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Index
EVA STACHNIAK
For Zbyszek
Contents
PART ONE
From Mes amours intimes avec la belle Phanariote
Chapter 6
PART TWO
… As Your Royal Highness knows so well, the slings of fortune have wounded me many a time, and I, remembering how the Pontian king Mitridat accustomed his body to poison, adapt myself to the challenges of the future believing that a small dose of pain every day will render me immune to what fate has in store. Nevertheless, to counter the calumnies of my enemies, to snap at the head of the vile gossip claiming that I enrich myself in Your service, I am enclosing this undisputed evidence of the meagre life I lead. I trust, Your Highness, that even one, most cursive glance at this pitiful account will suffice to prove my selflessness and devotion to My Merciful Sovereign.
Mes amours intimes avec la belle Phanariote:
Chapter 10
PART THREE
Your Majesty, this is how we, harried travellers through time, arrive at the next étage in the life of our delightful heroine – or as Your Royal Highness might prefer – to the following act played by her in the theatrum mundi, where all of us, for better or worse, play our earthly roles. But before I allow myself to dwell on the compelling evidence of Dou-Dou’s growing powers of seduction, let us take a closer peek at the object of our scrutiny at this pivotal moment in her life:
Chapter 13
PART FOUR
I’ve heard that, in Kamieniec, one of the Armenian merchants painted a mural right over his store, depicting an old, naked man, his shrivelled balls crookedly falling to one side. On both sides of the figure, there was an inscription, cleverly broken into two: CURVA VITOVA. In utter innocence, anyone unfamiliar with Latin was told that the inscription meant ‘crooked balls’ and referred to the old man’s shrivelled instruments, but the whole of Kamieniec reeled with laughter, repeating ‘curva vitowa’: Madame de Witt is a whore.
Chapter 16
Acknowledgements
Historical Note
P.S.Ideas, interviews & features
About the author
About the book
Read on
Copyright
About the Publisher
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