DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7597#0046
CHAP. I.]
THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.
i7
" relatives and friends. Behold their singular and curious history,
" in the manner in which it was several times related to me by
*■* my venerable father, and according to which I have caused it.
" to be written more legibly than I myself could have done it. *
[The signature of this ancient possessor of the book does not
appear.]
" That which follows," says Papillon, a is written with blacker
" ink; but in the same kind of characters, although better
" formed.
" The young and amiable Cunio, twin brother and sister, were
u the first children of the son of the Count di Cunio, which he
" had by a noble and beautiful Veronese lady, allied to the fa-
" mily of Pope Honorius IV. when he was only a Cardinal. This
" young nobleman had espoused this young lady clandestinely,
" without the knowledge of the relations of either of them; who,
" when they discovered the affair, by her pregnancy, caused the
" marriage to be annulled, and the priest, who had married the two
" lovers, to be banished. The noble lady, fearing equally the
" anger of her father and that of the Count di Cunio, took refuge
" in the house of one of her aunts, where she was delivered of
" these twins. Nevertheless, the Count di Cunio, out of regard to
" his son, whom he obliged to espouse another noble lady, per-
" mitted him to bring up these children in his house, which was
" done with every instruction and tenderness possible, as well on
" the part of the Count, as on that of his son's wife, who con-
** ceived such an affection for Isabella Cunio, that she loved and
" cherished her as if she had been her own daughter; loving
" equally Alessandro Alberico Cunio her brother, who, like his
" sister, was full of talent, and of a most amiable disposition.
" Both of them made rapid advances in various sciences, profiting
* The style of this memorandum, as given of a cramped translation from old writing in
m the French, is also very unlike Papillon's another language. The same observation ap-
usual manner of writing. It bears every mark plies to the longer narrative which follows.
D
THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.
i7
" relatives and friends. Behold their singular and curious history,
" in the manner in which it was several times related to me by
*■* my venerable father, and according to which I have caused it.
" to be written more legibly than I myself could have done it. *
[The signature of this ancient possessor of the book does not
appear.]
" That which follows," says Papillon, a is written with blacker
" ink; but in the same kind of characters, although better
" formed.
" The young and amiable Cunio, twin brother and sister, were
u the first children of the son of the Count di Cunio, which he
" had by a noble and beautiful Veronese lady, allied to the fa-
" mily of Pope Honorius IV. when he was only a Cardinal. This
" young nobleman had espoused this young lady clandestinely,
" without the knowledge of the relations of either of them; who,
" when they discovered the affair, by her pregnancy, caused the
" marriage to be annulled, and the priest, who had married the two
" lovers, to be banished. The noble lady, fearing equally the
" anger of her father and that of the Count di Cunio, took refuge
" in the house of one of her aunts, where she was delivered of
" these twins. Nevertheless, the Count di Cunio, out of regard to
" his son, whom he obliged to espouse another noble lady, per-
" mitted him to bring up these children in his house, which was
" done with every instruction and tenderness possible, as well on
" the part of the Count, as on that of his son's wife, who con-
** ceived such an affection for Isabella Cunio, that she loved and
" cherished her as if she had been her own daughter; loving
" equally Alessandro Alberico Cunio her brother, who, like his
" sister, was full of talent, and of a most amiable disposition.
" Both of them made rapid advances in various sciences, profiting
* The style of this memorandum, as given of a cramped translation from old writing in
m the French, is also very unlike Papillon's another language. The same observation ap-
usual manner of writing. It bears every mark plies to the longer narrative which follows.
D