Dom Casmurro 3.45 · 3.45

And here, in the mother's mouth and almost in passing, the name arrives: Capitú. After being 'the daughter of the Tortoise' and 'the little one', she is finally herself — and characteristically, it is Dona Glória, keeping fond track of a neighbour child's birthday, who grants her the name that José Dias withheld. 'Fez quatorze á semana passada' — she turned fourteen last week. The tenderness of the detail is its own argument: how could a girl whose birthday you remember be the intriguer José Dias describes?

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