"I know it."
"How do you know it?"
"By letters which he sent me, and in which he said that he would be at home in a few days...."
"And did you read nothing else in these letters?"
"Nothing else...."
"Indeed! yet I know that there was written other news, or at least you should have read it there."
"What?"
"That on the arrival of Paolo Giordano you will die by his hand."
"Let God dispose of me as it pleases Him. Troilo, I am prepared to die...."
"What do you say? You have an entire world to travel before you: full of strength, of power, of beauty, how can you consent to leave a scene where you sustain your part so well! When the fruit is green, it should not be shaken from the tree of life. And perhaps you never had a better time than this to enjoy reasonably human gifts, for you are neither too inexperienced to allow yourself to be carried away by the illusions of youth, nor too hesitating, on account of the weakness of declining years. Behold, the season to gather the fruits of experience is just beginning for you...."