,illustration ,a ,,journey ,,round ,,my ,,room4 ,illustration ,a ,,journey ,,round ,,my ,,room ,,by ,,xavier ,,de ,,maistre ,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,french ,,with ,a ,,notice ,,of ,,the ,,author',s ,,life ,,by ,h4 ,a4 ,illustration ,,london ,,longmans1 ,,green1 ,,reader1 ,,and ,,dyer4 #ahga ,h4 ,o4 ,,houghton ,,and ,,co41 ,,printers1 ,,riverside ,,press1 ,,cambridge4 ,,to ,s4 ,a4 ,h4 ,a4 ,,preface4 ,the author of the 8,voyage autour de ma ,chambre0 was the younger brother of ,count ,joseph de ,maistre1 a well-known writer upon political and philosophical subjects4 ,chambry was the place of their birth1 but their family was of ,french origin4 ,both brothers were officers in the ,sardinian army2 and when ,savoy was conquered by the ,french1 ,xavier de ,maistre sought an asylum in ,saint ,petersburg1 where his brother resided in the capacity of envoy from the court of ,sardinia4 ,xavier entered the ,russian army1 distinguished himself in the war against ,persia1 and attained the rank of major-general4 ,our interest in the 8,voyage0 is heightened by our knowledge that it was actually written during ,de ,maistre's forty-two days' arrest at ,turin1 referred to in the third chapter4 ,he sent the manuscript1 which he regarded as a mere playful effort of his imagination1 for his brother's perusal4 ,joseph was pleased with the book2 and ,xavier1 who had an almost filial affection for his brother1 was soon afterwards agreeably surprised by receiving1 in place of his manuscript1 the 8,voyage0 in print4 ,this success encouraged him to begin a sequel to the 8,voyage40 ,joseph1 however1 disapproved of this new attempt4 ,the 8,expdition ,nocturne0 was1 notwithstanding1 finished1 and was published some years later4 ,xavier de ,maistre's next production 7#ahaa7 was 8,le ,lpreux de la ,cit d',aoste10 a very touching and gracefully written narrative4 ,it occupies but a few pages2 and1 as it is to be found in almost every good anthology of ,french literature1 is perhaps the best known of our author's works4 ,his other books are 8,les ,prisonniers du ,caucase0 7#ahae7 and 8,la ,jeune ,sibrienne10 both of them charming works1 containing faithful pictures of domestic scenes with which we are little familiar through other sources4 ,from his childhood ,xavier de ,maistre was devoted to painting4 ,he deservedly gained considerable reputation as a painter of miniature portraits and landscapes4 ,nor did he neglect science while devoting himself to art and literature4 ,he applied himself so successfully to the study of chemistry that he was able to communicate several valuable 8,mmoires0 to the ,academy of ,turin1 of which he was a member4 ,xavier de ,maistre died 7#aheb7 at an advanced age in his adopted country1 where he had married1 and which he only quitted once1 for a brief season4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some apology for publishing this translation is perhaps necessary4 ,although in ,france the 8,voyage0 retains the high esteem in which it has been held for half a century1 it is hardly known in ,england1 except by those who are familiar with the ,french language and literature4 ,during the last twenty years the proportion of educated persons in this country who are unable to enjoy a ,french book in the original has greatly decreased4 ,still1 there are some to whom a translation of this delightful work may be acceptable4 ,to them ,i offer the pleasant labor of a few leisure hours2 but not without assuring them that1 in endeavoring to reproduce faithfully the author's ideas1 ,i have felt at every paragraph how true it is that 8le style ne se traduit pas10--8style is untranslatable40 99 99 99 99 99 ,the headings of the chapters are not ,de ,maistre's4 ,they appear in ,tardieu's pretty little edition of the 8,voyage40 ,the miniatures1 by ,m4 ,veyssier1 are from the same source4 ,h4 ,a4 ,barnes1 ,surrey4 ,autumn1 #ahga4 ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,,page ,,preface iii ,i4 ,a ,,book ,,of ,,discoveries 7,vignette47 #a ,,ii4 ,,eulogy ,,of ,,the ,,journey #d ,,iii4 ,,laws ,,and ,,customs #g ,,iv4 ,,latitude ,,and ,,topography #aa ,v4 ,,the ,,bed #ad ,,vi4 ,,for ,,metaphysicians #ag ,,vii4 ,,the ,,soul #ba ,,viii4 ,,the ,,animal #bd ,,ix4 ,,philosophy #bf ,x4 ,,the ,,portrait #bi ,,xi4 ,,rose ,,and ,,white #cc ,,xii4 ,,the ,,hillock 7,vignette47 #cf ,,xiii4 ,a ,,halt #cg ,,xiv4 ,,joannetti #ch ,,xv4 ,a ,,difficulty #db ,,xvi4 ,,solution 7,vignette7 #de ,,xvii4 ,,rose #di ,,xviii4 ,,reserve #eb ,,xix4 ,a ,,tear #ed ,,xx4 ,,albert ,,and ,,charlotte #eg ,,xxi4 ,a ,,friend 7,vignette7 #ei ,,xxii4 ,,jenny #fd ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,picture ,,gallery #ff ,,xxiv4 ,,painting ,,and ,,music #fi ,,xxv4 ,,an ,,objection #gb ,,xxvi4 ,,raphael #ge ,,xxvii4 ,a ,,perfect ,,picture #gh ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,upset ,,carriage #ha ,,xxix4 ,,misfortune #hg ,,xxx4 ,,charity #ia ,,xxxi4 ,,inventory #ic ,,xxxii4 ,,misanthropy #ie ,,xxxiii4 ,,consolation #ih ,,xxxiv4 ,,correspondence #ii ,,xxxv4 ,,the ,,withered ,,rose 7,vignette7 #ajd ,,xxxvi4 ,,the ,,library #aji ,,xxxvii4 ,,another ,,world #aac ,,xxxviii4 ,,the ,,bust #aah ,,xxxix4 ,a ,,dialogue #aba ,,xl4 ,,imagination #abi ,,xli4 ,,the ,,travelling-,,coat #acb ,,xlii4 ,,aspasia',s ,,buskin 7,vignette7 #acg ,,liberty #aej ,circumstances beyond my control prevented my seeing any proof of these pages4 ,such ,latinized forms as behavior and favor2 the misplaced hyphen on the first line of page #be2 the double l in skilful 7p4 #ach1 last line but one72 and the frequent suppression of the former of two parenthetical commas 7as before ,i1 p4 #ai1 l4 #ah71--these are the few deviations from my manuscript for which the printer is responsible4 ,the reader will oblige by substituting comfortable for agreeable on page #ch line #c1 sweet for lovely on page #fh line #d1 and ignoramuses for ignorant on page #gh line #ab4 ,h4 ,a4 ,illustration3 ,,weyssier ,d4 ,,guillaume1 ,s4 ,i4 ,a ,book of ,discoveries4 ,what more glorious than to open for one's self a new career1--to appear suddenly before the learned world with a book of discoveries in one's hand1 like an unlooked-for comet blazing in the empyrean6 ,no longer will ,i keep my book in obscurity4 ,behold it1 gentlemen2 read it6 ,i have undertaken and performed a forty-two days' journey round my room4 ,the interesting observations ,i have made1 and the constant pleasure ,i have experienced all along the road1 made me wish to publish my travels2 the certainty of being useful decided the matter4 ,and when ,i think of the number of unhappy ones to whom ,i offer a never failing resource for weary moments1 and a balm for the ills they suffer1 my heart is filled with inexpressible satisfaction4 ,the pleasure to be found in travelling round one's room is sheltered from the restless jealousy of men1 and is independent of ,fortune4 ,surely there is no being so miserable as to be without a retreat to which he can withdraw and hide himself from the world4 ,such a hiding-place will contain all the preparations our journey requires4 ,every man of sense will1 ,i am sure1 adopt my system1 whatever may be his peculiar character or temperament4 ,be he miserly or prodigal1 rich or poor1 young or old1 born beneath the torrid zone or near the poles1 he may travel with me4 ,among the immense family of men who throng the earth1 there is not one1 no1 not one 7,i mean of those who inhabit rooms71 who1 after reading this book can refuse his approbation of the new mode of travelling ,i introduce into the world4 ,,ii4 ,eulogy of the ,journey4 ,i might fairly begin the eulogium of my journey by saying it has cost me nothing4 ,this point merits attention4 ,it will gain for it the praise and welcome of people of moderate means4 ,and not of these only3 there is another class with whom its success will1 on this account1 be even more certain4 8,and who are they80 you ask4 ,why1 the rich1 to be sure4 ,and then1 again1 what a comfort the new mode of travelling will be to the sick2 they need not fear bleak winds or change of weather4 ,and what a thing1 too1 it will be for cowards2 they will be safe from pitfalls or quagmires4 ,thousands who hitherto did not dare1 others who were not able1 and others to whom it never occurred to think of such a thing as going on a journey1 will make up their minds to follow my example4 ,surely1 the idlest person will not hesitate to set out with me on a pleasure jaunt which will cost him neither trouble nor money4 ,come then1 let us start6 ,follow me1 all ye whom the 8pangs of despised love0 or the slights of friends keep within doors1--follow me far from the meannesses and unkindnesses of men4 ,be ye unhappy1 sick1 or weary1 follow me4 ,ye idle ones1 arouse ye1 one and all4 ,and ye who brood over gloomy projects of reform and retreat1 on account of some infidelity1--amiable anchorites of an evening's duration1 who renounce the world for your boudoir1--come1 and be led by me to banish these dark thoughts2 you lose a moment's pleasure without gaining a moment's wisdom6 ,deign to accompany me on my journey4 ,we will jog cheerfully and by easy stages along the road of travellers who have seen both ,rome and ,paris4 ,no obstacle shall hinder our way2 and giving ourselves up gaily to ,imagination1 we will follow her whithersoever it may be her good pleasure to lead us4 ,,iii4 ,laws and ,customs4 ,how many inquisitive people there are in the world6 ,i am sure my reader wants to know why the journey round my room has lasted forty-two days rather than forty-three1 or any other number4 ,but how am ,i to tell him what ,i do not know myself8 ,all ,i can say is1 that if the work is too long for him1 it is not my fault that it was not shorter4 ,i dismiss all the pride a traveller may fairly indulge in1 and candidly declare ,i should have been well contented1 for my part1 with a single chapter4 ,it is quite true that ,i made myself as comfortable as possible in my room2 but still1 alas1 ,i was not my own master in the matter of leaving it4 ,nay1 more1 ,i even think that had it not been for the intervention of certain powerful persons who interested themselves in me1 and towards whom ,i entertain a lively sense of gratitude1 ,i should have had ample time for producing a folio volume2 so prejudiced in my favor were the guardians who made me travel round my room4 ,and yet1 intelligent reader1 see how wrong these men were2 and understand clearly1 if you can1 the argument ,i am about to put before you4 ,can there be anything more natural or more just than to draw your sword upon a man who happens to tread on your toe1 who lets slip a bitter word during a moment's vexation caused by your own thoughtlessness1 or who has had the misfortune to gain favor in the sight of your lady-love8 ,under such or like circumstances1 you betake yourself to a meadow1 and there1 like ,nicole and the 8,bourgeois ,gentilhomme10 you try to give the fourth cut while your adversary parries tierce2 and1 that vengeance may be fully satisfied1 you present your naked breast to him1 thus running the risk of being killed by your enemy1 in order to be avenged4 ,it is evident that such a custom is most reasonable4 ,and yet1 we sometimes meet with people who disapprove of so praiseworthy a course4 ,but what is about of a piece with the rest of the business is1 that the very persons who condemn the course we have described1 and who would have it regarded as a grave error1 would judge still more harshly any one who refused to commit it4 ,more than one unlucky wight has1 by endeavoring to conform to their opinion1 lost his reputation and his livelihood4 ,so that1 when people are so unfortunate as to have an affair of honor to settle1 it would not be a bad plan to cast lots to see whether it shall be arranged according to law1 or according to fashion4 ,and as law and fashion are at variance1 the judges might decide upon their sentence by the aid of dice1--and probably it is to some such decision as this that we should have to refer in order to explain how it came about that my journey lasted just two and forty days4 ,,iv4 ,latitude and ,topography4 ,my room is situated in latitude #dh east1 according to the measurement of ,father ,beccaria4 ,it lies east and west1 and1 if you keep very close to the wall1 forms a parallelogram of thirty-six steps round4 ,my journey will1 however1 be longer than this2 for ,i shall traverse my room up and down and across1 without rule or plan4 ,i shall even zig-zag about1 following1 if needs be1 every possible geometrical line4 ,i am no admirer of people who are such masters of their every step and every idea that they can say3 8,to-morrow ,i shall make three calls1 write four letters1 and finish this or that work40 ,so open is my soul to all sorts of ideas1 tastes1 and feelings2 so greedily does it absorb whatever comes first1 that 444 but why should it deny itself the delights that are scattered along life's hard path8 ,so few and far between are they1 that it would indeed be senseless not to stop1 and even turn aside1 to gather such as are placed within our reach4 ,of these joys1 none1 to my thinking1 is more attractive than following the course of one's fancies as a hunter follows his game1 without pretending to keep to any set route4 ,hence1 when ,i travel in my room1 ,i seldom keep to a straight line4 ,from my table ,i go towards a picture which is placed in a corner2 thence ,i set out in an oblique direction for the door2 and then1 although on starting ,i had intended to return to my table1 yet1 if ,i chance to fall in with my arm-chair on the way1 ,i at once1 and most unceremoniously1 take up my quarters therein4 ,by the by1 what a capital article of furniture an arm-chair is1 and1 above all1 how convenient to a thoughtful man4 ,in long winter evenings it is ofttimes sweet1 and always prudent1 to stretch yourself therein1 far from the bustle of crowded assemblies4 ,a good fire1 some books and pens2 what safeguards these against ennui6 ,and how pleasant1 again1 to forget books and pens in order to stir the fire1 while giving one's self up to some agreeable meditation1 or stringing together a few rhymes for the amusement of friends1 as the hours glide by and fall into eternity1 without making their sad passage felt4 ,v4 ,the ,bed4 ,next to my arm-chair1 as we go northward1 my bed comes into sight4 ,it is placed at the end of my room1 and forms the most agreeable perspective4 ,it is very pleasantly situated1 and the earliest rays of the sun play upon my curtains4 ,on fine summer days ,i see them come creeping1 as the sun rises1 all along the whitened wall4 ,the elm-trees opposite my windows divide them into a thousand patterns as they dance upon my bed1 and1 reflecting its rose-and-white color1 shed a charming tint around4 ,i hear the confused twitter of the swallows that have taken possession of my roof1 and the warbling of the birds that people the elms4 ,then do a thousand smiling fancies fill my soul2 and in the whole universe no being enjoys an awakening so delightful1 so peaceful1 as mine4 ,i confess that ,i do indeed revel in these sweet moments1 and prolong as far as ,i can the pleasure it gives me to meditate in the comfortable warmth of my bed4 ,what scene can adapt itself so well to the imagination1 and awaken such delicious ideas1 as the couch on which my fancy floats me into the forgetfulness of self6 ,here it is that the mother1 intoxicated with joy at the birth of a son1 forgets her pangs4 ,hither it is that fantastic pleasures1 the fruit of fancy or of hope1 come to agitate us4 ,in a word1 it is here that during one half of a life-time we forget the annoyances of the other half4 ,but what a host of thoughts1 some agreeable1 some sad1 throng my brain at once1--strange minglings of terrible and delicious pictures6 ,a bed sees us born1 and sees us die4 ,it is the ever changing scene upon which the human race play by turns interesting dramas1 laughable farces1 and fearful tragedies4 ,it is a cradle decked with flowers4 ,a throne of love4 ,a sepulchre4 ,,vi4 ,for ,metaphysicians4 ,this chapter is for metaphysicians1 and for metaphysicians only4 ,it will throw a great light upon man's nature4 ,it is the prism with which to analyze and decompose the human faculties1 by separating the animal force from the pure rays of intellect4 ,it would be impossible for me to explain how ,i came to burn my fingers at the very onset of my journey without expounding to my reader my system of the ,soul and the ,animal4#a ,and besides1 this metaphysical discovery has so great an influence on my thoughts and actions1 that it would be very difficult to understand this book if ,i did not begin by giving the key to its meaning4 ,various observations have enabled me to perceive that man is made up of a soul and an animal4 ,these two beings are quite distinct1 but they are so dovetailed one into the other1 or upon the other1 that the soul must1 if we would make the distinction between them1 possess a certain superiority over the animal4 ,i have it from an old professor 7and this is as long ago as ,i can remember71 that ,plato used to call matter the ,,other4 ,this is all very well2 but ,i prefer giving this name par excellence to the animal which is joined to our soul4 ,this substance it is which is really the ,,other1 and which plays such strange tricks upon us4 ,it is easy enough to see1 in a sort of general way1 that man is twofold4 ,but this1 they say1 is because he is made up of soul and body2 and they accuse the body of ,i don't know how many things1 and very inconsistently1 seeing that it can neither feel nor think4 ,it is upon the animal that the blame should fall2 upon that sensitive being1 which1 while it is perfectly distinct from the soul1 is a real individual1 enjoying a separate existence1 with its own tastes1 inclinations1 and will1 and which only ranks higher than other animals1 because it is better educated than they1 and is provided with more perfect organs4 ,ladies and gentlemen6 ,be as proud of your intellect as you please1 but be very suspicious of the ,,other1 especially when you are together4 ,i have experimented ,i know not how oft1 upon the union of these two heterogeneous creatures4 ,i have1 for instance1 clearly ascertained that the soul can make herself obeyed by the animal1 and that1 by way of retaliation1 the animal makes the soul act contrary to its own inclination4 ,the one1 as a rule1 has the legislative1 the other the executive power1 but these two are often at variance4 ,the great business of a man of genius is to train his animal well1 in order that it may go alone1 while the soul1 delivered from this troublesome companion1 can raise herself to the skies4 ,but this requires illustration4 ,when1 sir1 you are reading a book1 and an agreeable idea suddenly enters your imagination1 your soul attaches herself to the new idea at once1 and forgets the book1 while your eyes follow mechanically the words and lines4 ,you get through the page without understanding it1 and without remembering what you have read4 ,now this is because your soul1 having ordered her companion to read to her1 gave no warning of the short absence she contemplated1 so that the ,,other went on reading what the soul no longer attended to4 ,,vii4 ,the ,soul4 ,is not this clear to you8 ,let us illustrate it still farther4 ,one day last summer at an appointed hour1 ,i was wending my way to court4 ,i had been sketching all day1 and my soul1 choosing to meditate upon painting1 left the duty of taking me to the king's palace to the animal4 ,how sublime1 thought my soul1 is the painter's art6 ,happy is he who is touched by the aspect of nature1 and does not depend upon his pictures for a livelihood2 who does not paint solely as a pastime1 but struck with the majesty of a beautiful form1 and the wonderful way in which the light with its thousand tints plays upon the human face1 strives to imitate in his works the wonderful effects of nature6 ,happy1 too1 is the painter who is led by love of landscape into solitary paths1 and who can make his canvas breathe the feeling of sadness with which he is inspired by a gloomy wood or a desert plain4 ,his productions imitate and reproduce nature4 ,he creates new seas and dark caverns into which the sun has never peered4 ,at his command1 coppices of evergreens spring into life1 and the blue of heaven is reflected on his pictures4 ,he darkens the air1 and we hear the roar of the storm4 ,at another time he presents to the eye of the wondering beholder the delightful plains of ancient ,sicily3 startled nymphs flee the pursuit of a satyr through the bending reeds2 temples of stately architecture raise their grand fronts above the sacred forest that surrounds them4 ,imagination loses itself among the still paths of this ideal country4 ,bluish backgrounds blend with the sky1 and the whole landscape1 reproduced in the waters of a tranquil river1 forms a scene that no tongue can describe4 ,while my soul was thus reflecting1 the other went its way1 ,heaven knows whither6 ,instead of going to court1 according to orders1 it took such a turn to the left1 that my soul just caught it up at ,madame de ,hautcastel's door1 full half a mile from the ,palais ,royal6 ,now ,i leave the reader to fancy what might have been the consequence had the truant visited so beautiful a lady alone4 ,,viii4 ,the ,animal4 ,if it is both useful and agreeable to have a soul so disengaged from matter that we can let it travel alone whenever we please1 this has also its disadvantages4 ,through this1 for instance1 ,i got the burn ,i spoke of a few chapters back4 ,i generally leave my animal to prepare my breakfast4 ,its care it is to slice and toast my bread4 ,my coffee it makes admirably1 and helps itself thereto without my soul's concerning herself in the transaction4 ,but this is a very rare and nice performance to execute2 for though it is easy enough while busied in a mechanical operation1 to think of something quite different1 it is extremely difficult1 so to speak1 to watch one's self-work1 or1 if ,i express myself systematically1 to employ one's soul to examine the animal's progress1 and to watch its work without taking part in it4 ,this is the most extraordinary metaphysical feat a man can execute4 ,i had rested my tongs on the embers to toast my bread1 and some little time afterwards1 while my soul was travelling1 a burning stick fell on the hearth3 my poor animal seized the tongs1 and ,i burnt my fingers4 ,,ix4 ,philosophy4 ,i hope ,i have sufficiently developed my ideas in the foregoing chapters to furnish you1 good reader1 with matter for thought1 and to enable you to make discoveries along the brilliant career before you4 ,you cannot be other than highly satisfied with yourself if you succeed in the long run in making your soul travel alone4 ,the pleasure afforded by this power will amply counterbalance any inconvenience that may arise from it4 ,what more flattering delight is there than the being able thus to expand one's existence1 to occupy at once earth and heaven1 to double1 so to speak1 one's being8 ,is it not man's eternal1 insatiable desire to augment his strength and his faculties1 to be where he is not1 to recall the past1 and live in the future8 ,he would fain command armies1 preside over learned societies1 and be the idol of the fair4 ,and1 if he attain to all this1 then he regrets the tranquillity of a rural life1 and envies the shepherd's cot4 ,his plans1 his hopes1 are constantly foiled by the ills that flesh is heir to4 ,he can find happiness nowhere4 ,a quarter of an hour's journey with me will show him the way to it4 ,ah1 why does he not leave to the ,,other those carking cares and that tormenting ambition4 ,come1 my poor friend6 ,make but an effort to burst from thy prison1 and from the height of heaven1 whither ,i am about to lead thee1 from the midst of the celestial shades1 from the empyrean itself1 behold thy animal run along the road to fortune and honor4 ,see with what gravity it walks among men4 ,the crowd falls back with respect1 and believe me1 none will remark that it is alone4 ,the people among whom it walks care very little whether it has a soul or not1 whether it thinks or not4 ,a thousand sentimental women will fall desperately in love with it without discovering the defect4 ,it may even raise itself without thy soul's help to the highest favor and fortune4 ,nay1 ,i should not be astonished if1 on thy return from the empyrean1 thy soul1 on getting home1 were to find itself in the animal of a noble lord4 ,x4 ,the ,portrait4 ,but you must not let yourself think that instead of keeping my promise to describe my journey round my room1 ,i am beating the bush to see how ,i can evade the difficulty4 ,this would be a great mistake on your part4 ,for our journey is really going on2 and while my soul1 falling back on her own resources1 was in the last chapter threading the mazy paths of metaphysics1 ,i had so placed myself in my arm-chair1 that its front legs being raised about two inches from the floor1 ,i was able1 by balancing myself from left to right1 to make way by degrees1 and at last1 almost without knowing it1 to get close to the wall1 for this is how ,i travel when not pressed for time4 ,when there1 my hand possessed itself by a mere mechanical effort1 of the portrait of ,madame de ,hautcastel2 and the ,,other amused itself with removing the dust which covered it4 ,this occupation produced a feeling of quiet pleasure1 and the pleasure was conveyed to my soul1 lost though it was in the vast plains of heaven4 ,for it is well to observe that when the mind is thus travelling in space1 it still keeps linked to the senses by a secret and subtle chain2 so that1 without being distracted from its occupations1 it can participate in the peaceful joys of the ,,other4 ,but should this pleasure reach a certain pitch1 or should the soul be struck by some unexpected vision1 it forthwith descends swift as lightning1 and resumes its place4 ,and that is just what happened to me while dusting the picture4 ,whilst the cloth removed the dust1 and brought to light those flaxen curls and the wreaths of roses that crowned them1 my soul1 from the sun1 whither she had transported herself1 felt a slight thrill of pleasure1 and partook sympathetically of the joy of my heart4 ,this joy became less indistinct and more lively1 when1 by a single sweep1 the beautiful forehead of that charming face was revealed4 ,my soul was on the point of leaving the skies in order to enjoy the spectacle4 ,but had she been in the ,elysian ,fields1 had she been engaged in a seraphic concert1 she could not have stayed a single second longer when her companion1 glowing with the work1 seized a proffered sponge1 and passed it at once over the eyebrows and the eyes1 over the nose1 over that mouth1 ah heavens6--my heart beats at the thought--over the chin and neck6 ,it was the work of an instant4 ,the whole face seemed suddenly recalled into existence4 ,my soul precipitated herself like a falling star from the sky4 ,she found the ,,other in a state of ecstasy1 which she herself increased by sharing it4 ,this strange and unexpected position caused all thought of time and space to vanish from my mind4 ,i lived for a moment in the past1 and1 contrary to the order of nature1 ,i grew young again4 ,yes1 before me stands that adored one2 'tis she1 her very self6 ,she smiles on me1 she will speak and own her love4 ,that glance6444 come1 let me press thee to my heart1 ,o1 my loved one1 my other self6 ,partake with me this intoxicating bliss6 ,the moment was short1 but ravishing4 ,cool reason soon reasserted her sway1 and in the twinkling of an eye ,i had grown a whole year older4 ,my heart grew icy cold1 and ,i found myself on a level with the crowd of heedless ones who throng the earth4 ,,xi4 ,rose and ,white4 ,but we must not anticipate events4 ,my hurry to communicate to the reader my system of the soul and animal caused me to abandon the description of my bed earlier than ,i ought to have done4 ,when ,i have completed this description1 ,i will continue my journey where ,i interrupted it in the last chapter4 ,but let me pray you to bear in mind that we left one half of my ego four steps from my bureau1 close to the wall1 and holding the portrait of ,madame de ,hautcastel4 ,in speaking of my bed1 ,i forgot to recommend every man to have1 if possible1 a bed with rose and white furniture4 ,there can be no doubt that colors so far affect us as to make us cheerful or sad1 according to their hues4 ,now1 rose and white are two colors that are consecrated to pleasure4 ,nature in bestowing them upon the rose has given her the crown of ,flora's realm4 ,and when the sky would announce to the world a fine day1 it paints the clouds at sunrise with this charming tint4 ,one day we were with some difficulty climbing a steep pathway4 ,the amiable ,rosalie1 whose agility had given her wings1 was far in front4 ,we could not overtake her4 ,all on a sudden1 having reached the top of a hillock1 she turned toward us to take breath1 and smiled at our slowness4 ,never1 perhaps1 did the two colors whose praise ,i proclaim so triumph4 ,her burning cheeks1 her coral lips1 her alabaster neck1 were thrown into relief by the verdure around1 and entranced us all4 ,we could not but pause and gaze upon her4 ,i will not speak of her blue eyes1 or of the glance she cast upon us1 because this would be going from the subject1 and because ,i dwell upon these memories as little as possible4 ,let it suffice that ,i have given the best illustration conceivable of the superiority of these two colors over all others1 and of their influence upon the happiness of man4 ,here will ,i stop for to-day4 ,of what subject can ,i treat which would not now be insipid8 ,what idea is not effaced by this idea8 ,i do not even know when ,i shall be able to resume my work4 ,if ,i go on with it at all1 and if the reader desire to see its termination1 let him betake himself to the angel who distributes thoughts1 and beg him to cease to mingle with the disconnected thoughts he showers upon me at every moment the image of that hillock4 ,if this precaution is not taken1 my journey will be a failure4 ,,xii4 ,the ,hillock4 ,illustration ,,xiii4 ,a ,halt4 ,my efforts are useless4 ,i must sojourn here awhile1 whether ,i will or not4 ,the 8,halt60 is irresistible4 ,,xiv4 ,joannetti4 ,i remarked that ,i was singularly fond of meditating when influenced by the agreeable warmth of my bed2 and that its agreeable color added not a little to the pleasure ,i experienced4 ,that ,i may be provided with this enjoyment1 my servant is directed to enter my room half an hour before my time for rising4 ,i hear him moving about my room with a light step1 and stealthily managing his preparations4 ,this noise just suffices to convey to me the pleasant knowledge that ,i am slumbering1--a delicate pleasure this1 unknown to most men4 ,you are just awake enough to know you are not entirely so1 and to make a dreamy calculation that the hour for business and worry is still in the sand-glass of time4 ,gradually my man grows noisier2 it is so hard for him to restrain himself1 and he knows too that the fatal hour draws near4 ,he looks at my watch1 and jingles the seals as a warning4 ,but ,i turn a deaf ear to him4 ,there is no imaginable cheat ,i do not put upon the poor fellow to lengthen the blissful moment4 ,i give him a hundred preliminary orders4 ,he knows that these orders1 given somewhat peevishly1 are mere excuses for my staying in bed without seeming to wish to do so4 ,but this he affects not to see through1 and ,i am truly thankful to him4 ,at last1 when ,i have exhausted all my resources1 he advances to the middle of the room1 and with folded arms1 plants himself there in a perfectly immovable position4 ,it must be admitted that it would be impossible to show disapproval of my idleness with greater judgment and address4 ,i never resist this tacit invitation1 but1 stretching out my arms to show ,i understand him1 get up at once4 ,if the reader will reflect upon the behavior of my servant1 he will convince himself that in certain delicate matters of this kind1 simplicity and good sense are much better than the sharpest wit4 ,i dare assert that the most studied discourse on the impropriety of sloth would not make me spring so readily from my bed as the silent reproach of ,monsieur ,joannetti4 ,this ,monsieur ,joannetti is a thoroughly honest fellow1 and at the same time just the man for such a traveller as ,i4 ,he is accustomed to the frequent journeys of my soul1 and never laughs at the inconsistencies of the ,,other4 ,he even directs it occasionally when it is alone1 so that one might say it is then conducted by two souls4 ,when it is dressing1 for instance1 he will warn it by a gesture that it is on the point of putting on its stockings the wrong way1 or its coat before its waistcoat4 ,many a time has my soul been amused at seeing poor ,joannetti running after this foolish creature under the arches of the citadel1 to remind it of a forgotten hat or handkerchief4 ,one day1 ,i must confess1 had it not been for this faithful servant1 who caught it up just at the bottom of the staircase1 the silly creature would have presented itself at court without a sword1 as boldly as if it had been the chief gentleman-usher1 bearing the august rod4 ,,xv4 ,a ,difficulty4 8,come1 ,joannetti10 ,i said1 8hang up this picture40 ,he had helped to clean it1 and had no more notion than the man in the moon what had produced our chapter on the portrait4 ,he it was1 who1 of his own accord1 held out the wet sponge1 and who1 through that seemingly unimportant act1 caused my soul to travel a hundred millions of leagues in a moment of time4 ,instead of restoring it to its place1 he held it to examine it in his turn4 ,a difficulty1 a problem1 gave him an inquisitive air1 which ,i did not fail to observe4 8,well1 and what fault do you find with that portrait80 said ,i4 8,o1 none at all1 sir40 8,but come now1 you have some remark to make1 ,i know40 ,he placed it upright on one of the wings of my bureau1 and then drawing back a little1 8,i wish1 sir10 he said1 8that you would explain how it is that in whatever part of the room one may be1 this portrait always watches you4 ,in the morning1 when ,i am making your bed1 the face turns towards me2 and if ,i move toward the window1 it still looks at me1 and follows me with its eyes as ,i go about40 8,so that1 ,joannetti10 said ,i1 8if my room were full of people1 that beautiful lady would eye every one1 on all sides1 at once40 8,just so1 sir40 8,she would smile on every comer and goer1 just as she would on me80 ,joannetti gave no further answer4 ,i stretched myself in my easy-chair1 and1 hanging down my head1 gave myself up to the most serious meditations4 ,what a ray of light fell upon me6 ,alack1 poor lover6 ,while thou pinest away1 far from thy mistress1 at whose side another perhaps1 has already replaced thee2 whilst thou fixest thy longing eyes on her portrait1 imagining that at least in picture1 thou art the sole being she deigns to regard1--the perfidious image1 as faithless as the original1 bestows its glances on all around1 and smiles on every one alike6 ,and in this behold a moral resemblance between certain portraits and their originals1 which no philosopher1 no painter1 no observer1 had before remarked4 ,i go on from discovery to discovery4 ,illustration3 ,,vessier ,,guillaume ,,xvi4 ,solution4 ,joannetti remained in the attitude ,i have described1 awaiting the explanation he had asked of me4 ,i withdrew my head from the folds of my travelling dress1 into which ,i had thrust it that ,i might meditate more at my ease2 and after a moment's silence1 to enable me to collect my thoughts after the reflections ,i had just made1 ,i said1 turning my arm-chair toward him1-- 8,do you not see that as a picture is a plane surface1 the rays of light proceeding from each point on that surface 44480 ,at that explanation1 ,joannetti stretched his eyes to their very widest1 while he kept his mouth half open4 ,these two movements of the human face express1 according to the famous ,le ,brun1 the highest pitch of astonishment4 ,it was1 without doubt1 my animal1 that had undertaken this dissertation1 while my soul was well aware that ,joannetti knew nothing whatever about plane surfaces and rays of light4 ,the prodigious dilatation of his eyelids caused me to draw back4 ,i ensconced my head in the collar of my travelling coat1 and this so effectively that ,i well-nigh succeeded in altogether hiding it4 ,i determined to dine where ,i was4 ,the morning was far advanced1 and another step in my room would have delayed my dinner until night-fall4 ,i let myself slip to the edge of my chair1 and putting both feet on the mantel-piece1 patiently awaited my meal4 ,this was a most comfortable attitude2 indeed1 it would be difficult to find another possessing so many advantages1 and so well adapted to the inevitable sojourns of a long voyage4 ,at such moments1 ,rose1 my faithful dog1 never fails to come and pull at the skirts of my travelling dress that ,i may take her up4 ,she finds a very convenient ready-made bed at the angle formed by the two parts of my body4 ,a ,v admirably represents my position4 ,rose jumps to her post if ,i do not take her up quickly enough to please her1 and ,i often find her there without knowing how she has come4 ,my hands fall into a position which minister to her well-being1 and this1 either through a sympathy existing between this good-natured creature and myself1 or through the merest chance4 ,but no1 ,i do not believe in that miserable doctrine of chance1--in that unmeaning word6 ,i would rather believe in animal magnetism4 ,there is such reality in the relations which exist between these two animals1 that when out of sheer distraction1 ,i put my two feet on the mantel-piece and have no thought at all about a halt1 dinner-time not being near1 ,rose1 observing this movement1 shows by a slight wag of her tail the pleasure she enjoys4 ,reserve keeps her in her place4 ,the other perceives this and is gratified by it1 though quite unable to reason upon its cause4 ,and thus a mute dialogue is established between them1 a pleasing interchange of sensations which could not be attributed to simple chance4 ,,xvii4 ,rose4 ,do not reproach me for the prolixity with which ,i narrate the details of my journey4 ,this is the wont of travellers4 ,when one sets out for the ascent of ,mont ,blanc1 or to visit the yawning tomb of ,empedocles1 the minutest particulars are carefully described4 ,the number of persons who formed the party1 the number of mules1 the quality of the food1 the excellent appetite of the travellers1--everything1 to the very stumbling of the quadrupeds1 is carefully noted down for the instruction of the sedentary world4 ,upon this principle1 ,i resolved to speak of my dog ,rose1--an amiable creature for whom ,i entertain sincere regard1--and to devote a whole chapter to her4 ,we have lived together for six years1 and there has never been any coolness between us1 and if ever any little disputes have arisen1 the fault has been chiefly on my side1 and ,rose has always made the first advances towards reconciliation4 ,in the evening1 if she has been scolded she withdraws sadly and without a murmur4 ,the next morning at daybreak1 she stands near my bed in a respectful attitude1 and at her master's slightest movement1 at the first sign of his being awake1 she makes her presence known by rapidly tapping my little table with her tail4 ,and why should ,i refuse my affection to this good-natured creature that has never ceased to love me ever since we have lived together8 ,my memory would not enable me to enumerate all the people who have interested themselves in me but to forget me4 ,i have had some few friends1 several lady-loves1 a host of acquaintances2 and now ,i am to all these people as if ,i had never lived2 they have forgotten my very name4 ,and yet what protestations they made1 what offers of assistance6 ,their purse was at my disposal1 and they begged me to depend upon their eternal and entire friendship6 ,poor ,rose1 who has made me no promises1 renders me the greatest service that can be bestowed upon humanity1 for she has always loved her master1 and loves him still4 ,and this is why ,i do not hesitate to say that she shares with my other friends the affection ,i feel towards them4 ,,xviii4 ,reserve4 ,we left ,joannetti standing motionless before me1 in an attitude of astonishment1 awaiting the conclusion of the sublime explanation ,i had begun4 ,when he saw me bury my head in my dressing-gown1 and thus end my dissertation1 he did not doubt for a moment that ,i had stopped short for lack of resources1 and that he had fairly overcome me by the knotty question he had plied me with4 ,notwithstanding the superiority he had hereby gained over me1 he felt no movement of pride1 and did not seek to profit by his advantage4 ,after a moment's silence1 he took the picture1 put it back in its place1 and withdrew softly on tip-toe4 ,he felt that his presence was a sort of humiliation to me1 and his delicacy of feeling led him thus to retire unobserved4 ,his behavior on this occasion interested me greatly1 and gave him a higher place than ever in my affections4 ,and he will have too1 without doubt1 a place in the heart of my readers4 ,if there be one among them who will refuse it him after reading the next chapter1 such a one must surely have a heart of stone4 ,,xix4 ,a ,tear4 8,good ,heavens60 said ,i to him one day1 8three times have ,i told you to buy me a brush4 ,what a head the fellow has60 ,he answered not a word2 nor had he the evening before made any reply to a like expostulation4 8,this is very odd10 ,i thought to myself1 8he is generally so very particular40 8,well1 go and get a duster to wipe my shoes with10 ,i said angrily4 ,while he was on his way1 ,i regretted that ,i had spoken so sharply1 and my anger entirely subsided when ,i saw how carefully he tried to remove the dust from my shoes without touching my stockings4 8,what10 ,i said to myself1 8are there then men who brush others' shoes for money60 ,this word money came upon me like a flash of lightning4 ,i suddenly remembered that for a long time my servant had not had any money from me4 8,joannetti10 said ,i1 drawing away my foot1 8have you any change80 ,a smile of justification lit up his face at the question4 8,no1 sir2 for the last week ,i have not possessed a penny4 ,i have spent all ,i had for your little purchases40 8,and the brush8 ,i suppose that is why 44480 ,he still smiled4 ,now1 he might very well have said1 8,no1 sir2 ,i am not the empty-headed ass you would make out your faithful servant to be4 ,pay me the one pound two shillings and sixpence halfpenny you owe me1 and then ,i'll buy you your brush40 ,but no1 he bore this ill treatment rather than cause his master to blush at his unjust anger4 ,and may ,heaven bless him6 ,philosophers1 ,christians6 have you read this8 8,come1 ,joannetti10 said ,i1 8buy me the brush40 8,but1 sir1 will you go like that1 with one shoe clean1 and the other dirty80 8,go1 go60 ,i replied1 8never mind about the dust1 never mind that40 ,he went out4 ,i took the duster1 and daintily wiped my left shoe1 on which a tear of repentance had fallen4 ,,xx4 ,albert and ,charlotte4 ,the walls of my room are hung with engravings and pictures1 which adorn it greatly4 ,i should much like to submit them to the reader's inspection1 that they might amuse him along the road we have to traverse before we reach my bureau4 ,but it is as impossible to describe a picture well1 as to paint one from a description4 ,what an emotion he would feel in contemplating the first drawing that presents itself6 ,he would see the unhappy ,charlotte1#b slowly1 and with a trembling hand1 wiping ,albert's pistols4 ,dark forebodings1 and all the agony of hopeless1 inconsolable love1 are imprinted on her features1 while the cold-hearted ,albert1 surrounded by bags of law papers and various old documents1 turns with an air of indifference towards his friend to bid him good-by4 ,many a time have ,i been tempted to break the glass that covers this engraving1 that ,i might tear ,albert away from the table1 rend him to pieces1 and trample him under foot4 ,but this would not do away with the ,alberts4 ,there will always be sadly too many of them in the world4 ,what sensitive man is there who has not such a one near him1 who receives the overflowings of his soul1 the gentle emotions of his heart1 and the flights of his imagination just as the rock receives the waves of the sea8 ,happy is he who finds a friend whose heart and mind harmonize with his own2 a friend who adheres to him by likeness of tastes1 feeling1 and knowledge2 a friend who is not the prey of ambition or greediness1 who prefers the shade of a tree to the pomp of a court6 ,happy is he who has a friend6 ,illustration ,,xxi4 ,a ,friend4 ,i had a friend4 ,death took him from me4 ,he was snatched away at the beginning of his career1 at the moment when his friendship had become a pressing need to my heart4 ,we supported one another in the hard toil of war4 ,we had but one pipe between us4 ,we drank out of the same cup4 ,we slept beneath the same tent4 ,and1 amid our sad trials1 the spot where we lived together became to us a new father-land4 ,i had seen him exposed to all the perils of a disastrous war4 ,death seemed to spare us to each other4 ,his deadly missives were exhausted around my friend a thousand times over without reaching him2 but this was but to make his loss more painful to me4 ,the tumult of war1 and the enthusiasm which possesses the soul at the sight of danger might have prevented his sighs from piercing my heart1 while his death would have been useful to his country1 and damaging to the enemy4 ,had he died thus1 ,i should have mourned him less4 ,but to lose him amid the joys of our winter-quarters2 to see him die at the moment when he seemed full of health1 and when our intimacy was rendered closer by rest and tranquillity1--ah1 this was a blow from which ,i can never recover6 ,but his memory lives in my heart1 and there alone4 ,he is forgotten by those who surrounded him1 and who have replaced him4 ,and this makes his loss the more sad to me4 ,nature1 in like manner indifferent to the fate of individuals1 dons her green spring robe1 and decks herself in all her beauty near the cemetery where he rests4 ,the trees cover themselves with foliage1 and intertwine their branches2 the birds warble under the leafy sprays2 the insects hum among the blossoms3 everything breathes joy in this abode of death4 ,and in the evening1 when the moon shines in the sky1 and ,i am meditating in this sad place1 ,i hear the grasshopper1 hidden in the grass that covers the silent grave of my friend1 merrily pursuing his unwearied song4 ,the unobserved destruction of human beings1 as well as all their misfortunes1 are counted for nothing in the grand total of events4 ,the death of an affectionate man who breathes his last surrounded by his afflicted friends1 and that of a butterfly killed in a flower's cup by the chill air of morning1 are but two similar epochs in the course of nature4 ,man is but a phantom1 a shadow1 a mere vapor that melts into the air4 ,but day-break begins to whiten the sky4 ,the gloomy thoughts that troubled me vanish with the darkness1 and hope awakens again in my heart4 ,no6 ,he who thus suffuses the east with light1 has not made it to shine upon my eyes only to plunge me into the night of annihilation4 ,he who has spread out that vast horizon1 who raised those lofty mountains whose icy tops the sun is even now gilding1 is also ,he who made my heart to beat1 and my mind to think4 ,no6 ,my friend is not annihilated4 ,whatever may be the barrier that separates us1 ,i shall see him again4 ,my hopes are based on no mere syllogism4 ,the flight of an insect suffices to persuade me4 ,and often the prospect of the surrounding country1 the perfume of the air1 and an indescribable charm which is spread around me1 so raise my thoughts1 that an invincible proof of immortality forces itself upon my soul1 and fills it to the full4 ,,xxii4 ,jenny4 ,the chapter ,i have just written had often presented itself to my pen1 but ,i had as often rejected it4 ,i had promised myself that ,i would only allow the cheerful phase of my soul to show itself in this book4 ,but this project1 like many others1 ,i was forced to abandon4 ,i hope the sensitive reader will pardon me for having asked his tears2 and if any one thinks ,i should have omitted this chapter1 he can tear it from his copy1 or even throw the whole book on the fire4 ,enough for me1 dear ,jenny1 that thy heart approves it1 thou best and best-beloved of women1 best and best-beloved of sisters4 ,to thee ,i dedicate my work4 ,if it please thee1 it will please all gentle and delicate hearts4 ,and if thou wilt pardon the follies into which1 albeit against my will1 ,i sometimes fall1 ,i will brave all the critics of the universe4 ,,xxiii4 ,the ,picture ,gallery4 ,one word only upon our next engraving4 ,it represents the family of the unfortunate ,ugolino1 dying of hunger4 ,around him are his sons4 ,one of them lies motionless at his feet4 ,the rest stretch their enfeebled arms towards him1 asking for bread2 while the wretched father1 leaning against a pillar of his prison1 his eyes fixed and haggard1 his countenance immovable1 dies a double death1 and suffers all that human nature can endure4 ,and there is the brave ,chevalier d',assas1 dying1 by an effort of courage and heroism unknown in our days1 under a hundred bayonets4 ,and thou who weepest under the palm-trees1 poor negro woman6 thou1 whom some barbarous fellow has betrayed and deserted1 nay1 worse1 whom he has had the brutality to sell as a vile slave1 notwithstanding thy love and devotion1 notwithstanding the pledge of affection thou hast borne at thy breast1--,i will not pass before thine image without rendering to thee the homage due to thy tenderness and thy sorrows4 ,let us pause a moment before the other picture4 ,it is a young shepherdess tending her flock alone on the heights of the ,alps4 ,she sits on an old willow trunk1 bleached by many winters4 ,her feet are covered by the broad leaves of a tuft of cacalia1 whose lilac blossoms bloom above her head4 ,lavender1 wild thyme1 the anemone1 centaury1 and flowers which are cultivated with care in our hot-houses and gardens1 and which grow in all their native beauty on the ,alps1 form the gay carpet on which her sheep wander4 ,lovely shepherdess6 tell me where is the lovely spot thou callest thy home4 ,from what far-off sheepfold didst thou set out at daybreak this morning8 ,could ,i not go thither and live with thee8 ,but alas1 the sweet tranquillity thou enjoyest will soon vanish6 ,the demon of war1 not content with desolating cities1 will ere long carry anxiety and alarm to thy solitary retreat4 ,even now ,i see the soldiers advancing3 they climb height after height1 as they march upward towards the clouds4 ,the cannons' roar is heard high above the thunder-clap4 ,fly1 ,o shepherdess6 ,urge on thy flock6 ,hide thee in the farthest caves1 for no longer is repose to be found on this sad earth6 ,,xxiv4 ,painting and ,music4 ,i do not know how it is1 but of late my chapters have always ended in a mournful strain4 ,in vain do ,i begin by fixing my eyes on some agreeable object2 in vain do ,i embark when all is calm3 a sudden gale soon drifts me away4 ,to put an end to an agitation which deprives me of the mastery of my ideas1 and to quiet the beating of a heart too much disturbed by so many touching images1 ,i see no remedy but a dissertation4 ,yes1 thus will ,i steel my heart4 ,and the dissertation shall be about painting1 for ,i cannot at this moment expatiate upon any other subject4 ,i cannot altogether descend from the point ,i just now reached4 ,besides1 painting is to me what ,uncle ,toby's hobby-horse was to him4#c ,i would say a few words1 by the way1 upon the question of preminence between the charming arts of painting and music4 ,i would cast my grain into the balance1 were it but a grain of sand1 a mere atom4 ,it is urged in favor of the painter1 that he leaves his works behind him2 that his pictures outlive him1 and immortalize his memory4 ,in reply to this we are reminded that musical composers also leave us their operas and oratorios4 ,but music is subject to fashion1 and painting is not4 ,the musical passages that deeply affected our forefathers seem simply ridiculous to the amateurs of our own day2 and they are placed in absurd farces to furnish laughter for the nephews of those whom they once made to weep4 ,raphael's pictures will enchant our descendants as greatly as they did our forefathers4 ,this is my grain of sand4 ,,xxv4 ,an ,objection4 8,but what10 said ,madame de ,hautcastel to me one day1--8what if the music of ,cherubini or ,cimarosa differs from that of their predecessors8 ,what care ,i if the music of the past make me laugh1 so long as that of the present day touch me by its charms8 ,is it at all essential to my happiness that my pleasures should resemble those of my great-grandmother8 ,why talk to me of painting1 an art which is only enjoyed by a very small class of persons1 while music enchants every living creature80 ,i hardly know at this moment how one could reply to this observation1 which ,i did not foresee when ,i began my chapter4 ,had ,i foreseen it1 perhaps ,i should not have undertaken that dissertation4 ,and pray do not imagine that you discover in this objection the artifice of a musician1 for upon my honor ,i am none1 ,heaven be my witness1 and all those who have heard me play the violin6 ,but1 even supposing the merits of the two arts to be equal1 we must not be too hasty in concluding that the merits of the disciples of ,painting and ,music are therefore balanced4 ,we see children play the harpsichord as if they were maestri1 but no one has ever been a good painter at twelve years old4 ,painting1 besides taste and feeling1 requires an amount of thoughtfulness that musicians can dispense with4 ,any day may you hear men who are well nigh destitute of head and heart1 bring out from a violin or harp the most ravishing sounds4 ,the human ,,animal may be taught to play the harpsichord1 and when it has learned of a good master1 the soul can travel at her ease while sounds with which she does not concern herself are mechanically produced by the fingers4 ,but the simplest thing in the world cannot be painted without the aid of all the faculties of the soul4 ,if1 however1 any one should take it into his head to ply me with a distinction between the composition and the performance of music1 ,i confess that he would give me some little difficulty4 ,ah1 well6 were all writers of essays quite candid they would all conclude as ,i am doing4 ,when one enters upon the examination of a question1 a dogmatic tone is generally assumed1 because there has been a secret decision beforehand1 just as ,i1 notwithstanding my hypocritical impartiality1 had decided in favor of painting4 ,but discussion awakens objections1 and everything ends with doubt4 ,,xxvi4 ,raphael4 ,now that ,i am more tranquil1 ,i will endeavor to speak calmly of the two portraits that follow the picture of the shepherdess of the ,alps4 ,raphael6 ,who but thyself could paint thy portrait2 who but thyself would have dared attempt it8 ,thy open countenance1 beaming with feeling and intellect1 proclaims thy character and thy genius4 ,to gratify thy shade1 ,i have placed beside thee the portrait of thy mistress1 whom the men of all generations will hold answerable for the loss of the sublime works of which art has been deprived by thy premature death4 ,when ,i examine the portrait of ,raphael1 ,i feel myself penetrated by an almost religious respect for that great man1 who1 in the flower of his age1 excelled the ancients1 and whose pictures are at once the admiration and the despair of modern artists4 ,my soul1 in admiring it1 is moved with indignation against that ,italian who preferred her love to her lover1 and who extinguished at her bosom that heavenly flame1 that divine genius4 ,unhappy one6 ,knewest thou not that ,raphael had announced a picture superior even to that of the ,transfiguration8 ,didst thou not know that thine arms encircled the favorite of nature1 the father of enthusiasm1 a sublime genius 444 a divinity8 ,while my soul makes these observations1 her companion1 whose eyes are attentively fixed upon the lovely face of that fatal beauty1 feels quite ready to forgive her the death of ,raphael4 ,in vain my soul upbraids this extravagant weakness2 she is not listened to at all4 ,on such occasions a strange dialogue arises between the two1 which terminates too often in favor of the bad principles1 and of which ,i reserve a sample for another chapter4 ,and if1 by the way1 my soul had not at that moment abruptly closed the inspection of the gallery1 if she had given the ,,other time to contemplate the rounded and graceful features of the beautiful ,roman lady1 my intellect would have miserably lost its supremacy4 ,and if1 at that critical moment ,i had suddenly obtained the favor bestowed upon the fortunate ,pygmalion1 without having the least spark of the genius which makes me pardon ,raphael his errors1 it is just possible that ,i should have succumbed as he did4 ,,xxvii4 ,a ,perfect ,picture4 ,my engravings1 and the paintings of which ,i have spoken1 fade away into nothing at the first glance bestowed upon the next picture4 ,the immortal works of ,raphael and ,correggio1 and of the whole ,italian school1 are not to be compared to it4 ,hence it is that when ,i accord to an amateur the pleasure of travelling with me1 ,i always keep this until the last as a special luxury1 and ever since ,i first exhibited this sublime picture to connoisseurs and to ignorant1 to men of the world1 to artists1 to women1 to children1 to animals even1 ,i have always found the spectators1 whoever they might be1 show1 each in his own way1 signs of pleasure and surprise1 so admirably is nature rendered therein4 ,and what picture could be presented to you1 gentlemen2 what spectacle1 ladies1 could be placed before your eyes more certain of gaining your approval than the faithful portraiture of yourselves8 ,the picture of which ,i speak is a mirror1 and no one has as yet ventured to criticise it4 ,it is to all who look on it a perfect picture1 in depreciation of which not a word can be said4 ,you will at once admit that it should be regarded as one of the wonders of the world4 ,i will pass over in silence the pleasure felt by the natural philosopher in meditating upon the strange phenomena presented by light as it reproduces upon that polished surface all the objects of nature4 ,a mirror offers to the sedentary traveller a thousand interesting reflections1 a thousand observations which render it at once a useful and precious article4 ,ye whom ,love has held or still holds under his sway1 learn that it is before a mirror that he sharpens his darts1 and contemplates his cruelties4 ,there it is that he plans his manuvres1 studies his tactics1 and prepares himself for the war he wishes to declare4 ,there he practices his killing glances and little affectations1 and sly poutings1 just as a player practices1 with himself for spectator1 before appearing in public4 ,a mirror1 being always impartial and true1 brings before the eyes of the beholder the roses of youth and the wrinkles of age1 without calumny and without flattery4 ,it alone among the councilors of the great1 invariably tells them the truth4 ,it was this recommendation that made me desire the invention of a moral mirror1 in which all men might see themselves1 with their virtues and their vices4 ,i even thought of offering a prize to some academy for this discovery1 when riper reflection proved to me that such an invention would be useless4 ,alas6 how rare it is for ugliness to recognize itself and break the mirror6 ,in vain are looking-glasses multiplied around us which reflect light and truth with geometrical exactness4 ,as soon as the rays reach our vision and paint us as we are1 self-love slips its deceitful prism between us and our image1 and presents a divinity to us4 ,and of all the prisms that have existed since the first that came from the hands of the immortal ,newton1 none has possessed so powerful a refractive force1 or produced such pleasing and lively colors1 as the prism of self-love4 ,now1 seeing that ordinary looking-glasses record the truth in vain1 and that they cannot make men see their own imperfections1 every one being satisfied with his face1 what would a moral mirror avail8 ,few people would look at it1 and no one would recognize himself4 ,none save philosophers would spend their time in examining themselves1--,i even have my doubts about the philosophers4 ,taking the mirror as we find it1 ,i hope no one will blame me for ranking it above all the pictures of the ,italian school4 ,ladies1 whose taste cannot be faulty1 and whose opinion should decide the question1 generally upon entering a room let their first glance fall upon this picture4 ,a thousand times have ,i seen ladies1 aye1 and gallants1 too1 forget at a ball their lovers and their mistresses1 the dancing1 and all the pleasures of the fte1 to contemplate with evident complaisance this enchanting picture1 and honoring it even1 from time to time1 in the midst of the liveliest quadrille1 with a look4 ,who then can dispute the rank that ,i accord to it among the masterpieces of the art of ,apelles8 ,,xxviii4 ,the ,upset ,carriage4 ,i had at last nearly reached my bureau4 ,so close was ,i1 that had ,i stretched out my arm ,i could have touched the corner nearest to me4 ,but at this very moment ,i was on the verge of seeing the fruit of all my labors destroyed1 and of losing my life4 ,i should pass over in silence the accident that happened to me1 for fear of discouraging other travellers1 were it not that it is so difficult to upset such a post-chaise as ,i employ1 that it must be allowed that one must be uncommonly unlucky--as unlucky1 indeed1 as it is my lot to be--to be exposed to a like danger4 ,there ,i was1 stretched at full length upon the ground1 completely upset1 and it was done so quickly1 so unexpectedly1 that ,i should have been almost tempted to question the cause of my abject position1 had not a singing in my ears and a sharp pain in my left shoulder too plainly demonstrated it4 ,this was again the ,,other1 who had played a trick upon me4 ,startled by the voice of a poor man who suddenly asked alms at my door1 and by the voice of ,rose1 my other half suddenly turned the arm-chair sharply round1 before my soul had time to warn it that a piece of brick1 which served as a drag1 was gone4 ,the jerk was so violent that my post-chaise was quite thrown from its centre of gravity1 and turned over upon me4 ,this was1 ,i must own1 one of the occasions upon which ,i had most to complain of my soul4 ,for instead of being vexed at herself for having been absent1 and scolding her companion for its hurry1 she so far forgot herself as to give way to the most animal resentment1 and to insult the poor fellow cruelly4 8,idle rascal10 she said1 8go and work40 7,an execrable apostrophe this1 the invention of miserly1 heartless ,mammon47 8,sir10 replied the man1 hoping to soften my heart1 8,i come from ,chambry40 8,so much the worse for you40 8,i am ,james4 ,you saw me when you were in the country4 ,i used to drive the sheep into the fields40 8,and what do you do here80 ,my soul began to regret the harshness of my first words2 ,i almost think she regretted them a moment before they were uttered4 ,in like manner1 when one meets in the road a rut or puddle1 one sees it1 but has not time to avoid it4 ,rose finished the work of bringing me to good sense and repentance4 ,she had recognized ,jem1 who had often shared his crust with her1 and she testified by her caresses1 her remembrance and gratitude4 ,meanwhile1 ,joannetti1 who had gathered together what was left of my dinner1 his own share1 gave it at once to ,jem4 ,poor ,joannetti6 ,thus it is that in my journey ,i get lessons of philosophy and humanity from my servant and my dog4 ,,xxix4 ,misfortune4 ,before proceeding farther1 ,i wish to remove a suspicion which may have crossed the minds of my readers4 ,i would not for all the world be suspected of having undertaken this journey just because ,i did not know how to spend my time1 and was in a manner compelled thereto by circumstances4 ,i here affirm1 and swear by all that is dear to me1 that ,i projected it long before the event took place which deprived me of my liberty for forty-two days4 ,this forced retirement only served as an opportunity for setting out sooner than ,i had intended4 ,this gratuitous protestation will1 ,i know1 appear suspicious in the eyes of some4 ,but those who are so ready to suspect are just the persons who will not read this book4 ,they have enough to do at home and at their friends'1 plenty of other business to attend to4 ,and good1 honest folk will believe me4 ,still1 ,i freely admit that ,i should have preferred another season for my journey1 and that ,i should have chosen for its execution ,lent rather than the ,carnival4 ,the philosophical reflections1 however1 that have come to me from above have greatly aided me in supporting the loss of those pleasures which ,turin offers at this noisy and exciting time4 ,it is certain1 ,i have thought to myself1 that the walls of my chamber are not so magnificently decorated as those of a ballroom4 ,the silence of my cottage is far less agreeable than the pleasing sounds of music and dancing4 ,but among the brilliant personages one meets in those festive scenes1 there are certainly some who are more sick at heart than ,i am4 ,and why should ,i picture to myself those who are more happily circumstanced than it is my lot to be1 while the world swarms with those who are worse off8 ,instead of transporting myself in fancy to that sumptuous dancing-hall1 where so many beauties are eclipsed by the young ,eugnie1 ,i need only pause a moment in one of the streets1 that lead thither1 if ,i would learn how happy is my fate4 ,for1 under the porticos of those magnificent apartments1 lie a crowd of wretched people1 half-naked1 and ready to die from cold and misery4 ,what a spectacle is here6 ,would that this page of my book were known throughout the universe6 ,would that every one knew that in this opulent city a host of wretched beings sleep1 without covering1 in the coldest winter nights1 and with no pillow but the corner-stone of a street1 or the steps of a palace4 ,here1 again1 is a group of children1 crouching together for protection from the deadly cold2 and here a trembling woman1 who has no voice left to complain with4 ,the passers-by come and go without being touched by a spectacle with which they are so familiar4 ,the noise of carriages1 the shouts of intemperance1 the ravishing sounds of music1 mingle not unfrequently with the wails of those unhappy creatures1 and fill the ear with doleful discord4 ,,xxx4 ,charity4 ,were any one to pass a hasty judgment upon a city1 taking my last chapter as a criterion1 he would err greatly4 ,i have spoken of the poor we meet with1 of their pitiful lamentations1 and of the indifference with which many regard them4 ,but ,i have said nothing of the multitude of charitable persons who sleep while others seek amusement1 and who rise at dawn1 unobserved and unostentatiously1 to succor the unfortunate4 ,this aspect of city life must not be passed by in silence4 ,i will write it on the reverse of the page ,i was anxious everybody should read4 ,after having divided their good things with their brethren1 after having poured balm into hearts chafed by sorrow1 you may see them enter the churches1 while wearied vice sleeps upon eider-down1 to offer up their prayers to ,god1 and to thank ,him for his mercies4 ,the light of a solitary lamp still struggles in the sanctuary with the daylight2 but they are already prostrate before the altar4 ,and the ,almighty1 angered by the hard-hearted selfishness of men1 witholds his threatening hand4 ,,xxxi4 ,inventory4 ,i could not help saying a word in my journey about those poor creatures1 for the thought of them has often come across me on my way1 and turned the current of my reflections4 ,sometimes1 struck with the difference between their case and my own1 ,i have suddenly stopped my travelling-carriage1 and thought my chamber extravagantly embellished6 ,what superfluous luxury6 ,six chairs1 two tables1 a bureau1 and a looking-glass6 ,what vain display6 ,my bed above all things1 my rose and white bed1 with its two mattresses1 seemed to rival the magnificence and effeminacy of ,asiatic monarchs4 ,these meditations made me indifferent to the pleasures that had been forbidden me4 ,and1 as ,i went on from one reflection to another1 my fit of philosophy became so serious that ,i could have seen a ball going on in the next room1 and heard the sound of violins and flutes without stirring4 ,i could have heard ,marchesini's melodious voice1 that voice which has so often transported me1 yes1 ,i could have listened to it without being moved4 ,nay1 more1 ,i could have gazed upon the most beauteous woman in ,turin1 upon ,eugnie herself1 adorned from head to foot by the hands of ,mademoiselle ,rapoux1#d without emotion4 ,but1 of this last1 ,i must confess myself not quite sure4 ,,xxxii4 ,misanthropy4 ,but1 gentlemen1 allow me to ask a question4 ,do you enjoy balls and plays as much as you used to do8 ,as for me1 ,i avow that for some time past crowded assemblies have inspired me with a kind of terror4 ,when in their midst1 ,i am assailed by an ominous dream4 ,in vain ,i try to shake it off2 like the dream of ,athalie1 it constantly returns4 ,perhaps this is because the soul1 overwhelmed at the present moment by dark fancies and painful pictures1 sees nothing but sadness around it1 just as a disordered stomach turns the most wholesome food into poison4 ,however this may be1 my dream is as follows4 ,when ,i am at one of these ftes1 among a crowd of kind1 good-natured men1 who dance and sing1 who weep at tragedies1 and are full of frankness and cordiality1 ,i say to myself3-- 8,if suddenly a white bear1 a philosopher1 a tiger1 or some other animal of this kind were to enter1 and ascending to the orchestra1 were to shout out furiously3 #8,wretched beings6 ,listen to the truth that comes from my lips6 ,you are oppressed6 ,you are the slaves of tyrants6 ,you are wretched and heart-sick6 ,awake from your lethargy6 8#8,musicians1 break your instruments about your heads1 and let each one of you arm himself with a poniard4 ,think no more about holidays and rejoicings4 ,climb into the boxes1 and stab their occupants1 one and all4 ,and let the women steep their timid hands in blood4 8#8,quit this room1 for you are free6 ,tear your king from his throne1 and your ,god from his sanctuary4' 8,well1 and how many of these charming men will obey this tiger's voice4 ,how many of them thought1 perhaps1 of such deeds before they entered8 ,who can tell8 ,was there no dancing in ,paris five years ago80 ,joannetti6 shut the door and windows6 ,i do not wish to see the light6 ,let no one enter my room4 ,put my sword within reach4 ,go out yourself1 and keep away from me4 ,,xxxiii4 ,consolation4 ,no1 no6 ,stay1 ,joannetti1 my good fellow6 ,and you too1 ,rose1 you who guess what are my sorrows1 and soften them by your caresses1 come6 ,v forms the resting-place4 ,,xxxiv4 ,correspondence4 ,the upset of my post-chaise has rendered the reader the service of shortening my journey by a good dozen chapters1 for1 upon getting up1 ,i found myself close to my bureau1 and saw that ,i had no time left for any observations upon a number of engravings and pictures which had yet to be surveyed1 and which might have lengthened my excursions into the realm of painting4 ,leaving to the right the portraits of ,raphael and his mistress1 the ,chevalier d',assas and the ,shepherdess of the ,alps1 and taking the left1 the side on which the window is situated1 my bureau comes into view4 ,it is the first and the most prominent object the traveller's eyes light upon1 taking the route ,i have indicated4 ,it is surmounted by a few shelves that serve as a book-case1 and the whole is terminated by a bust which completes the pyramid1 and contributes more than any other object to the adornment of this region4 ,upon opening the first drawer to the left1 we find an inkstand1 paper of all kinds1 pens ready mended1 and sealing-wax2 all which set the most indolent person longing to write4 ,i am sure1 dear ,jenny1 that if you chanced to open this drawer1 you would reply to the letter ,i wrote you a year ago4 ,in the opposite drawer lies a confused heap of materials for a touching history of the prisoner of ,pignerol1#e which1 my dear friends1 you will ere long read4 ,between these two drawers is a recess into which ,i throw whatever letters ,i receive4 ,all that have reached me during the last ten years are there4 ,the oldest of them are arranged according to date in several packets2 the new ones lie pell-mell4 ,besides these1 ,i have several dating from my early boyhood4 ,how great a pleasure it is to behold again through the medium of these letters the interesting scenes of our early years1 to be once again transported into those happy days that we shall see no more6 ,how full is my heart1 and how deeply tinged with sadness is its joy1 as my eyes wander over those words traced by one who is gone forever6 ,that handwriting is his1 and it was his heart that guided his hand4 ,it was to me that he addressed this letter1 and this letter is all that is left of him6 ,when ,i put my hand into this recess1 ,i seldom leave the spot for the whole day4 ,in like manner1 a traveller will pass rapidly through whole provinces of ,italy1 making a few hurried and trivial observations on the way1 and upon reaching ,rome will take up his abode there for months4 ,this is the richest vein in the mine ,i am exploring4 ,how changed ,i find my ideas and sentiments1 and how altered do my friends appear when ,i examine them as they were in days gone by1 and as they are now6 ,in these mirrors of the past ,i see them in mortal agitation about plans which no longer disturb them4 ,here ,i find an event announced which we evidently looked upon as a great misfortune2 but the end of the letter is wanting1 and the circumstance is so entirely forgotten that ,i cannot now make out what the matter was which so concerned us4 ,we were possessed by a thousand prejudices4 ,we knew nothing of the world1 and of men4 ,but then1 how warm was our intercourse6 ,how intimate our friendship6 ,how unbounded our confidence6 ,in our ignorance there was bliss4 ,but now1--ah6 all is now changed4 ,we have been compelled1 as others1 to read the human heart2 and truth1 falling like a bomb into the midst of us1 has forever destroyed the enchanted palace of illusion4 ,illustration ,,xxxv4 ,the ,withered ,rose4 ,if the subject were worth the trouble1 ,i could readily write a chapter upon that dry rose4 ,it is a flower of last year's carnival4 ,i gathered it myself in the ,valentino4#f ,and in the evening1 an hour before the ball was to begin1 ,i bore it1 full of hope1 and agreeably excited1 to ,madame ,hautcastel1 for her acceptance4 ,she took it1 and without looking at it or me1 placed it upon her toilette-table4 ,and how could she have given me any of her attention8 ,she was engaged in looking at herself4 ,there she stood before a large mirror2 her hair was ornamented for a fte1 and the decorations of her dress were undergoing their final arrangement4 ,she was so fully occupied1 her attention was so totally absorbed by the ribbons1 gauzes1 and all sorts of finery that lay in heaps before her1 that ,i did not get a look or any sign of recognition4 ,there was nothing for me but resignation4 ,i held out humbly in my hand a number of pins arranged in order4 ,but her pincushion being more within reach1 she took them from her pincushion1 and when ,i brought my hand nearer1 she took them from my hand1 quite indifferently1 and in taking them up she would feel about for them with the tips of her fingers1 without taking her eyes from the glass1 lest she should lose sight of herself4 ,for some time ,i held behind her a second mirror that she might judge the better how her dress became her1 and as her face reflected itself from one glass to another1 ,i saw a prospective of coquettes1 no one of whom paid me the least attention4 ,in a word1 ,i must confess that my rose and ,i cut a very poor figure4 ,at last ,i lost all patience1 and unable longer to control the vexation that preyed upon me1 ,i put down the looking-glass ,i had been holding1 and went out angrily without taking leave4 8,o6 you are going80 she said1 turning so as to see her figure in profile4 ,i made no answer1 but ,i listened some time at the door to see what effect my abrupt departure would have4 8,do you not see10 she said to her maid1 after a moment's silence1 8that this caraco1 particularly the lower part1 is much too large at the waist1 and will want pinning80 ,why and wherefore that rose is upon my shelf1 ,i shall certainly not explain1 for1 as ,i said before1 a withered rose does not deserve a chapter4 ,and pray observe1 ladies1 that ,i make no reflection upon the adventure with the rose4 ,i do not say whether ,madame de ,hautcastel did well or otherwise in preferring her dress to me1 or whether ,i had any right to a better reception4 ,i take special care to deduce therefrom no general conclusions about the reality1 the strength1 and the duration of the affection of ladies for their friends4 ,i am content to cast this chapter 7since it is one7 into the world with the rest of my journey1 without addressing it to any one1 and without recommending it to any one4 ,i will only add1 gentlemen1 a word of counsel4 ,impress well upon your minds this fact1 that your mistress is no longer yours on the day of a ball4 ,as soon as dressing begins1 a lover is no more thought of than a husband would be2 and the ball takes the place of a lover4 ,every one knows how little a husband gains by enforcing his love4 ,take your trouble1 then1 patiently1 cheerfully4 ,and1 my dear sir1 do not deceive yourself2 if a lady welcome you at a ball1 it is not as a lover that you are received1 for you are a husband--but as a part of the ball2 and you are therefore but a fraction of her new conquest4 ,you are the decimal of a lover4 ,or1 it may be1 you dance well1 and so give clat to her graces4 ,after all1 perhaps1 the most flattering way in which you can regard her kind welcome is to consider that she hopes by treating as her cavalier a man of parts like yourself1 to excite the jealousy of her companions4 ,were it not for that she would not notice you at all4 ,it amounts then to this4 ,you must resign yourself to your fate1 and wait until the husband's rle is played4 ,i know those who would be glad to get off at so cheap a rate4 ,,xxxvi4 ,the ,library4 ,i promised to give a dialogue between my soul and the ,,other4 ,but there are some chapters which elude me1 as it were1 or rather1 there are others which flow from my pen nolens volens1 and derange my plans4 ,among these is one about my library2 and ,i will make it as short as ,i can4 ,our forty-two days will soon be ended2 and even were it not so1 a similar period would not suffice to complete the description of the rich country in which ,i travel so pleasantly4 ,my library1 then1 is composed of novels1 if ,i must make the confession2 of novels and a few choice poets4 ,as if ,i had not troubles enough of my own1 ,i share those of a thousand imaginary personages1 and ,i feel them as acutely as my own4 ,how many tears have ,i shed for that poor ,clarissa1#g and for ,charlotte's#h lover6 ,but if ,i go out of my way in search of unreal afflictions1 ,i find in return1 such virtue1 kindness1 and disinterestedness in this imaginary world as ,i have never yet found united in the real world around me4 ,i meet with a woman after my heart's desire1 free from whim1 lightness1 and affectation4 ,i say nothing about beauty2 this ,i can leave to my imagination1 and picture her faultlessly beautiful4 ,and then1 closing the book1 which no longer keeps pace with my ideas1 ,i take the fair one by the hand1 and we travel together over a country a thousand times more delightful than ,eden itself4 ,what painter could represent the fairy land in which ,i have placed the goddess of my heart8 ,what poet could ever describe the lively and manifold sensations ,i experience in those enchanted regions8 ,how often have ,i cursed that ,cleveland1#i who is always embarking upon new troubles which he might very well avoid6 ,i cannot endure that book with its long list of calamities4 ,but if ,i open it by way of distraction1 ,i cannot help devouring it to the end4 ,for how could ,i leave that poor man among the ,abaquis8 ,what would become of him in the hands of those savages8 ,still less dare ,i leave him in his attempt to escape from captivity4 ,indeed1 ,i so enter into his sorrows1 ,i am so interested in him and in his unfortunate family1 that the sudden appearance of the ferocious ,ruintons makes my hair stand on end4 ,when ,i read that passage a cold perspiration covers me1 and my fright is as lively and real as if ,i was going to be roasted and eaten by the monsters myself4 ,when ,i have had enough of tears and love1 ,i turn to some poet1 and set out again for a new world4 ,,xxxvii4 ,another ,world4 ,from the ,argonautic expedition to the ,assembly of ,notables2 from the bottom of the nethermost pit to the furthest fixed star beyond the ,milky ,way2 to the confines of the ,universe2 to the gates of chaos2 thus far extends the vast field over the length and breadth of which ,i leisurely roam4 ,i lack nor time nor space4 ,thither1 conducted by ,homer1 by ,milton1 by ,virgil1 by ,ossian1 ,i transport my existence4 ,all the events that have taken place between these two epochs2 all the countries1 all the worlds1 all the beings that have existed between these two boundaries1--all are mine1 all as lawfully belong to me as the ships that entered the ,pirus belonged to a certain ,athenian4 ,above all the rest do ,i love the poets who carry me back to the remotest antiquity4 ,the death of the ambitious ,agamemnon1 the madness of ,orestes1 and the tragical history of the heaven-persecuted family of the ,atrides1 inspire me with a terror that all the events of modern times could not excite in my breast4 ,behold the fatal urn which contains the ashes of ,orestes6 ,who would not shudder at the sight8 ,electra1 unhappy sister6 be comforted1 for it is ,orestes himself who bears the urn1 and the ashes are those of his enemies4 ,no longer are their banks like those of ,xanthus or the ,scamander4 ,no longer do we visit plains such as those of ,hesperia or ,arcadia4 ,where are now the isles of ,lemnos and ,crete8 ,where the famous labyrinth8 ,where is the rock that forlorn ,ariadne washed with her tears8 ,theseus is seen no more2 ,hercules is gone forever4 ,the men1 aye1 and the heroes of our day are but pigmies4 ,when ,i would visit a scene full of enthusiasm1 and put forth all the strength of my imagination1 ,i cling boldly to the flowing robe of the sublime blind poet of ,albion at the moment when he soars heavenward1 and dares approach the throne of the ,eternal4 ,what muse was able to sustain him in a flight so lofty that no man before him ever ventured to raise his eyes so high8 ,from heaven's dazzling pavement which avaricious ,mammon looked down upon with envious eyes1 ,i pass1 horror-stricken1 to the vast caverns of ,satan's sojourn4 ,i take my place at the infernal council1 mingle with the host of rebellious spirits1 and listen to their discourse4 ,but here ,i must confess a weakness for which ,i have often reproached myself4 ,i cannot help taking a certain interest in ,satan1 thus hurled headlong from heaven4 7,i am speaking1 of course1 of ,milton's ,satan47 ,while ,i blame the obstinacy of the rebel angel1 the firmness he shows in the midst of his exceeding great misery1 and the grandness of his courage1 inspire me1 against my will1 with admiration4 ,although not ignorant of the woe resulting from the direful enterprise that led him to force the gate of hell and to trouble the home of our first parents1 ,i cannot for a moment1 do what ,i will1 wish he may perish in the confusion of chaos on his way4 ,i even think ,i could willingly help him1 did not shame withhold me4 ,i follow his every movement1 and take as much pleasure in travelling with him as if ,i were in very good company4 ,in vain ,i consider that after all he is a devil on his way to the ruin of the human race1 that he is a thorough democrat not after the manner of those of ,athens1 but of ,paris4 ,all this does not cure me of my prejudice in his favor4 ,how vast was his project6 ,how great the boldness displayed in its execution6 ,when the thrice-threefold gates of hell fly open before him1 and the dark1 boundless ocean discloses itself in all its horror at his feet1 with undaunted eye he surveys the realm of chaos1 and then1 opening his sail-broad wings1 precipitates himself into the abyss4#aj ,to me this passage is one of the noblest efforts of imagination1 and one of the most splendid journeys ever made1 next to the journey round my room4 ,,xxxviii4 ,the ,bust4 ,i should never end if ,i tried to describe a thousandth part of the strange events ,i meet with when ,i travel in my library4 ,the voyages of ,cook and the observations of his fellow-travellers ,banks and ,solander are nothing compared with my adventures in this one district4 ,indeed1 ,i think ,i could spend my life there in a kind of rapture1 were it not for the bust ,i have already mentioned1 upon which my eyes and thoughts always fix themselves at last1 whatever may be the position of my soul4 ,and when my soul is violently agitated1 or a prey to despair1 a glance at this bust suffices to restore the troubled being to its natural state4 ,it sounds the chord upon which ,i keep in tune the harmonies1 and correct the discords of the sensations and perceptions of which my being is made up4 ,how striking the likeness6 ,those are the features nature gave to the best of men4 ,o1 that the sculptor had been able to bring to view his noble soul1 his genius1 his character6 ,but what am ,i attempting6 ,is it here that his praise should be recorded8 ,do ,i address myself to the men that surround me8 ,ah6 what concern is it of theirs8 ,i am contented to bend before thy image1 ,o best of fathers6 ,alas1 that this should be all that is left me of thee and of my father-land6 ,thou quittedst the earth when crime was about to invade it2 and so heavy are the ills that oppress thy family1 that we are constrained to regard thy loss as a blessing4 ,many would have been the evils a longer life would have brought upon thee6 ,and dost thou1 ,o my father1 dost thou1 in thine abode of bliss1 know the lot of thy family6 ,knowest thou that thy children are exiled from the country thou hast served with so much zeal and integrity for sixty years8 ,dost thou know that they are forbidden to visit thy grave8 ,but tyranny has not been able to deprive them of the most precious part of thy heritage1 the record of thy virtues1 and the force of thine example4 ,in the midst of the torrent of crime which has borne their father-land and their patrimony to ruin1 they have steadfastly remained united in the path marked out for them by thee4 ,and when it shall be given them to prostrate themselves once more beside thy tomb1 thou shalt see in them thine obedient children4 ,,xxxix4 ,a ,dialogue4 ,i promised a dialogue1 and ,i will keep my word4 ,it was daybreak4 ,the rays of the sun were gilding the summit of ,mount ,viso1 and the tops of the highest hills on the island beneath our feet4 ,my soul was already awake4 ,this early awakening may have been the effect of those night visions which often excite in her a fatiguing and useless agitation3 or perhaps the carnival1 then drawing to a close1 was the secret cause2 for this season of pleasure and folly influences the human organization much as do the phases of the moon and the conjunction of certain planets4 ,however this may be1 my soul was awake1 and wide awake1 when she shook off the bands of sleep4 ,for some time she had shared1 though confusedly1 the sensations of the ,,other3 but she was still encumbered by the swathes of night and sleep2 and these swathes seemed to her transformed into gauze and fine linen and ,indian lawn4 ,my poor soul was1 as it were1 enwrapped in all this paraphernalia1 and the god of sleep1 that he might hold her still more firmly under his sway1 added to these bonds disheveled tresses of flaxen hair1 ribbon bows1 and pearl necklaces4 ,really it was pitiful to see her struggle in these toils4 ,the agitation of the nobler part of myself communicated itself to the ,,other2 and the latter1 in its turn1 reacted powerfully upon my soul4 ,i worked myself1 at last1 into a state which it would be hard to describe1 while my soul1 either sagaciously or by chance1 hit upon a way of escaping from the gauzes by which it was being suffocated4 ,i know not whether she discovered an outlet1 or whether1 which is a more natural conclusion1 it occurred to her to raise them3 at all events1 she found a means of egress from the labyrinth4 ,the tresses of disheveled hair were still there2 but they were now rather help than hindrance2 my soul seized them1 as a drowning man clutches the sedge on a river's bank1 but the pearl necklace broke in the act1 and the unstrung pearls rolled on the sofa1 and from the sofa to ,madame ,hautcastel's floor 7for my soul1 by an eccentricity for which it would be difficult to give a reason1 fancied she was at that lady's house72 then a great bunch of violets fell to the ground1 and my soul1 which then awoke1 returned home1 bringing with her common sense and reality4 ,she strongly disapproved1 as you will readily imagine1 of all that had passed in her absence2 and here it is that the dialogue begins which forms the subject of this chapter4 ,never had my soul been so ungraciously received4 ,the complaints she thought fit to make at this critical moment fully sufficed to stir up domestic strife2 a revolt1 a formal insurrection followed4 8,what60 said my soul1 8is it thus that during my absence1 instead of restoring your strength by quiet sleep that you may be better able to do my bidding1 you have the insolence 7the expressing was rather strong7 to give yourself up to transports which my authority has not sanctioned60 ,little accustomed to this haughty tone1 the ,,other angrily answered3-- 8,really1 madame0 7this madame was meant to remove from the discussion anything like familiarity71 8really1 this affectation of virtuous decorum is highly becoming to you6 ,is it not to the sallies of your imagination1 and to your extravagant ideas1 that ,i owe what in me displeases you8 ,what right have you to go on those pleasant excursions so often1 without taking me with you8 ,have ,i ever complained about your attending the meetings in the ,empyrean or in the ,elysian fields1 your conversations with the celestial intelligences1 your profound speculations 7a little raillery here1 you see71 your castles in the air1 and your transcendental systems8 ,and have ,i not a right1 when you leave me in this way1 to enjoy the blessings bestowed upon me by ,nature1 and the pleasures she places before me80 ,my soul1 surprised at so much vivacity and eloquence1 did not know how to reply4 ,in order to settle the dispute amicably1 she endeavored to veil with the semblance of good-nature the reproaches that had escaped her4 ,but1 that she might not seem to take the first steps towards reconciliation1 she affected a formal tone4 8,madame10 she said1 with assumed cordiality4444 ,if the reader thought the word misplaced when addressed to my soul1 what will he say of it now1 if he call to mind the cause of the quarrel8 ,but my soul did not feel the extreme absurdity of this mode of expression1 so much does passion obscure the intellect6 8,madame10 she said1 8nothing1 be assured1 would give me so much pleasure as to see you enjoy those pleasures of which your nature is susceptible1 if even ,i did not participate in them1 were it not that such pleasures are harmful to you1 injuriously affecting the harmony which44440 ,here my soul was rudely interrupted1 8,no1 no1 ,i am not the dupe of your pretended kindness4 ,the sojourn we are compelled to make together in this room in which we travel2 the wound which ,i received1 which still bleeds1 and which nearly destroyed me1--is not all this the fruit of your overweening conceit and your barbarous prejudices8 ,my comfort1 my very existence1 is counted as nothing when your passions sway you3 and then1 forsooth1 you pretend that you take an interest in my welfare1 and that your insults spring from friendship40 ,my soul saw very well that the part she was playing on this occasion was no flattering one4 ,she began1 too1 to perceive that the warmth of the dispute had put the cause of it out of sight4 ,profiting from this circumstance1 she caused a further distraction by saying to ,joannetti1 who at that moment entered the room1 8,make some coffee60 ,the noise of the cups attracted all the rebel's attention1 who forthwith forgot everything else4 ,in like manner we show children a toy to make them forget the unwholesome fruit for which they beg and stamp4 ,while the water was being heated1 ,i insensibly fell asleep4 ,i enjoyed that delightful sensation about which ,i have already entertained my readers1 and which you experience when you feel yourself to be dozing4 ,the agreeable rattling ,joannetti made with the coffee-pot rechoed in my brain1 and set all my sensitive nerves vibrating1 just as a single harp-string when struck will make the octaves resound4 ,at last ,i saw as it were1 a shadow pass before me4 ,i opened my eyes1 and there stood ,joannetti4 ,ah1 what an aroma6 ,how agreeable a surprise6 ,coffee6 ,cream6 ,a pyramid of dry toast6 ,good reader1 come1 breakfast with me6 ,,xl4 ,imagination4 ,what a wealth of delights has kind ,nature given to those who can enjoy them4 ,who can count the innumerable phases they assume in different individuals1 and at different periods of life6 ,the confused remembrance of the pleasures of my boyhood sends a thrill through my heart4 ,shall ,i attempt to paint the joys of the youth whose soul glows with all the warmth of love1 at an age when interest1 ambition1 hatred1 and all the base passions that degrade and torment humanity are unknown to him1 even by name8 ,during this age1 too short1 alas6 the sun shines with a brightness it never displays in after-life2 the air is then purer1 the streams clearer and fresher1 and nature has aspects1 and the woods have paths1 which in our riper age we never find again4 ,o1 what perfumes those flowers breathe6 ,how delicious are those fruits6 ,with what colors is the morning sky adorned6 ,men are all good1 generous1 kind-hearted2 and women all lovely and faithful4 ,on all sides we meet with cordiality1 frankness1 and unselfishness4 ,nature presents to us nothing but flowers1 virtues1 and pleasures4 ,the excitement of love1 and the anticipation of happiness1 do they not fill our hearts to the brim with emotions no less lively and various8 ,the sight of nature and its contemplation1 whether we regard it as a whole1 or examine its details1 opens to our reason an immense field of enjoyments4 ,soon the imagination1 brooding over this sea of pleasures1 increases their number and intensity4 ,the various sensations so unite and blend as to form new ones4 ,dreams of glory mingle with the palpitations of love4 ,benevolence moves hand in hand with self-esteem4 ,melancholy1 from time to time1 throws over us her solemn livery1 and changes our tears to joy4 ,thus the perceptions of the mind1 the feelings of the heart1 the very remembrance of sensations1 are inexhaustible sources of pleasure and comfort to man4 ,no wonder1 then1 that the noise ,joannetti made with the coffee-pot1 and the unexpected appearance of a cup of cream1 should have impressed me so vividly and so agreeably4 ,,xli4 ,the ,travelling-coat4 ,i put on my travelling-coat1 after having examined it with a complacent eye2 and forthwith resolved to write a chapter ad hoc1 that ,i might make it known to the reader4 ,the form and usefulness of these garments being pretty generally known1 ,i will treat specially of their influence upon the minds of travellers4 ,my winter travelling-coat is made of the warmest and softest stuff ,i could meet with4 ,it envelops me entirely from head to foot1 and when ,i am in my arm-chair1 with my hands in my pockets1 ,i am very like the statue of ,vishnu one sees in the pagodas of ,india4 ,you may1 if you will1 tax me with prejudice when ,i assert the influence a traveller's costume exercises upon its wearer4 ,at any rate ,i can confidently affirm with regard to this matter1 that it would appear to me as ridiculous to take a single step of my journey round my room in uniform1 with my sword at my side1 as it would to go forth into the world in my dressing-gown4 ,were ,i to find myself in full military dress1 not only should ,i be unable to proceed with my journey1 but ,i really believe ,i should not be able to read what ,i have written about my travels1 still less to understand it4 ,does this surprise you8 ,do we not every day meet with people who fancy they are ill because they are unshaven1 or because some one has thought they have looked poorly1 and told them so8 ,dress has such influence upon men's minds that there are valetudinarians who think themselves in better health than usual when they have on a new coat and well-powdered wig4 ,they deceive the public and themselves by their nicety about dress1 until one finds some fine morning they have died in full fig1 and their death startles everybody4 ,and in the class of men among whom ,i live1 how many there are who1 finding themselves clothed in uniform1 firmly believe they are officers1 until the unexpected appearance of the enemy shows them their mistake4 ,and more than this1 if it be the king's good pleasure to allow one of them to add to his coat a certain trimming1 he straightway believes himself to be a general1 and the whole army gives him the title without any notion of making fun of him6 ,so great an influence has a coat upon the human imagination6 ,the following illustration will show still further the truth of my assertion4 ,it sometimes happened that they forgot to inform the ,count de ---- some days beforehand of the approach of his turn to mount guard4 ,early one morning1 on the very day on which this duty fell to the ,count1 a corporal awoke him1 and announced the disagreeable news4 ,but the idea of getting up there and then1 putting on his gaiters1 and turning out without having thought about it the evening before1 so disturbed him that he preferred reporting himself sick and staying at home all day4 ,so he put on his dressing-gown1 and sent away his barber4 ,this made him look pale and ill1 and frightened his wife and family4 ,he really did feel a little poorly4 ,he told every one he was not very well1 partly for the sake of appearances1 and partly because he positively believed himself to be indisposed4 ,gradually the influence of the dressing-gown began to work4 ,the slops he was obliged to take upset his stomach4 ,his relations and friends sent to ask after him4 ,he was soon quite ill enough to take to his bed4 ,in the evening ,dr4 ,ranson#aa found his pulse hard and feverish1 and ordered him to be bled next day4 ,if the campaign had lasted a month longer1 the sick man's case would have been past cure4 ,now1 who can doubt about the influence of travelling-coats upon travellers1 if he reflect that poor ,count de ---- thought more than once that he was about to perform a journey to the other world for having inopportunely donned his dressing-gown in this8 ,illustration ,,xlii4 ,aspasia's ,buskin4 ,i was sitting near my fire after dinner1 enveloped in my 8habit de voyage10 and freely abandoning myself to its influence3 the hour for starting was1 ,i knew1 drawing nigh2 but the fumes generated by digestion rose to my brain1 and so obstructed the channels along which thoughts glide on their way from the senses1 that all communication between them was intercepted4 ,and as my senses no longer transmitted any idea to my brain1 the latter1 in its turn1 could no longer emit any of that electric fluid with which the ingenious ,doctor ,valli resuscitates dead frogs4 ,after reading this preamble1 you will easily understand why my head fell on my chest1 and why the muscles of the thumb and forefinger of my right hand1 being no longer excited by the electric fluid1 became so relaxed that a volume of the works of the ,marquis ,caraccioli1 which ,i was holding tightly between these two fingers1 imperceptibly eluded my grasp1 and fell upon the hearth4 ,i had just had some callers1 and my conversation with the persons who had left the room had turned upon the death of ,dr4 ,cigna1 an eminent physician then lately deceased4 ,he was a learned and hard-working man1 a good naturalist1 and a famous botanist4 ,my thoughts were occupied with the merits of this skillful man4 8,and yet10 ,i said to myself1 8were it possible for me to evoke the spirits of those whom he has1 perhaps1 dismissed to the other world1 who knows but that his reputation might suffer some diminution80 ,i travelled insensibly to a dissertation on medicine and the progress it has made since the time of ,hippocrates4 ,i asked myself whether the famous personages of antiquity who died in their beds1 as ,pericles1 ,plato1 the celebrated ,aspasia1 and ,hippocrates1 died1 after the manner of ordinary mortals1 of some putrid or inflammatory fever2 and whether they were bled1 and crammed with specifics4 ,to say why these four personages came into my mind rather than any others1 is out of my power2 for who can give reasons for what he dreams8 ,all that ,i can say is that my soul summoned the doctor of ,cos1 the doctor of ,turin1 and the famous statesman who did such great things1 and committed such grave faults4 ,but as to his graceful friend1 ,i humbly own that it was the ,,other who beckoned her to come4 ,still1 however1 when ,i think of the interview1 ,i am tempted to feel some little pride1 for it is evident that in this dream the balance in favor of reason was as four to one4 ,pretty fair this1 methinks1 for a lieutenant4 ,however this may be1 whilst giving myself up to the reflections ,i have described1 my eyes closed1 and ,i fell fast asleep4 ,but upon shutting my eyes1 the image of the personages of whom ,i had been thinking1 remained painted upon that delicate canvas we call memory2 and these images1 mingling in my brain with the idea of the evocation of the dead1 it was not long before ,i saw advancing in procession ,hippocrates1 ,plato1 ,pericles1 ,aspasia1 and ,doctor ,cigna in his bob-wig4 ,i saw them all seat themselves in chairs ranged around the fire4 ,pericles alone remained standing to read the newspapers4 8,if the discoveries of which you speak were true10 said ,hippocrates to the doctor1 8and had they been as useful to the healing art as you affirm1 ,i should have seen the number of those who daily descend to the gloomy realm of ,pluto decrease2 but the ratio of its inhabitants1 according to the registers of ,minos which ,i have myself verified1 remains still the same as formerly40 ,doctor ,cigna turned to me and said3 8,you have without doubt heard these discoveries spoken of4 ,you know that ,harvey discovered the circulation of the blood2 that the immortal ,spallanzani explained the process of digestion1 the mechanism of which is now well understood20 and he entered upon a long detail of all the discoveries connected with physic1 and of the host of remedies for which we are indebted to chemistry3 in short1 he delivered an academical discourse in favor of modern medicine4 8,but am ,i to believe10 ,i replied1 8that these great men were ignorant of all you have been telling them1 and that their souls1 having shuffled off this mortal coil1 still meet with any obscurities in nature80 8,ah6 how great is your error60 exclaimed the proto-physician#ab of the ,peloponnesus4 ,the mysteries of nature are as closely hidden from the dead as from the living4 ,of one thing we who linger on the banks of the ,styx are certain1 that ,he who created all things alone knows the great secret which men vainly strive to solve4 8,and10 added he1 turning to the doctor1 8do be persuaded by me to divest yourself of what still clings to you of the party-spirit you have brought with you from the sojourn of mortals4 ,and since1 seeing that ,charon daily ferries over in his boat as many shades as heretofore1 the labors of a thousand generations and all the discoveries men have made have not been able to prolong their existence1 let us not uselessly weary ourselves in defending an art which1 among the dead1 cannot even profit its practitioners40 ,thus1 to my great amazement1 spoke the famous ,hippocrates4 ,doctor ,cigna smiled2 and as spirits can neither withstand evidence1 nor silence truth1 he not only agreed with ,hippocrates1 but1 blushing after the manner of disembodied intelligences1 he protested that he had himself always had his doubts4 ,pericles1 who had drawn near the window1 heaved a deep sigh1 the cause of which ,i divined4 ,he was reading a number of the 8,moniteur10 which announced the decadence of the arts and sciences4 ,he saw illustrious scholars desert their sublime conceptions to invent new crimes1 and shuddered at hearing a rabble herd compare themselves with the heroes of generous ,greece2 and this1 forsooth1 because they put to death1 without shame or remorse1 venerable old men1 women1 and children1 and coolly perpetrated the blackest and most useless crimes4 ,plato1 who had listened to our conversation without joining in it1 and seeing it brought to a sudden and unexpected close1 thus spoke3 8,i can readily understand that the discoveries great men have made in the various branches of natural science do not forward the art of medicine1 which can never change the course of nature1 except at the cost of life4 ,but this will certainly not be so with the researches that have been made in the study of politics4 ,locke's inquiries into the nature of the human understanding1 the invention of printing1 the accumulated observations drawn from history1 the number of excellent books which have spread sound information even among the lower orders1--so many wonders must have contributed to make men better1 and the happy republic ,i conceived1 which the age in which ,i lived caused me to regard as an impracticable dream1 no doubt now exists upon the earth80 ,at this question the honest doctor cast down his eyes1 and only answered by tears4 ,in wiping them with his pocket-handkerchief1 he involuntarily moved his wig on one side1 so that a part of his face was hidden by it4 8,ye gods60 exclaimed ,aspasia1 with a scream1 8how strange a sight6 ,and is it a discovery of one of your great men that has led you to the idea of turning another man's skull into a head-dress80 ,aspasia1 from whom our philosophical dissertations had elicited nothing but gapes1 had taken up a magazine of fashions which lay on the chimney-piece1 the leaves of which she had been turning over for some time when the doctor's wig made her utter this exclamation4 ,finding the narrow1 ricketty seat upon which she was sitting uncomfortable1 she had1 without the least ceremony1 placed her two bare legs1 which were adorned with bandelets1 on the straw-bottomed chair between her and me1 and rested her elbow upon the broad shoulders of ,plato4 8,it is no skull10 said the doctor1 addressing her1 and taking off his wig1 which he threw on the fire1 8it is a wig1 madam2 and ,i know not why ,i did not cast this ridiculous ornament into the flames of ,tartarus when first ,i came among you4 ,but absurdities and prejudices adhere so closely to our miserable nature that they even follow us sometimes beyond the grave40 ,i took singular pleasure in seeing the doctor thus abjure his physic and his wig at the same moment4 8,i assure you10 said ,aspasia1 8that most of the head-dresses represented in the pages ,i have been turning over deserve the same fate as yours1 so very extravagant are they40 ,the fair ,athenian amused herself vastly in looking over the engravings1 and was very reasonably surprised by the variety and oddity of modern contrivances4 ,one figure1 especially struck her4 ,it was that of a young lady with a really elegant head-dress which ,aspasia only thought somewhat too high4 ,but the piece of gauze that covered the neck was so very full you could scarcely see half her face4 ,aspasia1 not knowing that these extraordinary developments were produced by starch1 could not help showing a surprise which would have been redoubled 7but inversely71 had the gauze been transparent4 8,but do explain10 she said1 8why women of the present day seem to wear dresses to hide rather than to clothe them4 ,they scarcely allow their faces to be seen1 those faces by which alone their sex is to be guessed1 so strangely are their bodies disfigured by the eccentric folds of their garments4 ,among all the figures represented in these pages1 ,i do not find one with the neck1 arms1 and legs bare4 ,how is it your young warriors are not tempted to put an end to such a fashion8 ,it would appear10 she added1 8that the virtue of the women of this age1 which they parade in all their articles of dress1 greatly surpasses that of my contemporaries40 ,as she ended these words1 ,aspasia turned her eyes on me as if to ask a reply4 ,i pretended not to notice this1 and in order to give myself an absent air1 took up the tongs and pushed away among the embers the shreds of the doctor's wig which had escaped the flames4 ,observing presently afterwards that one of the bandelets which clasped ,aspasia's buskin had come undone1 8,permit me10 said ,i1 8charming lady10--and eagerly stooping1 stretched out my hands towards the chair on which ,i had fancied ,i saw those legs about which even great philosophers went into ecstacies4 ,i am persuaded that at this moment ,i was very near genuine somnambulism1 so real was the movement of which ,i speak4 ,but ,rose1 who happened to be sleeping in the chair1 thought the movement was meant for her1 and jumping nimbly into my arms1 she drove back into ,hades the famous shades my travelling-coat had summoned4 ,liberty4 ,delightful realm of ,imagination1 which the benevolent ,being has bestowed upon man to console him for the disappointments he meets with in real life4 ,this day1 certain persons on whom ,i am dependent affect to restore me to liberty4 ,as if they had ever deprived me of it6 ,as if it were in their power to snatch it from me for a single moment1 and to hinder me from traversing1 at my own good pleasure1 the vast space that ever lies open before me6 ,they have forbidden me to go at large in a city1 a mere speck1 and have left open to me the whole universe1 in which immensity and eternity obey me4 ,i am now free1 then2 or rather1 ,i must enter again into bondage4 ,the yoke of office is again to weigh me down1 and every step ,i take must conform with the exigencies of politeness and duty4 ,fortunate shall ,i be if some capricious goddess do not again make me forget both1 and if ,i escape from this new and dangerous captivity4 ,o why did they not allow me to finish my captivity6 ,was it as a punishment that ,i was exiled to my chamber1 to that delightful country in which abound all the riches and enjoyments of the world8 ,as well might they consign a mouse to a granary4 ,still1 never did ,i more clearly perceive that ,i am double than ,i do now4 ,whilst ,i regret my imaginary joys1 ,i feel myself consoled4 ,i am borne along by an unseen power which tells me ,i need the pure air1 and the light of heaven1 and that solitude is like death4 ,once more ,i don my customary garb2 my door opens2 ,i wander under the spacious porticos of the ,strada della ,po2 a thousand agreeable visions float before my eyes4 ,yes1 there is that mansion1 that door1 that staircase6 ,i thrill with expectation4 ,in like manner the act of slicing a lemon gives you a foretaste that makes your mouth water4 ,poor ,,animal6 ,take care6 ,,footnotes3 #a ,bte is not translatable here4 ,the ,english word animal is hardly nearer than beast4 ,bte is a milder word than beast1 and when used metaphorically1 implies silliness rather than brutality4 ,in some cases our creature would translate it1 ,pauvre bte6 ,poor creature6 #b ,vide ,werther1 chapter xxviii4 #c ,the reader will probably have been reminded of the 8,sentimental ,journey0 before reaching this proof of our author's acquaintance with the writings of ,sterne4 ,h4 ,a4 #d ,a fashionable milliner of the time4 #e ,this work was not published4 #f ,the botanical garden of ,turin4 #g ,richardson's ,clarissa ,harlowe4 #h ,goethe's ,werther4 #i ,cleveland1 by the ,abb ,prvost4 #aj ,some freedom of translation is1 perhaps1 pardonable here4 ,our author1 depending1 it would seem1 upon his memory1 gives ,satan wings large enough 8to cover a whole army40 ,it was 8the extended wings0 of the gates of hell1 not of ,satan1 that ,milton describes as wide enough to admit a 8bannered host40 ,paradise ,lost1 ii4 #hhe4 ,h4 ,a4 #aa ,a popular ,turin physician when the ,voyage was written4 #ab ,a title known at the ,sardinian court4