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Contents

Python Codes ................................................................................................................................... xv

Preface.............................................................................................................................................xxi
Software and Data.........................................................................................................................xxiii
Author ............................................................................................................................................ xxv

PART I Image Operators

Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 3

1.1 Scripting in Python ......................................................................................... 3
1.2 Installation ...................................................................................................... 4
1.2.1 Example Codes .................................................................................. 4
1.2.2 Establishing a Work Space................................................................. 4
1.2.3 The Spyder Interface.......................................................................... 5
1.2.4 Intent of the Text ................................................................................ 5

Chapter 2 Operator Nomenclature ........................................................................................... 7

2.1 Image Notation ............................................................................................... 7
2.2 Operators......................................................................................................... 8
2.2.1 Creation Operators ............................................................................. 8
2.2.2 Channel Operators ............................................................................. 9
2.2.3 Informational Operators................................................................... 12
2.2.4 Intensity Operators........................................................................... 14
2.2.5 Geometric Operators........................................................................ 16
2.2.6 Transformation Operators ................................................................ 16
2.2.7 Expansion Operators........................................................................ 17
2.3 Combinations and Reduced Notation ........................................................... 18
2.4 Summary....................................................................................................... 19

Chapter 3 Scripting in Python ................................................................................................ 21

3.1 Basic Python Skills ....................................................................................... 21
3.1.1 Variables........................................................................................... 21
3.1.2 Strings .............................................................................................. 22
3.1.3 Type Conversions with Strings ........................................................ 23
3.2 Tuples, List, Dictionaries, and Sets .............................................................. 23
3.2.1 Tuple ................................................................................................ 23
3.2.2 Slicing .............................................................................................. 23
3.2.3 Lists.................................................................................................. 25
3.2.4 Dictionaries ...................................................................................... 25
3.2.5 Sets................................................................................................... 26
3.3 Flow Control ................................................................................................. 26
3.3.1 The if Command .............................................................................. 27
3.3.2 The while Command........................................................................ 28

vii
viii Contents

3.3.3 Break and Continue.......................................................................... 29

3.3.4 The For Loop ................................................................................... 29
3.3.5 The map and lambda Functions ....................................................... 31
3.3.6 Image Operators and Control........................................................... 31
3.4 Input and Output ........................................................................................... 32
3.4.1 Reading and Writing Text Files ....................................................... 32
3.4.2 Pickling Files ................................................................................... 32
3.5 Defining Functions........................................................................................ 33
3.5.1 Function Components ...................................................................... 33
3.5.2 Returns ............................................................................................. 34
3.5.3 Default Arguments........................................................................... 35
3.5.4 Function Help................................................................................... 35
3.6 Modules ........................................................................................................ 36
3.7 Errors ............................................................................................................ 38
3.8 NumPy .......................................................................................................... 39
3.8.1 Creating Arrays................................................................................ 39
3.8.1.1 Zeros and Ones ................................................................ 39
3.8.1.2 Random............................................................................ 40
3.8.1.3 Geometric Shapes............................................................ 41
3.8.1.4 Conversion of Numerical Data ........................................ 41
3.8.2 Manipulating Arrays ........................................................................ 42
3.8.2.1 Display Option................................................................. 42
3.8.2.2 Converting Arrays ........................................................... 42
3.8.2.3 Simple Math .................................................................... 42
3.8.2.4 Multiplying Vectors ......................................................... 43
3.8.2.5 Multiplying Matrices ....................................................... 44
3.8.2.6 Array Functions ............................................................... 44
3.8.2.7 Decisions ......................................................................... 47
3.8.2.8 Advanced Slicing............................................................. 48
3.8.2.9 Universal Functions ......................................................... 48
3.8.2.10 Sorting ............................................................................. 49
3.8.3 Indices .............................................................................................. 51
3.9 SciPy ............................................................................................................. 52
3.9.1 Loading and Saving Images............................................................. 53
3.9.2 Examples from ndimage .................................................................. 54
3.9.2.1 Rotation and Shift............................................................ 54
3.9.2.2 Center of Mass................................................................. 55
3.10 Summary....................................................................................................... 56

Chapter 4 Digital Images ....................................................................................................... 59

4.1 Images in Python .......................................................................................... 59
4.2 Resolution ..................................................................................................... 59
4.2.1 Intensity Resolution ......................................................................... 59
4.2.2 Spatial Resolution ............................................................................ 61
4.3 Digital Formats ............................................................................................. 63
4.3.1 Bitmaps ............................................................................................ 63
4.3.2 JPEG ................................................................................................ 63
4.3.3 GIF ................................................................................................... 63
4.3.4 TIFF ................................................................................................. 64
Contents ix

4.3.5 PNG.................................................................................................. 65
4.3.6 Other Compressions......................................................................... 65
4.4 Summary....................................................................................................... 65

Chapter 5 Color ...................................................................................................................... 67

5.1 The RGB Color Model ................................................................................. 67
5.2 The HSV Color Model.................................................................................. 69
5.3 The YUV Family .......................................................................................... 72
5.4 CIE L*a*b*................................................................................................... 73
5.5 Improvements in Recognition....................................................................... 74
5.6 Summary....................................................................................................... 77

PART II Image Space Manipulations

Chapter 6 Geometric Transformations ................................................................................... 81
6.1 Selections...................................................................................................... 81
6.2 Linear Translation......................................................................................... 83
6.2.1 Simple Shifting ................................................................................ 83
6.2.2 NonInteger Shifts ............................................................................. 84
6.3 Scaling .......................................................................................................... 85
6.4 Rotation......................................................................................................... 87
6.5 Dilation and Erosion ..................................................................................... 88
6.6 Coordinate Mapping ..................................................................................... 90
6.7 Polar Transformations................................................................................... 90
6.7.1 Theory .............................................................................................. 91
6.7.2 Python Implementation.................................................................... 92
6.7.3 Example ........................................................................................... 94
6.8 Pincushion and Barrel Transformations ...................................................... 95
6.9 Other Transformations.................................................................................. 96
6.9.1 Generic Transformations.................................................................. 97
6.9.2 Affine Transformation...................................................................... 98
6.10 Summary....................................................................................................... 99

Chapter 7 Image Morphing .................................................................................................. 101

7.1 Warp............................................................................................................ 101
7.1.1 Marking Fiducial Points................................................................. 101
7.1.2 Image Dancer ................................................................................. 101
7.1.3 Delaunay Tessellation .................................................................... 103
7.1.4 Applying the Warp ......................................................................... 104
7.2 Average Face............................................................................................... 106
7.3 Image Morphing ......................................................................................... 107

Chapter 8 Principle Component Analysis ............................................................................ 111

8.1 The Purpose of PCA ................................................................................... 111
8.2 Covariance Matrix ...................................................................................... 111
8.3 Eigenvectors................................................................................................ 112
8.4 PCA............................................................................................................. 113
x Contents

8.4.1 Distance Tests ................................................................................ 116

8.4.2 Organization Example ................................................................... 116
8.4.3 RGB Example ................................................................................ 121
8.5 First Order Nature of PCA.......................................................................... 124
8.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 124

Chapter 9 Eigenimages ........................................................................................................ 127

9.1 Eigenimages................................................................................................ 127
9.1.1 Large Covariance Matrix ............................................................... 128
9.1.2 Python Implementation.................................................................. 128
9.1.3 Face Recognition Example ............................................................ 130
9.1.4 Natural Eigenimages...................................................................... 131

PART III Frequency Space Manipulations

Chapter 10 Image Frequencies............................................................................................... 137

10.1 Complex Numbers ...................................................................................... 137
10.2 Theory......................................................................................................... 138
10.3 Digital Fourier Transform........................................................................... 138
10.3.1 FFT in Python ................................................................................ 139
10.3.2 Signal Reconstruction .................................................................... 139
10.4 Properties of a Fourier Transform............................................................... 140
10.4.1 DC Term......................................................................................... 140
10.4.2 Conservation of Energy ................................................................. 141
10.4.3 Replication ..................................................................................... 142
10.4.4 Addition ......................................................................................... 142
10.4.5 Shift................................................................................................ 143
10.4.6 Scale............................................................................................... 143
10.4.7 Power Spectrum ............................................................................. 144
10.5 Displaying the Transform ........................................................................... 144
10.6 Simple Shapes............................................................................................. 145
10.6.1 Rectangle........................................................................................ 145
10.6.2 Circle.............................................................................................. 146
10.7 Frequency Bands ........................................................................................ 147
10.8 Windowing.................................................................................................. 149
10.9 Summary..................................................................................................... 152

Chapter 11 Filtering in Frequency Space............................................................................... 153

11.1 Frequency Filtering..................................................................................... 153
11.1.1 Low-pass Filter .............................................................................. 153
11.1.2 High-pass Filter.............................................................................. 154
11.1.3 Band-pass Filter ............................................................................. 155
11.2 Directional Filtering.................................................................................... 156
11.3 Fingerprint Example ................................................................................... 158
11.4 Artifact Removal......................................................................................... 160
11.5 Summary..................................................................................................... 163
11.6 Problems ..................................................................................................... 163
Contents xi

Chapter 12 Correlations ......................................................................................................... 165

12.1 Justification and Theory.............................................................................. 165
12.2 Theory......................................................................................................... 165
12.2.1 Computations in Fourier Space...................................................... 166
12.3 Implementation in Python........................................................................... 167
12.3.1 Brute Force..................................................................................... 167
12.3.2 Method Based on Fourier Transforms ........................................... 168
12.3.3 Example – Geometric Shapes ........................................................ 169
12.3.4 Example – Boat Isolation............................................................... 170
12.4 Composite Filtering .................................................................................... 174
12.5 SDF and MACE.......................................................................................... 175
12.5.1 Fractional Power Filter (FPF) ........................................................ 176
12.5.1.1 Theory............................................................................ 176
12.5.1.2 Manipulating α .............................................................. 177
12.5.1.3 Example......................................................................... 178
12.5.1.4 The Constraints.............................................................. 180
12.5.1.5 Dual FPFs ...................................................................... 182
12.6 Restrictions of Correlations ........................................................................ 184
12.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 184

PART IV Texture and Shape

Chapter 13 Edge Detection .................................................................................................... 189

13.1 Edges........................................................................................................... 189
13.2 The Sobel Filters......................................................................................... 190
13.3 Difference of Gaussians.............................................................................. 191
13.4 Corners........................................................................................................ 193

Chapter 14 Hough Transforms ............................................................................................... 199

14.1 Detection of a Line ..................................................................................... 199
14.2 Detection of a Circle................................................................................... 202
14.3 Application ................................................................................................. 204
14.4 Summary..................................................................................................... 205

Chapter 15 Noise.................................................................................................................... 209

15.1 Random Noise ............................................................................................ 209
15.2 Salt and Pepper Noise................................................................................. 209
15.3 Camera Noise.............................................................................................. 212
15.4 Colored Noise ............................................................................................. 212
15.5 Comparison of Noise Removal Systems .................................................... 212
15.5.1 Smoothing ...................................................................................... 213
15.5.2 Low-Pass Filtering ......................................................................... 214
15.5.3 Erosion and Dilation ...................................................................... 214
15.5.4 Median Filter.................................................................................. 215
15.5.5 Wiener Filter .................................................................................. 216
15.6 Other Types of Noise .................................................................................. 217
15.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 217
xii Contents

Chapter 16 Texture Recognition ............................................................................................ 221

16.1 Data............................................................................................................. 221
16.2 Edge Density............................................................................................... 221
16.2.1 Statistical Method .......................................................................... 221
16.2.2 The Method of Rosenfeld and Thurston ........................................ 223
16.2.3 Wavelet Decomposition and Texture ............................................. 227
16.2.4 Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix ................................................ 230
16.2.4.1 Angular Second Moment............................................... 232
16.2.4.2 Contrast.......................................................................... 232
16.2.4.3 Correlation..................................................................... 233
16.2.4.4 Variance ......................................................................... 234
16.2.4.5 Entropy .......................................................................... 234
16.2.4.6 The Remaining Haralick Metrics .................................. 235
16.3 Filter-Based Methods.................................................................................. 238
16.3.1 Law’s Filters................................................................................... 238
16.4 Summary..................................................................................................... 240

Chapter 17 Gabor Filtering .................................................................................................... 243

17.1 Gabor Filtering............................................................................................ 243
17.2 Edge Response............................................................................................ 245
17.3 Texture Extraction with Gabor Filters ........................................................ 246
17.4 Gabor Filters in Fourier Space.................................................................... 249
17.5 Summary..................................................................................................... 249

Chapter 18 Describing Shape................................................................................................. 251

18.1 Contour Methods ........................................................................................ 251
18.1.1 Chain Code..................................................................................... 251
18.1.2 The Polygon Method...................................................................... 252
18.1.3 Metrics Used to Describe Shape .................................................... 252
18.1.4 Fourier Descriptors ........................................................................ 255
18.1.5 Wavelets ......................................................................................... 258
18.1.6 Elastic Matching ............................................................................ 258
18.2 Region Methods.......................................................................................... 262
18.2.1 Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues........................................................ 262
18.2.2 Shape Metrics................................................................................. 265
18.3 Describing Structure ................................................................................... 267
18.3.1 Curvature Flow .............................................................................. 267
18.3.2 Medial Axis.................................................................................... 269
18.4 Problems ..................................................................................................... 271

PART V Basis

Chapter 19 Basis Sets............................................................................................................. 275

19.1 Discrete Cosine Transform ......................................................................... 276
19.2 Zernike Polynomials................................................................................... 279
19.3 Empirical Mode Decomposition................................................................. 282
19.4 Image Analysis with Basis Sets.................................................................. 285
Contents xiii

Chapter 20 Pulse Images and Autowaves .............................................................................. 293

20.1 Pulse-Coupled Neural Network .................................................................. 293
20.1.1 Mammalian Visual Cortex ............................................................. 293
20.1.2 PCNN............................................................................................. 293
20.1.2.1 Theory............................................................................ 294
20.1.2.2 Pulse Streams................................................................. 294
20.1.2.3 Applications................................................................... 295
20.1.2.4 Operator Notation.......................................................... 296
20.2 Intersecting Cortical Model ........................................................................ 296
20.2.1 Centripetal Autowaves ................................................................... 297
20.2.2 ICM ................................................................................................ 297
20.3 Texture Classification with the ICM........................................................... 298
20.4 Summary..................................................................................................... 300

Appendix A Operators ............................................................................................................. 303

Appendix B Operators in Symbolic Order............................................................................... 325
Appendix C Lengthy Codes..................................................................................................... 327
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 333
Index.............................................................................................................................................. 335
Python Codes
1.1 Positioning Python to the user’s directory ............................................................................. 4
1.2 Positioning Python to the user’s directory ............................................................................. 5
2.1 Corresponding Python outline ............................................................................................... 7
2.2 Swapping the color channels ............................................................................................... 11
2.3 Converting an RGB image to a grayscale image ................................................................. 12
2.4 A few informational operations ........................................................................................... 13
2.5 Computing the average of selected pixels............................................................................ 13
2.6 Determining which channel has the most energy ................................................................ 14
2.7 Isolating the man’s cane....................................................................................................... 16
3.1 Creating an integer............................................................................................................... 21
3.2 Simple math functions ......................................................................................................... 22
3.3 Type casting ......................................................................................................................... 22
3.4 Creating strings .................................................................................................................... 22
3.5 Type conversions.................................................................................................................. 23
3.6 Building a name ................................................................................................................... 23
3.7 Tuple .................................................................................................................................... 24
3.8 Extraction............................................................................................................................. 24
3.9 Slicing selected elements ..................................................................................................... 24
3.10 Using a list ........................................................................................................................... 25
3.11 Using a dictionary ................................................................................................................ 26
3.12 Some dictionary functions ................................................................................................... 26
3.13 Some set functions ............................................................................................................... 27
3.14 A simple if statement ......................................................................................................... 27
3.15 A multiple line if statement................................................................................................ 27
3.16 The if-else statement ....................................................................................................... 28
3.17 The elif statement.............................................................................................................. 28
3.18 A compound if statement ................................................................................................... 28
3.19 A while statement............................................................................................................... 29
3.20 Usgin break command........................................................................................................ 29
3.21 Using the continue command ........................................................................................... 30
3.22 The for loop........................................................................................................................ 30
3.23 Using the range command.................................................................................................. 30
3.24 Using the range command in a for loop ........................................................................... 31
3.25 Using the map and lambda functions ................................................................................. 31
3.26 Choosing parameters in a function ...................................................................................... 31
3.27 Choosing parameters in a function ...................................................................................... 32
3.28 Writing to a file .................................................................................................................... 32
3.29 Reading to a file ................................................................................................................... 32
3.30 Pickling a file ....................................................................................................................... 33
3.31 Reading a pickle file............................................................................................................. 33
3.32 Reading a pickle file............................................................................................................. 33
3.33 Defining a function .............................................................................................................. 34
3.34 Return a value from a function ............................................................................................ 34
3.35 Return a tuple from a function ............................................................................................. 34
3.36 Default arguments ................................................................................................................ 35

xv
xvi Python Codes

3.37 Function help ....................................................................................................................... 35

3.38 Showing help ....................................................................................................................... 36
3.39 Initial commands.................................................................................................................. 36
3.40 Reading a module ................................................................................................................ 37
3.41 Shortcut name ...................................................................................................................... 37
3.42 From import ......................................................................................................................... 37
3.43 Executing commands in either version of Python ............................................................... 38
3.44 Divide by 0 error .................................................................................................................. 38
3.45 Traceback through a module................................................................................................ 38
3.46 Try-except ............................................................................................................................ 39
3.47 Creation of vectors............................................................................................................... 40
3.48 Creating tensors ................................................................................................................... 40
3.49 Accessing data in a matrix ................................................................................................... 40
3.50 Creating random arrays........................................................................................................ 41
3.51 Using a random seed............................................................................................................ 41
3.52 Creating a solid rectangle..................................................................................................... 41
3.53 Creating arrays from data..................................................................................................... 42
3.54 Setting the number of decimal places that are printed to the console.................................. 42
3.55 Converting between vectors and matrices............................................................................ 43
3.56 Math operations for vectors ................................................................................................. 43
3.57 Multiplication with vectors .................................................................................................. 44
3.58 The inner product of two matrices ....................................................................................... 44
3.59 Maximum values in an image .............................................................................................. 45
3.60 Application of several functions .......................................................................................... 46
3.61 Locating the maximum ........................................................................................................ 46
3.62 Using the nonzero function ................................................................................................ 47
3.63 Advanced slicing for arrays ................................................................................................. 48
3.64 Advanced slicing for arrays with multiple dimensions........................................................ 49
3.65 Mathematical functions for an array .................................................................................... 49
3.66 Sorting data in an array ........................................................................................................ 50
3.67 Sorting images according to a user-defined criteria............................................................. 50
3.68 Example of the indices function .......................................................................................... 51
3.69 Creating a solid circle .......................................................................................................... 52
3.70 The Circle function.............................................................................................................. 52
3.71 Loading an image................................................................................................................. 53
3.72 Rearranging the color channels............................................................................................ 53
3.73 Saving an image ................................................................................................................... 54
3.74 An example of melding the operators and functions from ndimage.................................... 54
3.75 Finding the center of mass ................................................................................................... 55
4.1 Loading the image using Python Image Library.................................................................. 59
4.2 Loading the image using commands from imageio ............................................................. 59
4.3 Reducing the intensity resolution......................................................................................... 61
5.1 Creating an image that suppresses the background ............................................................. 69
5.2 Converting between HSV and RGB values ......................................................................... 70
5.3 The vectorize function applies the operation to all pixels................................................... 70
5.4 Modifying the hue channel .................................................................................................. 71
5.5 The RGB to YIQ conversion................................................................................................ 72
5.6 Getting the Cb and Cr channels from the rocket image....................................................... 73
6.1 Using the Window and Plop operators................................................................................. 82
6.2 Demonstrating the Downsample and Concatenate operators .............................................. 83
Python Codes xvii

6.3 Shifting an image ................................................................................................................. 84

6.4 Noninteger shifts.................................................................................................................. 86
6.5 Scaling the image................................................................................................................. 86
6.6 Rotation using scipy.ndimage .............................................................................................. 87
6.7 Multiple rotations................................................................................................................. 88
6.8 Dilation operations............................................................................................................... 89
6.9 The perimeters are created by computing the difference between two dilations................. 90
6.10 Creation of the image in Figure 6.10 ................................................................................... 91
6.11 The RPolar function............................................................................................................. 93
6.12 The IRPolar function............................................................................................................ 93
6.13 The LogPolar function ......................................................................................................... 93
6.14 Finding the perimeter of the cell.......................................................................................... 96
6.15 The Barrel function ............................................................................................................. 97
6.16 An example using scipy.ndimage.geometric–transform .................................................. 98
6.17 An example using scipy.ndimage.affine_transform ................................................ 98
7.1 Starting Dancer .................................................................................................................. 102
7.2 The DelaunayWarp function ............................................................................................ 103
7.3 Reading a CSV file............................................................................................................. 103
7.4 Extracting information from the tessellation ..................................................................... 104
7.5 Finding a simplex............................................................................................................... 104
7.6 Commands to warp an image............................................................................................. 106
7.7 Morphing two images ........................................................................................................ 108
8.1 Testing the eigenvector engine in NumPy ......................................................................... 113
8.2 Proving that the eigenvectors are orthonormal .................................................................. 113
8.3 Projection of data into a new space.................................................................................... 115
8.4 Projection of data into a new space.................................................................................... 116
8.5 The first two dimensions in PCA space ............................................................................. 117
8.6 The ScrambleImage function ........................................................................................... 118
8.7 The Unscramble function ................................................................................................. 119
8.8 Various calls to the Unscramble function ......................................................................... 120
8.9 The LoadImage and IsoBlue functions ............................................................................ 122
9.1 The EigenImages function ................................................................................................ 129
9.2 The ProjectEigen function................................................................................................ 129
10.1 The Rect2Polar and Polar2Rect functions....................................................................... 137
10.2 Forward and inverse FFT ................................................................................................... 139
10.3 The DC term ...................................................................................................................... 142
10.4 Conservation of energy ...................................................................................................... 142
10.5 Computing the original image ........................................................................................... 142
10.6 The shifting property.......................................................................................................... 143
10.7 The script for Equation (10.28).......................................................................................... 148
10.8 Creating the mask .............................................................................................................. 151
10.9 Using the KaiserMask function........................................................................................ 152
11.1 An example of a low-pass filter ......................................................................................... 154
11.2 An example of a high-pass filter ........................................................................................ 155
11.3 An example of a band-pass filter ....................................................................................... 155
11.4 An example of a band-pass filter with soft edges .............................................................. 156
11.5 The Wedge function .......................................................................................................... 157
11.6 An example of line filtering ............................................................................................... 158
11.7 The MaskinF function....................................................................................................... 159
11.8 The MultiWedges function ............................................................................................... 160
xviii Python Codes

11.9 The ColorCode1 function ................................................................................................. 160

11.10 Removal of the screen from the baseball image ................................................................ 162
12.1 Smoothing through a correlation with a small solid block ................................................ 167
12.2 The Correlate1D function................................................................................................. 169
12.3 The Correlate2DF function .............................................................................................. 169
12.4 Correlating shapes.............................................................................................................. 169
12.5 Loading and creating the necessary images....................................................................... 171
12.6 The LocateDock function.................................................................................................. 172
12.7 The Overlay function ........................................................................................................ 173
12.8 The SubtractDock function .............................................................................................. 174
12.9 The IDboats function ........................................................................................................ 174
12.10 The FPF function............................................................................................................... 176
12.11 Testing the FPF function ................................................................................................... 177
12.12 Computing an FPF ............................................................................................................. 178
12.13 The LoadTach function..................................................................................................... 179
12.14 The MakeTachFPF function............................................................................................. 180
12.15 Running the functions in the tachometer problem............................................................. 180
13.1 Shifting a simple array ....................................................................................................... 189
13.2 Extracting the vertical edges .............................................................................................. 190
13.3 Using the Sobel function to create an edge enhancement ................................................. 191
13.4 Application of the DoG filter ............................................................................................. 193
13.5 The Harris function........................................................................................................... 194
13.6 Applying the Harris detector to simple geometric shapes ................................................. 195
14.1 The LineHough function................................................................................................... 200
14.2 Creating Figure 14.1 .......................................................................................................... 201
14.3 Creating Figure 14.2 .......................................................................................................... 201
14.4 Running the Hough transform on an image with a line ..................................................... 201
14.5 The Hough transform applied to a different image............................................................ 202
14.6 Creating a line that is at a different orientation.................................................................. 202
14.7 Circle Hough transform applied to multiple rings ............................................................. 204
14.8 The detection of the cane ................................................................................................... 206
15.1 Adding random noise......................................................................................................... 210
15.2 Smoothing in Python ......................................................................................................... 210
15.3 Salt noise............................................................................................................................ 211
15.4 Applying colored noise ...................................................................................................... 212
15.5 The AddNoise function ..................................................................................................... 213
15.6 The Lopass function .......................................................................................................... 214
15.7 The ErosionDilation function ........................................................................................... 215
15.8 Applying a median filter .................................................................................................... 216
15.9 Applying a Wiener filter .................................................................................................... 217
16.1 Simple texture measure through the ratio of the mean and standard deviation ................. 223
16.2 Compute the edge density.................................................................................................. 223
16.3 Measuring the four moments ............................................................................................. 225
16.4 The FourMoments function.............................................................................................. 225
16.5 Beginning the comparison of textures ............................................................................... 226
16.6 The WvlIteration function................................................................................................ 228
16.7 Creating an output after a single iteration in wavelet decompostion ................................. 228
16.8 The WaveletDecomp function .......................................................................................... 229
16.9 The GetParts function....................................................................................................... 230
16.10 The WaveletEnergies function.......................................................................................... 230
Python Codes xix

16.11 The Cooccurrence function .............................................................................................. 231

16.12 The HHomogeneity function ............................................................................................ 232
16.13 The HContrast function.................................................................................................... 233
16.14 The HCorrelation function ............................................................................................... 234
16.15 The HVariance function.................................................................................................... 234
16.16 The HEntropy function..................................................................................................... 235
16.17 The Haralick function....................................................................................................... 236
16.18 Using the Haralick function.............................................................................................. 237
16.19 The five Law’s vectors ....................................................................................................... 239
16.20 The BuildLawsFilters function ........................................................................................ 239
16.21 The LawsJets function ...................................................................................................... 240
17.1 The GaborCos function .................................................................................................... 244
17.2 The Filts function .............................................................................................................. 244
17.3 The ManyCorrelations function ...................................................................................... 245
17.4 Complete steps to create an image, Gabor filters, and the correlations ............................. 246
17.5 The RandomJets function................................................................................................. 247
17.6 The entire process of gathering correlations, extracting jets, and mapping in
PCA space ......................................................................................................................... 248
18.1 The PerimeterPoints function .......................................................................................... 254
18.2 The ShowPerimPoints function........................................................................................ 254
18.3 The ChainLength function ............................................................................................... 255
18.4 The Curvature function .................................................................................................... 255
18.5 The FourierDescriptors function ..................................................................................... 257
18.6 The ReadFiducial function ............................................................................................... 259
18.7 The RemoveCenterBias function ..................................................................................... 260
18.8 The RemoveRotateBias function...................................................................................... 261
18.9 The RemoveScaleBias function ........................................................................................ 261
18.10 The GridDifference function ............................................................................................ 262
18.11 The Shape1 function.......................................................................................................... 263
18.12 The ExtractStats function................................................................................................. 263
18.13 Computing four geometric values...................................................................................... 266
18.14 The metrics for the six shapes............................................................................................ 267
18.15 The CurveFlow function ................................................................................................... 268
18.16 Running iterations of curvature flow ................................................................................. 269
18.17 Computing the medial axis ................................................................................................ 270
19.1 Using the 1D discrete cosine transform ............................................................................. 276
19.2 An example of a 1D DCT .................................................................................................. 277
19.3 The dct2d function ............................................................................................................ 278
19.4 The idct2d function ........................................................................................................... 278
19.5 Modified 2D EMD ............................................................................................................. 284
19.6 Reconstruction ................................................................................................................... 285
20.1 The original PCNN Python class ....................................................................................... 295
20.2 Typical execution of the PCNN ......................................................................................... 295
C.1 Programs to convert RGB to XYZ and then to CIE L*a*b* ............................................. 327
C.2 The Zernike function ........................................................................................................ 328
C.3 The Plop function .............................................................................................................. 329
C.4 The Warp function ............................................................................................................ 330
C.5 The KaiserMask function ................................................................................................. 331
Preface
Image processing and analysis is a burgeoning field that is gaining renewed interest in recent years.
The need for image analysis tools is ever increasing. Along with this is also the need to be able to
efficiently and explicitly describe processes used in analyzing images. Unfortunately, the current
state of publications is that each author has their own way of describing processes. Two different
authors describing the same process will often provide vastly different ways of communicating their
proposed process.
The recent development of high-powered scripting languages such as Python compounds the
issue. Publications can consume more real estate in explaining the process than it takes to write
the Python script to execute the process. Furthermore, the descriptions can be imprecise, because
some authors prefer to describe their processes through textual descriptions. Readers attempting to
replicate their results may find it a difficult process as not all of the steps are clearly explained.
The purpose of this text is to provide a unified mathematical language that coincides with Python
scripting. Image operators represent processes in a image analysis sequence, and these are associated
with Python scripts. Thus, a concise mathematical description of a process is easily translated into
Python scripts through this correlation. The conversion of Python scripts to image operators is nearly
as easy. Thus, this text introduces the initial set of image operators, complete with associated Python
scripts and examples.

Jason Kinser, D.Sc.

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA, USA
[email protected]

xxi
Software and Data
Software and data used in this text are available at:
https://jmkinser49.wixsite.com/imageoperators
Software and images copyright (c) Jason M. Kinser 2018. Software and images provided on this
site may be used for educational purposes. All other rights are reserved by the author.

xxiii
Exploring the Variety of Random
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of My Memoirs,
Vol. II, 1822 to 1825
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Title: My Memoirs, Vol. II, 1822 to 1825

Author: Alexandre Dumas

Translator: E. M. Waller

Release date: October 2, 2015 [eBook #50113]

Most recently updated: October 22, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY MEMOIRS,

VOL. II, 1822 TO 1825 ***
MY MEMOIRS
BY
ALEXANDRE DUMAS
TRANSLATED BY

E. M. WALLER

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

ANDREW LANG

VOL. II

1822 TO 1825

WITH A FRONTISPIECE

NEW YORK

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1907
 CONTENTS

BOOK I
CHAPTER I
An unpublished chapter from the Diable boiteux—History of
Samud and the beautiful Doña Lorenza 1
CHAPTER II
The good my flouting at the hands of the two Parisians had
done me—The young girls of Villers-Cotterets—My three friends
—First love affairs 13
 CHAPTER III
Adolphe de Leuven—His family—Unpublished details concerning
the death of Gustavus III.—The Count de Ribbing—The
shoemakers of the château de Villers-Hellon 24
CHAPTER IV
Adolphe's quatrain—The water-hen and King William—Lunch in
the wood—The irritant powder, the frogs and the cock—The
doctor's spectre—De Leuven, Hippolyte Leroy and I are exiled
from the drawing-room—Unfortunate result of a geographical
error—M. Paroisse 34
CHAPTER V
Amédée de la Ponce—He teaches me what work is—M. Arnault
and his two sons—A journey by diligence—A gentleman fights
me with cough lozenges and I fight him with my fists—I learn
the danger from which I escaped 48
CHAPTER VI
First dramatic impressions—The Hamlet of Ducis—The Bourbons
en 1815—Quotations from it 57
CHAPTER VII
The events of 1814 again—Marmont, Duc de Raguse, Maubreuil
and Roux-Laborie at M. de Talleyrand's—The Journal des Débats
and the Journal de Paris—Lyrics of the Bonapartists and
enthusiasm of the Bourbons—End of the Maubreuil affair—Plot
against the life of the Emperor—The Queen of Westphalia is
robbed of her money and jewels 63
CHAPTER VIII
Account of the proceedings relative to the abstraction of the
jewels of the Queen of Westphalia by the Sieur de Maubreuil—
Chamber of the Court of Appeal—The sitting of 17 April, 1817 88

BOOK II
CHAPTER I
The last shot of Waterloo—Temper of the provinces in 1817,
1818 and 1819—The Messéniennes—The Vêpres siciliennes—
Louis IX.—Appreciation of these two tragedies—A phrase of
Terence—My claim to a similar sentiment—Three o'clock in the
morning—The course of love-making—Valeat res ludrica 96
CHAPTER II
Return of Adolphe de Leuven—He shows me a corner of the
artistic and literary world—The death of Holbein and the death
of Orcagna—Entrance into the green-rooms—Bürger's Lénore—
First thoughts of my vocation 103
CHAPTER III
The Cerberus of the rue de Largny—I tame it—The ambush—
Madame Lebègue—A confession 109
CHAPTER IV
De Leuven makes me his collaborator—The Major de Strasbourg
—My first couplet-Chauvin—The Dîner d'amis—The Abencérages
117

CHAPTER V
Unrecorded stories concerning the assassination of the Duc de
Berry. 123
CHAPTER VI
Carbonarism 132

CHAPTER VII
My hopes—Disappointment—M. Deviolaine is appointed forest-
ranger to the Duc d'Orléans—His coldness towards me—Half
promises—First cloud on my love-affairs—I go to spend three
months with my brother-in-law at Dreux—The news waiting for
me on my return—Muphti—Walls and hedges—The summer-
house—Tennis—Why I gave up playing it—The wedding party in
the wood 147
CHAPTER VIII
I leave Villers-Cotterets to be second or third clerk at Crespy—
M. Lefèvre—His character—My journeys to Villers-Cotterets—
The Pélerinage d'Ermenonville—Athénaïs—New matter sent to
Adolphe—An uncontrollable desire to pay a visit to Paris—How
this desire was accomplished—The journey—Hôtel des Vieux-
Augustins—Adolphe—Sylla—Talma 155
CHAPTER IX
The theatre ticket—The Café du Roi—Auguste Lafarge—
Théaulon—Rochefort—Ferdinand Langlé—People who dine and
people who don't—Canaris—First sight of Talma—Appreciation
of Mars and Rachel—Why Talma has no successor—Sylla and
the Censorship—Talma's box—A cab-drive after midnight—The
return to Crespy—M. Lefèvre explains that a machine, in order
to work well, needs all its wheels—I hand in my resignation as
his third clerk 166

BOOK III
CHAPTER I
I return to my mother's—The excuse I give concerning my
return—The calfs lights—Pyramus and Cartouche—The
intelligence of the fox more developed than that of the dog—
Death of Cartouche—Pyramus's various gluttonous habits 184
CHAPTER II
Hope in Laffitte—A false hope—New projects—M. Lecomier—
How and on what conditions I clothe myself anew—Bamps,
tailor, 12 rue du Helder—Bamps at Villers-Cotterets—I visit our
estate along with him—Pyramus follows a butcher lad—An
Englishman who loved gluttonous dogs—I sell Pyramus—My first
hundred francs—The use to which they are put—Bamps departs
for Paris—Open credit 191
CHAPTER III
My mother is obliged to sell her land and her house—The residu
—The Piranèses—An architect at twelve hundred francs salary—I
discount my first bill—Gondon—How I was nearly killed at his
house—The fifty francs—Cartier—The game of billiards—How six
hundred small glasses of absinthe equalled twelve journeys to
Paris 204
CHAPTER IV
How I obtain a recommendation to General Foy—M. Danré of
Vouty advises my mother to let me go to Paris—My good-byes—
Laffitte and Perregaux—The three things which Maître
Mennesson asks me not to forget—The Abbé Grégoire's advice
and the discussion with him—I leave Villers-Cotterets 213
CHAPTER V
I find Adolphe again—The pastoral drama—First steps—The Duc
de Bellune—General Sébastiani—His secretaries and his snuff-
boxes—The fourth floor, small door to the left—The general who
painted battles 223
CHAPTER VI
Régulus—Talma and the play—General Foy—The letter of
recommendation and the interview—The Duc de Bellune's reply
—I obtain a place as temporary clerk with M. le Duc d'Orléans—
Journey to Villers-Cotterets to tell my mother the good news—
No. 9—I gain a prize in a lottery 234
CHAPTER VII
I find lodgings—Hiraux's son—Journals and journalists in 1823—
By being saved the expense of a dinner I am enabled to go to
the play at the Porte-Saint-Martin—My entry into the pit—
Sensation caused by my hair—I am turned out—How I am
obliged to pay for three places in order to have one—A polite
gentleman who reads Elzevirs 251
CHAPTER VIII
My neighbour—His portrait—The Pastissier françois—A course in
bibliomania—Madame Méchin and the governor of Soissons—
Cannons and Elzevirs 263
 CHAPTER IX
Prologue of the Vampire—The style offends my neighbour's ear
—First act—Idealogy—The rotifer—What the animal is—Its
conformation, its life, its death and its resurrection 272
CHAPTER X
Second act of the Vampire—Analysis—My neighbour again
objects—He has seen a vampire—Where and how—A statement
which records the existence of vampires—Nero—Why he
established the race of hired applauders—My neighbour leaves
the orchestra 284
CHAPTER XI
A parenthesis—Hariadan Barberousse at Villers-Cotterets—I play
the rôle of Don Ramire as an amateur—My costume—The third
act of the Vampire—My friend the bibliomaniac whistles at the
most critical moment—He is expelled from the theatre—Madame
Allan-Dorval—Her family and her childhood—Philippe—His death
and his funeral 295

BOOK IV
CHAPTER I
My beginning at the office—Ernest Basset—Lassagne—M.
Oudard—I see M. Deviolaine—M. le Chevalier de Broval—His
portrait—Folded letters and oblong letters—How I acquire a
splendid reputation for sealing letters—I learn who was my
neighbour the bibliomaniac and whistler 307
CHAPTER II
Illustrious contemporaries—The sentence written on my
foundation stone—My reply—I settle down in the place des
Italiens—M. de Leuven's table—M. Louis-Bonaparte's witty
saying—Lassagne gives me my first lesson in literature and
history 323
CHAPTER III
Adolphe reads a play at the Gymnase—M. Dormeuil—Kenilworth
Castle—M. Warez and Soulié—Mademoiselle Lévesque—The
Arnault family—The Feuille—Marius à Minturnes—Danton's
epigram—The reversed passport—Three fables—Germanicus —
Inscriptions and epigrams—Ramponneau—The young man and
the tilbury—Extra ecclesiam nulla est salus—Madame Arnault 334
CHAPTER IV
Frédéric Soulié, his character, his talent—Choruses of the
various plays, sung as prologues and epilogues—Transformation
of the vaudeville—The Gymnase and M. Scribe—The Folie de
Waterloo 349
CHAPTER V
The Duc d'Orléans—My first interview with him—Maria-Stella-
Chiappini—Her attempts to gain rank—Her history—The
statement of the Duc d'Orléans—Judgment of the Ecclesiastical
Court of Faenza—Rectification of Maria-Stella's certificate of
birth 360
CHAPTER VI
The "year of trials"—The case of Potier and the director of the
theatre of the Porte-Saint-Martin—Trial and condemnation of
Magallon—The anonymous journalist—Beaumarchais sent to
Saint-Lazare—A few words on censorships in general—Trial of
Benjamin Constant—Trial of M. de Jouy—A few words
concerning the author of Sylla—Three letters extracted from the
Ermite de la Chaussée-d'Antin—Louis XVIII. as author 375
CHAPTER VII
The house in the rue Chaillot—Four poets and a doctor—
Corneille and the Censorship—Things M. Faucher does not know
—Things the President of the Republic ought to know 389

BOOK V
CHAPTER I
Chronology of the drama—Mademoiselle Georges Weymer—
Mademoiselle Raucourt—Legouvé and his works—Marie-Joseph
Chénier—His letter to the company of the Comédie-Française—
Young boys perfectionnés—Ducis—His work 398
CHAPTER II
Bonaparte's attempts at discovering poets—Luce de Lancival—
Baour-Lormian—Lebrun-Pindare—Lucien Bonaparte, the author
—Début of Mademoiselle Georges—The Abbé Geoffroy's critique
—Prince Zappia—Hermione at Saint-Cloud 407
CHAPTER III
Imperial literature—The Jeunesse de Henri IV—Mercier and
Alexandre Duval—The Templiers and their author—César Delrieu
—Perpignan—Mademoiselle Georges' rupture with the Théâtre-
Français—Her flight to Russia—The galaxy of kings—The
tragédienne acts as ambassador 420
CHAPTER IV
The Comédie-Française at Dresden—Georges returns to the
Théâtre-Français—The Deux Gendres—Mahomet II.—Tippo-
Saëb—1814—Fontainebleau—The allied armies enter Paris—
Lilies—Return from the isle of Elba—Violets—Asparagus stalks—
Georges returns to Paris 430
CHAPTER V
The drawbacks to theatres which have the monopoly of a great
actor—Lafond takes the rôle of Pierre de Portugal upon Talma
declining it—Lafond—His school—His sayings—Mademoiselle
Duchesnois—Her failings and her abilities-Pierre de Portugal
succeeds 438
CHAPTER VI
General Riégo—His attempted insurrection—His escape and
flight—He is betrayed by the brothers Lara—His trial—His
execution 445
CHAPTER VII
The inn of the Tête-Noire—Auguste Ballet—Castaing—His trial—
His attitude towards the audience and his words to the jury—His
execution 452
CHAPTER VIII
Casimir Delavigne—An appreciation of the man and of the poet
—The origin of the hatred of the old school of literature for the
new—Some reflections upon Marino Faliero and the Enfants
d'Édouard—Why Casimir Delavigne was more a comedy writer
than a tragic poet—Where he found the ideas for his chief plays
465

CHAPTER IX
Talma in the École des Vieillards—One of his letters—Origin of
his name and of his family—Tamerlan at the pension Verdier—
Talma's début—Dugazon's advice—More advice from
Shakespeare—Opinions of the critics of the day upon the
débutant—Talma's passion for his art 480

THE MEMOIRS OF ALEXANDRE DUMAS

BOOK I

CHAPTER I

An unpublished chapter from the Diable boiteux—History of

Samud and the beautiful Doña Lorenza
About a fortnight after that wonderful night, during which I had
experienced such new and unknown emotions, I was busy in Maître
Mennesson's office,—as Niguet was absent seeing after a marriage
settlement at Pisseleu, and Ronsin had gone to collect debts at
Haramont,—sadly engrossing a copy of a deed of sale, when M.
Lebègue, a colleague of my patron, entered the office and, after
gazing at me with an amused expression on his face, went into the
next room, which was the private office, and took a seat by the side
of Maître Mennesson. The cause of my sadness shall be discovered
presently.
Maître Mennesson's door, which separated the two offices, I was
generally left open, so that he could answer our questions, save
when a client closed it to discuss private matters with him; and
when this door was left open, we could hear in our office everything
that was said in M. Mennesson's room, as he could hear in his office
all that went on in ours.
This M. Lebègue, some months before, had married one of M.
Deviolaine's daughters by his first marriage: her name was Éléonore.
The eldest daughter, Léontine, had been married to a tax collector
named Cornu some time before her sister's wedding. The singularity
of the name had not prevented the marriage from coming off. The
sharp-tongued young girl feared to be jeered at in her turn, and the
wittier she became, the more she dreaded even the appearance of
being ridiculous. But Cornu was such a good-natured, honest-
hearted fellow, everybody was so used to the name, which had been
borne by several families in Villers-Cotterets, he was so used to it
himself, he responded so naïvely and triumphantly to the remarks of
his fiancée, that the matter was settled.
When she was married to him she made up her mind to raise the
unfortunate name which fate had given her above even the
suspicion of any banter naturally connected with it: she was the
most chaste of wives, the tenderest of mothers I have ever known,
and her husband, a happy man himself, made her happy too.
But it was not so with her sister, Madame Lebègue, who was three
or four years younger, prettier, and far more of a flirt than she was.
Her flirtations were innocent enough, I have no doubt, but they
were as a rule looked upon maliciously by the gossips of the little
town—a matter to which Madame Lebègue in her innocence paid
little heed; concerning which, in her indifference to such calumnies,
she simply teased her husband. He was a stout, rotund fellow,
pockmarked, rather ugly, with a somewhat common-looking face,
but a good fellow at heart—although I have been told since that he
ruined himself, not from having lent at too low interest, but from an
entirely opposite reason. I am wholly ignorant as to the truth of this
accusation: I take it to be a calumny similar to the more pleasing
and certainly more human accusation levelled against the wife.
It was this man who had just come in, who sat down by M.
Mennesson and who was at that moment holding a whispered
conversation with him, interspersed with guffaws of laughter. Thanks
to the extremely delicate hearing with which I was gifted by nature,
and which I had cultivated during hunting, I thought I could
distinguish my own name; but I supposed I had not heard correctly,
not flattering myself that two such grave personages could be doing
me the honour of talking about me. Unluckily for my pride,—and I
have indicated to what a pitch this feeling was developed in me, a
height that would have been absurd if it had not been painful,—
unluckily for my pride, then, I was not kept long in doubt that the
discussion was about me.
I have said that M. Mennesson was very fond of a joke and very
witty; wherever he could find a joke he would fasten upon it, no
matter whether it happened to concern a woman's virtue or a man's
reputation. When the frenzy of joking seized him he gave himself up
to it unreservedly, heart and soul. Finding nothing, probably, on this
day, better to chew, he set upon me; the pasture was poor, but it
was far better to crack my sorry bones than to chew at nothing or
gulp only the air. After several of those whispered remarks, then,
and bursts of stifled laughter, which had disturbed my equanimity, M.
Mennesson raised his voice.
"My dear friend," he said, "it is a chapter out of the Diable boiteux
re-discovered and still unpublished, which I mean to have printed
the next time I go to Paris, to complete Lesage's work."
"Ah! tell it me," Lebègue replied; "I will tell it to my wife, who will
pass it on to her sisters, who will tell it to everybody; then our
publication will be disposed of in advance."
M. Mennesson began:—
"There was once upon a time at Salamanca a scholar who was
descended from a race of Arabs and who was called Samud.[1] He
was still so young that if anyone had pulled his nose, milk would
most certainly have come out: this did not prevent him from being
absurd enough to fancy himself a man; perhaps also—for, to be fair,
we must say all there is to say—this ridiculous fancy would not have
entered his head had not that happened which we are about to
relate."
It may be imagined that I was listening attentively. I had recognised
from the very first words that I was undoubtedly the person in
question, and I wondered uneasily where the story was going to
lead after this beginning—a beginning which, so far as I was
concerned, I found more impertinent than graphic.
M. Mennesson went on, and I listened with my ears open, my pen
idle in my hand.
"On the day of the feast of Whitsuntide in the year ... I cannot say
the exact date of the year, but, any way, it was on the day of the
feast of Whitsuntide, which is also the town's feast-time, two
beautiful senoras arrived from Madrid and put up at the house of a
worthy canon who was the uncle of one of these ladies. It chanced
that this canon was the same with whom Samud had learnt the bit
of Latin he knew, and as the two lovely Madrid ladies wanted a
cavalier who would not put their virtue to the blush, the canon cast
his eyes on his pupil, and requested him to place both his arms at
the disposal of the new arrivals, to show them the park of
Salamanca, which is very wide, very beautiful, and belongs to the
Duke of Rodelnas.[2] I will not dwell on the adventures of the first
day, beyond just briefly touching upon two events: the first was the
meeting between our scholar and an elegant senor from Madrid,
who was noticed at once by the Sefiora Lorenza, with whom our
scholar was walking arm in arm, dressed, as people of the provinces
often are, about a decade behind the fashions of the capital. This
young gallant was called Audim. The second was a most serious
accident, which happened to the scholar's breeches, just when, in
order to give the fair Lorenza a proof of his agility, he had leaped
across a ditch fourteen feet wide."
It can be imagined what I suffered as I listened to this secondhand
recital of my lovelorn tribulations, which, according to his method of
procedure, would not stop short at the two misadventures of the
first day. M. Mennesson continued:—
"The beautiful Lorenza was specially impressed by the young
gallant's get-up. In complete contrast to the scholar, who was
muffled up in a Gothic costume borrowed from the wardrobe of his
ancestors, Señor Audim was dressed in the latest fashion, in tight-
fitting breeches, ending in charming little heart-shaped shoes, and a
dark-coloured doublet turned out by one of the best tailors in
Madrid. The scholar had not been unconscious of the particular
notice his companion had paid to the handsome Audim's attire, and
as it began to dawn on him what influence a coat of a certain cut or
trousers of a special shade of colour might have upon a woman, he
decided during the night following the fête to please Lorenza no
matter at what price, and to have a suit made exactly like the one
worn by the young man who seemed destined by fate to become his
rival. The most vital part of the costume, and moreover the most
expensive, was in the matter of the boots. So he turned his attention
to them first of all. On the opposite side of the square where
Samud's mother lived, a square called the place de la Fontaine, was
the best boot-maker in the town: he had always shod the scholar,
but hitherto he had only made shoes for him, the lad's tender years
not having put the idea into anyone's head, not even into his own,
that he could wear any other covering for his feet than shoes or
sandals without risking a too close resemblance to Perrault's
venerable Puss in Boots. Great therefore was M. Landereau's[3]
surprise when his customer came and boldly asked the price of a
pair of boots. He stared at Samud.
'A pair of boots?' he asked. 'For whom?'
'Why, for myself,' the scholar proudly replied.
'Has your mother given you leave to order boots?' 'Yes.'
"The bootmaker shook his head dubiously: he knew Samud's mother
was not well off and that it would be foolish of her to allow such
extravagance in her son.
'Boots are dear,' he said.
'That does not matter. How much are they?'
'They would cost you exactly four dollars.'
'Good.... Take my measure.'
'I have told you I can do nothing without leave from your mother.'
'I will see you have it.'
"Returning home, the scholar ventured to ask for a pair of boots.
The request struck Samud's mother as so extraordinary that she
made him repeat his inquiry twice. It was all the more strange as it
was the first time the scholar had troubled about his dress. When he
was ten they had the greatest difficulty in the world to get him to
give up a long pinafore of figured cotton, which he considered far
more comfortable than all the breeches and all the doublets on
earth; then, from the age of ten to the age of fifteen, he had worn
with indifference any garments his mother had thought good to put
him in, always preferring dirty and old ones to clean and new,
because in them he was allowed to go out in all weathers and to roll
about in all kinds of places. So the demand for a pair of boots
seemed to his poor mother altogether most unprecedented, and she
was alarmed for her son's reason.
'A pair of boots!' she repeated. 'What will you wear them with?'
'A pair of tight-fitting breeches, mother.'
'A pair of tight-fitting breeches! But you must know your legs are as
spindle-shaped as a cock's.'
"'Excuse me, mother,' the schoolboy replied, with some show of
logic; 'if I have good enough calves to wear short breeches, they are
good enough to wear tight-fitting breeches.'
"The mother admired her son's wit, and, half conquered by the
repartee, she said,'We might perhaps manage to find the tight-fitting
trousers in the clothes-press; but the boots ... where will you find
the boots?'
'Why, at Landereau's!'
'But boots would be expensive, my child,' said the poor lady,
sighing,'and you know we are not rich.'
'Bah! mamma, Landereau will allow you credit.'
'It is all very fine taking credit, my boy; you know one has to pay
some day, and that the longer one puts off paying the more it costs.'
'Oh, mother, please do let me!'
'How much will the boots cost?'
'Four dollars, mother.'
'That is six months' school-money at the rate good Canon Gregorio
charges me.'
'You can pay for it in four months' time, mother,' the schoolboy
pleaded.
'Still ... tell me what advantage you think this pair of boots and the
tight-fitting trousers will bring you?'
'I shall be able to please Doña Lorenza, the canon's niece.' 'How is
that?'
'She raves over boots and tight-fitting trousers ... it seems they are
the very latest thing in Madrid.'
'But what does it matter to you what the niece of Don Gregorio
raves or does not rave over, I want to know?'
'It matters a great deal to me, mother.'
'Why?'
"The schoolboy looked supremely foolish.
'Because I am paying her attentions,' he said."
This dialogue was word for word what had passed between my
mother and myself after I returned from Landereau's shop, so I
grew hot with anger.
"At the words Because I am paying her attentions," continued the
narrator, "Samud's mother was overcome with intense astonishment:
her son, whom she still pictured as running about the streets in his
long print pinafore, or renewing his baptismal vows taper in hand;
her son paying attentions to the beautiful Doña Lorenza!—why, it
was one of those absurd things she had never even imagined. And
her son, seeing she was unconvinced, drew his hand out of his
breast pocket and showed her a bracelet of hair with a mosaic clasp.
But he took care to keep it to himself that he had taken this bracelet
from Doña Lorenza; she had not given it him, and she was very
much distressed at not knowing what had become of it."
Although this account was not very creditable to my honesty, it was
dreadfully accurate. I had had that bracelet in my possession for
three days; during those three days I had, if not exactly shown it, at
least let it be seen by several people, and, among others, by my
mother and my cousins the Deviolaines, before whom I posed as a
gallant youth; but at length I had been moved by Laure's distress, as
she had thought it lost. I gave it back to her, humbly confessing my
fault; she forgave me, in consideration, no doubt, of her delight in
recovering her trinket, but she would not have let me off so easily
had she known my indiscretions.
So the perspiration which had beaded my brow at the beginning of
the story, ran down over my face in big drops; yet wishing to learn
how far M. Mennesson had been coached in the matter of my
sentimental escapades, I had the courage to stay where I was—or
rather, I had not the strength to fly. M. Mennesson went on:—
"At this juncture Samud's mother raised her hands and eyes to
heaven, and as the poor woman never could refuse her son, she
said to him, with a sigh—
'Very well, be it so; if a pair of boots will make you happy, go and
order the boots.'
"The schoolboy leapt at one bound from his house to the
bootmaker's; he arranged the price at three and a half dollars, to be
paid for in four months' time. Next they paid a visit to the clothes-
press: they extracted a pair of bright blue trousers striped with gold;
they sold the gold lace to a goldsmith for a dollar and a half, which
dollar and a half were given to the scholar for pocket-money, his
mother guessing that his budding love affairs would naturally bring
extra expenses in their train. They decided that the suit he had worn
at his first communion should be altered to a more up-to-date cut,
on fashionable lines.
"While all these preparations for courtship were going on, the
schoolboy continued, in the phrase he had used to his mother, to
pay attentions to the beautiful Doña Lorenza; but although he was
brave in words and very clever in theory behind her back, he was
extremely timid in practice and very awkward when actually before
her face. While apparently filled with impatience to be near her, he
dreaded nothing so much as being left alone with her; at such times
he would lose his wits completely, become dumb instead of talkative,
and be still when he should have been active: the most favourable
opportunities were given him, and he let them escape. In vain did
the impatient lady from Madrid give him to understand that he was
wasting time, and that time wasted is never regained; he agreed
with her from the very depths of his soul; he was furious with
himself every night when he returned home, and in going over the
opportunities of the day he vowed not to let these opportunities slip
by on the morrow if they occurred again. Then he would read a
chapter of Faublas to warm his blood: he would sleep on it, and
dream dreams in which he would be astonishingly bold. When day
broke, he would vow to himself to carry out his dreams of the
previous night. Then, while he was waiting for the boots and the
tight-fitting suit, which were being fashioned with a truly provincial
slowness, he returned to his short breeches, his bombazin vest, his
bottle-blue coat, and resumed his fruitless walk in the forest. He
looked with a melancholy eye on the mossy carpet under their feet,
not even venturing to suggest to his companion that they should sit
down upon it; he gazed sadly on the beautiful green heights above
them, under which she delighted to hide herself with him. He would
get as far as trembling and sighing, even to pressing her hand, but
these were the extreme limits of his boldness. Once only did he kiss
the hand of Doña Lorenza,—on the night before he was to introduce
himself to her in his suit of conquest,—but it cost him such a
tremendous effort to perform this bold act that he felt quite ill after
its accomplishment.
"It was on this day that the lovely Doña Lorenza arrived at the
conclusion that she must give up all hope of seeing the boy develop
into a man, and without saying a word to her clumsy admirer, she
took a decisive step. They parted as usual after having spent the
evening playing at those innocent games which Madame de
Longueville detested so greatly. The next day, as we have said, was
to be the vital one. The tailor and the bootmaker kept their word.
The young people usually met between noon and one o'clock, and
then went for a walk: Senora Vittoria with a young bachelor, from
whom I have gathered most of my information; and the schoolboy
with Senora Lorenza. Unluckily, the tight-fitting trousers were so
tight that they had to have a piece put in at the calf of the leg: this
addition took time, and Samud was not quite ready before one
o'clock. He knew he was late; he flew hurriedly along to Canon
Gregorio's house, where the daily rendezvous took place. His new
toilette produced an excellent effect as he passed through the
streets: people ran to their doors; they leant out of their windows,
and he bowed to them, saying to himself—
'Yes, it is all right, it is I! What is there wonderful in this, pray? Did
you think no one else could have boots, tight-fitting trousers and a
fashionably collared coat like M. Audim? You are much deceived if
you thought anything of the kind!'
"And he went on his way, holding his head higher and higher,
persuaded he was nearing a sensational triumph. But, as we have
said, the unlucky alteration at the calves had made him nearly an
hour late, and when the scholar reached the canon's house both the
senoras had gone out! This was but a slight misfortune: the
schoolboy had been brought up in the forest of Salamanca, as
Osmin in the seraglio of Bajazet, and he knew its every turn and
twist. He was therefore just going to rush out in pursuit of the lady
of his thoughts, when the canon's sister handed him a letter which
Doña Lorenza had left for him when she went out. Samud never
doubted that this letter would enjoin upon him to hurry on with all
diligence. And it was the first he had received: he felt the honour
most keenly; he kissed the letter tenderly, broke the seal, and with
panting breath and bounding heart he read the following:—

'MY DEAR BOY,—I have been blaming myself during the past
fortnight for imposing upon your good-nature by letting you
fulfil the obligation you had most injudiciously promised my
uncle in undertaking to be my cavalier. In spite of your efforts to
hide the boredom that an occupation beyond your years caused
you, I have seen that I have much interfered with your usual
habits, and I blame myself for it. Go back to your young
playmates, who are waiting for you to play at prisoners' base
and quoits. Let your mind be quite at ease on my account; for I
have accepted M. Audim's services for the short time longer I
remain with my uncle. Please accept my best thanks, my dear
child, for your kindness, and believe me, yours very gratefully,
LORENZA.'
"If a thunderbolt had fallen at our schoolboy's feet he could not have
been more crushed than he was on receiving this letter. On the first
reading he realised nothing beyond the shock; he re-read it two or
three times, and felt the smart. Then it dawned on him that, since
he had taken no pains to prove to the lovely Lorenza that he was not
a child, it now remained to him to prove that he was a man, by
provoking Audim to fight a Dud with him; and forthwith, upon my
word, our outraged schoolboy sent this letter to his rival:—

"'SIR,—I need not tell you upon what provocation I wish to meet
you in any of the forest avenues, accompanied by two seconds:
you know as well as I do. As you may pretend that you have not
insulted me and that it is I who have provoked you, I leave the
choice of weapons to you.—I have the honour to remain,' etc.
"'P.S.—-As you will probably not return home till late to-night, I
will not demand my answer this evening, but I wish to receive it
as early as possible to-morrow morning.'

"Next morning, on waking, he received a birch rod with Don Audim's

card. That was the weapon selected by his rival."
The reader can judge the effect the conclusion of this story had
upon me. Alas! it was an exact account of all that had happened to
me. Thus had terminated my first love affair, and so had ended my
first duel! I uttered a shriek of rage, and dashing out of the office, I
ran home to my mother, who cried out aloud when she saw the state
I was in.
Ten minutes later I was lying in a well-warmed bed and Doctor
Lécosse had been sent for: he pronounced that I was in for brain
fever, but as it was taken in time it would not have any serious
consequences. I purposely prolonged my convalescence, be it
known, so as not to go out until the two Parisians had left Villers-
Cotterets. I have never seen either of them since.
 [1] hardly need point out that "Samud" is the anagram of
"Dumas."
[2] "Rodelnas" is the anagram of "d'Orléans," as "Samud" is the
anagram of "Dumas," and as "Audim," to be used shortly, is that
of "Miaud."
[3] The narrator did not trouble to give an anagram for the name
this time.

CHAPTER II

The good my flouting at the hands of the two Parisians had

done me—The young girls of Villers-Cotterets—My three friends
—First love affairs

Still, like François I. after the battle of Pavia, I had not lost
everything by my defeat. First there remained to me my boots and
my tight-fitting trousers, those two dearly coveted articles, which
became the envy and admiration of those young companions upon
whom the lovely Laure had so cruelly thrown me. Besides, in the
fortnight spent in the company of those two smart girls, I had learnt
the first lesson that only the society of women can give. This lesson
had taught me to realise the need for that care of my personal
appearance which had hitherto never presented itself to my mind as
a thing to be daily attended to. Beneath the ridiculous if vanity in
changing my mode of dress, underneath the unlucky attempt that I,
a poor country lad, had made to attain to the elegant style of a
Parisian, there appeared the first dawnings of true elegance—that is
to say, of neatness.
I had rather good hands, my nails were well shaped, my teeth were
large but white, and my feet were singularly small considering my
size. I had been ignorant of all these possessions until they had
been pointed out to me by the two Parisian girls, who gave me
advice as to how I could enhance the value of my natural gifts. And
I continued to follow their advice for my own personal satisfaction,
after at first following it to please them, to such purpose that by the
time they left I had really stepped across the boundary which
separated childhood from youth. The crossing had certainly been a
rough one, and I had accomplished it with tears in my eyes,
coquetry holding one of my hands and chagrin the other. Then—as
jaded travellers, when they enter a fresh country, suck bitter fruits,
which, however much they set the teeth on edge, leave behind them
an irresistible desire to suck other fruits,—when my lips had touched
the apple of Eve that men call love, I yearned to make another
attempt, even though it should be more painful than the first, and so
far as its young girls were concerned, few towns could boast
themselves as well favoured as Villers-Cotterets. Never was there
such a large park as ours, not even at Versailles; no lawns were
greener, not even those at Brighton; nor were any studded with
more exquisite flowers than the park of Villers-Cotterets, with its
lawns and flower-beds. Three very distinct classes disputed among
themselves for the crown of beauty—the aristocracy, the middle
classes, and a third class for which I cannot find a name, a pleasant
intermediary between the middle class and the people, which
belongs to neither, and to which class the dressmakers,
seamstresses, and women-shopkeepers of a town belong.
The first class was represented by the Collard family, to whom I
have already alluded in connection with my childhood. Of the three
madcap young girls who roamed the forest of Villers-Cotterets as
free as the butterflies and swallows, two had become wives: one,
Caroline, had married the Baron Capelle; the other, Hermine, had
married the Baron de Martens; Louise, the third, who was but
fifteen, was the most captivating little maiden imaginable. Their
mother—whose birth and history as the daughter of Madame de
Genlis and the Duc d'Orléans I have related—and her three children
were the aristocratic centre round which the young men and
maidens of the neighbouring castles revolved; and among the
former of these were some of the best blood in the country—the
Montbretons, the Courvals, and the Mornays. None of these families
lived in Villers-Cotterets itself: they lived in the castles around. Only
on great occasions did the hives swarm and then we saw these
golden-winged bees flying about the streets of the town and down
the avenues of the park.
The second class was represented by the Deviolaine family. Two out
of the five daughters of M. Deviolaine were married, as I have said—
namely, Léontine and Éléonore; three remained, Cécile, Augustine
and Louise. Cécile was twenty years of age, Augustine sixteen;
Louise was still a mere child. Cécile had preserved her whimsical and
capricious spirits, the same mocking and animated features; her
actions were more masculine than feminine; her complexion was
tanned by the sun, as she never took the trouble to protect herself
from its rays. Augustine, on the contrary, had a skin as white as
milk, large tranquil blue eyes, dark chestnut hair, forming an
admirable framework round her face, sloping shoulders charmingly
moulded, and a figure that was not too slender; unlike her sister
Cécile, she was gracefully feminine in all her ways. Raphael would
have been puzzled to choose between her and Louise Collard for a
model for his Madonna, and like the Greek sculptor, he would have
selected beautiful points from them both to reach that perfect
standard to which Art everywhere attains when it surpasses Nature.
The other young girls of the middle class grouped themselves round
the Deviolaine family. The two Troisvallet girls, Henriette and
Clementine: Clementine, dark with beautiful black hair, strangely
attractive eyes, a Roman complexion, of the type of Velletri or
Subiaco, and a head like one of Augustine Carrachi's. Henriette was
tall, fair, rosy, slender, gracious, and as pliant in her gentle
youthfulness as a rose, as a blade of corn, as a willow tree: she had
that type of face which is half sad, half merry; the transition
between angel and woman, showing all the common needs of earth,
yet full of heavenly aspirations too. Then the two charming girls
Sophie and Pélagie Perrot; Louise Moreau, a sweet young girl, who
has since become the admirable mother of a family; Éléonore Picot,
of whom I have spoken—an excellent woman, saddened by the
death of her brother Stanislas, and the shameful charge that had
weighed for a short time upon her brother Auguste. Then there were
others, too, whose names I have forgotten, but whose fresh faces
still appear in my mind's eye like the phantoms of a dream or like
the apparitions which glide out of German streams or are reflected in
the lochs of Scotland as they pursue their nocturnal rounds.
Lastly, after the middle classes, came, as I have said, the group of
young girls which I cannot class in the social hierarchy, but which
held the same place in that small world of ours shut in by the green
girdle of its beautiful forest, that lilies of the valley, Easter daisies,
cornflowers, hyacinths and pompon roses hold among flowers. Oh!
but it was a pretty sight to see them on Sunday, in their summer
dresses, with pink and blue sashes, their tiny bonnets trimmed by
their own hands and put on in a hundred varieties of coquettish
ways—for in those days not one of them dare wear a hat; it was a
delight to see them free of all constraint, ignorant of any etiquette,
playing, racing, lacing and interlacing their charming round bare
arms in long chains. What exquisite creatures they were! What
delightful young things! It is of little interest to my readers, I am
well aware, to know their names; but I knew them, I loved them, I
spent my earliest years among them, those gentle opening days in
the morning of life; I wish to tell their names, I wish to paint their
portraits, I wish to describe their different charms, and then I hope
they will pardon my indiscretions for my very indiscretions' sake.
I must mention first and foremost two charmingly romantic and
coquettish damsels—Joséphine and Manette Thierry: Joséphine dark,
rosy, with an ample figure and regular features, a perfect creature,
whose beautiful teeth completed a ravishing whole. Manette, a
dessert apple, a girl who was always singing to make herself heard,
always laughing to show off her teeth, ever running to let her feet,
her ankles, even the calves of her legs, be seen; Virgil's Galatea,
whose very name she was ignorant of, flying to be pursued, hiding
so as to be seen before she hid.
What has become of them? I have seen them since, looking very
miserable: one was at Versailles, the other in Paris—the fallen, faded
fruits of that rosary on which I spelled out the first phrases of love.
They were the daughters of an old tailor, and lived close to the
church, which was only separated from them by the town hall.
Louise Brézette lived nearly opposite them; I have already
mentioned her. She was the niece of my dancing-master; a sturdy
flower of fifteen, whom I had in my mind while I wrote my fictitious
history of that Tulipe noire, the masterpiece of horticulture vainly
sought after, vainly pursued, vainly expected by Dutch amateur
gardeners. The hair of beautiful Madame Ronconi, which inspired
one of Théophile Gautier's most wonderful articles, and which made
coal look grey and the wings of a crow pale, when placed side by
side with it, was not more black, more blue, more shiny than Louise
Brézette's hair when it reflected the sun's rays from its dark and
sombre depths as from the heart of polished metal. Oh! what a
lovely blooming brunette she was, with her flesh as firm and bright
as a nectarine's; her pearly teeth lighting up her face from under the
faint ebony down on her coral lips! One could feel life and love
bubbling up beneath, needing only the first passion to make
everything burst forth into flame! This luxuriant young girl was
religious, and, as such an organisation as hers must love something,
she loved God.
If you took a few steps towards the square, a little farther up the rue
de Soissons, bearing to the left, there was a door and a window,
comprising the whole frontage of a tiny house. In the window hung
hats, collars, bonnets, lace, gloves, mittens, ribbons—the whole
arsenal, in short, of womanly vanity; behind the door floated certain
curtains, intended to prevent inquisitive glances from looking into
the shop, but which, whether by some strange mischance, or from
the obstinacy of the rod upon which they slid, or from the caprices
of the wind, always left on one side or the other some impertinent
aperture through which the passer-by could see into the shop and at
the same time allowed those inside the shop to see out into the
street. Above this door and this window the following inscription was
painted in large letters:—
Mesdemoiselles Rigolot, Milliners
Truly those who stopped in front of the opening which I have
indicated, and who managed to cast a glance inside the shop, did
not lose their time nor regret their pains. What we mean by this has
no sort of connection with the two proprietors of the establishment,
who were both old maids, having long since passed their fortieth
year, and, I presume, having lost all pretension to inspire any other
sentiment than respect.
No, what we have in view concerns two of the most adorable faces
you can imagine, placed side by side as though to set one another
off: one was a blonde, and the other a brunette. The brunette was
Albine Hardi; the blonde was Adèle Dalvin. The brown head,—do you
know the lovely Marie Duplessis, that charming courtesan full of
queenly grace, upon whom my son wrote his romance la Dame aux
camélias?—well, she was Albine. If you do not know her, I will
describe Albine to you. She was a young girl of seventeen, with a
dead brown complexion, large brown velvety eyes, and eyebrows so
black that they seemed as though they had been drawn with a
pencil, the curve was so firm and so regular. She was a duchess, she
was a queen; better still than either, if you will, she was after the
fashion of a nymph of Diana's train: slight, slender, straight and
finely built, a huntress whom it would have been a splendid sight to
see with a plumed helmet on her head, an Amazon flying before the
wind, leading a troop of clamorous pikemen, guiding a baying
hound. Upon the stage her appearance would have been
magnificent, almost supernatural. In ordinary life, people were
tempted to think her too beautiful, and for some time nobody dared
to make love to her, it seemed so likely that their love would be
wasted and that she would not make any response to it. The other,
Adèle, was fair and pink-complexioned. I have never seen prettier
golden hair, sweeter eyes, a more winning smile; she was more
inclined to be gay than melancholy, short rather than tall, plump
rather than thin: she was something like one of Murillo's cherubs
who kiss the feet of his Virgins—half veiled in clouds; she was
neither a Watteau shepherdess, nor one of Greuze's peasant girls,
but something between the two. One felt it would be a sweet and
easy thing to love her, although it might not be so easy to be loved
by her. Her father and her mother were worthy old farmer folk,
thoroughly honest but vulgar, and it was all the more surprising that
so fresh and sweet-scented a flower should have sprung from such a
stock. But this is always the case when folks are young: it is youth
that lends distinction, as it is spring which lends freshness to the
rose.
Round these young people whom I have just described, smiled and
pouted a bevy of young girls, the smallest being mere infants, whom
I have since seen succeed the youthful generation in which I lived. I
have sought in vain to find in these later children the virtues I found
in those who preceded them.
Until the arrival of the two strangers in Villers-Cotterets I had not
even noticed the springtide crown of stars and flowers to which all
ranks of society contribute. When the two strangers had left, the
bandage that had sealed my eyes fell off, and I could say not merely
"I see" but "I live." I found myself placed by my years exactly
between the children who still played at prisoners' base and at
quoits—as the abba's niece had aptly put it—and youths beginning
to turn into men. Instead of returning to the former, as my beautiful
Parisian had advised me, I attached myself to the latter, and drew
myself up to my full height to prove my sixteen years. And when
anyone asked my age, I told them I was seventeen.
The three youths with whom I was most intimate were, first,
Fourcade, director of the school of self-improvement, sent from Paris
to Villers-Cotterets; he was my vis-à-vis in my début as a dancing
man. He was a thoroughly well-bred, well-educated young fellow,
son of a man very honourably known in foreign affairs; his father
had lived in the East for many years and had been Consul at
Salonica. His affections were fixed upon Joséphine Thierry, and he
spent with her all the time he could spare from his teaching. My
second companion was Saunier; he had been a fellow-pupil with me
under the Abbé Grégoire; he was second clerk of M. Perrot the
lawyer; his father and grandfather were blacksmiths, and in the idle
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