired, me with the greatest esteem and the warmest affection.

We had dined alone as before, and, conversation happening to turn upon the fine arts, I gave my opinion upon

one of the precepts in the Koran, by which the Mahometans are deprived of the innocent enjoyment of

paintings and statues. He told me that Mahomet, a very sagacious legislator, had been right in removing all

"Recollect, my son, that the nations to which the prophet brought the knowledge of the true God were all

idolators. Men are weak; if the disciples of the prophet had continued to see the same objects, they might

"No one ever worshipped an image as an image; the deity of which the image is a representation is what is

"I may grant that, but God cannot be matter, and it is right to remove from the thoughts of the vulgar the idea

of a material divinity. You are the only men, you Christians, who believe that you see God."

"It is true, we are sure of it, but observe that faith alone gives us that certainty."

"I know it; but you are idolators, for you see nothing but a material representation, and yet you have a

complete certainty that you see God, unless you should tell me that faith disaffirms it."

"God forbid I should tell you such a thing! Faith, on the contrary, affirms our certainty."

"We thank God that we have no need of such selfdelusion, and there is not one philosopher in the world

"That would not be the province of philosophy, dear father, but of theologya very superior science."

"You are now speaking the language of our theologians, who differ from yours only in this; they use their

science to make clearer the truths we ought to know, whilst your theologians try to render those truths more

"The existence of God is a sufficiently important mystery to prevent men from daring to add anything to it.

God can only be simple; any kind of combination would destroy His essence; such is the God announced by

our prophet, who must be the same for all men and in all times. Agree with me that we can add nothing to the

simplicity of God. We say that God is one; that is the image of simplicity. You say that He is one and three at

the same time, and such a definition strikes us as contradictory, absurd, and impious."

"Do you mean God or the definition? I am speaking only of the definition, which ought not to be a mystery or

absurd. Common sense, my son, must consider as absurd an assertion which substantiallv nonsensical. Prove

to me that three is not a compound, that it cannot be a compound and I will become a Christian at once."

"My religion tells me to believe without arguing, and I shudder, my dear Yusuf, when I think that, through

some specious reasoning, I might be led to renounce the creed of my fathers. I first must be convinced that

they lived in error. Tell me whether, respecting my father's memory, I ought to have such a good opinion of

myself as to sit in judgement over him, with the intention of giving my sentence against him?"

My lively remonstrance moved Yusuf deeply, but after a few instants of silence he said to me,

"With such feelings, my son, you are sure to find grace in the eyes of God, and you are, therefore, one of the

elect. If you are in error, God alone can convince you of it, for no just man on earth can refute the sentiment

We spoke of many other things in a friendly manner, and in the evening we parted with the often repeated

But my mind was full of our conversation, and as I went on pondering over the matter, I thought that Yusuf

might be right in his opinion as to the essence of God, for it seemed evident that the Creator of all beings

ought to be perfectly simple; but I thought at the same time how impossible it would be for me, because the

Christian religion had made a mistake, to accept the Turkish creed, which might perhaps have just a

conception of God, but which caused me to smile when I recollected that the man who had given birth to it

had been an arrant imposter. I had not the slightest idea, however, that Yusuf wished to make a convert of

"Do you believe, dear father, that the religion of Mahomet is the only one in which salvation can be secured?"

"No, my dear son, I am not certain of it, and no man can have such a certainty; but I am sure that the

"Because there is neither bread nor wine to be found in threefourths of the world. Observe that the precepts

"We know what He is not but we do not know what He is: man cannot affirm that God is a spirit, because he

can only realize the idea in an abstract manner. God immaterial; that is the extent of our knowledge and it can

I was reminded of Plato, who had said exactly the same an most certainly Yusuf never read Plato.

He added that the existence of God could be useful only to those who did not entertain a doubt of that

existence, and that, as a natural consequence, Atheists must be the most miserable of men. God has made in

man His own image in order that, amongst all the animals created by Him, there should be one that can

understand and confess the existence of the Creator. Without man, God would have no witness of His own

glory, and man must therefore understand that his first and highest duty is to glorify God by practising justice

"Observe, my son, that God never abandons the man who, in the midst of misfortunes, falls down in prayer

before Him, and that He often allows the wretch who has no faith in prayer to die miserably."

"True; but, in spite of their tranquillity, I pity them because they have no hope beyond this life, and are on a

level with animals. Besides, if they are philosophers, they must linger in dark ignorance, and, if they never

think, they have no consolation, no resource, when adversity reaches them. God has made man in such a

manner that he cannot be happy unless he entertains no doubt of the existence of his Divine Creator; in all

stations of life man is naturally prone to believe in that existence, otherwise man would never have admitted

"I should like to know why Atheism has only existed in the systems of the learned, and never as a national

"Because the poor feel their wants much more than the rich, There are amongst us a great many impious men

who deride the true believers because they have faith in the pilgrimage to Mecca. Wretches that they are, they

ought to respect the ancient customs which, exciting the devotion of fervent souls, feed religious principles,

and impart courage under all misfortunes. Without such consolation, people would give way to all the excess

Much pleased with the attention I gave to all he said, Yusuf would thus yield to the inclination he felt to

instruct me, and, on my side, feeling myself drawn towards him by the charm which amiable goodness exerts

upon all hearts, I would often go and spend the day with him, even without any previous invitation, and

One morning, I told my janissary to take me to the palace of Ismail Effendi, in order to fulfil my promise to

breakfast with him. He gave me the most friendly welcome, and after an excellent breakfast he invited me to

take a walk in his garden. We found there a pretty summerhouse which we entered, and Ismail attempted

some liberties which were not at all to my taste, and which I resented by rising in a very abrupt manner.

Seeing that I was angry, the Turk affected to approve my reserve, and said that he had only been joking. I left

him after a few minutes, with the intention of not visiting him again, but I was compelled to do so, as I will

When I saw M. de Bonneval I told him what had happened and he said that, according to Turkish manners,

Ismail had intended to give me a great proof of his friendship, but that I need not be afraid of the offence

being repeated. He added that politeness required that I should visit him again, and that Ismail was, in spite of

his failing, a perfect gentleman, who had at his disposal the most beautiful female slaves in Turkey.

Five or six weeks after the commencement of our intimacy, Yusuf asked me one day whether I was married. I

answered that I was not; the conversation turned upon several moral questions, and at last fell upon chastity,

which, in his opinion, could be accounted a virtue only if considered from one point of view, namely, that of

total abstinence, but he added that it could not be acceptable to God; because it transgressed against the very

"I would like to know, for instance," he said, "what name can be given to the chastity of your knights of

Malta. They take a vow of chastity, but it does not mean that they will renounce women altogether, they

renounce marriage only. Their chastity, and therefore chastity in general, is violated only by marriage; yet I

observe that marriage is one of your sacraments. Therefore, those knights of Malta promise not to give way to

lustful incontinence in the only case in which God might forgive it, but they reserve the license of being

lustful unlawfully as often as they please, and whenever an opportunity may offer itself; and that immoral,

illicit license is granted to them to such an extent, that they are allowed to acknowledge legally a child which

can be born to them only through a double crime! The most revolting part of it all is that these children of

crime, who are of course perfectly innocent themselves, are called natural children, as if children born in

wedlock came into the world in an unnatural manner! In one word, my dear son, the vow of chastity is so

much opposed to Divine precepts and to human nature that it can be agreeable neither to God nor to society,

nor to those who pledge themselves to keep it, and being in such opposition to every divine and human law, it

He enquired for the second time whether I was married; I replied in the negative, and added that I had no idea

"What!" he exclaimed; "I must then believe that you are not a perfect man, or that you intend to work out

your own damnation; unless you should tell me that you are a Christian only outwardly."

"I am a man in the very strongest sense of the word, and I am a true Christian. I must even confess that I

adore women, and that I have not the slightest idea of depriving myself of the most delightful of all

"I feel certain of the contrary, because, when we confess our sins, our priests are compelled to give us

"I know it, but you must agree with me that it is absurd to suppose that God will forgive a crime which you

would, perhaps, not commit, if you did not think that, after confession, a priest, a man like you, will give you

"No doubt of it, and confession supposes repentance; without it, absolution has no effect."

"I was aware of it, and it has always caused me great surprise, for the legislator who enacts a law, the

execution of which is impossible, is a fool. A man in good health, if he cannot have a woman, must

necessarily have recourse to onanism, whenever imperious nature demands it, and the man who, from fear of

polluting his soul, would abstain from it, would only draw upon himself a mortal disease."

"We believe exactly the reverse; we think that young people destroy their constitutions, and shorten their

lives through selfabuse. In several communities they are closely watched, and are as much as possible

"Those who watch them are ignorant fools, and those who pay the watchers for such a service are even more

stupid, because prohibition must excite the wish to break through such a tyrannical law, to set at nought an

"Yet it seems to me that selfabuse in excess must be injurious to health, for it must weaken and enervate."

"Certainly, because excess in everything is prejudicial and pernicious; but all such excess is the result of our

severe prohibition. If girls are not interfered with in the matter of self abuse, I do not see why boys should

"Because girls are very far from running the same risk; they do not lose a great deal in the action of

selfabuse, and what they lose does not come from the same source whence flows the germinal liquid in

"I do not know, but we have some physicians who say that chlorosis in girls is the result of that pleasure

After many such conversations, in which he seemed to consider me as endowed with reason and talent, even

when I was not of his opinion, Yusuf Ali surprised me greatly one day by the following proposition:

"I have two sons and a daughter. I no longer think of my sons, because they have received their share of my

fortune. As far as my daughter is concerned she will, after my death, inherit all my possessions, and I am,

besides, in a position while I am alive to promote the fortune of the man who may marry her. Five years ago I

took a young wife, but she has not given me any progeny, and I know to a certainty that no offspring will

bless our union. My daughter, whose name is Zelmi, is now fifteen; she is handsome, her eyes are black and

lovely like her mother's, her hair is of the colour of the raven's wing, her complexion is animated alabaster;

she is tall, well made, and of a sweet disposition; I have given her an education which would make her

worthy of our master, the Sultan. She speaks Greek and Italian fluently, she sings delightfully, and

accompanies herself on the harp; she can draw and embroider, and is always contented and cheerful. No

living man can boast of having seen her features, and she loves me so dearly that my will is hers. My

daughter is a treasure, and I offer her to you if you will consent to go for one year to Adrianople to reside

with a relative of mine, who will teach you our religion, our language, and our manners. You will return at

the end of one year, and as soon as you have become a Mussulman my daughter shall be your wife. You will

find a house ready furnished, slaves of your own, and an income which will enable you to live in comfort. I

have no more to say at present. I do not wish you to answer me either today, or tomorrow, or on any fixed

day. You will give me your decision whenever you feel yourself called upon by your genius to give it, and

you need not give me any answer unless you accept my offer, for, should you refuse it, it is not necessary that

the subject should be again mentioned. I do not ask you to give full consideration to my proposal, for now

that I have thrown the seed in your soul it must fructify. Without hurry, without delay, without anxiety, you

can but obey the decrees of God and follow the immutable decision of fate. Such as I know you, I believe that

you only require the possession of Zelmi to be competely happy, and that you will become one of the pillars

Saying those words, Yusuf pressed me affectionately in his arms, and left me by myself to avoid any answer I

might be inclined to make. I went away in such wonder at all I had just heard, that I found myself at the

Venetian Embassy without knowing how I had reached it. The baili thought me very pensive, and asked

whether anything was the matter with me, but I did not feel disposed to gratify their curiosity. I found that

Yusuf had indeed spoken truly: his proposal was of such importance that it was my duty, not only not to

mention it to anyone, but even to abstain from thinking it over, until my mind had recovered its calm

sufficiently to give me the assurance that no external consideration would weigh in the balance and influence

my decision. I had to silence all my passions; prejudices, principles already formed, love, and even

When I awoke the next morning I began to think the matter over, and I soon discovered that, if I wanted to

come to a decision, I ought not to ponder over it, as the more I considered the less likely I should be to

I did not visit Yusuf for four days, and when I called on him on the fifth day, we talked cheerfully without

once mentioning his proposal, although it was very evident that we were both thinking of it. We remained

thus for a fortnight, without ever alluding to the matter which engrossed all our thoughts, but our silence was

not caused by dissimulation, or by any feeling contrary to our mutual esteem and friendship; and one day

Yusuf suggested that very likely I had communicated his proposal to some wise friend, in order to obtain

good advice. I immediately assured him it was not so, and that in a matter of so delicate a nature I thought I

"I have abandoned myself to God, dear Yusuf, and, full of confidence in Him, I feel certain that I shall decide

for the best, whether I make up my mind to become your son, or believe that I ought to remain what I am

now. In the mean time, my mind ponders over it day and night, whenever I am quiet and feel myself

composed and collected. When I come to a decision, I will impart it to you alone, and from that moment you

At these words the worthy Yusuf, his eyes wet with tears, placed his left hand over my head, and the first two

"Continue to act in that way, my dear son, and be certain that you can never act wrongly."

"Have no anxiety about that. My daughter loves you; she, as well as my wife and her nurse, sees you every

"She knows that I ardently wish you to become a true believer, so as to enable me to link her destiny to

"I am glad that your habits do not permit you to let me see her, because she might dazzle me with her beauty,

and then passion would soon have too much weight in the scale; I could no longer flatter myself that my

Yusuf was highly delighted at hearing me speak in that manner, and I spoke in perfect good faith. The mere

idea of seeing Zelmi caused me to shudder. I felt that, if I had fallen in love with her, I would have become a

Mussulman in order to possess her, and that I might soon have repented such a step, for the religion of

Mahomet presented to my eyes and to my mind nothing but a disagreeable picture, as well for this life as for

a future one. As for wealth, I did not think it deserved the immense sacrifice demanded from me. I could find

equal wealth in Europe, without stamping my forehead with the shameful brand of apostasy. I cared deeply

for the esteem of the persons of distinction who knew me, and did not want to render myself unworthy of it.

Besides, I felt an immense desire to obtain fame amongst civilized and polite nations, either in the fine arts or

in literature, or in any other honourable profession, and I could not reconcile myself to the idea of abandoning

to my equals the triumph which I might win if I lived amongst them. It seemed to me, and I am still of the

same opinion, that the decision of wearing the turban befits only a Christian despairing of himself and at the

end of his wits, and fortunately I was lost not in that predicament. My greatest objection was to spend a year

in Adrianople to learn a language for which I did not feel any liking, and which I should therefore have

learned but imperfectly. How could I, at my age, renounce the prerogative, so pleasant to my vanity, of being

reputed a fine talker? and I had secured that reputation wherever I was known. Then I would often think that

Zelmi, the eighth wonder of creation in the eyes of her father might not appear such in my eyes, and it would

have been enough to make me miserable, for Yusuf was likely to live twenty years longer, and I felt that

gratitude, as well as respect, would never have permitted me to give that excellent man any cause for

unhappiness by ceasing to shew myself a devoted and faithful husband to his daughter. Such were my

thoughts, and, as Yusuf could not guess them, it was useless to make a confidant of him.

A few days afterwards, I dined with the Pacha Osman and met my Effendi Ismail. He was very friendly to

me, and I reciprocated his attentions, though I paid no attention to the reproaches he addressed to me for not

having come to breakfast with him for such a long time. I could not refuse to dine at his house with

Bonneval, and he treated me to a very pleasing sight; Neapolitan slaves, men and women, performed a

pantomime and some Calabrian dances. M. de Bonneval happened to mention the dance called forlana, and

Ismail expressing a great wish to know it, I told him that I could give him that pleasure if I had a Venetian

woman to dance with and a fiddler who knew the time. I took a violin, and played the forlana, but, even if the

Ismail whispered a few words to one of his eunuchs, who went out of the room and returned soon with some

message that he delivered to him. The effendi told me that he had found the partner I wanted, and I answered

that the musician could be had easily, if he would send a note to the Venetian Embassy, which was done at

once. The Bailo Dona sent one of his men who played the violin well enough for dancing purposes. As soon

as the musician was ready, a door was thrown open, and a fine looking woman came in, her face covered with

a black velvet mask, such as we call moretta in Venice. The appearance of that beautiful masked woman

surprised and delighted every one of the guests, for it was impossible to imagine a more interesting object,

not only on account of the beauty of that part of the face which the mask left exposed, but also for the

elegance of her shape, the perfection of her figure, and the exquisite taste displayed in her costume. The

nymph took her place, I did the same, and we danced the forlana six times without stopping.

I was in perspiration and out of breath, for the foylana is the most violent of our national dances; but my

beautiful partner stood near me without betraying the slightest fatigue, and seemed to challenge me to a new

performance. At the round of the dance, which is the most difficult step, she seemed to have wings. I was

astounded, for I had never seen anyone, even in Venice, dance the forlana so splendidly. After a few minutes

rest, rather ashamed of my feeling tired, I went up to her, and said, 'Ancora sei, a poi basta, se non volete

vedermi a morire.' She would have answered me if she had been able, but she wore one of those cruel masks

which forbid speech. But a pressure of her hand which nobody could see made me guess all I wanted to

know. The moment we finished dancing the eunuch opened the door, and my lovely partner disappeared.

Ismail could not thank me enough, but it was I who owed him my thanks, for it was the only real pleasure

which I enjoyed in Constantinople. I asked him whether the lady was from Venice, but he only answered by a

"The worthy Ismail," said M. de Bonneval to me, as we were leaving the house late in the evening, "has been

today the dupe of his vanity, and I have no doubt that he is sorry already for what he has done. To bring out

his beautiful slave to dance with you! According to the prejudices of this country it is injurious to his dignity,

for you are sure to have kindled an amorous flame in the poor girl's breast. I would advise you to be careful

and to keep on your guard, because she will try to get up some intrigue with you; but be prudent, for intrigues

I promised to be prudent, but I did not keep my promise; for, three or four days afterwards, an old slave

woman met me in the street, and offered to sell me for one piaster a tobaccobag embroidered in gold; and as

she put it in my hand she contrived to make me feel that there was a letter in the bag.

I observed that she tried to avoid the eyes of the janissary who was walking behind me; I gave her one

piaster, she left me, and I proceeded toward Yusuf's house. He was not at home, and I went to his garden to

read the letter with perfect freedom. It was sealed and without any address, and the slave might have made a

mistake; but my curiosity was excited to the highest pitch; I broke the seal, and found the following note

"Should you wish to see the person with whom you danced the forlana, take a walk towards evening in the

garden beyond the fountain, and contrive to become acquainted with the old servant of the gardener by asking

her for some lemonade. You may perchance manage to see your partner in the forlana without running any

risk, even if you should happen to meet Ismail; she is a native of Venice. Be careful not to mention this

"I am not such a fool, my lovely countrywoman," I exclaimed, as if she had been present, and put the letter in

my pocket. But at that very moment, a finelooking elderly woman came out of a thicket, pronounced my

name, and enquired what I wanted and how I had seen her. I answered that I had been speaking to the wind,

not supposing that anyone could hear me, and without any more preparation, she abruptly told me that she

was very glad of the opportunity of speaking with me, that she was from Rome, that she had brought up

Zelmi, and had taught her to sing and to play the harp. She then praised highly the beauty and the excellent

qualities of her pupil, saying that, if I saw her, I would certainly fall in love with her, and expressing how

"She sees us at this very moment," she added, "from behind that green windowblind, and we love you ever

Her answering in the negative made me understand that, if I had pressed her a little, she would have allowed

me to see her lovely pupil, and perhaps it was with that intention that she had contrived to speak to me, but I

felt great reluctance to do anything to displease my worthy host. I had another reason of even greater

importance: I was afraid of entering an intricate maze in which the sight of a turban hovering over me made

Yusuf came home, and far from being angry when he saw me with the woman, he remarked that I must have

found much pleasure in conversing with a native of Rome, and he congratulated me upon the delight I must

have felt in dancing with one of the beauties from the harem of the voluptuous Ismail.

"Very seldom indeed, for there is amongst us an invincible prejudice against exposing our lovely women to

the eyes of other men; but everyone may do as he pleases in his own house: Ismail is a very worthy and a

"I believe not. She wore a mask, and everybody knows that Ismail possesses half a dozen slaves of surpassing

I spent a pleasant day with Yusuf, and when I left him, I ordered my janissary to take me to Ismail's. As I was

known by his servants, they allowed me to go in, and I proceeded to the spot described in the letter. The

eunuch came to me, informed me that his master was out, but that he would be delighted to hear of my having

taken a walk in the garden. I told him that I would like a glass of lemonade, and he took me to the

summerhouse, where I recognized the old woman who had sold me the tobaccopouch. The eunuch told her

to give me a glass of some liquid which I found delicious, and would not allow me to give her any money.

We then walked together towards the fountain, but he told me abruptly that we were to go back, as he saw

three ladies to whom he pointed, adding that, for the sake of decency, it was necessary to avoid them. I

thanked him for his attentions, left my compliments for Ismail, and went away not dissatisfied with my first

The next morning I received a letter from Ismail inviting me to go fishing with him on the following day, and

stating that he intended to enjoy the sport by moonlight. I immediately gave way to my suppositions, and I

went so far as to fancy that Ismail might be capable of arranging an interview between me and the lovely

Venetian. I did not mind his being present. I begged permission of Chevalier Venier to stop out of the palace

for one night, but he granted it with the greatest difficulty, because he was afraid of some love affair and of

the results it might have. I took care to calm his anxiety as much as I could, but without acquainting him with

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 summerhouse. The moon shone brightly, and the night was delightful. Alone

with Ismail, and knowing his unnatural tastes, I did not feel very comfortable for, in spite of what M. de

Bonneval had told me, I was afraid lest the Turk should take a fancy to give me too great a proof of his

"Let us leave this place quietly," said Ismail, "I have just heard a slight noise which heralds something that

"Let us go to a small room, the key of which I luckily have with me, but let us be careful not to make any

noise. That room has a window overlooking the fountain where I think that two or three of my beauties have

just gone to bathe. We will see them and enjoy a very pleasing sight, for they do not imagine that anyone is

We entered the room, we went to the window, and, the moon shining right over the basin of the fountain, we

saw three nymphs who, now swimming, now standing or sitting on the marble steps, offered themselves to

our eyes in every possible position, and in all the attitudes of graceful voluptuousness. Dear reader, I must not

paint in too vivid colours the details of that beautiful picture, but if nature has endowed you with an ardent

imagination and with equally ardent senses, you will easily imagine the fearful havoc which that unique,

A few days after that delightful fishing and bathing party by moonlight, I called upon Yusuf early in the

morning; as it was raining, I could not go to the garden, and I went into the dining room, in which I had

never seen anyone. The moment I entered the room, a charming female form rose, covering her features with

a thick veil which fell to the feet. A slave was sitting near the window, doing some tambourwork, but she

did not move. I apologized, and turned to leave the room, but the lady stopped me, observing, with a sweet

voice, that Yusuf had commanded her to entertain me before going out. She invited me to be seated, pointing

to a rich cushion placed upon two larger ones, and I obeyed, while, crossing her legs, she sat down upon

another cushion opposite to me. I thought I was looking upon Zelmi, and fancied that Yusuf had made up his

mind to shew me that he was not less courageous than Ismail. Yet I was surprised, for, by such a proceeding,

he strongly contradicted his maxims, and ran the risk of impairing the unbiased purity of my consent by

throwing love in the balance. But I had no fear of that, because, to become enamoured, I should have required

"I have been for the last five years the wife of your friend, and I am a native of Scio. I was thirteen years of

I was greatly astonished to find that my Mussulman philosopher had gone so far as to allow me to converse

with his wife, but I felt more at ease after I had received that information, and fancied that I might carry the

adventure further, but it would be necessary to see the lady's face, for a finelydressed body, the head of

which is not seen, excites but feeble desires. The fire lighted by amorous desires is like a fire of straw; the

moment it burns up it is near its end. I had before me a magnificent appearance, but I could not see the soul of

the image, for a thick gauze concealed it from my hungry gaze. I could see arms as white as alabaster, and

hands like those of Alcina, 'dove ne nodo appasisce ne vena accede', and my active imagination fancied that

all the rest was in harmony with those beautiful specimens, for the graceful folds of the muslin, leaving the

outline all its perfection, hid from me only the living satin of the surface; there was no doubt that everything

was lovely, but I wanted to see, in the expression of her eyes, that all that my imagination created had life and

was endowed with feeling. The Oriental costume is a beautiful varnish placed upon a porcelain vase to

protect from the touch the colours of the flowers and of the design, without lessening the pleasure of the eyes.

Yusuf's wife was not dressed like a sultana; she wore the costume of Scio, with a short skirt which concealed

neither the perfection of the leg nor the round form of the thigh, nor the voluptuous plump fall of the hips, nor

the slender, wellmade waist encompassed in a splendid band embroidered in silver and covered with

arabesques. Above all those beauties, I could see the shape of two globes which Apelles would have taken for

the model of those of his lovely Venus, and the rapid, inequal movement of which proved to me that those

ravishing hillocks were animated. The small valley left between them, and which my eyes greedily feasted

upon, seemed to me a lake of nectar, in which my burning lips longed to quench their thirst with more ardour

Enraptured, unable to control myself, I thrust my arm forward by a movement almost independent of my will,

and my hand, too audacious, was on the point of lifting the hateful veil, but she prevented me by raising

herself quickly on tiptoe, upbraiding me at the same time for my perfidious boldness, with a voice as

"Dost thou deserve," she said, "Yusuf's friendship, when thou abusest the sacred laws of hospitality by

"Madam, you must kindly forgive me, for I never had any intention to insult you. In my country the lowest of

"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

And she sat down herself, crossing her legs with so much freedom that I caught a glimpse of charms which

would have caused me to lose all control over myself if the delightful sight had remained one moment longer

exposed to my eyes. I then saw that I had gone the wrong way to work, and I felt vexed with myself; but it

"How could I be otherwise," I answered, "when thou art scorching me with an ardent fire?"

I had become more prudent, and I seized her hand without thinking any more of her face.

"Here is my husband," she said, and Yusuf came into the room. We rose, Yusuf embraced me, I

complimented him, the slave left the room. Yusuf thanked his wife for having entertained me, and offered her

his arm to take her to her own apartment. She took it, but when she reached the door, she raised her veil, and

kissing her husband she allowed me to see her lovely face as if it had been done unwittingly. I followed her

with my eyes as long as I could, and Yusuf, coming back to me, said with a laugh that his wife had offered to

"That would have been too much against our established rules. What I have done is not much, but I do not

know an honest man who would be bold enough to bring his daughter into the presence of a stranger."

"My daughter's beauty is cheerful, sweet, and gentle; that of Sophia is proud and haughty. She will be happy

I gave an account of my adventure to M. de Bonneval, somewhat exaggerating the danger I had run in trying

"She was laughing at you," said the count, "and you ran no danger. She felt very sorry, believe me, to have to

deal with a novice like you. You have been playing the comedy in the French fashion, when you ought to

have gone straight to the point. What on earth did you want to see her nose for? She knew very well that she

would have gained nothing by allowing you to see her. You ought to have secured the essential point. If I

were young I would perhaps manage to give her a revenge, and to punish my friend Yusuf. You have given

that lovely woman a poor opinion of Italian valour. The most reserved of Turkish women has no modesty

except on her face, and, with her veil over it, she knows to a certainty that she will not blush at anything. I am

certain that your beauty keeps her face covered whenever our friend Yusuf wishes to joke with her."

"Rather a difficult thing to admit, my good friend; but I know the daughters of Scio; they have a talent for

A few days after, I happened to be in the shop of an Armenian merchant, looking at some beautiful goods,

when Yusuf entered the shop and praised my taste; but, although I had admired a great many things, I did not

buy, because I thought they were too dear. I said so to Yusuf, but he remarked that they were, on the contrary,

very cheap, and he purchased them all. We parted company at the door, and the next morning I received all

the beautiful things he had bought; it was a delicate attention of my friend, and to prevent my refusal of such

a splendid present, he had enclosed a note stating that, on my arrival in Corfu, he would let me know to

whom the goods were to be delivered. He had thus sent me gold and silver filigrees from Damascus,

portfolios, scarfs, belts, handkerchiefs and pipes, the whole worth four or five hundred piasters. When I called

to thank him, I compelled him to confess that it was a present offered by his friendship.

The day before my departure from Constantinople, the excellent man burst into tears as I bade him adieu, and

my grief was as great as his own. He told me that, by not accepting the offer of his daughter's hand, I had so

strongly captivated his esteem that his feelings for me could not have been warmer if I had become his son.

When I went on board ship with the Bailo Jean Dona, I found another case given to me by him, containing

two quintals of the best Mocha coffee, one hundred pounds of tobacco leaves, two large flagons filled, one

with Zabandi tobacco, the other with camussa, and a magnificent pipe tube of jessamine wood, covered with

gold filigrane, which I sold in Corfu for one hundred sequins. I had not it in my power to give my generous

Turk any mark of my gratitude until I reached Corfu, but there I did not fail to do so. I sold all his beautiful

Ismail gave me a letter for the Chevalier de Lezze, but I could not forward it to him because I unfortunately

lost it; he presented me with a barrel of hydromel, which I turned likewise into money. M. de Bonneval gave

me a letter for Cardinal Acquaviva, which I sent to Rome with an account of my journey, but his eminence

did not think fit to acknowledge the receipt of either. Bonneval made me a present of twelve bottles of

malmsey from Ragusa, and of twelve bottles of genuine scopoloa great rarity, with which I made a present

The only foreign minister I saw much in Constantinople was the lord marshal of Scotland, the celebrated

Keith, who represented the King of Prussia, and who, six years later was of great service to me in Paris.

We sailed from Constantinople in the beginning of September in the same manofwar which had brought

us, and we reached Corfu in fourteen days. The Bailo Dona did not land. He had with him eight splendid

As soon as I had landed with my luggage, and had engaged a rather mean lodging, I presented myself to M.

Andre Dolfin, the proveditoregenerale, who promised me again that I should soon be promoted to a

lieutenancy. After my visit to him, I called upon M. Camporese, my captain, and was well received by him.

My third visit was to the commander of galleases, M. DR, to whom M. Antonio Dolfin, with

whom I had travelled from Venice to Corfu, had kindly recommended me. After a short conversation, he

asked me if I would remain with him with the title of adjutant. I did not hesitate one instant, but accepted,

saying how deeply honoured I felt by his offer, and assuring him that he would always find me ready to carry

out his orders. He immediately had me taken to my room, and, the next day, I found myself established in his

house. I obtained from my captain a French soldier to serve me, and I was well pleased when I found that the

man was a hairdresser by trade, and a great talker by nature, for he could take care of my beautiful head of

hair, and I wanted to practise French conversation. He was a goodfornothing fellow, a drunkard and a

debauchee, a peasant from Picardy, and he could hardly read or write, but I did not mind all that; all I wanted

from him was to serve me, and to talk to me, and his French was pretty good. He was an amusing rogue,

knowing by heart a quantity of erotic songs and of smutty stories which he could tell in the most laughable

When I had sold my stock of goods from Constantinople (except the wines), I found myself the owner of

nearly five hundred sequins. I redeemed all the articles which I had pledged in the hands of Jews, and turned

into money everything of which I had no need. I was determined not to play any longer as a dupe, but to

secure in gambling all the advantages which a prudent young man could obtain without sullying his honour.

I must now make my readers acquainted with the sort of life we were at that time leading in Corfu. As to the

city itself, I will not describe it, because there are already many descriptions better than the one I could offer

We had then in Corfu the 'proveditoregenerale' who had sovereign authority, and lived in a style of great

magnificence. That post was then filled by M. Andre Dolfin, a man sixty years of age, strict, headstrong, and

ignorant. He no longer cared for women, but liked to be courted by them. He received every evening, and the

We had three fieldofficers of the marines who did duty on the galleys, and three fieldofficers for the troops

of the line on board the menofwar. Each galeass had a captain called 'sopracomito', and we had ten of

those captains; we had likewise ten commanders, one for each manofwar, including three 'capi di mare', or

admirals. They all belonged to the nobility of Venice. Ten young Venetian noblemen, from twenty to

twentytwo years of age, were at Corfu as midshipmen in the navy. We had, besides, about a dozen civil

clerks in the police of the island, or in the administration of justice, entitled 'grandi offciali di terra'. Those

who were blessed with handsome wives had the pleasure of seeing their houses very much frequented by

admirers who aspired to win the favours of the ladies, but there was not much heroic lovemaking, perhaps

for the reason that there were then in Corfu many Aspasias whose favours could be had for money. Gambling

was allowed everywhere, and that all absorbing passion was very prejudicial to the emotions of the heart.

The lady who was then most eminent for beauty and gallantry was Madame F. Her husband, captain of

a galley, had come to Corfu with her the year before, and madam had greatly astonished all the naval officers.

Thinking that she had the privilege of the choice, she had given the preference to M. D R, and

had dismissed all the suitors who presented themselves. M. F had married her on the very day she had

left the convent; she was only seventeen years of age then, and he had brought her on board his galley

I saw her for the first time at the dinnertable on the very day of my installation at M. D R's, and

she made a great impression upon me. I thought I was gazing at a supernatural being, so infinitely above all

the women I had ever seen, that it seemed impossible to fall in love with her She appeared to me of a nature

different and so greatly superior to mine that I did not see the possibility of rising up to her. I even went so far

as to persuade myself that nothing but a Platonic friendship could exist between her and M. DR,

and that M. F was quite right now not to shew any jealousy. Yet, that M. F was a perfect fool, and

certainly not worthy of such a woman. The impression made upon me by Madame Fwas too ridiculous

to last long, and the nature of it soon changed, but in a novel manner, at least as far as I was concerned.

My position as adjutant procured me the honour of dining at M. D R's table, but nothing more.

The other adjutant, like me, an ensign in the army, but the greatest fool I had ever seen, shared that honour

with me. We were not, however, considered as guests, for nobody ever spoke to us, and, what is more, no one

ever honoured us with a look. It used to put me in a rage. I knew very well that people acted in that manner

through no real contempt for us, but it went very hard with me. I could very well understand that my

colleague, Sanzonio, should not complain of such treatment, because he was a blockhead, but I did not feel

disposed to allow myself to be put on a par with him. At the end of eight or ten days, Madame F, not

having con descended to cast one glance upon my person, began to appear disagreeable to me. I felt piqued,

vexed, provoked, and the more so because I could not suppose that the lady acted in that manner wilfully and

purposely; I would have been highly pleased if there had been premeditation on her part. I felt satisfied that I

was a nobody in her estimation, and as I was conscious of being somebody, I wanted her to know it. At last a

circumstance offered itself in which, thinking that she could address me, she was compelled to look at me.

M. D R having observed that a very, very fine turkey had been placed before me, told me to

carve it, and I immediately went to work. I was not a skilful carver, and Madame F, laughing at my

want of dexterity, told me that, if I had not been certain of performing my task with credit to myself, I ought

not to have undertaken it. Full of confusion, and unable to answer her as my anger prompted, I sat down, with

my heart overflowing with spite and hatred against her. To crown my rage, having one day to address me, she

asked me what was my name. She had seen me every day for a fortnight, ever since I had been the adjutant of

M. D R; therefore she ought to have known my name. Besides, I had been very lucky at the

gamingtable, and I had become rather famous in Corfu. My anger against Madame F was at its height.

I had placed my money in the hands of a certain Maroli, a major in the army and a gamester by profession,

who held the faro bank at the coffeehouse. We were partners; I helped him when he dealt, and he rendered

me the same office when I held the cards, which was often the case, because he was not generally liked. He

used to hold the cards in a way which frightened the punters; my manners were very different, and I was very

lucky. Besides I was easy and smiling when my bank was losing, and I won without shewing any avidity, and

This Maroli was the man who had won all my money during my first stay in Corfu, and finding, when I

returned, that I was resolved not to be duped any more, he judged me worthy of sharing the wise maxims

without which gambling must necessarily ruin all those who meddle with it. But as Maroli had won my

confidence only to a very slight extent, I was very careful. We made up our accounts every night, as soon as

playing was over; the cashier kept the capital of the bank, the winnings were divided, and each took his share

away. Lucky at play, enjoying good health and the friendship of my comrades, who, whenever the

opportunity offered, always found me generous and ready to serve them, I would have been well pleased with

my position if I had been a little more considered at the table of M. D R, and treated with less

haughtiness by his lady who, without any reason, seemed disposed to humiliate me. My selflove was deeply

hurt, I hated her, and, with such a disposition of mind, the more I admired the perfection of her charms, the

more I found her deficient in wit and intelligence. She might have made the conquest of my heart without

bestowing hers upon me, for all I wanted was not to be compelled to hate her, and I could not understand

what pleasure it could be for her to be detested, while with only a little kindness she could have been adored.

I could not ascribe her manner to a spirit of coquetry, for I had never given her the slightest proof of the

opinion I entertained of her beauty, and I could not therefore attribute her behaviour to a passion which might

have rendered me disagreeable in her eyes; M. D R seemed to interest her only in a very slight

manner, and as to her husband, she cared nothing for him. In short, that charming woman made me very

unhappy, and I was angry with myself because I felt that, if it had not been for the manner in which she

treated me, I would not have thought of her, and my vexation was increased by the feeling of hatred

entertained by my heart against her, a feeling which until then I had never known to exist in me, and the

One day a gentleman handed me, as we were leaving the dinnertable, a roll of gold that he had lost upon

"But as you do not indulge in any expense it would be better for you not to play; it is time wasted."

"Time given to pleasure is never time lost, madam; the only time which a young man wastes is that which is

consumed in weariness, because when he is a prey to ennui he is likely to fall a prey to love, and to be

"Very likely; but you amuse yourself with hoarding up your money, and shew yourself to be a miser, and a

miser is not less contemptible than a man in love. Why do you not buy yourself a pair of gloves?"

You may be sure that at these words the laughter was all on her side, and my vexation was all the greater

because I could not deny that she was quite right. It was the adjutant's business to give the ladies an arm to

their carriages, and it was not proper to fulfil that duty without gloves. I felt mortified, and the reproach of

avarice hurt me deeply. I would a thousand times rather that she had laid my error to a want of education; and

yet, so full of contradictions is the human heart, instead of making amends by adopting an appearance of

elegance which the state of my finances enabled me to keep up, I did not purchase any gloves, and I resolved

to avoid her and to abandon her to the insipid and dull gallantry of Sanzonio, who sported gloves, but whose

teeth were rotten, whose breath was putrid, who wore a wig, and whose face seemed to be covered with

I spent my days in a continual state of rage and spite, and the most absurd part of it all was that I felt unhappy

because I could not control my hatred for that woman whom, in good conscience, I could not find guilty of

anything. She had for me neither love nor dislike, which was quite natural; but being young and disposed to

enjoy myself I had become, without any wilful malice on her part, an eyesore to her and the butt of her

bantering jokes, which my sensitiveness exaggerated greatly. For all that I had an ardent wish to punish her

and to make her repent. I thought of nothing else. At one time I would think of devoting all my intelligence

and all my money to kindling an amorous passion in her heart, and then to revenge myself by treating her

with contempt. But I soon realized the impracticability of such a plan, for even supposing that I should

succeed in finding my way to her heart, was I the man to resist my own success with such a woman? I

certainly could not flatter myself that I was so strongminded. But I was the pet child of fortune, and my

M. D R having sent me with dispatches to M. de Condulmer, captain of a 'galeazza', I had to wait

until midnight to deliver them, and when I returned I found that M. D R had retired to his

apartment for the night. As soon as he was visible in the morning I went to him to render an account of my

mission. I had been with him only a few minutes when his valet brought a letter saying that Madame F's

adjutant was waiting for an answer. M. D R read the note, tore it to pieces, and in his excitement

stamped with his foot upon the fragments. He walked up and down the room for a little time, then wrote an

answer and rang for the adjutant, to whom he delivered it. He then recovered his usual composure, concluded

the perusal of the dispatch sent by M. de Condulmer, and told me to write a letter. He was looking it over

when the valet came in, telling me that Madame F desired to see me. M. D R told me that he

did not require my services any more for the present, and that I might go. I left the room, but I had not gone

ten yards when he called me back to remind me that my duty was to know nothing; I begged to assure him

that I was well aware of that. I ran to Madame F's house, very eager to know what she wanted with

me. I was introduced immediately, and I was greatly surprised to find her sitting up in bed, her countenance

flushed and excited, and her eyes red from the tears she had evidently just been shedding. My heart was

"Madam," I answered, "I am not worthy of so great a favour, and I have not yet done anything to deserve it;

She very likely recollected that she had never been so polite before, and dared not press me any further. She

"Last evening my husband lost two hundred sequins upon trust at your faro bank; he believed that amount to

be in my hands, and I must therefore give it to him immediately, as he is bound in honour to pay his losses

today. Unfortunately I have disposed of the money, and I am in great trouble. I thought you might tell

Maroli that I have paid you the amount lost by my husband. Here is a ring of some value; keep it until the 1st

of January, when I will return the two hundred sequins for which I am ready to give you my note of hand."

"I accept the note of hand, madam, but I cannot consent to deprive you of your ring. I must also tell you that

M. F must go himself to the bank, or send some one there, to redeem his debt. Within ten minutes you

I left her without waiting for an answer, and I returned within a few minutes with the two hundred ducats,

which I handed to her, and putting in my pocket her note of hand which she had just written, I bowed to take

"I believe, sir, that if I had known that you were so well disposed to oblige me, I could not have made up my

"Well, madam, for the future be quite certain that there is not a man in the world capable of refusing you such

"What you say is very complimentary, but I trust never to find myself again under the necessity of making

I left Madame F, thinking of the shrewdness of her answer. She had not told me that I was mistaken,

as I had expected she would, for that would have caused her some humiliation: she knew that I was with M.

D R when the adjutant had brought her letter, and she could not doubt that I was aware of the

refusal she had met with. The fact of her not mentioning it proved to me that she was jealous of her own

dignity; it afforded me great gratification, and I thought her worthy of adoration. I saw clearly that she could

have no love for M. D R, and that she was not loved by him, and the discovery made me leap for

joy. From that moment I felt I was in love with her, and I conceived the hope that she might return my ardent

The first thing I did, when I returned to my room, was to cross out with ink every word of her note of hand,

except her name, in such a manner that it was impossible to guess at the contents, and putting it in an

envelope carefully sealed, I deposited it in the hands of a public notary who stated, in the receipt he gave me

of the envelope, that he would deliver it only to Madame F, whenever she should request its delivery.

The same evening M. F came to the bank, paid me, played with cash in hand, and won some fifty

ducats. What caused me the greatest surprise was that M. D R continued to be very gracious to

Madame F, and that she remained exactly the same towards him as she used to be before. He did not

even enquire what she wanted when she had sent for me. But if she did not seem to change her manner

towards my master, it was a very different case with me, for whenever she was opposite to me at dinner, she

often addressed herself to me, and she thus gave me many opportunities of shewing my education and my wit

in amusing stories or in remarks, in which I took care to blend instruction with witty jests. At that time

F had the great talent of making others laugh while I kept a serious countenance myself. I had learnt

that accomplishment from M. de Malipiero, my first master in the art of good breeding, who used to say to

"If you wish your audience to cry, you must shed tears yourself, but if you wish to make them laugh you must

In everything I did, in every word I uttered, in the presence of Madame F, the only aim I had was to

please her, but I did not wish her to suppose so, and I never looked at her unless she spoke to me. I wanted to

force her curiosity, to compel her to suspect nay, to guess my secret, but without giving her any advantage

over me: it was necessary for me to proceed by slow degrees. In the mean time, and until I should have a

greater happiness, I was glad to see that my money, that magic talisman, and my good conduct, obtained me a

consideration much greater than I could have hoped to obtain either through my position, or from my age, or

in consequence of any talent I might have shewn in the profession I had adopted.

Towards the middle of November, the soldier who acted as my servant was attacked with inflammation of the

chest; I gave notice of it to the captain of his company, and he was carried to the hospital. On the fourth day I

was told that he would not recover, and that he had received the last sacraments; in the evening I happened to

be at his captain's when the priest who had attended him came to announce his death, and to deliver a small

parcel which the dying man had entrusted to him to be given up to his captain only after his death. The parcel

contained a brass seal engraved with ducal arms, a certificate of baptism, and a sheet of paper covered with

writing in French. Captain Camporese, who only spoke Italian, begged me to translate the paper, the contents

"My will is that this paper, which I have written and signed with my own hand, shall be delivered to my

captain only after I have breathed my last: until then, my confessor shall not make any use of it, for I entrust

it to his hands only under the seal of confession. I entreat my captain to have me buried in a vault from which

my body can be exhumed in case the duke, my father, should request its exhumation. I entreat him likewise to

forward my certificate of baptism, the seal with the armorial bearings of my family, and a legal certificate of

my birth to the French ambassador in Venice, who will send the whole to the duke, my father, my rights of

primogeniture belonging, after my demise, to the prince, my brother. In faith of which I have signed and

sealed these presents: Francois VI. Charles Philippe Louis Foucaud, Prince de la Rochefoucault."

The certificate of baptism, delivered at St. Sulpice gave the same names, and the title of the father was

As I was concluding my translation I could not help bursting into loud laughter; but the foolish captain, who

thought my mirth out of place, hurried out to render an account of the affair to the proveditoregenerale, and

I went to the coffeehouse, not doubting for one moment that his excellency would laugh at the captain, and

I had known in Rome, at Cardinal Acquaviva's, the Abbe de Liancourt, greatgrandson of Charles, whose

sister, Gabrielle du Plessis, had been the wife of Francois V., but that dated from the beginning of the last

century. I had made a copy from the records of the cardinal of the account of certain circumstances which the

Abbe de Liancourt wanted to communicate to the court of Spain, and in which there were a great many

particulars respecting the house of Du Plessis. I thought at the same time that the singular imposture of La

Valeur (such was the name by which my soldier generally went) was absurd and without a motive, since it

was to be known only after his death, and could not therefore prove of any advantage to him.

Half an hour afterwards, as I was opening a fresh pack of cards, the Adjutant Sanzonio came in, and told the

important news in the most serious manner. He had just come from the office of the proveditore, where

Captain Camporese had run in the utmost hurry to deposit in the hands of his excellency the seal and the

papers of the deceased prince. His excellency had immediately issued his orders for the burial of the prince in

a vault with all the honours due to his exalted rank. Another half hour passed, and M. Minolto, adjutant of the

proveditoregenerale, came to inform me that his excellency wanted to see me. I passed the cards to Major

Maroli, and went to his excellency's house. I found him at supper with several ladies, three or four naval

"Your excellency, I never would have suspected it, and even now that he is dead I do not believe it."

"Why? He is dead, but he was not insane. You have seen his armorial bearings, his certificate of baptism, as

well as what he wrote with his own hand. When a man is so near death, he does not fancy practical jokes."

"If your excellency is satisfied of the truth of the story, my duty is to remain silent."

"I doubt, monsignor, because I happen to have positive information respecting the families of La

Rochefoucault and Du Plessis. Besides, I have seen too much of the man. He was not a madman, but he

certainly was an extravagant jester. I have never seen him write, and he has told me himself a score of times

"The paper he has written proves the contrary. His arms have the ducal bearings; but perhaps you are not

"I beg your eminence's pardon; I know all about it; I know even more, for I know that Francois VI. married a

When I heard this remark, as foolish as it was rude, I resolved on remaining silent, and it was with some

pleasure that I observed the joy felt by all the male guests at what they thought an insult and a blow to my

vanity. An officer remarked that the deceased was a fine man, a witty man, and had shewn wonderful

cleverness in keeping up his assumed character so well that no one ever had the faintest suspicion of what he

really was. A lady said that, if she had known him, she would have been certain to find him out. Another

flatterer, belonging to that mean, contemptible race always to be found near the great and wealthy of the

earth, assured us that the late prince had always shewn himself cheerful, amiable, obliging, devoid of

haughtiness towards his comrades, and that he used to sing beautifully. "He was only twentyfive years of

age," said Madame Sagredo, looking me full in the face, "and if he was endowed with all those qualities, you

"I can only give you, madam, a true likeness of the man, such as I have seen him. Always gay, often even to

folly, for he could throw a somersault beautifully; singing songs of a very erotic kind, full of stories and of

popular tales of magic, miracles, and ghosts, and a thousand marvellous feats which commonsense refused

to believe, and which, for that very reason, provoked the mirth of his hearers. His faults were that he was

drunken, dirty, quarrelsome, dissolute, and somewhat of a cheat. I put up with all his deficiences, because he

dressed my hair to my taste, and his constant chattering offered me the opportunity of practising the

colloquial French which cannot be acquired from books. He has always assured me that he was born in

Picardy, the son of a common peasant, and that he had deserted from the French army. He may have deceived

Just then Camporese rushed into the room, and announced that La Veleur was yet breathing. The general,

looking at me significantly, said that he would be delighted if the man could be saved.

"To escape the galleys to which your excellency would not fail to send him for having violated the secrecy of

Everybody burst out laughing, but the foolish old general knitted his brows. The guests retired soon

afterwards, and Madame F, whom I had preceded to the carriage, M. D R having offered

her his arm, invited me to get in with her, saying that it was raining. It was the first time that she had

"I am of your opinion about that prince," she said, "but you have incurred the displeasure of the proveditore."

"I am very sorry, madam, but it could not have been avoided, for I cannot help speaking the truth openly."

"You might have spared him," remarked M. D R, "the cutting jest of the confessor killing the

"You are right, sir, but I thought it would make him laugh as well as it made madam and your excellency. In

conversation people generally do not object to a witty jest causing merriment and laughter."

"I bet a hundred sequins that the madman will recover, and that, having the general on his side, he will reap

all the advantages of his imposture. I long to see him treated as a prince, and making love to Madame

Hearing the last words, Madame F, who did not like Madame Sagredo, laughed heartily, and, as we

were getting out of the carriage, M. D R invited me to accompany them upstairs. He was in the

habit of spending half an hour alone with her at her own house when they had taken supper together with the

general, for her husband never shewed himself. It was the first time that the happy couple admitted a third

person to their teteatete. I felt very proud of the compliment thus paid to me, and I thought it might have

important results for me. My satisfaction, which I concealed as well as I could, did not prevent me from being

very gay and from giving a comic turn to every subject brought forward by the lady or by her lord.

We kept up our pleasant trio for four hours; and returned to the mansion of M. D R only at two

o'clock in the morning. It was during that night that Madame F and M. D R really made my

acquaintance. Madame F told him that she had never laughed so much, and that she had never imagined

that a conversation, in appearance so simple, could afford so much pleasure and merriment. On my side, I

discovered in her so much wit and cheerfulness, that I became deeply enamoured, and went to bed fully

satisfied that, in the future, I could not keep up the show of indifference which I had so far assumed towards

When I woke up the next morning, I heard from the new soldier who served me that La Valeur was better,

and had been pronounced out of danger by the physician. At dinner the conversation fell upon him, but I did

not open my lips. Two days afterwards, the general gave orders to have him removed to a comfortable

apartment, sent him a servant, clothed him, and the overcredulous proveditore having paid him a visit, all

the naval commanders and officers thought it their duty to imitate him, and to follow his example: the general

curiosity was excited, there was a rush to see the new prince. M. D R followed his leaders, and

Madame Sagredo, having set the ladies in motion, they all called upon him, with the exception of Madame

F, who told me laughingly that she would not pay him a visit unless I would consent to introduce her. I

begged to be excused. The knave was called your highness, and the wonderful prince styled Madame Sagredo

his princess. M. D R tried to persuade me to call upon the rogue, but I told him that I had said

too much, and that I was neither courageous nor mean enough to retract my words. The whole imposture

would soon have been discovered if anyone had possessed a peerage, but it just happened that there was not a

copy in Corfu, and the French consul, a fat blockhead, like many other consuls, knew nothing of family trees.

The madcap La Valeur began to walk out a week after his metamorphosis into a prince. He dined and had

supper every day with the general, and every evening he was present at the reception, during which, owing to

his intemperance, he always went fast asleep. Yet, there were two reasons which kept up the belief of his

being a prince: the first was that he did not seem afraid of the news expected from Venice, where the

proveditore had written immediately after the discovery; the second was that he solicited from the bishop the

punishment of the priest who had betrayed his secret by violating the seal of confession. The poor priest had

already been sent to prison, and the proveditore had not the courage to defend him. The new prince had been

invited to dinner by all the naval officers, but M. D R had not made up his mind to imitate them

so far, because Madame F had clearly warned him that she would dine at her own house on the day he

was invited. I had likewise respectfully intimated that, on the same occasion, I would take the liberty of

I met the prince one day as I was coming out of the old fortress leading to the esplanade. He stopped, and

reproached me for not having called upon him. I laughed, and advised him to think of his safety before the

arrival of the news which would expose all the imposture, in which case the proveditore was certain to treat

him very severely. I offered to help him in his flight from Corfu, and to get a Neapolitan captain, whose ship

was ready to sail, to conceal him on board; but the fool, instead of accepting my offer, loaded me with insults.

He was courting Madame Sagredo, who treated him very well, feeling proud that a French prince should have

given her the preference over all the other ladies. One day that she was dining in great ceremony at M.

"I have it from his own lips," she added, "and he cannot make out your obstinacy in believing him an

"I have given him that advice, madam, because my heart is good, and my judgment sane."

"That deduction would not be right, madam. An opinion contrary to that of another does not necessarily make

a fool of the person who entertains it. It might possibly turn out, in ten or twelve days, that I have been

entirely mistaken myself, but I should not consider myself a fool in consequence. In the mean time, a lady of

your intelligence must have discovered whether that man is a peasant or a prince by his education and

"He does not know one step, but he is the first to laugh about it; he says he never would learn dancing."

"Well, he doesn't stand on ceremony. He does not want his plate to be changed, he helps himself with his

spoon out of the dishes; he does not know how to check an eructation or a yawn, and if he feels tired he

"You are joking. He leaves the table intoxicated twice a day, but he ought to be pitied, for he cannot drink

wine and keep his head clear. Then he swears like a trooper, and we all laugh, but he never takes offence."

We left the table, and the prince was announced. He came in, and Madame Sagredo lost no time in saying to

him, "Prince, here is M. Casanova; he pretends that you do not know your own armorial bearings." Hearing

these words, he came up to me, sneering, called me a coward, and gave me a smack on the face which almost

stunned me. I left the room very slowly, not forgetting my hat and my cane, and went downstairs, while M.

I left the palace and went to the esplanade in order to wait for him. The moment I saw him, I ran to meet him,

and I beat him so violently with my cane that one blow alone ought to have killed him. He drew back, and

found himself brought to a stand between two walls, where, to avoid being beaten to death, his only resource

was to draw his sword, but the cowardly scoundrel did not even think of his weapon, and I left him, on the

ground, covered with blood. The crowd formed a line for me to pass, and I went to the coffeehouse, 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 coffeehouse for half an hour when the general's adjutant came to tell me that his excellency

ordered me to put myself under arrest on board the bastarda, a galley on which the prisoners had their legs in

irons like galley slaves. The dose was rather too strong to be swallowed, and I did not feel disposed to submit

to it. "Very good, adjutant," I replied, "it shall be done." He went away, and I left the coffeehouse a moment

after him, but when I reached the end of the street, instead of going towards the esplanade, I proceeded

quickly towards the sea. I walked along the beach for a quarter of an hour, and finding a boat empty, but with

a pair of oars, I got in her, and unfastening her, I rowed as hard as I could towards a large caicco, sailing

against the wind with six oars. As soon as I had come up to her, I went on board and asked the carabouchiri to

sail before the wind and to take me to a large wherry which could be seen at some distance, going towards

Vido Rock. I abandoned the rowboat, and, after paying the master of the caicco generously, I got into the

wherry, made a bargain with the skipper who unfurled three sails, and in less than two hours we were fifteen

miles away from Corfu. The wind having died away, I made the men row against the current, but towards

midnight they told me that they could not row any longer, they were worn out with fatigue. They advised me

to sleep until 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

twenty miles from Corfu, and in a place where nobody could imagine me to be. The moon was shining, and I

saw a church with a house adjoining, a long barn opened on both sides, a plain of about one hundred yards

confined by hills, and nothing more. I found some straw in the barn, and laying myself down, I slept until

daybreak in spite of the cold. It was the 1st of December, and although the climate is very mild in Corfu I

The bells begin to toll, and I proceed towards the church. The long bearded papa, surprised at my sudden

apparition, enquires whether I am Romeo (a Greek); I tell him that I am Fragico (Italian), but he turns his

back upon me and goes into his house, the door of which he shuts without condescending to listen to me.

I then turned towards the sea, and saw a boat leaving a tartan lying at anchor within one hundred yards of the

island; the boat had four oars and landed her passengers. I come up to them and meet a good looking Greek,

a woman and a young boy ten or twelve years old. Addressing myself to the Greek, I ask him whether he has

had a pleasant passage, and where he comes from. He answers in Italian that he has sailed from Cephalonia

with his wife and his son, and that he is bound for Venice; he had landed to hear mass at the Church of Our

Lady of Casopo, in order to ascertain whether his fatherin law was still alive, and whether he would pay

"The Papa Deldimopulo will tell me; he will communicate faithfully the oracle of the Holy Virgin." I say

nothing and follow him into the church; he speaks to the priest, and gives him some money. The papa says

the mass, enters the sanctum sanctorum, comes out again in a quarter of an hour, ascends the steps of the

altar, turns towards his audience, and, after meditating for a minute and stroking his long beard, he delivers

his oracle in a dozen words. The Greek of Cephalonia, who certainly could not boast of being as wise as

Ulysses, appears very well pleased, and gives more money to the impostor. We leave the church, and I ask

"Oh! quite satisfied. I know now that my fatherinlaw 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."

Delighted at hearing that oracles were not yet defunct, and satisfied that they will endure as long as there are

in this world simple minded men and deceitful, cunning priests, I follow the good man, who took me to his

tartan and treated me to an excellent breakfast. His cargo consisted of cotton, linen, currants, oil, and

excellent wines. He had also a stock of nightcaps, stockings, cloaks in the Eastern fashion, umbrellas, and

sea biscuits, of which I was very fond; in those days I had thirty teeth, and it would have been difficult to find

a finer set. Alas! I have but two left now, the other twenty eight are gone with other tools quite as precious;

but 'dum vita super est, bene est.' I bought a small stock of everything he had except cotton, for which I had

no use, and without discussing his price I paid him the thirtyfive or forty sequins he demanded, and seeing

I happened during our conversation to praise the wine of Xante, which he called generoydes, and he told me

that if I would accompany him to Venice he would give me a bottle of that wine every day including the

quarantine. Always superstitious, I was on the point of accepting, and that for the most foolish

reasonnamely, that there would be no premeditation in that strange resolution, and it might be the impulse

of fate. Such was my nature in those days; alas; it is very different now. They say that it is because wisdom

comes with old age, but I cannot reconcile myself to cherish the effect of a most unpleasant cause.

Just as I was going to accept his offer he proposes to sell me a very fine gun for ten sequins, saying that in

Corfu anyone would be glad of it for twelve. The word Corfu upsets all my ideas on the spot! I fancy I hear

the voice of my genius telling me to go back to that city. I purchase the gun for the ten sequins, and my

honest Cephalonian, admiring my fair dealing, gives me, over and above our bargain, a beautiful Turkish

pouch well filled with powder and shot. Carrying my gun, with a good warm cloak over my uniform and with

a large bag containing all my purchases, I take leave of the worthy Greek, and am landed on the shore,

determined on obtaining a lodging from the cheating papa, by fair means or foul. The good wine of my friend

the Cephalonian had excited me just enough to make me carry my determination into immediate execution. I

had in my pockets four or five hundred copper gazzette, which were very heavy, but which I had procured

I store my bag away in the barn and I proceed, gun in hand, towards the house of the priest; the church was

I must give my readers some idea of the state I was in at that moment. I was quietly hopeless. The three or

four hundred sequins I had with me did not prevent me from thinking that I was not in very great security on

the island; I could not remain long, I would soon be found out, and, being guilty of desertion, I should be

treated accordingly. I did not know what to do, and that is always an unpleasant predicament. It would be

absurd for me to return to Corfu of my own accord; my flight would then be useless, and I should be thought

a fool, for my return would be a proof of cowardice or stupidity; yet I did not feel the courage to desert

altogether. The chief cause of my decision was not that I had a thousand sequins in the hands of the faro

banker, or my wellstocked wardrobe, or the fear of not getting a living somewhere else, but the unpleasant

recollection that I should leave behind me a woman whom I loved to adoration, and from whom I had not yet

obtained any favour, not even that of kissing her hand. In such distress of mind I could not do anything else

but abandon myself to chance, whatever the result might be, and the most essential thing for the present was

I knock at the door of the priest's dwelling. He looks out of a window and shuts it without listening to me, I

knock again, I swear, I call out loudly, all in vain, Giving way to my rage, I take aim at a poor sheep grazing

with several others at a short distance, and kill it. The herdsman begins to scream, the papa shows himself at

the window, calling out, "Thieves! Murder!" and orders the alarm bell to be rung. Three bells are

immediately set in motion, I foresee a general gathering: what is going to happen? I do not know, but happen

In less than eight or ten minutes, I see a crowd of peasants coming down the hills, armed with guns,

pitchforks, or cudgels: I withdraw inside of the barn, but without the slightest fear, for I cannot suppose that,

The first ten or twelve peasants come forward, gun in hand and ready to fire: I stop them by throwing down

my gazzette, which they lose no time in picking up from the ground, and I keep on throwing money down as

the men come forward, until I had no more left. The clowns were looking at each other in great astonishment,

not knowing what to make out of a welldressed young man, looking very peaceful, and throwing his money

to them with such generosity. I could not speak to them until the deafening noise of the bells should cease. I

quietly sit down on my large bag, and keep still, but as soon as I can be heard I begin to address the men. The

priest, however, assisted by his beadle and by the herdsman, interrupts me, and all the more easily that I was

speaking Italian. My three enemies, who talked all at once, were trying to excite the crowd against me.

One of the peasants, an elderly and reasonablelooking man, comes up to me and asks me in Italian why I

The priest takes the money and goes away: war is over. The peasant tells me that he has served in the

campaign of 1716, and that he was at the defence of Corfu. I compliment him, and ask him to find me a

lodging and a man able to prepare my meals. He answers that he will procure me a whole house, that he will

be my cook himself, but I must go up the hill. No matter! He calls two stout fellows, one takes my bag, the

"My good man, I would like to have in my service twentyfour fellows like these under military discipline. I

would give each man twenty gazzette a day, and you would have forty as my lieutenant."

"I will," says the old soldier, "raise for you this very day a body guard of which you will be proud."

We reach a very convenient house, containing on the ground floor three rooms and a stable, which I

My lieutenant went to get what I wanted, and particularly a needlewoman to make me some shirts. In the

course of the day I had furniture, bedding, kitchen utensils, a good dinner, twentyfour wellequipped

soldiers, a superannuated sempstress and several young girls to make my shirts. After supper, I found my

position highly pleasant, being surrounded with some thirty persons who looked upon me as their sovereign,

although they could not make out what had brought me to their island. The only thing which struck me as

disagreeable was that the young girls could not speak Italian, and I did not know Greek enough to enable me

The next morning my lieutenant had the guard relieved, and I could not help bursting into a merry laugh.

They were like a flock of sheep: all fine men, wellmade and strong; but without uniform and without

discipline the finest band is but a herd. However, they quickly learned how to present arms and to obey the

orders of their officer. I caused three sentinels to be placed, one before the guardroom, one at my door, and

the third where he could have a good view of the sea. This sentinel was to give me warning of the approach

of any armed boat or vessel. For the first two or three days I considered all this as mere amusement, but,

thinking that I might really want the men to repel force by force, I had some idea of making my army take an

oath of allegiance. I did not do so, however, although my lieutenant assured me that I had only to express my

My sempstress, who had procured some young needlewomen to sew my shirts, had expected that I would fall

in love with one and not with all, but my amorous zeal overstepped her hopes, and all the pretty ones had

their turn; they were all well satisfied with me, and the sempstress was rewarded for her good offices. I was

leading a delightful life, for my table was supplied with excellent dishes, juicy mutton, and snipe so delicious

that I have never tasted their like except in St. Petersburg. I drank scopolo wine or the best muscatel of the

Archipelago. My lieutenant was my only table companion. I never took a walk without him and two of my

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 needlewomen, their mistresses, had left them on my

account. I often thought while I was rambling about the island, that without money I should have been

unhappy, and that I was indebted to my gold for all the happiness I was enjoying; but it was right to suppose

at the same time that, if I had not felt my purse pretty heavy, I would not have been likely to leave Corfu.

I had thus been playing the petty king with success for a week or ten days, when, towards ten o'clock at night

I heard the sentinel's challenge. My lieutenant went out, and returned announcing that an honestlooking

man, who spoke Italian, wished to see me on important business. I had him brought in, and, in the presence of

"Next Sunday, the Papa Deldimopulo will fulminate against you the 'cataramonachia'. If you do not prevent

"It is not a drug. It is a curse pronounced by a priest with the Host in his hands, and it is sure to be fulfilled."

"You disturb the peace and discipline of his parish. You have seduced several young girls, and now their

I made him drink, and thanking him heartily, wished him good night. His warning struck me as deserving my

attention, for, if I had no fear of the 'cataramonachia', in which I had not the slightest faith, I feared certain

poisons which might be by far more efficient. I passed a very quiet night, but at 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 a tone likely to enforce conviction:

"On the first symptom of fever, I will shoot you like a dog. Throw over me a curse which will kill me

Having thus warned him, I returned to my royal palace. Early on the following Monday, the papa called on

me. I had a slight headache; he enquired after my health, and when I told him that my head felt rather heavy,

he made me laugh by the air of anxiety with which he assured me that it could be caused by nothing else than

Three days after his visit, the advanced sentinel gave the warcry. The lieutenant went out to reconnoitre, and

after a short absence he gave me notice that the long boat of an armed vessel had just landed an officer.

I go out myself, I call my men to arms, and, advancing a few steps, I see an officer, accompanied by a guide,

who was walking towards my dwelling. As he was alone, I had nothing to fear. I return to my room, giving

orders to my lieutenant to receive him with all military honours and to introduce him. Then, girding my

In a few minutes, Adjutant Minolto, the same who had brought me the order to put myself under arrest,

"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."

"You may go alone, if you like; but I will not leave this place until I have the certainty, not only that I shall

not be sent to the 'bastarda', but also that I shall have every satisfaction from the knave whom the general

"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 must be mad; believe me, you are in the wrong. You have disobeyed the order I brought you to go to

the 'bastarda; in that you have acted wrongly, and in that alone, for in every other respect you were perfectly

"I cannot and will not tell you what I would have done, but I know that if I had disobeyed orders I should

"But if I surrendered now I should be treated like a criminal, and much more severely than if I had obeyed

"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

"You are mistaken, such conduct would only make you more guilty. But I say like you, let us have dinner. A

Our dinner was nearly over, when we heard some noise outside. The lieutenant came in, and informed me

that the peasants were gathering in the neighbourhood of my house to defend me, because a rumour had

spread through the island that the felucca had been sent with orders to arrest me and take me to Corfu. I told

him to undeceive the good fellows, and to send them away, but to give them first a barrel of wine.

The peasants went away satisfied, but, to shew their devotion to me, they all fired their guns.

"It is all very amusing," said the adjutant, "but it will turn out very serious if you let me go away alone, for

"I will follow you, if you will give me your word of honour to land me free in Corfu."

"If you do not obey the commands of the general, his honour will compel him to use violence against you,

and of course he can do it. But tell me, what would you do if the general should leave you in this island for

the sake of the joke? There is no fear of that, however, and, after the report which I must give, the general

"Without a fight it will be difficult to arrest me, for with five hundred peasants in such a place as this I would

"One man will prove enough; you will be treated as a leader of rebels. All these peasants may be devoted to

you, but they cannot protect you against one man who will shoot you for the sake of earning a few pieces of

gold. I can tell you more than that: amongst all those men who surround you there is not one who would not

murder you for twenty sequins. Believe me, go with me. Come to enjoy the triumph which is awaiting you in

Corfu. You will be courted and applauded. You will narrate yourself all your mad frolics, people will laugh,

and at the same time will admire you for having listened to reason the moment I came here. Everybody feels

esteem for you, and M. D R thinks a great deal of you. He praises very highly the command you

have shewn over your passion in refraining from thrusting your sword through that insolent fool, in order not

to forget the respect you owed to his house. The general himself must esteem you, for he cannot forget what

"Four days ago Major Sardina's frigate arrived with dispatches, in which the general must have found all the

proof of the imposture, for he has caused the false duke or prince to disappear very suddenly. Nobody knows

where he has been sent to, and nobody ventures to mention the fellow before the general, for he made the

"God forbid! Do you not recollect that he wore a sword? From that moment no one would receive him. His

But in spite of the state he was in, in spite of what he must have suffered, his excellency had him removed a

week after you had treated him so severely. But your flight is what everyone has been wondering over. It was

thought for three days that M. D R had concealed you in his house, and he was openly blamed

for doing so. He had to declare loudly at the general's table that he was in the most complete ignorance of

your whereabouts. His excellency even expressed his anxiety about your escape, and it was only yesterday

that your place of refuge was made known by a letter addressed by the priest of this island to the ProtoPapa

Bulgari, in which he complained that an Italian officer had invaded the island of Casopo a week before, and

had committed unheardof violence. He accused you of seducing all the girls, and of threatening to shoot him

if he dared to pronounce 'cataramonachia' against you. This letter, which was read publicly at the evening

reception, made the general laugh, but he ordered me to arrest you all the same."

"True, but she is well punished for it. You ought to call upon her with me tomorrow."

"I am of the same opinion. Well, let us go on board your felucca. We will embark together after midnight."

"Because I will not run the risk of spending the night on board M. Foscari's bastarda. I want to reach Corfu by

"We will pay a visit to some beauties of a species unknown in Corfu, and have a good supper."

I ordered my lieutenant to send plenty to eat and to drink to the men on board the felucca, to prepare a

splendid supper, and to spare nothing, as I should leave the island at midnight. I made him a present of all my

provisions, except such as I wanted to take with me; these I sent on board. My janissaries, to whom I gave a

week's pay, insisted upon escorting me, fully equipped, as far as the boat, which made the adjutant laugh all

We reached Corfu by eight o'clock in the morning, and we went alongside the 'bastarda. The adjutant

consigned me to M. Foscari, assuring me that he would immediately give notice of my arrival to M. D

R, send my luggage to his house, and report the success of his expedition to the general.

M. Foscari, the commander of the bastarda, treated me very badly. If he had been blessed with any delicacy

of feeling, he would not have been in such a hurry to have me put in irons. He might have talked to me, and

have thus delayed for a quarter of an hour that operation which greatly vexed me. But, without uttering a

single word, he sent me to the 'capo di scalo' who made me sit down, and told me to put my foot forward to

receive the irons, which, however, do not dishonour anyone in that country, not even the galley slaves, for

My right leg was already in irons, and the left one was in the hands of the man for the completion of that

unpleasant ceremony, when the adjutant of his excellency came to tell the executioner to set me at liberty and

to return me my sword. I wanted to present my compliments to the noble M. Foscari, but the adjutant, rather

ashamed, assured me that his excellency did not expect me to do so. The first thing I did was to pay my

respects to the general, without saying one word to him, but he told me with a serious countenance to be more

prudent for the future, and to learn that a soldier's first duty was to obey, and above all to be modest and

discreet. I understood perfectly the meaning of the two last words, and acted accordingly.

When I made my appearance at M. D R's, I could see pleasure on everybody's face. Those

moments have always been so dear to me that I have never forgotten them, they have afforded me consolation

in the time of adversity. If you would relish pleasure you must endure pain, and delights are in proportion to

the privations we have suffered. M. D R was so glad to see me that he came up to me and

warmly embraced me. He presented me with a beautiful ring which he took from his own finger, and told me

that I had acted quite rightly in not letting anyone, and particularly himself, know where I had taken refuge.

"You can't think," he added, frankly, "how interested Madame F was in your fate. She would be really

How delightful to receive such advice from his own lips! But the word "immediately" annoyed me, because,

having passed the night on board the felucca, I was afraid that the disorder of my toilet might injure me in her

eyes. Yet I could neither refuse M. D R, nor tell him the reason of my refusal, and I bethought

myself that I could make a merit of it in the eyes of Madame F I therefore went at once to her house; the

goddess was not yet visible, but her attendant told me to come in, assuring me that her mistress's bell would

soon be heard, and that she would be very sorry if I did not wait to see her. I spent half an hour with that

young and indiscreet person, who was a very charming girl, and learned from her many things which caused

me great pleasure, and particularly all that had been said respecting my escape. I found that throughout the

As soon as Madame F had seen her maid, she desired me to be shewn in. The curtains were drawn

aside, and I thought I saw Aurora surrounded with the roses and the pearls of morning. I told her that, if it had

not been for the order I received from M. D R I would not have presumed to present myself before

her in my travelling costume; and in the most friendly tone she answered that M. D R, knowing

all the interest she felt in me, had been quite right to tell me to come, and she assured me that M. D

"I do not know, madam, how I have deserved such great happiness, for all I dared aim at was toleration."

"We all admired the control you kept over your feelings when you refrained from killing that insolent

madman on the spot; he would have been thrown out of the window if he had not beat a hurried retreat."

"A very pretty compliment, but I can hardly believe that you thought of me in such a moment."

I did not answer, but cast my eyes down, and gave a deep sigh. She observed my new ring, and in order to

change the subject of conversation she praised M. D R very highly, as soon as I had told her how

he had offered it to me. She desired me to give her an account of my life on the island, and I did so, but

allowed my pretty needlewomen to remain under a veil, for I had already learnt that in this world the truth

"Would you have the courage," she said, "to repeat all you have just told me, and exactly in the same terms,

"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

Her reception fairly overwhelmed me with happiness, and on leaving her house I went to Major Maroli to

find out the state of my finances. I was glad to hear that after my escape he had no longer considered me a

partner in the faro bank. I took four hundred sequins from the cashier, reserving the right to become again a

In the evening I made a careful toilet, and called for the Adjutant Minolto in order to pay with him a visit to

Madame Sagredo, the general's favourite. With the exception of Madame F she was the greatest beauty

of Corfu. My visit surprised her, because, as she had been the cause of all that had happened, she was very far

from expecting it. She imagined that I had a spite against her. I undeceived her, speaking to her very

candidly, and she treated me most kindly, inviting me to come now and then to spend the evening at her

But I neither accepted nor refused her amiable invitation, knowing that Madame F disliked her; and

how could I be a frequent guest at her house with such a knowledge! Besides, Madame Sagredo was very

fond of gambling, and, to please her, it was necessary either to lose or make her win, but to accept such

conditions one must be in love with the lady or wish to make her conquest, and I had not the slightest idea of

either. The Adjutant Minolto never played, but he had captivated the lady's good graces by his services in the

When I returned to the palace I found Madame F alone, M. D R being engaged with his

correspondence. She asked me to sit near her, and to tell her all my adventures in Constantinople. I did so,

and I had no occasion to repent it. My meeting with Yusuf's wife pleased her extremely, but the bathing scene

by moonlight made her blush with excitement. I veiled as much as I could the too brilliant colours of my

picture, but, if she did not find me clear, she would oblige me to be more explicit, and if I made myself better

understood by giving to my recital a touch of voluptuousness which I borrowed from her looks more than

from my recollection, she would scold me and tell me that I might have disguised a little more. I felt that the

way she was talking would give her a liking for me, and I was satisfied that the man who can give birth to

amorous desires is easily called upon to gratify them it was the reward I was ardently longing for, and I dared

It happened that, on that day, M. D R had invited a large company to supper. I had, as a matter of

course, to engross all conversation, and to give the fullest particulars of all that had taken place from the

moment I received the order to place myself under arrest up to the time of my release from the 'bastarda'. M.

Foscari was seated next to me, and the last part of my narrative was not, I suppose, particularly agreeable to

The account I gave of my adventures pleased everybody, and it was decided that the proveditoregenerale

must have the pleasure of hearing my tale from my own lips. I mentioned that hay was very plentiful in

Casopo, and as that article was very scarce in Corfu, M. D R told me that I ought to seize the

opportunity of making myself agreeable to the general by informing him of that circumstance without delay. I

followed his advice the very next day, and was very well received, for his excellency immediately ordered a

A few days later the Adjutant Minolto came to me in the coffeehouse, and told me that the general wished

Progress of My AmourMy Journey to OtrantoI Enter the Service of Madame F.A Fortunate

The room I entered was full of people. His excellency, seeing me, smiled and drew upon me the attention of

all his guests by saying aloud, "Here comes the young man who is a good judge of princes."

"My lord, I have become a judge of nobility by frequenting the society of men like you."

"The ladies are curious to know all you have done from the time of your escape from Corfu up to your

"Exactly; but, as it is to be a confession, be careful not to omit the most insignificant circumstance, and

"On the contrary, I wish to receive absolution only from your excellency. But my history will be a long one."

I gave all the particulars of my adventures, with the exception of my dalliance with the nymphs of the island.

"Yes, my lord, for the adventures shew that a young man is never so near his utter ruin than when, excited by

some great passion, he finds himself able to minister to it, thanks to the gold in his purse."

I was preparing to take my leave, when the majordomo came to inform me that his excellency desired me to

remain to supper. I had therefore the honour of a seat at his table, but not the pleasure of eating, for I was

obliged to answer the questions addressed to me from all quarters, and I could not contrive to swallow a

single mouthful. I was seated next to the ProtoPapa Bulgari, and I entreated his pardon for having ridiculed

Deldimopulo's oracle. "It is nothing else but regular cheating," he said, "but it is very difficult to put a stop to

A short time afterwards, Madame F whispered a few words to the general, who turned to me and said

that he would be glad to hear me relate what had occurred to me in Constantinople with the wife of the Turk

Yusuf, and at another friend's house, where I had seen bathing by moonlight. I was rather surprised at such an

invitation, and told him that such frolics were not worth listening to, and the general not pressing me no more

was said about it. But I was astonished at Madame F's indiscretion; she had no business to make my

confidences public. I wanted her to be jealous of her own dignity, which I loved even more than her person.

"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

"I wanted to amuse you, and have exposed myself to the danger of displeasing you, but I can assure you,

"I have no wish to pry into your intentions, but it strikes me that if your wish was to please me, you ought not

to have run the risk of obtaining the opposite result. We take supper with the general this evening, and M.

D R has been asked to bring you. I feel certain that the general will ask you again for your

M. D R came in and we went to the general's. I thought as we were driving along that, although

Madame F seemed to have intended to humiliate me, I ought to accept it all as a favour of fortune,

because, by compelling me to explain my refusal to the general; Madame F had, at the same time,

The 'proveditoregenerale' gave me a friendly welcome, and kindly handed me a letter which had come with

the official dispatches from Constantinople. I bowed my thanks, and put the letter in my pocket: but he told

me that he was himself a great lover of news, and that I could read my letter. I opened it; it was from Yusuf,

who announced the death of Count de Bonneval. Hearing the name of the worthy Yusuf, the general asked

me to tell him my adventure with his wife. I could not now refuse, and I began a story which amused and

interested the general and his friends for an hour or so, but which was from beginning to end the work of my

Thus I continued to respect the privacy of Yusuf, to avoid implicating the good fame of Madame F, and

to shew myself in a light which was tolerably advantageous to me. My story, which was full of sentiment, did

me a great deal of honour, and I felt very happy when I saw from the expression of Madame F's face

When we found ourselves again in her house she told me, in the presence of M. D R, that the

story I had related to the general was certainly very pretty, although purely imaginary, that she was not angry

with me, because I had amused her, but that she could not help remarking my obstinacy in refusing

"M. Casanova pretends that if he had given an account of his meeting with Yusuf's wife without changing

anything everybody would think that I allowed him to entertain me with indecent stories. I want you to give

your opinion about it. Will you," she added, speaking to me, "be so good as to relate immediately the

Stung to the quick by an indiscretion which, as I did not yet know women thoroughly, seemed to me without

example, I cast all fears of displeasing to the winds, related the adventure with all the warmth of an

impassioned poet, and without disguising or attenuating in the least the desires which the charms of the Greek

"Do you think," said M. D R to Madame F, "that he ought to have related that adventure

"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

"Then," exclaimed Madame F, "I must request you never to tell me in private anything that you cannot

"It being understood," added M. D R, smiling, "that madam reserves all rights of repealing that

I was vexed, but I contrived not to show it. A few minutes more, and we took leave of Madame F

I was beginning to understand that charming woman, and to dread the ordeal to which she would subject me.

But love was stronger than fear, and, fortified with hope, I had the courage to endure the thorns, so as to

gather the rose at the end of my sufferings. I was particularly pleased to find that M. D R was not

jealous of me, even when she seemed to dare him to it. This was a point of the greatest importance.

A few days afterwards, as I was entertaining her on various subjects, she remarked how unfortunate it had

"In spite of my distress," I said, "I fell in love with a young and beautiful Greek slave, who very nearly

"Well," she said, laughing, "I repeal my order, as M. D R said I would. Tell me all about it."

I told my story, and, seeing that she was pensive, I exaggerated the misery I had felt at not being able to

"What do you mean by your misery? I think that the poor girl was more to be pitied than you. You have never

"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

"Very far from it, madam, for it was a very sweet, although incomplete, enjoyment."

"Go on! But do not call things exactly by their names. It is not necessary to go into details."

Emboldened by the renewal of her order, I told her, without looking her in the face, of my meeting with the

Greek slave in the presence of Bellino, and of the act which was cut short by the appearance of her master.

When I had finished my story, Madame F remained silent, and I turned the conversation into a different

channel, for though I felt myself on an excellent footing with her, I knew likewise that I had to proceed with

great prudence. She was too young to have lowered herself before, and she would certainly look upon a

Fortune which had always smiled upon me in the most hopeless cases, did not intend to illtreat me on this

occasion, and procured me, on that very same day, a favour of a very peculiar nature. My charming ladylove

having pricked her finger rather severely, screamed loudly, and stretched her hand towards me, entreating me

to suck the blood flowing from the wound. You may judge, dear reader, whether I was long in seizing that

beautiful hand, and if you are, or if you have ever been in love, you will easily guess the manner in which I

performed my delightful work. What is a kiss? Is it not an ardent desire to inhale a portion of the being we

love? Was not the blood I was sucking from that charming wound a portion of the woman I worshipped?

When I had completed my work, she thanked me affectionately, and told me to spit out the blood I had

"It is here," I said, placing my hand on my heart, "and God alone knows what happiness it has given me."

"I believe not, madam; but it would have been sacrilege in my eyes if I had suffered one single drop of your

One evening, there was an unusually large attendance at M. D R's assembly, and we were talking

of the carnival which was near at hand. Everybody was regretting the lack of actors, and the impossibility of

enjoying the pleasures of the theatre. I immediately offered to procure a good company at my expense, if the

boxes were at once subscribed for, and the monopoly of the faro bank granted to me. No time was to be lost,

for the carnival was approaching, and I had to go to Otranto to engage a troop. My proposal was accepted

with great joy, and the proveditoregenerale placed a felucca at my disposal. The boxes were all taken in

three days, and a Jew took the pit, two nights a week excepted, which I reserved for my own profit.

The carnival being very long that year, I had every chance of success. It is said generally that the profession

of theatrical manager is difficult, but, if that is the case, I have not found it so by experience, and am bound to

I left Corfu in the evening, and having a good breeze in my favour, I reached Otranto by daybreak the

following morning, without the oarsmen having had to row a stroke. The distance from Corfu to Otranto is

I had no idea of landing, owing to the quarantine which is always enforced for any ship or boat coming to

Italy from the east. I only went to the parlour of the lazaretto, where, placed behind a grating, you can speak

to any person who calls, and who must stand behind another grating placed opposite, at a distance of six feet.

As soon as I announced that I had come for the purpose of engaging a troupe of actors to perform in Corfu,

the managers of the two companies then in Otranto came to the parlour to speak to me. I told them at once

The two rival managers gave me then a very comic scene, each manager wanting the other to bring his troupe

first. The harbourmaster told me that the only way to settle the matter was to say myself which of the two

companies I would see first: one was from Naples, the other from Sicily. Not knowing either I gave the

preference to the first. Don Fastidio, the manager, was very vexed, while Battipaglia, the director of the

second, was delighted because he hoped that, after seeing the Neapolitan troupe, I would engage his own.

An hour afterwards, Fastidio returned with all his performers, and my surprise may be imagined when

amongst them I recognized Petronio and his sister Marina, who, the moment she saw me, screamed for joy,

jumped over the grating, and threw herself in my arms. A terrible hubbub followed, and high words passed

between Fastidio and the harbourmaster. Marina being in the service of Fastidio, the captain compelled him

to confine her to the lazaretto, where she would have to perform quarantine at his expense. The poor girl cried

I put a stop to the quarrel by telling Fastidio to shew me all his people, one after the other. Petronio belonged

to his company, and performed the lovers. He told me that he had a letter for me from Therese. I was also

glad to see a Venetian of my acquaintance who played the pantaloon in the pantomime, three tolerably pretty

actresses, a pulcinella, and a scaramouch. Altogether, the troupe was a decent one.

I told Fastidio to name the lowest salary he wanted for all his company, assuring him that I would give the

"Sir," he answered, "we are twenty, and shall require six rooms with ten beds, one sittingroom for all of us,

and thirty Neapolitan ducats a day, all travelling expenses paid. Here is my stock of plays, and we will

Thinking of poor Marina who would have to remain in the lazaretto before she could reappear on the stage at

Otranto, I told Fastidio to get the contract ready, as I wanted to go away immediately.

I had scarcely pronounced these words than war broke out again between the managerelect and his

unfortunate competitor. Battipaglia, in his rage, called Marina a harlot, and said that she had arranged

beforehand with Fastidio to violate the rules of the lazaretto in order to compel me to choose their troupe.

Petronio, taking his sister's part, joined Fastidio, and the unlucky Battipaglia was dragged outside and treated

to a generous dose of blows and fisticuffs, which was not exactly the thing to console him for a lost

Soon afterwards, Petronio brought me Therese's letter. She was ruining the duke, getting rich accordingly,

Everything being ready towards evening, I left Otranto with twenty actors, and six large trunks containing

their complete wardrobes. A light breeze which was blowing from the south might have carried us to Corfu in

ten hours, but when we had sailed about one hour my cayabouchiri informed me that he could see by the

moonlight a ship which might prove to be a corsair, and get hold of us. I was unwilling to risk anything, so I

ordered them to lower the sails and return to Otranto. At daybreak we sailed again with a good westerly

wind, which would also have taken us to Corfu; but after we had gone two or three hours, the captain pointed

out to me a brigantine, evidently a pirate, for she was shaping her course so as to get to windward of us. I told

him to change the course, and to go by starboard, to see if the brigantine would follow us, but she

immediately imitated our manoeuvre. I could not go back to Otranto, and I had no wish to go to Africa, so I

ordered the men to shape our course, so as to land on the coast of Calabria, by hard rowing and at the nearest

point. The sailors, who were frightened to death, communicated their fears to my comedians, and soon I

heard nothing but weeping and sobbing. Every one of them was calling earnestly upon some saint, but not

one single prayer to God did I hear. The bewailings of scaramouch, the dull and spiritless despair of Fastidio,

offered a picture which would have made me laugh heartily if the danger had been imaginary and not real.

Marina alone was cheerful and happy, because she did not realize the danger we were running, and she

A strong breeze sprang up towards evening, so I ordered them to clap on all sail and scud before the wind,

even if it should get stronger. In order to escape the pirate, I had made up my mind to cross the gulf. We took

the wind through the night, and in the morning we were eighty miles from Corfu, which I determined to reach

by rowing. We were in the middle of the gulf, and the sailors were worn out with fatigue, but I had no longer

any fear. A gale began to blow from the north, and in less than an hour it was blowing so hard that we were

compelled to sail close to the wind in a fearful manner. The felucca looked every moment as if it must

capsize. Every one looked terrified but kept complete silence, for I had enjoined it on penalty of death. In

spite of our dangerous position, I could not help laughing when I heard the sobs of the cowardly scaramouch.

The helmsman was a man of great nerve, and the gale being steady I felt we would reach Corfu without

mishap. At daybreak we sighted the town, and at nine in the morning we landed at Mandrachia. Everybody

As soon as my company was landed, the young officers naturally came to inspect the actresses, but they did

not find them very desirable, with the exception of Marina, who received uncomplainingly the news that I

could not renew my acquaintance with her. I felt certain that she would not lack admirers. But my actresses,

who had appeared ugly at the landing, produced a very different effect on the stage, and particularly the

pantaloon's wife. M. Duodo, commander of a manof war, called upon her, and, finding master pantaloon

intolerant on the subject of his betterhalf, gave him a few blows with his cane. Fastidio informed me the

next day that the pantaloon and his wife refused to perform any more, but I made them alter their mind by

The pantaloon's wife was much applauded, but she felt insulted because, in the midst of the applause, the pit

called out, "Bravo, Duodo!" She presented herself to the general in his own box, in which I was generally,

and complained of the manner in which she was treated. The general promised her, in my name, another

benefit night for the close of the carnival, and I was of course compelled to ratify his promise. The fact is,

that, to satisfy the greedy actors, I abandoned to my comedians, one by one, the seventeen nights I had

reserved for myself. The benefit I gave to Marina was at the special request of Madame F, who had

taken her into great favour since she had had the honour of breakfasting alone with M. D R in a

My generosity cost me four hundred sequins, but the faro bank brought me a thousand and more, although I

never held the cards, my management of the theatre taking up all my time. My manner with the actresses

gained me great kindness; it was clearly seen that I carried on no intrigue with any of them, although I had

every facility for doing so. Madame F complimented me, saying that she had not entertained such a

good opinion of my discretion. I was too busy through the carnival to think of love, even of the passion which

filled my heart. It was only at the beginning of Lent, and after the departure of the comedians, that I could

One morning Madame F sent, a messenger who, summoned me to her presence. It was eleven o'clock; I

"I wanted to see you," she said, "to return the two hundred sequins which you lent me so nobly. Here they

"Your note of hand, madam, is no longer in my possession. I have deposited it in a sealed envelope with the

"Because I was afraid of losing it, or of having it stolen. And in the event of my death I did not want such a

"A great proof of your extreme delicacy, certainly, but I think you ought to have reserved the right of taking it

"Yet it was a very likely thing. Then I can send word to the notary to transmit it to me?"

She tore the envelope open, and found only a piece of paper besmeared with ink, quite illegible, except her

"You have acted," she said, "most nobly; but you must agree with me that I cannot be certain that this piece

"I must be certain of it, and I am so; but you must grant that I could not swear to it."

During the following days it struck me that her manner towards me was singularly altered. She never

received me in her dishabille, and I had to wait with great patience until her maid had entirely dressed her

If I related any story, any adventure, she pretened not to understand, and affected not to see the point of an

anecdote or a jest; very often she would purposely not look at me, and then I was sure to relate badly. If M.

D R laughed at something I had just said, she would ask what he was laughing for, and when he

had told her, she would say it was insipid or dull. If one of her bracelets became unfastened, I offered to

fasten it again, but either she would not give me so much trouble, or I did not understand the fastening, and

the maid was called to do it. I could not help shewing my vexation, but she did not seem to take the slightest

notice of it. If M. D R excited me to say something amusing or witty, and I did not speak

immediately, she would say that my budget was empty, laughing, and adding that the wit of poor M.

Casanova was worn out. Full of rage, I would plead guilty by my silence to her taunting accusation, but I was

thoroughly miserable, for I did not see any cause for that extraordinary change in her feelings, being

conscious that I had not given her any motive for it. I wanted to shew her openly my indifference and

contempt, but whenever an opportunity offered, my courage would forsake me, and I would let it escape.

"Always unhappily. The first time, perhaps, because, being an ecclesiastic, I durst not speak openly of my

love. The second, because a cruel, unexpected event compelled me to leave the woman I loved at the very

moment in which my happiness would have been complete. The third time, because the feeling of pity, with

which I inspired the beloved object, induced her to cure me of my passion, instead of crowning my felicity."

"I understand she has treated you cruelly, and you call that pity, do you? You are mistaken."

"Certainly," said Madame F, "a woman may pity the man she loves, but she would not think of

illtreating him to cure him of his passion. That woman has never felt any love for you."

"Oh! thoroughly; for when I happen to think of her, I feel nothing but indifference and coldness. But my

"With another, madam? I thought I had just told you that the third time I loved was the last."

A few days after that conversation, M. D R told me that Madame F was not well, that he

could not keep her company, and that I ought to go to her, as he was sure she would be glad to see me. I

obeyed, and told Madame F what M. D R had said. She was lying on a sofa. Without

looking at me, she told me she was feverish, and would not ask me to remain with her, because I would feel

"I could not experience any weariness in your society, madam; at all events, I can leave you only by your

express command, and, in that case, I must spend the next four hours in your anteroom, for M. D

Her cold and distant manner repelled me, but I loved her, and I had never seen her so beautiful, a slight fever

animating her complexion which was then truly dazzling in its beauty. I kept where I was, dumb and as

motionless as a statue, for a quarter of an hour. Then she rang for her maid, and asked me to leave her alone

"If it has disappeared, madam, it can only be by your will. Call it back, and you will see it return in full

"Only be towards me as you were when I returned from Casopo. I have been disagreeable to you for the last

"To suffer in silence, without allowing any circumstance to alter the feelings with which you have inspired

me; to wish ardently to convince you of my perfect obedience to your commands; to be ever ready to give

"I thank you, but I cannot imagine what you can have to suffer in silence on my account. I take an interest in

you, and I always listen with pleasure to your adventures. As a proof of it, I am extremely curious to hear the

I invented on the spot three purely imaginary stories, making a great display of tender sentiments and of

ardent love, but without alluding to amorous enjoyment, particularly when she seemed to expect me to do so.

Sometimes delicacy, sometimes respect or duty, interfered to prevent the crowning pleasure, and I took care

to observe, at such moments of disappointment, that a true lover does not require that all important item to

feel perfectly happy. I could easily see that her imagination was travelling farther than my narrative, and that

my reserve was agreeable to her. I believed I knew her nature well enough to be certain that I was taking the

best road to induce her to follow me where I wished to lead her. She expressed a sentiment which moved me

deeply, but I was careful not to shew it. We were talking of my third love, of the woman who, out of pity, had

"If she truly loved you, she may have wished not to cure you, but to cure herself."

On the day following this partial reconciliation, M. F, her husband, begged my commanding officer,

D R, to let me go with him to Butintro for an excursion of three days, his own adjutant being

Butintro is seven miles from Corfu, almost opposite to that city; it is the nearest point to the island from the

mainland. It is not a fortress, but only a small village of Epirus, or Albania, as it is now called, and belonging

to the Venetians. Acting on the political axiom that "neglected right is lost right," the Republic sends every

year four galleys to Butintro with a gang of galley slaves to fell trees, cut them, and load them on the galleys,

while the military keep a sharp lookout to prevent them from escaping to Turkey and becoming

Mussulmans. One of the four galleys was commanded by M. F who, wanting an adjutant for the

I went with him, and on the fourth day we came back to Corfu with a large provision of wood. I found M.

D R alone on the terrace of his palace. It was Good Friday. He seemed thoughtful, and, after a

silence of a few minutes, he spoke the following words, which I can never forget:

"M. F, whose adjutant died yesterday, has just been entreating me to give you to him until he can find

another officer. I have told him that I had no right to dispose of your person, and that he, ought to apply to

you, assuring him that, if you asked me leave to go with him, I would not raise any objection, although I

"No, monsignor, he has only tendered me his thanks for having accompanied him to Butintro, nothing else."

"Simply that I will never leave the service of your excellency without your express command to do so."

conversation would most likely turn upon the subject which had just been broached, I hurried out of the

room. In less than a quarter of an hour I was sent for, and M. F said to me, confidentially,

And I remained there standing, uneasy, keeping my eyes on the ground, not even striving to conceal my

mortification, which was, after all, very natural in such a position. I dreaded looking at Madame F, for I

knew that she could easily guess all my feelings. An instant after, her foolish husband coldly remarked that I

should certainly have a more fatiguing service with him than with M. D R, and that, of course, it

was more honourable to serve the general governor of the galeazze than a simple sopracommitto. I was on

the point of answering, when Madame F said, in a graceful and easy manner, "M. Casanova is right,"

and she changed the subject. I left the room, revolving in my mind all that had just taken place.

My conclusion was that M. F had asked M. D R to let me go with him at the suggestion of

his wife, or, at least with her consent, and it was highly flattering to my love and to my vanity. But I was

bound in honour not to accept the post, unless I had a perfect assurance that it would not be disagreeable to

my present patron. "I will accept," I said to myself, "if M. D R tells me positively that I shall

On the same night I had the honour of offering my arm to Madame F during the procession which takes

place in commemoration of the death of our Lord and Saviour, which was then attended on foot by all the

nobility. I expected she would mention the matter, but she did not. My love was in despair, and through the

night I could not close my eyes. I feared she had been offended by my refusal, and was overwhelmed with

grief. I passed the whole of the next day without breaking my fast, and did not utter a single word during the

evening reception. I felt very unwell, and I had an attack of fever which kept me in bed on Easter Sunday. I

was very weak on the Monday, and intended to remain in my room, when a messenger from Madame F

came to inform me that she wished to see me. I told the messenger not to say that he had found me in bed,

and dressing myself rapidly I hurried to her house. I entered her room, pale, looking very ill: yet she did not

enquire after my health, and kept silent a minute or two, as if she had been trying to recollect what she had to

"Ah! yes, you are aware that our adjutant is dead, and that we want to replace him. My husband, who has a

great esteem for you, and feels that M. D R leaves you perfectly free to make your choice, has

taken the singular fancy that you will come, if I ask you myself to do us that pleasure. Is he mistaken? If you

She was pointing to a room adjoining the chamber in which she slept, and so situated that, to see her in every

"M. D R ," she continued, "will not love you less, and as he will see you here every, day, he will

not be likely to forget his interest in your welfare. Now, tell me, will you come or not?"

"You cannot? That is singular. Take a seat, and tell me what there is to prevent you, when, in accepting my

"If I were certain of it, I would accept immediately; but all I have heard from his lips was that he left me free

But the warmth of my exclamation might mean a great deal, and I turned my head round so as not to

embarrass her. She asked me to give her her mantle to go to church, and we went out. As we were going

down the stairs, she placed her ungloved hand upon mine. It was the first time that she had granted me such a

favour, and it seemed to me a good omen. She took off her hand, asking me whether I was feverish. "Your

When we left the church, M. D R's carriage happened to pass, and I assisted her to get in, and as

soon as she had gone, hurried to my room in order to breathe freely and to enjoy all the felicity which filled

my soul; for I no longer doubted her love for me, and I knew that, in this case, M. D R was not

What is love? I have read plenty of ancient verbiage on that subject, I have read likewise most of what has

been said by modern writers, but neither all that has been said, nor what I have thought about it, when I was

young and now that I am no longer so, nothing, in fact, can make me agree that love is a trifling vanity. It is a

sort of madness, I grant that, but a madness over which philosophy is entirely powerless; it is a disease to

which man is exposed at all times, no matter at what age, and which cannot be cured, if he is attacked by it in

his old age. Love being sentiment which cannot be explained! God of all nature!bitter and sweet feeling!

Love! charming monster which cannot be fathomed! God who, in the midst of all the thorns with which

thou plaguest us, strewest so many roses on our path that, without thee, existence and death would be united

Two days afterwards, M. D R, told me to go and take orders from M. F on board his galley,

which was ready for a five or six days' voyage. I quickly packed a few things, and called for my new patron

who received me with great joy. We took our departure without seeing madam, who was not yet visible. We

returned on the sixth day, and I went to establish myself in my new home, for, as I was preparing to go to M.

D R, to take his orders, after our landing, he came himself, and after asking M. F and me

"Casanova, as you suit each other so well, you may be certain that you will greatly please me by remaining in

I obeyed respectfully, and in less than one hour I had taken possession of my new quarters. Madame F

told me how delighted she was to see that great affair ended according to her wishes, and I answered with a

I found myself like the salamander, in the very heart of the fire for which I had been longing so ardently.

Almost constantly in the presence of Madame F, dining often alone with her, accompanying her in her

walks, even when M. D R was not with us, seeing her from my room, or conversing with her in

her chamber, always reserved and attentive without pretension, the first night passed by without any change

being brought about by that constant intercourse. Yet I was full of hope, and to keep up my courage I

imagined that love was not yet powerful enough to conquer her pride. I expected everything from some lucky

chance, which I promised myself to improve as soon as it should present itself, for I was persuaded that a

But there was one circumstance which annoyed me. In public, she seized every opportunity of treating me

with distinction, while, when we were alone, it was exactly the reverse. In the eyes of the world I had all the

appearance of a happy lover, but I would rather have had less of the appearance of happiness and more of the

"They are envious, madam, and they would pity me if they could read the secret pages of my heart. You

"How can you be an object of pity for them, and how could I deliver you from them?"

"They believe me happy, and I am miserable; you would deliver me from them by illtreating me in their

"Yes, madam, provided your bad treatment in public were compensated by your kindness when we are alone,

for there is no vanity in the happiness I feel in belonging to you. Let others pity me, I will be happy on

I would often be indiscreet enough to remain behind the curtain of the window in my room, looking at her

when she thought herself perfectly certain that nobody saw her; but the liberty I was thus guilty of never

proved of great advantage to me. Whether it was because she doubted my discretion or from habitual reserve,

she was so particular that, even when I saw her in bed, my longing eyes never could obtain a sight of

One day, being present in her room while her maid was cutting off the points of her long and beautiful hair, I

amused myself in picking up all those pretty bits, and put them all, one after the other, on her toilettable, with

the exception of one small lock which I slipped into my pocket, thinking that she had not taken any notice of

my keeping it; but the moment we were alone she told me quietly, but rather too seriously, to take out of my

pocket the hair I had picked up from the floor. Thinking she was going too far, and such rigour appearing to

me as cruel as it was unjust and absurd, I obeyed, but threw the hair on the toilettable with an air of supreme

"No, madam, I do not, for you might have feigned not to have observed such an innocent theft."

"No crime, but it was an indication of feelings which you have no right to entertain for me."

"Feelings which you are at liberty not to return, madam, but which hatred or pride can alone forbid my heart

to experience. If you had a heart you would not be the victim of either of those two fearful passions, but you

have only head, and it must be a very wicked head, judging by the care it takes to heap humiliation upon me.

You have surprised my secret, madam, you may use it as you think proper, but in the meantime I have

learned to know you thoroughly. That knowledge will prove more useful than your discovery, for perhaps it

After this violent tirade I left her, and as she did not call me back retired to my room. In the hope that sleep

would bring calm, I undressed and went to bed. In such moments a lover hates the object of his love, and his

heart distils only contempt and hatred. I could not go to sleep, and when I was sent for at suppertime I

answered that I was ill. The night passed off without my eyes being visited by sleep, and feeling weak and

low I thought I would wait to see what ailed me, and refused to have my dinner, sending word that I was still

very unwell. Towards evening I felt my heart leap for joy when I heard my beautiful ladylove enter my

room. Anxiety, want of food and sleep, gave me truly the appearance of being ill, and I was delighted that it

should be so. I sent her away very soon, by telling her with perfect indifference that it was nothing but a bad

headache, to which I was subject, and that repose and diet would effect a speedy cure.

But at eleven o'clock she came back with her friend, M. D R, and coming to my bed she said,

"Why should you wait until tomorrow? You must get better at once. I have ordered a basin of broth and two

I shook my head slightly. M. D R having just then turned round to examine an engraving, she

took my hand, saying that she would like me to drink some broth, and I felt that she was giving me a small

I opened the parcel, but feeling that it contained hair, I hurriedly concealed it under the bedclothes: at the

same moment the blood rushed to my head with such violence that it actually frightened me. I begged for

some water, she came to me, with M. D R, and then were both frightened to see me so red, when

Madame F gave me a glass of water in which she put some Eau des carmes which instantly acted as a

violent emetic. Two or three minutes after I felt better, and asked for something to eat. Madame F

smiled. The servant came in with the broth and the eggs, and while I was eating I told the history of

Pandolfin. M. D R thought it was all a miracle, and I could read, on the countenance of the

charming woman, love, affection, and repentance. If M. D R had not been present, it would have

been the moment of my happiness, but I felt certain that I should not have long to wait. M. D R

told Madame F that, if he had not seen me so sick, he would have believed my illness to be all sham, for

"It is all owing to my Eau des carmes," said Madame F, looking at me, "and I will leave you my

"No, madam, be kind enough to take it with you, for the water would have no virtue without your presence."

I slept all night, but in my happy dreams I was with her, and the reality itself would hardly have procured me

greater enjoyment than I had during my happy slumbers. I saw I had taken a very long stride forward, for

twentyfour hours of abstinence gave me the right to speak to her openly of my love, and the gift of her hair

On the following day, after presenting myself before M. F, I went to have a little chat with the maid, to

wait until her mistress was visible, which was not long, and I had the pleasure of hearing her laugh when the

maid told her I was there. As soon as I went in, without giving me time to say a single word, she told me how

delighted she was to see me looking so well, and advised me to call upon M. D R.

It is not only in the eyes of a lover, but also in those of every man of taste, that a woman is a thousand times

more lovely at the moment she comes out of the arms of Morpheus than when she has completed her toilet.

Around Madame F more brilliant beams were blazing than around the sun when he leaves the embrace

of Aurora. Yet the most beautiful woman thinks as much of her toilet as the one who cannot do without

In the order given to me by Madame F to call on M. D R, I saw another reason to be certain

of approaching happiness, for I thought that, by dismissing me so quickly, she had only tried to postpone the

consummation which I might have pressed upon her, and which she could not have refused.

Rich in the possession of her hair, I held a consultation with my love to decide what I ought to do with it, for

Madame F, very likely in her wish to atone for the miserly sentiment which had refused me a small bit,

had given me a splendid lock, full a yard and a half long. Having thought it over, I called upon a Jewish

confectioner whose daughter was a skilful embroiderer, and I made her embroider before me, on a bracelet of

green satin, the four initial letters of our names, and make a very thin chain with the remainder. I had a piece

of black ribbon added to one end of the chain, in the shape of a sliding noose, with which I could easily

strangle myself if ever love should reduce me to despair, and I passed it round my neck. As I did not want to

lose even the smallest particle of so precious a treasure, I cut with a pair of scissors all the small bits which

were left, and devoutly gathered them together. Then I reduced them into a fine powder, and ordered the

Jewish confectioner to mix the powder in my presence with a paste made of amber, sugar, vanilla, angelica,

alkermes and storax, and I waited until the comfits prepared with that mixture were ready. I had some more

made with the same composition, but without any hair; I put the first in a beautiful sweetmeat box of fine

>From the day when, by giving me her hair, Madame F had betrayed the secret feelings of her heart, I

no longer lost my time in relating stories or adventures.; I only spoke to her of my cove, of my ardent desires;

I told her that she must either banish me from her presence, or crown my happiness, but the cruel, charming

woman would not accept that alternative. She answered that happiness could not be obtained by offending

every moral law, and by swerving from our duties. If I threw myself at her feet to obtain by anticipation her

forgiveness for the loving violence I intended to use against her, she would repulse me more powerfully than

if she had had the strength of a female Hercules, for she would say, in a voice full of sweetness and affection,

"My friend, I do not entreat you to respect my weakness, but be generous enough to spare me for the sake of

"What! you love me, and you refuse to make me happy! It is impossible! it is unnatural. You compel me to

believe that you do not love me. Only allow me to press my lips one moment upon your lips, and I ask no

"No, dearest, no; it would only excite the ardour of your desires, shake my resolution, and we should then

Thus did she every day plunge me in despair, and yet she complained that my wit was no longer brilliant in

society, that I had lost that elasticity of spirits which had pleased her so much after my arrival from

Constantinople. M. D R, who often jestingly waged war against me, used to say that I was

getting thinner and thinner every day. Madame F told me one day that my sickly looks were very

disagreeable to her, because wicked tongues would not fail to say that she treated me with cruelty. Strange,

almost unnatural thought! On it I composed an idyll which I cannot read, even now, without feeling tears in

"What!" I answered, "you acknowledge your cruelty towards me? You are afraid of the world guessing all

your heartless rigour, and yet you continue to enjoy it! You condemn me unmercifully to the torments of

Tantalus! You would be delighted to see me gay, cheerful, happy, even at the expense of a judgment by

which the world would find you guilty of a supposed but false kindness towards me, and yet you refuse me

"What a contrast! Would it be possible for me not to love you, for you to feel nothing for me? Such

contradictions strike me as unnatural. But you are growing thinner yourself, and I am dying. It must be so; we

shall both die before long, you of consumption, I of exhausting decline; for I am now reduced to enjoying

your shadow during the day, during the night, always, everywhere, except when I am in your presence."

At that passionate declaration, delivered with all the ardour of an excited lover, she was surprised, deeply

moved, and I thought that the happy hour had struck. I folded her in my arms, and was already tasting the

first fruits of enjoyment.... The sentinel knocked twice!... Oh! fatal mischance! I recovered my composure

and stood in front of her.... M. D R made his appearance, and this time he found me in so

My comfits were beginning to be the talk of our society. M. D R, Madame F, and I were

the only ones who had a box full of them. I was stingy with them, and no one durst beg any from me, because

I had said that they were very expensive, and that in all Corfu there was no confectioner who could make or

physician who could analyse them. I never gave one out of my crystal box, and Madame F. remarked it. I

certainly did not believe them to be amorous philtre, and I was very far from supposing that the addition of

the hair made them taste more delicious; but a superstition, the offspring of my love, caused me to cherish

them, and it made me happy to think that a small portion of the woman I worshipped was thus becoming a

Influenced perhaps by some secret sympathy, Madame F. was exceedingly fond of the comfits. She asserted

before all her friends that they were the universal panacea, and knowing herself perfect mistress of the

inventor, she did not enquire after the secret of the composition. But having observed that I gave away only

the comfits which I kept in my tortoiseshell box, and that I never eat any but those from the crystal box, she

one day asked me what reason I had for that. Without taking time to think, I told her that in those I kept for

"I do not believe it," she answered; "but are they different from those I eat myself?"

"They are exactly the same, with the exception of the ingredient I have just mentioned, which has been put

Saying which, she rose, emptied her box, and filled it again with chocolate drops; and for the next few days

she was angry with me, and avoided my company. I felt grieved, I became lowspirited, but I could not make

And I opened my box, emptied its contents in my hand, and swallowed the whole of them, saying, "Two

more doses like this, and I shall die mad with love for you. Then you will be revenged for my reserve.

She called me back, made me take a seat near her, and told me not to commit follies which would make her

unhappy; that I knew how much she loved me, and that it was not owing to the effect of any drug. "To prove

to you," she added, "that you do not require anything of the sort to be loved, here is a token of my affection."

And she offered me her lovely lips, and upon them mine remained pressed until I was compelled to draw a

breath. I threw myself at her feet, with tears of love and gratitude blinding my eyes, and told her that I would

"Your crime! You frighten me. Yes, I forgive you, but speak quickly, and tell me all."

"Yes, everything. My comfits contain your hair reduced to a powder. Here on my arm, see this bracelet on

which our names are written with your hair, and round my neck this chain of the same material, which will

help me to destroy my own life when your love fails me. Such is my crime, but I would not have been guilty

She smiled, and, bidding me rise from my kneeling position, she told me that I was indeed the most criminal

of men, and she wiped away my tears, assuring me that I should never have any reason to strangle myself

After that conversation, in which I had enjoyed the sweet nectar of my divinity's first kiss, I had the courage

to behave in a very different manner. She could see the ardour which consumed me; perhaps the same fire

"After the kiss which you granted to me of your own accord, I felt that I ought not to wish any favour unless

your heart gave it as freely. You cannot imagine the happiness that kiss has given me."

"Neither you nor I, angel of my soul! That kiss so tender, so sweet, was the child of love!"

The words were scarcely spoken, when our lips were engaged in happy concert. She held me so tight against

her bosom that I could not use my hands to secure other pleasures, but I felt myself perfectly happy. After

"Never, dearest friend, never. Love is a child which must be amused with trifles; too substantial food would

"I know love better than you; it requires that substantial food, and unless it can obtain it, love dies of

"Ah! yes. Do you recollect the day, when, in your anger, you told me that I had only a head, but no heart,

"How heartily I laughed, when I had time to think! Yes, dearest, I have a heart, or I should not feel as happy

as I feel now. Let us keep our happiness, and be satisfied with it, as it is, without wishing for anything more."

Obedient to her wishes, but every day more deeply enamoured, I was in hope that nature at last would prove

stronger than prejudice, and would cause a fortunate crisis. But, besides nature, fortune was my friend, and I

Madame F. was walking one day in the garden, leaning on M. D R's arm, and was caught by a

large rosebush, and the prickly thorns left a deep cut on her leg. M. D R bandaged the wound

with his handkerchief, so as to stop the blood which was flowing abundantly, and she had to be carried home

In Corfu, wounds on the legs are dangerous when they are not well attended to, and very often the wounded

Madame F was confined to her bed, and my lucky position in the house condemned me to remain

constantly at her orders. I saw her every minute; but, during the first three days, visitors succeeded each other

without intermission, and I never was alone with her. In the evening, after everybody had gone, and her

husband had retired to his own apartment, M. D R remained another hour, and for the sake of

propriety I had to take my leave at the same time that he did. I had much more liberty before the accident, and

I told her so half seriously, half jestingly. The next day, to make up for my disappointment, she contrived a

An elderly surgeon came every morning to dress her wound, during which operation her maid only was

present, but I used to go, in my morning dishabille, to the girl's room, and to wait there, so as to be the first to

That morning, the girl came to tell me to go in as the surgeon was dressing the wound.

"Do not be afraid, madam," said the surgeon, "keep your bed, and I answer for your complete recovery."

The surgeon being busy preparing a poultice at the other end of the room, and the maid out, I enquired

whether she felt any hardness in the calf of the leg, and whether the inflammation went up the limb; and

naturally, my eyes and my hands kept pace with my questions.... I saw no inflammation, I felt no hardness,

but.... and the lovely patient hurriedly let the curtain fall, smiling, and allowing me to take a sweet kiss, the

perfume of which I had not enjoyed for many days. It was a sweet moment; a delicious ecstacy. From her

mouth my lips descended to her wound, and satisfied in that moment that my kisses were the best of

medicines, I would have kept my lips there, if the noise made by the maid coming back had not compelled

When we were left alone, burning with intense desires, I entreated her to grant happiness at least to my eyes.

"I feel humiliated," I said to her, "by the thought that the felicity I have just enjoyed was only a theft."

The next day I was again present at the dressing of the wound, and as soon as the surgeon had left, she asked

me to arrange her pillows, which I did at once. As if to make that pleasant office easier, she raised the

bedclothes to support herself, and she thus gave me a sight of beauties which intoxicated my eyes, and I

When I had done I was in a fearful state, and I threw myself in an armchair opposite her bed, half dead, in a

sort of trance. I was looking at that lovely being who, almost artless, was continually granting me greater and

still greater favours, and yet never allowed me to reach the goal for which I was so ardently longing.

"No, I am not cruel, for, if you love me, you must not blush for your indulgence. You must know, too, that,

loving you passionately, I must not suppose that it is to be a surprise that I am indebted for my happiness in

the enjoyment of the most ravishing sights, for if I owed it only to mere chance I should be compelled to

believe that any other man in my position might have had the same happiness, and such an idea would be

misery to me. Let me be indebted to you for having proved to me this morning how much enjoyment I can

The next day, the moment the doctor had gone, she sent her maid out to make some purchases.

"Ah!" she said a few minutes after, "my maid has forgotten to change my chemise."

"Very well, but recollect that I give permission only to your eyes to take a share in the proceedings."

She unlaced herself, took off her stays and her chemise, and told me to be quick and put on the clean one, but

She leaned over towards the table, and exposed almost everything I was longing for, and, turning slowly

round, she handed me the chemise which I could hardly hold, trembling all over with fearful excitement. She

took pity on me, my hands shared the happiness of my eyes; I fell in her arms, our lips fastened together, and,

in a voluptuous, ardent pressure, we enjoyed an amorous exhaustion not sufficient to allay our desires, but

With greater control over herself than women have generally under similar circumstances, she took care to let

me reach only the porch of the temple, without granting me yet a free entrance to the sanctuary.