Alexandre Dumas,* the younger, being the guest one day of Dr Gistal, an eminent physician in Marseilles, was asked by his host after dinner to enrich his album with one of his witty improvisations.
"Certainly," replied Dumas with a smile. Drawing out his pencil, he wrote under the eyes of the physician the following lines:
"Since Dr Gistal came to town,
To cure diseases casual and hereditary,
The hospital has been pulled down...."
"You flatterer!" exclaimed the physician, mightily pleased. But the poet went on:
"And we have made a larger cemetery."
小仲馬*有一天到馬賽市著名醫師吉斯特爾家中作客。飯後，吉斯特爾請他在來賓簽名冊上，即興題詞，以光名冊。
小仲馬微笑道：「好！」他拿出鉛筆，在吉斯特爾面前，寫了以下幾句：「敝市幸逢君，懸壺濟眾勤。遂教醫院廢……」
吉斯特爾很高興，說道：「你真會給人戴高帽！」
但小仲馬隨即寫下最後一句：「夷毀作新墳。」
*小仲馬是著名法國作家，卒於一八九五年，代表作有《茶花女》。他父親大仲馬也是作家，以《三劍客》、《基督山恩仇記》等著名，兩父子名字相同，世人故以「大」、「小」區分。