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“Art thou willing to enter this man’s body and act as his soul, and become father of a family?”

“As ready for that as for anything. No doubt I will find fun in it,” answered Balsàbo.

Then Virgil said:

“Spirito di Belsàbo,

Io ti scongiurò

Che per comando mio

Tu lasci una vita sfrenata

Come ’ai tenuto per il passato

E dentro il corpo di Tribaldo

Tu possa entrare e divenire

Un capo di famiglia

Fino a ordine mio.

E tutti quei

Fanciulli educherai (sic).”

“Spirit of Belsàbo,

I now conjure thee

That by my command

Thou shalt leave the lewd life

Which thou did’st lead of old,

And enter into this body

Of Di Tribaldo, and become

Head of a family,

And educate his children.”

So into the body he went, as the spirit of Di Tribaldo went out, like the toy which shows the weather in which one puppet pops forth as the other goes in. So there he lay for a minute, all the children around in silent amazement that he had departed without cursing them. When all at once up leaped Balsàbo, as gay as a lark, crying like a Scaramuccio: