poem, the reward for the best one being the favor of some fair lady.
Among those who were drawn to the Hôtel Rambouillet by this pleasing
entertainment was the Duke d'Enghien, afterward known as the "Great
Condé," a prince of the highest renown as a victorious warrior. He
was a great acquisition, and the Garland Play was repeated every night
in the expectation that his pleasure would continue, and the constant
attraction prove adequate to hold him. Once or twice, however, was
sufficient for the Duke, its constant repetition becoming flat and
tiresome. He did not scruple to express his dissatisfaction with a
society that could not originate something new. He was a broad minded
man, with a comprehensive knowledge, but had little taste for poetry
and childish entertainments. But the good ladies of Rambouillet,
unable to devise any other entertainment, persisted in their Garland
Play, until the Duke's human nature rebelled at the monotony, and he
begged his friends de Moissens and Saint-Evremond to suggest some
relief. They immediately brought him in touch with the Birds of the
Tournelles, with the result that he abandoned the Hôtel Rambouillet
and found scope for his social desires at Ninon's house and in her
more attractive society. The conquest of his heart followed that of
his intelligence, the hero of Rocroi being unable to resist a
tenderness which is the glory of a lover and the happiness of his
mistress.

It is a curious fact, known to some, that all the heroes of Bellona
are not expert in the wars of Venus, the strongest and most valiant
souls being weak in combats in which valor plays an unimportant part.
The poet Chaulieu says upon this point:

"Pour avoir la valeur d'Hercule,
On n'est pas obligé d'en avoir la vigueur."