Joseph Conrad: "He had a hazy recollection of having been called some time during the evening by somebody. To his dinner probably. But a man busy contemplating the wreckage of his past in the dawn of new hopes cannot be hungry whenever his rice is ready. But the world had to be conquered first, and ist conquest was not so easy as he thought."

Female guide: "Room of the Cheli.The guest's diningroom. It is designed in art-deco style: lacquered wood in bright colors. Cheli was the name of a giant tortoise. The shell, an original, is from a tortoise that died in d'Annunzio's garden from stomach poisoning."

D'Annunzio: "Maybe, maybe not."

Joseph Conrad: "A man knows when to fight and when to tell peaceful lies. She will poison me, thought the pour wretch, well aware of that easy and final manner of solving the social, political, or family problems.
There was nothing there to sit upon, for she in her savage modds, when excited by the reminiscences of the piratical perid of her life, had torn off the curtains to make sarongs, nad had burnt the showy furniture piecemeal to cook the family rice. She wailed to her softly, lamenting the lost possibilities of murder and mischief that could have fallen to her lot had she been mated with a congenial spirit. "And remember, no mercy; and if you must strike, strike with a steady hand."
This was the last time in his life that he was heard to raise his voice.
"I shall go," she said, in a cautious but intense whisper. "What is your hate or your revenge to me?"
He spat down at his feet in sign of disgust, and left that group to seek further on a fresh audience."

Male guide: "During his years in boarding school he was unjustly accused of stealing sweets. His favoured foods were egg dishes and his favourite drink was water, of which he was considered to be a connoisseur. He praised its deliciousness to experts. His tortoise died from eating a daisy. Ah, you don't believe me? For that you will receive no more food!"