Laughed at Locks
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Benvenuto Cellini |
Benvenuto
Cellini (1500–1571). Autobiography.
Vol. 31 pp. 214-224 of
The Harvard Classics
Prison walls were
the least of Cellini's troubles. "Lock me well up and watch me,
for I shall certainly contrive to escape." In spite of this
warning, the utmost care of the jailers only furnished amusement for
the dauntless Cellini.
CVII
THE CASTELLAN was
subject to a certain sickness, which came upon him every year and
deprived him of his wits. The sign of its, approach was that he kept
continually talking, or rather jabbering, to no purpose. These
humours took a different shape each year; one time he thought he was
an oiljar; another time he thought he was a frog, and hopped about as
frogs do; another time he thought he was dead, and then they had to
bury him; not a year passed but he got some such hypochondriac
notions into his head. At this season he imagined that he was a bat,
and when he went abroad to take the air, he used to scream like bats
in a high thin tone; and then he would flap his hands and body as
though he were about to fly. The doctors, when they saw the fit
coming on him, and his old servants, gave him all the distractions
they could think of; and since they had noticed that he derived much
pleasure from my conversation, they were always fetching me to keep
him company. At times the poor man detained me for four or five
stricken hours without ever letting me cease talking. He used to keep
me at his table, eating opposite to him, and never stopped chatting
and making me chat; but during those discourses I contrived to make a
good meal. He, poor man, could neither eat nor sleep; so that at last
he wore me out. I was at the end of my strength; and sometimes when I
looked at him, I noticed that his eyeballs were rolling in a
frightful manner, one looking one way and the other in another.
He took it
into his head to ask me whether I had ever had a fancy to fly. I
answered that it had always been my ambition to do those things which
offer the greatest difficulties to men, and that I had done them; as
to flying, the God of Nature had gifted me with a body well suited
for running and leaping far beyond the common average, and that with
the talents I possessed for manual art I felt sure I had the courage
to try flying. He then inquired what methods I should use; to which I
answered that, taking into consideration all flying creatures, and
wishing to imitate by art what they derived from nature, none was so
apt a model as the bat. No sooner had the poor man heard the name
bat, which recalled the humour he was suffering under, than he cried
out at the top of his voice: “He says true—he says true; the
bat’s the thing—the bat’s the thing!” Then he turned to me
and said: “Benvenuto, if one gave you the opportunity, should you
have the heart to fly?” I said if he would set me at liberty, I
felt quite up to flying down to Prati, after making myself a pair of
wings out of waxed linen. Thereupon he replied: “I too should be
prepared to take flight; but since the Pope has bidden me guard you
as though you were his own eyes, and I know you a clever devil who
would certainly escape, I shall now have you locked up with a hundred
keys in order to prevent you slipping through my fingers.” I then
began to implore him, and remind him that I might have fled, but that
on account of the word which I had given him I would never have
betrayed his trust: therefore I begged him for the love of God, and
by the kindness he had always shown me, not to add greater evils to
the misery of my present situation. While I was pouring out these
entreaties, he gave strict orders to have me bound and taken and
locked up in prison. On seeing that it could not be helped, I told
him before all his servants: “Lock me well up, and keep good watch
on me; for I shall certainly contrive to escape.” So they took and
confined me with the utmost care.
CVIII
I THEN began to
deliberate upon the best way of making my escape. No sooner had I
been locked in, than I went about exploring my prison; and when I
thought I had discovered how to get out of it, I pondered the means
of descending from the lofty keep, for so the great round central
tower is called. I took those new sheets of mine, which, as I have
said already, I had cut in strips and sewn together; then I reckoned
up the quantity which would be sufficient for my purpose. Having made
this estimate and put all things in order, I looked out a pair of
pincers which I had abstracted from a Savoyard belonging to the guard
of the castle. This man superintended the casks and cisterns; he also
amused himself with carpentering. Now he possessed several pairs of
pincers, among which was one both big and heavy. I then, thinking it
would suit my purpose, took it and hid it in my straw mattress. The
time had now come for me to use it; so I began to try the nails which
kept the hinges of my door in place. 1 The door was
double, and the clinching of the nails could not be seen; so that
when I attempted to draw one out, I met with the greatest trouble; in
the end, however, I succeeded. When I had drawn the first nail, I
bethought me how to prevent its being noticed. For this purpose I
mixed some rust, which I had scraped from old iron, with a little
wax, obtaining exactly the same colour as the heads of the long nails
which I had extracted. Then I set myself to counterfeit these heads
and place them on the holdfasts; for each nail I extracted I made a
counterfeit in wax. I left the hinges attached to their door-posts at
top and bottom by means of some of the same nails that I had drawn;
but I took care to cut these and replace them lightly, so that they
only just supported the irons of the hinges.
All this I performed
with the greatest difficulty, because the castellan kept dreaming
every night that I had escaped, which made him send from time to time
to inspect my prison. The man who came had the title and behaviour of
a catch-poll. He was called Bozza, and used always to bring with him
another of the same sort, named Giovanni and nicknamed Pedignone; the
latter was a soldier, and Bozza a serving-man. Giovanni never entered
my prison without saying something offensive to me. He came from the
district of Prato, and had been an apothecary in the town there.
Every evening he minutely examined the holdfasts of the hinges and
the whole chamber, and I used to say: “Keep a good watch over me,
for I am resolved by all means to escape.” These words bred a great
enmity between him and me, so that I was obliged to use precautions
to conceal my tools, that is to say, my pincers and a great big
poniard and other appurtenances. All these I put away together in my
mattress, where I also kept the strips of linen I had made. When day
broke, I used immediately to sweep my room out; and though I am by
nature a lover of cleanliness, at that time I kept myself unusually
spick and span. After sweeping up, I made my bed as daintily as I
could, laying flowers upon it, which a Savoyard used to bring me
nearly every morning. He had the care of the cistern and the casks,
and also amused himself with carpentering; it was from him I stole
the pincers which I used in order to draw out the nails from the
holdfasts of the hinges.
Note 1. The door seems to
have been hung upon hinges with plates nailed into the posts. Cellini
calls these plates bandelle.
CIX
WELL, to return to the
subject of my bed; when Bozza and Pedignone came, I always told them
to give it a wide berth, so as not to dirty and spoil it for me. Now
and then, just to irritate me, they would touch it lightly, upon
which I cried: “Ah, dirty cowards! I’ll lay my hand on one of
your swords there, and will do you a mischief that will make you
wonder. Do you think you are fit to touch the bed of a man like me?
When I chastise you I shall not heed my own life, for I am certain to
take yours. Let me alone then with my troubles and my tribulations,
and don’t give me more annoyance than I have already; if not, I
shall make you see what a desperate man is able to do.” These words
they reported to the castellan, who gave them express orders never to
go near my bed, and when they came to me, to come without swords, but
for the rest to keep a watchful guard upon me.
Having thus secured my bed from
meddlers, I felt as though the main point was gained; for there lay
all things needful to my venture. It happened on the evening of a
certain feast-day that the castellan was seriously indisposed; his
humours grew extravagant; he kept repeating that he was a bat, and if
they heard that Benvenuto had flown away, they must let him go to
catch me up, since he could fly by night most certainly as well or
better than myself; for it was thus he argued: “Benvenuto is a
counterfeit bat, but I am a real one; and since he is committed to my
care, leave me to act; I shall be sure to catch him.” He had passed
several nights in this frenzy, and had worn out all his servants,
whereof I received full information through divers channels, but
especially from the Savoyard, who was my friend at heart.
On the evening of that feast-day,
then, I made my mind up to escape, come what might; and first I
prayed most devoutly to God, imploring His Divine Majesty to protect
and succour me in that so perilous a venture. Afterwards I set to
work at all the things I needed, and laboured the whole of the night.
It was two hours before daybreak when at last I removed those hinges
with the greatest toil; but the wooden panel itself and the bolt too
offered such resistance that I could not open the door; so I had to
cut into the wood; yet in the end I got it open, and shouldering the
strips of linen which I had rolled up like bundles of flax upon two
sticks, I went forth and directed my steps towards the latrines of
the keep. Spying from within two tiles upon the roof, I was able at
once to clamber up with ease. I wore a white doublet with a pair of
white hose and a pair of half boots, into which I had stuck the
poniard I have mentioned.
After scaling the roof, I took one end
of my linen roll and attached it to a piece of antique tile which was
built into the fortress wall; it happened to jut out scarcely four
fingers. In order to fix the band, I gave it the form of a stirrup.
When I had attached it to that piece of tile, I turned to God and
said: “Lord God, give aid to my good cause; you know that it is
good; you see that I am aiding myself.” Then I let myself go gently
by degrees, supporting myself with the sinews of my arms, until I
touched the ground. There was no moonshine, but the light of a fair
open heaven. When I stood upon my feet on solid earth, I looked up at
the vast height which I had descended with such spirit, and went
gladly away, thinking I was free. But this was not the case; for the
castellan on that side of the fortress had built two lofty walls, the
space between which he used for stable and henyard; the place was
barred with thick iron bolts outside. I was terribly disgusted to
find there was no exit from this trap; but while I paced up and down
debating what to do, I stumbled on a long pole which was covered up
with straw. Not without great trouble I succeeded in placing it
against the wall, and then swarmed up it by the force of my arms
until I reached the top. But since the wall ended in a sharp ridge, I
had not strength enough to drag the pole up after me. Accordingly I
made my mind up to use a portion of the second roll of linen which I
had there; the other was left hanging from the keep of the castle. So
I cut a piece off, tied it to the pole, and clambered down the wall,
enduring the utmost toil and fatigue. I was quite exhausted, and had,
moreover, flayed the inside of my hands, which bled freely. This
compelled me to rest awhile, and I bathed my hands in my own urine.
When I thought that my strength was recovered, I advanced quickly
toward the last rampart, which faces toward Prati. There I put my
bundle of linen lines down upon the ground, meaning to fasten them
round a battlement, and descend the lesser as I had the greater
height. But no sooner had I placed the linen, than I became aware
behind me of a sentinel, who was going the rounds. Seeing my designs
interrupted and my life in peril, I resolved to face the guard. This
fellow, when he noticed my bold front, and that I was marching on him
with weapon in hand, quickened his pace and gave me a wide berth. I
had left my lines some little way behind; so I turned with hasty
steps to regain them; and though I came within sight of another
sentinel, he seemed as though he did not choose to take notice of me.
Having found my lines and attached them to the battlement, I let
myself go. On the descent, whether it was that I thought I had really
come to earth and relaxed my grasp to jump, or whether my hands were
so tired that they could not keep their hold, at any rate I fell,
struck my head in falling, and lay stunned for more than an hour and
a half, so far as I could judge.
It was just upon daybreak, when the
fresh breeze which blows an hour before the sun revived me; yet I did
not immediately recover my senses, for I thought my head had been cut
off and fancied that I was in purgatory. With time, little by little,
my faculties returned, and I perceived that I was outside the castle,
and in a flash remembered all my adventures. I was aware of the wound
in my head before I knew my leg was broken; for I put my hands up,
and withdrew them covered with blood. Then I searched the spot well,
and judged and ascertained that I had sustained no injury of
consequence there; but when I wanted to stand up, I discovered that
my right leg was broken three inches above the heel. Not even this
dismayed me: I drew forth my poniard with its scabbard; the latter
had a metal point ending in a large ball, which had caused the
fracture of my leg; for the bone, coming into violent contact with
the ball, and not being able to bend, had snapped at that point. I
threw the sheath away, and with the poniard cut a piece of the linen
which I had left. Then I bound my leg up as well as I could, and
crawled on all fours with the poniard in my hand toward the city
gate. When I reached it, I found it shut; but I noticed a stone just
beneath the door which did not appear to be very firmly fixed. This I
attempted to dislodge; after setting my hands to it, and feeling it
move, it easily gave way, and I drew it out. Through the gap thus
made I crept into the town.
CX
I HAD crawled more than five hundred
paces from the place where I fell, to the gate by which I entered. No
sooner had I got inside than some mastiff dogs set upon me and bit me
badly. When they returned to the attack and worried me, I drew my
poniard and wounded one of them so sharply that he howled aloud, and
all the dogs, according to their nature, ran after him. I meanwhile
made the best way I could on all fours toward the church of the
Trespontina.
On arriving at the opening of the
street which leads to Sant’ Agnolo, I turned off in the direction
of San Piero; and now the dawn had risen over me, and I felt myself
in danger. When therefore I chanced to meet a water-carrier driving
his donkey laden with full buckets, I called the fellow, and begged
him to carry me upon his back to the terrace by the steps of San
Piero, adding: “I am an unfortunate young man, who, while escaping
from a window in a love-adventure, have fallen and broken my leg. The
place from which I made my exit is one of great importance; and if I
am discovered, I run risk of being cut to pieces; so for heaven’s
sake lift me quickly, and I will give you a crown of gold.” Saying
this, I clapped my hand to my purse, where I had a good quantity. He
took me up at once, hitched me on his back, and carried me to the
raised terrace by the steps to San Piero. There I bade him leave me,
saying he must run back to his donkey.
I resumed my march, crawling always on
all fours, and making for the palace of the Duchess, wife of Duke
Ottavio and daughter of the Emperor. 1 She was
his natural child, and had been married to Duke Alessandro. I chose
her house for refuge, because I was quite certain that many of my
friends, who had come with that great princess from Florence, were
tarrying there; also because she had taken me into favour through
something which the castellan had said in my behalf. Wishing to be of
service to me, he told the Pope that I had saved the city more than a
thousand crowns of damage, caused by heavy rain on the occasion when
the Duchess made her entrance into Rome. He related how he was in
despair, and how I put heart into him, and went on to describe how I
had pointed several large pieces of artillery in the direction where
the clouds were thickest, and whence a deluge of water was already
pouring; then, when I began to fire, the rain stopped, and at the
fourth discharge the sun shone out; and so I was the sole cause of
the festival succeeding, to the joy of everybody. On hearing this
narration the Duchess said: “That Benvenuto is one of the artists
of merit, who enjoyed the goodwill of my late husband, Duke
Alessandro, and I shall always hold them in mind if an opportunity
comes of doing such men service.” She also talked of me to Duke
Ottavio. For these reasons I meant to go straight to the house of her
Excellency, which was a very fine palace situated in Borgio Vecchio.
I should have been quite safe from
recapture by the Pope if I could have stayed there; but my exploits
up to this point had been too marvellous for a human being, and God
was unwilling to encourage my vainglory; accordingly, for my own
good, He chastised me a second time worse even than the first. The
cause of this was that while I was crawling on all fours up those
steps, a servant of Cardinal Cornaro recognized me. His master was
then lodging in the palace; so the servant ran up to his room and
woke him, crying: “Most reverend Monsignor, your friend Benvenuto
is down there; he has escaped from the castle, and is crawling on all
fours, streaming with blood; to all appearances he has broken a leg,
and we don’t know whether he is going.” The Cardinal exclaimed at
once: “Run and carry him upon your back into my room here.” When
I arrived, he told me to be under no apprehension, and sent for the
first physicians of Rome to take my case in hand. Among them was
Maestro Jacomo of Perugia, a most excellent and able surgeon. He set
the bone with dexterity, then bound the limb up, and bled me with his
own hand. It happened that my veins were swollen far beyond their
usual size, and he too wished to make a pretty wide incision;
accordingly the blood sprang forth so copiously, and spurted with
such force into his face, that he had to abandon the operation. He
regarded this as a very bad omen, and could hardly be prevailed upon
to undertake my cure. Indeed, he often expressed a wish to leave me,
remembering that he ran no little risk of punishment for having
treated my case, or rather for having proceeded to the end with it.
The Cardinal had me placed in a secret chamber, and went off
immediately to beg me from the Pope.
Note 1.
Margaret of Austria, who married Ottavio Farnese in November 1538,
after Alessandro’s murder.
CXI
DURING this while all Rome was in an uproar;
for they had observed the bands of linen fastened to the great keep
of the castle, and folk were running in crowds to behold so
extraordinary a thing. The castellan had gone off into one of his
worst fits of frenzy; in spite of all his servants, he insisted upon
taking his flight also from the tower, saying that no one could
recapture me except himself if he were to fly after me. Messer
Ruberto Pucci, the father of Messer Pandolfo, 1 having
heard of the great event, went in person to inspect the place;
afterwards he came to the palace, where he met with Cardinal Cornaro,
who told him exactly what had happened, and how I was lodged in one
of his own chambers, and already in the doctor’s hands. These two
worthy men went together, and threw themselves upon their knees
before the Pope; but he, before they could get a word out, cried
aloud: “I know all that you want of me.” Messer Ruberto Pucci
then began: “Most blessed Father, we beg you for Heaven’s grace
to give us up that unfortunate man; surely his great talents entitle
him to exceptional treatment; moreover, he has displayed such
audacity, blent with so much ingenuity, that his exploit might seem
superhuman. We know not for what crimes you Holiness has kept him so
long in prison; however, if those crimes are too exorbitant, your
Holiness is wise and holy, and may your will be done unquestioned;
still, if they are such as can be condoned, we entreat you to pardon
him for our sake.” The Pope, when he heard this, felt shame, and
answered: “I have kept him in prison at the request of some of my
people, since he is a little too violent in his behaviour; but
recognising his talents, and wishing to keep him near our person, we
had intended to treat him so well that he should have no reason to
return to France. I am very sorry to hear of his bad accident; tell
him to mind his health, and when he is recovered, we will make it up
to him for all his troubles.”
Those two excellent men returned and
told me the good news they were bringing from the Pope. Meanwhile the
nobility of Rome, young, old, and all sorts, came to visit me. The
castellan, out of his mind as he was, had himself carried to the
Pope; and when he was in the presence of his Holiness, began to cry
out, and to say that if he did not send me back to prison, he would
do him a great wrong. “He escaped under parole which he gave me;
woe is me that he has flown away when he promised not to fly!” The
Pope said, laughing: “Go, go; for I will give him back to you
without fail.” The castellan then added, speaking to the Pope:
“Send the Governor to him to find out who helped him to escape; for
if it is one of my men, I will hang him from the battlement whence
Benvenuto leaped.” On his departure the Pope called the Governor,
and said, smiling: “That is a brave fellow, and his exploit is
something marvellous; all the same, when I was a young man, I also
descended from the fortress at that very spot.” In so saying the
Pope spoke the truth: for he had been imprisoned in the castle for
forging a brief at the time when he was abbreviator di Parco
Majoris. 2Pope Alexander kept him confined for some
length of time; and afterwards, his offence being of too ugly a
nature, had resolved on cutting off his head. He postponed the
execution, however, till after Corpus Domini; and Farnese, getting
wind of the Pope’s will, summoned Pietro Chiavelluzi with a lot of
horses, and managed to corrupt some of the castle guards with money.
Accordingly, upon the day of Corpus Domini, while the Pope was going
in procession, Farnese got into a basket and was let down by a rope
to the ground. At that time the outer walls had not been built around
the castle; only the great central tower existed; so that he had not
the same enormous difficulty that I met with in escaping; moreover,
he had been imprisoned justly, and I against all equity. What he
wanted was to brag before the Governor of having in his youth been
spirited and brave; and it did not occur to him that he was calling
attention to his own huge rogueries. He said then: “Go and tell him
to reveal his accomplice without apprehension to you, be the man who
he may be, since I have pardoned him; and this you may assure him
without reservation.”
Note 1. See
above, p. 114.
Note 2. The
Collegium Abbreviatorum di Parco Majori consisted of seventy-two
members. It was established by Pius II. Onofrio Panvinio tells this
story of Paul III.’s imprisonment and escape, but places it in the
Papacy of Innocent VIII. See Vita Pauli III., in continuation of
Platina.
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