erative as it is, excluding for a moment wit, sprightliness, and charm.
Give her more reserve, more dignity, more tender kindliness, and also more
indulgent experience and you will have, scarcely any older, and already a
widow, Araminte of _les Fausses Confidences_" (Henri Lion, in _Histoire de la
langue et de la litterature francaise_ Petit de Julleville, tome VI, p. 587).

[2] ARLEQUIN. One of the brightest and merriest of roles. In passing to the
Comedie-Francaise, this role, which at the Comedie-Italienne was played by
Harlequin, was introduced under the name of Pasquin. It is possible that the
personage of Harlequin has descended from the Greek plays, in which there
appeared an actor filling a similar role and dressed in the skin of a goat or
a tiger; but so early an origin, even if it could be proved, would not serve
to explain the costume in which he now appears, and which is itself a
modification of that worn by Harlequin in the sixteenth century.

The part of Harlequin, in the Italian comedy, appears to have originated in
the role of the _zanni_, or clown, which comprised several varieties, such as
Scapino, Coviello, etc. The costume of the part, whether the _zanni_
represented a stupid lout or a bright and resourceful valet, consisted of a
loose jacket, very full trousers, a small cape, a broad-brimmed hat with
feathers, and a wooden sword. This dress was varied later for the parts of
Sganarelle and Pierrot, and the Harlequin dress itself was changed to a
certain extent in the sixteenth century.

A description of his costume has come down to us from the time of Henry IV.
"It is composed of a jacket open in front and fastened by cheap ribbons; of
tight-fitting pantaloons, covered with pieces of cloth of different colors,
placed at random. The jacket also is patched. He has a stiff, black beard,
the black half-mask, and a cap shaped like those of the time of Francis I; no
linen; the belt, the pouch, and the wooden sword. His feet are clad in very
thin foot-gear, covered at the ankles by the pantaloons, which serve as
gaiters" (Maurice Sand, _Masques et Bouffons_, p. 72). It was further
changed, as well as the character itself, by the famous Dominique, of the
Italian comedians to King Louis XIV. He made of Harlequin a clever and witty
personage, instead of a stupid lout, and this change was accepted by the
writers of plays for that particular troupe. The dress is greatly modified.
The jacket is closer fitting; the