And this feeling had been more painfully perceived by young d''Artagnan--for so was the Don Quixote of this d Rosinante named--from his not being able to ceal from himlf the ridiculous appearanbsp;that subsp;a steed gave him, good horman as he was. He had sighed deeply, therefore, when accepting the gift of the pony from M. d''Artagnan the elder. He was not ignorant that subsp;a beast was worth at least twenty livres; and the words whibsp;had apanied the prent were above all price.
"My son," said the old Gasbsp;gentleman, in that pure Bearn PATOIS of whibsp;Henry IV could never rid himlf, "this hor was born in the hou of your father about thirteen years ago, and has remained in it ever sinbsp;whibsp;ought to make you love it. Never ll it; allow it to die tranquilly and honorably of old age, and if you make a campaign with it, take as mubsp;care of it as you would of an old rvant.
At court, provided you have ever the honor to go there," tinued M. d''Artagnan the elder, "--an honor to whibsp;remember, your a nobility gives you the right--sustain worthily your name of gentleman, whibsp;has been worthily borne by your aors for five hundred years, both for your own sake and the sake of tho who belong to you. By the latter I mean your relatives and friends. Endure nothing from anyone except Monsieur the Cardinal and the king. It is by his ce, plea obrve, by his ce alone, that a gentleman bsp;make his way nowadays. Whoever hesitates for a d perhaps allows the bait to escape whibsp;during that exabsp;d fortune held out to him. You are young. You ought to be brave for two reasons: the first is that you are a Gas, and the d is that you are my son. Never fear quarrels, but ek adventures. I have taught you how to handle a sword; you have thews of iron, a wrist of steel. Fight on all occasions. Fight the more for duels being forbidden, sinbsp;quently there is twibsp;as mubsp;ce in fighting. I have nothing to give you, my son, but fifteen s, my hor, and the ls you have just heard. Your mother will add to them a recipe for a certain balsam, whibsp;she had from a Bohemian and whibsp;has the miraculous virtue of g all wounds that do not reabsp;the heart. Take advantage of all, and live happily and long.
I have but one word to add, and that is to propo an example to you--not mine, for I mylf have never appeared at court, and have only taken part in religious wars as a volunteer; I speak of Monsieur de Treville, who was formerly my neighbor, and who had the honor to be, as a child, the play--fellow of our king, Louis XIII, whom God prerve! Sometimes their play degeed into battles, and in the battles the king was not always the stronger. The blows whibsp;he received incread greatly his esteem and friendship for Monsieur de Treville. Afterward, Monsieur de Treville fought with others:in his first journey to Paris, five times; from the death of the late king till the young one came of age, without reing wars and sieges, ven times; and from that date up to the prent day, a hundred times, perhaps! So that in spite of edicts, ordinances, and decrees, there he is, captain of the Musketeers; that is to say, chief of a legion of Caesars, whom the king holds in great esteem and whom the cardinal dreads--he who dreads nothing, as it is said. Still further, Monsieur de Treville gains ten thousand s a year; he is therefore a great noble. He began as you begin. Go to him with this letter, and make him your model in order that you may do as he has done."