1777--at the
theatre of S. Salvatore. I went there in good time, and found the
entrance thronged with a vast multitude. For three hours people had been
clamouring for seats, and the whole house was crammed. They told me that
the boxes had been sold at fabulous prices. This might have swelled
another playwright's heart with pride. I, on the contrary, was extremely
dejected by finding my worst anticipations realised. Pushing my way
through the press, which encumbered every passage and clung against the
walls, I reached the _coulisses_ with much toil.[63] There I saw a swarm
of masks begging for places anywhere at any price. "What the deuce is
the meaning of this extraordinary concourse?" I exclaimed. The Ricci
answered me at once with: "Don't you know? The town has come to see your
satire on a certain person." I put her down by saying bluntly that more
than a year ago she heard my play, and knew that there was no personal
satire in it. It was not my fault if diabolical intrigues and a
succession of blunders had given it a false complexion. She dropped her
eyes. I turned my back, and took refuge in a box I had upon the third
row of the theatre.

Going up the staircase, I caught sight before me of Gratarol's unhappy
wife, and heard her chattering to certain gentlemen she met upon the
way: "I wanted to see my husband on the stage." These words of the poor
deserted woman enlightened me as to the expectation of the public. Yet
why was the whole house so intoxicated? why did a wife look forward to
the spectacle of her husband's caricature? I can only explain this
phenomenon by remembering the corruption of our age. Women seduced and
left to shift for themselves, rivals supplanted in their love-affairs,
jealous husbands, wives abandoned and heart-broken, form an inflammable
audience for such a piece as the _Droghe d'Amore_ under the notorious
circumstances of its first appearance.

Sacchi joined me in my box; and casting my eyes over the sea of faces, I
soon perceived Signor Gratarol with a handsome woman at his side. He had
come to air his philosophy, but I trembled for him. The curtain rose,
and the play proceeded with great spirit. All the actors did their best.
I was satisfied with their performance, and the audience applauded. At
length, toward the close of the first act, Don Adone appeared. Then, and
not till then, I understood the reason of the change of parts by which
this role had fallen to Vitalba.[64] He was a good f