Poland), not as a girl, but as a castrato.
There we will live together without giving anyone cause for scandal, and
you will remain with me and minister to my happiness until I die. All we
have to do is to represent you as Bellino, and it is very easy, as nobody
knows you in Bologna. Bellino's mother will alone know the secret; her
other children have seen their brother only when he was very young, and
can have no suspicion. But if you love me you must renounce your sex,
lose even the remembrance of it, and leave immediately for Bologna,
dressed as a boy, and under the name of Bellino. You must be very careful
lest anyone should find out that you are a girl; you must sleep alone,
dress yourself in private, and when your bosom is formed, as it will be
in a year or two, it will only be thought a deformity not uncommon
amongst 'castrati'. Besides, before leaving you, I will give you a small
instrument, and teach how to fix it in such manner that, if you had at
any time to submit to an examination, you would easily be mistaken for a
man. If you accept my plan, I feel certain that we can live together in
Dresden without losing the good graces of the queen, who is very
religious. Tell me, now, whether you will accept my proposal?

"He could not entertain any doubt of my consent, for I adored him. As
soon as he had made a boy of me we left Rimini for Bologna, where we
arrived late in the evening. A little gold made everything right with
Bellino's mother; I gave her the name of mother, and she kissed me,
calling me her dear son. Salimberi left us, and returned a short time
afterwards with the instrument which would complete my transformation. He
taught me, in the presence of my new mother, how to fix it with some
tragacanth gum, and I found myself exactly like my friend. I would have
laughed at it, had not my heart been deeply grieved at the departure of
my beloved Salimberi, for he bade me farewell as soon as the curious
operation was completed. People laugh at forebodings; I do not believe in
them myself, but the foreboding of evil, which almost broke my heart as
he gave me his farewell kiss, did not deceive me. I felt the cold
shivering of death run through me; I felt I was looking at him for the
last time, and I fainted away. Alas! my fears proved only too prophetic.
Salimberi died a year ago in the Tyrol in the prime of life, with the
calmness of a true philosopher. His death compelled me to earn my living
with the assista