kill a man with the torment of excessive dancing, to suggest dreams fair

or foul and full of terror, and to cause the birth of cocks with four

wings. He had no such mischievous tricks. He was incapable of certain

abominations, such as, for instance, speaking German, Hebrew, or Greek,

without having learned them, which is a sign of unpardonable wickedness,

or of a natural infirmity proceeding from a morbid humour. If Ursus

spoke Latin, it was because he knew it. He would never have allowed

himself to speak Syriac, which he did not know. Besides, it is asserted

that Syriac is the language spoken in the midnight meetings at which

uncanny people worship the devil. In medicine he justly preferred Galen

to Cardan; Cardan, although a learned man, being but an earthworm to

Galen.

To sum up, Ursus was not one of those persons who live in fear of the

police. His van was long enough and wide enough to allow of his lying

down in it on a box containing his not very sumptuous apparel. He owned

a lantern, several wigs, and some utensils suspended from nails, among

which were musical instruments. He possessed, besides, a bearskin with

which he covered himself on his days of grand performance. He called

this putting on full dress. He used to say, "I have two skins; this is

the real one," pointing to the bearskin.

The little house on wheels belonged to himself and to the wolf. Besides

his house, his retort, and his wolf, he had a flute and a violoncello on

which he played prettily. He concocted his own elixirs. His wits yielded

him enough to sup on sometimes. In the top of his van was a hole,

through which passed the pipe of a cast-iron stove; so close to his box

The Man Who Laughs