Chapter 3, The Story of My Marriage Summary

Olivi suggests to Zeno that he spend some time in the business district in hopes of learning the art of commerce, or at least bringing back useful information. There Zeno becomes friends with Signor Giovanni Malfenti, an older businessman who takes Zeno under his wing and becomes a sort of second father to Zeno. Giovanni also knows and approves of Olivi. Zeno enjoys Signor Malfenti's council, which consists of various axioms about how to do business profitably, as well as suggestions about how Zeno should live his life. When Zeno tells Giovanni of his plan to find a way to overthrow Olivi's authority over him, Giovanni cautions him that he had better keep Olivi around. At this point, Giovanni is unaware of how disastrously Zeno would manage his life, left to his own...