“But I was a dwarf, and he resembles Achilles in stature; I was poor and he does not know what to do with his wealth; maidens fled from me as they seek him; I was found in the streets; and a father still guides, a loving mother kisses him.  I don’t envy him, for whoever enters life an orphan is spared the pain of becoming one afterward.”

“You speak bitter words.”

“He who is beaten does not laugh.”

“So you envy Leonax his prosperity?”

“No, for, though I might have such excellent cause to complain, I envy no king, for there is but one person whose inmost heart I know thoroughly, and that one stands before you.

“You revile Fate, and yet believe it possible that we may all have more sorrow to bear than you.”

“You have understood me rightly.”

“Then admit that you may be happier than many.”

“If only most of the contented people were not stupid.  However, this morning I am pleased, because your father gave me this new garment, and I rarely need despair; I earn enough bread, cheese, and wine with the aid of my hens, and am not obliged to ask any man’s favor.  I go with my cart wherever I choose.”

“Then you ought to thank the gods, instead of accusing them.”

“No, for absence of suffering is not happiness.”

“And do you believe Leonax happy?”

“Hitherto he seems to be, and the fickle goddess will perhaps remain faithful to him longer than to many others, for he is busy from early till late, and is his father’s right-hand.  At least he won’t fall into one of the pits Fate digs for mortals.”

“And that is—?”

“Weariness.  Thousands are worse, and few better, than your cousin; yes, the maiden he chooses for his wife may rejoice.”  Xanthe blushed, and the dwarf, as he entered the gate, asked: 

“Is Leonax wooing his little cousin?”

“Perhaps.”

“But the little cousin has some one else in her mind.”

“Who told you so?”

“My hens.”

“Then remember me to them!” cried Xanthe, who left the juggler and ran straight toward the path leading to the sea.

Just at the point where the latter branched off from the broader road used by carts as well as foot-passengers, stood a singular monument, before which the young girl checked her steps.

The praise the conjurer had lavished on Leonax afforded her little pleasure; nay, she would rather have heard censure of the Messina suitor, for, if he corresponded with the dwarf’s portrait, he would be the right man to supply a son’s place to her father, and rule as master over the estate, where many things did not go on as they ought.  Then she must forget the faithless night-reveller, Phaon—­if she could.

Every possession seems most charming at the time we are obliged to resign it, and never in all her life had Xanthe thought so tenderly and longingly of Phaon as now and on this spot.