PETRARCH THE MAN 



that in my earliest childhood ? My father, forced by 

 other cares and regard for his family, succumbed to the 

 natural influences of exile, while his friend resisted, 

 applied himself with even greater ardor, and neglected 

 everything else, desirous alone of future fame. In this 

 I can scarce admire and praise him enough, for many 

 are easily diverted from their course by the least dis- 

 turbance, especially writers of verse, who need silence 

 and quiet. You see, therefore, that my supposed hate 

 for this poet is a trumped-up and ridiculous invention. 

 The second reproach cast upon me is that, exceedingly 

 anxious to obtain other books, which I had little hope 

 of finding, I showed a strange indifference, quite foreign 

 to me, towards this one, although it was readily pro- 

 curable. The fact I admit, but I deny the motives." 

 His reason is that when he was a young man, and espe- 

 cially wished to distinguish himself in the vernacular, 

 he was afraid, because of the impressionableness of 

 youth and its tendency to admire everything, that he 

 might become an imitator. *' If you have ever beheved 

 me, believe me now. Accept this as the real explana- 

 tion of my conduct. Without hesitation I yield him 

 the palm for skill in the use of the vulgar tongue. They 

 lie, then, who assert that I carp at his renown, I who 

 probably understand better than the majority of those 

 foolish and immoderate admirers of his what it is that 

 merely tickles their ears without their knowing why, 

 but cannot penetrate their thick heads. What likeli- 

 hood that I should be jealous of a writer who devoted 



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