Oh! free
men! when you thank God that you were born for that harvest, think of
those who are no more, tell yourself that we have dearly purchased the
repose which you enjoy; pity us more than all your fathers, for we have
suffered the evil which entitled them to pity and we have lost that which
consoled them.
CHAPTER III
I MUST explain how I was first taken with the malady of the age.
I attended a great supper, after a masquerade. About me my friends richly
costumed, on all sides young men and women, all sparkling with beauty and
joy; on the right and on the left exquisite dishes, flagons, splendor,
flowers; above my head a fine orchestra, and before me my mistress, a
superb creature, whom I idolized.
I was then nineteen; I had experienced no great misfortune, I had
suffered from no disease; my character was at once haughty and frank, my
heart full of the hopes of youth. The fumes of wine fermented in my head;
it was one of those moments of intoxication when all that one sees and
hears, speaks to one of the adored. All nature appeared then a beautiful
stone with a thousand facets on which was engraven the mysterious name.
One would willingly embrace all who smile, and one feels that he is
brother of all who live. My mistress had granted me a rendezvous for the
night and I was gently raising my glass to my lips while my eyes were
fixed on her.
As I turned to take a napkin, my fork fell.
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