"Ladies, if you like, I will shew you all three, one after the other, why
the sentence, 'Gaudeant bene nati', was uttered"; and without waiting for
their reply, I succeeded in making them happy. The syndic was radiant, he
was pleased at having given me a present entirely to my taste; and I
fancied that the entertainment was not displeasing to the three Graces,
who were kept low by the Sybarite, as his powers were almost limited to
desires. The girls lavished their thanks on me, while I endeavoured to
assure them of my gratitude; but they leapt for joy when they heard the
syndic asking me to come next day.

As he was taking me back to my inn I told him how great a pleasure he had
given me, and he said he had brought up the three jewels himself.

"You," he added, "are the only man besides myself they know. You shall
see them again, but I beg you will take care not to leave anything behind
you, for in this town of prejudices that would be a great misfortune for
them and for me."

"You are always moderate in your enjoyment, then?" I said to him.

"Unfortunately, that is no merit as far as I am concerned. I was born for
the service of love, and Venus has punished me for worshipping her when I
was too young."

After a good night's sleep I awoke in an active mood, and began to write
a letter to Voltaire in blank verse, which cost me four times the pains
that rhymed verses would have done. I sent it to him with the poem of
Theophile Falengue, but I made a mistake in doing so, as I might have
known he would not care for it; one cannot appreciate what one does not