So saying, Death rose, uncovered his head and raised his eyes to heaven.
“Thou wilt awake in Rome!” he murmured. “The last day begins—Tito, farewell forever.”
“Oh! do not abandon me!” cried the unhappy boy.
“‘Do not abandon me!’ thou sayest to Death, and yesterday thou fledst from me.”
“Do not leave me here alone in this forsaken region. This is a tomb.”
“What!” said the black divinity, ironically, “hast thou fared so badly here, these past six hundred years?”
“What! have I lived here?”
“Lived! call it what thou pleasest. Here thou hast slept all that time.”
“Then this is my sepulchre?”
“Yes, my friend, and as soon as I disappear thou wilt be convinced. Then, alone, thou wilt feel the cold of this house.”