Many likewise were the
conjectures of the treatment which this lion was to meet with from
the hands of Signior Nicolini: some supposed that he was to subdue
him in recitativo, as Orpheus used to serve the wild beasts in his
time, and afterwards to knock him on the head; some fancied that the
lion would not pretend to lay his paws upon the hero, by reason of
the received opinion that a lion will not hurt a virgin: several
who pretended to have seen the opera in Italy, had informed their
friends that the lion was to act a part in High Dutch, and roar
twice or thrice to a thorough bass before he fell at the feet of
Hydaspes. To clear up a matter that was so variously reported, I
have made it my business to examine whether this pretended lion is
really the savage he appears to be, or only a counterfeit.
But before I communicate my discoveries, I must acquaint the reader
that upon my walking behind the scenes last winter, as I was
thinking on something else, I accidentally jostled against a
monstrous animal that extremely startled me, and, upon my nearer
survey of it, appeared to be a lion rampant. The lion, seeing me
very much surprised, told me, in a gentle voice, that I might come
by him if I pleased; "for," says he, "I do not intend to hurt
anybody.
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