When I was as old as you, I was a feeling fellow enough, partial to the unfledged, unfostered, and unlucky; but Fortune has knocked me about since: she has even kneaded me with her knuckles, and now I flatter myself I am hard and tough as an India-rubber ball; pervious, though, through a chink or two still, and with one sentient point in the middle of the lump.
Alla vostra età avevo pietà pei deboli e pei sofferenti. Ma la sorte mi ha colpito con le sue mani pesanti, e ora posso vantarmi di esser duro come una palla di cautsciù, vulnerabile forse da due o tre parti, ma con un solo punto sensibile.