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witnesses to old times … perhaps you can tell me, who was Count Špork? They stopped, looked at me closely, then looked from one to the other, and it was as if they had been waiting for that question, not from just anyone, but from me and me alone, they were even hoping it would be from me, whom they had known for so long and with whom they only now, in the retirement home, stood face-to-face and who had asked them a question of real substance. Mr. Václav Kořínek pressed his grayish, unruly hair to his temples with both hands, and then spoke … Count Špork had chosen the baroness Františka Apollonia of Sweerts-Reist to be his bride, he gave her one year to think it over, if in that time she felt herself drawn to another man, she should simply tell him so, but in the end the wedding was held on the first of May in the year sixteen-hundred-and-eighty-six, in Silesia … said Mr. Kořínek, and then he turned to his two friends, Mr. Otokar Rykr pressed his pince-nez firmly onto his nose and continued … His wife bore him two sons here, they were baptized and the christening feast was truly regal, but before long both babes had been laid to rest in tiny coffins in a grave next to the Loretta Chapel, down below in the southwest corner of the monastery garden, they were later transferred to Kuks … said Mr. Rykr, and then he looked at the third witness to old times, Mr. Výborný, who continued … From then on it was like a monastery hereat the castle, the Augustinians celebrated their daily Mass, the Count had religious books read aloud to him and his two young daughters, which was why his daughters developed such a great longing for the pure, spiritual life. The eldest, Eleonora, entered the Order of the Annunciation and the Count had a convent built for her near Kuks, she died at the age of twenty. The other daughter, Anna Catherina, also wanted to enter a convent, but the Count flew into a rage, he claimed the convents were out to get his entire fortune. He decided the young countess needed somewhat more jovial companionship and found her a bridegroom, Lieutenant František Karel Rudolf, Baron of Sweerts-Reist, and since the Count suffered from a wasting disease, the strictest discipline prevailed here at the castle … said Mr. Výborný, who was sweating so profusely that he removed his cap and carefully wiped the inside dry. And the faces of all three witnesses to old times suddenly brightened, they looked at me and laughed heartily, they were excited by the fact that I’d been listening in such astonishment, my eyes wide, to everything they had said, astonished by everything they knew, such wonderful men right here in the castle, in the retirement home, just like me and the rest. They all three raised their hands, extended a finger, a forefinger, and I had the impression that they were about to start beating time, that at any moment they would all three burst into song,but they were only counting off among themselves, the way children do with a counting rhyme, when one child has to leave the circle, and sure enough, they were counting off and when their fingers stopped at Mr. Výborný, he squinted his eyes and began … No one was allowed to leave the castle and go into town without permission, everyone had to be home by dark and boyish pranks were not tolerated, bandmaster and private tutor Tobiáš Seeman had entered all this in his journal … Mr. Výborný raised both his hands, opened his eyes and, with an elegant gesture, signaled to Mr. Kořínek, who announced joyfully … The court poetess Klimovská and her lover Hiëronymus, when their affair was discovered, each got fifty strokes of the cane in the presence of the whole court and were banished, Hiëronymus wearing only his undershirt … Even before he had finished his speech Mr. Výborný raised