no appeared, whom the fickle Venetians dubbed
a better Zanni than their old friend Sacchi. Satirical sonnets began to
circulate against my proteges, and they replied with pasquinades. This
wordy warfare filled the town with dirty libels. I begged Sacchi's
associates to keep their temper and be silent, trusting to my power of
restoring their prestige by a new piece I was at work on. This was
entitled _Il Moro di Corpo Bianco, ossia lo Schiavo del Proprio
Onore_.[50]

At last the repairs were finished, and received the surveyor's approval.
An official edict appeared to the effect that the theatre Vendramini at
S. Salvatore would be safe for the autumn and ensuing Carnival. This
limited announcement did not restore the confidence of the public, who
still feared that the house might tumble about their ears. Accordingly,
the first ten or twelve nights saw a desert in our theatre. The
Venetians had two other houses for plays and three for operas open; and
they persisted in regarding S. Salvatore as a trap for the destruction
of the human race.

While things were dragging on in this way, I got my drama finished. We
read it aloud to the whole company at a dinner given in the Wild Man
Inn.[51] The enthusiastic applause of the actors made me feel sure of
its success. I made them a present of it, and the piece was mounted with
the least possible delay. The playbills drew a large audience. Everybody
was burning to know what the deuce a Moor with a white body could
possibly be; this taught me that the prospect of a new excitement will
drive the fear of death out of the heads of my Venetians. During a run
of eighteen successive nights, all the other theatres were drained of
their spectators, and the opera-houses cursed my _Moro di Corpo Bianco_.
The reputation of S. Salvatore was fully re-established, and we heard
nothing more about the fabric being a rat-trap to catch human beings.

Teodora Ricci had scored a great success by her brilliant acting.
Intoxicated with popular plaudits, she began to grumble, and threatened
to break her engagement unless her salary were raised. Under these
circumstances, Sacchi came to me one day and begged me to draw up
articles between the actress and the troupe, by which she should commit
herself to five years of fixed service. He left the settlement of her
appointments to me, but stipulated that a fine of 500 ducats should be
exacted from whichever of the contracting parties broke the bond. I
under