"Their disputes are generally on subjects so trivial that they hardly seem worth quarrelling about."
But she realized that to Napoleon these disputes were not trivial when she came upon him one day reading an English book. Looking at it, as he held it before her, she saw that it was a copy of "Æsop's Fables," a book that in a translation children often use to improve their knowledge of French.
The page was open at "The Sick Lion." This is the famous account of the lion that, when lying sick, receives visits from many other animals who, instead of sympathizing, exult over his downfall. The lion makes no complaint until a donkey kicks him in the face. "I could have borne anything but this," he said.
As Betsy looked at the open page, Napoleon, pointing to the woodcut, said, "It is myself and your Governor." His expression showed the depth of his feeling on the subject.
In little ways Betsy was disappointed by the regulations made for Napoleon by Sir Hudson Lowe. She was exceedingly anxious, for example, that Napoleon should see a huge boa constrictor that a captain of an incoming vessel had brought to the island.
"It is a most wonderful creature," she said, as she described it to the Emperor. "They put a live goat into its cage, and I really believe that it swallowed it whole, for I could see the poor thing's horns poking almost through the boa constrictor's skin."
The Emperor smiled as Betsy told her tale. "Your boa constrictor sounds like the Marquis de Montchenu, or, rather, the latter, from the amount of food I have heard he consumes, must resemble a boa constrictor."
"He really does," responded Betsy. "Oh, I wish you could see him—not the Marquis, but the boa constrictor."
"I should like to see it; I will ask them to have it brought here to me."
As Betsy herself also desired this, she was naturally disappointed when those in authority decided that the boa constrictor could not be shown to Napoleon.