CHAPTER 21
He felt by now the forces were abandoning him. The fever had reached its peak the day before. He had sweated, he had been prey to delirium. Then, suddenly, his temperature had dropped. Now he was frozen, and the blankets were no longer sufficient to warm his body. Giovanni understood that his end was near. It was useless to have acted boldly while the surgeon Ambramo Ariè, who had already saved him a couple of years before, was amputating his injured leg.
«Not even twenty men could hold me», he said smiling. «But I’m here, and I can hold myself still to resist the pain!»
So saying he had taken the candle in his hand, making light to himself, to help the surgeon and his helpers, who were operating on him. He had noticed Pietro moving away from his bedside, clenching his ears,
