m of the same title in circulation, which passed for
Voltaire's; but I also knew that he disavowed it, and I thought that
would make him conceal the vexation my explanation must have caused him.
It was not so, however; he contradicted me sharply, and I closed with
him.

"Chapelain," said I, "has the merit of having rendered his subject-matter
pleasant, without pandering to the tastes of his readers by saying things
shocking to modesty and piety. So thinks my master Crebillon:"

"Crebillon! You cite a weighty authority. But how is my friend Crebillon
your master, may I ask?"

"He taught me to speak French in less than two years, and as a mark of my
gratitude I translated his Radamiste into Italian Alexandrines. I am the
first Italian who has dared to use this metre in our language."

"The first? I beg your pardon, as that honour belongs to my friend Pierre
Jacques Martelli."

"I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that you are making a mistake."

"Why, I have his works, printed at Bologna, in my room!"

"I don't deny that, I am only talking about the metre used by Martelli.
What you are thinking of must be verses of fourteen syllables; without
alternative masculine and feminine rhymes. However, I confess that he
thinks he has imitated the French Alexandrines, and his preface made me
explode with laughter. Did you read it?"

"Read it? I always read prefaces, and Martelli proves there that his
verses have the same effect in Italian as our Alexandrine verses have in
French."

"Exactly, that's what's so amusing. The worthy man is quite mistaken, and
I only ask you to listen to what I have to say on the subject. Your
masculine verse has only twelve poetic syllables, and the feminine
thirteen. All Martelli's lines have fourteen syllables, except those that
finish with a long vowel, which at the end of a line always counts as two
syllables. You will observe that the first hemistitch in Martelli always
consists of seven syllables, while in French it only has six. Your friend
Pierre Jacques was either stone deaf or very hard of hearing."

"Then you have followed our theory of versification rigorously."

"Just so, in spite of the difficulty, as nearly all our words end with a
short syllable."

"What reception has been accorded to your innovation?"

"It has not been found pleasing, because nobody knows how to recite my
verses; but I hope to triumph when I deliver them myself before our
literary clubs."

"Do you reme