Warming up by degrees, he entered into details of personal history, so that of a sudden his own figure appeared in the centre of the canvas, filling it with life.

He spoke of his mother, the celebrated actress, for whom her admirer Goldoni had written his admirable comedy, _La Pupilla_.

Next he recounted the unhappy days spent in Dr.Gozzi's boarding school.

Then he spoke of his childish passion for the gardener's little daughter, who had subsequently run away with a lackey; of his first sermon as a young abbate, after which he found in the offertory bag, in addition to the usual collection, a number of love letters; of his doings as a fiddler in the orchestra of the San Samueli Theatre; of the pranks which he and his companions had played in the alleys, taverns, dancing halls, and gaming-houses of Venice--sometimes masked and sometimes unmasked.

In telling the story of these riotous escapades, he was careful to avoid the use of any offensive epithet.