"
"But, Miramon, it was you who gave me the sword!"
Miramon rubbed his droll little nose for a while, before speaking. "And
how else was I to get conquered? For, I must tell you, Manuel, it is a
law of the Leshy that a magician cannot surrender his prey unless the
magician be conquered. I must tell you, too, that when I carried off
Gisele I acted, as I by and by discovered, rather injudiciously."
"Now, by holy Paul and Pollux! I do not understand this at all,
Miramon."
"Why, Manuel, you must know she was a very charming girl, and in
appearance just the type that I had always fancied for a wife. But
perhaps it is not wise to be guided entirely by appearances. For I find
now that she has a strong will in her white bosom, and a tireless tongue
in her glittering head, and I do not equally admire all four of these
possessions."
"Still, Miramon, if only a few months back your love was so great as to
lead you into abducting her--"
The prince of the seven madnesses said gravely:
"Love, as I think, is an instant's fusing of shadow and substance. They
that aspire to possess love utterly, fall into folly.
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