c motive, if taken seriously, with the illusion of reality, and
to arrest the attention of the whole human race--excepting perhaps some
thirty confirmed enemies, who would be sure, when my contention had been
proved before their eyes and ears, to accuse a hundred thousand men of
ignorance, and to renounce their sex rather than admit the truth.

This proposition was met with new gibes; and I found myself committed to
make good my bold assertion. The fable of _Il Corvo_, extracted from a
Neapolitan story-book, _Cunto delle cunte, trattenemiento pe le
piccierelle_, and treated by me in the tone of lofty tragedy, wrought
the miracle. I must add that I assigned some humorous passages to the
four masks, whom I wished to keep upon the stage for the benefit of
hypochondriacs, and in contempt of misunderstood and falsely applied
rules from Aristotle.

The success of _Il Corvo_ was complete. The public wept and laughed at
my bidding. Multitudes flocked to hear this old wives' tale, as though
it had been solemn history. The play had a long run; and the two poets
were seriously damaged in their interests, while the newspapers
applauded and extolled the allegory as a splendid example of fraternal
affection.

I wished to strike while the iron was hot. Accordingly, my third fable,
the _Re Cervo_, appeared with similar results of popularity and
sympathetic criticism. A thousand beauties were discovered, which I, who
wrote it, had not seen. Folk regarded its allegory as a mirror for those
monarchs who allow themselves to be blinded by their confidence in
Ministers, and are in consequence transformed into the semblance of
monsters. Meanwhile, my opponents persisted in ascribing the great
success of these three pieces to stage decorations and the marvellous
effect of magic metamorphoses, neglecting the writer's art and science,
the charm of his verse, and his adroit employment of rhetoric, morality,
and allegory. This impelled me to produce two more fables, _Turandotte_
and _I Pitocchi Fortunati_, in which magic marvels were conspicuous by
their absence, while the literary art and science remained the same. A
like success clinched my argument, without, however, disarming my
antagonists.

I had formed the habit of conversing with my family of players in our
hours of leisure; and very racy did I find the recreation of their
society. In a short space of time I learned to understand and see into
the characters and talents of my soldiers,