"He brooded on how close destruction always was to all creatures, animals as well as humans, and he realized that there is nothing we can predict or know for certain in this world except death."
Original:
"... und erwog bei sich, wie allen Wesen, Tieren wie Menschen, beständig das Verderben so nahe ist und daß wir auf dieser Welt nichts vorhersehen und-wissen können als den sicheren Tod."
Before entering the cabin and poisoning Baldassare, Fillipo is contemplating deaths of his beloved pets. Fillipo is accepting death as a natural and only certain thing in life. Baldassare can't predict that he will soon be dead, but neither can Fillipo, as these are his final moments as well, he doesn't know it yet.
"He sat alone, however, deeply troubled, in his mansion overlooking the sea. His life lay ravaged and empty behind him: it was barren and without a trace of love, like the gray, undulating water of the sea."
Original:
"Er aber saß allein und tief vergrämt im Saal über dem Meere, sein Leben lag leer und verwüstet hinter ihm, unfruchtbar und ohne Spur der Liebe wie die graue wogende Salzflut."
Augustus spent his life leisurely and surrounded by people who would do anything for him. This made his heart become empty and his soul sick and in pain. When he realized the emptiness of his life, a life without true-meaningful love, he saw that there is no point in continuing to live.
"But pleasure burned out of the darkness more intensely and more beautifully, and love glowed more deeply during this night."
Original:
"Aber aus der Finsternis brannte die Lust inniger und schöner, und die Liebe glühte tiefer in dieser Nacht."
The narrator of this story is also the boy who goes into the world to pursue his dream of playing his flute. But, when he hears the songs of an old man on the boat, he is struck by the intensity of them. These songs come from experience, from pain, love and death. At one point the old man is gone and the boy has to go towards the darkness alone, but he realizes that he is no longer a boy, he is the old man. The story is underlined with regret, as the man/the boy is looking back on his choices and missed opportunities with sadness. But, he accepts his choices, because the things he missed wouldn't look as beautiful if he didn't miss them. Sorrow and love are intertwined and love glows the brightest in the dark.
