United States or Iraq ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"Gracious sir, the explanation is very simple. When the court is in mourning, no one can appear there in embroidered clothes; you must wear a plain black coat." "I have no plain black coat," said Voltaire, with a frowning brow. "It is necessary, then, for you to order one, and I have sent Monsieur Pilleneure to come and take your measure." "Are you insane, Tripot?" cried Voltaire.
"Does your excellency believe that it is impossible to wear the coat?" "Do I believe it is impossible? Look at me! Do I not look like a hungry heir in the testamentary coat of his rich cousin the brewer? Would it not be thought that I was a scarecrow, to drive the birds from the cornfields?" At this moment Monsieur Pilleneure was announced. "Good Heaven!
Thanks to the adroitness of Pilleneure, Voltaire appeared at the soiree of the queen-mother in a handsome, well-fitting black coat. No one guessed that the mourning dress of the celebrated French writer belonged to the merchant Fromery, and that the glittering diamond agraffes in his bosom, and the costly rings on his fingers, were the property of the Jew Hirsch.
Word Of The Day