"Yes."
"Well, there is time yet to attend the May-festival at Shadynook. Come along."
"No, no," said Sir Asinus, sighing; "no, I thank you. I have had all my noble aspirations chilled—my grand ideas destroyed; my heart is no longer fit for merriment. I depart."
And rising, Sir Asinus seated himself upon the table disconsolately.
Jacques looked at him and smiled.
"Do you know, my dear Asinus," he said, "that you present at this moment the grandest and most heroic picture? When a great man suffers, the world should weep."
"Instead of which, you laugh."
"I? I am not laughing."
"You are smiling."
"That is because, for the first time in my life, I am nearly happy."