which his rooms had been put justly enraged Chopin. One day, I do not
know how long after the occurrence, Liszt asked Madame Rubio to tell
her master that he hoped the past would be forgotten and the young man's
trick (Junggesellenstuck) wiped out. Chopin then said that he could not
forget, and was much better as he was; and further, that Liszt was not
open enough, having always secrets and intrigues, and had written
in some newspapers feuilleton notices unfavourable to him. This last
accusation reminds one at once of the remark he made when he heard
that Liszt intended to write an account of one of his concerts for the
Gazette musicale. I have quoted the words already, but may repeat them
here: "Il me donnera un petit royaume dans son empire" (He will give me
a little kingdom in his empire). In this, as in most sayings of Chopin
regarding Liszt, irritation against the latter is distinctly noticeable.
The cause of this irritation may be manifold, but Liszt's great success
as a concert-player and his own failure in this respect [FOOTNOTE: I
speak here only of his inability to impress large audiences, to move
great masses.] have certainly something to do with it. Liszt, who
thought so likewise, says somewhere in his book that Chopin knew how to
forgive nobly. Whether this was so or not, I do not venture to decide.
But I am sure if he forgave, he never forgot. An offence remained for
ever rankling in his heart and mind.

From Chopin's friends to his pupils is but one step, and not even that,
for a great many of his pupils were also his friends; indeed, among them
were some of those who were nearest to his heart, and not a few in whose
society he took a particular delight. Before I speak, however, of his
teaching, I must say a few words about a subject which equally relates
to our artist's friends and pupils, and to them rather than to any other
class of people with whom he had any dealings.

One of his [Chopin's] oddities [writes Liszt] consisted in
abstaining from every exchange of letters, from every sending
of notes; one could have believed that he had made a vow never
to address letters to strangers. It was a curious thing to see
him have recourse to all kinds of expedients to escape from
the necessity of tracing a few lines. Many times he preferred
traversing Paris from one end to the other in order to decline
a dinner or give some slight information, to saving himself
the trouble by means of a lit