The
count, justly irritated, bestowed on me some names which I deserved,
and putting me out of his apartment by the shoulders, shut the door on
me. I departed triumphant, as if I had gained the greatest victory,
and fearful of sustaining a second combat even had the ingratitude
to leave the house without thanking the abbe for his kindness.
To form a just conception of my delirium at that moment, the
excess to which my heart is subject to be heated by the most
trifling incidents, and the ardor with which my imagination seizes
on the most attractive objects should be conceived. At these times,
plans the most ridiculous, childish, and void of sense, flatter my
favorite idea, and persuade me that it is reasonable to sacrifice
everything to the possession of it. Would it be believed, that when
near nineteen, any one could be so stupid as to build his hopes of
future subsistence on an empty phial? For example:
The Abbe de Gauvon had made me a present, some weeks before, of a
very pretty heron fountain, with which I was highly delighted. Playing
with this toy, and speaking of our departure, the sage Bacle and
myself thought it might be of infinite advantage, and enable us to
lengthen our journey. What in the world was so curious as a heron
fountain? This idea was the foundation on which we built our future
fortune: we were to assemble the country people in every village we
might pass through, and delight them with the sight of it, when
feasting and good cheer would be sure to pour on us abundantly; for we
were both firmly persuaded, that provisions could cost nothing to
those who grew and gathered them, and if they did not stuff travelers,
it was downright ill-nature.
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