Volume II Part 6 (1/2)

Laughing at their empty malice, I publicly ed conduct of its action, propriety of rhetoric and harmony of diction, were sufficient to invest a puerile fantastic motive, if taken seriously, with the illusion of reality, and to arrest the attention of the whole hu perhaps some thirty confirmed enemies, ould be sure, when my contention had been proved before their eyes and ears, to accuse a hundred thousand norance, and to renounce their sex rather than adibes; and I found ood my bold assertion The fable of _Il Corvo_, extracted from a Neapolitan story-book, _cunto delle cunte, trattenemiento pe le piccierelle_, and treated by ht the es to the four e for the benefit of hypochondriacs, and in contempt of misunderstood and falsely applied rules from Aristotle

The success of _Il Corvo_ was co Multitudes flocked to hear this old wives' tale, as though it had been sole run; and the two poets were seriously daed in their interests, while the newspapers applauded and extolled the allegory as a splendid example of fraternal affection

I wished to strike while the iron was hot Accordingly, my third fable, the _Re Cervo_, appeared with similar results of popularity and sympathetic criticism A thousand beauties were discovered, which I, rote it, had not seen Folk regarded its allegory as a mirror for those monarchs who allow themselves to be blinded by their confidence in Ministers, and are in consequence transformed into the semblance of reat success of these three pieces to stage decorations and thethe writer's art and science, the charm of his verse, and his adroit eory This impelled me to produce two more fables, _Turandotte_ and _I Pitocchi Fortunati_, in which ic marvels were conspicuous by their absence, while the literary art and science reuonists

I had for with my family of players in our hours of leisure; and very racy did I find the recreation of their society In a short space of time I learned to understand and see into the characters and talents of ht so perfect that all the parts I wrote for them and fitted, so to speak, upon their h they issued naturally froely to the attraction of the spectacle The gift of writing for particular actors, which does not seem to be possessed or put in use by every dra with the comic troupes of Italy The moderate payments which are custo so large a number of actors and actresses as to be able to select the proper representatives of all the varied characters in nature To the accident of ift, and the ability hich I exercised it, e part of my success

Goldoni alone devoted himself with patience to the study of the players who put his premeditated pieces on the boards;[27] but I defy Goldoni and all the writers for our stage to co jokes, witticisms, drolleries, ue, adapted to the native genius of hella, Pantaloni, and Servette, without lapsing into languor and frigidity, and with the sahts, who attempted to put written words into the mouth of extempore actors, only made them unnatural; and obtained, as the reward of their endeavours, the abuse and hisses of the public at the third representation of their insipid pieces It is possibly on this account that they revenged therave and serious criticis our miracles of native fun and humour as contemptible buffoons, all Italy as drunken and besotted, myself as the bolsterer up of theatrical ineptitudes, andrelics of the old _Cooes, everybody will allow that the Masks which I supported as a _tour de force_ of art and for the recreation of the public who rejoiced in them, play the least part in my scenic compositions; my works, in fact, depend for their existence and survival on the sound morality and manly passion, which formed their real substratum, and which found expression on the lips of serious actors[28]

For the rest, the players who looked up to enius Whenever I appeared, they broke into exclaht, and let the whole world know that I was the propitious planet of their resurrection They professed themselves indebted to me for benefits which could not be repaid, except by an eternal gratitude

XL

_The actors and actresses of Italy in general, considered with regard to their profession, their characters, and their manners; written fro all sorts and conditions of hus who offer themselves to a philosophical observer, none are so difficult to know in their real nature as actors and actresses

Educated in deception fro falsehood with an air of candour so coifts of penetration to arrive at their true heart and character

Journeyings from place to place, affairs of business, accidents of all sorts, experience of common life, examples furnished by their commerce with the world, the constant exercise of wit and intellect in rivalry, wake their brains up, and subtilise their comedians' nature

In another chapter I intend to paint a special picture of Sacchi's company, hom I fraternised, and whom I helped for about a quarter of a century At present I shall confine eneral, who are, I think, in no essential points of moral quality different from those of other nations

It may be laid down as an axiom, to be accepted with closed eyes, that the chief idol of all actors is their venal interest Expressions of politeness, acknowledgation, terms of praise, humanity, sy actors, except as parts of a fixed system of deception which they consider necessary in the worshi+p of this idol If that idol of pecuniary interest is attacked (with justice it may be and the best reasons), you will not find in them a shadow of these fine sentiard and blindly sacrifice the persons who have done the to thee they reediness, lulled into security for the ti disasters by address and ingenuity The present moment is all that actors think of

Hot and choleric te this class of people The cool-headed are e is not only applied to persons outside the profession, froains; it is always at work to take in and delude the uild Of course they find it less easy to checkmate the initiated in their own devices But if they have attained to the position of being necessary to their comrades in the trade, there is no sort of i, tyranny, which they do not deeress of our century has extended to many kinds of persons who are not of the profession, have a certainthe tribe of actors Other people, when detected, show some sense of shame and self-abasement The unmasked comedian, after all his turns and twists have been ehs good-humouredly in the face of his detective, and seereat fool if you flatter yourself that you have made a notable discovery”

Such isthe innumerable actors, male and female, whom I have known, conversed with, and studied, some phnix of the one or the other sex may have escaped my observation

In what concerns the practice of their art, all that these people know is how to read and write; one better, and one worse Indeed, I have been acquainted with both actors and actresses who have not even had that minimum of education, and yet they carried on their business without flinching They got their lines read out to them by some friend or some associate, whenever a new part had to be i their ears open to the proe, and played a hero or a heroine without a touch of truth The presentation of such characters by actors of the sort I have described abounds in blunders, stops and stays, and harkings back upon the leading motive, which would put to shame the player in his common walk of life

Barefaced boldness is the priround-element of education in these artists assiduous use of this one talent makes not a few of them both passable and even able actors

These are the reasons why a civil war is always raging in our companies about the first parts in new pieces The conflict does not start from an honest desire to acquire or to manifest theatrical ability The players are actuated wholly by ah the merit of their role, by the wish to keep the ill or well as their blind rashness proes, Italy would be able to ood show in comparison with other nations if our theatres were better supported and re persons of fine presence, of talent, sensibility, and animation What we do want are the refinements of education, solid protection, and ee the actor in his profession

I have observed that the best artists of both sexes are those who have soher culture; but I have also observed that the support of themselves and their families, and the inevitable expenses of their wardrobe, render their professional salaries inadequate Theyupon credulous trades discredit on the whole profession

I have always laughed at those who depreciate the influences of the pulpit, and think they can instil sound morality into the people by the means of scenic shows When Rousseau maintained that the precept _Do what I tell you, and not what I do_, is worthless without a good exaives it forth, he uttered one of the truest things that can be said I leave people tonow diffused in our most recent dramas, the dramas of so-called culture, from the lips of players in the place of preachers