Such was the mad freak which deprived the Abbe Scarron of the use of his
limbs for life. His health was already ruined when he indulged this
caprice; the damp of the river brought on a violent attack, which closed
with palsy, and the gay young abbe had to pay dearly for the pleasure of
astonishing the citizens of Mans. The disguise was easily accounted
for--he had smeared himself with honey, ripped open a feather-bed, and
rolled himself in it.
This little incident gives a good idea of what Scarron was in his
younger days--ready at any time for any wild caprice.
Paul Scarron was the son of a Conseiller du Parlement of good family,
resident in Paris. He was born in 1610, and his early days would have
been wretched enough, if his elastic spirits had allowed him to give way
to misery. His father was a good-natured, weak-minded man, who on the
death of his first wife married a second, who, as one hen will peck at
another's chicks, would not, as a stepmother, leave the little Paul in
peace. She was continually putting her own children forward, and
ill-treating the late 'anointed' son. The father gave in too readily,
and young Paul was glad enough to be set free from his unhappy home.
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