pretended Cigala were at one time well-to-do, and ranked high in the
esteem of Prince Mathias of Moldavia, but that this youth was a black
sheep in the flock from the very beginning. After the death of his
father he had a fair chance of distinguishing himself, for the
Moldavian prince took him into his service, and sent him to join his
minister at Constantinople. Here he might have risen to some eminence;
but he was too closely watched to render his life agreeable, and after
a brief sojourn in the Turkish capital returned to his native land.
Here he became intimately acquainted with a married priest of the
Greek Church, and made love to his wife; but the woman, the better to
conceal the familiarity which existed between herself and the young
courtier, led her husband to believe that he had an affection for her
daughter, of which she approved. The simple ecclesiastic credited the
story; until it became apparent that the stranger's practical fondness
extended to the mother as well as the daughter, and that he had taken
advantage of the hospitality which was extended to him to debauch all
the priest's womankind. A complaint was laid before Prince Mathias,
who would have executed him if he had not fled to the shores of the
Golden Horn. He remained in Constantinople until the death of the
Moldavian ruler, when he impudently returned to Wallachia, thinking
that his former misdemeanours had been forgotten, and hoping to be
advanced to some prominent post during the general disarrangement of
affairs. His identity was, however, discovered; his old crimes were
brought against him; and he only escaped the executioner's sword by
flight. For the third time Constantinople became his home, and on this
occasion he embraced the Moslem faith, hoping to secure his
advancement thereby. The Turks, however, viewed the renegade with
suspicion, and treated him with neglect. Therefore, driven by
starvation, he ranged from place to place about Christendom, and in
countries where he was utterly unknown concocted and published the