Pagina 509 di 1118

Renzo stopped a moment to contemplate the shore he had quitted,

and where he had suffered so much; "I am at last safely beyond

it," was his first thought; then the remembrance of those he had

left behind rushed over his mind, overwhelming it with regret and

shame; for, with the calm and virtuous image of Lucy, came the

recollection of his extravagances in Milan.

He shook off, however, these oppressive thoughts, and went on,

taking the direction of the whitish mass on the declivity of the

mountain, until he should meet some one who could direct him on

his way. And now with what a different and careless air he

accosted travellers! he hesitated no more, he pronounced boldly

the name of the place where his cousin lived, to ask the way to

it; from the information given him by the first traveller he met,

he found that he had still nine miles to travel.