LAUDISI. But just observe; in the first place, it isn't true that they are accusing each other of insanity. Ponza, to be sure, says his mother-in-law is insane. She denies this, not only of herself, but also of him. At the most, she says that he was a little off once, when they took her daughter from him; but that now he is quite all right. SIRELLI. I see! So you're rather inclined, as I am, to trust what the old lady says. AGAZZI. The fact is, indeed, that if you accept his story, all the facts in the case are explained. LAUDISI. But all the facts in the case are explained if you take her story, aren't they? SIRELLI. Oh, nonsense! In that case neither of them would be crazy! Why, one of them must be, damn it all! LAUDISI. Well, which one? You can't tell, can you? Neither can anybody else! And it is not because those documents you are looking for have been destroyed in an accident--a fire, an earthquake--what you will; but because those people have concealed those documents in themselves, in their own souls. Can't you understand that? She has created for him, or he for her, a world of fancy which has all the earmarks of reality itself. And in this fictitious reality they get along perfectly well, and in full accord with each other; and this world of fancy, this reality of theirs, no document can possibly destroy because the air they breathe is of that world. For them it is something they can see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and touch with their fingers. Oh, I grant you--if you could get a death certificate or a marriage certificate or something of the kind, you might be able to satisfy that stupid curiosity of yours. Unfortunately, you can't get it. And the result is that you are in the extraordinary fix of having before you, on the one hand, a world of fancy, and on the other, a world of reality, and you, for the life of you, are not able to distinguish one from the other. AGAZZI. Philosophy, my dear boy, philosophy! And I have no use for philosophy. Give me facts, if you please! Facts! So, I say, keep at it; and I'll bet you we get to the bottom of it sooner or later. SIRELLI. First we got her story and then we got his; and then we got a new one from her. Let's bring the two of them together--and you think that then we won't be able to tell the false from the true? LAUDISI. Well, bring them together if you want to! All I ask is permission to laugh when you're through. AGAZZI. Well, we'll let you laugh all you want. In the meantime let's see.... (_He steps to the door at the left and calls_): Amalia, Signora Sirelli, won't you come in here a moment? (_The ladies enter with Dina_).