He was both ambitious and idle.

He wanted to fly at once; he had a horror of beginnings of apprenticeships.

His early education had been so neglected that in order to recover lost time he would have been compelled to study hard--all the more so because, although he was quick-witted, and had a marvellous facility for entering into the thoughts of others, his own stock was poor; he had no ideas of his own, nor individuality of mind.

He possessed a collection of half-talents; even in music, he was incapable of originating; when he attempted to compose, his inspirations proved mere reminiscences.

He did himself justice; he felt that, strive as he might, his half-talents never would aid him to secure the first position, and he disdained the second.