The old woman tells her story. She is the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina, raised in a palace in Italy. At 14, she was young and beautiful and betrothed to the prince of Massa-Carrara, who is assassinated by his lover just before their marriage. She retreats to their estate near Gaeta with her mother, but they are captured by pirates who surprise them with a body cavity search, looking for hidden jewels, “a custom established from time immemorial among the civilized seafaring nations” (26). The girl is raped by the Corsair captain, and they are brought to Morocco where they encounter war. Her mother and handmaids are killed, “massacred by the monsters who contended over them” (27), but she survives and collapses “from shock, from fatigue, from hunger, from horror and despair” (28) under an orange tree. She is awakened by an attractive man rubbing himself on her and moaning “What a misfortune to be without testicles” (28) in Italian.

The old woman continues her story. She is delighted to hear her native language but informs the man there are “greater misfortunes” (28) than missing testicles. She recounts her story to him and faints again, and he carries her to his house, feeds her and tends to her, flattering her for her beauty.