Dom Casmurro 25.113 · 25.113

Now José Dias circles back to the compliment about himself, but he approaches it obliquely, as a talent his uncle 'finds' in him — 'acha em mim' — placing the credit in Tio Cosme's eye rather than in his own self-estimate. The grammar keeps his modesty intact even as he prepares to accept the praise.

Machado is dramatizing a small feat of self-presentation. Having spent his breath exalting the family, José Dias has earned the standing to now talk about himself without seeming vain, because he has framed his own gift as the family's generous perception. The word 'talento,' offered earlier by Bento in his mother's and uncle's names, is picked up and made the subject of the next clause. José Dias never simply agrees that he is talented; he builds an elaborate approach to the admission, and the elaborateness is the vanity — a man who cannot accept a compliment without composing a little speech around it.

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