"I ought rather to beware of letting you see the monster, or our joyous muse Balbilla might easily become the sinister Hecate. But the malicious sprite is close at hand, for he is hidden in this little roll."
"A document from Caesar?"
"Oh! no, only a letter from a Jew."
"Possibly the father of some fair daughter!"
"Wrongly guessed—as wrong as possible!"
"You excite my curiosity."
"Mine has already been satisfied by this roll. Horace is wise when he says that man should never trouble himself about the future."
"An oracle!"
"Something of the kind."
"And can that darken this lovely morning to you? Did you ever see me melancholy? Yet my future is threatened by a prophecy—such a hideous prophecy."