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

G I L B L A 6. - 184
lieve there wa$ more filver. in it than in allf.tha
mines of Peru s that metal prefented itfelf to the
view, in all corners, under a thoufand different
fhapes. Every room, and thfit; in particular where
■we fupped, was a perfedl treafure.. What a noblp
fpeftacle was this for the eyes of a fon-in-law.I
The old man, that he might do the. greater honour
to his entertainment, had aflembletf five or fix mer--
chants, perfons,equally grave and .tedious: they
fpoke of nothing but commerce; and their difcoui fe
might have been called a conference o£ fa&ors, ra¬
ther than the converfation of friends at (upper.
Next night, I treated our goldfmith in my torn ;
and as it was not in my power to dazzle him with
plate, had recourfe to an illufipn of a different kind.
I invited to fopper thofe of my friends who made
the beft figure at court, and whom I knew to be
ambitious fellows, (who fee no bounds >to their.de¬
fires Thefe people talked of jiotbing. but pomp,
of fplendid and lucrative pods to which they af-
pired ; and this had its effadl : the citizen Gabriel,
confounded by their grand ideas, found himfelf, in
fpite of his wealth, a mean mortal, in comparifon.
to thefe gentlemen. As for my own part, affeff-
ing the man of moderation, I faid I would be
contented with a middling fortune; twenty thou¬
fand ducats a year, or fo. Upon which, thefe.
greedy hunters of honour and riches cried, I was
in the wrong ; and that a man, wlio (like me) was
beloved by the prime rqinifter, ought not to reftridfc
himfslf to fuch a trifle. The faitber in law loft rot
a fyllable of what wgs faid, and I thought I ob-
fei ved him very well fatisfied when he retired.
Scipio did not fail to vifit him next morning,
and asked if he was pleafed with my behaviour t
“ J am chqrmed with it! (replied the citizen) the
young man has wen my heart. But Signior Scipio,
< .. Vot, II. S (added