Then having lost both his wife and his mother within a year, he sought consolation in his books in order to free himself from sorrow, the cockpit, and the dangers of idleness.

He became so addicted to his studies and the purchase of books, that he entirely neglected his fortune and gradually ruined himself.

Persons of culture called him Don Anastasio, or Tasio the Sage, while the great crowd of the ignorant knew him as Tasio the Lunatic, on account of his peculiar ideas and his eccentric manner of dealing with others.
As we said before, the evening threatened to be stormy.

The lightning flashed its pale rays across the leaden sky, the air was heavy and the slight breeze excessively sultry.

Tasio had apparently already forgotten his beloved skull, and now he was smiling as he looked at the dark clouds.