urkish simplicity. The silken tapestries of
Persia, the carpets of Smyrna with those harmonious hues which seem to
be borrowed from the sun, the capacious divans, the bath-rooms, and the
stores, all contribute in short to the completeness of an establishment,
suitable to a Pasha residing under the sky of Provence. A little door in
the park-wall gives access to this oasis. As you may guess, I passed
many an hour there, and I dreamt dreams of "The Thousand and One
Nights."

All this time I had never interrupted my labours; for you need not
suppose that my nabob's fortune could make me forgetful of my
inclinations towards science. In the midst of my numerous follies, as
you know very well, and in spite of the distractions of the more or less
dissipated life which I have led up to my present happy age of
twenty-six, I have always preserved my love of study, which fills up
those hours of forced respite that even the pleasures of the world leave
to every man who is conscious of a brain. The Polytechnic School, and
the search for _x_, in which my uncle trained me, developed very
inquisitive instincts in me. I ended by acquiring a taste for
transcendental ideas. This taste is at least worth as much as that for
angling. For my part, I confess that I class among the molluscs men who,
being their own masters, content themselves with eating, drinking, and
sleeping, without performing any intellectual labour. This is why you
call me "the _savant_."

I worked away, then, at my book with a veritable enthusiasm, and my
"Essay upon the Origin of Sensation" had extended to several long
chapters, when the critical event occurred which I have undertaken to
relate to you.

I had lived thus all alone for two weeks. One evening, on my return from
Arles, where I had been spending a couple of days upon some business, I
was informed that His Excellency, Mohammed-Azis, the old friend of my
uncle, whom I remembered to have seen on one occasion, had arrived at
the chateau the evening before, not having heard of the death of
Barbassou-Pasha. I must admit that this news gave me at the time very
little pleasure; but in memory of my dear departed uncle, I could not
but give his friend the welcome he expected. I was told that His
Excellency had gone straight to his quarters at Kasre-el-Nouzha, where
he was accustomed to dwell. I hastened to send my respects to him,
begging him to let me know if he would receive me. He sent word that he
was at my dis