lovely on the sign, — they presented to the astonished eyes
such an assemblage of lilies and roses, the enchanting
result of the change of style in Pittrino — they assumed
the poses of sirens so Anacreontically — that the principal
echevin, when admitted to view this capital piece in the
salle of Cropole, at once declared that these ladies were
too handsome, of too animated a beauty, to figure as a sign
in the eyes of passers-by.
To Pittrino he added, “His royal highness, Monsieur, who
often comes into our city, will not be much pleased to see
his illustrious mother so slightly clothed, and he will send
you to the oubliettes of the state; for, remember, the heart
of that glorious prince is not always tender. You must
efface either the two sirens or the legend, without which I
forbid the exhibition of the sign. I say this for your sake,
Master Cropole, as well as for yours, Signor Pittrino.”
What answer could be made to this? It was necessary to thank
the echevin for his kindness, which Cropole did. But
Pittrino remained downcast and said he felt assured of what
was about to happen.
The visitor was scarcely gone when Cropole, crossing his
arms, said: “Well, master, what is to be done?”
“We must efface the legend,” said Pittrino, in a melancholy
tone. “I have some excellent ivory-black; it will be done in
a moment, and we will replace the Medici by the nymphs or
the sirens, whichever you prefer.”
“No,” said Cropole, “the will of my father must be carried
out. My father considered —- ”
“He considered the figures of the most importance,” said
Pittrino.
“He thought most of the legend,” said Cropole.
“The proof of the importance in which he held the figures,”
said Pittrino, “is that he desired they should be
likenesses, and they are so.”
“Yes; but if they had not been so, who would have recognized
them without the legend? At the present day even, when the
memory of the Blaisois begins to be faint with regard to
these two celebrated persons, who would recognize Catherine
and Mary without the words `To the Medici’?”
“But the figures?” said Pittrino, in despair; for he felt
that young Cropole was right. “I should not like to lose the
fruit of my labor.”
Page 32
Dumas, Alexandre – Ten Years Later
“And I should not wish you to be thrown into prison and
myself into the oubliettes.”
“Let us efface `Medici,’ ” said Pittrino, supplicatingly.
“No,” replied Cropole, firmly. “I have got an idea, a
sublime idea — your picture shall appear, and my legend
likewise. Does not `Medici’ mean doctor, or physician, in
Italian?”
“Yes, in the plural.”
“Well, then, you shall order another sign-frame of the
smith; you shall paint six physicians, and write underneath
`Aux Medici’ which makes a very pretty play upon words.”
“Six physicians! impossible! And the composition?” cried
Pittrino.
“That is your business — but so it shall be — I insist
upon it — it must be so — my macaroni is burning.”
This reasoning was peremptory — Pittrino obeyed. He
composed the sign of six physicians, with the legend; the
echevin applauded and authorized it.
The sign produced an extravagant success in the city, which
proves that poetry has always been in the wrong, before
citizens, as Pittrino said.
Cropole, to make amends to his painter-in-ordinary, hung up
the nymphs of the preceding sign in his bedroom, which made
Madame Cropole blush every time she looked at it, when she
was undressing at night.
This is the way in which the pointed-gable house got a sign;
and this is how the hostelry of the Medici, making a
fortune, was found to be enlarged by a quarter, as we have
described. And this is how there was at Blois a hostelry of
that name, and had for painter-in-ordinary Master Pittrino.
CHAPTER 6
The Unknown.
Thus founded and recommended by its sign, the hostelry of
Master Cropole held its way steadily on towards a solid
prosperity.
It was not an immense fortune that Cropole had in
perspective; but he might hope to double the thousand louis
d’or left by his father, to make another thousand louis by
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