The thousand injuries of Fortunato
         I had borne as
           I best could,
           but when
             he ventured upon insult,
         I vowed revenge.

    You,
           who so well
              know the nature
                   of my soul,
         will not suppose,
           however,
         that I
            gave utterance to a threat.

    At length
         I would be avenged;
        this was
               a point definitely settled
          --but the very definitiveness
             with which it was resolved,
           precluded the idea of risk.

    I must not only punish,
           but punish with impunity.

    A wrong is unredressed
         when retribution
            overtakes its redresser.

    It is equally unredressed
         when the avenger
            fails to make himself
                  felt as such to him
             who has done the wrong.

    It must be understood
         that neither by word
              nor deed had
         I given Fortunato cause
              to doubt my good will.

    I continued,
           as was my wont,
         to smile in his face,
           and he did not perceive
             that my smile now
                was at the thought
                       of his immolation.

    He had a weak point
         --this Fortunato--
           although in other regards
             he was a man
                  to be
                      respected and even feared.

    He prided himself
           on his connoisseurship in wine.

    Few Italians
          have the true virtuoso spirit.

    For the most
          part their enthusiasm
        is adopted
              to suit
                   the time and opportunity
          -- to practise imposture
               upon the British
                   and Austrian millionaires.

    In painting and gemmary,
           Fortunato,
         like his countrymen,
           was a quack
          -- but
               in the matter
                   of old wines
             he was sincere.

    In this respect
         I did not
              differ from him materially:
        I was skillful
               in the Italian vintages myself,
           and bought largely
             whenever I could.

    It was about dusk,
           one evening
              during the supreme madness
                   of the carnival season,
         that I encountered my friend.

    He accosted me
           with excessive warmth,