"I will always be true to you."
"H'm."
"Or—I thought—let us live together a little while; I will love you to your heart's content; then you can give me some money for a boat and rigging, and a piece of land; and I will return to my own dear country and will always, as long as I live, remember and think kindly of you."
"There's some sense in that."
"Then—towards the morning—it seemed to me that I needed nothing, that I did not want money, only her, even if it were only for one night."
"That is simpler."
"Just for one single night."
"Well, well!" said the old man.
"It seems to me, Uncle Pietro, that a small happiness is always more honest."
The old man was silent. His thick, shaven lips were compressed; he looked intently into the green water. The young man sang quietly and sadly: