RKS Literature: “Trimalchio’s Feast”: Trimalchio’s Wife A Magpie with a Rough Tongue! (Petronious)

“Who was the woman running around this place? ‘Trimalchio’s wife’ he told me, ‘Fortunata is her name and she counts her money by the sackful. And before, before what was she? You’ll pardon me for saying so, but you wouldn’t have touched a bit of bread from her hand. Nowadays-and who knows how or why-Continue reading “RKS Literature: “Trimalchio’s Feast”: Trimalchio’s Wife A Magpie with a Rough Tongue! (Petronious)”

RKS Literature: “Trimalchio’s Feast” : What’s on the Menu (Petronious)

“After our applause the next course was brought in. Actually it was not as grand as we expected, but it was so novel that everyone stared. It was a deep circular tray with the twelve signs of the Zodiac arranged around the edge. Over each of them the chef had placed some appropriate dainty suggestedContinue reading “RKS Literature: “Trimalchio’s Feast” : What’s on the Menu (Petronious)”

RKS Literature: Letter from Mozart to Father 3July1778, Paris: Mozart Muses on Life and Death

“I feel comforted  because I know that God, who orders everything for the best, however contrary it seems to us, wills it so; for I believe-and I won’t be persuaded otherwise-that no doctor, no individual, no misfortune, no accident can give a man his life or take it away, God alone can do that- onceContinue reading “RKS Literature: Letter from Mozart to Father 3July1778, Paris: Mozart Muses on Life and Death”

RKS Literature: Letter from Mozart to Father 9July1778, Paris: Dissolute Court Musicians and a Shamefully Intoxicated Haydn

“I couldn’t help laughing at your account of Haydn’s drunkenness, -if I’d been there, I’d certainly have whispered in his ear: ADLGASSER. But it’s a disgrace that such an able man should be rendered incapable of performing his duties and only have himself to blame for it-in a post that’s in God’s honour-when the archbishopContinue reading “RKS Literature: Letter from Mozart to Father 9July1778, Paris: Dissolute Court Musicians and a Shamefully Intoxicated Haydn”

RKS Literature: Letter from Leopold Mozart to His Son 4December1777, Salzburg: A True Friend is One of the World’s Greatest Wonders

“My son to find one man in a 1,000 who is your true friend for reasons other than self-interest is one of the greatest wonders of the world. Examine all who call themselves your friends or who make a show of friendship and you’ll find the reason why this is so. If they’re not motivatedContinue reading “RKS Literature: Letter from Leopold Mozart to His Son 4December1777, Salzburg: A True Friend is One of the World’s Greatest Wonders”

RKS Literature: Letter from Leopold Mozart to His Son 24November1777, Salzburg: No Money Then No Friends and No Credit

“A journey like this is no joke, you’ve no experience of this sort of thing, you need to have more important things on your mind than foolish games. You have to try and anticipate a hundred different things, otherwise you’ll suddenly find yourself in the shit without any money-and where you have no money you’llContinue reading “RKS Literature: Letter from Leopold Mozart to His Son 24November1777, Salzburg: No Money Then No Friends and No Credit”

RKS Literature: Letter from Mozart to Father 17October1777, Augsburg: How Mozart Deals with an Arrogant Ass

“A certain Pater Aemilian, an arrogant ass and a simpleton of his profession, was in an especially hearty mood. He kept on wanting to joke with my cousin, but she just made fun of him-finally when he was drunk (which didn’t take long), he started to talk about music. He sang a canon and IContinue reading “RKS Literature: Letter from Mozart to Father 17October1777, Augsburg: How Mozart Deals with an Arrogant Ass”

RKS Literature: Letter from Leopold Mozart to His Son 14November1777, Salzburg: What’s Necessary in Paris

“You can’t spend the whole winter travelling; and if you plan to stay anywhere, it should be in  large town with lots of people where there are hopes and opportunities of earning some money: and where is such a place to be found in the whole of this region?-apart from Paris- but life in ParisContinue reading “RKS Literature: Letter from Leopold Mozart to His Son 14November1777, Salzburg: What’s Necessary in Paris”

RKS Literature: Lording it Like a Real Gentleman (Gogol)

“By and large he lorded it like a real gentleman, as they say in the provinces, married a pretty girl with a dowry of two hundred serfs and several thousand in cash. These funds were immediately lavished on a team of six truly excellent horses, gilt locks for the doors, a tame monkey for theContinue reading “RKS Literature: Lording it Like a Real Gentleman (Gogol)”

RKS Literature: Did I Really Lose My Nose (Gogol)

“My God, my God. What have I done to deserve this? If I’d lost an arm or a leg it wouldn’t be so bad. Even without ears things wouldn’t be pleasant, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. A man without a nose, though, is God knows what, neither fish nor fowl. JustContinue reading “RKS Literature: Did I Really Lose My Nose (Gogol)”