A short tale with the author’s customary salacious double entendres this story describes how the young lady, with the help of the maid, outwits the magistrate attempting to wriggle out of a finding of rape because of the perpetrator’s wealth and standing at Court. The Folio Society entitles the tale “How the Portillon Beauty Scored over the Magistrate”; for The Bibliophilist Society it is “How The Pretty Maid of Portillon convinced her Judge”.
Here is Mervyn Peake’s illustration for the first of these;
and Gustave Doré’s for the second.
Further details of the publications are given in https://derrickjknight.com/2023/01/06/droll-tales-1/except that there are no pictures here by Jean de Bosschère as I do not have any of the third Decade by him.
It seems a tale for an earlier age, but I’m glad she outwitted him.
Thanks very much, Merril. Balzac uses old French in order to take us back in time.
Yes. I meant droll tales of rape.
Understood now
I wonder what the significance of the very pointed nose is in the large illustration. Another intriguing story.
Two ladies outwitting the judge! OOH! What great subject matter! An interesting plot arousing the reader’s curiosity!
And the illustrations are once fabulous, Mr. Doré’!
(((HUGS))) ❤️
Thanks very much, Carolyn X
The human condition has not changed much all these years. 🙂
Quite so, Lavinia. Thank you very much.
The Mervyn Peake illustration is intriguing, so I looked him up online. I was surprised to find that he did the illustrations for Droll Tales when he was suffering from dementia.
I hadn’t known that myself, Liz. Thank you very much
You’re welcome, Derrick.
Love Mervin Peake illustration. The old French wasn’t reflected in the Russian translation; thank you for adding this detail, Derrick.
Much appreciated, Dolly
Mervyn Peake’s illustration is somehow funny
Thank you very much, Ribana