What money he could lay his hands on he spent
like an Indian rajah. The mere prospect of a performance of one of his
operas was enough to set him to running up bills amounting to ten times
the amount of his prospective royalties. No one will ever know --
certainly he never knew--how much money he owed. We do know that his
greatest benefactor gave him $6,000 to pay the most pressing of his
debts in one city, and a year later, had to give him $16,000 to enable
him to live in anothercity without being thrown into jail for debt.
到手的钱他花起来不逊于印度的王公拉贾。乐剧中只要有一部有公演的希望，也足以诱使他积下十倍于期望的版税数额的债务。一个稍会过日子的人处之之境会自己浆洗衣物，他却还蓄着两名仆侍。囊中羞涩，无力还债，他还把书房的四墙与天顶铺饰粉色丝物。无人能得知，显然他本人也永不会明白所欠债款数额。我们清楚的只是他最大的赞助人在一个城市最要紧的一笔就垫付了6000元，一年后，不得已又资助了16000元，让他在另一城市得以安居，免于因债入狱。
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