“The unwary poet returned home greatly pleased, and set to work zealously upon the revision.  At the end of a fortnight he returned for another interview with Pepe; this time the latter found the first act somewhat slow, and advised him at any cost to put more action into it and make it somewhat shorter.  It took the poet a month to rewrite the first act.  When he once more presented himself, the director, while expressing great admiration for the excellence of the verse and for some of the ideas, manifested some doubt as to whether the play was actable.  That it was literary, he had none whatever; on the contrary, it seemed to him that from this point of view it compared favorably with the best of Ayala’s plays,—­but actable, really actable, ah! that was another matter!”

“What is the difference, Don Jeronimo?  I don’t understand.”

“Then I will explain, my boy.  We, who are behind the scenes, mean by actable a good play, and by literary a bad one.”

“I see!”

“After expressing these doubts, the manager concluded by recommending certain additional alterations in the third act.

“At last the poet understood,—­a really marvelous occurrence, because poets, who understand everything else and can tell you why the condor flies so high, who soar to the skies and descend into the abyss and penetrate the secret thoughts of all created things, are not capable of realizing that there are times when their works do not please those who hear them.  Our young man, whom we will call Inocencio, received back his manuscript somewhat peevishly, and for a while nothing further was heard of him.  But at last, doubtless after a good deal of profound meditation, he presented himself on a certain morning at the home of Clotilde.  I hardly need tell you that he carried his manuscript under his arm.

“He waited patiently in the parlor while our young friend completed her toilet, and when at last she made her appearance, she saw before her a blushing and confused young man, who nevertheless was pleasant-mannered and fashionably dressed, and who besought with stammering lips that she would do him the favor of listening while he read his play.  Women, you must know, find a singular pleasure in playing the role of patroness, especially in regard to young men of pleasant manners and fashionable dress.  So that it is not at all surprising that Clotilde listened patiently to the play and even pronounced it acceptable.

“The young man intrusted himself wholly to her guidance, deposited his manuscript in her pretty hands, as though it were a new-born child, and she received it like a doting mother, took it under her protection, and promised to watch over its precious existence and introduce it to the world.  The young man declared that such an intention was worthy of the noble heart whose fame had already reached his ears.  Clotilde replied that it was no kindness on her part to work