"I am sorry, but I do not sing."
"How strange! To judge by your throat and breast, I should have said that you must have a splendid tenor voice."
I put my hand to my chest and neck, and replied, "It may be so; I will try—one never knows. I have two of the necessary qualifications: I am an Italian and have the throat of a tenor; the voice ought to follow."
At this point the prima donna of the company, who had overheard the dialogue, entered the conversation, and after her the entire company:
"Is the gentleman an Italian?"
"At your service, madam."
"I ask the question because I wish him to do me a favor. What is the meaning of those short verses from Il Trovatore which run—
"Non può nemmeno un Dio
Donna rapirti a me."
(Not even a god can steal my lady from me.)