One evening Salieri proposed to me to accompany him to the Prater. At this time he was composing his opera of Tarrare, for the grand Opera House at Paris. At the back of the cabaret where we had been taking refreshments, near the banks of the Danube, we seated ourselves by the river side ; he took from his pocket a sketch of that subsequently popular air which he had that morning composed, Ah ! povero Calpigi. While , he was singing it to me with great earnestness and gesticulation, I cast my eyes towards the river, and spied a large wild boar crossing it, near the place where we were seated. I took to my heels, and the composer followed me, leaving " Povero Calpigi," and (what was worse) a flagon of excellent Rhenish wine behind us, which was to me a greater bore than the bristly animal whose visit seemed intended for us. << less