An officer of state, being shut up in the Bastile, obtained permission
to carry with him a lute, on which he was an excellent performer; but
he had scarcely made use of it, for three or four days, when the mice,
issuing from their holes, and the spiders, suspending themselves from
the ceiling by their threads, assembled around him to participate in
his melody. His aversion to these animals, made their visit at first
disagreeable, and induced him to lay aside this recreation; but he soon
was so accustomed to them, that they became a source of amusement.
_Dr. Burney’s History of Music._