Languages & literature > Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane > Volume 3

184 The ADVENTURES of
haJ taken of my infancy and education: I confiderei
the duty I owed to my parents ; and my refleftion*
were attended with feme tranfpprts of acknow¬
ledgment, which, however, came to nothing s
they were foon ftifled by my ingratitude, and fuc-
ceeded by profound oblivion. There are many
parents who have children of the fame {lamp.
The avarice and ambition with which f wa*
poflefled, entirely changed my difpofition. I loft
all my gaiety, became abfent and thoughtful; in a
word, a mifefable animal. Fabricio, feeing me
altogether bent on facrificing to Fortune, and very
much detached from him, came but feldom to my
houfe, where one day he could not help faying,
“ Truly, Gil Bias, thou art grown put of my
knowledge : before thy coming to court, thou waft
always eafy and tranquil; atprefent, thou art in-
ceiTantly agitated with projeft after project to en¬
rich thyfelf; and the more wealth thou haft got,
the more would'ft thou amafs. Befides, let me tell
■thee, thou no longer treateft me with that effufion
of the heart, and freedom of behaviour, which
are the foul of friendfhip : on the contrary, thou
wrapped thyfelf up, and concealed from me thy
fccret views, nay, I can perceive conftraint in all
thy civilities towards me : in fliort, Gil Bias is no
longer the fame Gil Bias whom I formerly knew.”
“ You joke fure, (faid I, with an air of indif¬
ference) 1 can’t perceive any change in myfelf.”
“ Thy own eyes are no judges, (anfwered he) they
are bewitched : believe me, thy metamorphofis is
but too true. Speak fincerdy, my friend. Do tho\i
and I live together as formerly ? When I ufed to
knock at thy door in the morning, thou cameft in
perfon to open it, very often half alleep; and I
entered thy chambtr without ceremony. Now
fcehcld the difference! Thou art attended by hiif