the ascendancy he had gained over me, and, in the end, to abuse
his influence, and attained, as I have before said, an almost
incredible degree of insolence and effrontery. Still I pardoned
all his folly, and amused myself from morning to night with
watching his nimble fingers perform a thousand tricks of jugglery.
Even now that I have lost the gaiety of my happy days, when I
recall his irresistibly comic ways, I catch myself laughing, like
an old simpleton, at the bare recollection of his monkey feats.
I could relate twenty of his mischievous pranks, each more
amusing than the other. I will, however, excuse you from hearing
nineteen of them, upon condition that you shall listen to the
twentieth, which I select as being the shortest.

One day, upon which I had invited some select friends to dinner, a
superb pie was brought to table as a present which the ungallant
M. de Maupeou had had the politeness to send me in the morning.
One of the company proceeded to cut it, when scarcely had he
pierced the crust, than its perfidious contents proved to be an
immense swarm of cockchafers, which spread humming and buzzing
all over the chamber. Zamor, who had never before seen these
insects, began to pursue them all over the room, buzzing and
humming as loudly as they did. The chase lasted a long time; but
at last the poor cockchafers weary of carrying on the war, and
mistaking the peruke of M. de Maupeou for an impregnable fortress,
flew to take refuge there. What did Zamor do, but run to the
chancellor, snatch off his wig, and carry it in triumph to a
corner of the room with its colony of cockchafers, leaving us all
to admire the bald head of the chief magistrate. I could willingly
have enjoyed a hearty laugh at this scene, but, out of respect for
M. de Maupeou, I feigned to be much displeased with Zamor, whom