Bernard.The prince, who was returning in triumph from hunting, and who, by good luck, had that day killed a bear and ruined a countess, had an odd inclination to do a good deed.He approached the plebeian who was about to pass into the condition of a corpse, stirred the thing with his foot, and seeing that there was still a little hope, bade his people bring him along.
>From that day onward, Trespolo saw the dream of his life nearly realised.Something rather above a footman and rather below a house steward, he became the confidant of his master, who found his talents most useful; for this Trespolo was as sharp as a demon and almost as artful as a woman.The prince, who, like an intelligent man as he was, had divined that genius is naturally indolent, asked nothing of him but advice; when tiresome people wanted thrashing, he saw to that matter himself, and, indeed, he was the equal of any two at such work.As nothing in this lower world, however, is complete, Trespolo had strange moments amid this life of delights; from time to time his happiness was disturbed by panics that greatly diverted his master;he would mutter incoherent words, stifle violent sighs, and lose his appetite.The root of the matter was that the poor fellow was afraid of going to hell.The matter was very simple: he was afraid of everything; and, besides, it had often been preached to him that the Devil never allowed a moment's rest to those who were ill-advised enough to fall into his clutches.Trespolo was in one of his good moods of repentance, when the prince, after gazing on the young girl with the fierce eagerness of a vulture about to swoop upon its prey, turned to speak to his intimate adviser.The poor servant understood his master's abominable design, and not wishing to share the guilt of a sacrilegious conversation, opened his eyes very wide and turned them up to heaven in ecstatic contemplation.The prince coughed, stamped his foot, moved his sword so as to hit Trespolo's legs, but could not get from him any sign of attention, so absorbed did he appear in celestial thoughts.Brancaleone would have liked to wring his neck, but both his hands were occupied by the staff of the canopy; and besides, the king was present.
At last they were drawing nearer to the church of St.Clara, where the Neapolitan kings were buried, and where several princesses of the blood, exchanging the crown for the veil, have gone to bury themselves alive.The nuns, novices, and abbess, hidden behind shutters, were throwing flowers upon the procession.A bunch fell at the feet of the Prince of Brancaleone.
"Trespolo, pick up that nosegay," said the prince, so audibly that his servant had no further excuse."It is from Sister Theresa," he added, in a low voice; "constancy is only to be found, nowadays, in a convent."Trespolo picked up the nosegay and came towards his master, looking like a man who was being strangled.
"Who is that girl?" the latter asked him shortly.
"Which one?" stammered the servant.
"Forsooth! The one walking in front of us.""I don't know her, my lord."
"You must find out something about her before this evening.""I shall have to go rather far afield."
"Then you do know her, you intolerable rascal! I have half a mind to have you hanged like a dog.""For pity's sake, my lord, think of the salvation of your soul, of your eternal life.""I advise you to think of your temporal life.What is her name?""She is called Nisida, and is the prettiest girl in the island that she is named after.She is innocence itself.Her father is only a poor fisherman, but I can assure your excellency that in his island he is respected like a king.""Indeed!" replied the prince, with an ironical smile."I must own, to my great shame, that I have never visited the little island of Nisida.You will have a boat ready for me to-morrow, and then we will see."He interrupted himself suddenly, for the king was looking at him; and calling up the most sonorous bass notes that he could find in the depths of his throat, he continued with an inspired air, "Genitori genitoque laus et jubilatio.""Amen," replied the serving-man in a ringing voice.
Nisida, the beloved daughter of Solomon, the fisherman, was, as we have said, the loveliest flower of the island from which she derived her name.That island is the most charming spot, the most delicious nook with which we are acquainted; it is a basket of greenery set delicately amid the pure and transparent waters of the gulf, a hill wooded with orange trees and oleanders, and crowned at the summit by a marble castle.All around extends the fairy-like prospect of that immense amphitheatre, one of the mightiest wonders of creation.
There lies Naples, the voluptuous syren, reclining carelessly on the seashore; there, Portici, Castellamare, and Sorrento, the very names of which awaken in the imagination a thousand thoughts of poetry and love; there are Pausilippo, Baiae, Puozzoli, and those vast plains, where the ancients fancied their Elysium, sacred solitudes which one might suppose peopled by the men of former days, where the earth echoes under foot like an empty grave, and the air has unknown sounds and strange melodies.