"'Is your excellency hungry?' asked the fellow (his name was Peppino) in surprise.
"I was angry.
"'What!' I exclaimed in a rage, 'since twenty-four hours I have not eaten a thing, and you ask me if I am hungry.'
"'Then you wish to eat?'
"'Yes, at once, if it is possible.'
"'If you pay for it.'
"'I will pay what you ask,' I cried.
"'What do you wish?'
"'Anything, a chicken or a partridge.'