At dinner I sat next to him.
He said, "I was very much interested in what you wrote about Hamlet."
"In spite of the lack of commas?" I asked.
"Yes, in spite of the lack of commas. But I wonder if all you wrote was true?"
"How can we ever find out?"
"I hate to think of him as a myth."
"Please don't think of him as a myth. Think of him as you always have; otherwise you will owe me a grudge."
Looking across the table to Signor Bonghi, he said: "He is a wonderful man. I like his name, too—Ruggiero Bonghi, tout court."
"It sounds," I said, "so full of strength and power and straight to the point, with no accessories, doesn't it?"
"You say that to me, who have twenty-four names."