The Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 23: English by Giacomo Casanova
page 5 of 106 (04%)
page 5 of 106 (04%)
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shall be glad to see you at my house whenever you like to come."
"Shall I send you a note to warn you?" "Not at all." We walked on talking about literature, manners, and so forth, in an aimless way. All at once, as we approached Buckingham House, I saw five or six persons, relieving nature amidst the bushes, with their hinder parts facing the passers-by. I thought this a disgusting piece of indecency, and said as much to Martinelli, adding that the impudent rascals might at least turn their faces towards the path. "Not at all," he exclaimed, "for then they might be recognized; whereas in exposing their posteriors they run no such risk; besides the sight makes squeamish persons turn away." "You are right, but you will confess that the whole thing strikes a stranger as very revolting." "Yes, there is nothing so ineradicable as national prejudice. You may have noticed that when an Englishman wants to ease his sluices in the street, he doesn't run up an alley or turn to the wall like we do." "Yes, I have noticed them turning towards the middle of the street, but if they thus escape the notice of the people in the shops and on the pavement they are seen by everybody who is driving in a carriage, and that is as bad." "The people in the carriages need not look." |
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