“You mean Camoens. But the Greeks treated Homer in the same way.”
“Yes, but the faults of others are no excuse for our own.”
“You are right; but how can you like Camoens so much if you do not know Portuguese?”
“I have read a translation in Latin hexameters so well done that I fancied I was reading Virgil.”
“Is that truly so?”
“I would never lie to you.”
“Then I make a vow to learn Latin.”
“That is worthy of you, but it is of me that you must learn the language. I will go to Portugal and live and die there, if you will give me your heart.’
“My heart! I have only one, and that is given already. Since I have known you I have despised myself, for I am afraid I have an inconstant nature.”
“It will be enough for me if you will love me as your father, provided I may sometimes take my daughter to my arms. But go on with your story, the chief part is yet untold. What became of your lover, and what did your relations do when they found out your flight?”