shakes in the same proportion, and that with-
out taking the precaution of buying gloves. To 
kill time during a shower I ran up to the rooms 
of an acrobat who begged me to design for her 
a costume as Vénustre. I paid court to a thea-
tre manager who said, on saying good-bye: 
“You would do well perhaps to address yourself 
to Z.; he is the dullest, the most foolish and 
the most celebrated of all my authors; with 
him you might perhaps arrive at some ar-
rangement. See him, and then we shall see.” I 
bragged (Why?) of several dirty actions that I 
have never done, and cowardly denied several 
other misdeeds that I joyfully performed; thus 
committing the fault of boasting and the crime 
of respecting man. I refused to a friend an 
easy kindness, and gave a written recommen-
dation to a perfect ass. There! is that enough? 
Discontented with everybody and with my-
self, I should like to rehabilitate myself and re-
gain my pride a little in the silence and solitude 
of the night. Souls of those whom I have 
loved, souls of those whom I have sung, 
strengthen me, sustain me, drive far from me 
falsehood and the corrupting vapours of the 
world, and Thou, O Lord my God, grant me 
Thy favour that I may make some good verses 
to prove to myself that I am not the meanest