Frederick the Great and His Family [235]
cups whizzed through the air and wounded severely the heads against which they were well aimed. Here and there might be heard whimperings and piteous complaints, mixed with curses and frantic battle-cries--" Long live Theresa!"
"Long live Frederick!" Some of the warriors crept from the contest into the corners to wipe the blood from their wounds and return with renewed courage to the contest. A few cowards had crept under the table to escape the cups and kicks which were falling in every direction.
Father Anselmo remarked them, and with loud, derisive laughter he pointed them out.
"The Teresiani live under the table, no Prussiano has crept there. All the Teresiani would gladly hide as they have often done before."
The Prussiani accompanied these words of their leader with joyous shouts.
The father guardian trembled with rage; he seized a large dish from the table and dashed it at Anselmo, who dodged in time, and then with a powerful arm returned the compliment. It was a well-directed javelin. The tin dish struck the father guardian exactly in the back--he lost his balance, and fell to the earth. The Prussiani greeted this heroic deed of their chief with shouts of triumph. "So shall all the Teresiani perish!"
The battle waxed hotter and fiercer, the air was thick with missiles.
"They will murder each other!" cried the prior, turning to the Baron Cocceji.
"Not so, your worship; there will only be a few blue swellings and bleeding noses--nothing more," said Cocceji, laughing.
"Ah, you laugh young man; you laugh at this sad spectacle!"
"Forgive me, your worship; but I swear to you, I have never seen warriors more eager in the fray, and I have never been more curious to witness the result of any battle."
"But you shall not witness it," said the prior, resolutely. "You shall no longer be a spectator of the unworthy and shameful conduct of my monks. I pray you to withdraw instantly; in a few hours I will send you the letters, and if you believe that I have rendered you the least service, I ask in return that you will tell no one what you have seen."
"I promise, your worship," said Cocceji, with forced gravity. "If the people without shall ask me what all this tumult means, I will say that the pious fathers in the cloister are singing their 'floras.'" [Footnote: Baron Cocceji did not keep his word, as this whole scene is historic.]
Baron Cocceji bowed to the prior, and returned with gay and hopeful thoughts to the hotel of the "White Lion."
A few hours later, a monk appeared and desired to speak with the stranger about the holy relics.
Cocceji recognized in him the worthy Father Anselmo, the victor over the father guardian.
"Will you do me a great pleasure, worthy father?" said he. "Tell me which party remained in possession of the field after your great battle."
An expression of triumphant joy flashed in Father Anselmo's eyes.
"The Prussiani were victorious, and I think the Teresiani will never dare to recommence the strife; four of their monks lie in their cells with broken noses, and it will be some weeks before the father guardian will be capable of performing his duties as spy; he is sore and stiff, and his mouth is poorer by a few teeth. May all the enemies of the great Frederick share his fate! May God bless the King of Prussia and be gracious to his friends!"
He greeted the baron with the sign of the cross, and withdrew.
The baron remembered the warning of the prior, and hastened quietly from Venice. Already the next morning he was on the highway to Turin. [Footnote: This diplomatic mission failed, because of the faint heart of the King of Sardinia. He rejected the bold propositions of Frederick entirely, and said, in justification of himself, that since the alliance between the powers of France and Austria, he had his head between a pair of tongs, which were ever threatening to close and crush him. Baron Cocceji was not more fortunate in Naples, and after many vain efforts he was forced to return home, having accomplished nothing.--Duten's "Memoirs of a Traveller."]
"Long live Frederick!" Some of the warriors crept from the contest into the corners to wipe the blood from their wounds and return with renewed courage to the contest. A few cowards had crept under the table to escape the cups and kicks which were falling in every direction.
Father Anselmo remarked them, and with loud, derisive laughter he pointed them out.
"The Teresiani live under the table, no Prussiano has crept there. All the Teresiani would gladly hide as they have often done before."
The Prussiani accompanied these words of their leader with joyous shouts.
The father guardian trembled with rage; he seized a large dish from the table and dashed it at Anselmo, who dodged in time, and then with a powerful arm returned the compliment. It was a well-directed javelin. The tin dish struck the father guardian exactly in the back--he lost his balance, and fell to the earth. The Prussiani greeted this heroic deed of their chief with shouts of triumph. "So shall all the Teresiani perish!"
The battle waxed hotter and fiercer, the air was thick with missiles.
"They will murder each other!" cried the prior, turning to the Baron Cocceji.
"Not so, your worship; there will only be a few blue swellings and bleeding noses--nothing more," said Cocceji, laughing.
"Ah, you laugh young man; you laugh at this sad spectacle!"
"Forgive me, your worship; but I swear to you, I have never seen warriors more eager in the fray, and I have never been more curious to witness the result of any battle."
"But you shall not witness it," said the prior, resolutely. "You shall no longer be a spectator of the unworthy and shameful conduct of my monks. I pray you to withdraw instantly; in a few hours I will send you the letters, and if you believe that I have rendered you the least service, I ask in return that you will tell no one what you have seen."
"I promise, your worship," said Cocceji, with forced gravity. "If the people without shall ask me what all this tumult means, I will say that the pious fathers in the cloister are singing their 'floras.'" [Footnote: Baron Cocceji did not keep his word, as this whole scene is historic.]
Baron Cocceji bowed to the prior, and returned with gay and hopeful thoughts to the hotel of the "White Lion."
A few hours later, a monk appeared and desired to speak with the stranger about the holy relics.
Cocceji recognized in him the worthy Father Anselmo, the victor over the father guardian.
"Will you do me a great pleasure, worthy father?" said he. "Tell me which party remained in possession of the field after your great battle."
An expression of triumphant joy flashed in Father Anselmo's eyes.
"The Prussiani were victorious, and I think the Teresiani will never dare to recommence the strife; four of their monks lie in their cells with broken noses, and it will be some weeks before the father guardian will be capable of performing his duties as spy; he is sore and stiff, and his mouth is poorer by a few teeth. May all the enemies of the great Frederick share his fate! May God bless the King of Prussia and be gracious to his friends!"
He greeted the baron with the sign of the cross, and withdrew.
The baron remembered the warning of the prior, and hastened quietly from Venice. Already the next morning he was on the highway to Turin. [Footnote: This diplomatic mission failed, because of the faint heart of the King of Sardinia. He rejected the bold propositions of Frederick entirely, and said, in justification of himself, that since the alliance between the powers of France and Austria, he had his head between a pair of tongs, which were ever threatening to close and crush him. Baron Cocceji was not more fortunate in Naples, and after many vain efforts he was forced to return home, having accomplished nothing.--Duten's "Memoirs of a Traveller."]