my journey to cesena in search of treasure — i take up my quarters in franzia’s house — his daughter javotte

the opera was nearly over when i was accosted by a young man who, abruptly, and without any introduction, told me that as a stranger — i had been very wrong in spending two months in mantua without paying a visit to the natural history collection belonging to his father, don antonio capitani, commissary and prebendal president.

“sir,” i answered, “i have been guilty only through ignorance, and if you would be so good as to call for me at my hotel to-morrow morning, before the evening i shall have atoned for my error, and you will no longer have the right to address me the same reproach”

the son of the prebendal commissary called for me, and i found in his father a most eccentric, whimsical sort of man. the curiosities of his collection consisted of his family tree, of books of magic, relics, coins which he believed to be antediluvian, a model of the ark taken from nature at the time when noah arrived in that extraordinary harbour, mount ararat, in armenia. he load several medals, one of sesostris, another of semiramis, and an old knife of a queer shape, covered with rust. besides all those wonderful treasures, he possessed, but under lock and key, all the paraphernalia of freemasonry.

“pray, tell me,” i said to him, “what relation there is between this collection and natural history? i see nothing here representing the three kingdoms.”

“what! you do not see the antediluvian kingdom, that of sesostris and that of semiramis? are not those the three kingdoms?”

when i heard that answer i embraced him with an exclamation of delight, which was sarcastic in its intent, but which he took for admiration, and he at once unfolded all the treasures of his whimsical knowledge respecting his possessions, ending with the rusty blade which he said was the very knife with which saint peter cut off the ear of malek.

“what!” i exclaimed, “you are the possessor of this knife, and you are not as rich as croesus?”

“how could i be so through the possession of the knife?”

“in two ways. in the first place, you could obtain possession of all the treasures hidden under ground in the states of the church.”

“yes, that is a natural consequence, because st. peter has the keys.”

“in the second place, you might sell the knife to the pope, if you happen to possess proof of its authenticity.”

“you mean the parchment. of course i have it; do you think i would have bought one without the other?”

“all right, then. in order to get possession of that knife, the pope would, i have no doubt, make a cardinal of your son, but you must have the sheath too.”

“i have not got it, but it is unnecessary. at all events i can have one made.”

“that would not do, you must have the very one in which saint peter himself sheathed the knife when god said, ‘mitte gladium tuum in vaginam’. that very sheath does exist, and it is now in the hands of a person who might sell it to you at a reasonable price, or you might sell him your knife, for the sheath without the knife is of no use to him, just as the knife is useless to you without the sheath.”

“how much would it cost me?”

“one thousand sequins.”

“and how much would that person give me for the knife?”

“one thousand sequins, for one has as much value as the other.”

the commissary, greatly astonished, looked at his son, and said, with the voice of a judge on the bench,

“well, son, would you ever have thought that i would be offered one thousand sequins for this knife?”

he then opened a drawer and took out of it an old piece of paper, which he placed before me. it was written in hebrew, and a facsimile of the knife was drawn on it. i pretended to be lost in admiration, and advised him very strongly to purchase the sheath.

“it is not necessary for me to buy it, or for your friend to purchase the knife. we can find out and dig up the treasures together.”

“not at all. the rubric says in the most forcible manner that the owner of the blade, ‘in vaginam’, shall be one. if the pope were in possession of it he would be able, through a magical operation known to me, to cut off one of the ears of every christian king who might be thinking of encroaching upon the rights of the church.”

“wonderful, indeed! but it is very true, for it is said in the gospel that saint peter did cut off the ear of somebody.”

“yes, of a king.”

“oh, no! not of a king.”

“of a king, i tell you. enquire whether malek or melek does not mean king.”

“well! in case i should make up my mind to sell the knife, who would give me the thousand sequins?”

“i would; one half to-morrow, cash down; the balance of five hundred in a letter of exchange payable one month after date.”

“ah! that is like business. be good enough, to accept a dish of macaroni with us to-morrow, and under a solemn pledge of secrecy we will discuss this important affair.”

i accepted and took my leave, firmly resolved on keeping up the joke. i came back on the following day, and the very first thing he told me was that, to his certain knowledge, there was an immense treasure hidden somewhere in the papal states, and that he would make up his mind to purchase the sheath. this satisfied me that there was no fear of his taking me at my word, so i produced a purse full of gold, saying i was quite ready to complete our bargain for the purchase of the knife.

“the treasure,” he said, “is worth millions; but let us have dinner. you are not going to be served in silver plates and dishes, but in real raphael mosaic.”

“my dear commissary, your magnificence astonishes me; mosaic is, indeed, by far superior to silver plate, although an ignorant fool would only consider it ugly earthen ware.”

the compliment delighted him.

after dinner, he spoke as follows:

“a man in very good circumstances, residing in the papal states, and owner of the country house in which he lives with all his family, is certain that there is a treasure in his cellar. he has written to my son, declaring himself ready to undertake all expenses necessary to possess himself of that treasure, if we could procure a magician powerful enough to unearth it.”

the son then took a letter out of his pocket, read me some passages, and begged me to excuse him if, in consequence of his having pledged himself to keep the secret, he could not communicate all the contents of the letter; but i had, unperceived by him, read the word cesena, the name of the village, and that was enough for me.

“therefore all that is necessary is to give me the possibility of purchasing the sheath on credit, for i have no ready cash at present. you need not be afraid of endorsing my letters of exchange, and if you should know the magician you might go halves with him.”

“the magician is ready; it is i, but unless you give me five hundred sequins cash down we cannot agree.”

“i have no money.”

“then sell me the knife:”

“no.”

“you are wrong, for now that i have seen it i can easily take it from you. but i am honest enough not to wish to play such a trick upon you.”

“you could take my knife from me? i should like to be convinced of that, but i do not believe it.”

“you do not? very well, to-morrow the knife will be in my possession, but when it is once in my hands you need not hope to see it again. a spirit which is under my orders will bring it to me at midnight, and the same spirit will tell me where the treasure is buried:”

“let the spirit tell you that, and i shall be convinced.”

“give me a pen, ink and paper.”

i asked a question from my oracle, and the answer i had was that the treasure was to be found not far from the rubicon.

“that is,” i said, “a torrent which was once a river:”

they consulted a dictionary, and found that the rubicon flowed through cesena. they were amazed, and, as i wished them to have full scope for wrong reasoning, i left them.

i had taken a fancy, not to purloin five hundred sequins from those poor fools, but to go and unearth the amount at their expense in the house of another fool, and to laugh at them all into the bargain. i longed to play the part of a magician. with that idea, when i left the house of the ridiculous antiquarian, i proceeded to the public library, where, with the assistance of a dictionary, i wrote the following specimen of facetious erudition:

“the treasure is buried in the earth at a depth of seventeen and a half fathoms, and has been there for six centuries. its value amounts to two millions of sequins, enclosed in a casket, the same which was taken by godfrey de bouillon from mathilda, countess of tuscany, in the year 1081, when he endeavoured to assist henry iv, against that princess. he buried the box himself in the very spot where it now is, before he went to lay siege to jerusalem. gregory vii, who was a great magician, having been informed of the place where it had been hidden, had resolved on getting possession of it himself, but death prevented him from carrying out his intentions. after the death of the countess mathilda, in the year 1116, the genius presiding over all hidden treasures appointed seven spirits to guard the box. during a night with a full moon, a learned magician can raise the treasure to the surface of the earth by placing himself in the middle of the magical ring called maximus:”

i expected to see the father and son, and they came early in the morning. after some rambling conversation, i gave them what i had composed at the library, namely, the history of the treasure taken from the countess mathilda.

i told them that i had made up my mind to recover the treasure, and i promised them the fourth part of it, provided they would purchase the sheath; i concluded by threatening again to possess myself of their knife.

“i cannot decide,” said the commissary, “before i have seen the sheath.”

“i pledge my word to shew it to you to-morrow,” i answered.

we parted company, highly pleased with each other.

in order to manufacture a sheath, such as the wonderful knife required, it was necessary to combine the most whimsical idea with the oddest shape. i recollected very well the form of the blade, and, as i was revolving in my mind the best way to produce something very extravagant but well adapted to the purpose i had in view, i spied in the yard of the hotel an old piece of leather, the remnant of what had been a fine gentleman’s boot; it was exactly what i wanted.

i took that old sole, boiled it, and made in it a slit in which i was certain that the knife would go easily. then i pared it carefully on all sides to prevent the possibility of its former use being found out; i rubbed it with pumice stone, sand, and ochre, and finally i succeeded in imparting to my production such a queer, old-fashioned shape that i could not help laughing in looking at my work.

when i presented it to the commissary, and he had found it an exact fit for the knife, the good man remained astounded. we dined together, and after dinner it was decided that his son should accompany me, and introduce me to the master of the house in which the treasure was buried, that i was to receive a letter of exchange for one thousand roman crowns, drawn by the son on bologna, which would be made payable to my name only after i should have found the treasure, and that the knife with the sheath would be delivered into my hands only when i should require it for the great operation; until then the son was to retain possession of it.

those conditions having been agreed upon, we made an agreement in writing, binding upon all parties, and our departure was fixed for the day after the morrow.

as we left mantua, the father pronounced a fervent blessing over his son’s head, and told me that he was count palatine, shewing me the diploma which he had received from the pope. i embraced him, giving him his title of count, and pocketed his letter of exchange.

after bidding adieu to marina, who was then the acknowledged mistress of count arcorati, and to baletti whom i was sure of meeting again in venice before the end of the year, i went to sup with my friend o’neilan.

we started early in the morning, travelled through ferrara and bologna, and reached cesena, where we put up at the posting-house. we got up early the next day and walked quietly to the house of george franzia, a wealthy peasant, who was owner of the treasure. it was only a quarter of a mile from the city, and the good man was agreeably surprised by our arrival. he embraced capitani, whom he knew already, and leaving me with his family he went out with my companion to talk business.

observant as usual, i passed the family in review, and fixed my choice upon the eldest daughter. the youngest girl was ugly, and the son looked a regular fool. the mother seemed to be the real master of the household, and there were three or four servants going about the premises.

the eldest daughter was called genevieve, or javotte, a very common name among the girls of cesena. i told her that i thought her eighteen; but she answered, in a tone half serious, half vexed, that i was very much mistaken, for she had only just completed her fourteenth year.

“i am very glad it is so, my pretty child.”

these words brought back her smile.

the house was well situated, and there was not another dwelling around it for at least four hundred yards. i was glad to see that i should have comfortable quarters, but i was annoyed by a very unpleasant stink which tainted the air, and which could certainly not be agreeable to the spirits i had to evoke.

“madame franzia,” said i, to the mistress of the house, “what is the cause of that bad smell?”

“sir, it arises from the hemp which we are macerating.”

i concluded that if the cause were removed, i should get rid of the effect.

“what is that hemp worth, madam?” i enquired.

“about forty crowns.”

“here they are; the hemp belongs to me now, and i must beg your husband to have it removed immediately.”

capitani called me, and i joined him. franzia shewed me all the respect due to a great magician, although i had not much the appearance of one.

we agreed that he should receive one-fourth of the treasure, capitani another fourth, and that the remainder should belong to me. we certainly did not shew much respect for the rights of saint peter.

i told franzia that i should require a room with two beds for myself alone, and an ante-room with bathing apparatus. capitani’s room was to be in a different part of the house, and my room was to be provided with three tables, two of them small and one large. i added that he must at once procure me a sewing-girl between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, she was to be a virgin, and it was necessary that she should, as well as every person in the house, keep the secret faithfully, in order that no suspicion of our proceedings should reach the inquisition, or all would be lost.

“i intend to take up my quarters here to-morrow,” i added; “i require two meals every day, and the only wine i can drink is jevese. for my breakfast i drink a peculiar kind of chocolate which i make myself, and which i have brought with me. i promise to pay my own expenses in case we do not succeed. please remove the hemp to a place sufficiently distant from the house, so that its bad smell may not annoy the spirits to be evoked by me, and let the air be purified by the discharge of gunpowder. besides, you must send a trusty servant to-morrow to convey our luggage from the hotel here, and keep constantly in the house and at my disposal one hundred new wax candles and three torches.”

after i had given those instructions to franzia, i left him, and went towards cesena with capitani, but we had not gone a hundred yards when we heard the good man running after us.

“sir,” he said to me, “be kind enough to take back the forty crowns which you paid to my wife for the hemp.”

“no, i will not do anything of the sort, for i do not want you to sustain any loss.”

“take them back, i beg. i can sell the hemp in the course of the day for forty crowns without difficulty”

“in that case i will, for i have confidence in what you say.”

such proceedings on my part impressed the excellent man very favourably, and he entertained the deepest veneration for me, which was increased, when, against capitani’s advice, i resolutely refused one hundred sequins which he wanted to force upon me for my travelling expenses. i threw him into raptures by telling him that on the eve of possessing an immense treasure, it was unnecessary to think of such trifles.

the next morning our luggage was sent for, and we found ourselves comfortably located in the house of the wealthy and simple franzia.

he gave us a good dinner, but with too many dishes, and i told him to be more economical, and to give only some good fish for our supper, which he did. after supper he told me that, as far as the young maiden was concerned, he thought he could recommend his daughter javotte, as he had consulted his wife, and had found i could rely upon the girl being a virgin.

“very good,” i said; “now tell me what grounds you have for supposing that there is a treasure in your house?”

“in the first place, the oral tradition transmitted from father to son for the last eight generations; in the second, the heavy sounds which are heard under ground during the night. besides, the door of the cellar opens and shuts of itself every three or four minutes; which must certainly be the work of the devils seen every night wandering through the country in the shape of pyramidal flames.”

“if it is as you say, it is evident that you have a treasure hidden somewhere in your house; it is as certain as the fact that two and two are four. be very careful not to put a lock to the door of the cellar to prevent its opening and shutting of itself; otherwise you would have an earthquake, which would destroy everything here. spirits will enjoy perfect freedom, and they break through every obstacle raised against them.”

“god be praised for having sent here, forty years ago, a learned man who told my father exactly the same thing! that great magician required only three days more to unearth the treasure when my father heard that the inquisition had given orders to arrest him, and he lost no time in insuring his escape. can you tell me how it is that magicians are not more powerful than the inquisitors?”

“because the monks have a greater number of devils under their command than we have. but i feel certain that your father had already expended a great deal of money with that learned man.”

“about two thousand crowns.”

“oh! more, more.”

i told franzia to follow me, and, in order to accomplish something in the magic line, i dipped a towel in some water, and uttering fearful words which belonged to no human language, i washed the eyes, the temples, and the chest of every person in the family, including javotte, who might have objected to it if i had not begun with her father, mother, and brother. i made them swear upon my pocket-book that they were not labouring under any impure disease, and i concluded the ceremony by compelling javotte to swear likewise that she had her maidenhood. as i saw that she was blushing to the very roots of her hair in taking the oath, i was cruel enough to explain to her what it meant; i then asked her to swear again, but she answered that there was no need of it now that she knew what it was. i ordered all the family to kiss me, and finding that javotte had eaten garlic i forbade the use of it entirely, which order franzia promised should be complied with.

genevieve was not a beauty as far as her features were concerned; her complexion was too much sunburnt, and her mouth was too large, but her teeth were splendid, and her under lip projected slightly as if it had been formed to receive kisses. her bosom was well made and as firm as a rock, but her hair was too light, and her hands too fleshy. the defects, however, had to be overlooked, and altogether she was not an unpleasant morsel. i did not purpose to make her fall in love with me; with a peasant girl that task might have been a long one; all i wanted was to train her to perfect obedience, which, in default of love, has always appeared to me the essential point. true that in such a case one does not enjoy the ecstatic raptures of love, but one finds a compensation in the complete control obtained over the woman.

i gave notice to the father, to capitani, and to javotte, that each would, in turn and in the order of their age, take supper with me, and that javotte would sleep every night in my ante-room, where was to be placed a bath in which i would bathe my guest one half hour before sitting down to supper, and the guest was not to have broken his fast throughout the day.

i prepared a list of all the articles of which i pretended to be in need, and giving it to franzia i told him to go to cesena himself the next day, and to purchase everything without bargaining to obtain a lower price. among other things, i ordered a piece, from twenty to thirty yards long, of white linen, thread, scissors, needles, storax, myrrh, sulphur, olive oil, camphor, one ream of paper, pens and ink, twelve sheets of parchment, brushes, and a branch of olive tree to make a stick of eighteen inches in length.

after i had given all my orders very seriously and without any wish to laugh, i went to bed highly pleased with my personification of a magician, in which i was astonished to find myself so completely successful.

the next morning, as soon as i was dressed, i sent for capitani, and commanded him to proceed every day to cesena, to go to the best coffee-house, to learn carefully every piece of news and every rumour, and to report them to me.

franzia, who had faithfully obeyed my orders, returned before noon from the city with all the articles i had asked for.

“i have not bargained for anything,” he said to me, “and the merchants must, i have no doubt, have taken me for a fool, for i have certainly paid one-third more than the things are worth.”

“so much the worse for them if they have deceived you, but you would have spoilt everything if you had beaten them down in their price. now, send me your daughter and let me be alone with her.”

as soon as javotte was in my room, i made her cut the linen in seven pieces, four of five feet long, two of two feet, and one of two feet and a half; the last one was intended to form the hood of the robe i was to wear for the great operation. then i said to javotte:

“sit down near my bed and begin sewing. you will dine here and remain at work until the evening. when your father comes, you must let us be alone, but as soon as he leaves me, come back and go to bed.”

she dined in my room, where her mother waited on her without speaking, and gave her nothing to drink except st. jevese wine. towards evening her father came, and she left us.

i had the patience to wash the good man while he was in the bath, after which he had supper with me; he ate voraciously, telling me that it was the first time in his life that he had remained twenty- four hours without breaking his fast. intoxicated with the st. jevese wine he had drunk, he went to bed and slept soundly until morning, when his wife brought me my chocolate. javotte was kept sewing as on the day before; she left the room in the evening when capitani came in, and i treated him in the same manner as franzia; on the third day, it was javotte’s turn, and that had been the object i had kept in view all the time.

when the hour came, i said to her,

“go, javotte, get into the bath and call me when you are ready, for i must purify you as i have purified your father and capitani.”

she obeyed, and within a quarter of an hour she called me. i performed a great many ablutions on every part of her body, making her assume all sorts of positions, for she was perfectly docile, but, as i was afraid of betraying myself, i felt more suffering than enjoyment, and my indiscreet hands, running over every part of her person, and remaining longer and more willingly on a certain spot, the sensitiveness of which is extreme, the poor girl was excited by an ardent fire which was at last quenched by the natural result of that excitement. i made her get out of the bath soon after that, and as i was drying her i was very near forgetting magic to follow the impulse of nature, but, quicker than i, nature relieved itself, and i was thus enabled to reach the end of the scene without anticipating the denouement. i told javotte to dress herself, and to come back to me as soon as she was ready.

she had been fasting all day, and her toilet did not take a long time. she ate with a ferocious appetite, and the st. jevese wine, which she drank like water, imparted so much animation to her complexion that it was no longer possible to see how sunburnt she was. being alone with her after supper, i said to her,

“my dear javotte, have you been displeased at all i have compelled you to submit to this evening?”

“not at all; i liked it very much.”

“then i hope that you will have no objection to get in the bath with me to-morrow, and to wash me as i have washed you.”

“most willingly, but shall i know how to do it well?”

“i will teach you, and for the future i wish you to sleep every night in my room, because i must have a complete certainty that on the night of the great operation i shall find you such as you ought to be.”

from that time javotte was at her ease with me, all her restraint disappeared, she would look at me and smile with entire confidence. nature had operated, and the mind of a young girl soon enlarges its sphere when pleasure is her teacher. she went to bed, and as she knew that she had no longer anything to conceal from me, her modesty was not alarmed when she undressed herself in my presence. it was very warm, any kind of covering is unpleasant in the hot weather, so she stripped to the skin and soon fell asleep. i did the same, but i could not help feeling some regret at having engaged myself not to take advantage of the position before the night of the great incantation. i knew that the operation to unearth the treasure would be a complete failure, but i knew likewise that it would not fail because javotte’s virginity was gone.

at day-break the girl rose and began sewing. as soon as she had finished the robe, i told her to make a crown of parchment with seven long points, on which i painted some fearful figures and hieroglyphs.

in the evening, one hour before supper, i got into the bath, and javotte joined me as soon as i called her. she performed upon me with great zeal the same ceremonies that i had done for her the day before, and she was as gentle and docile as possible. i spent a delicious hour in that bath, enjoying everything, but respecting the essential point.

my kisses making her happy, and seeing that i had no objection to her caresses, she loaded me with them. i was so pleased at all the amorous enjoyment her senses were evidently experiencing, that i made her easy by telling her that the success of the great magic operation depended upon the amount of pleasure she enjoyed. she then made extraordinary efforts to persuade me that she was happy, and without overstepping the limits where i had made up my mind to stop, we got out of the bath highly pleased with each other.

as we were on the point of going to bed, she said to me,

“would it injure the success of your operation if we were to sleep together?”

“no, my dear girl; provided you are a virgin on the day of the great incantation, it is all i require.”

she threw herself in my arms, and we spent a delightful night, during which i had full opportunity of admiring the strength of her constitution as well as my own restraint, for i had sufficient control over myself not to break through the last obstacle.

i passed a great part of the following night with franzia and capitani in order to see with my own eyes the wonderful things which the worthy peasant had mentioned to me. standing in the yard, i heard distinctly heavy blows struck under the ground at intervals of three or four minutes. it was like the noise which would be made by a heavy pestle falling in a large copper mortar. i took my pistols and placed myself near the self-moving door of the cellar, holding a dark lantern in my hand. i saw the door open slowly, and in about thirty seconds closing with violence. i opened and closed it myself several times, and, unable to discover any hidden physical cause for the phenomenon, i felt satisfied that there was some unknown roguery at work, but i did not care much to find it out.

we went upstairs again, and, placing myself on the balcony, i saw in the yard several shadows moving about. they were evidently caused by the heavy and damp atmosphere, and as to the pyramidal flames which i could see hovering over the fields, it was a phenomenon well known to me. but i allowed my two companions to remain persuaded that they were the spirits keeping watch over the treasure.

that phenomenon is very common throughout southern italy where the country is often at night illuminated by those meteors which the people believe to be devils, and ignorance has called night spirits, or will-o’-the-wisps.

dear reader, the next chapter will tell you how my magic undertaking ended, and perhaps you will enjoy a good laugh at my expense, but you need not be afraid of hurting my feelings.