Our play hours afforded me great amusement; my companions of the dormitory, who were all in the class of philosophy at least, looked down upon me with great contempt, and when they spoke of their own sublime discourses, they laughed if I appeared to be listening attentively to their discussions which, as they thought, must have been perfect enigmas to me.  I did not intend to betray myself, but an accident, which I could not avoid, forced me to throw off the mask.

Father Barbarigo, belonging to the Convent of the Salutation at Venice, whose pupil I had been in physics, came to pay a visit to the rector, and seeing me as we were coming from mass paid me his friendly compliments.  His first question was to enquire what science I was studying, and he thought I was joking when I answered that I was learning the grammar.  The rector having joined us, I left them together, and went to my class.  An our later, the rector sent for me.

“Why did you feign such ignorance at the examination?” he asked.

“Why,” I answered, “were you unjust enough to compel me to the degradation of an examination?”

He looked annoyed, and escorted me to the dogmatic school, where my comrades of the dormitory received me with great astonishment, and in the afternoon, at play time, they gathered around me and made me very happy with their professions of friendship.

One of them, about fifteen years old, and who at the present time must, if still alive, be a bishop, attracted my notice by his features as much as by his talents.  He inspired me with a very warm friendship, and during recess, instead of playing skittles with the others, we always walked together.  We conversed upon poetry, and we both delighted in the beautiful odes of Horace.  We liked Ariosto better than Tasso, and Petrarch had our whole admiration, while Tassoni and Muratori, who had been his critics, were the special objects of our contempt.  We were such fast friends, after four days of acquaintance, that we were actually jealous of each other, and to such an extent that if either of us walked about with any seminarist, the other would be angry and sulk like a disappointed lover.

The dormitory was placed under the supervision of a lay friar, and it was his province to keep us in good order.  After supper, accompanied by this lay friar, who had the title of prefect, we all proceeded to the dormitory.  There, everyone had to go to his own bed, and to undress quietly after having said his prayers in a low voice.  When all the pupils were in bed, the prefect would go to his own.  A large lantern lighted up the dormitory, which had the shape of a parallelogram eighty yards by ten.  The beds were placed at equal distances, and to each bed there were a fold-stool, a chair, and room for the trunk of the Seminarist.  At one end was the washing place, and at the other the bed of the prefect.  The bed of my friend was opposite mine, and the lantern was between us.