Navola

by Paolo Bacigalupi

Love not the music of your own voice, Merio had once instructed. Love the music of your opponent’s. Wait. Listen.

“We are di Regulai, Davico. We always sit at the plank. We sit at the plank when we bargain over tea, and when we drink wine with ambassadors. We sit at the plank when we play cartalegge with our friends. We sit at the plank when we attend wedding celebrations, and when we go to catredanto. We are di Regulai. Our every action matters. You are soon to be a man, it’s time you acted as one. We always sit at the plank. Always. And we never, never, give advantage to others.”

“Be wary of the stories you tell yourself, Davico. You may begin to believe them.”