[BNP/E3, 144R – 14^v-15]

28

The Mansion

- “You are going to see a most curious mansion,” my great friend was saying, as the carriage rolled in a cloud of dust along the enormous road.

- “Eighteenth century?”

“A magnificent John[1] V. You’ll see. And then, it has a beautiful tale[2]. It ought to make an impression upon you.”

We were traversing the old and celebrated fields of Coimbra. We followed the Montemór road. There had been floods, and all that extensive wet plain shone in the sun, silvery and smooth, dotted with green islets where herbs shoot and trunks of trees stretched into the air their gnarled arms. Not a ripple stirred that long sheet of water. All the landscape, under the golden canopy of the sun had an ecstatic and undisturbed air. All round, though indeed far away, girding the immense plain, was an undulating belt of hills, like the tiers of seats of an immense colosseum, which a thin mist seemed to remove still more.

[15^r]

29

The Mansion.

“You are going to see a most curious mansion” — my great friend was saying, as the carriage moved monotonously in a cloud of dust along the enormous road.

“Eighteenth century?”

“A magnificent John V[3]. You will see. And then. With a beautiful story. It ought to affect you.[”]

______________________________________________________

Charles Robert Anon.

______________________________________________________

My dear friend Jones called in upon me yesterday. When Jones calls there is always something {…}

[1] John ^/João\

[2] tale ^/(story)\

[3] John V^{/(João V)\}