Night enters, and frightens her still more with the recital of how, on the morrow, the _Lutrin_ was to appear in the Sainte Chapelle, and excite mutiny and war. Indolence, troubled by this account, lets fall a tear, and, opening an eye, complains in a feeble and interrupted voice:--
"O Nuit, que m'as tu dit? Quel démon sur la terre Souffle dans tous les cœurs la fatigue et la guerre? Hélas! qu'est devenu ce temps, cet heureux temps, Où les rois s'honoraient du nom de fainéans, S'endormoient sur le trône, et me servant sans honte, Laissoient leur sceptre aux mains ou d'un maire ou d'un comte. Aucun soin n'approchait de leur paisible cour, On reposait la nuit, on dormait tout le jour. * * * * * Ce doux siècle n'est plus! le ciel impitoyable, A placé sur le trône un prince infatigable. Il brave mes douceurs, il est sourd à ma voix. Tous les jours il m'éveille au bruit de ses exploits; Rien ne peut arrêter sa vigilante audace, L'été n'a point de feux, l'hyver n'a point de glace. J'entens à son seul nom mes sujets frémir En vain deux fois la Paix a voulu l'endormir: Loin de moi son courage, entraîné par la gloire, Ne se plait qu'à courir de victoire en victoire."[91]
This passage is remarkable as being the cause of Boileau's first appearance at court, of which further mention will be made. This episode is the jewel of the whole poem. Burlesque becomes tiresome when long drawn: though there are verses interspersed throughout full of sarcasm the most pointed, and ridicule the most happy, we are fatigued by a sort of monotony of tone, and the unvarying spirit of parody or irony that reigns throughout. The third canto is taken up by the enterprise of the three, who enter the sacristy to seize upon the _Lutrin_. Night has brought an owl, and hid it in the desk, whose sudden appearance terrifies the heroes, who are about to fly, till Discord rallies them, and they pursue the adventure, carry the desk in triumph, and place it in its ancient place before the seat of the chanter. The book concludes with an address to the latter, apostrophising the grief that will seize him when, on the morrow, the insult will be revealed. The fourth book contains the discovery--the rage of the chanter--his resolution to destroy the desk--the assembling of the chapter--their indignation--and it concludes with the destruction of the _Lutrin_, and its being carried off piecemeal. At first the poem consisted only of these four books. Boileau announced, that "reasons of great importance prevented his publishing the whole;" but the fact was, that only four books were at that time written. The fifth book describes the meeting of the inimical parties, and a battle that ensued. Both prelate and chanter, rushing to the _chapelle_, encounter each other, near the shop of Barbin, a bookseller: they eye each other with fury, till a partisan of the chanter, unable to suppress his rage, seizes a ponderous volume--the "Great Cyrus" of mademoiselle Scuderi--hurls it at Boirude, who avoids the blow, and the vast mass assails poor Sidrac: the old man, "accablé de l'horrible Artamène," falls, breathless, at the feet of the bishop. This is a signal for a general attack: they rush into the shop, disfurnish the shelves, and hurl the volumes at one another. In naming the books thus used, Boileau indulges in satirical allusions to contemporary authors, and exclaims:--