Home Tags Lausus and Lydia

Tag: Lausus and Lydia

Lausus and Lydia – J. F. Marmontel (1723-1799)
Marmontel, born in the Limousin of artisan parents, came early into popular esteem, and, when only a boy, was awarded several prizes for poetry. He wrote to Voltaire, who thought his verses showed an aptitude for finance, and got him a position in Paris. There until the eve of the Revolution he lived a happy and prosperous life.

He wrote plays, verses, romances, tales, literary criticism. Popular at court, protected by powerful nobles, he enjoyed the society of the philosophers and writers of his time. His Moral Tales, from which Lausus and Lydia is taken, were widely read throughout Europe. Amusing as it may seem, Lausus and Lydia was considered a very pathetic story in it? day. It does, however, possess merits of clarity and skilful construction. It may be considered a good example of a much-practised type of story in vogue in the Eighteenth Century, in which the author employs a foreign background—often of some imaginary Oriental land—for the purpose of exemplifying a moral or philosophical point.

Lausus and Lydia – The present version is reprinted from Moral Tales by M. Marmontel, translated by C. Dennis and R. Lloyd, London, 1771.
Lausus and Lydia
(From the Moral Tales)

The character of Mezentius, King of Tyrrhene, is well known. A bad prince and a good father, cruel and tender by turns. He had nothing of the tyrant, nothing that showed violence as long as his de-sires knew no obstacle; but the calm of this haughty soul was the repose of a lion.

Mezentius had a son named Lausus, whose valor and beauty ren¬dered him famous among the young heroes of Italy. Lausus had attended Mezentius in the war against the King of Praeneste. His father, at the very summit of joy, saw him, covered with blood, fight¬ing and vanquishing by his side. The King of Praeneste, driven out of his territories and seeking safety in flight, had left in the hands of the conqueror a treasure more precious than his crown, a princess at that age wherein the heart has only the virtues of nature, and nature has all the charms of innocence and beauty.

Lausus and Lydia part 9

0
But, oh, incredible wonder! Unlooked-for happiness! Lausus, eluding the bounds of the furious animal, struck him a mortal wound and his sword was drawn reeking from the lion`s heart. He fell amid torrents of...

Lausus and Lydia part 8

0
An enormous lion advances. At first, with a calm pride, he traverses the arena, throwing his dreadful looks round the amphitheater that environs him; a confused murmur announces the terror that he inspires. In...

Lausus and Lydia part 7

0
In vain would Phanor have insisted. “Let us argue no longer,” interrupted Lausus; “you can say nothing to me that can equal the shame of surviving my friend, after I have destroyed him. Your...

Lausus and Lydia part 6

0
The bolts of the dungeon opened with a dismal sound. By the feeble glimmering of a torch, he penetrated into this mansion of horror; he advanced and listened: the accents of a moaning voice...

Lausus and Lydia part 5

0
There remained in the prisons none but the faithful friend of Lausus. “Let him be exposed,” said Mezentius; “let him fall a prey to devouring lions: the traitor deserves a more cruel death, but...

Lausus and Lydia part 4

0
He ordered his son into his presence, talked to him with good humor and bade him prepare to set out the next day for the frontiers of his territory, where he had left his...

Lausus and Lydia part 3

0
“The King my father,” says he, “is as generous after victory as intractable before battle: satisfied with victory, he is incapable of oppression. It is easier than ever for the King of Prseneste to...

Lausus and Lydia part 2

0
She heard her father named, and at that name lifted up to heaven her fine eyes filled with tears. All hearts were moved. Mezentius himself, astonished, forgot his pride and age. Prosperity, which hardens...

Lausus and Lydia part 1

0
J. F. Marmontel (1723-1799)Marmontel, born in the Limousin of artisan parents, came early into popular esteem, and, when only a boy, was awarded several prizes for poetry. He wrote to Voltaire, who thought his...

Buyuk ev Ablukada

0