Some time ago Trufaldin left Naples; his name was then Zanobio
Ruberti. Being suspected in his native town of having participated in a
certain rebellion, raised by some political faction (though really he is
not a man to disturb any state), he was obliged to quit it stealthily by
night, leaving behind him his daughter, who was very young, and his
wife. Some time afterwards he received the news that they were both
dead, and in this perplexity, wishing to take with him to some other
town, not only his property, but also the only one who was left of all
his family, his young son, a schoolboy, called Horatio, he wrote to
Bologna, where a certain tutor, named Alberto, had taken the boy when
very young, to finish there his education; but though for two whole
years he appointed several times to meet them, they never made their
appearance. Believing them to be dead, after so long a time, he came to
this city, where he took the name he now bears, without for twelve years
ever having discovered any traces of this Alberto, or of his son
Horatio. This is the substance of the story, which I have repeated so
that you may better remember the groundwork of the plot. Now, you are to
personate an Armenian merchant, who has seen them both safe and sound in
Turkey.
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