Quotation

… compared to a gunboat, the Fatima is, well, not much faster than a cork. === “Thin ice my friend, very thin ice. Remember, even a worm has teeth.” === Even in mourning, everything about her was heaving and buxom, with a healthy olive complexion and long, black stockings that begged to be unrolled. It was customary in the village for an unmarried man to marry the widow of his brother, in this case Hugo, a deed that seemed overdue. Celestina certainly seemed willing, and yet, Cenzo was numb to her attraction. === “She’s too young to be alone. If it comes to that, Innocenzo, you’re too young to be without a woman.” === “You’re impossible. Name one flaw in Celestina.” “I can’t. She could make a sausage stand up and whistle.” === She was from Venice and he was from Pellestrina, which was like saying they were not only from opposite sides of the lagoon but from different worlds. When she spoke she had an elegantly lazy Venetian accent. When he spoke, consonants disappeared.