for Ross's opinion.

[21] Hanging in chains was called keeping sheep by moonlight.




CHAPTER XX

"Non dispetto, ma doglia."--_Dante._


Oscar Wilde did not stay long in Naples, a few brief months; the
forbidden fruit quickly turned to ashes in his mouth.

I give the following extracts from a letter he wrote to Robert Ross in
December, 1897, shortly after leaving Naples, because it describes the
second great crisis in his life and is besides the bitterest thing he
ever wrote and therefore of peculiar value:

"The facts of Naples are very bald. Bosie for four months, by
endless lies, offered me a home. He offered me love,
affection, and care, and promised that I should never want for
anything. After four months I accepted his offer, but when we
met on our way to Naples, I found he had no money, no plans,
and had forgotten all his promises. His one idea was that I
should raise the money for us both; I did so to the extent of
£120. On this Bosie lived quite happy. When it came to his
having to pay his own share he became terribly unkind and
penurious, except where his own pleasures were concerned, and