to-morrow evening. Gratarol put in abruptly: "What you are saying is
irrelevant and inconsequential. My reasoning has made it certain that
you can and ought to stop the play to-morrow and in perpetuity." At this
point I begged to remind him that he had recently applied to a supreme
tribunal--by his own admission, let drop in the hurry of his cogent
reasoning--and that "the door had been shut in his face." It was of
little use to argue with Signor Gratarol. To every thing I said he kept
exclaiming: "Nonsense, nonsense! You can and must stop the
performance."

Wishing to cut matters short, but not without the greatest difficulty,
and only by the assistance of Signor Maffei, I got him to listen to the
plan I had devised that morning, and read him out my prologue. It was
composed in a popular style, and ran as follows:

"_To the Respectable Venetian Public_,

CARLO GOZZI.

"This harmless drama, which hath won the grace
Of your most generous and kind applause,
Large-hearted men of Venice, at the prayers,
Repeated prayers, and not without effect,
Of him who wrote it, now has been withdrawn.
He knows not by what accidents or how,
The various characters, the actors too,
In this plain piece of stage-work, which he took
From an old Spaniard, Tirso da Molina,
Adapting it to our Italian taste,
Have lent themselves to satire, falsely felt,
On living persons whom the author loves.
Scandal, malignant rumours, which abuse
His frank and candid pen, incapable
Of setting snares for names whom all respect,
Have moved him to implore that from to-night
_Le Droghe d'Amore_ shall no longer run:
He meant it for amusement, not offence.
Warm thanks, dictated by his heart, he yields
To you, choice courteous public, who have deigned
To greet so poor a play with your applause;
And promises new works on other themes; and swears
That his sole object is to furnish sport
To you, dear countrymen, and keep your friend."

"Well, well!" cried Gratarol, rising from his chair with a contortion of
impatience: "all that is nothing but mere water, water, water! I
solemnly reject your prologue and your plan.[69] My cogent
reasoning upon the merits of the case has proved that you can and must
stop the play." On my replying again and again that I was impotent to do
so, his brows darkened, and he muttered with eyes wandering all rou