12 JEROME CARDAN 



\ pupil's physical feebleness and morbid overwrought 

 1 mental habit, these hours of lessons must have been 

 irksome to both, and of little benefit. " In the meantime 

 my father taught me orally the Latin tongue as well as 

 the rudiments of Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astrology. 

 But he allowed me to sleep well into the day, and 

 he himself would always remain abed till nine o'clock. 

 But one habit of his appeared to me likely to lead to 

 grave consequences, to wit the way he had of lending to 

 others anything which belonged to him. Part of these 

 loans, which were made to insolvents, he lost altogether ; 

 and the residue, lent to divers persons in high places, 

 could only be recovered with much trouble and no little 

 danger, and with loss of all interest on the same. I 

 know not whether he acted in this wise by the advice of 

 that familiar spirit 1 whose services he retained for eight- 

 and-thirty years. What afterwards came to pass showed 

 that my father treated me, his son, rightly in all things 

 relating to education, seeing that I had a keen intelli- 

 gence. For with boys of this sort it is well to make use 

 of the bit as though you were dealing with mules. Be- 

 yond this he was witty and diverting in his conversation, 

 and given to the telling of stories and strange occur- 

 rences well worth notice. He told me many things 

 about familiar spirits, but what part of these were true I 

 know not ; but assuredly tales of this sort, wonderful in 

 themselves and artfully put together, delighted me 

 marvellously. 



1 " Facius Cardanus dsemonem astherium, ut ipse dicebat, diu 

 familiarem habuit ; qui quamdiu conjuratione usus est, vera illi 

 dabat responsa, cum autem illam exussisset, veniebat quidem, sed 

 responsa falsa dabat. Tenuit igitur annis, ni fallor, vinginti octo cum 

 conjuratione, solutum autem circiter quinque." De Varietate, p. 629. 

 In the Dialogus Tetim (Opera, torn. i. p. 672), Cardan writes : 

 " Pater honeste obiit et ex senio, sed multo antea eum Genius ille 

 reliquerat." 



