most advanced years.
and to die only from the using up of the original humidity
in extreme old age.
Salerno,
1782.
And this is the favorite reading of Dr. Tio-King! And that is why his
disrespectful pupil occasionally gives him the nickname of Cornaro!
I have not time to see anything else in this volume than
Abstinentia
adjicit vitam
; but this motto of the noble Venetian I have no
intention of putting in practice, at least at breakfast time.
There is no change in the order in which we sit down to table. I find
myself close to Major Noltitz, who is looking attentively at Faruskiar
and his companion, placed at the extremity of the table. We are asking
ourselves who this haughty Mongol could be.
"Ah!" said I, laughing at the thought which crossed my mind, "if that
is—"
"Who?" asked the major.
"The chief of the brigands, the famous Ki-Tsang."
"Have your joke, Monsieur Bombarnac, but under your breath, I advise
you!"
"You see, major, he would then be an interesting personage and worth a
long interview!"
We enjoyed our meal as we talked. The breakfast was excellent, the
provisions having come freshly on board at Askhabad and Douchak. For
drink we had tea, and Crimean wine, and Kazan beer; for meat we had
mutton cutlets and excellent preserves; for dessert a melon with pears
and grapes of the best quality.
After breakfast I went to smoke my cigar on the platform behind the
dining car. Caterna almost immediately joins me. Evidently the
estimable comedian has seized the opportunity to enter into
conversation with me.
His intelligent eyes, his smooth face, his cheeks accustomed to false
whiskers, his lips accustomed to false moustaches, his head accustomed
to wigs red, black, or gray, bald or hairy, according to his part,
everything denoted the actor made for the life of the boards. But he
had such an open, cheery face, such an honest look, so frank an
attitude, that he was evidently a really good fellow.
"Sir," said he to me, "are two Frenchmen going all the way from Baku to
Pekin without making each other's acquaintance?"
"Sir," I replied, "when I meet a compatriot—"
"Who is a Parisian—"
"And consequently a Frenchman twice over," I added, "I am only too glad
to shake hands with him! And so, Monsieur Caterna—"
"You know my name?"
"As you know mine, I am sure."
"Of course, Monsieur Claudius Bombarnac, correspondent of the
Twentieth Century
."
"At your service, believe me."
"A thousand thanks, Monsieur Bombarnac, and even ten thousand, as they
say in China, whither Madame Caterna and I are bound."
"To appear at Shanghai in the French troupe at the residency as—"
"You know all that, then?"
"A reporter!"
"Quite so."
"I may add, from sundry nautical phrases I have noticed, that you have
been to sea."
"I believe you, sir. Formerly coxswain of Admiral de Boissondy's launch
on board the
Redoubtable
."
"Then I beg to ask why you, a sailor, did not go by way of the sea?"
"Ah, there it is, Monsieur Bombarnac. Know that Madame Caterna, who is
incontestably the first leading lady of the provinces, and there is not
one to beat her as a waiting maid or in a man's part, cannot stand the
sea. And when I heard of the Grand Transasiatic, I said to her, 'Be
easy, Caroline! Do not worry yourself about the perfidious element. We
will cross Russia, Turkestan, and China, without leaving
terra
firma
!' And that pleased her, the little darling, so brave and so
devoted, so—I am at a loss for a word—well, a lady who will play the
duenna in case of need, rather than leave the manager in a mess! An
artiste, a true artiste!"
It was a pleasure to listen to Caterna; he was in steam, as the
engineer says, and the only thing to do was to let him blow off.
Surprising as it may seem, he adored his wife, and I believe she was
equally fond of him. A well-matched couple, evidently, from what I
learned from my comedian, never embarrassed, very wide awake, content
with his lot, liking nothing so much as the theater—above
and to die only from the using up of the original humidity
in extreme old age.
Salerno,
1782.
And this is the favorite reading of Dr. Tio-King! And that is why his
disrespectful pupil occasionally gives him the nickname of Cornaro!
I have not time to see anything else in this volume than
Abstinentia
adjicit vitam
; but this motto of the noble Venetian I have no
intention of putting in practice, at least at breakfast time.
There is no change in the order in which we sit down to table. I find
myself close to Major Noltitz, who is looking attentively at Faruskiar
and his companion, placed at the extremity of the table. We are asking
ourselves who this haughty Mongol could be.
"Ah!" said I, laughing at the thought which crossed my mind, "if that
is—"
"Who?" asked the major.
"The chief of the brigands, the famous Ki-Tsang."
"Have your joke, Monsieur Bombarnac, but under your breath, I advise
you!"
"You see, major, he would then be an interesting personage and worth a
long interview!"
We enjoyed our meal as we talked. The breakfast was excellent, the
provisions having come freshly on board at Askhabad and Douchak. For
drink we had tea, and Crimean wine, and Kazan beer; for meat we had
mutton cutlets and excellent preserves; for dessert a melon with pears
and grapes of the best quality.
After breakfast I went to smoke my cigar on the platform behind the
dining car. Caterna almost immediately joins me. Evidently the
estimable comedian has seized the opportunity to enter into
conversation with me.
His intelligent eyes, his smooth face, his cheeks accustomed to false
whiskers, his lips accustomed to false moustaches, his head accustomed
to wigs red, black, or gray, bald or hairy, according to his part,
everything denoted the actor made for the life of the boards. But he
had such an open, cheery face, such an honest look, so frank an
attitude, that he was evidently a really good fellow.
"Sir," said he to me, "are two Frenchmen going all the way from Baku to
Pekin without making each other's acquaintance?"
"Sir," I replied, "when I meet a compatriot—"
"Who is a Parisian—"
"And consequently a Frenchman twice over," I added, "I am only too glad
to shake hands with him! And so, Monsieur Caterna—"
"You know my name?"
"As you know mine, I am sure."
"Of course, Monsieur Claudius Bombarnac, correspondent of the
Twentieth Century
."
"At your service, believe me."
"A thousand thanks, Monsieur Bombarnac, and even ten thousand, as they
say in China, whither Madame Caterna and I are bound."
"To appear at Shanghai in the French troupe at the residency as—"
"You know all that, then?"
"A reporter!"
"Quite so."
"I may add, from sundry nautical phrases I have noticed, that you have
been to sea."
"I believe you, sir. Formerly coxswain of Admiral de Boissondy's launch
on board the
Redoubtable
."
"Then I beg to ask why you, a sailor, did not go by way of the sea?"
"Ah, there it is, Monsieur Bombarnac. Know that Madame Caterna, who is
incontestably the first leading lady of the provinces, and there is not
one to beat her as a waiting maid or in a man's part, cannot stand the
sea. And when I heard of the Grand Transasiatic, I said to her, 'Be
easy, Caroline! Do not worry yourself about the perfidious element. We
will cross Russia, Turkestan, and China, without leaving
terra
firma
!' And that pleased her, the little darling, so brave and so
devoted, so—I am at a loss for a word—well, a lady who will play the
duenna in case of need, rather than leave the manager in a mess! An
artiste, a true artiste!"
It was a pleasure to listen to Caterna; he was in steam, as the
engineer says, and the only thing to do was to let him blow off.
Surprising as it may seem, he adored his wife, and I believe she was
equally fond of him. A well-matched couple, evidently, from what I
learned from my comedian, never embarrassed, very wide awake, content
with his lot, liking nothing so much as the theater—above
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