At the end
of another week Popanilla was forgotten.
CHAPTER 4
Six months had elapsed since the first chest of the cargo of Useful
Knowledge destined for the fortunate Maldives had been digested by the
recluse Popanilla; for a recluse he had now become. Great students are
rather dull companions. Our Fantaisian friend, during his first
studies, was as moody, absent, and querulous as are most men of genius
during that mystical period of life. He was consequently avoided by the
men and quizzed by the women, and consoled himself for the neglect of
the first and the taunts of the second by the indefinite sensation that
he should, some day or other, turn out that little being called a great
man. As for his mistress, she considered herself insulted by being
addressed by a man who had lost her lock of hair. When the chest was
exhausted Popanilla was seized with a profound melancholy. Nothing
depresses a man's spirits more completely than a self-conviction of
self-conceit; and Popanilla, who had been accustomed to consider himself
and his companions as the most elegant portion of the visible creation,
now discovered, with dismay, that he and his fellow-islanders were
nothing more than a horde of useless savages.
Pages:
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28